Already using Synarii? Synarii positions their product as an AI receptionist. Petboost lets your customer book themselves in 38 seconds. Which fits depends on whether your customers ring or tap.
An honest, side-by-side comparison to help you decide what's right for your Australian pet business.
Australian businesses have run on Petboost since 2022, including teams from Synarii
The short version
Two different answers to the same problem. Synarii positions their product as an AI receptionist. Petboost lets the customer book themselves in about 38 seconds, no conversation needed. Buy theirs if your customers ring rather than tap, and you only do grooming, hair or barbering. Worth knowing before you do: Synarii do not store customer cards.
Switching from Synarii?
What does Synarii cost?
$118.80 to $195.80+ a month, AI receptionist included.
One bundled price by team size, each with Mia and 500 messages a month. Bigger message plans run to $471.90 for 3,000. No booking fee and no percentage of your takings. Verified 19 September 2026.
Does Synarii take a cut of my payments?
No booking fee. Their messages are metered instead.
True on the card line. Their plan also carries a metered message plan, $86.90 to $471.90 a month, which rises as the AI gets busier. Ours is waived at $7,500+/month in card payments. Which is cheaper depends on your card volume and your message count.
Can Synarii charge a no-show?
A fee, yes. To a stored card, no.
They take deposits by link and set no-show fees, but publish that they do not store customer cards, so an unpaid fee waits on the next visit or a payment link. Petboost holds a card on file and charges it whether or not they come back.
Does Petboost have an AI receptionist?
Closed beta. Theirs is live and ours is not.
The Grazi AI Booster is published as a closed beta. What ships today is a 24/7 public booking page, automated reminders and two-way SMS from an Australian number. If an AI answering messages is the whole job, Synarii can do it now.
Can I move my data across?
Yes. They publish a CSV export.
Synarii exports your customer and appointment lists as CSV behind your owner PIN. We then migrate customers, pets, services, add-ons, team and hours, resources, settings, packages and credits, and load your forward calendar to check before go-live.
Why businesses choose Petboost
Purpose-built for Australian pet businesses. No compromises.
A No-Show That Actually Costs Them
Card on file, pre-authorisation 72 hours ahead and a fee charged whether or not they book again. A fee that waits on the next visit only works if there is one.
AUD
No FX
Customers Booking Themselves, No Meter Running
A public booking page open at 11pm. Over half of Petboost appointments are booked by the customer, and none of them draws down a message plan.
Grooming
Daycare
Boarding
Walking
Training
All on one plan. No add-ons.
Every Pet Service, Not Just the Table or the Chair
Grooming plus boarding, daycare, walking, training and puppy school, with packages and memberships. Add a service type without changing software.
Others
6+ clicks
Petboost
1-2 clicks
We Run One Too, Then Designed Inside 100 More
Our co-founders started Hound Health Bondi in 2018 and still run it. 100+ more pet businesses informed the rest. We put the pieces together.
Domain registered October 2025. The founders say the product took more than two years of nights and weekends to build, and that the AI receptionist ran in their own salon for over a year before launch.
Headquarters
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
Focus
AI receptionist, calendar, CRM, deposits and Stripe payments for dog grooming, hair & beauty and barber shops
Customers
No customer count published. Three named salon testimonials appear on their site, two of them giving a state (the ACT and Tasmania), plus quoted messages from those salons' own customers. No independent third-party reviews found. They are launching region by region and their sign-up asks for your country and state.
Australian presence
An Australian business on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, priced in AUD, with Australian-relevant features including card surcharging. Their trading name, locality and support email are published. No ABN, street address or phone number is published, and support is by email.
Pricing
One monthly price that bundles a plan sized by staff count with a metered message plan for the AI receptionist. No booking fee and no percentage of your takings: card payments run through your own Stripe account and Stripe's fee is all you pay them. Priced in AUD, USD and CAD.
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Petboost
Built in Sydney
Australian
Founded
2022
Headquarters
Sydney, Australia
Focus
Multi-vertical pet services
Customers
Australian pet businesses, running since 2022
Australian presence
Native. Built in Sydney, with Australian data residency, same-timezone support and pricing in AUD.
Pricing
$65-240/mo plus a 1.2-1.4% booking fee on card payments. Subscription $0 once your card volume reaches $7,500 a month on Pro, or $20,000 on Max.
No lock-in, cancel anytime
Where Petboost Shines
Built for Australian Businesses
US-based software simply can't match these Australian-specific advantages.
Payment Processing
Payment Methods
Synarii
Text-to-Pay link paid by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, deposit links, Quick Sale retail, split payments, and cash or EFTPOS recorded at the desk
Petboost
Stripe AU: online, terminal, Tap to Pay on iPhone and SMS payment links
Platform Fee on Payments
Synarii
None. No booking fee and no percentage of your takings.
Petboost
Petboost booking fee 1.2-1.4% on card payments taken through Petboost, with the subscription waived at $7,500+/month in card payments
Card-Not-Present Rate
Synarii
Stripe's standard Australian rate, charged by Stripe
No physical terminal. The customer pays a link on their own phone, or you record what you took on your own EFTPOS machine.
Stripe WisePOS E and Tap to Pay on iPhone, Stripe 1.7% + $0.10
Deposits
Mia texts a deposit link when she books and holds the slot for three hours; unpaid, the slot is released
Deposits and a pre-authorisation hold 72 hours ahead
Card on File
Card on file for pre-authorisation, auto-pay and no-show charging
No-Show Charging
Your fee and window, applied or waived by you, then added to the customer's next appointment or sent as a payment link
Notice periods and the fee charged to the card on file, whether or not they book again
Monthly Subscription
$118.80, $162.80 or $195.80/month AUD, with the AI receptionist and 500 messages included
$65/month (waived at $7,500+ in card payments)
SMS Functionality
How Messages Are Sold
Synarii
A message plan is bundled with every subscription and chosen alongside the plan. 500 a month is the entry level and the AI receptionist runs on it.
Petboost
A monthly allowance included with Business Pro, Flex & Max
What the Entry Plan Buys
Synarii
$86.90 for 500 messages a month
Petboost
An allowance in the plan, topped up with Power-Up packs at $15 for 100 to $79 for 1,000 if you want more. Credits are counted per segment, so a long message uses more than one.
Bigger Plans
Synarii
750 for $125.40, 1,000 for $163.90, 1,500 for $240.90, 3,000 for $471.90
Petboost
Power-Up packs run $15 for 100 to $79 for 1,000. At the top of both ladders, 1,000 messages is $79 with us and $163.90 with them, and ours is on top of an allowance you already have rather than the plan itself.
Overage
Synarii
$38.50 per extra 250 messages, "added automatically only if you reach your limit"
Petboost
Buy another Power-Up pack when you want one
What Consumes a Message
Synarii
Every conversation Mia has, including bookings, reminders and follow-ups. A single booking conversation is several messages, not one. Bookings made by the AI are the product, so usage rises with how well it works.
Petboost
Reminders, confirmations and payment alerts draw on the plan allowance. A customer booking themselves on your booking page costs nothing.
Australian Phone Number
Synarii
Each salon gets its own number for Mia. Origin not published.
Petboost
Australian +61 number with Communications Booster
SMS Functionality
Synarii
Petboost
How Messages Are Sold
A message plan is bundled with every subscription and chosen alongside the plan. 500 a month is the entry level and the AI receptionist runs on it.
A monthly allowance included with Business Pro, Flex & Max
What the Entry Plan Buys
$86.90 for 500 messages a month
An allowance in the plan, topped up with Power-Up packs at $15 for 100 to $79 for 1,000 if you want more. Credits are counted per segment, so a long message uses more than one.
Bigger Plans
750 for $125.40, 1,000 for $163.90, 1,500 for $240.90, 3,000 for $471.90
Power-Up packs run $15 for 100 to $79 for 1,000. At the top of both ladders, 1,000 messages is $79 with us and $163.90 with them, and ours is on top of an allowance you already have rather than the plan itself.
Overage
$38.50 per extra 250 messages, "added automatically only if you reach your limit"
Buy another Power-Up pack when you want one
What Consumes a Message
Every conversation Mia has, including bookings, reminders and follow-ups. A single booking conversation is several messages, not one. Bookings made by the AI are the product, so usage rises with how well it works.
Reminders, confirmations and payment alerts draw on the plan allowance. A customer booking themselves on your booking page costs nothing.
Australian Phone Number
Each salon gets its own number for Mia. Origin not published.
Australian +61 number with Communications Booster
Support & Service
How the Product Was Designed
Synarii
Built by two groomers who ran three salons and a team of more than 25, coach groomers around Australia, and run the software in their own salon every day
Petboost
We run a pet business too. Hound Health Bondi has been open since 2018 and runs on Petboost: our co-founder Annika runs it, and Frazer is still on the floor there most weekends. On top of that, 100+ Australian pet businesses of different shapes, sizes and rhythms informed the design, and our product, design and engineering people are still inside businesses every week.
Support Timezone
Synarii
Not published. Email is answered by the two founders.
Petboost
AEST (Sydney), Australian team
Phone Support
Synarii
No phone number published
Petboost
1800 291 005
Regional Availability
Synarii
Launching region by region, with a waitlist where it is not open yet. AUD, USD and CAD pricing published.
Petboost
Available across Australia
Published Contact
Synarii
support@synarii.com. No phone number.
Petboost
Phone, email, in-app chat and a published help centre
Migration Help
Synarii
Self-serve import from a spreadsheet, CSV or PDF, with an offer to walk you through your export by email
Petboost
Hands-on migration: customers, pets, services, team, packages, credits and your forward calendar
Public Reviews
Synarii
Three named salon testimonials on their own site as at 19 September 2026. No independent third-party reviews found.
Petboost
Public reviews and named Australian customer showcases
Support & Service
Synarii
Petboost
How the Product Was Designed
Built by two groomers who ran three salons and a team of more than 25, coach groomers around Australia, and run the software in their own salon every day
We run a pet business too. Hound Health Bondi has been open since 2018 and runs on Petboost: our co-founder Annika runs it, and Frazer is still on the floor there most weekends. On top of that, 100+ Australian pet businesses of different shapes, sizes and rhythms informed the design, and our product, design and engineering people are still inside businesses every week.
Support Timezone
Not published. Email is answered by the two founders.
AEST (Sydney), Australian team
Phone Support
No phone number published
1800 291 005
Regional Availability
Launching region by region, with a waitlist where it is not open yet. AUD, USD and CAD pricing published.
Available across Australia
Published Contact
support@synarii.com. No phone number.
Phone, email, in-app chat and a published help centre
Migration Help
Self-serve import from a spreadsheet, CSV or PDF, with an offer to walk you through your export by email
Hands-on migration: customers, pets, services, team, packages, credits and your forward calendar
Public Reviews
Three named salon testimonials on their own site as at 19 September 2026. No independent third-party reviews found.
Public reviews and named Australian customer showcases
Contracts & Lock-In
Free Trial
Synarii
1 week, no credit card. 2 weeks with a referral code.
Petboost
21 days free
Lock-In
Synarii
No lock-in. Cancel any time and keep Synarii to the end of the month you have paid for; payments already made are not refunded.
Petboost
No lock-in, cancel any time
Per-Seat Charges
Synarii
Priced by staff count: 1, 5 or 50 staff per plan tier
Petboost
No per-seat charge
Location Limit
Synarii
Up to 5 locations on Empire, one shared bill, each extra location $31.90/month
Petboost
Multi-location and enterprise paths with no published cap
Platform Fee on Payments
Synarii
None
Petboost
Booking fee 1.2-1.4% on card payments
Volume Waiver
Synarii
None. The fee is flat whatever your card volume.
Petboost
Subscription waived once you take $7,500+/month in card payments
Data Export
Synarii
CSV export of customers and appointments, behind an owner PIN
Petboost
One-click export of your data from Offboarding in your account settings
Contracts & Lock-In
Synarii
Petboost
Free Trial
1 week, no credit card. 2 weeks with a referral code.
21 days free
Lock-In
No lock-in. Cancel any time and keep Synarii to the end of the month you have paid for; payments already made are not refunded.
No lock-in, cancel any time
Per-Seat Charges
Priced by staff count: 1, 5 or 50 staff per plan tier
No per-seat charge
Location Limit
Up to 5 locations on Empire, one shared bill, each extra location $31.90/month
Multi-location and enterprise paths with no published cap
Platform Fee on Payments
None
Booking fee 1.2-1.4% on card payments
Volume Waiver
None. The fee is flat whatever your card volume.
Subscription waived once you take $7,500+/month in card payments
Data Export
CSV export of customers and appointments, behind an owner PIN
One-click export of your data from Offboarding in your account settings
Consider Synarii only if
There are limited scenarios where Synarii may suit you better:
Grooming, hair and barber businesses whose single biggest problem is answering messages and missed enquiries
Salon owners who want a live AI receptionist today rather than waiting for one
Busy operators taking a lot on card who would rather pay one flat monthly fee than any percentage of their takings
Mobile groomers who want the AI to book only the suburbs they are in on a given day, and the day handed back as a route
Teams where different staff genuinely work at different speeds and the calendar needs to reflect it
Salons that want deposits taken up front by the AI when it books
Recommended
Petboost?
Purpose-built for Australian pet businesses with a design-first approach our customers rave about:
Businesses that need a card on file, so a no-show can be charged whether or not the customer ever books again
Multi-service operators running grooming plus daycare, boarding, walking, training or courses
Businesses selling packages, memberships or prepaid credits
Businesses that want customers booking themselves on a public booking page, with no message meter running
Businesses that need vaccination certificates enforced at the point of booking
Anyone who wants payment at the counter on a terminal or Tap to Pay, not only a link on the customer's phone
Salons where some dogs take longer than others, and the booking should say so
From large daycares to solo groomers, businesses Australia-wide
Where Each Platform Excels
An honest look at how each platform handles key functionality.
Feature comparison
Synarii vs Petboost
An AI That Answers For You
AI that handles customer enquiries and books for you
Theirs is live and ours is not, so if you want an AI picking up today, that is them. The difference worth understanding is what each is for. Theirs is the way a booking arrives. Ours is a layer over a booking page that already takes most of them, which is why it can be a sidekick rather than the product.
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Synarii
Mia, live. Answers by call and text, books, reschedules, cancels, reminds, follows up and takes deposits. Every plan bundles a message plan; 500 messages a month is the entry level.
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Petboost
Grazi AI Booster: a two-way answering machine and customer auto-text, in closed beta and launching soon. We do not call it an AI receptionist on purpose. Shipped today: a booking page the customer taps through in about 38 seconds, automated reminders and two-way SMS via the Communications Booster.
Self-Service Online Booking
A public booking page where customers book themselves
A real difference in how the booking arrives, and in what it costs. Every Mia conversation draws down the message plan; a self-service booking does not.
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Synarii
Not described in their published feature set. The customer-facing channels they publish are Mia by call and text, and booking through a third-party AI assistant.
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Petboost
Public booking page, 24/7. Over half of Petboost appointments are booked by the customer without staff involvement, and more than 70% are booked after hours, at no per-message cost.
Payment Processing
Taking money from customers inside the software
Both take card payments through Stripe and both leave the money in your own account. The difference is the Petboost booking fee, which Synarii does not charge.
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Synarii
Your own Stripe account, Stripe's standard fee only. Synarii adds no booking fee and takes no percentage. Text-to-Pay, deposits, quick sale, surcharging and a settlement report.
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Petboost
Stripe AU 1.7% + $0.30; Petboost booking fee 1.2-1.4%. Online, terminal, Tap to Pay on iPhone and SMS payment links.
Petboost Booking Fee
A percentage on card payments taken through the software
On the card line alone theirs is the cheaper model, and the gap widens as your card volume grows. Two things sit against that. Ours is a fee on card payments taken through Petboost rather than a cut of your takings, so cash at the counter is untouched, and it is tied to bookings the software helped make. And it buys a terminal and Tap to Pay, a card on file, pre-authorisation, no-show charging, packages and memberships, and boarding, daycare, walking and courses in the same system. Which of those you need is the question, not which percentage is smaller.
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Synarii
None. A flat monthly fee whatever your card volume.
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Petboost
1.2-1.4% on card payments taken through Petboost, and the monthly subscription is waived once you are taking $7,500+ a month in card payments
Deposits
Money taken before the appointment to hold the slot
Both take a deposit. Ours can also be a hold placed on a stored card without the customer doing anything; theirs needs the customer to tap the link.
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Synarii
Mia texts a secure link when she books and holds the slot for three hours. Paid confirms it, unpaid releases it. A percentage or a flat amount, new customers only or everyone.
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Petboost
Deposits and a pre-authorisation hold on the card on file 72 hours ahead
Card on File
Saved cards for repeat payments
Their own feature page states it plainly: Synarii does not store customer cards or charge them without their action. That is a clear answer, and it is the line that decides what happens when someone simply does not turn up.
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Synarii
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Petboost
Card on file, used for pre-authorisation, auto-pay and no-show charging
Pre-Authorisation
Hold funds on the card before the appointment
Not possible without a stored card. Their equivalent protection is the deposit link, which the customer has to pay for the booking to confirm.
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Synarii
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Petboost
Pre-hold funds: a hold on the card on file 72 hours before the appointment
Cancellation & No-Show Charging
Recovering the cost of a missed or late-cancelled appointment
Both have the policy. The difference is collection. A fee that waits on the next visit works on the customer who comes back, and the customer you most want to charge is often the one who does not.
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Synarii
You set the window and the fee. Mia tells the customer a fee may apply and asks you to apply or waive it. An unpaid fee is added to their next appointment, or collected by a payment link.
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Petboost
Notice periods, and the fee charged to the card on file whether or not the customer books again
SMS Payment Links
Collect a balance by text
Both send a payment link by text and both work out the balance including any deposit already paid. Close to level.
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Synarii
Text-to-Pay from any appointment, or automatically when the last pet in the family is finished on the Run Board. Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and the appointment turns to Paid online.
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Petboost
SMS payment links for outstanding invoices, marked paid automatically when the customer pays
Point of Sale & Retail
Selling product and balancing the day
Their till is well thought through. Petboost adds the physical terminal and Tap to Pay; theirs records what you took elsewhere.
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Synarii
Quick Sale for walk-in retail with stock counting down, split payments across two methods, void and reverse, an Uninvoiced view and an end-of-day Settlement report to export
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Petboost
Invoicing, retail line items, terminal and Tap to Pay, GST-compliant tax invoices
Booking Through an AI Assistant
A pet owner books your salon from inside ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini
Synarii differentiator, and still not mentioned anywhere on their marketing pages. They are further into agentic booking than we are.
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Synarii
Live. Their AI Booking privacy notice describes owners booking a participating salon through their own AI assistant, confirmed by a reply-YES text.
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Petboost
Petboost runs a public MCP server. A consumer-facing booking channel through third-party AI assistants is not live.
Card Surcharging
Passing the card fee on to the customer
Both handle surcharging.
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Synarii
Switch on a surcharge and it is added and shown at the till
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Petboost
Supported, with the Australian surcharging rules in mind ahead of the 1 January 2027 reforms
Booking Length That Reflects Reality
The same service taking a different amount of time depending on who, or which dog
Two sides of the same problem, and their rewrite shows they do both. Theirs is one pace dial per person; ours is a duration delta on any attribute, plus capacity caps per team member, resource and shift.
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Synarii
Per-staff and per-dog. Staff Speed sets a pace per team member, applied on top of a length that already reflects the dog's size and coat.
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Petboost
Per-dog. Any pet attribute (anxious, senior, matted, hard to handle) can carry a duration adjustment in minutes, up or down, which is applied to the booking automatically. The same attribute can also carry a surcharge and cap how many of those dogs are in at once.
Capacity Control
How many pets a person, room or shift can take at once
Pace and capacity solve overlapping problems. Petboost does both.
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Synarii
Pace per staff member, which spaces bookings out. A separate capacity cap is not described.
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Petboost
Capacity per team member, per resource and per shift, a separate same-household capacity, and per-attribute caps so you can limit how many difficult or high-needs dogs are in at the same time
Automatic Rebooking Reminders
An automatic nudge when a regular is due back
Both ship automatic recall, and theirs closes the loop by booking the appointment rather than handing you a list. Theirs is one interval applied to everyone; Petboost can take each pet's own cadence, so a fortnightly daycare dog and a twelve-week doodle are not nudged on the same clock.
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Synarii
A clock per customer at your chosen interval. Mia sends the text, and if they say yes she finds the time and makes the booking herself. Anyone with a future booking or an opt-out is skipped.
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Petboost
Rebooking reminders per pet. Petboost can learn each pet's own visit rhythm from its history rather than using one number for everyone, or you can set a fixed interval. Controls at business, service and pet level, a minimum gap between reminders, a retry cap, and your own message template.
Consent Before Marketing Messages
Whether the software checks the customer agreed to be messaged
Australian marketing messages need the customer's consent. Ask any platform sending automated rebooking nudges on your behalf how it records that consent, because the obligation sits with you, not the software.
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Synarii
Opt-outs are respected: a customer who has asked not to be messaged is skipped and you are told why. How that consent is first recorded is not published.
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Petboost
Rebooking reminders have their own yes or no, separate from marketing consent. Every customer is asked at their first booking; anyone who chooses No thanks, or who replies STOP, is skipped, and the skip is counted rather than sent silently.
Waitlist
Filling a cancellation from a waiting list
Theirs, clearly. Petboost does not match a freed slot to a waitlisted customer automatically.
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Synarii
A cancellation is matched against everyone waiting on the days, time of day and staff member they asked for, longest waits and priority customers first, with a Waitlist Match banner on the freed slot
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Petboost
Cancellation and reschedule workflows; automatic waitlist matching is not shipped
Daily Run Board
A shared board showing where every pet is up to today
Same job, different shape. Theirs is purpose-built for a tablet on the wall in a grooming salon; ours is a status pipeline across the calendar and Mission Control, and covers boarding and daycare as well.
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Synarii
A dedicated wall board: one row per dog in time order, Arrived, Pre-clip, Bath & dry, Grooming, Finished, each tap in the colour of whoever made it, temperament and senior alerts on the row, finished dogs drop off
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Petboost
Appointment statuses (Pending, Confirmed, In Progress, Ready to Review, Ready to Pay, Paid) with stage tabs, counts and revenue, plus the Workflow and Run Sheet views in Mission Control and an automatic ready-for-pickup SMS
Mobile & Van Rounds
Booking and running a mobile round by area
Theirs ties the area to the day and makes the AI honour it, which ours does not. Petboost gates which suburbs can book a service, not which day you are in them.
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Synarii
Postcode zones set per day, weekly or fortnightly. Mia only offers days you are in that customer's area and offers the waitlist otherwise. One tap opens the day's stops in Google Maps in order.
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Petboost
Per-service suburb restrictions so an out-of-area booking cannot be made online, with a route map on the appointment and GPS check-in
Data Import & Export
Getting your data in, and getting it back out
Both directions are documented on their site, which is rare in this category and worth crediting. Ours is a done-for-you migration rather than an upload.
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Synarii
Self-serve import of customers and forward appointments from a spreadsheet, CSV or PDF, with a count to check and one click to undo the whole import. CSV export of customers and appointments behind an owner PIN.
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Petboost
Hands-on migration of customers, pets, services, add-ons, team and hours, resources, settings, packages and credits, plus your forward calendar, with a review sheet before go-live
Calendar & Scheduling
The daily diary
Both are solid. Petboost has more specialised operational views; Synarii's is a clean single calendar.
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Synarii
Smart Calendar: colour-coded, a column per staff member, drag and drop, aware of opening hours, rosters and closed dates, with paid status on every appointment
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Petboost
Mission Control: up to twelve views plus Coming & Going, Attention Required and an hourly graph of the day
Pet Profiles
Pet information management
Both hold a real pet record. Petboost has a much larger structured attribute library.
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Synarii
Owner and pet records with breed, size, coat, temperament, date of birth, health and handling notes and full history, searchable by name, phone, pet name or breed, with lifetime notes beside per-visit notes
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Petboost
Full Petprint with 1,600+ pre-built attributes, vaccinations, care notes, family pets, emergency contacts, grooming preferences
Cat Grooming
Cats as a first-class client, not a small dog
Both handle cats properly.
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Synarii
One switch gives cats their own services, flat pricing rather than by size, and their own section in the records. Mia asks cat-specific questions and books it as a cat.
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Petboost
Species-aware records and services, with attributes and pricing set per service
Stay/Boarding Management
Multi-night boarding
Not described in Synarii's published feature set.
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Synarii
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Petboost
Purpose-built: 24-hour period billing, tiered pricing, visual occupancy, in-stay service add-ons
Daycare Management
Capacity-based day bookings
Not described in Synarii's published feature set.
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Synarii
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Petboost
Session-based daycare with capacity management, check-in/check-out, recurring bookings
Dog Walking
Walk management and tracking
Synarii's three verticals are dog grooming, hair & beauty and barbering. Their mobile support is for mobile grooming rounds, not walks.
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Synarii
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Petboost
GPS check-in/checkout, Magic Map with photo location capture, route visualisation
Course Management
Group training programmes (puppy school, obedience)
They hold health and handling notes on the pet record, but blocking a booking on an expired certificate is not described.
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Synarii
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Petboost
Online bookings need a current certificate; No Vax and Expired shown on the appointment
Revenue Reporting
Knowing what the business is making
Their rewrite added real depth here. Petboost still goes considerably further on analysis and forecasting.
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Synarii
Revenue Intelligence: today's and tomorrow's projected revenue, revenue per staff member against targets by day, week or month, most valuable customers, average visit value and who has gone quiet
Theirs is capped at five sites and fifty staff; above that is a conversation.
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Synarii
Up to 5 salons on the Empire plan, one login and one bill, each with its own calendar, customers, prices and Mia phone number, plus an All Salons view. Each extra location is $31.90 a month.
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Petboost
Multi-location and enterprise paths with no published cap, and no per-seat charge
Staff & Location Limits
How many people and sites the plan allows
Synarii prices by staff count; Petboost does not charge per seat.
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Synarii
Capped by plan: 1, 5 or 50 staff. Up to 5 locations on Empire.
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Petboost
No published staff cap; multi-location and enterprise paths available
Feature comparison
Synarii vs Petboost
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Synarii
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
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Petboost
Australian-built
An AI That Answers For You
AI that handles customer enquiries and books for you
Theirs is live and ours is not, so if you want an AI picking up today, that is them. The difference worth understanding is what each is for. Theirs is the way a booking arrives. Ours is a layer over a booking page that already takes most of them, which is why it can be a sidekick rather than the product.
Mia, live. Answers by call and text, books, reschedules, cancels, reminds, follows up and takes deposits. Every plan bundles a message plan; 500 messages a month is the entry level.
Grazi AI Booster: a two-way answering machine and customer auto-text, in closed beta and launching soon. We do not call it an AI receptionist on purpose. Shipped today: a booking page the customer taps through in about 38 seconds, automated reminders and two-way SMS via the Communications Booster.
Self-Service Online Booking
A public booking page where customers book themselves
A real difference in how the booking arrives, and in what it costs. Every Mia conversation draws down the message plan; a self-service booking does not.
Not described in their published feature set. The customer-facing channels they publish are Mia by call and text, and booking through a third-party AI assistant.
Public booking page, 24/7. Over half of Petboost appointments are booked by the customer without staff involvement, and more than 70% are booked after hours, at no per-message cost.
Payment Processing
Taking money from customers inside the software
Both take card payments through Stripe and both leave the money in your own account. The difference is the Petboost booking fee, which Synarii does not charge.
Your own Stripe account, Stripe's standard fee only. Synarii adds no booking fee and takes no percentage. Text-to-Pay, deposits, quick sale, surcharging and a settlement report.
Stripe AU 1.7% + $0.30; Petboost booking fee 1.2-1.4%. Online, terminal, Tap to Pay on iPhone and SMS payment links.
Petboost Booking Fee
A percentage on card payments taken through the software
On the card line alone theirs is the cheaper model, and the gap widens as your card volume grows. Two things sit against that. Ours is a fee on card payments taken through Petboost rather than a cut of your takings, so cash at the counter is untouched, and it is tied to bookings the software helped make. And it buys a terminal and Tap to Pay, a card on file, pre-authorisation, no-show charging, packages and memberships, and boarding, daycare, walking and courses in the same system. Which of those you need is the question, not which percentage is smaller.
None. A flat monthly fee whatever your card volume.
1.2-1.4% on card payments taken through Petboost, and the monthly subscription is waived once you are taking $7,500+ a month in card payments
Deposits
Money taken before the appointment to hold the slot
Both take a deposit. Ours can also be a hold placed on a stored card without the customer doing anything; theirs needs the customer to tap the link.
Mia texts a secure link when she books and holds the slot for three hours. Paid confirms it, unpaid releases it. A percentage or a flat amount, new customers only or everyone.
Deposits and a pre-authorisation hold on the card on file 72 hours ahead
Card on File
Saved cards for repeat payments
Their own feature page states it plainly: Synarii does not store customer cards or charge them without their action. That is a clear answer, and it is the line that decides what happens when someone simply does not turn up.
Card on file, used for pre-authorisation, auto-pay and no-show charging
Pre-Authorisation
Hold funds on the card before the appointment
Not possible without a stored card. Their equivalent protection is the deposit link, which the customer has to pay for the booking to confirm.
Pre-hold funds: a hold on the card on file 72 hours before the appointment
Cancellation & No-Show Charging
Recovering the cost of a missed or late-cancelled appointment
Both have the policy. The difference is collection. A fee that waits on the next visit works on the customer who comes back, and the customer you most want to charge is often the one who does not.
You set the window and the fee. Mia tells the customer a fee may apply and asks you to apply or waive it. An unpaid fee is added to their next appointment, or collected by a payment link.
Notice periods, and the fee charged to the card on file whether or not the customer books again
SMS Payment Links
Collect a balance by text
Both send a payment link by text and both work out the balance including any deposit already paid. Close to level.
Text-to-Pay from any appointment, or automatically when the last pet in the family is finished on the Run Board. Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and the appointment turns to Paid online.
SMS payment links for outstanding invoices, marked paid automatically when the customer pays
Point of Sale & Retail
Selling product and balancing the day
Their till is well thought through. Petboost adds the physical terminal and Tap to Pay; theirs records what you took elsewhere.
Quick Sale for walk-in retail with stock counting down, split payments across two methods, void and reverse, an Uninvoiced view and an end-of-day Settlement report to export
Invoicing, retail line items, terminal and Tap to Pay, GST-compliant tax invoices
Booking Through an AI Assistant
A pet owner books your salon from inside ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini
Synarii differentiator, and still not mentioned anywhere on their marketing pages. They are further into agentic booking than we are.
Live. Their AI Booking privacy notice describes owners booking a participating salon through their own AI assistant, confirmed by a reply-YES text.
Petboost runs a public MCP server. A consumer-facing booking channel through third-party AI assistants is not live.
Card Surcharging
Passing the card fee on to the customer
Both handle surcharging.
Switch on a surcharge and it is added and shown at the till
Supported, with the Australian surcharging rules in mind ahead of the 1 January 2027 reforms
Booking Length That Reflects Reality
The same service taking a different amount of time depending on who, or which dog
Two sides of the same problem, and their rewrite shows they do both. Theirs is one pace dial per person; ours is a duration delta on any attribute, plus capacity caps per team member, resource and shift.
Per-staff and per-dog. Staff Speed sets a pace per team member, applied on top of a length that already reflects the dog's size and coat.
Per-dog. Any pet attribute (anxious, senior, matted, hard to handle) can carry a duration adjustment in minutes, up or down, which is applied to the booking automatically. The same attribute can also carry a surcharge and cap how many of those dogs are in at once.
Capacity Control
How many pets a person, room or shift can take at once
Pace and capacity solve overlapping problems. Petboost does both.
Pace per staff member, which spaces bookings out. A separate capacity cap is not described.
Capacity per team member, per resource and per shift, a separate same-household capacity, and per-attribute caps so you can limit how many difficult or high-needs dogs are in at the same time
Automatic Rebooking Reminders
An automatic nudge when a regular is due back
Both ship automatic recall, and theirs closes the loop by booking the appointment rather than handing you a list. Theirs is one interval applied to everyone; Petboost can take each pet's own cadence, so a fortnightly daycare dog and a twelve-week doodle are not nudged on the same clock.
A clock per customer at your chosen interval. Mia sends the text, and if they say yes she finds the time and makes the booking herself. Anyone with a future booking or an opt-out is skipped.
Rebooking reminders per pet. Petboost can learn each pet's own visit rhythm from its history rather than using one number for everyone, or you can set a fixed interval. Controls at business, service and pet level, a minimum gap between reminders, a retry cap, and your own message template.
Consent Before Marketing Messages
Whether the software checks the customer agreed to be messaged
Australian marketing messages need the customer's consent. Ask any platform sending automated rebooking nudges on your behalf how it records that consent, because the obligation sits with you, not the software.
Opt-outs are respected: a customer who has asked not to be messaged is skipped and you are told why. How that consent is first recorded is not published.
Rebooking reminders have their own yes or no, separate from marketing consent. Every customer is asked at their first booking; anyone who chooses No thanks, or who replies STOP, is skipped, and the skip is counted rather than sent silently.
Waitlist
Filling a cancellation from a waiting list
Theirs, clearly. Petboost does not match a freed slot to a waitlisted customer automatically.
A cancellation is matched against everyone waiting on the days, time of day and staff member they asked for, longest waits and priority customers first, with a Waitlist Match banner on the freed slot
Cancellation and reschedule workflows; automatic waitlist matching is not shipped
Daily Run Board
A shared board showing where every pet is up to today
Same job, different shape. Theirs is purpose-built for a tablet on the wall in a grooming salon; ours is a status pipeline across the calendar and Mission Control, and covers boarding and daycare as well.
A dedicated wall board: one row per dog in time order, Arrived, Pre-clip, Bath & dry, Grooming, Finished, each tap in the colour of whoever made it, temperament and senior alerts on the row, finished dogs drop off
Appointment statuses (Pending, Confirmed, In Progress, Ready to Review, Ready to Pay, Paid) with stage tabs, counts and revenue, plus the Workflow and Run Sheet views in Mission Control and an automatic ready-for-pickup SMS
Mobile & Van Rounds
Booking and running a mobile round by area
Theirs ties the area to the day and makes the AI honour it, which ours does not. Petboost gates which suburbs can book a service, not which day you are in them.
Postcode zones set per day, weekly or fortnightly. Mia only offers days you are in that customer's area and offers the waitlist otherwise. One tap opens the day's stops in Google Maps in order.
Per-service suburb restrictions so an out-of-area booking cannot be made online, with a route map on the appointment and GPS check-in
Data Import & Export
Getting your data in, and getting it back out
Both directions are documented on their site, which is rare in this category and worth crediting. Ours is a done-for-you migration rather than an upload.
Self-serve import of customers and forward appointments from a spreadsheet, CSV or PDF, with a count to check and one click to undo the whole import. CSV export of customers and appointments behind an owner PIN.
Hands-on migration of customers, pets, services, add-ons, team and hours, resources, settings, packages and credits, plus your forward calendar, with a review sheet before go-live
Calendar & Scheduling
The daily diary
Both are solid. Petboost has more specialised operational views; Synarii's is a clean single calendar.
Smart Calendar: colour-coded, a column per staff member, drag and drop, aware of opening hours, rosters and closed dates, with paid status on every appointment
Mission Control: up to twelve views plus Coming & Going, Attention Required and an hourly graph of the day
Pet Profiles
Pet information management
Both hold a real pet record. Petboost has a much larger structured attribute library.
Owner and pet records with breed, size, coat, temperament, date of birth, health and handling notes and full history, searchable by name, phone, pet name or breed, with lifetime notes beside per-visit notes
Full Petprint with 1,600+ pre-built attributes, vaccinations, care notes, family pets, emergency contacts, grooming preferences
Cat Grooming
Cats as a first-class client, not a small dog
Both handle cats properly.
One switch gives cats their own services, flat pricing rather than by size, and their own section in the records. Mia asks cat-specific questions and books it as a cat.
Species-aware records and services, with attributes and pricing set per service
Stay/Boarding Management
Multi-night boarding
Not described in Synarii's published feature set.
Purpose-built: 24-hour period billing, tiered pricing, visual occupancy, in-stay service add-ons
Daycare Management
Capacity-based day bookings
Not described in Synarii's published feature set.
Session-based daycare with capacity management, check-in/check-out, recurring bookings
Dog Walking
Walk management and tracking
Synarii's three verticals are dog grooming, hair & beauty and barbering. Their mobile support is for mobile grooming rounds, not walks.
GPS check-in/checkout, Magic Map with photo location capture, route visualisation
Course Management
Group training programmes (puppy school, obedience)
They hold health and handling notes on the pet record, but blocking a booking on an expired certificate is not described.
Online bookings need a current certificate; No Vax and Expired shown on the appointment
Revenue Reporting
Knowing what the business is making
Their rewrite added real depth here. Petboost still goes considerably further on analysis and forecasting.
Revenue Intelligence: today's and tomorrow's projected revenue, revenue per staff member against targets by day, week or month, most valuable customers, average visit value and who has gone quiet
Theirs is capped at five sites and fifty staff; above that is a conversation.
Up to 5 salons on the Empire plan, one login and one bill, each with its own calendar, customers, prices and Mia phone number, plus an All Salons view. Each extra location is $31.90 a month.
Multi-location and enterprise paths with no published cap, and no per-seat charge
Staff & Location Limits
How many people and sites the plan allows
Synarii prices by staff count; Petboost does not charge per seat.
Capped by plan: 1, 5 or 50 staff. Up to 5 locations on Empire.
No published staff cap; multi-location and enterprise paths available
Last checked 19th September 2026 • Based on publicly available information
Our Focused Approach
We do fewer things exceptionally well rather than many things adequately. Our customers consistently tell us our design and user experience is miles ahead. Here's where we've intentionally focused elsewhere:
An AI that answers the phone, today
Coming
Synarii have one live and we do not. The Grazi AI Booster is in closed beta and launching soon, and we deliberately do not call it an AI receptionist: it is a two-way answering machine and customer auto-text. The distinction is not marketing. A receptionist is a person, and we are not selling software that replaces one.
Automatic waitlist matching on cancellation
Considering
Petboost handles cancellations and reschedules but does not automatically match a freed slot to a waitlisted customer. Synarii matches on the days, time of day and staff member the customer asked for and shows you who fits.
Service areas tied to the day you are in them
Considering
Petboost restricts which suburbs can book a service, which stops an out-of-area booking. It does not yet say which days you are in which suburbs, so a mobile round is not clustered for you the way Synarii clusters it.
A pace setting per team member
Considering
Petboost adjusts booking length by the pet, through attribute duration deltas, and caps capacity per team member, resource and shift. It does not have a single pace dial per person the way Synarii does. Most salons we talk to find the dog is the bigger variable, but if your juniors are consistently slower across every breed, theirs maps to that more directly.
Booking through a third-party AI assistant
Considering
Synarii has a live channel letting a pet owner book a participating salon from inside ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Petboost runs a public MCP server but does not offer that consumer-facing booking channel.
Hair, beauty and barber shops
Focused elsewhere
Petboost is built for pet businesses. Synarii serves hair and beauty and barbering as second and third verticals; if that is your business, we are not the right software.
Feature
Status
Our Approach
An AI that answers the phone, today
Coming
Synarii have one live and we do not. The Grazi AI Booster is in closed beta and launching soon, and we deliberately do not call it an AI receptionist: it is a two-way answering machine and customer auto-text. The distinction is not marketing. A receptionist is a person, and we are not selling software that replaces one.
Automatic waitlist matching on cancellation
Considering
Petboost handles cancellations and reschedules but does not automatically match a freed slot to a waitlisted customer. Synarii matches on the days, time of day and staff member the customer asked for and shows you who fits.
Service areas tied to the day you are in them
Considering
Petboost restricts which suburbs can book a service, which stops an out-of-area booking. It does not yet say which days you are in which suburbs, so a mobile round is not clustered for you the way Synarii clusters it.
A pace setting per team member
Considering
Petboost adjusts booking length by the pet, through attribute duration deltas, and caps capacity per team member, resource and shift. It does not have a single pace dial per person the way Synarii does. Most salons we talk to find the dog is the bigger variable, but if your juniors are consistently slower across every breed, theirs maps to that more directly.
Booking through a third-party AI assistant
Considering
Synarii has a live channel letting a pet owner book a participating salon from inside ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Petboost runs a public MCP server but does not offer that consumer-facing booking channel.
Hair, beauty and barber shops
Focused elsewhere
Petboost is built for pet businesses. Synarii serves hair and beauty and barbering as second and third verticals; if that is your business, we are not the right software.
If any of these are dealbreakers today, Synarii may be better suited for your current needs.
Real Cost Comparison
Based on typical Australian pet business transaction volumes.
* For illustrative purposes only, based on industry averages. Your actual costs may vary.
Cost Type
Synarii
Petboost
Solo operator, all in
$118.80/month, with the AI receptionist and 500 messages included. No booking fee.
$65/mo (waived at $7,500+ in card payments), with an SMS allowance in the plan, plus a booking fee of 1.2-1.4% on card payments taken through Petboost
Solo operator, once 500 messages a month is not enough
$195.80 a month: the $31.90 plan plus $163.90 for 1,000 messages, or the same $195.80 if you stay on the 500 plan and take two automatic top-ups at $38.50. 500 does not go far when every booking conversation, reminder and follow-up draws on it.
$65/month plus 1.4% on card payments, with an SMS allowance already in the plan and Power-Up packs at $15 for 100 to $79 for 1,000 on top. A solo groomer taking $5,000 a month on card lands near $135.
5-staff salon, all in
$162.80/month on the 500-message plan
$65/mo (waived at $7,500+ in card payments) plus the booking fee
Annual, solo operator
$1,425.60/year, before a bigger message plan
$780/year (waived at $7,500+/mo), plus the booking fee
Payment Processing
Stripe's standard Australian rate, charged by Stripe to your own account. Synarii takes nothing on top.
Stripe 1.7% + $0.30 charged separately by Stripe, plus the Petboost booking fee 1.2-1.4%
Their own example: a salon turning over $10,000 a week, costed both ways
The $75.90 team plan plus a message plan. $239.80 a month at 1,000 messages, $316.80 at 1,500, $547.80 at 3,000. No booking fee, but the message half rises as Mia gets busier.
At that card volume the subscription is waived, so $0 plus the Business Max booking fee of 1.2%, about $520 a month, with an SMS allowance in the plan. Flat whatever the phone does.
What 1,000 messages costs
$163.90 a month on their 1,000-message plan
An allowance is already in your plan. Past it, Power-Up packs run $15 for 100 to $79 for 1,000, so 1,000 extra messages is $79, under half their rate for the same volume.
How the bill moves as you grow
Flat, until the AI is talking enough to need a bigger message plan. Card volume never changes it.
The subscription falls to $0 once you are taking $7,500+ a month in card payments, and the booking fee rises with card volume. Work out your own card volume against both before you decide, because past a certain point a flat fee wins on the payments line.
What Could You Save?
Calculate your potential savings
Your savings depend on your business size and payment volume. Use the calculator below for a personalised estimate.
Business Pro starts at $65/month with 450 appointments included. Business Max at $240/month gives you unlimited appointments.
Total customer payments (all methods)
$1k$25k$50k
Appointments you expect each month
50450 (Pro)2,5005,000
Reminders and notifications sent
0500 (Pro)1,000 (Max)2,000
What percentage of payments go through card on file?
$2,000 cash/EFTPOS
80%card on file
$8,000 card
All cash/EFTPOSAll card on file
Business Pro
Subscription waived
Subscription waived. Your $65/month fee is $0.
Monthly fee$65$0
Appointments (100/month)Within limit
Team members$0
SMS (300 messages)Within 500 limit
Booking fee (1.4% on card payments)~$112
Stripe processing (card payments)~$160
Your Total Cost~$272
Hidden Costs of Non-Card Payments
$408/mo
20 of your 100 appointments are paid without card on file
Your card-on-file fee: $28/mo→Saves: $408/mo
$1 in fees saves $15 in hidden costs
Annual impact: $4,892/year in recoverable losses
Generous SMS Limits
Business Pro includes 500 SMS/month. Most businesses never hit these limits. You've set 300 SMS/month. You're well within your limit!
When to Upgrade
At your current revenue, Business Max becomes better value at 1,000 appointments/month. You're at 100.
Your Savings
Save $569+ per month compared to typical competitors.
Quick Plan Comparison
Business Pro
• $65/month (waived at $7,500+ card payment volume)
• 450 appointments included
• $0.40/appointment after 450
• 500 SMS/month included
• 1.4% booking fee on card payments
Business Flex
• $135/month (waived at $13,500+ card payment volume)
• 650 appointments included
• $0.50/appointment after 650
• 700 SMS/month included
• 1.4% booking fee on card payments
Business Max
• $240/month (waived at $20,000+ card payment volume)
• Unlimited appointments
• No per-appointment overage fees
• 1,000 SMS/month included
• 1.2% booking fee on card payments
All plans include SMS Power-Up Packs at $15 for 100 additional SMS if needed.
* Estimates based on $10,000 total revenue (80% card on file), 100 appointments, and 300 SMS. Hidden cost estimates use industry averages for no-show rates, cancellation losses, and admin time. Actual costs vary.
From solo operators to multi-location groups
Petboost fits your business. Whether you're a one-person mobile groomer, running a large facility with multiple staff and spaces, or managing several locations at once.
Solo Superstars
One-person operations with streamlined scheduling and automated payments.
1-tap booking management
Automated invoicing & receipts
After-hours self-service booking
SMS reminders on autopilot
Growing Teams
3-10 staff with resource management, shared calendars, and team coordination.
Multi-staff scheduling
Per-resource capacity limits
Team permissions & roles
Shared customer database
Large Operations
Multi-space daycare and boarding, high-volume salons, and busy multi-service businesses.
Bulk operations & admin
Multi-space capacity tracking
Volume pricing available
Advanced automation rules
Petboost Enterprise
Multi-location groups and franchises running every site from one HQ dashboard.
It's easier than you think. Here's what to expect if you decide to move from Synarii.
Migration Complexity
Customer Data
Synarii publishes a CSV export of your customer list behind your owner PIN, so getting the data out is documented. Petboost imports it from there.
Easy
Pet Profiles
Pet records map to Petprint with 1,600+ attributes once exported. Breed, size, coat, temperament and notes come across; structured attributes are set up on our side.
Medium
Booking History
Their appointment list exports as CSV. Historical bookings are typically not migrated; forward appointments are loaded and reviewed before go-live.
Medium
Timeline
1-2 weeks typical for a grooming salon.
Easy
Keep Your Existing Hardware
If you're using a Stripe WisePOS-E terminal with Synarii, you can bring it across to Petboost. No new equipment needed.
We're here to help. We provide migration assistance for businesses switching from Synarii.
Your customers ring and text rather than book online, so the phone is the problem you are actually solving, and you need it answered now rather than soon
You take a lot on card and would rather pay a flat monthly fee than any percentage of your takings
You run a hair and beauty salon or a barber shop, alongside or instead of grooming
You run a mobile round and want the AI to book only the suburbs you are in on a given day
You want a cancellation matched to your waitlist automatically, which they have and we do not
You want pet owners to be able to book you from inside ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, which they have live and we do not
Your calendar problem is that your juniors are slower than your seniors across the board, rather than that some dogs take longer than others
You would rather buy from a single working salon than from a team that designs across many of them
Recommended
Petboost?
Your customers would rather book in a few taps at 11pm than have a conversation, and you want that to cost you nothing per booking
You need a card on file, so a no-show can be charged whether or not the customer ever books again
You want a card terminal at the counter and Tap to Pay, as well as payment links
You want customers booking themselves on a public booking page, with no message meter running
You sell packages, memberships or prepaid credits
You run, or plan to run, boarding, daycare, walking, training or puppy school alongside grooming
You need online bookings to require a current vaccination certificate
You want your subscription to fall to $0 as card volume grows
You want software shaped by how a hundred different pet businesses work, from a team that also runs one
You want an Australian company with a published ABN, address, phone number and support in your own timezone
From large daycares to solo groomers, businesses Australia-wide
Still unsure?Book a no-pressure demo and we'll help you figure out if we're the right fit, even if that means recommending someone else.
Honest about change
The little bit of pain is generally 4 to 6 weeks. Then it clicks.
Switching to any new system is a big adjustment. Buttons are in different places, naming might be different, and the muscle memory you have built does not transfer overnight. We tell every customer the same thing: give it 4 to 6 weeks. Then, one day, you realise it is so much better.
Last verified: 19th September 2026 | Pricing and features sourced from www.synarii.com
GST: every price on this page is what you actually pay. Where a competitor quotes before GST, we have added the 10%. Where a competitor prices in another currency, the local tax treatment is theirs to set, so check it before you compare.
Found an error? Let us know and we'll correct it promptly.
Synarii® is a registered trademark of its respective owners. This comparison is based on publicly available information and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Synarii.
Petboost vs Synarii | AU Pet Business Comparison | Petboost
