Plug N Play vs spreadsheets
The way most facilities under ten staff actually run today
The short answer
Spreadsheets cost nothing and hold anything, which is why they survive. What they cannot do is take a booking at 9pm, chase an unpaid invoice, prove a vaccine is current, or tell you the dog going home tomorrow never had its report card written. Plug N Play is $100/mo and does those unprompted.
What spreadsheets and a shared calendar charges
Free in cash. Paid for in re-keying, double bookings and forgotten follow-ups.
| Spreadsheets | $0/mo | plus everyone’s evenings |
| Plug N Play Professional | $100/mo | 15 staff accounts, per business — not per user |
Checked 2026-08-08.
Where spreadsheets and a shared calendar is the better choice
Nothing beats a spreadsheet for a one-off question, and no software import ever goes as smoothly as opening a new tab. If you are one person with twenty clients, a spreadsheet is genuinely the right tool and we will say so.
Where Plug N Play is different
Every record is connected — the booking knows the dog, the dog knows the vaccine, the invoice knows the session, and the reminder goes out whether or not anyone remembered.
Side by side
Based on what each product lists publicly as of 2026-08-08. A blank is “not published”, not “bad at it”.
| Capability | Plug N Play | spreadsheets and a shared calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Booking & scheduling | ||
| Invoicing & payments | ||
| Client portal / app | ||
| Two-way SMS | ||
| Business phone system | ||
| Staff email inboxes | ||
| CRM & sales pipeline | ||
| Training programs & progress | ||
| Client learning library | ||
| Contracts & e-signature | ||
| HR, scheduling & timesheets | ||
| Payroll | ||
| Website builder | ||
| Multi-location / franchise | ||
| Self-host / source access |
What switching actually involves
- 1You tell us what you run on now and what your week looks like.
- 2We build your workspace — services, staff, kennels, packages, forms — and import your clients, animals, vaccine records and history.
- 3You run both systems side by side for a couple of weeks. Nothing is cancelled until you say so.
- 4We move bookings across on a date you pick, and stay on the phone through the first busy weekend.
Common questions
Is Plug N Play cheaper than spreadsheets and a shared calendar?
It depends on your size, and we will not pretend otherwise. Free in cash. Paid for in re-keying, double bookings and forgotten follow-ups. Plug N Play is $100/mo for up to 15 staff and $250/mo unlimited, per business. Small operations sometimes pay less elsewhere; teams and multi-location businesses almost always pay less here.
What does spreadsheets and a shared calendar do better than Plug N Play?
Nothing beats a spreadsheet for a one-off question, and no software import ever goes as smoothly as opening a new tab. If you are one person with twenty clients, a spreadsheet is genuinely the right tool and we will say so.
Can I move my data from spreadsheets and a shared calendar to Plug N Play?
Yes — clients, animals, vaccine records, appointment history and open invoices. We do the import as part of setting you up, and you keep running on your current system until the new one is right.
How long does switching take?
Most businesses are taking real bookings within the first week. The 30-day trial exists so you can run both in parallel rather than jumping.
See your own business in it before you decide
We will set up a workspace with your clients and your schedule in it, free for 30 days, while you keep running on spreadsheets and a shared calendar.