August 26, 2024
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Experts in this article:
Elizabeth is a dog walker and pet sitter with 6 years of experience. She's earned over $9,000 using the Wag! app and also has...
Suzanne is a freelance writer and web designer with 10 years of experience. She previously helped to rebuild a failed digital...
Do you love animals and want to walk dogs for money? Finding work on dog walker apps is easier than launching your own dog walking business, and Wag! is one of the top apps on the market.
In this Wag! review, you’ll learn the basics about the Wag! app, including its costs, features, and user requirements—plus, you’ll get insight from an actual user on what it’s like working for Wag! and how to make the most of the app.
Wag! is primarily a dog walking app. Like many other gig economy apps, Wag! doesn’t offer employment. Instead, its purpose is to connect independent contractors with clients who want their services.
Because of this, Wag! users can do everything from start a small side hustle to grow a booming business. Using the app itself is straightforward.
Pet parents open the app, select the service they need, and then search through nearby caregivers based on their specified distance, price range, and other conditions. As a care provider, you set your own rates and availability. You also have the ability to accept or reject any new jobs that land in your inbox.
There are a wide range of pet care services you can offer through Wag!:
In addition to these basic services, Wag! offers dog training and specialty services like grooming, pet photography, and excursions (e.g., swimming, hiking, or running). You can also offer add-on services like housekeeping or pet medicine administration to earn extra money from each gig.
While Wag! is primarily geared towards dog care services (its nickname is “the Uber for dogs”) you can also care for cats, birds, fish, hamsters or other small mammals, and even lizards and snakes, as long as they’re not poisonous or venomous.
One major drawback with Wag! is their lack of transparency when it comes to fees. Wag! states that all pet caregivers must pay a one-time registration fee, and anecdotal reports suggest it costs somewhere in the range of $25–$65 to sign up for Wag! This is the only mandatory fee you need to pay to work for Wag!
You can likely expect the signup fee for Wag! to be on the higher end of this range, and it appears that costs may be increasing over time. This initial fee covers the cost of the background check when you sign up to work for Wag!
Even though it only costs $25–$65 to register as a Wag! walker or sitter, there are other costs associated with using the Wag! app. You should consider all these potential expenses when determining whether or not Wag! is worth it.
Wag! appears to take a 40% cut from the amount clients pay before passing that money on to workers. Wag! doesn’t advertise their commission fee anywhere on their website, but Wag! reviews from pet caregivers indicate that they skim 40% off of what clients pay.
Technically, they take this cut from clients rather than workers, so you’ll still get paid your full rate, and you’ll never see 40% deducted from your earnings. However, this cut amounts to the same thing, regardless of who they take it from—a massive discrepancy between what clients are paying (and thus what you could be earning) and what’s actually ending up in your pocket.
If you’re interested in more perks and privileges as a caregiver, you can join Wag! Pro. The lifetime fee is $149 (or $129 for previously-approved pet caregivers), but you’ll get several perks:
This service is optional. However, if you’re looking to scale your dog walking business—especially in the early days when it takes a while to get those first clients—this could be useful.
As a dog walker, you can technically request a gig when you see it advertised. However, it’s ultimately not up to you whether you get a particular job.
Wag! assigns gigs through “Pet Parent Match,” a matching algorithm that recommends Wag! workers to clients according to their “Match Percentage.” This is a metric that tells clients how suited a caregiver is to the requested service on a scale of “Good,” “Great,” or “Amazing.”
Pet parents will then be able to choose from among the list of selected caregivers. If they don’t pick within a certain timeframe, Wag! will automatically assign a worker. “It’s kind of like a lottery in a way,” Perez said.
Even though Wag! uses an algorithm to match clients with caregivers, pet parents can choose to list you as a “preferred walker” if they like you. In this case, you’ll have an advantage over nearby competitors.
Wag! services are available in all 50 states and more than 5,300 cities across the United States, and the company claims to have a network of more than 400,000 Wag! workers.
Wag! identifies five top cities with the most workers:
It appears that most big cities in the US have thousands of Wag! walkers and caregivers. This means you’ll likely face more competition in these urban areas. Smaller towns and cities might not have as much.
If you’re thinking of becoming a dog walker on Wag!, check out their list of operating neighborhoods to find out if there’s demand where you live.
Wag! is a completely legitimate and safe app to use to find pet care jobs. They’ve helped over 400,000 Wag! workers complete over 12 million dog walking and pet sitting gigs. They also offer several notable protections for workers.
Here are a couple of examples of how Wag! protects workers:
With that said, the platform has some issues that have sparked complaints. Specifically, some users feel that Wag! charges exploitative and unfair fees. Additionally, Wag! doesn’t screen pet parents. This puts the burden on workers to vet their clients, and it opens the door to potential to scams on Wag!
If you’re ready to become a Wag! walker, you’ll need to make sure you meet the requirements and then register. After that, you can start applying for jobs on Wag!
To become a Wag! dog walker or pet sitter, you need to meet certain eligibility requirements. Specifically, you must be at least 18 years old, be eligible to work in the United States, and have a driver’s license, state-issued ID, or passport.
Once you know you qualify, you can become an approved Wag! walker or caregiver by taking the following steps:
Once you’ve completed your application, expect to wait up to 14 business days for the background check to be completed. Vetty will check things like your employment history, criminal record, motor vehicle records, credit history, and more.
Download the Wag! Pet Caregiver app. It’s available on both Google Play and Apple. You’ll begin the signup process right away.
Technically, there are two Wag! apps: one for pet parents and one for workers looking for jobs walking dogs or providing other pet care services. Make sure you download the right app so you can find jobs and get paid.
Eventually, you’ll need to download the Wag! Pet Caregiver app. It’s part of your user agreement.
However, you can still sign up for Wag! online before downloading the app. Simply fill out this form on their website to get started.
A dog walking side hustle can be lucrative, but not always. Here’s a breakdown of exactly how much you can expect to earn on Wag! as a dog walker or sitter.
| Service | Duration | Average Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Express Walk | 20 minutes | $12.75–$19.99 |
| Wag! Walk | 30 minutes | $17–$26.99 |
| Deluxe Walk | 60 minutes | $25.50–$36.99 |
| Drop-In Visit | 20 minutes | $13–$16 |
| Dog Sitting | Overnight | $39–$59 (+$24 for each additional dog) |
| Dog Boarding | Overnight | $48–$69 (+$15 for pet pickup) |
Note: All prices shown are for one dog. Rates were sourced from Wag! descriptions of dog walking, drop-in, dog sitting, and dog boarding services.
As an independent contractor, you set your own rates per service as well as the duration of your service. You can also charge extra for holidays, extra dogs, and add-on services. However, you’ll need to set your rates in line with what other dog walkers and pet sitters are charging in your area if you want any business.
In terms of how much Wag! walkers make, Perez told us that in New York City, average hourly earnings are in the range of $17–$30, depending on the booking type (one 60-minute walk, two 30-minute walks, or three 20-minute walks). You’ll get more money from lots of short walks.
What you’re realistically able to charge depends on a variety of factors:
When setting your dog walking rates, also be sure to factor in expenses like the cost of travel and parking.
Wag! uses “dynamic pricing,” which allows workers to set their rates as high as they’d like. This is great if you want to be choosy about what gigs you take. To give an example, Perez showed how the app allows her to set her rates unthinkably high, at $8,000 for a 30-minute walk and $9,000 for a 60-minute walk.
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Bear in mind that if you set your rates too high, you might lose out on potential gigs. Clients set thresholds for how much they’re willing to pay for each service, and if your rates go beyond their specified range, you’ll no longer be a contender.
After you complete a job, Wag! will pay you via a third-party payment processor, Stripe. Your payment for the previous week’s work will be deposited into your Stripe-connected bank account every Friday. If you need funds more quickly, you can use Instant Pay, but you’ll have to pay an additional 3% fee.
There are two additional ways to make money on the Wag! app:
The Wag! app has undergone a lot of changes over the past few years, and it’s harder than ever to get to the truth of whether Wag! is really worthwhile for pet sitters and dog walkers.
To help you decide whether Wag! is the right gig app for you, we spoke to Elizabeth Perez about her experience using Wag! from 2019 until today. Here’s what she told us.
Perez noted that Wag! has changed the rules a bit, and they now offer dog walkers the option to pay for “first dibs” on available gigs. Unfortunately, this means that if you’re not super active on the app, it’ll be harder to get accepted for jobs.
In Perez’s experience, the Wag! app is so oversaturated with workers that requests don’t come in as often as they used to, and those who have Wag! Pro are taking most of the requests.
From the dog walker’s perspective, this is a less-than-desirable business model. Wag! essentially forces workers to pay to compete with each other. In this sense, the more competitive the market gets, the more you’ll have to pay, and the more money Wag! will make.
Although Wag! claims to offer a variety of pet care services, most clients seem to be dog owners. “I find that dog walking is the most requested service,” Perez noted. She also said dog sitting is fairly popular, coming in second in terms of gigs with the highest demand.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you mostly want to work with dogs, then Wag! could be the perfect app for you. However, if you want to offer services other than dog walking—or you’re more of a cat lover—Wag! may not be your best bet.
Perez told us that when she first started working for Wag! around 2019, she had no problem calling or texting Wag! and getting a response right away—but that’s no longer the case.
She recently had an issue with the Wag! app but struggled to get a hold of anyone. Instead, she got stuck with an automated response machine that couldn’t help solve her problem. “I had to dial random numbers and pretend to be a pet parent just to be able to speak to a person to get them to help. That was not the case when I started out,” she added.
If you want to have your own dog walking side hustle without the hassle of finding your own clients, then Wag! is certainly an option worth considering due to its high popularity. However, if you want to do more than dog walking or dog sitting, then you may be better off with another app.
Before you sign up with Wag!, consider the app’s main advantages and disadvantages.
Wag! Pro really doesn’t seem worth it for the $149 fee when you think about how you can access similar benefits through another app like Rover for no fee. While Wag! Pro may be worth it right now for the competitive edge, the benefits may decline as more pet caregivers join the app and competition increases.
What you need to consider is that competition is continually increasing among walkers and sitters. The more people who pay for Wag! Pro, the less benefit you’ll get from perks like improved visibility.
If most users eventually start paying for Wag! Pro, then the outlook won’t be great—those without will find it next to impossible to get new clients, and those who pay the premium won’t stand out from the competition.
The main app competing with Wag! is Rover. Of the market share occupied by the two companies, Rover owns a whopping 91%, leaving only 9% for Wag! However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Rover is better than Wag!, or even that it’s necessarily more popular where you live.
Perez says that Wag! is more popular in the Bronx in New York, where she’s based. In her view, whenever a person thinks of dog walking, they think of Wag!, “the same way that a person who thinks of a cab would think of an Uber.” She also noted one key benefit that Wag! has over any other app she’s used: the ability to bid for gigs rather than wait for requests from clients.
| App Name | Types of Pet-Care Gigs | Fees | App Cut |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rover | - Dog walking - Pet sitting - Pet boarding | $49 signup fee | 20%–25% |
| Wag! | - Dog walking - Pet sitting - Pet boarding - Veterinary care - Dog training | $25–$65 signup fee | 40% |
| Meowtel | - Cat sitting | None | 15%–30% |
| TaskRabbit | - Dog walking - Pet sitting | $25 signup fee | None |
| Sittercity | - Dog walking - Pet sitting - Dog training - Dog grooming | None | None |
| UrbanSitter | - Pet sitting | $34.95/yr membership fee | None |
Some of these sites and apps also offer opportunities to sign up for other types of gigs, which may appeal to you if you want to do more than just dog walking or sitting.
If you just want a job that allows you to spend time with animals, you can also become a house sitter (which often involves pet sitting) or become a dog trainer. With the help of job apps like Wag!, starting a new pet-related side hustle has never been easier.
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