Rover fee calculator: what do you keep after Rover’s cut?
Rover’s help center lists a 20% service fee on each booking for sitters, so you take home 80%. Your own rate can differ, so check your account and edit the number below.
Source: Rover help center, checked 2026-10-17.
Rover is a real marketplace that brings sitters clients. This calculator shows what that costs you each month and each year, and what the same work would look like if you booked your own clients and paid a flat software fee instead.
Rover takes: $325/month, $3,900/year
You keep after Rover: $1,300/month, $15,600/year
If you booked these same visits direct
Clients pay you: $1,625/month, $19,500/year
After Porchlight Solo ($35/mo, $350/yr): $19,150/year
After Porchlight Team ($79/mo, $790/yr): $18,710/year
At these numbers Rover's fee is $3,900 a year. Porchlight Solo is $350 a year, a difference of $3,550.
Estimate only. Direct booking means you find and keep your own clients, and it does not include card or payment processing fees, taxes, insurance or other costs. Rover’s fee covers things this page does not price, such as finding clients.
Booking your own clients? Run them from one place.
Porchlight is scheduling and client software for pet sitting and dog walking companies. Solo is $35 a month for the owner. Team is $79 a month for unlimited staff.
No card. Free switch from Time To Pet, Precise Petcare, Pet Sitter Plus or LeashTime.
When Rover is the better fit
- You are new and have no clients yet and want a marketplace that puts your profile in front of pet parents.
- You want Rover’s lead flow more than you want to keep a larger share of each booking.
- You value the Rover Guarantee. Per Rover’s help center, it reimburses members for certain costs from certain injuries to the pet or damage to the sitter’s property during a service booked and paid through Rover, and it does not cover bookings made outside Rover. (Source below. Read the full terms on Rover’s page.)
- You only work a few visits a week, where a percentage fee can cost less than a flat monthly software fee. The calculator shows this when it is true.
When going independent can make sense
- You already have regular clients who book you again and again.
- Your volume is high enough that the yearly fee is well above a flat software cost.
- You want to set your own policies, keep your own client list and send your own invoices.
- Many sitters use both: Rover for new leads, direct booking for regulars. Check Rover’s terms before moving any client.
Insurance, taxes, contracts and your agreement with Rover are specific to you. Talk to a licensed insurance agent, accountant or attorney before you change how you take bookings.
Questions we get
How much does Rover take from a sitter?
Rover's help center lists a 20% service fee per booking for sitters, so you take home 80%. It also says take-home rates can vary by country, by when your profile was approved and by the services you offered, so use your own rate in the calculator. Checked 2026-10-17.
Does this calculator include the fee pet parents pay Rover?
No. It only models the fee taken from your earnings. The owner-side fee is a separate charge to the pet parent, and we did not verify the current US amount, so we left it out.
Can I change the Rover fee percentage?
Yes. Type your own rate into the Rover fee field. Check your Rover account or Rover's help center for the rate that applies to you.
Is booking direct always cheaper than Rover?
No. At low volume, a percentage fee can cost less than a flat monthly software fee, and Rover also brings you new clients. The calculator shows both and tells you when Rover costs less.
What does Porchlight cost?
Solo is $35 a month ($350 a year) for the owner only. Team is $79 a month ($790 a year) with unlimited staff. Every plan starts with a free 30-day trial and no card is needed.
Keep more of what you earn, on your terms.
No card. Free switch from Time To Pet, Precise Petcare, Pet Sitter Plus or LeashTime.
Sources
All checked 2026-10-17. Rover’s pages could not be opened directly by our tools; the figures come from the help-center text as it appears in search results.
- Rover help center, “What are the service fees?”: https://support.rover.com/hc/en-us/articles/205385304-What-are-the-service-fees
- Rover help center, “What do sitters need to know about the Rover Guarantee?”: https://support.rover.com/hc/en-us/articles/206197333-What-do-sitters-need-to-know-about-the-Rover-Guarantee
- Porchlight pricing: Solo $35 a month or $350 a year, Team $79 a month or $790 a year.
Porchlight is made by Hive Asset Group, LLC. We sell software for pet sitting and dog walking companies, so we have a stake in this comparison. Rover is a separate company; we are not affiliated with it. Fees change, so confirm yours with Rover.