Comparing Wagnur and Kennel Connection for pet boarding and kennel management? Feature tables, pricing, and an honest look at where each platform wins.
| Feature | Wagnur | Kennel Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Drag-and-drop booking calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Online booking and customer portal | Yes — self-service booking, vaccination uploads, report cards, payments | Yes — pet parent portal included in KC Cloud and Hybrid plans |
| Grooming module | Yes — full service catalog, groomer assignment, duration scheduling, coat and behavioral history | Yes — grooming available; Hello-Groom is their dedicated grooming-focused plan at $69/month |
| Health & medication tracking | Yes — medication logs with staff confirmation, dietary plans, vaccination records, vet visits, behavioral notes | Partial — vaccination tracking included; reviewers note occasional data reliability issues with vaccination records |
| Training module | Not currently offered | Yes — training services listed as a supported service type |
| Staff scheduling & timesheets | Yes — shifts, time-off requests, swaps, timesheets | Yes — included in cloud plans |
| Retail / POS | Yes — in-platform product sales, inventory tracking, sales history, integrated checkout at boarding/grooming checkout | Yes — included in cloud plans |
| Native mobile app | iOS available; Android in active development | Mobile-accessible via browser; no dedicated native app listed |
| Deployment options | Cloud-based SaaS | Cloud, Hybrid (cloud + offline), and Desktop (local install) options available |
| SMS / two-way messaging | Included — messaging module with SMS, push, and email | Available as a paid add-on — $50/month for unlimited 2-way SMS |
| Modular pricing | Yes — pay per module; activate only what you use | Unlimited modules included at flat monthly rate per plan |
| Free trial | Yes — 14 days on every module | No free trial listed; free demo available by appointment |
| Multi-location support | Yes — multiple locations under one platform; shared pet profiles and client records across locations | Yes — Corporate and Franchise plans available at custom pricing |
| QuickBooks integration | Yes — built-in QuickBooks sync included across all active modules | Not listed as a current integration |
Modular pricing — base platform plus individual module fees. 14-day free trial on every module. See wagnur.com/pricing for current rates.
See full pricing →KC Cloud at $149/month (unlimited modules, cloud access). Hello-Groom at $69/month (grooming-focused). Hybrid at $149/month (cloud + offline access). Desktop plans from $89+/month. Two-way SMS is an additional $50/month. No free trial; demos available by appointment.
If you’ve been running a kennel long enough to have used Kennel Connection — or if you know operators who have — you know it isn’t just old. It’s been shaped by feedback from thousands of actual kennels over three decades, and that institutional knowledge is baked into the feature set in ways a newer platform genuinely hasn’t earned yet.
That’s a real thing. So is the fact that the software was originally designed around a desktop install, and the cloud version is still catching up.
Kennel Connection claims over 5,000 customers and 30+ years in production. Here’s an honest look at where that history helps, where it creates friction, and when Wagnur is the more practical choice.
The most significant difference isn’t in any feature list: Kennel Connection supports three deployment models — cloud, hybrid (cloud plus offline access), and a locally installed desktop application. Wagnur is cloud-only.
For facilities in rural areas or anywhere with unreliable internet, Kennel Connection’s hybrid option is a practical advantage Wagnur cannot match. If connectivity drops mid-morning check-in, a hybrid deployment keeps you running.
The tradeoff is that maintaining three deployment targets creates feature disparity. Reviewers consistently note that the cloud version doesn’t have full parity with the desktop version — features longtime desktop users rely on may not yet exist in the web interface. For any facility moving to cloud access expecting the full product, that gap can be genuinely frustrating.
Wagnur is built exclusively as a cloud application. Every feature ships once, every user is always on the current version, and there’s no “desktop version” with capabilities the cloud hasn’t caught up to yet.
On pricing, Kennel Connection’s KC Cloud plan bundles all modules at $149/month. Two-way SMS — which most facilities treat as a baseline tool for confirmations and reminders — costs an additional $50/month on top of that. Wagnur’s pricing is modular, and messaging is included in the communication module rather than billed separately.
Thirty years of feature development shows in the right places.
The support reputation is Kennel Connection’s most consistently praised quality. Users describe the team as accessible, knowledgeable, and genuinely good at resolving real kennel problems — not just platform issues. For an owner who isn’t technical and wants someone who actually understands kennels to pick up the phone, that reputation is real and earned.
The feature set reflects decades of kennel operator feedback. Boarding, daycare, grooming, training, and retail all live under one roof, and the depth of each — especially for facilities that run training programs alongside boarding — is hard to replicate quickly.
The hybrid and desktop deployment options are a genuine operational advantage for facilities where connectivity is not guaranteed. No cloud-only platform can substitute for a local database when the internet goes down.
Stop paying $600/year just to text your clients. The $50/month add-on for two-way SMS on Kennel Connection is a real recurring cost on top of the base subscription. Wagnur includes two-way messaging in the communication module — no separate fee.
Health records that don’t drop between shifts. Think about a guest on multiple medications — a dog who gets thyroid medication in the morning and a joint supplement in the evening. The morning tech starts the day, the evening tech takes over. Wagnur logs each administration with staff confirmation and a timestamp, so the handoff has a complete record. No one has to ask “did the morning person give that?” Kennel Connection tracks vaccinations; it doesn’t have the same depth of staff-confirmed per-dose logging.
Two weeks to actually test it. Wagnur’s 14-day free trial lets you run real check-ins, real reservations, and real payments through the platform before committing. Kennel Connection’s evaluation path is a scheduled demo — not a self-service trial where you find out on your own terms whether the product works for your operation.
One version of the product for everyone. Wagnur doesn’t have a legacy desktop codebase creating cloud/desktop feature gaps. Every user gets the same complete product.
If offline access is a hard requirement for your facility, Kennel Connection’s hybrid option deserves serious consideration and Wagnur may not be the right fit.
For everything else — messaging costs, health tracking depth, trial access, and a cloud product without a desktop version lagging behind — Wagnur is the more practical choice for facilities running on reliable internet.
Start a 14-day free trial on every module and run real operations through it before deciding. Or see pet boarding software for a detailed look at the boarding and kennel workflows.
Start a 14-day free trial on any modules you choose. Cancel anytime.