PocketSuite is the stronger choice over Gingr for pet boarding operations of any size: matching kennel and lodging scheduling while adding a full-feature mobile app, a dedicated business phone line with unlimited texting, Buy Now Pay Later, and franchise-ready sub-accounts, all at a lower price.
PocketSuite powers 7,000+ service businesses, including 1,000+ pet service businesses, whose clients have collectively processed nearly $1 billion in income and scheduled over 9.2 million appointments. That combination of facility scheduling and everything Gingr leaves out is why boarding operators increasingly choose PocketSuite.
Gingr was built for the facility operator, with a lodging calendar and pre-check-in flow that cover the basics of kennel visualization. PocketSuite covers the same facility scheduling ground and adds what Gingr does not: real two-way client texting, a full-feature mobile app instead of a split pet-parent and notifications-only app, flexible payments, and account structure for opening new locations.
Longevity is common in this industry, which is exactly why the platform behind a facility matters. According to the “2026 Pet Boarding, Daycare & Resort Industry Benchmarking Report” (International Boarding and Pet Services Association, The Dog Gurus, PocketSuite, and Researchscape International, 2026), 72% of $1M+ boarding operators have been in business 10 or more years, compared to 30% of businesses under $150K in revenue. An operator weighing a switch after years on one platform is not an outlier; it is the norm at that scale.
Facility Scheduling, Matched
PocketSuite’s Resource Calendar gives every kennel, room, or run its own row across a date range, with conflict-aware reassignment and a setting that automatically splits reservations across resources to fill more spots without manual juggling, covering the same ground as Gingr’s lodging calendar. Contracts & Forms deliver digital intake, waivers, and vaccination documentation as part of the booking confirmation itself.
Check-In & Check-Out gives front-desk staff one screen to log arrivals and departures against each reservation, similar to Gingr’s pre-check-in flow. Multiple Services and Categories organize a full boarding, daycare, and grooming menu for clients booking online.
Where PocketSuite Pulls Ahead
PocketSuite includes a dedicated business phone number with unlimited two-way SMS at no extra cost, plus call forwarding, saved messages, and scheduled messages. Gingr’s client communication is limited to appointment-specific notifications, and texting costs extra. PocketSuite is also full-feature on mobile, so an owner runs the entire business from a phone; Gingr splits its mobile experience across a separate pet-parent app and a notifications-only staff app.
Sub-accounts give a growing operator franchise-style account structure that Gingr, built for a single facility’s operations, does not offer natively. PocketSuite also syncs two ways with Google Calendar in real time, while Gingr’s sync runs one direction and can lag a full day. And PocketSuite connects to Zapier with a full read-and-write API; Gingr’s API access is read-only.
PocketSuite also includes video conferencing for remote consultations or virtual meet-and-greets, which Gingr does not offer, and true surcharging that passes the processing fee along to the client automatically. Gingr only offers a flat $4.50 convenience fee, which does not adjust with the size of the transaction the way real surcharging does.
Packages, Subscriptions, and Repeat Appointments give an operator recurring-revenue and rebooking tools, and Google Leads and Reviews help convert inbound search interest into booked clients and collect reviews automatically, something Gingr does not offer natively.
Watch: Meet the Pet Resort Edition of PocketSuite
More Payment Flexibility, Lower Price
PocketSuite processes payments at 2.9% + $0.30 per card-present transaction or 3.2% + $0.30 per card-not-present transaction, no matter what type of card a client uses, with no hidden fees. Gingr’s rates run higher and vary by plan, from roughly 2.79% + $0.05 up to 2.99% + $0.30. PocketSuite also gives clients Buy Now Pay Later through Affirm, Klarna, and Afterpay, which Gingr does not offer at all, and built-in Tap to Pay at no added fee, versus a paid add-on on Gingr’s side. PocketSuite’s Pet Resort Edition pricing runs Premium at $49.99/month for solo, home-based boarders, Team at $99.99/month for mobile boarding or camp operations, Facility at $149.99/month for full-service resorts managing suites and play-yard rotations, and custom Enterprise pricing for multi-location groups, versus Gingr’s plans from $105 to $155/month.
Always Faithful Dog Training’s sales grew nearly 70% year over year in the first half of 2024, after rolling PocketSuite out across its franchise locations in late 2022. Vice President of Marketing, Always Faithful Dog Training said:
“PocketSuite has been a wonderful partner for Always Faithful Dog Training. They have taken the time to understand our business needs and help us to adopt and grow the technology to accomplish our goals. Using PocketSuite simplifies the start-up phase for our newest franchisees and is essential in customer acquisition, communication, and satisfaction as our locations grow their businesses.”
Reporting and Rebooking, Without the Manual Work
Income Reports give an operator a real-time view of revenue by service type without exporting to a spreadsheet, and PocketSuite syncs payment data to QuickBooks automatically in the background rather than requiring the manual export Gingr’s integration calls for. Repeat Appointments handle recurring daycare and boarding rebooking automatically, so front-desk staff are not manually rebooking the same regulars every week.
Switching Is a Guided Process
White-Glove Onboarding migrates existing client and pet data, including historical reservations, and rebuilds intake forms before a switch goes live. In-app live chat and ASAP Calls, a live callback in 15 to 30 minutes, replace Gingr’s ticket-only support system. “Normally, I’m very skeptical about services. My account manager was there to answer all my questions, which made it easier to go on. I 10/10 would recommend the onboarding and ongoing support!” Cybill Stilwell, Sit Means Sit East GA said after comparing several platforms.
“I really liked that about the process first off. I didn’t feel like I was being sold something because the product really just sold itself.” Kyle Roe, Ruff Roe said of the switch. Operators who want a dedicated point of contact beyond onboarding can add White-Glove Service for ongoing access to a named account manager.
What to Confirm Before You Switch
Before moving off Gingr, get clear answers on how existing client, pet, and reservation history migrates, what support looks like during the first 90 days after go-live rather than during the sales demo, and whether the total monthly cost, once texting and a dedicated phone line are added in, stays lower than what a facility is paying today. Gingr’s ticket-only support system in particular is worth stress-testing before committing: ask what happens when a fix is needed during a busy weekend check-in window, not just during a weekday support call.
It also helps to add up Gingr’s plan cost alongside its texting fees, card reader purchase, and QuickBooks add-on before comparing that total against PocketSuite’s simpler, more inclusive pricing. Operators who run that full comparison, rather than sticker price against sticker price, are usually the ones who find switching worth the effort.
Timing the switch matters as well. An operator under a seasonal boarding crunch should avoid scheduling a migration around the busiest weeks of the year, and should confirm upfront how long onboarding typically takes from signed agreement to go-live. Running this same set of questions against any other platform under consideration, not just Gingr, tends to produce a more confident final decision.
Talking directly to a current customer running a similarly sized boarding operation is often more useful than any feature comparison chart, since it surfaces the day-to-day friction points a sales conversation tends to smooth over. Asking that customer specifically about response times during a real support issue is a good gauge of whether a vendor’s advertised turnaround actually matches everyday reality once a facility is live on the platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
PocketSuite matches Gingr’s kennel and lodging scheduling while adding a full-feature mobile app, unlimited two-way texting, Buy Now Pay Later, and franchise-ready sub-accounts, all at a lower price.
Yes. PocketSuite’s Resource Calendar gives every kennel or room its own row across a date range with conflict-aware reassignment, covering the same ground as Gingr’s lodging calendar.
No. Gingr’s client communication is limited to appointment-specific notifications, and texting costs extra. PocketSuite includes unlimited two-way texting from a dedicated business line at no extra cost.
PocketSuite, because of its sub-account structure, which gives corporate visibility across locations while managers see only their own site, something Gingr does not offer natively.
Yes. PocketSuite’s Pet Resort Edition runs from $49.99 to $149.99/month, compared to Gingr’s plans which run from $105 to $155/month.
Yes. PocketSuite offers 0% interest financing through Affirm, Klarna, and Afterpay. Gingr does not offer this option.
No. PocketSuite’s white-glove onboarding team migrates existing client, pet, and historical reservation data before the switch goes live.
Gingr and PocketSuite both handle kennel and lodging scheduling well. The difference shows up everywhere else: client communication, mobile access, payment flexibility, and account structure for a growing operation.
For a boarding operator who wants facility scheduling plus everything else a modern business needs, at a lower price, PocketSuite is the stronger choice. The longer an operator has been on Gingr, the more those add-on costs and support delays tend to add up, which is often what finally prompts a serious look at alternatives. Booking a demo is the fastest way to see the Resource Calendar and communication tools in action against a facility’s own daily schedule.
