DaySmart Pet Review (2026): Pricing, Features & Verdict

Updated: September 28, 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.

What Is DaySmart Pet?

DaySmart Pet is pet grooming and pet care business software from DaySmart Software. Long-time groomers will know it by its old name, 123Pet. The company says it has been serving grooming and pet care businesses since 2005, which makes it one of the longest-running products in the category. It still links to desktop downloads on its site, a holdover from its installed-software roots, but the plans on its current pricing page are for the cloud-based product with companion mobile apps.

The platform covers scheduling, automated reminders, online booking (including booking from Facebook), client and pet records, digital forms, integrated payments, payroll and commissions, loyalty, email and text marketing, reputation management, and reporting. Daycare and boarding calendars are available as paid add-ons, so a salon that also boards can run everything in one system.

Who DaySmart Pet Is Built For

DaySmart Pet is best suited for:

• Established storefront salons with a front desk and several groomers who want a deep, proven feature set
• Grooming businesses that also offer daycare or boarding and want those calendars in the same system
• Owners who want phone support. DaySmart lists email, chat and phone support plus training and onboarding on every plan
• Solo groomers who only need one-way reminders and are happy on the $29 Basic plan

It's a harder sell for solo or mobile groomers who want two-way texting on a budget, and for anyone who wants to keep their current card processor, since every DaySmart plan costs more without its payments service.

Key Features

Scheduling & Online Booking

The appointment book shows your schedule by day, week or employee, with drag-and-drop rescheduling and recurring appointments. Online booking runs 24/7 from your website, and DaySmart also supports booking from your Facebook and Instagram pages. Accepted online bookings drop straight into the appointment book, and pop-up notes flag anything your team needs to know about a pet before it arrives.

Automated Reminders

Text and email reminders go out one to seven days before each appointment, and clients can reply to confirm. DaySmart says the confirmation then shows in the appointment book. Ready-for-pickup texts are included too. Every plan comes with a monthly text allowance for these messages, starting at 500 texts on Basic (details in the pricing section below).

Two-Way Texting & Text Marketing

This is the feature to read the fine print on. Real two-way texting, where you and your clients can hold a conversation, plus text marketing campaigns and reputation management are what separate the Deluxe Growth plan from Deluxe. On Basic, two-way texting and text marketing aren't offered at all. On Deluxe, they're available as add-ons, but DaySmart lists both add-ons as "contact for pricing."

Mobile App & Mobile Grooming

DaySmart Pet has native apps on both iOS and Android. The iPhone app holds a 4.8-star average from more than 1,000 ratings on the App Store, one of the best-rated apps in grooming software. From the app you can view, add and edit appointments and pull up grooming, personality and medical notes. For mobile groomers, DaySmart includes a map view with turn-by-turn directions, traffic conditions and estimated travel times. It doesn't advertise automatic route optimization, though, which competitors like Groomsoft and MoeGo do offer.

Payments & POS

DaySmart runs its own payment processing: card readers for in-person checkout, online deposits, stored cards, gift cards, packages and prepaid services, and multi-ticket checkout for households with several pets. DaySmart says it will match or lower your current processing fees when you switch. Its plan pricing also makes the case for switching, because every plan costs $10 to $20 more per month if you don't use DaySmart's payments.

Employees, Payroll & Commissions

Employee management, payroll and employee reminders arrive with the Deluxe plan. The more advanced pay rules (sliding-scale commission, commission exceptions, overtime rules and expense tracking) are reserved for the quote-only Premium Growth plan, which is aimed at larger salons.

Digital Forms, Loyalty & Marketing

Deluxe and above add digital forms for consent and vaccination records, a client loyalty program and email marketing. A website builder ($15/month) and reputation management ($49/month on the plans that don't include it) are optional add-ons.

Daycare & Boarding

If you offer more than grooming, DaySmart sells daycare and boarding calendars for $25/month each. That's a cleaner path than running a second system, though Pawfinity includes boarding and daycare in its plans rather than charging for them separately.

DaySmart Pet Pricing

DaySmart publishes five plans. Each has two prices: a lower one if you use DaySmart's payment processing and a higher one if you don't.

*Lower price assumes you use DaySmart's payment processing. Each tier includes everything in the one before it, plus:

• Basic: scheduling, automated reminders, online booking, the mobile app, integrated payments and reporting
• Deluxe: digital forms, payroll, client loyalty, employee reminders and email marketing
• Deluxe Growth: two-way texting, text marketing and reputation management
• Premium: QuickBooks Online and higher message allowances
• Premium Growth: expense tracking, sliding-scale commission, commission exceptions and overtime rules

Add-ons: daycare and boarding calendars $25/month each, website builder $15/month, reputation management $49/month, and QuickBooks available as an add-on on Deluxe and Deluxe Growth. Two-way texting and text marketing add-ons are "contact for pricing." Email allowances run from 1,000/month on Basic to 10,000 on Premium. DaySmart doesn't publish what extra texts cost once you exceed your plan's allowance.

What You'll Actually Pay

The $29 price is real, but it fits a narrow profile. Here is where common setups land on DaySmart's published prices, assuming you use its payment processing:

• Solo groomer, reminders only: Basic, $29/month. At two to four texts per appointment, 500 texts covers roughly 125–250 appointments a month, so most solo groomers won't run out. This is a genuinely good deal.
• Solo groomer who wants to text back and forth with clients: Basic can't do it. You're looking at Deluxe at $69 plus a two-way texting add-on with no published price, or Deluxe Growth at $149/month.
• Salon with three groomers and a front desk (4 users): Deluxe at $69 + $9 = $78/month with one-way reminders, or Deluxe Growth at $149 + $9 = $158/month with two-way texting.
• Salon that also boards and runs daycare: add $50/month for the two calendars on top of any of the above.
• Using your own card processor: add $10 (Basic) or $20 (every other plan) to any figure above.

For context, Groomer.io includes unlimited two-way texting and unlimited users for $79–99 per storefront or van, and Groomsoft starts at $29.95 with two-way texting included (though it meters texts after the first 100). That's why DaySmart's value depends so heavily on which tier you need. If you want the full picture of what grooming software costs across vendors, see our grooming software cost breakdown.

Important note: Pricing can change. Always verify current rates directly on the DaySmart Pet website before signing up. These figures were checked against DaySmart's pricing page in September 2026.

The Free Trial

DaySmart offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. The trial includes everything in the Deluxe plan. You can start setting up text marketing, reminders and reputation management during the trial, but DaySmart says those require verification that happens after you activate, and card processing isn't switched on until you're a paying customer. One warning: if you don't activate before the trial ends, your trial data is deleted, so don't import your full client list until you're fairly sure.

Pros and Cons

What Users Say

On Capterra, DaySmart Pet holds a 4.3 out of 5 from more than 200 reviews, with customer service rated highest (4.3) and ease of use lowest (4.0). The praise centers on organized client and pet records, fewer double bookings and missed appointments, and friendly, patient support staff. The most frequent complaint is price: reviewers mention paying extra for messaging and feeling pushed toward costly upgrades for features they need. Others say the interface feels busy compared to newer tools, and a few mention occasional outages affecting payments. Those patterns match what the pricing page shows: a capable product whose value depends heavily on landing in the right tier.

Who Should Use DaySmart Pet?

Use DaySmart Pet if: You run an established salon, especially one with daycare or boarding, and you want a proven all-in-one system with native mobile apps and phone support. It's also a good fit for a solo groomer who only needs automated reminders and can live on the $29 Basic plan with DaySmart's payment processing.

Skip DaySmart Pet if: You're a solo or mobile groomer who wants two-way texting without paying $149 a month, you want automatic route optimization, or you're committed to keeping your current card processor. Groomer.io, Groomsoft or GrooMore will usually cost less for that profile.

DaySmart Pet Alternatives

If DaySmart Pet isn't the right fit, these are worth considering:

• Groomer.io — Flat $79–99 per storefront or van with unlimited two-way texting, unlimited users and automated pickup calls
• Groomsoft — $29.95/month with unlimited users and two-way texting, plus route optimization for mobile groomers; texts are metered after the first 100
• GrooMore — $49 or $79/month with 400 or 800 texts bundled, native apps, QuickBooks sync and loyalty tools
• Pawfinity — Flat-rate plans from $60/month with unlimited logins and boarding and daycare built in rather than sold as add-ons
• MoeGo — The most polished option for mobile fleets, with route optimization and Reserve with Google, billed per van or location
• Time To Pet — Per-staff pricing with client and staff apps, for groomers who also sit, walk or board

Not sure which way to go? Our best pet grooming software guide ranks the field by business type, and how to switch grooming software explains what to export before you move.

The Verdict

DaySmart Pet is a serious, mature platform. It does almost everything a grooming salon needs, it adds daycare and boarding when you grow into them, its mobile apps are among the best-rated in the category, and it backs every plan with phone support. For an established salon that's happy with DaySmart's payment processing, it's a safe choice.

The catch is the pricing ladder. The $29 plan is excellent for a solo groomer who only needs reminders, but the moment you want to text clients back and forth, the published price jumps to $149. Several competitors include two-way texting for a fraction of that. Before you sign up, decide whether two-way texting and multiple users are must-haves, then compare DaySmart on the tier you'd actually be on, not the headline price.

Frequently Asked Questions