Shelterluv costs $2.00 per adoption, billed monthly. There's no setup fee, no per-user fee, no support fee, and no charge to import your data, including your history. Every other outcome, transfers, return to owner, TNR, is free. Most organizations more than cover the cost through adopter donations collected at checkout.
Shelterluv costs $2.00 per adoption, billed monthly. There's no setup fee, no per-user fee, no support fee, and no charge to import your data, including your history. Every other outcome, transfers, return to owner, TNR, is free. Most organizations more than cover the cost through adopter donations collected at checkout.
That's the whole answer. The rest of this page is the details behind it, because "what will this actually cost us" is a fair question, and it deserves more than one number.
What does Shelterluv cost
There are three numbers people run together, and only the first one is a straightforward charge to your organization.
| Number | What it is | Who pays it |
|---|---|---|
| $2.00 per adoption | The software fee, billed monthly | Your organization |
| 3.4% + $0.30 per transaction | Card processing on Shelterpay | Your organization, on card payments only |
| 2.6% covered fee | Optional, added when an adopter chooses to cover fees at checkout | The adopter, and only if they opt in |
Forty adoptions in a month is an $80 software bill. Five adoptions are $10. A month where you took in animals, treated them, and transferred them out is $0.
Card processing applies only to payments run through Shelterpay. Cash and checks never touch it.
Does Shelterluv take a percentage of your adoption fees
No. We don't take a cut of your adoption revenue.
Two fee-related percentages exist:
Card processing, 3.4% + $0.30. This is the processor's rate on card transactions run through Shelterpay. It's what any payment processor charges to move money, and you'd pay some version of it anywhere.
The covered fee, 2.6%. On the last screen of checkout, the adopter is given the option to cover the fees. If they say yes, the covered amount includes your card processing fees and your $2.00 software fee, plus an additional 2.6% that goes to Shelterluv. If they say no, your organization won't be charged the 2.6% fee at all.
Here's the part that matters for your budget: about 70% of Shelterpay transactions have fees covered by the adopter. Roughly seven adoptions in ten, someone standing in your lobby picks up the software cost, so you don't have to.
What most organizations actually net
When an adopter completes a Shelterluv checkout on their phone, we ask them for a donation on your behalf. 71% of them give, averaging $20. Shelterluv organizations have raised more than $61 million this way.
| Adoptions per year | Software fee | Donations raised in checkout* | Net |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | $200 | ~$1,420 | +$1,220 |
| 300 | $600 | ~$4,260 | +$3,660 |
| 600 | $1,200 | ~$8,520 | +$7,320 |
| 1,000 | $2,000 | ~$14,200 | +$12,200 |
*Assumes adoptions processed through Shelterpay checkout at the 71% / $20 average. Card processing is excluded on both sides. Your own donation rate may differ. Run the numbers on your donation potential using our Donation Predictor.
Why we charge per adoption instead of a monthly fee
Because we'd rather be paid when the software does its job.
A flat subscription charges the same in February as it does in your worst month. A rescue that pauses intake for a summer still gets a bill. A transport group that moves 400 animals a year and adopts out nine pays a full monthly rate for outcomes we don't charge for at all.
Per-adoption pricing means the cost tracks the work. It also means a few specific kinds of organizations pay almost nothing:
- Transport-focused groups. Transfers are free. Your bill is whatever you adopt out directly, which for many transport groups is close to zero.
- TNR programs. Return to field is free.
- Municipal agencies with high return-to-owner rates. Every reclaim is free.
- New rescues. Your first year costs what your first year earns, which is the year you can least afford a subscription.
With outcome-based pricing, the successful month is also the month the donations come in. The cost and the revenue arrive in the same transaction.
Is a per-adoption bill harder to budget
If you're writing a grant application in October for money you'll spend next August, a fixed line item is easier to type than a variable one.
Two things help.
Your adoption numbers are more predictable than your budget process assumes. You know roughly what last year looked like. Multiply by two dollars. A shelter that adopted out 640 animals last year is budgeting around $1,280; if the number comes in higher, so did the adoptions and the donations.
The bill has a floor of zero. A flat plan protects you from a high month by charging you in the low ones. If your intake is seasonal, or you're a foster-based rescue with an uneven year, that protection costs you money in the quiet months rather than saving it.
What's included, at no extra cost
Everything here is in the $2.00. There are no tiers, no modules to unlock, and no add-ons.
Getting started
- Account setup and online training through Luv University
- One-time data import, including your historical records, at no charge
- Unlimited user accounts, each with its own permissions
Daily animal work
- Configurable intake and outcome forms
- The medical module, which is the strongest in shelter software, was designed by a shelter veterinarian
- Behavior plans, assessments, and playgroup activity tracking
- Custom kennel card builder
- ASPCA-approved transport manifests
- The Field and Community Services Module
- Unlimited photo storage, YouTube video links, and document storage
Adoptions and money
- Digital applications and forms
- Mobile checkout sent to the adopter's phone, emailed, or completed on a linked device, where they sign the contract and pay, in under three minutes
- The donation ask at checkout, which is where the $61 million came from
- A Donation Boost widget for your own website
- Text-to-donate
- A monthly giving program for recurring donors
Reporting
- 35+ pre-built quick reports, including an exportable one for Shelter Animals Count
- Custom reports you can build yourself
- Automated reports emailed on a schedule you set
- Protected pet reports, so you catch animals behind on vaccinations or tests before anyone else does
Integrations
- Petfinder, Adopt a Pet, Chewy, PetSmart AME, Shelter Animals Count, Shelter Pets Data Alliance, Doobert, Petco Love Lost, PawBoost, and others
- Your website, by iframe or API
- Microchip auto-uploads to Adopterluv, AKC Reunite, AVID, BuddyID, Fi Nano, Home Again, Petlink, 24Petwatch
Support
- Unlimited support, at no additional charge, through our help center and support team
What about microchips
We sell them. Adopterluv microchips are $5.95 each, in boxes of 50, with free shipping. They're coated to keep them from migrating and use a spring-action plunger, which matters more than it sounds like it does when you're chipping a wriggling terrier.
They also auto-register through Shelterluv, which is worth more than the price. Roughly 42% of microchips implanted nationally are never registered, and an unregistered chip is a small piece of glass that does nothing.
Try it before you decide
You can sign up for a free trial and use Shelterluv without talking to anyone first. Run a few intakes, enter some vaccines, send yourself a test checkout by texting cat or dog to 650-240-4964, and see what your adopters would see.
If you have questions, email us at info@shelterluv.com!
