The biggest cost driver is scope. Automating a single repetitive task, like chasing vaccination records before every stay, is a small, contained build: one workflow, one or two integrations (your booking system, email or SMS). A full operations system that also manages booking requests, a live capacity calendar, holiday waitlists and daily photo updates to owners is a bigger build, because it touches more of the software you already use and has to handle more edge cases (a double-booked run, an expired vaccination record, an owner who wants photos on a set schedule). Most kennels don't need a full custom web app with its own accounts and payments; they need automation layered onto the booking and calendar tools they already have.
The second driver is whether it's build-only or build-and-operate. A build-only engagement designs and deploys the system once, then hands it to you to run. Build-and-operate means we keep it running: watching for failures, handling exceptions a script can't (a blurry certificate photo, a waitlist conflict during a holiday rush), and escalating to a person when a judgment call is genuinely needed instead of guessing. Operating a system costs more over time than a one-off build, because it's ongoing work, not a finished product. Our own operation runs on 110+ scheduled jobs across 40+ live integrations, so this is what we do daily, not a hypothetical.
We don't publish a price list because the cost should track the value the system creates for your kennel, not a generic hourly rate. The way to judge whether it's worth pursuing is to add up the manual load: hours a week spent chasing paperwork, owner messages piling up during a busy holiday period, bookings missed or double-booked because no one was watching the calendar. If that load is real and repeats every week, automation is worth a closer look. If your kennel only handles a handful of bookings a month, a single automation, or none at all, may make more sense than a full system. The next step is a short conversation about what's actually eating your time, so we can tell you honestly what it would take and quote accordingly.