Scheduling and meetings decision
Scritches
A capable developer can build a useful self-hosted booking+CRM for a solo pet-sitter, but reproducing the full product (polish, review booster, calendar sync, multi-staff features, and managed hosting) is substantial; recommend DIY for core booking and CRM, pay for the rest.
Visit website↗Open-source builds that already do this
Every project below is open source and already does this job today. Fork one, self-host it, or take the parts you need - the build prompt further down assumes an empty file, and this is the shortcut past that. Licences differ; check the one on each card before you ship. All Scritches alternatives, with the arithmetic →
What a replacement has to do
- Accept online booking requests, prevent conflicts, store client & pet records, collect intake forms and payments, send visit report-cards.
What it still won’t have
- Polished, productized UI and ongoing vendor support
- Built-in marketing features like Review Booster and report-card video hosting
- Prebuilt calendar sync integrations (Google/Outlook/Apple) and staff scheduling workflows
- The convenience of a managed hosted service and one-click upgrades/migrations
What remains hard
- Brand trust
Join 700+ petpreneurs already growing their business
First-year cost
Keep paying
Paying is—cheaper in year one.
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 4 seats.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a self-hosted minimal pet-care booking app using Node.js (Express), PostgreSQL, and React. Include: public no-login booking page with service selection and intake form; availability and calendar conflict checking; DB models and UI for client & pet CRM with import; Stripe integration for payments and invoice records; digital agreement capture and automated visit report-card generation emailed after visits. Out of scope: multi-staff payroll reports, video hosting for report-cards, marketplace features, and calendar sync with external providers. Provide input validation, error handling, API tests, and end-to-end booking tests.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Partly verdict base52
- An open-source build was found+5
- 4 cited sources+3
- Price verified on pricing page+3
- 3/3 assessment runs agreed+4
- Evidence score67
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time - so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 4
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official productScritches — official product
- official pricingScritches Pricing
- official docsScritches Booking Features
- open sourcealextselegidis/easyappointments
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.
