I'm Kyle, and I built PawPlacer because I kept hearing the same thing from rescue people: the software options are either too expensive, too clunky, or built for municipal shelters with completely different needs than a volunteer-run rescue.
So here's the short version of what PawPlacer is and why it exists.
What it actually does
PawPlacer is one platform for the stuff you're currently spreading across spreadsheets, Google Docs, Facebook threads, a separate form builder, and maybe some aging shelter software you've been meaning to replace for two years.
Pet profiles with medical records, documents, and photos. Foster and adopter management with custom application forms. Volunteer scheduling. Task boards so your team knows what needs attention today. Adoptions with payments, contracts, and digital receipts. Petfinder sync so you're not manually updating listings. Reporting that actually lets you export your data.
It's not 15 different features bolted together. It's one system where everything is connected — the pet's medical history follows them from intake to foster to adoption, the adopter application links to the pet profile, and the tasks show up on your dashboard in the morning so nobody has to dig through three tabs wondering what they missed.
Who it's for
Small to medium rescues, foster-based organizations, and shelters that are run by real people, not bureaucracies. We specifically built this for volunteer-run groups, not municipal animal control.
If you're a three-person rescue running everything from someone's living room, the free plan covers you. If you're a growing organization with 50-300 animals and a team of volunteers who need to stay coordinated, that's where the paid plans come in — and they're well below what legacy shelter software charges.
What it costs
There's a free plan that includes all features for up to 20 pets and 3 users. Not a trial. Not a stripped-down version. All features, forever.
Paid plans start at $19/month for up to 100 pets and 10 users. The largest plan is $69/month with unlimited everything. We don't take a cut of your donations or adoption fees. No hidden charges.
Most rescues we talk to were either paying more than that for less, or using free tools that cost them hours of time every week.
Why we built it this way
A few things that matter to us and might matter to you:
Self-funded, no investors. No one is pressuring us to raise prices, gate features, or sell your data. The product gets better because rescue people tell us what they need, not because a board told us to hit a revenue target.
Your data is yours. CSV exports anytime. API access if you want it. If you ever leave, you take everything with you. We've seen too many rescues get trapped in systems that won't let them export.
We don't do municipal contracts. That's a deliberate choice. Municipal shelters have different requirements, different politics, and different incentives. We'd rather build the best possible tool for independent rescues than try to be everything to everyone.
We still read everything. Every support message, every piece of feedback, every Reddit comment. The whole team, myself included. The product has changed dramatically based on what people actually asked for.
What it's not
It's not finished. It probably never will be — there's always something to improve. It's not the right fit if you're a large municipal shelter with 500+ animals and a procurement process. And it's not trying to be flashy. Most of the work we do is on the boring stuff: making mobile adoptions less clunky, making imports less painful, making sure "what's due today" actually shows you what's due today.
If any of that sounds like what you've been looking for, it's free to try. No sales call, no demo required. Just sign up and poke around.
