DaySmart Pet vs Time To Pet (2026): Reminder Texts or a Client App

Updated: November 2, 2026 · 10 min read · By Grooming Software HQ

Grooming Software HQ Editorial Team

Independent research on pet grooming software — we compare features, pricing, and real user feedback so groomers can choose with confidence.

The Short Version

DaySmart Pet and Time To Pet come from opposite directions. DaySmart, formerly 123Pet, has sold grooming software since 2005 and treats the text message as the main line to your clients: every plan includes a text allowance and automated reminders. Time To Pet grew out of dog walking and pet sitting, now serves more than 5,000 pet care businesses, and treats the client app as the main line. Clients get an account, request appointments, see report cards and receive push notifications. Texting is an optional $10 add-on, and Time To Pet's own help center notes that many companies prefer the app.

So the two price lists charge for different things. DaySmart charges for features and gives you the texts. Time To Pet charges for staff and lets you add the texts. That produces a split that holds across almost every business we modeled: if reminders are enough, DaySmart is cheaper. If you want to hold a real text conversation with clients, Time To Pet is cheaper, usually by $35 to $85 a month, up to a team of about eight.

The other split is where you groom. Time To Pet sells two separate products. Mobile groomers use its in-home plans, and shops use its Facility plan, which includes grooming services but has real gaps for a grooming-only salon. For a storefront, this comparison leans firmly toward DaySmart.

At a Glance

Side-by-Side Comparison

Three rows decide most cases: two-way texting, storefront salons and boarding and daycare. Time To Pet wins the first, DaySmart wins the second, and the third depends on how many people you employ.

What You Actually Pay

Start with each price list in full.

DaySmart Pet publishes five plans, each with two prices. With DaySmart's payment processing: Basic $29, Deluxe $69, Deluxe Growth $149 and Premium $199 a month. Without it: $39, $89, $169 and $219. Premium Growth is quote-only. Basic includes one user and 500 texts. Deluxe and Deluxe Growth include three users and 1,000 texts. Premium includes six users and 2,500 texts. Additional users are $9 a month each on Deluxe and above. Two-way texting is included from Deluxe Growth and is a "contact for pricing" add-on below that; the pricing page's two feature grids disagree on whether Basic can buy it. Daycare and boarding calendars are $25 a month each. DaySmart does not publish what texts cost once you pass your allowance.

Time To Pet bills mobile groomers on its in-home plans. Lite is $25 and cannot text at all. Solo is $50 for a business with one active user. Team is $40 plus $16 per active staff member, dropping to $5 per user past 25. The move between Solo and Team happens automatically each billing period. An active staff member is anyone with at least one assigned or completed event, and office managers and administrators always count. Solo and Lite can be paid annually, 12 months for the price of 10. Storefronts, boarding and daycare use the separate Facility plan at a flat $79, and in-home plus Facility is a custom "Full Service" quote.

Texting on Time To Pet is priced in its help center, not on its pricing page. It costs $10 a month and includes 250 messages per active staff member, shared across the team. Extra messages are 2.5 cents, and leftovers roll over for one month only. The allowance counts messages sent and received, so a client's "See you Tuesday!" uses one up.

The figures below assume three texts sent per appointment plus one client reply. That is four billable messages on Time To Pet. We count three on DaySmart because it doesn't say whether replies count. DaySmart prices assume you use its payment processing and one user per person on staff:

Four conclusions come out of that table.

One: the texting question moves the price more than the size of your business. The same solo van costs $29 on DaySmart if reminders are enough and $149 if it wants two-way texting, while Time To Pet stays at about $64 either way. DaySmart's Deluxe add-on doesn't rescue this for a solo van, because Deluxe alone is $69 before the add-on's unpublished price. If Basic can buy the add-on, it would have to cost under about $35 a month to beat Time To Pet. Ask for that price in writing.

Two: Time To Pet stays ahead on two-way texting until a team of about nine. Each person adds $9 on DaySmart and about $20 on Time To Pet once you include the extra messages at roughly 100 appointments a person. But DaySmart starts $85 higher, and at four busy people its 1,000-text limit usually pushes you to the $199 Premium plan. The two meet at about nine people. Below that, Time To Pet is cheaper by $35 or more in the fleets we modeled.

Three: if your clients will use an app, Time To Pet gets cheaper still, but DaySmart still wins on price. Skip texting entirely and a solo van pays $50 on Solo, or about $42 a month paid annually, with reminders going by email and push notification. Two vans pay $72. That narrows DaySmart's lead to $21 for a solo van and $3 for two vans, but not every client will download an app, and those who don't will only get email. Lite at $25 is cheaper than any DaySmart plan, but it has no texting, no QuickBooks and no staff.

Four: facilities flip on headcount. A solo groomer who boards a few dogs pays less on DaySmart. Once you need three users and both calendars, Time To Pet's flat $79 is $40 cheaper, and at six staff the gap reaches about $67. The catch is messaging. Time To Pet's texting article lists Solo or Team as the requirement. Its Facility help mentions text notifications, but we found no price or allowance for them, so ask before you assume those figures include texts.

Three caveats. First, without DaySmart's card processing every DaySmart figure rises by $10 on Basic or $20 on other plans. A solo van on reminders still saves about $25, but the two-van reminders case narrows to about $3, and every two-way lead for Time To Pet grows by $20. Second, DaySmart doesn't say whether replies count. If they do, Basic covers about 125 appointments rather than 165 and Deluxe about 250 rather than 330, which would erase DaySmart's lead at 160 appointments and leave the three-van case relying on an unpublished overage price. Third, picture messages use up Time To Pet's allowance too: each image goes as a separate message, and a report card counts as one image. For how these line items compare across the market, see what grooming software really costs.

How Time To Pet's Texting Really Works

DaySmart's texting works the way most groomers expect: it sends reminders and ready-for-pickup texts automatically, on every plan. Time To Pet's is different, because its texts are a delivery option for messages in the client's conversation feed. Before you budget for it, read the fine print in its help center:

• Reminders can go by text, with limits. Automatic Service Reminders work by text if the integration is on. Only one goes out per invoice, based on the first event on that invoice, so monthly invoicing covering several appointments won't remind clients about each one. Reminders default to seven days ahead, and an invoice created inside that window gets none, so set a short lead time.
• Confirmations stay in email. Service confirmation messages can't be delivered by text.
• No mass texting. You can't send a group text to clients, so "I have an opening Thursday" has to go by email campaign or one conversation at a time. DaySmart sells text marketing, included from Deluxe Growth.
• A new number, and a wait. You choose a local text-only number; your existing number can't be used, and the new one can't take calls. Carrier registration requires your EIN or SSN and takes about a week for most accounts. DaySmart's reminders also need verification after you activate, so plan a gap on either platform.
• The app is the free channel. Time To Pet points out that push notifications through its client app carry no overage charges or character limits. If your clients will use it, you may not need texting.

If You Groom in a Shop

Time To Pet's grooming story has changed this year. A separate grooming page that showed a waitlist now returns a 404, and its site lists Mobile Grooming, not salon grooming, among its solutions. Shop grooming now sits in the Facility plan: the pricing page lists "boarding, daycare & grooming services," and a help article last updated in July 2026 explains how to set them up, noting they are available for Facility accounts only.

What's there is real. You can book standalone grooming appointments and walk-ins, add grooming to a boarding stay or daycare day, assign staff, and see it all in Front Desk mode. Clients can request grooming through the app or portal.

But it reads as a boarding system with grooming added, and two limits matter for a grooming-only shop. Grooming can't be the primary service in a recurring template, only an add-on, which is awkward when your regulars come back every six weeks. And each grooming service holds one pet, so a two-dog household means two entries. Add the unanswered texting question, and DaySmart is the better fit: its appointment book, online booking, forms, gift cards, packages and payroll were built for the salon, at about the same price or less for teams of up to four people. Larger teams pay more on DaySmart than Facility's flat $79, but that DaySmart price includes texts.

If you mainly board and groom on the side, the logic reverses, as the next section shows.

If You Groom From a Van

This is Time To Pet's better side. Its mobile grooming software is a live product with its own trial, and the features suit the road: recurring templates for six-to-eight-week clients, service areas, staff GPS and time tracking, mileage tracking, automatic tips, and report cards with before-and-after photos and video.

Neither vendor describes automatic route optimization. DaySmart offers a mobile map with turn-by-turn directions, traffic and travel-time estimates. Time To Pet's Geo Schedule plots the day on a map with a suggested order based on scheduled times, and staff can reorder visits in their app. Its pricing page lists the staff app, GPS tracking and Geo Schedule under Team rather than Solo, so a solo groomer should confirm what the Solo plan's app covers during the trial. If optimized routes matter most, compare the mobile grooming platforms that offer them.

Booking is where DaySmart looks simpler. It offers online booking from your website and Facebook, while Time To Pet asks new clients to create an account, then submit a request inside time blocks you set, which you approve. That gives you control of your route, but it's an extra step for a new client.

Where DaySmart Pet Pulls Ahead

• The cheapest automatic text reminders: $29 with 500 texts, against about $60 to $70 for a Time To Pet account that can text.
• Built for salons: A grooming-first product since 2005, with packages, multi-ticket checkout, gift cards and digital forms. Time To Pet's shop grooming lives inside its boarding product.
• Simpler online booking: Booking from your website and Facebook on every plan.
• Phone support: Email, chat and phone on every plan. Time To Pet describes its support as messaging.
• Marketing and retention tools: A loyalty program, text marketing, reputation management and a $15 website builder are available. Time To Pet advertises none of those as products, and it can't send mass texts at all.
• Cheap sideline boarding: A solo groomer can add one boarding calendar for $25 and pay $54 in total.

Where Time To Pet Pulls Ahead

• Two-way texting at a normal price: About $60 to $75 for a solo van, against $149 on DaySmart.
• Report cards: Photos, video, grooming notes and custom questions after every visit, with an optional happiness score. DaySmart doesn't list report cards on its pricing page.
• A real client app: Clients request appointments, update records, pay invoices and message you, and push notifications cost nothing.
• Published overage pricing: Extra messages are 2.5 cents each. DaySmart doesn't publish a rate.
• Flat-rate facilities: Grooming, boarding and daycare for $79 flat, with no per-staff charge listed.
• Bills follow your season: Staff with no scheduled events in a billing period aren't charged, so quiet months cost less. QuickBooks Online is included from Solo, and data migration is free.

If You Also Board or Run Daycare

These are two different products. DaySmart adds a daycare calendar and a boarding calendar to any grooming plan for $25 a month each, with occupancy and stay-length management, so grooming stays at the center. Time To Pet's Facility plan starts from the building: a space-based calendar, check-in and check-out, capacity tracking, run cards, feeding and medication tracking, and front desk mode, for a flat $79.

The choice follows your main income. If you're a groomer who boards, DaySmart keeps your salon tools and costs less at small scale. If you're a boarding or daycare business that also grooms, Time To Pet's Facility plan is built for you and doesn't charge per staff member. If you run mobile grooming and a facility, Time To Pet's Full Service plan combines them, but only by custom quote. For another all-in-one option, see Pawfinity vs Time To Pet and DaySmart Pet vs Pawfinity.

Testing Them

Both offer 14 days free with no credit card, and both hold back the feature you most want to test. Time To Pet's texting is unavailable during the trial, although you can still test the client app, report cards and scheduling. DaySmart's trial includes everything in Deluxe, but its reminders and text marketing need verification that happens after activation, card processing stays off until you pay, and your trial data is lost if you don't activate.

Time To Pet offers free data migration and bills month to month with no cancellation fees. Whichever you try, export your client and pet data before you cancel anything.

The Questions That Settle It

Answer these in order and stop at the first one that decides it.

First: do you groom in a shop? If grooming is your main business, choose DaySmart. If you mainly board or run daycare with a team, choose Time To Pet's Facility plan.

Second: from a van, do you want to text back and forth with clients? If yes, choose Time To Pet, unless you have about nine or more people. It saves about $35 to $85 a month.

Third: if reminders are enough, how do your clients prefer to hear from you? If they expect a text, choose DaySmart, which is cheaper at nearly every size we modeled. If they'd happily use an app, Time To Pet's Solo plan at $50 buys report cards and a client portal for $21 a month more than DaySmart Basic. If no-shows are your real problem, see our guide to reducing grooming no-shows, because a reminder sent seven days ahead won't do much on its own.

Which One Is Right for You?

Bottom Line

DaySmart Pet is the better grooming product at the lower entry price, and its text reminders are included. Time To Pet is the better client app, and it is much cheaper once you want real text conversations, but its texting has limits and its shop product isn't built around grooming.

For reminders, DaySmart is cheaper by $5 to $44 a month at the sizes we modeled. For two-way texting from a van, Time To Pet is cheaper by $35 to $85 up to a team of about eight. For a grooming salon, choose DaySmart. For a staffed boarding and daycare business that also grooms, Time To Pet's $79 Facility plan wins on price. Confirm current rates with both vendors before signing, and ask for what their pages don't settle: DaySmart's two-way add-on price, overage rate and whether replies count, and what texting costs on Time To Pet's Facility plan.

Still comparing? DaySmart Pet vs Groomsoft tests DaySmart's $29 plan against the other low-cost option, DaySmart Pet vs GrooMore sets it against a $49 bundle, DaySmart Pet vs Groomer.io against unlimited texting, DaySmart Pet vs MoeGo against per-van pricing, and DaySmart Pet vs Pawfinity covers the multi-service matchup. For Time To Pet against other platforms, see MoeGo vs Time To Pet, Groomer.io vs Time To Pet and GrooMore vs Time To Pet. Our best pet grooming software guide ranks the wider field.

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