Ultimate Guide to Earning Money with Rover [2024]

How does Rover work?

As an app, Rover is fairly straightforward. You sign up for a Rover account and fill out the profile, and the app connects dog and cat owners who need services for their pets with service providers.

If a dog owner sees your Rover profile and wants to use your services, they'll send a request, which will appear in your "Pending Requests." You can click on the request and see what's required. If it's a good fit, you can book it.

The booking process is a bit lengthy, however, especially for first-time services with new clients. Rover suggests that you meet up with any new owner before completing the booking. I would say it's more than a suggestion — you absolutely should meet new clients (both the people and their pets) before committing to providing services. That way, if anything feels off or if it just isn't a fit, you can back out gracefully before committing.

After your meet and greet, either you or the client can click the "Book It Now" button, opening a 72-hour window for the other person to accept the request.

Clients pay through the app after you complete your service. You can withdraw your funds two days after finishing the job, minus the 20% fee charged by Rover.

Costs to work with Rover

It's not free to use Rover to find work.

When you set up your profile with Rover, you will first need to pay $49 as a one-time fee for your profile review. Your profile includes a photo, your services and rates, info about your own pets, and your schedule. You'll also need to provide information for a background check. Once you've submitted your profile, Rover will email you within 24-48 hours to let you know whether you were approved or if you need to complete more steps and resubmit it.

In addition, Rover takes a cut of your earnings. The platform keeps 20% of what you make from your Rover gigs. For example, if you make $1,000 per month walking dogs, Rover will keep $200 and you'll get $800.

If that feels steep to you, Care.com is another option to find pet walking and pet sitting jobs. With Care.com, you will need to pay an annual fee of $18.99 that covers a background check, but it's a lot less than Rover's $49 profile review fee. And the service fee for bookings is paid by the person booking your service, not by you, allowing you to keep 100% of what you earn.

How much does Rover pay?

Rover manages payments from your clients. So, technically, you decide how much you make. When I started the sign-up process for Rover, it broke down the average pay for services like this:

Task	Average pay
Boarding	$28 per night
Housesitting	$25 per night
Drop-in visits	$25 per visit
Doggy daycare	$25 per day
Dog walking	$20 per walk

That varies significantly depending on where you live, though. The best way to get a sense of how much people make in your area is to browse Rover as if you were thinking of hiring someone to care for a pet and see what the rates are.

With these prices, making $500 per month is very achievable.

For example, you could walk two dogs for one client three times per week at $30 per walk (offering a discount for multiple dogs), bringing you to $90 per week, and walk one dog for another client twice per week at $25 per walk, for $50 per week. That would bring you to $140 per week, or roughly $600 per month.

Making $1,000 per month is also doable but more challenging. If you're able to board dogs, offer doggy daycare, and care for at least one dog every day, that would bring you to $750 ($25 per dog per day X 30 days). If you had a second dog 10 of those days, that would bring you to roughly $1,000.

And, of course, that drops by 20% once Rover takes its fee, so you would actually need to earn 20% more to hit these numbers. So $500 is a more realistic goal if you're using Rover as a side hustle. To net $500, you need to earn about $630 before Rover's fee.

If you have full-time availability, you'll obviously be able to earn significantly more. But you should also consider marketing your business yourself so you can eventually have clients without paying Rover a fee.

How does Rover pay?

Rover pays via a bank account transfer using Stripe, a third-party payment provider. When a service is completed, money will appear in your account two days later. Once funds are in your account, Stripe will automatically transfer funds via direct deposit.

It will take up to 5 business days to see the funds in your bank account. If a tip is added after you receive payment for a booking, that tip will be added within 24 hours.

Who can work with Rover?

Here are the minimum requirements to work with Rover:

• Be at least 18
• Pass a safety quiz
• Pass a general background check
• Have your profile approved by Rover

You'll be an independent contractor, so you won't receive a regular salary and benefits. But you do have a degree of freedom to set some of your own rates and work when you want. However, you should also be aware that, depending on where you live and the local laws, you might need to get a business license.

Those who love pets and can provide them with special care and consideration are best suited for a job with Rover. If you have a flexible schedule and the ability to provide consistent care, you'll likely do well as a Rover service provider.

What to know before you start

Rover offers a "Rover Guarantee," but that's more for the peace of mind of pet owners, not people caring for pets.

In discussing its guarantee, Rover makes it clear that it will not cover:

• Damage to your property or home
• Injuries to you, a family member, or a roommate

Rover will cover:

• Up to $25,000 in vet care reimbursement for injury to a client's pets or your pets
• Property damage to the pet owner's home
• Certain medical costs for 3rd party injuries (someone who isn't the pet owner or sitter/dog-walker)

This is one of the reasons I strongly recommend doing a meet and greet before booking. While you can't find out everything about a pet's temperament in a few minutes, you can at least get an idea.

You should also consider getting liability insurance. Some companies specialize in pet-sitting insurance. These include:

• Pet Sitters Associates
• Business Insurers of the Carolinas

Tips to maximize your earnings

Fill out your profile completely

This includes photos and getting testimonials from any friend or family member who can vouch for your pet care. And once you start working with Rover, take pictures of your walking or sitting experiences so others can see the level of care and attention you provide to pets.

Offer services for pets with special needs

If you're equipped to provide puppy care, watch elderly dogs and cats, or take care of dogs and cats with special health requirements, you might be able to charge more.

Work the algorithm

You can be one of the top service providers when you answer messages and requests quickly and when you get good reviews.

Provide frequent, clear communication

Respond quickly, and don't be afraid to ask questions when you're working with a new dog or cat.

And when you're providing services, send updates and photos, especially when you're boarding, housesitting, or doing drop-in visits while an owner's away. For example, my cat sitter sends a daily update and pictures or videos of her interacting with my cats every day. She even tries to connect with my less social cats, which I really appreciate. Those frequent updates are why I've rebooked with her.

Alternatives

Two popular alternatives to Rover are Wag! and Care.com. Of course, you could also use these apps alongside each other.

Care.com

Care.com offers a variety of care services, including pet care. It offers membership options rather than taking a cut of your earnings. There's a basic option for $18.99 per year, which covers a background check and access to the site. There's also a Premium option for $8.99 per month. The Premium option ranks you higher in search results.

Overall, it's a very different setup than Rover, and it doesn't have many jobs in my area. But given the relatively low price, it might be worth setting up a profile and seeing what happens, but start with Rover.

Visit Care.com

Wag!

At first glance, Wag! looks a lot like Rover. It offers all the same services as Rover, plus dog training in some areas. It charges a $49.95 application fee, which is also similar to Rover. The biggest difference is the cut Wag! takes from your earnings — a whopping 40%. So if you're going to choose one app, Rover is a better choice. But signing up with Wag! as well could get your side hustle up and running a bit faster than sticking with one platform.

Visit Wag

FAQ

Bottom line

Rover is a solid option for getting started with pet care. Keep in mind that you're an independent contractor and that you should consider some form of business insurance to protect you in worst-case scenario situations.

And if you're looking for other options to boost your income, our list best side hustles is a good place to start.