Question 1

Do you take a commission on my visits?

Accepted Answer

No — 0% commission, on every plan, forever. You pay a flat monthly subscription and keep 100% of what you charge. A $28 walk pays you $28, minus only your own payment processor's fee. Tips go 100% to the walker who did the visit, and late-cancellation fees go entirely to the person who held the slot.

Question 2

Is Strut a marketplace that sends me clients?

Accepted Answer

No. Strut is software you run your own business on. We don't take a cut, we don't rank you against other walkers, we don't sell leads, and we never contact your clients on our own behalf. Your book stays yours.

Question 3

Who owns my client list?

Accepted Answer

You do. Your clients stay yours — their contact details, pet profiles, care notes, photos, visit history, and recurring schedules all belong to your business. We never market to them, never resell your data, and never place your clients with another walker.

Question 4

What happens to my data if I leave?

Accepted Answer

You export everything — clients, pets, visits, reports, photos, and invoices — as CSV and JSON, any time, without asking us. No exit fee, no hostage data, no cancellation call required.

Question 5

Who is Strut for?

Accepted Answer

Independent dog walkers and pet sitters who want to look and operate like a real company, and small pet care businesses coordinating a team of walkers across a service area. Cats, small animals, and exotics are supported too.

Question 6

What does it cost?

Accepted Answer

Solo is $29/month for one walker. Team is $59/month plus $12 per walker seat. Business is $149/month plus $10 per seat. Every plan includes unlimited clients and visits, and there's a 14-day free trial with no card required.

Question 7

Can I keep my own policies and pricing?

Accepted Answer

Completely. You define service types, durations, rates, lead times, meet-and-greet requirements, and cancellation windows. Strut just enforces them consistently on every booking so you never have to have an awkward conversation about a policy again.

Question 8

What if I'm seasonal or my team size changes?

Accepted Answer

Seats are monthly and prorated. Add a walker for the summer, remove the seat in September, and you're only billed for the days the seat was active. There's no annual lock-in.

Question 9

How do payments and payouts work?

Accepted Answer

Completed visits charge the client's card on file through your own Stripe account, so funds land in your bank — not ours. For teams, payouts route to each walker on the schedule you set. Strut never sits between you and your money.

Question 10

Do you handle late cancellations and no-shows?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You set the windows — for example free outside 48 hours, 50% inside 24 hours — and Strut applies them automatically, explains the charge to the client, and pays the fee to whoever held the slot.

Question 11

Are walkers on my team employees or contractors?

Accepted Answer

That's entirely your call. Strut doesn't employ anyone and doesn't dictate your classification. It handles scheduling, verification, and payout records either way, and exports contractor totals ready for 1099 season.

Question 12

Which tools does Strut integrate with?

Accepted Answer

Acuity Scheduling and Google Calendar for two-way booking and availability sync, Stripe for payments and payouts, and QuickBooks for accounting. Anything else can be wired up through our REST API and webhooks.

Question 13

Do I have to give up Acuity or my Google Calendar?

Accepted Answer

No. Sync runs both directions — bookings, reschedules, and cancellations stay consistent in both systems, with timezones and conflicts resolved automatically. Keep taking bookings exactly where you take them today.

Question 14

Do you have an API?

Accepted Answer

Yes — an open, documented REST API with scoped keys, plus signed webhooks for events like visit.checked_in, visit.checked_out, booking.cancelled, and invoice.paid. Failed deliveries retry with backoff for 24 hours.

Question 15

Can I bring my existing clients over?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Import your client list by CSV or pull it in from Acuity during onboarding, including pets, care notes, and recurring schedules. Nothing gets retyped.

Question 16

How does visit verification work?

Accepted Answer

Walkers tap Check In in the mobile app and capture a photo; timestamp metadata is validated before check-in is accepted. For walks, GPS streams the live route to the client. At check-out, another photo plus potty, water, meds, and behavior notes generate the report automatically.

Question 17

Can I customize the visit checklist?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Build your own checklist templates per service type — walk, drop-in, boarding, exotic care — with required and optional items. Owners set the baseline every visit must include, and walkers can add their own items in the field for a specific pet.

Question 18

Is there a mobile app?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Native iOS and Android apps for walkers with camera capture, background GPS, haptics, and push notifications. Clients get their own portal on web and mobile with real-time updates and messaging.

Question 19

Is the client portal branded as Strut?

Accepted Answer

It's branded as your business. Your name, your logo, your colors on the client portal, reports, and notification emails. Strut stays in the background where it belongs.

Question 20

How do I get started?

Accepted Answer

Start the free trial, tell us your services, team size, and the tools you already use, and we'll configure your workspace and map your integrations. Most solo walkers are running visits the same day.

How Strut works

From signup to first visit

Set up your business

Import clients and pets

Connect your tools

Publish availability

Run verified visits

Get paid automatically

Frequently asked questions

The business model

Pricing & plans

Payments & payouts

Integrations & API

Running visits

Still have questions?