Mobile pet groomer bathing a dog inside a service van
Free for mobile groomers

Free Mobile Pet Grooming Software,
Forever.

· Pricing verified June 14, 2026

Protect your 6-8 dog day with a card on file, charge automatically the second the groom is done, set the recurring 4-6 week cadence on every dog, and let Menutize text the customer a one-tap Google review link the moment you mark the appointment complete. $0/month. Unlimited users. Forever.

Free CRM, recurring billing & payments — forever. Save $348–$3,816/yr vs MoeGo, Gingr, Pawfinity, Jobber & Housecall Pro subscription fees.

Free mobile pet grooming software, explained plainly

Menutize is free mobile pet grooming software for solo van operators, multi-van routes, and mobile dog and cat stylists. It runs the office side of a grooming business — customer CRM with breed and temperament records, branded estimates, breed-tier invoicing, online card and ACH payments, card-on-file recurring billing for the 4-6 week groom cadence, no-show deposit protection, automated Google review requests, tip collection, estimate and invoice open-tracking, and two-way Google Calendar sync — for $0 per month with unlimited users. There is no monthly fee, no per-seat fee, no per-van fee, and no credit card required to start.

That matters in this trade more than almost any other in home services, because the economics of a grooming van are unusually unforgiving and unusually rich at the same time. A mobile groomer has a hard ceiling at roughly six to eight dogs a day — you cannot stack the schedule the way a salon with four tables can. Every appointment is irreplaceable, so a single no-show does not cost you one slot; it can torch a $700-$900 day. At the same time, every dog you groom is a recurring customer for the rest of its life: a Doodle on a four-week cycle is 13 grooms a year, every year, for as long as you show up on time. The tools that win in mobile grooming are the ones that protect the day from no-shows and lock in that recurring cadence automatically. Menutize was built around exactly those two facts.

The platforms most mobile groomers evaluate split into two camps. The grooming-specific tools — MoeGo, Gingr, and Pawfinity — understand dogs but charge a monthly subscription, and MoeGo and Gingr bill per van or per facility tier. The general field-service tools — Jobber and Housecall Pro — are polished but were not built for breed records, handling notes, or the recurring groom cadence, and they charge per user once you add a helper. None of the five offers a genuine free-forever plan; you get a 7-to-14-day trial or a sales demo, then the card is charged. For a one-to-two-van operation, those subscriptions add up to roughly $350-$3,800 per year before a single dog gets on the table. Menutize earns instead through a transparent 0.5% fee on payments you actually process, so the software costs you nothing in a slow week.

One more shift worth naming: how grooming customers find you is changing. A growing share of pet owners now start with an AI answer — asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews "how much does mobile dog grooming cost" or "best mobile groomer near me" — before they ever click a website. Those answers are assembled from structured, factual, citation-ready content and from your local presence: your Google Business Profile, your review count and recency, and your visibility in the Map Pack. The practical takeaway for a grooming van is that the two highest-return investments are (1) a steady, automated flow of recent Google reviews after every groom and (2) a frictionless recurring-billing loop that keeps your existing dogs on the calendar. Menutize is built to drive both, which is why it fits where local search is heading better than a heavier facility platform that bills you monthly for boarding features your van will never use.

The rest of this page covers what is free, the four grooming-specific workflows Menutize is built around, a full side-by-side comparison against MoeGo, Gingr, Pawfinity, Jobber, and Housecall Pro with verified 2026 pricing, a plain-language read on each competitor, real mobile-grooming price ranges by breed, a five-question buying guide, a day-in-the-workflow walkthrough, an honest section on when a facility or enterprise platform is the right call, and the questions mobile groomers actually ask before they sign up.

What's Free, Forever

Everything you need to run a mobile pet grooming business — not a feature gated behind an upgrade. No credit card to start. No "trial expired" email in 7 days.

Customer & Pet CRM

Every dog, breed, temperament note, photo, and groom history in one place. Searchable. Unlimited users, no per-seat fees.

Card-on-File Recurring Billing

Set the 4-6 week cadence per dog and charge the card on file automatically the day of each groom. No chasing payment.

Breed-Tier Invoicing

Auto-generate clean invoices the moment a groom wraps, priced by breed tier. No separate QuickBooks license required.

Card & ACH Payments

Customers pay online or via card on file. Money lands in 1-2 business days. ACH at 0.8% (capped at $5) for larger packages.

Google Review Requests

Auto-text every happy pet parent a one-tap review link the moment you mark the groom complete.

Tip Collection

Built-in 15/20/25% tip prompts at checkout. Mobile grooming averages 15-25% — tips route straight to the operator.

Built for the way mobile grooming actually works.

Mobile grooming isn't a salon. You have a hard ceiling at 6-8 dogs a day, you live or die by the recurring 4-6 week cadence on every customer, one no-show torches a $700-$900 day, and a misread temperament note can mean a bite. The free plan is built around those four facts — not generic salon software with a "mobile" sticker on it.

Most "free" small-business tools are an invoice template with a Stripe button bolted on — fine for a freelance designer, useless the second you have a 90-pound matted Doodle on the table, a "this dog bites" note you forgot to read, and the next driveway 12 minutes away. Menutize was built around the four workflows below: the ones that actually decide whether a one-van route makes money this month or just burns fuel.

Card-on-File Recurring Billing for the 4-6 Week Cadence

Mobile pet grooming has the highest customer LTV in the trades because every dog is on a 4-6 week schedule for the rest of its life — 8 to 13 grooms per dog per year for as long as you keep showing up. Set the cadence on each customer record (every 4 weeks for a Doodle, every 6 weeks for a Shih Tzu), require a card on file at first appointment, and Menutize charges the card the day of each groom and rebooks the next slot. You stop calling people to remind them they're due and you stop chasing payment three days later. For a fully automated "your dog is due in 2 weeks" SMS reminder sequence, pair this with the optional $19/mo Automations add-on — the recurring cadence and card-on-file billing themselves are 100% free.

No-Show Deposit Protection on the 6-8 Dog Day

A salon with four tables can backfill a cancelled slot. A mobile van cannot — you drove there, you blocked the time, and a 9am no-show usually means that whole window is dead. With a hard ceiling at 6-8 dogs, one no-show is a $700-$900 hit, not a $120 one. Menutize lets you require a card on file before the first appointment is confirmed and pre-authorize a deposit at booking, so a customer who flakes is on the hook for the policy you set. The card sits securely with Stripe and you charge it at the end of the groom. Most groomers tell us the no-show problem just disappears the week they switch this on — the customer behaves differently when there's real money on the line.

Breed, Temperament & Photo Records on Every Dog

Every customer record stores the dog's name, breed, age, weight, allergies, temperament tags (aggressive, anxious, senior, muzzle-required), prior nicks, and free-text handling notes. Pre- and post-groom photos attach directly to the job — matted "before," de-shed pile, finished "glamour shot." Photos go on the invoice automatically (pet parents post them on Instagram, which is free marketing) and a year later when the owner asks "do you remember the cut you did last summer," you have the answer in your pocket. The handling notes surface automatically when you pull up the customer for the next appointment, so a backup groomer or helper knows what's behind the door before it opens — the difference between a routine groom and a bite, a vet bill, and a lost client.

Estimate & Invoice Open-Tracking

Pet owners are some of the worst payers in the service trades, and not because they're broke — they just genuinely forget. Menutize logs every estimate email open, estimate page view, invoice email open, and invoice view, then notifies you the moment it happens. You stop guessing whether Mrs. Henderson actually saw the $145 invoice for Bailey's groom yesterday or whether it's still in her inbox under three Amazon shipping emails. If she opened it twice and didn't pay, that's a different conversation than if she never opened it at all. Most field-service tools either don't ship invoice open-tracking or gate it behind a paid tier — Menutize ships it on the free plan because for groomers it's a flagship, not a nice-to-have.

Three Things Every Mobile Grooming Pro Wishes They Had

Most "free" software either nags you to upgrade or leaves out the features that actually move the needle. Menutize makes the three biggest ones core to the free plan.

Auto Google Reviews

The moment you mark a groom complete, the customer gets a one-tap review link by text. No copy-paste, no awkward ask in the driveway. Mobile groomers see the biggest review-volume jump of any trade — pet parents love showing off the after photo. The next pet owner is searching "mobile dog groomer near me" and clicking the top three Map Pack results, where review count and recency are among the heaviest ranking signals. Automating the ask after every clean groom compounds your local ranking month over month.

Included free, forever.

Tip Requests at Checkout

Customers see a 15/20/25% tip prompt right at payment — the same flow they're used to from Square or DoorDash. Mobile grooming is one of the highest-tipping trades there is: the owner just watched you spend two hours on their dog in the driveway and wants to say thank you. On a $120 groom that's $18-30 a dog, $108-180 a day on a 6-dog route — money you were leaving on the table when you didn't ask. Tips route straight to the operator, no platform skim.

Included free, forever.

Google Calendar Two-Way Sync

Every booked groom lands in your real Google Calendar, color-coded if you want. Block time on your phone — the parts run, your own dog's vet appointment, your kid's recital — and Menutize sees it and won't let a customer book over you. Move a job on the calendar and the customer's confirmation updates. Most pet-grooming CRMs lock calendar sync behind a paid upgrade; Menutize includes two-way Google Calendar sync at $0/mo.

Included free, forever.

Menutize vs MoeGo vs Gingr vs Pawfinity vs Jobber vs Housecall Pro

A feature-by-feature comparison for mobile pet grooming businesses, with pricing verified directly from each vendor's pricing page on June 14, 2026. Menutize is the only option with a genuine free-forever plan and unlimited users.

Feature Menutize Free MoeGo Gingr Pawfinity Jobber Housecall Pro
Starting price $0/mo, forever $49/mo, Basic (1 staff) $100/mo annual ($109 m/m), Spa $55/mo annual ($60 m/m), Groom & Train $29/mo annual ($49 m/m), Core $59/mo annual ($79 m/m), Basic
Mid / most-popular tier n/a — one free plan Growth $99/mo per van Play $142/mo annual ($169 m/m) Royal $100/mo annual ($110 m/m) Grow $149–$299/mo annual Essentials $149/mo annual ($189 m/m)
Top tier n/a Ultimate $159/mo per van Stay $154/mo annual ($179 m/m) Royal Package (all features) Plus $529/mo annual ($699 m/m) MAX $299/mo annual ($329 m/m)
Free-forever plan Yes No (trial only) No (demo only) No (7-day trial) No (14-day trial) No (14-day trial)
Users / vans included Unlimited, $0/user 1 (Basic); unlimited staff per van (Growth+) By facility tier Unlimited logins, all tiers 1–15 by tier; +$29/user/mo 1–8 by tier; MAX +$35/user/mo
Per-van billing No — unlimited vans free Yes ($99–$159/mo per van) Facility-based No (flat per account) Per-user, not per-van Per-user, not per-van
Card-on-file recurring billing Yes — free Yes (paid plan) Yes (paid plan) Yes (paid plan) Yes (paid plan) Yes (paid plan)
No-show deposit protection Yes (card & deposit) — free Yes (paid plan) Yes (paid plan) Yes (paid plan) Deposits (paid plan) Deposits (paid plan)
Breed / temperament records + photos Yes — free Yes (pet profiles) Yes (pet profiles) Yes (pet profiles) No (generic notes) No (generic notes)
ACH at 0.8% (capped $5) Yes — free Card-focused; varies Card-focused; varies Card-focused; varies Card-focused; varies Card-focused; varies
Estimate & invoice open-tracking Yes — free Limited Limited Limited Higher tier Higher tier
Automated Google review requests Yes — free Review booster (paid) Varies (paid) Review booster (paid) Add-on / higher tier Higher tier
Tip collection at checkout Yes (15/20/25%) — free Yes (paid plan) Yes (paid plan) Yes (paid plan) Rarely supported Rarely supported
Two-way Google Calendar sync Yes — free Yes (paid plan) Yes (paid plan) Yes (paid plan) Higher tier Higher tier
Breed-tier pricing menu (Small/Med/Large/Giant) Yes — build it free Yes (paid plan) Yes (paid plan) Yes (paid plan) Via custom line items (paid) Via custom line items (paid)
Est. 1st-year software cost (1 owner + 1 van) $0 ~$588 (Basic) to ~$1,188 (Growth/van) ~$1,200+ (Spa annual) ~$660 (Groom & Train annual) ~$348+ (Core; +$29/mo 2nd user) ~$708+ (Basic; 2nd user needs Essentials)

Pricing verified from each vendor's official pricing page on June 14, 2026. MoeGo: Basic $49/mo (1 staff), Growth $99/mo per van (unlimited staff), Ultimate $159/mo per van, Enterprise custom; no free-forever plan, trial only. Gingr: Spa $100/mo annual ($109 month-to-month), Play $142/mo annual ($169 m/m), Stay $154/mo annual ($179 m/m, integrated payments), Enterprise quote; no free plan, demo only. Pawfinity: Groom & Train $55/mo annual ($60 m/m), Stay & Play $55/mo annual ($60 m/m), Royal Package $100/mo annual ($110 m/m); unlimited clients/pets/appointments/logins on all tiers; 7-day free trial, no free-forever plan. Jobber: Core $29/mo annual ($49 m/m), Connect $99–$149/mo annual, Grow $149–$299/mo annual, Plus $529/mo annual; +$29/user/mo; 14-day trial only. Housecall Pro: Basic $59/mo annual ($79 m/m), Essentials $149/mo annual ($189 m/m), MAX $299/mo annual ($329 m/m, +$35/extra user); 14-day trial only. Card-processing fees apply on all platforms; Menutize uses standard Stripe rates plus a transparent 0.5% fee on payments processed. First-year estimates assume annual-prepay pricing where offered and exclude processing fees.

Menutize vs each platform, in plain language

The table above is the quick scan. Here is the honest, vendor-by-vendor read for a mobile groomer deciding where to put the office work — what each tool costs, who it's actually for, and where Menutize wins or loses.

Menutize vs MoeGo

MoeGo is the most recognizable name in grooming-specific software, and it is a genuinely strong product built by people who understand dogs. The friction for a small mobile operator is the billing structure. Basic is $49/mo but includes a single staff member, so the moment you add a bather or helper you're pushed to Growth at $99/mo — and critically, Growth and Ultimate are billed per van. A two-van route is paying $198-$318/mo, or roughly $2,376-$3,816/yr, before processing fees. There is no free-forever plan, only a trial.

For a one-to-two-van shop, Menutize matches MoeGo on the features that actually matter day to day — card-on-file recurring billing, pet profiles with breed and temperament records, online payments, tips — at $0/mo with no per-van fee. MoeGo's edge is its mature ecosystem: deeper marketing automation, built-in financing (MoeGo Capital), and a large user base. Pick MoeGo if you're scaling a multi-van fleet and want its marketing and capital tooling. Pick Menutize if you want the core grooming workflow at $0/mo with unlimited vans and seats.

Menutize vs Gingr

Gingr is pet-care software built primarily for facilities — it shines when one business runs grooming, daycare, and boarding together. Its grooming-relevant Spa plan is $100/mo on an annual plan ($109 month-to-month); Play (daycare) is $142/mo annual and Stay (boarding) is $154/mo annual. There's no free plan, only a demo, and the platform's real depth is in kennel-room management, capacity planning, and overnight reservations.

That depth is exactly the problem for a mobile van: you're paying for boarding and daycare infrastructure you will never touch. A grooming-only mobile operator using Gingr is buying a facility platform to run a route. Menutize is built for the route — card-on-file cadence, no-show protection, breed-tier pricing, reviews — at $0/mo with no contract. Pick Gingr if you operate a brick-and-mortar with boarding and daycare alongside grooming. Pick Menutize if your business is a grooming van and you want to stop paying for kennels you don't have.

Menutize vs Pawfinity

Pawfinity is grooming-specific and the best-value paid option of the three pet platforms here. Its Groom & Train plan is $55/mo on an annual plan ($60 month-to-month), the Stay & Play plan is the same $55/mo ($60 m/m), and the all-features Royal Package is $100/mo annual ($110 m/m). A real strength: every tier includes unlimited clients, pets, appointments, and employee logins, with a 7-day free trial — but no free-forever plan, so the meter starts after a week.

Pawfinity and Menutize are the closest match in philosophy: both refuse to charge per seat. Pawfinity's edge is built-in routing and mapping for the van and its longer track record in grooming. Menutize's edge is the price ($0 vs $660+/yr), plus Google review automation, tip prompts, and estimate open-tracking that are core to the free plan, and ACH at 0.8% capped at $5 for larger packages. Pick Pawfinity if route optimization is your top priority and the subscription is fine. Pick Menutize if you want the same unlimited-seat model at $0/mo.

Menutize vs Jobber & Housecall Pro

Jobber and Housecall Pro are excellent general field-service platforms, and plenty of groomers land on them because they're heavily marketed. The catch is that neither is built for dogs. Jobber's Core is $29/mo annually ($49 month-to-month) for one user, with the popular Grow tier at $149-$299/mo annually and extra users at $29/mo each. Housecall Pro's Basic is $59/mo annually ($79 m/m) for one user, Essentials is $149/mo annually for up to five, and MAX is $299/mo annually with extra seats at $35/mo. Both offer only a 14-day trial.

The deeper issue is fit: neither stores breed, weight, allergy, or temperament records as first-class data — you're shoehorning a "this dog bites" note into a generic customer field, and there's no Small/Medium/Large/Giant breed-tier menu out of the box. Menutize is $0/mo, unlimited users, and built around the grooming workflow those generalist tools weren't designed for. Pick Jobber or Housecall Pro if you run multiple unrelated trades and want one generic tool for all of them. Pick Menutize if you groom dogs and want software that actually knows what a Goldendoodle on a 4-week cycle is.

What mobile grooming actually costs — and how to price it fast

Mobile grooming prices by size, coat, and condition more than anything else. A clean-coated small dog and a matted giant breed are two completely different jobs, and the convenience premium of grooming in the driveway typically adds on top of salon rates. The ranges below reflect typical U.S. cost guidance — use them as a starting framework, then build your own breed tiers into a Menutize service menu so you can price on-site in two taps.

Breed tier (size) Typical mobile full-groom range What moves the number
Small (Yorkie, Mini Poodle, Maltese) $55–$90 Quick bath and tidy on a clean coat; price climbs with mats, sensitive skin, or a wiggly senior.
Medium (Cocker, Beagle, mini Doodle) $75–$120 More coat and a fuller groom; Doodle coats mat fast and add de-shed or de-matting time.
Large (Goldendoodle, Standard Poodle, Aussie) $100–$180 Longer table time, heavier coats, and full hand-scissoring on Doodles push the high end.
Giant (Newfoundland, Bernese, Great Pyrenees) $150–$300+ Double coats and sheer size; a heavy de-shed on a blown-coat giant can run the full appointment.
De-matting / severe condition surcharge +$1–$3 / minute or flat add-on Heavily matted coats are billed for the extra time and the welfare risk; some groomers charge a humanity-cut flat fee.

These are illustrative industry ranges, not Menutize quotes — your real numbers depend on your market, your coat-type experience, and the specific dog. The point is structural: grooming prices have too many variables (size, coat, condition, temperament, add-ons) to quote reliably without a system, which is exactly why a breed-tier menu with stored pet records closes more work and protects your margin. In Menutize, set up "Small," "Medium," "Large," and "Giant" full-groom tiers with your own base prices, then add line items per job: de-shed, flea bath, nail grind, anal glands, teeth brushing, and a de-matting surcharge. Each customer record stores the dog's breed and tier, so the invoice auto-pulls the right base price and you never do coat-type math in the van between dogs.

The same logic applies to the add-on and package services that drive a route's profitability. The de-shed on a double-coated breed, the nail grind, the flea-and-tick bath, the teeth brushing, and the sanitary trim each carry their own time and product cost, so they belong on their own line items rather than buried in a single number. Better still, package them: present a "Bath & Tidy," a "Full Groom," and a "Full Groom + De-shed" tier side by side on the estimate, and let the owner tap the one they want from their phone. Visible good/better/best comparison consistently nudges the average ticket upward, because the value difference is on the customer's screen instead of explained over the phone — and because the recurring cadence is already set, that higher tier rebooks itself every 4-6 weeks for the life of the dog.

How to choose mobile pet grooming software

Most buying guides bury the decision under a feature checklist. For a mobile grooming business, five questions settle it. Answer these and the right tool is usually obvious.

1. How much of your revenue is recurring?

Almost all of it. A loyal book of dogs on 4-6 week cycles is the entire business, which makes card-on-file recurring billing the single highest-leverage feature — far more important than marketing dashboards or route analytics for a small van. Any tool you pick must let you set a cadence per dog and auto-charge the card the day of each groom, without you calling to remind anyone they're due.

2. How exposed are you to no-shows?

Completely. With a hard ceiling at 6-8 dogs and no way to backfill a cancelled slot from a waiting room, one no-show is a $700-$900 hit. Requiring a card on file and a deposit is non-negotiable insurance, and it should be included rather than gated behind a higher tier. This is where a free tool with deposit protection beats a subscription that charges you monthly to access the same feature.

3. Does the tool actually understand dogs?

This is where the generalist platforms fall down. You need breed and temperament records, weight and allergy fields, handling notes, and breed-tier pricing as first-class data — not a generic "customer note." A misread "this dog bites" tag is a bite, a vet bill, and a lost client. Grooming-specific tools (MoeGo, Gingr, Pawfinity) and Menutize have this; Jobber and Housecall Pro don't, natively.

4. Do you depend on Google reviews to fill the van?

If "mobile dog groomer near me" is how new clients find you — and for most one-van operators it is — then automated post-groom review requests are not optional. Mobile grooming earns more reviews per job than almost any trade because owners love the after photo. A tool that fires a one-tap review link the moment you mark a groom complete, included rather than sold as an add-on, compounds your Map Pack ranking month after month.

5. How many vans and seats are you really paying for?

Count the owner, the bather, the helper, and the second van if you have one. Per-seat and per-van billing is where the paid platforms get expensive fast — $29-$49 per user (Jobber, Housecall Pro) or $99-$159 per van (MoeGo). If you have more than one person or van touching the system, unlimited-user, unlimited-van pricing changes the total cost materially — which is where Menutize's free model pulls ahead.

The right pick by business stage

Solo operator

You + one van

You're the dispatcher, bather, stylist, and bookkeeper. You need recurring billing, no-show protection, breed records, reviews, and a calendar — not a marketing suite. Menutize Free covers all of it at $0/mo, and a per-van subscription is dead weight at your volume.

Two-to-three vans

A small fleet, one owner

Now you're coordinating multiple vans and giving helpers logins. Per-van and per-seat fees start to bite hard on the paid platforms. Menutize Free still fits — unlimited users, unlimited vans, breed-tier pricing, recurring cadence — with no per-van tax.

Facility / multi-service

Grooming + boarding + daycare

If you run a brick-and-mortar with overnight boarding, daycare capacity, and kennel-room management, a free mobile-focused tool stops being enough. Gingr (facility depth) or MoeGo (multi-van scale + marketing) is the right investment at this stage.

A day in the workflow

It's 7:50am and the van is loaded for a six-dog route. Before you pull out of the driveway you open Menutize and glance at the day: first stop is Bailey, a Standard Poodle on a four-week cycle, tagged "anxious — muzzle for nail grind," with last month's glamour shot on the record. You already know what cut to do and how to handle him before you knock, because it's all on the customer record from the appointments before this one.

At the first house you do the full groom, snap a "before" of the slightly matted ears and an "after" of the finished cut, and mark the appointment complete from your phone. The card on file — required when Bailey's owner first booked — charges automatically for the Large-tier full groom plus the nail grind line item, the tip prompt pops on her phone and she taps 20%, and the next four-week slot rebooks itself onto your Google Calendar. The auto Google review request texts her a one-tap link while you're still wiping down the table. You never sent an invoice, never chased a payment, never asked for the review out loud.

Stop three is the kind that used to ruin a day: a no-show. The owner forgot, isn't home, won't answer. On a six-dog ceiling that's a $140 hole you can't backfill — except the card-on-file policy you set means the cancellation fee charges automatically, so the slot isn't a total loss and the customer thinks twice next time. You move to stop four early.

Mid-route a new lead texts the booking-page link she found on your Google Business Profile. You send her a quick estimate with the Small / Medium / Large tiers; Menutize notifies you she opened it twice within the hour, so you follow up at exactly the right moment instead of guessing, and she books with a card on file before you've finished stop five.

By the time you're back in the driveway at 4pm you've done five grooms and collected one cancellation fee, every payment has already cleared to your account, two fresh five-star reviews have posted with after photos, and all five completed dogs are rebooked for their next cycle — all run from your phone, all on the free plan, with nothing billed to your card for software whether the route was full or not.

When not to use Menutize for mobile pet grooming

Menutize is built for mobile grooming — solo van operators and small multi-van routes. It is honestly the wrong tool for a full-service pet-care facility. If you run a brick-and-mortar that combines grooming with overnight boarding, doggy daycare with capacity limits, and kennel-room assignment, you need software built for that physical operation. Gingr was purpose-built for boarding, daycare, and facility capacity management, with kennel-room tracking and overnight-stay billing that a grooming van will never use — if that's your business, Gingr earns its subscription.

Similarly, if you're scaling a large multi-van fleet and your priorities are advanced route optimization across many vehicles, built-in lending and financing, and a mature marketing-automation suite, the grooming-specific incumbents like MoeGo and Pawfinity have deeper tooling in those specific areas, and their per-van pricing is designed for exactly that scale.

For everyone else — the owner-operator who is also the bather, stylist, dispatcher, and bookkeeper on one or a few vans — Menutize covers the workflow that protects the day and keeps the recurring book full at $0/mo. Start free, and move up only if you actually outgrow it.

Why the free-plan math works in this trade

Three things the public data makes clear about mobile-grooming economics — and why a $0/mo tool with recurring billing, no-show protection, and reviews built in is a structural advantage, not a gimmick.

$348–$3,816

Annual subscription you avoid

The range of first-year base subscription fees across Jobber, Pawfinity, Housecall Pro, MoeGo (1-2 vans), and Gingr (verified pricing pages, June 2026). Menutize's free plan removes the fixed software bill entirely — you pay only the 0.5% on payments you actually process.

8–13×/yr

Grooms per dog, every year

A dog on a 4-6 week cycle is groomed 8 to 13 times a year for the life of the relationship — the highest recurring frequency in the trades cluster. That makes automated card-on-file billing the single biggest lever on a mobile route's revenue, which is exactly what Menutize puts on the free plan.

Top 3

Where pet owners click

Local "mobile dog groomer near me" searches are dominated by Google's Map Pack, where review count, rating, and recency are among the heaviest ranking factors per published local-SEO research. Automated review requests after every groom are the cheapest way to climb it.

Figures above are composites drawn from public vendor pricing pages (verified June 14, 2026), standard mobile-grooming cadence data, and published local-SEO research — not testimonials from named businesses. Your results depend on your market, your pricing, and how consistently you use the recurring-billing and review tools.

Mobile Pet Grooming Software Questions, Answered

The ones mobile groomers actually ask before they sign up.

Is Menutize really free for mobile pet groomers?
Yes. Menutize is free forever for mobile pet groomers, with no monthly fee, no per-seat fee, and no credit card required to sign up. The free plan includes CRM with breed and temperament notes, branded estimates, invoicing, online card and ACH payments, card-on-file recurring billing for the 4-6 week cadence, no-show deposit protection, automated Google review requests, tip collection, estimate and invoice open-tracking, and two-way Google Calendar sync. The only cost is standard payment processing — roughly 2.9% + 30¢ on cards and 0.8% (capped at $5) on ACH, plus a transparent 0.5% platform fee on payments processed. By comparison, MoeGo starts at $49/mo, Jobber at $29/mo, Housecall Pro at $59/mo, Pawfinity at $60/mo, and Gingr at $109/mo — all billed whether or not a single dog gets on your table that month.
How does Menutize compare to MoeGo for mobile pet grooming?
MoeGo is the best-known grooming-specific platform and it's genuinely good software. Its Basic plan is $49/mo and includes a single staff member; Growth is $99/mo per van with unlimited staff; Ultimate is $159/mo per van; Enterprise is custom-quoted. There's no free-forever plan, only a trial. The friction for a solo or two-van operator is the per-van billing — every additional van is another $99–$159/mo. Menutize is $0/mo with unlimited users and no per-van fee, so a two-van route pays nothing in software fees versus roughly $1,188–$3,816/yr on MoeGo. Both do card-on-file recurring billing and breed records; Menutize ships estimate open-tracking and Google review automation on the free plan rather than gating them.
How does Menutize compare to Gingr for mobile pet grooming?
Gingr is pet-care software built primarily for facilities — grooming, daycare, and boarding under one roof. Its Spa plan (the grooming tier) is $109/mo month-to-month or $100/mo billed annually; Play is $169/mo ($142 annual); Stay is $179/mo with integrated payments ($154 annual); Enterprise is quote-only. There's no free plan, only a demo. Gingr's depth in kennel and boarding management is overkill for a solo mobile van that never boards a dog overnight. Menutize is $0/mo with no contract and is built for the route, not the facility. If you run a brick-and-mortar with boarding and daycare, Gingr fits; if you run a grooming van, Menutize covers the workflow free.
How does Menutize compare to Pawfinity for mobile pet grooming?
Pawfinity is grooming-specific and one of the better-value paid options. Its Groom & Train plan is $60/mo month-to-month or $55/mo billed annually, the Stay & Play plan is the same $60/mo ($55 annual), and the full Royal Package is $110/mo ($100 annual). Every tier includes unlimited clients, pets, appointments, and employee logins, which is a genuine strength, and it offers a 7-day free trial — but no free-forever plan. Menutize matches Pawfinity on unlimited users and breed-tier records at $0/mo, and earns only the 0.5% on payments you process. Pawfinity's edge is its built-in routing and mapping; Menutize's edge is the price and the included Google review automation, tip prompts, and open-tracking.
How does Menutize compare to Jobber and Housecall Pro for mobile grooming?
Jobber and Housecall Pro are general field-service platforms, not grooming-specific, but many mobile groomers evaluate them. Jobber's Core plan is $29/mo annually ($49 month-to-month) for one user, and its popular Grow tier runs $149–$299/mo annually with extra users at $29/mo each. Housecall Pro's Basic is $59/mo annually ($79 month-to-month) for one user, Essentials is $149/mo annually for up to five, and MAX is $299/mo annually with extra seats at $35/mo. Neither has a free plan — only 14-day trials — and neither stores breed or temperament records natively. Menutize is $0/mo, unlimited users, and built around the grooming-specific workflow (breed tiers, card-on-file cadence, handling notes) those generalist tools weren't designed for.
Can I require a card on file before I add a dog to the schedule?
Yes. You can require every new client to save a card before their first appointment is confirmed. The card sits on file securely with Stripe, and you charge it at the end of the groom — or pre-authorize a deposit at booking if you've been burned by no-shows. Most mobile groomers stop losing whole-day revenue to last-minute cancellations the same week they switch this on, because the customer knows there's real money on the line. A no-show on a 6-dog day is a $700–$900 hit; the card on file is the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy. The deposit and card-on-file capture are both included on the free plan.
Can I bill the same dog every 4-6 weeks automatically?
Yes. Set the recurring cadence on the customer record — every 4 weeks for a Doodle, every 6 weeks for a Shih Tzu, every 8 weeks for a low-maintenance breed — and Menutize charges the card on file the day of each groom and rebooks the next slot. This is the highest-leverage feature in mobile grooming, because every dog is a recurring customer for the rest of its life: 8 to 13 grooms per dog per year for as long as you keep showing up. You stop calling people to remind them they're due and you stop chasing payment three days after the appointment. For a fully automated "your dog is due in 2 weeks" SMS reminder drip, pair the free plan with the optional $19/mo Automations add-on; the recurring cadence and card-on-file billing themselves are 100% free.
How do I price by breed without rebuilding the menu every time?
Build your service menu once with breed-tier pricing — Small (Yorkie, Mini Poodle, Maltese), Medium (Cocker, Beagle, mini Doodle), Large (Goldendoodle, Standard Poodle, Aussie), Giant (Newfie, Bernese, Great Pyrenees). Each customer record stores the dog's breed and tier, so when you write up the invoice it auto-pulls the right base price. Add line items for de-shed, flea bath, nail grind, anal glands, and teeth brushing as they happen — no math in the van between dogs, no wondering what you charge a 70-pound Goldendoodle. You can also present good/better/best tiers on an estimate — Bath & Tidy, Full Groom, Full Groom + De-shed — and the owner taps the one they want from their phone. All free.
Can I see when a customer opens an estimate or invoice?
Yes. Menutize logs every estimate email open, estimate page view, invoice email open, and invoice view, then notifies you the moment it happens. Pet owners are some of the worst payers in the service trades — not because they're broke, but because they genuinely forget. Now you know whether Mrs. Henderson actually opened the $145 invoice for Bailey's groom yesterday or whether it's still buried in her inbox under three Amazon shipping emails. If she opened it twice and didn't pay, that's a different conversation than if she never opened it at all. Most field-service tools either don't ship open-tracking or gate it behind a higher tier; Menutize includes it on the free plan because for groomers it's a flagship, not a nice-to-have.
Where do I store the "this dog bites" or "cannot be muzzled" notes?
Right on the customer record — a free-text temperament and handling notes field plus structured tags for aggressive, anxious, senior, special-handling, or muzzle-required. Notes show up automatically when you pull up the customer for the next appointment, so a helper or backup groomer knows what they're walking into before the van door opens. The same field handles allergies, prior nicks, sensitive areas, post-bath itchy spots, and "cannot be left alone with the cat in the kitchen." It's searchable too, so you can pull up every senior or muzzle-required dog on the route in one click. On a trade where a misread temperament note can mean a bite, a vet bill, and a lost client, having the history in your pocket before you knock is not optional — and it's free.
How does the tip prompt work, and do grooming customers really tip?
Mobile pet grooming is one of the highest-tipping service trades in the country. The customer just watched you spend two hours on their dog in their driveway, the groom is gorgeous, and they want to say thank you — if you give them the way to do it. Customers see a 15/20/25% tip prompt right at the payment screen, the same flow they're used to from Square and DoorDash. Average tip in mobile grooming runs 15–25% of the ticket, so on a $120 full groom that's $18–30 per dog, or $108–180 a day on a 6-dog route you would otherwise leave on the table. Tips route straight to the account the operator picks — no platform skim, no "we'll process this next month." Included free.
How does the automated Google review request work?
The moment you mark a groom complete, the customer gets a one-tap text link straight to your Google Business Profile review screen — no copy-paste, no "search for our business name," no awkward ask in the driveway. You connect your Google Business Profile once during onboarding, which takes about two minutes. Mobile groomers see the biggest review-volume jump of any trade, because happy pet parents love showing off the after photo. Review count and recency are among the strongest local-ranking signals, and "mobile dog groomer near me" is how new clients find you, so automating the ask after every clean groom compounds your Map Pack position month over month. It's one of the highest-leverage things a one-van operator can do, and it's free.

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