If you use Gingr for your pet care business, you may have noticed a new line item: a 1% gateway fee on every transaction processed through their system. On a facility doing $200,000 in annual revenue, that is $2,000/year in fees that did not exist when you signed up. Here is what is happening, why it is happening, and what you can do about it.
Gingr, the pet care management platform owned by private equity firm Togetherwork, has introduced a 1% gateway fee on all transactions processed through their integrated payment system. This fee is in addition to standard credit card processing charges (typically 2.6–2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) that businesses already pay to their payment processor.
For many facility owners, this came as an unwelcome surprise. The fee was not part of their original pricing when they signed up for Gingr. It represents a meaningful increase in the total cost of using the platform — one that scales directly with your revenue.
The 1% gateway fee is applied to the total transaction amount. Here is what that looks like at different revenue levels:
Gingr is owned by Togetherwork, a private equity firm that also acquired PetExec (which is no longer accepting new customers). Private equity firms operate on a fundamentally different business model than independent software companies.
PE firms buy companies with borrowed money and need to generate returns for their investors within a 3–7 year window. That pressure creates specific behaviors:
None of this is speculation. It is the standard PE playbook, and it has been applied to pet care software just like it has been applied to veterinary clinics, dental practices, and dozens of other industries.
The 1% gateway fee is unlikely to be the last increase. PE-owned companies tend to raise prices incrementally over time, testing how much the market will bear. If the 1% fee does not cause significant customer churn, the next step might be 1.5%, or additional fees for premium features, or per-user pricing changes.
The question is not whether you can absorb a 1% fee today. The question is whether you want your business to be dependent on a platform whose pricing is determined by private equity return targets rather than the value it provides to you.
Animal Friends OS uses a fundamentally different model. Instead of processing your payments and taking a cut, it uses the Bring Your Own Merchant (BYOM) approach:
Animal Friends OS is a product of AFPC Industries LLC. It is independently owned and operated by someone who has run a pet care facility for over a decade. There are no outside investors, no private equity ownership, and no plans to sell.
That means pricing decisions are made based on what is fair and sustainable, not on what will maximize quarterly returns for investors. The $45/month price exists because it is enough to build a great product and support customers well. Not because a financial model says it should be higher.
Based on a facility doing $200,000 in annual revenue with 5 staff members.
"The 1% fee hit us out of nowhere. On $25K a month in transactions, that is an extra $250 a month on top of what I was already paying. Switched to Animal Friends OS and eliminated that cost entirely."
"I understand companies need to make money, but adding fees to existing customers after they are already locked in feels wrong. Animal Friends OS is $45 flat and they do not touch my payments. That is the model I want."
"When PetExec shut down and pushed us to Gingr, I thought it would be fine. Then the 1% fee showed up. Two PE moves in two years. I should have gone independent from the start."
Sign up for Animal Friends OS. Full access to every feature for 14 days. No credit card required.
Export your clients and pets from your current software. We provide free migration assistance to get everything imported.
Configure your services, staff schedules, and booking preferences. Connect your payment processor and SMS provider.
Verify everything works. Cancel your old software. Start saving money immediately.
Gingr has added a 1% fee on all transactions processed through their payment gateway. This is on top of your standard credit card processing fees (typically 2.6–2.9% + 30 cents). So if a client pays $100 for a grooming service, Gingr takes $1 from that transaction in addition to what your payment processor charges.
It depends on your revenue. On $120,000 annual revenue, the 1% fee costs $1,200/year. On $200,000, it costs $2,000/year. On $360,000, it costs $3,600/year. These are costs that did not exist when you first signed up for Gingr.
Gingr is owned by Togetherwork, a private equity firm. PE-backed companies are under constant pressure to increase revenue and margins. Adding transaction fees to existing customers is a common PE strategy because switching costs make it unlikely that every customer will leave. The fee extracts more value from the existing customer base without the cost of acquiring new customers.
If you continue using Gingr and process payments through their system, you will pay the 1% fee. Some facilities have tried processing payments outside of Gingr to avoid the fee, but that creates workflow complications and defeats the purpose of integrated software. The alternative is to use a platform like Animal Friends OS that never touches your payments at all.
No. Animal Friends OS uses the Bring Your Own Merchant model. You connect your own payment processor — Square, Stripe, Clover, or any other — and keep 100% of the revenue. There is no gateway fee, no transaction fee, and no percentage taken by the software platform. The $45/month subscription is the only cost.
No. Most facilities complete the switch in a weekend. Export your client and pet data from Gingr, import it into Animal Friends OS with free migration assistance, configure your services and schedule, and go live. 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
14-day free trial. No credit card required. Set up in under an hour.