The short answer: in the UK, Rover keeps 15% of every one-off booking from your side (5% on recurring weekly bookings) — and your fee has no cap, whatever the booking size.
Note: recurring bookings are not the same as repeat bookings. If someone books a stay or walk for 4 Mondays, that’s recurring. But if they book a doggy holiday with you, then book another one a month later, that’s not recurring — the full fees apply again.
In addition, dog owners pay a separate 15% service fee on top of your rate — and theirs is capped, at £49 per booking.¹
On a two-week £560 stay at £40 per night, that’s £84 commission from the dog sitter plus £49 from the owner — £133 to the platform.
Rover is genuinely good at finding you new clients — but be aware of the fees. This page is simply the honest maths of what that costs once they’re regulars.
Rover deducts 15% before paying you out. Recurring weekly bookings are less painful on the pocket (Rover keeps 5% of those) — but how many real recurring bookings do you actually get? Very few people book “recurring” overnight stays; dog walks are more likely to have regular weekly slots. Rates can vary with account age and country, so check your own dashboard.¹
A separate service fee added at checkout, capped at £49 per booking — the cap only kicks in once a booking tops about £327 (roughly ten nights at £30/night).¹ Your £100 stay costs the owner £115 — which shapes what they think you charge, and what they’re willing to pay next time. Note the cap is the owner’s; your own 15% has no cap at any booking size.
Switching marketplace mostly moves the commission around rather than removing it. Pawshake charges a flat 19% service fee — sitters receive 81% of their advertised price.² Other UK pet-care apps run their own commission models that change from time to time; their help pages have the current numbers. The pattern is the same everywhere: the platform sits between you and clients you often already know, and takes its share of every booking — you can break the cycle by using your own booking calendar on The DoggyDesk.
The fees above buy one thing that’s genuinely valuable: being found by strangers. But once a client is a regular, the marketplace is charging you both for an introduction that already happened. The alternative is to manage your existing clients with your own professional booking system — calendar, requests, client records, invoices and payment options — free, with every feature included.
Sources — figures checked 2 September 2026: ¹ Rover UK Help Centre, “What are the service fees?” (sitter take-home 85% one-off / 95% recurring; owner service fee 15%, capped £49). ² Pawshake Help Centre, “What is the Pawshake Service Fee?” (19% fee; sitters receive 81% of advertised price). Platform fees change — if you spot a stale number here, tell us via the contact page and we’ll fix it.
