How to Price Dog Boarding and Daycare Services in Australia (2026 Guide)
A practical guide to pricing boarding and daycare services in Australia: rate benchmarks, pricing models, package structures, peak-period pricing, and when to raise your rates.
Frazer McLeod
29 December 2025Updated 19 September 202610 min read
Quick version
Australian dog boarding costs $45-95+/night (standard to luxury), daycare costs $35-65/day. True cost per dog per night is ~$32-56. Offer 5/10/20-day packages with 5-20% discounts, add peak-period surcharges, and raise prices annually.
What This Guide Covers
This is Part 2 of our Australian pricing series. Part 1 covered dog grooming pricing. This guide covers boarding and daycare, two service types with very different economics.
The short version
Standard kennel nights run about $45 to $65, premium suites $65 to $95, and boutique from $95 up. Cat boarding sits lower. Full-day daycare is roughly $45 to $65. If you're pricing off whatever the place down the road charges, you're guessing. Work out your true cost per night first, then pick a model.
What this costs on Petboost
Three numbers, kept apart.
Your monthly plan fee, a booking fee on what you take, and Stripe's own Australian card rate. We never roll those into one percentage, because that is how two different things end up looking like one number.
Before the segment ranges, here is what Australian businesses actually publish, read off their own price pages on one day against one frozen unit.
Boarding prices, measured
128 published prices, 5 countries
One night of dog boarding, single dog, STANDARD run or suite, at the smallest size tier whose weight range overlaps 4-10kg. Peak and holiday surcharges, luxury tiers, cattery rates and multi-dog household shares excluded.
Australia, median
A$43.50
A$24 to A$85 across 26 businesses. Advertised prices, GST included.
Every figure converted to Australian dollars on the same day, so the column compares like with like.
Country
Median (AUD)
Businesses
United States
$71.13
23
United Kingdom
$53.59
22
Canada
$50.72
29
Australia
$43.50
26
New Zealand
$32.54
28
United States is the dearest of the five and New Zealand the cheapest, a gap of $38.59 on the same unit.
One full day of dog daycare, single dog, CASUAL rate (non-package, non-membership). Half days, multi-dog discounts, trial/first-visit rates and puppy-specific daycare excluded.
Australia, median
A$65
A$25 to A$76 across 20 businesses. Advertised prices, GST included.
Every figure converted to Australian dollars on the same day, so the column compares like with like.
Country
Median (AUD)
Businesses
Australia
$65
20
United Kingdom
$53.11
18
United States
$51.22
24
Canada
$46.66
15
New Zealand
$33.37
17
Australia is the dearest of the five and New Zealand the cheapest, a gap of $31.63 on the same unit.
The ranges below split the same market by segment, which the measured unit deliberately does not. The index takes the standard run and the casual full day only, so premium suites, boutique stays, cat boarding and package rates all sit outside it. Read the measured median as the middle of the plain product, not as the middle of everything you could sell.
Included services: Does your rate include a walk? A play session? A bath?
Dog size: Some businesses charge more for large breeds
Understanding Your True Costs
Before setting prices, understand what each dog actually costs you per day:
Boarding cost per dog per night:
Cost Category
Estimated Cost
Staff wages (proportional)
$15-25
Food (if provided)
$3-5
Cleaning supplies
$2-3
Facility overhead (rent, utilities, insurance)
$10-20
Bedding and consumables
$2-3
Total estimated cost per dog per night
$32-56
If your total cost is ~$40 per dog per night and you charge $55, your margin is $15 per dog per night. At 10 dogs, that's $150/night. At 20 dogs, that's $300/night.
The takeaway: Boarding margins depend heavily on occupancy. High occupancy at moderate rates often beats low occupancy at premium rates.
Boarding Pricing Models
Per-Night Pricing
How it works: Client pays for each night the pet stays. Check-in day counts as night 1, checkout day is free (up to a specified pickup time).
Pros: Simple to understand, industry standard, easy to quote.
Cons: Late pickups can cost you an extra half-day of care without compensation.
Per-24-Hour-Period Pricing
How it works: Client pays for each 24-hour block from check-in time. A stay from Monday 9am to Wednesday 3pm is 2 x 24-hour periods plus a partial day.
Pros: Fairer reflection of actual care time. Compensates for late pickups.
Cons: Slightly harder for clients to understand.
Our recommendation: Per-night pricing is simpler and more common in Australia. Add a late checkout fee ($15-25) for pickups after your specified time to address the late-pickup issue.
Daycare Pricing Models
Full-Day and Half-Day
The simplest approach: one price for a full day, a lower price for a half day.
Define your day lengths clearly:
Full day: 6-10 hours (depending on your business hours)
Half day: up to 5 hours
Session-Based Pricing
Some daycare businesses define specific sessions (morning session, afternoon session) with set capacities and pricing.
Pros: Better capacity management, clearer scheduling.
Cons: Less flexible for clients.
Package Pricing
Packages are critical for daycare revenue stability. They bring bookings forward, improve cash flow, and reduce no-shows.
Recommended package structure:
Package
Days
Discount
Monthly Revenue (at $55/day)
5-day pack
5
5% = $261.25
Varies by usage
10-day pack
10
10% = $495
Varies by usage
20-day pack
20
15% = $935
Varies by usage
Tips for packages that sell:
Make them easy to purchase (ideally clients can buy online without calling)
Set reasonable expiry periods (3-6 months)
Show clients the savings ("Save $55 on a 10-day pack")
Track credits automatically so clients can see their balance
