All-in-one management software for animal shelters, rescues, and foster networks, from intake to adoption.
Sign up with just an email. Full feature access on the free plan, no credit card required.
PawPlacer helps animal rescues, shelters, and foster-based organizations manage pet intake, adoptions, foster coordination, volunteers, medical records, and fundraising, all in one free platform.
See exactly what you'll get — every screenshot below is from our live platform. Click to view full size.
Centralize pet profiles, intake records, medical histories, documents, and data imports in a single view.
Each pet gets a full profile with photos, documents, tasks, notes, and a complete medical timeline. Track vaccinations, medications, and procedures with optional recurring schedules and reminders
Instantly find any animal by name, breed, age, species, status, or custom fields. Filter across hundreds or thousands of pets and jump to any profile in one click
Organize adoption paperwork, medical records, photos, and files in a folder-structured system — like Dropbox but built for shelters. Rename, move, and share documents between pet profiles and people
Import pets, adopters, fosters, and volunteers from CSV, XLSX, or XLS files. Our AI automatically maps columns, standardizes formats, and handles messy data so you can migrate from spreadsheets or other platforms in minutes
Coordinate foster homes, schedule volunteers, manage role-based permissions, and run daily operations from one dashboard.
Manage your entire foster program — applications, placements, capacity tracking, and pet assignments. Match pets with the right foster homes based on experience and preferences, and convert fosters to adopters in a few clicks
View all medical appointments, tasks, and events in one centralized calendar. Filter by pet, staff member, or type, and switch between calendar and list views for the planning style that works best
Control exactly who can see and do what with role-based permissions enforced at the database level. No guesswork, no over-permissioning — team members only access what their role allows
Organize daily shelter operations with drag-and-drop Kanban boards. Link tasks to specific pets or people, assign team members, set priorities and due dates, and keep multiple boards for different departments
Process adoption applications, build custom forms, sync with Petfinder, collect adoption fees, and use AI-powered matching to pair pets with the right families.
Track every adoption from application to placement. Build detailed adopter profiles, manage application status and history, collect fees through QR codes or payment links, and keep a complete record of communications
Build completely custom adoption, foster, and volunteer application forms with a drag-and-drop editor. Add any field type, set required responses, reorder sections, preview live, and create multiple templates for different use cases
Sync your available pets to Petfinder with a single click — no manual updates or double data entry. Keep listings current automatically, reach a wider audience, and quickly identify and fix any sync issues with smart diagnostics
Accept adoption fees and donations through Stripe, Venmo, PayPal, Cash, Bitcoin, and more — with zero platform fees. Just enter your recipient details and start collecting payments through the methods you already use
If enabled, PawPlacer uses PII-preserving AI to analyze pet attributes, adopter preferences, and household details to suggest the best matches, helping your team place animals faster and with greater confidence.
Each potential match receives a compatibility score based on species, breed preferences, living situation, experience level, and more.
Match pets to both adopters and foster homes. The AI considers different criteria for temporary foster placements vs. permanent adoptions.
Every match includes a plain-language explanation of why the pet and applicant are a good fit, so your team can make informed decisions quickly.
Replace spreadsheets, Google Drive folders, and disconnected tools with one shelter management platform that tracks every pet from intake to outcome.
Medical records, vaccination histories, and adoption paperwork stay linked to each pet profile so nothing slips through the cracks.
Coordinate foster homes and volunteers with shared calendars, role-based access controls, and automatic notifications.
AI-powered pet matching suggests compatible adopters and fosters based on pet attributes and applicant preferences, helping you place animals faster.
Step 1
Set up custom intake forms, adoption workflows, pet statuses, and team permissions to match how your rescue already operates.
Step 2
Import pets, adopters, fosters, volunteers, and medical records from CSV or spreadsheets with AI-assisted data mapping.
Step 3
Run intake, foster placements, adoptions, Petfinder sync, AI matching, transport coordination, and fundraising from one system.
Transparent plans built for small volunteer teams and growing organizations. Full feature access on every plan.
Verified reviews from shelters and rescue organizations of all sizes.
"We switched to PawPlacer after outgrowing Airtable and a patchwork of Google Drive folders. Before PawPlacer, our intake-to-adoption process averaged about 21 days because information lived in too many places. Within three months of switching, that dropped closer to 14 days simply because everyone could see the same information in real time."
"Best decision our rescue has made in the years we have been around. Our volunteers who tend to veer on the younger side genuinely enjoy using the website. Before, we had to adjust our workflow to a rigid platform but now we just change some settings to get the software to work with our workflow."
"PawPlacer is a robust platform for animal management, whether your organization has a facility or is foster-based. It is particularly easy to use on mobile, which is where most platforms fail. Their team is communicative, adaptable, and easy to work with as they implement feedback quickly and effectively."
"I am continuously impressed by the pawplacer staff and their responsiveness. When we ask about features that don't exist currently they build them for us. Pawplacer has facilitated over 140 adoptions for us and we can testify to their no-fee structure. We recommend this to any org tired of what exists now."
Straight answers to the most common questions we hear from rescues.
No catch.
We keep costs low through thoughtful decisions, modern technology, and a mission-first mindset.
We're a dedicated team who are deeply passionate about animal welfare. We built PawPlacer from a personal commitment to this cause, not a profit motive.
With a modern tech stack, we deliver powerful features efficiently, avoiding the pitfalls of outdated, legacy systems.
Instead of spending on pricey advertising, we grow through word-of-mouth. This allows us to stay focused on improving your experience, not chasing aggressive growth.
PawPlacer was created with the passion and resources to support animal rescue organizations long-term, without investors, profit pressures, or scaling limits. We've built a sustainable roadmap and a dedicated team to ensure PawPlacer grows with you for years to come.
Note: we don't have ads, and we don't have any incentive to share (or even collect) your information. Subscription payments are handled through Stripe, so we never have your billing info.
Most importantly, your paid subscription directly supports organizations in need by subsidizing free access – exactly as we intended when creating PawPlacer.
Can we import our existing data?
Yes. You can import from spreadsheets and we help map your fields during setup.
Can different volunteers have different levels of access?
Yes. Permissions are role-based, so each person only sees what they should.
How long does setup usually take?
Most teams have an admin configure the system over a day or two and then quickly roll it out to other team members. Less than a week is typical for most organizations.
Will this work for large foster networks?
Yes. Foster coordination is built in and designed for distributed, foster-heavy teams.
Does PawPlacer integrate with Petfinder or Petlink?
Yes. PawPlacer offers Petfinder and Petlink support in the standard workflows.
Do we need formal training before getting started?
No. Most teams can explore and get started right away after signing up, but our team is always happy to provide guidance and support as needed.