PetPocketbook is cheaper than us. Here is when Porchlight is still the better fit.

The math, plan by plan

• Solo vs PetPocketbook: 12 x $35 = $420 a year, against 12 x $25 = $300. The gap is $120 a year. Billed yearly it is $350 against $285 (12 x $23.75), a $65 gap.
• Team vs PetPocketbook: 12 x $79 = $948 a year, against $300. The gap is $648 a year. Billed yearly it is $790 against $285, a $505 gap.
• For scale, the median 30-minute walk among 74 pet sitting businesses is $30, per pet sitting rates 2026. The Solo gap of $120 a year is four of those walks. The Team gap of $648 a year is about 22 of them. It is a small sample found through search, not a survey of every business.
• Adding a sitter to Team does not change the price, and neither does adding one on PetPocketbook. The gap stays the same at 3 people or 20.
• The 5% fee depends on how your clients pay. If you cover the fee yourself, add it to PetPocketbook’s side. If your clients pay outside the platform, it is $0.

Plans differ in what they include, so compare features, not only price. Porchlight prices are on the pet sitting software pricing page.

Who should stay on PetPocketbook

• The lowest bill is the goal. At $25 a month for any team size, PetPocketbook is cheaper than Porchlight Solo ($35) and Team ($79).
• You also run grooming or training. PetPocketbook lists scheduling, visit tracking and report cards for training and grooming. Porchlight is built for pet sitting and dog walking, with boarding and daycare included.
• You want a hands-on start. PetPocketbook includes a demo, account setup, client data import and a training session at no additional cost. Porchlight is self-serve.
• You already run on it and nothing is broken. A switch costs weeks of friction. Stay.

What PetPocketbook does well

It keeps the price simple: one plan, every feature, and no charge for each person on your team. It covers a wide range of services on one plan, and it does the setup work for you before your trial starts. If that matches how you work, it is a strong choice.

When Porchlight is the better fit

• Your sitters lose signal. A full visit can be finished with no signal: check in and out, run the checklist, add photos and notes, and use access codes. It syncs later. Porchlight is an installable web app, not an app store app. We did not find an offline mode listed on PetPocketbook’s pricing page. It may exist, so ask them.
• You want payroll calculation. Porchlight calculates sitter pay from check-in and check-out data and exports a CSV. It does not run payroll. PetPocketbook lists team management, reporting and analytics, and a payroll calculation with CSV export is not listed on its pricing page.
• You want visit reports with photos and GPS. Porchlight report cards carry photos, GPS check-in and check-out, and the walk route.
• You want your data back. CSV and JSON export of every table, any time.
• Clients pay invoices by card through your own Stripe account, and every notification is logged with a delivery record. Failed sends retry.
• Boarding and daycare are included in every Porchlight plan, along with unlimited clients and pets.

What to export from PetPocketbook before you cancel

Do this while your PetPocketbook account is still open. Check which of these your plan lets you export, and ask PetPocketbook support for the rest.

1. Clients: names, addresses, phone numbers, emails.

2. Pets: breed, age, vet, medications, feeding notes, vaccine dates.

3. Access details: key locations, door and gate codes, alarm notes.

4. Recurring schedules and every upcoming visit.

5. Visit history, report cards and photos you want to keep.

6. Invoices, payment history and open balances.

7. Sitter pay rates and hours for payroll records.

Save the files somewhere you control. The Switch Kit imports CSV exports from Time To Pet, Precise Petcare, Pet Sitter Plus and LeashTime with column mapping, a dry run, dedupe and rollback. A PetPocketbook importer is not live. Export your PetPocketbook data as CSV if your plan allows it, and ask us: our team can help map it.

Comparing more tools? Read our Time To Pet alternative and Pet Sitter Plus alternative pages.