Time To Pet vs Pet Sitter Plus: What a Team Really Pays

Time To Pet and Pet Sitter Plus both charge a base price plus a fee for each active staff member, so the better deal comes down to three numbers: the base, the per-user charge and what counts as "active." By the end of this post you will have a bill formula, a quote email and a one-week trial plan that get those numbers from both vendors for your exact headcount.

Both tools bill per active user, so compare the per-user charge, not the entry price

Pet Sitter Plus is listed on Capterra with a Solo plan, a Team plan for 2 to 25 staff priced as a base plus a charge per active user, and a large-team plan that stops growing after 25 users. Zoftwarehub shows the same structure.

Time To Pet has the same shape. Its plans, checked on its pricing page on 2026-10-08, are Lite $25, Solo $50, and Team $40 plus $16 per active staff member (the 6-sitter math is here).

Directory prices can lag the vendor's own page, so take Pet Sitter Plus dollar amounts from its pricing page or a written quote, not from a listing. The entry price is the figure for one person. A team owner who compares it is comparing the wrong number.

Run the bill formula at three headcounts

The formula is the same for every per-user tool:

Monthly bill = base + (per-user charge x active users)

Run it at your headcount today, at today plus 2, and at today plus 5. The gap between those three results is what growth costs you.

Example: say a plan with a $20 base and $10 per active user. These are made-up numbers that show the shape of the math. The Time To Pet column uses its published Team plan, and the Porchlight column uses its published Team price.

Two things stand out. First, a flat price does not win at every size. Time To Pet Team at 2 active staff is $40 + 2 x $16 = $72, under Porchlight's $79. The lines cross at 3 people. Second, a cap changes the top of the table: if a plan stops growing at 25 users, the most you pay is the base plus the per-user charge x 25, and that ceiling is the number to compare with a flat price.

The rule: under 3 or 4 people, run the numbers before you assume a flat plan saves money. At 6 or more, the per-user gap grows with every hire. If you are the only person doing visits, compare Porchlight's Solo plan at $35 a month with the entry plans, not the Team plans. For a fuller side-by-side, see the total bill comparison.

"Active" is the word to pin down in writing

Time To Pet's listing on GetApp says it bills only for staff who actually worked. Confirm that on its pricing page before you count on it.

Do your own active-staff test: count the sitters who worked at least one visit in the billing month, not the people who have a login. A sitter on leave for the month may not be billed on this kind of plan. Ask each vendor.

Three more traps to close off:

• The owner. Some plans count everyone who logs in. If the owner counts, your bill is one user higher than the formula says.
• Intro rates. Some listings show a lower rate for the first six months. Your year-one average is (6 x intro + 6 x full) / 12. Example: say $20 for six months, then $40. Year one averages $30 a month, but from month seven you pay double. Budget for the full rate.
• Extras. Ask whether texting is metered and which features sit on higher tiers. A quote without a line for base, what is counted, metered extras and feature tiers is not a quote.

Star ratings differ by site, so always quote the site

The same two tools get different scores depending on where you look, and the review counts are far apart:

On the G2 page, reviewers rated Pet Sitter Plus higher for meeting business needs and for the quality of ongoing support and feature updates. A score from 140 or 274 reviews carries more weight than one from 10 or 18, but none of them tells you about your routes, your sitters or your headcount. Use ratings to build a shortlist, then decide on a trial.

Write your must-haves before you open either trial

The GetApp comparison lists both tools with billing and invoicing, client management, communication management, document management and GPS check-in and check-out. The differences it shows:

Write your five must-haves (invoicing cadence, GPS check-in, payroll, QuickBooks, texting). Mark each tool yes, no or "ask." Every "ask" becomes a question in the email below, before you start a trial.

The rule: if you need QuickBooks Online or automated texts, put them first. Time To Pet is listed with both, and Porchlight does not claim a QuickBooks integration. If sitters work evenings and the office is closed, ask both vendors for their support hours in writing.

Where Porchlight fits, and where it does not

Porchlight is the flat-price option to compare against both. Team is $79 a month for unlimited staff, so 2 sitters or 40 cost the same. Solo is $35 for an owner doing every visit. Both have unlimited clients and pets, 5,000 SMS segments included each month under a fair use policy, and a 30-day free trial with no card. Boarding and daycare are included in every plan, while Time To Pet sells boarding as a separate Facility plan. A full visit can be completed in airplane mode and syncs when signal returns, and you can export every table as CSV and JSON. The Switch Kit imports exports from Time To Pet, Precise Petcare, Pet Sitter Plus and LeashTime, with a dry run and one-click rollback, and how long it takes depends on your data.

Porchlight's own comparison page says Time To Pet is stronger in facility and boarding depth, QuickBooks and community. Porchlight also has no public reviews or customer count yet. When your business depends on QuickBooks Online or a large boarding facility, Time To Pet is the safer pick. When your problem is a bill that grows with each sitter, or sitters who lose signal, test Porchlight.

Send this email to both vendors

Template to copy. Fill in the brackets:

Hi, I run a pet sitting company with [N] sitters and about [N] visits a week. What would my monthly total be today, and what would it be with [N+2] sitters? Does the price count all staff or only active staff? Do you charge for staff accounts that did no visits this month? Is the owner counted as an active user? Do you have a cap, and what is it? Is the rate you are quoting an intro rate, and what is the full rate after? Is texting metered? Which features are not on the plan you are quoting? What are your support hours, and is it a live person? Can I export all my clients and pets as CSV if I leave?

Ask for the answers in writing. If a vendor will not put a number on your headcount, that tells you something too.

Trial each tool for one real week

Ratings and feature lists only get you to a shortlist. For each tool:

1. Enter 10 real recurring visits.
2. Have a sitter complete 3 of them on a phone.
3. Send one invoice.
4. Write down the minutes each task took.
5. Walk your worst route, the basement or the elevator, and see what happens with no signal. The offline guide shows what to check.

Pick the tool that cost you fewer minutes and gave you a bill you can predict.

Do this in the next ten minutes

Write down your headcount today and in 12 months. Then send the template above to two vendors. Fill in the formula for each at today's count and today plus 4 when the answers come back.

Run the same math on a flat price

If your numbers show the bill climbing with every hire, put your own headcount into Porchlight's plans and test a full week of visits during the free trial. Start free for 30 days. No card needed.