Talopet vs DaySmart Pet.
DaySmart Pet — formerly 123Pet — is the long-running desktop-to-cloud grooming platform a lot of established salons still run on. For long-time users with deep commission structures, it's a legitimate choice. For salons shopping software in 2026, though, the math gets awkward: tier-locked user caps, two-way SMS gated to the $149/mo tier, no native AI phone answering, and a codebase carrying a decade of 123Pet legacy. We pulled every line.
If you're shopping pet grooming software and DaySmart is on your shortlist (or you're already on it and wondering if there's something cleaner), this is the honest side-by-side. Talopet is ranked #1 on our best pet grooming software for 2026 list — for reasons that show up in the numbers below.
Last verified April 2026 · sources linked throughout
VERDICT · APRIL 2026
The short answer
Pick Talopet if
You're shopping new. You want AI phone answering, unlimited staff, flat pricing, two-way SMS on day one, and BYO payments — all included from Starter up.
Pick DaySmart if
You've been running 123Pet desktop for years, have a heavily customized commission and payroll setup, and don't want to retrain your team.
Heads up: Two-way SMS is gated behind DaySmart's $149/mo Deluxe Growth tier. Basic and Deluxe can't even reply to a client text.
DaySmart's PUBLIC PRICING · VERIFIED FROM daysmart.com & CAPTERRA
The actual plan tiers, with the user caps.
1 user
Basic
$29/mo
No two-way SMS · no phone support · email-only
up to 3 users
Deluxe
$69/mo
Adds phone support, gift cards, digital forms
up to 3 users
Deluxe Growth
$149/mo
Finally unlocks two-way SMS + review automation
multi-location
Premium
~$199/mo
Adds QuickBooks Online · source pricing in flux
unlimited users
Platinum
Custom quote
Commission, payroll, expense tracking
Annual pricing, DaySmart Payments card rates, and Platinum-tier pricing are not publicly disclosed — you need a sales call for all three. Pricing for Premium tier varies between aggregators (SaaSWorthy still shows older structure) — Capterra and GetApp have the most current. Verify on daysmart.com/pet/pricing before committing.
TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP · 4 SCENARIOS
How the math plays out on four realistic salons.
Sticker price is the first line, not the whole line. Real monthly cost includes tier jumps to unlock two-way SMS, custom quotes for commission tracking, and payments markup you have to ask about. Here's how both shake out across four typical grooming businesses.
Solo groomer
1 location · 1 staff · unlimited bookings
Talopet
Recommended$99/mo Starter (full features)
$1,188/yr
DaySmart
$29/mo Basic (no two-way SMS, no phone support)
$348/yr — or $1,788/yr on Deluxe Growth to get SMS
Delta: Sticker ties on Deluxe Growth, but Talopet includes AI + unlimited staff
3-groomer salon
1 location · 3 staff · unlimited bookings
Talopet
Recommended$99/mo Starter (unlimited staff)
$1,188/yr
DaySmart
$149/mo Deluxe Growth (3-user cap, needs upgrade for 4th)
$1,788/yr
Delta: ~$600/yr cheaper · no tier-jump when you hire
Multi-location salon business
3 locations · 10 staff · unlimited bookings
Talopet
Recommended$99/mo Starter (flat — multi-location in every plan, even Starter)
$1,188/yr
DaySmart
Forced to Platinum (custom quote) for 10 users + commission; historically $300–500/mo range
~$3,600–$6,000/yr + processing markup
Delta: ~$2,400–$4,800/yr cheaper · no custom quote, no tier sprawl
Established 5-groomer salon
1 location · 5 staff · commission + payroll
Talopet
Recommended$199/mo Growth (unlimited staff + AI receptionist)
$2,388/yr
DaySmart
Platinum custom (only tier with unlimited users + commission)
~$3,000–$4,800/yr + processing markup
Delta: ~$600–$2,400/yr cheaper + native AI phone answering
Platinum-tier pricing is custom-quoted. Estimates based on reviewer-reported figures for established multi-groomer shops. DaySmart Payments card rates are not publicly disclosed — actual processing cost could push estimates higher.
FEATURE BY FEATURE
Ten line items. One clear picture.
Based on both vendors' public documentation as of April 2026. Verify on their sites before committing.
Base pricing (single grooming location)
Talopet
$99/mo flat — Starter plan, unlimited staff on every plan
DaySmart
$29/mo Basic (1 user cap) or $69/mo Deluxe (3 user cap)
Two-way SMS included
Talopet
Yes — every plan, unlimited, no overages
DaySmart
Gated to Deluxe Growth ($149/mo tier). Basic and Deluxe can't reply to a client text from the platform
Phone customer support
Talopet
Real phone + chat support on every plan
DaySmart
Gated to Deluxe ($69) and above. Basic is email-only. Reviewers report AI-first ticketing on newer tiers too
AI phone receptionist
Talopet
Native, included on Growth and Professional plans
DaySmart
Not native. No AI voice agent in 2026 — third-party bolt-on only
AI command center / agent
Talopet
Native, included on every plan (35+ tools across 12 categories)
DaySmart
Not available — no plain-English workflow layer
Multi-location pricing
Talopet
Flat per business — every Talopet plan (Starter, Growth, Professional) supports multiple locations with no per-location scaling
DaySmart
Multi-location gated to Premium tier (~$199/mo) and up. No flat multi-location option at lower tiers
Unlimited staff / users
Talopet
Every plan, no per-user fees
DaySmart
Tier-locked: 1 user on Basic, 3 on Deluxe. Unlimited users requires custom-quoted Platinum tier
Payment processing
Talopet
Bring your own (Square, Stripe, Clover). Keep your existing rates
DaySmart
DaySmart Payments on CardConnect. Rate not publicly disclosed — sales quote required
Contract / commitment
Talopet
Month-to-month, first month free, no cancellation fee
DaySmart
Month-to-month, but billed in advance with no refunds for the current period. Cancel carefully
Product heritage
Talopet
Cloud-native, AI-first, built 2025
DaySmart
Rebranded from 123Pet — desktop legacy codebase plus cloud layer on top
| Category | Talopet | DaySmart Pet |
|---|---|---|
| Base pricing (single grooming location) | $99/mo flat — Starter plan, unlimited staff on every plan | $29/mo Basic (1 user cap) or $69/mo Deluxe (3 user cap) |
| Two-way SMS included | Yes — every plan, unlimited, no overages | Gated to Deluxe Growth ($149/mo tier). Basic and Deluxe can't reply to a client text from the platform |
| Phone customer support | Real phone + chat support on every plan | Gated to Deluxe ($69) and above. Basic is email-only. Reviewers report AI-first ticketing on newer tiers too |
| AI phone receptionist | Native, included on Growth and Professional plans | Not native. No AI voice agent in 2026 — third-party bolt-on only |
| AI command center / agent | Native, included on every plan (35+ tools across 12 categories) | Not available — no plain-English workflow layer |
| Multi-location pricing | Flat per business — every Talopet plan (Starter, Growth, Professional) supports multiple locations with no per-location scaling | Multi-location gated to Premium tier (~$199/mo) and up. No flat multi-location option at lower tiers |
| Unlimited staff / users | Every plan, no per-user fees | Tier-locked: 1 user on Basic, 3 on Deluxe. Unlimited users requires custom-quoted Platinum tier |
| Payment processing | Bring your own (Square, Stripe, Clover). Keep your existing rates | DaySmart Payments on CardConnect. Rate not publicly disclosed — sales quote required |
| Contract / commitment | Month-to-month, first month free, no cancellation fee | Month-to-month, but billed in advance with no refunds for the current period. Cancel carefully |
| Product heritage | Cloud-native, AI-first, built 2025 | Rebranded from 123Pet — desktop legacy codebase plus cloud layer on top |
WHERE THE AI GAP OPENS WIDEST
Cloud-native AI vs
a rebranded 123Pet.
DaySmart markets "automation" but ships 2016-era SMS reminders. Talopet ships a live AI phone receptionist, an AI command center you talk to in plain English, and AI-drafted campaigns — all native, all included. The gap isn't subtle.
AI phone answering, live today
Talopet ships a native AI receptionist for pet groomers that picks up every call, books against your live calendar, and texts you a log. DaySmart has no native equivalent — reviewers are actively requesting it.
Included · Talopet Growth & Professional
AI-drafted automations
Win-backs, rebook nudges, fill-the-gap campaigns — AI-drafted and approval-gated in Talopet. DaySmart ships static templates. The automation for pet grooming page has the response-rate data.
18–24% response · AI vs 4–6% · templates
AI command center
Talk to it like a coworker: "Text everyone with a Saturday appointment to confirm." Plain English in, action out. No DaySmart equivalent. See what AI pet grooming software actually feels like to use.
Included · every Talopet plan
WHAT DaySmart USERS ACTUALLY COMPLAIN ABOUT
Four recurring pain points.
All sourced from Capterra.
Not cherry-picked. These are patterns — not one-off complaints — that show up repeatedly in public 2023–2026 DaySmart Pet reviews. Raise them on the sales call.
Support quality collapse
Long-time users specifically call out the shift from live phone support to AI-first ticketing. 'Tech support has gone to the pits!!!' (Feb 2025). 'No longer can call and talk to someone in support. Can only email.' (Sept 2024). One 10-year customer: 'loved DaySmart from 2013 to 2023. Then they changed the tech support to AI.' Multiple dated data points — not hearsay.
Reliability outages on scheduling + SMS
'Their scheduling/remote/texting service has been offline SO MANY TIMES' (Jan 2025). Users report SMS and scheduling going dark for hours, blocking client communication. For a grooming business that lives on reminders and confirmations, multi-hour downtime isn't a nuisance — it's lost revenue.
Two-way SMS locked behind $149/mo tier
DaySmart's own support docs confirm two-way SMS, text marketing, and reputation management are Deluxe Growth ($149/mo) features. Basic and Deluxe customers can send one-way reminders but can't reply to clients from the platform. In 2026 that's a table-stakes feature — making salons pay an extra $80/mo to unlock it is the clearest pricing gotcha in the product.
Legacy codebase, dated UI + mobile app
'It is slow! It can be glitchy.' Accidental drag-changes to appointment times. Dated mobile app — 'Hard to use on the mobile app' (Mar 2026). The desktop 123Pet heritage shows up: DaySmart Pet carries both a legacy desktop codebase and a cloud product, and reviewers feel the seams. Missing text-to-pay, holidays don't auto-block, mobile operators asking for a ground-up rebuild.
Sources: DaySmart Pet Capterra reviews (2023–2026), DaySmart's own help center docs for tier gating, and Apple App Store listings for the legacy 123Pet bundle IDs.
THE HONEST FIT
Pick the tool that matches your actual business.
DaySmart is the right call if…
- •You've been running 123Pet or DaySmart Pet for years and your team is deeply trained on it.
- •You have a customized commission + payroll structure that's hard to replicate.
- •Multi-day boarding or daycare isn't part of your business, but you want a traditional POS feature depth.
- •You're comfortable with tier jumps to unlock modern features and a sales call for payments rates.
- •AI phone answering is not a priority — you have a front desk covering calls.
Talopet is the right call if…
- You're shopping new or switching from an older platform.
- You want native AI phone answering in 2026 — not a third-party bolt-on.
- You want flat pricing that doesn't tier-jump every time you hire a new groomer.
- You want two-way SMS, review automation, and phone support included from the cheapest plan up.
- You want a cloud-native product without legacy desktop DNA baked in.
FAQ
Talopet vs DaySmart Pet — common questions
Is Talopet a direct replacement for DaySmart Pet?
For most grooming salons, yes — one-for-one. Talopet replaces the core functions DaySmart groomers actually use (scheduling, online booking, two-way SMS, CRM, automated reminders, payments, staff management, marketing) without the tier-locked user caps and without making you upgrade just to reply to a client text. If you're a long-time 123Pet / DaySmart desktop user with a deeply customized commission structure, Deluxe or Platinum may still be a fit — but for everyone else shopping in 2026, the math tilts toward Talopet.
How much does DaySmart Pet actually cost in 2026?
DaySmart's public cloud pricing as of April 2026: Basic $29/mo (1 user, no phone support, no two-way SMS), Deluxe $69/mo (up to 3 users, adds phone support), Deluxe Growth $149/mo (adds two-way SMS, text marketing, and review automation), Premium $199/mo (adds QuickBooks Online and multi-location), Platinum custom-quoted (unlimited users, commission and payroll). Annual pricing and DaySmart Payments card rates are NOT publicly disclosed — you need a sales call for both. The two-way SMS gate at the $149 tier is the biggest gotcha: table-stakes functionality in 2026, locked behind two upgrades.
Does DaySmart Pet have an AI phone receptionist in 2026?
No. As of April 2026, DaySmart Pet does not ship a native AI phone receptionist, AI voice agent, or AI command center. What they market as 'automation' is automated SMS/email reminders — useful, but a 2016 feature dressed up in 2026 language. Third-party AI phone products (FetchDesk AI, Goodcall, AgentZap) explicitly advertise themselves as bolt-ons that 'connect to DaySmart Pet,' which confirms the gap. If you want AI phone answering on DaySmart, you sign up with a second vendor and pay two bills. Talopet ships a native AI receptionist for pet groomers in Growth and Professional plans.
Why do groomers switch from DaySmart to Talopet?
Three recurring patterns from sales calls. (1) Per-tier user caps: Basic locks you at 1 user, Deluxe at 3 — a 4-groomer salon gets pushed to Premium ($199) or a custom-quoted Platinum for features they don't need. (2) Two-way SMS locked at the $149 Deluxe Growth tier — most salons need it on day one. (3) DaySmart's legacy codebase (it was 123Pet until the rebrand) shows up in reviews as glitchy cloud behavior, mobile app weaknesses, and reliability outages. Multiple long-time reviewers have specifically called out the shift from real phone support to AI-first ticketing.
Isn't DaySmart Pet just 123Pet with a new name?
Pretty much. DaySmart's own product page says 'New name, same great software' under the 123Pet section. The original 123Pet was Windows desktop software and is still available — the desktop help center is separate from the cloud help center. The cloud product was layered on top later. In practice this means you're buying a product that carries both a desktop legacy codebase and a cloud product — which explains the dated UI complaints, the reliability issues, and the mobile app weakness reviewers describe. Talopet was built cloud-native and AI-first in 2025, with no legacy desktop DNA.
What about DaySmart's payment processing?
DaySmart markets 'DaySmart Payments' with a 'competitive, transparent processing fees' line and a rate-match guarantee, but the actual card rate is not published anywhere public. You need a sales quote. The underlying processor is historically CardConnect (First Data / Fiserv). Surcharging is supported if you want to pass fees to clients. Talopet takes a different stance: bring your own processor (Square, Stripe, Clover) at your existing rates, no house markup, no rate-match dance.
Can I migrate from DaySmart Pet to Talopet without downtime?
Yes. Talopet's onboarding team does a free white-glove migration of your client records, pet profiles, vaccine dates, service menu, staff, appointment history, and invoices from DaySmart. You keep running DaySmart in parallel until Talopet is live — most salons switch in 3 business days. DaySmart's billing terms are worth noting: they bill in advance with no refunds for the current period, so time your cancellation carefully.
Is DaySmart Pet good for solo or mobile groomers?
Honestly, no. DaySmart Basic at $29/mo looks attractive, but it doesn't include two-way SMS, phone support, or review automation — the three things a solo operator uses most. Solo groomers either pay $149/mo for Deluxe Growth to unlock them, or live without. Talopet's Starter is $99/mo flat with all three included from day one. For mobile groomers, DaySmart's dated mobile app is a recurring reviewer complaint — another reason solos drift to cloud-native alternatives.
The 123Pet era is over.
2026 wants AI-first.
Free migration from DaySmart Pet. First month free. Flat pricing, unlimited staff, two-way SMS on day one, native AI receptionist, bring-your-own payments, real phone support, month-to-month. Book a 20-minute demo and decide with the real numbers in front of you.
or see Talopet's pet grooming software overview and why it ranks #1 in the best pet grooming software for 2026 list.
This comparison reflects publicly available information as of April 2026. DaySmart Pet pricing from daysmart.com/pet/pricing, Capterra, and GetApp; tier gating from DaySmart's own help center; reviewer complaints sourced from Capterra and Software Advice. Features and pricing subject to change. Verify current details with DaySmart before making a decision.