Last updated 20 October 2026
Dog groomer leads: what Fresha, Booksy, Bark and a Google click cost per new dog client.
Fresha takes 20% of a new client's first groom when they find your salon or van on its marketplace, and Booksy's Boost takes 30%. Bark sells credits you spend to reply to a dog owner. Buy the click yourself and a dog grooming search costs between £0.63 and £1.67 at the high bid, about £17 for each owner who books a slot from "dog groomers near me".
Nobody grooms a cockapoo once. Booked back every 6 to 8 weeks, that dog is 6.5 to 8.7 grooms and about £320 to £420 a year, and the £17 your ad spent finding it is paid on the first of those grooms and never again. Below is that sum dog by dog, what Fresha, Booksy and Bark charge across the same year in their own words, and the licensing line a groomer can cross without noticing.
Two numbers, side by side
"Choose from 15 Pet Grooming and 5 Professionals near you in London."
That is Fresha's own London page for pet grooming, read on 20 October 2026. Booksy lists 3 pet groomers in London. Over the same months, "dog groomers near me" averaged 74,000 Google searches a month across the UK. That gap is what this guide is about.
Where we stand
We don't sell dog grooming leads. We help you get your own.
This guide is the honest version of what buying dog grooming leads costs, and who else gets them. What we do instead is build dog groomers a website that turns visits into calls, and run Google Ads in an account in your own name, so every lead that comes in is a customer who found you, and nobody else was sold it.
What a dog is worth
A cockapoo booked every 6 weeks pays you £420 a year. You find it only once.
UK groomers price by size and coat. On their own price lists, a nail clip is £10 to £15, a puppy groom £25 to £35 and a bath and brush for a medium dog £30 to £40. A small dog's full groom runs £35 to £50, a cockapoo £43 to £55 and a large doodle or retriever £65 to £85 outside London. Two London salons charge £75 to £80 for a medium dog and £120 to £137 for an extra large one.
Curly and long coats come back every 6 to 8 weeks, which is 6.5 to 8.7 full grooms a year. The table puts each dog's year next to what your own ad spent finding it: about £17 on "dog groomers near me", or £23 on "dog grooming london" for the London rows. An owner who picks a slot in your diary has already said yes to the groom, so there is no quote to win and one booking is one new dog.
| Full groom, at its middle price | A year, every 6 to 8 weeks | Your own ad, paid once | Share of that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| A full groom for a small dog, £43 | £280 to £370 | £17 | 5% to 6% |
| A full groom for a cockapoo, £49 | £320 to £420 | £17 | 4% to 5% |
| A full groom for a large doodle or retriever, £75 | £490 to £650 | £17 | 3% to 4% |
| A full groom for a medium dog in London, £78 | £510 to £680 | £23 | 3% to 4% |
| A full groom for an extra large dog in London, £129 | £840 to £1,120 | £23 | 2% to 3% |
Groom prices are from UK groomers' own price lists in Blackpool, Telford, Glasgow, East Yorkshire and London, and from Pets at Home, read in October 2026, worked at the middle of each range and rounded to the nearest £10 for the year. The ad figure is Keyword Planner's high top-of-page bid divided by WordStream's 7.33% conversion rate, both explained further down.
We work to a rough rule of thumb: finding a client should cost 10 to 15 percent of what they pay you. A cockapoo's year at £370 would carry £37 to £56. The ad took £17, 4% to 5% of it, and the second groom through the last one in that year cost nothing more to win.
What the apps go on charging while the dog keeps coming
Fresha's 20% is charged once, but the Independent plan is £14.95 a month, £179.40 across that cockapoo's year, and you cannot unlist the marketplace profile without switching off online booking. Booksy is £40 a month plus VAT, £480 a year before VAT, and switching Boost on gives Booksy an indefinite licence to the photos and videos on your Facebook and Instagram: your before-and-after shots.
Where the owner goes to book groom number two
A dog won from your ad rebooks on your link and your number. One won through Fresha's marketplace rebooks where it found you, on a London page listing 15 pet grooming venues, and Fresha's partner terms say you must not solicit clients to book outside its platform. If that owner cancels the first groom online, the fee waits for their next booking.
Put your own dogs into the commission sum
It opens on a £49 cockapoo groomed 8.7 times a year and four new owners a month. Put in how many owners Fresha or Booksy actually sends you, your groom price and how often your dogs come back, and it shows what the commission takes over the year against winning the same dogs from your own ads at £17 each. It counts the commission only: the monthly plans above come on top.
WHAT DO THE APPS TAKE FROM A GROOMER'S YEAR?
Put in your own numbers
Fresha charges once, on a new client's first visit. Rebooks carry no commission.
Over a year, Fresha takes
£470
from 48 new clients, £10 each
- Those clients spend with you
- £20,462
- Fresha's share of it
- 2.3%
- Same clients from your own ads
- £816
- Share of what they spend
- 4.0%
Your numbers
How much can you spend to win a dog that rebooks all year round?
It opens on a year of one cockapoo, £320 to £420, worked at £370. Swap in the year your own regulars spend, then type what one booked dog costs you, from an app's fee or from your ad on "dog groomers near me" at about £17.
WHAT CAN YOU PAY TO WIN A GROOMING REGULAR?
Pick a job, or type in what yours are worth
You can pay up to about
£56
to win that client
- Healthy range, per new client
- £37 to £56
Put in what a booking costs you, from an app or your own ads, and this will tell you what each new client costs against their worth.
The 10 to 15 percent band is a rule of thumb we use for every kind of business. Nobody has measured it for dog groomers.
Who sends you dogs
Two booking apps, one quote site, a directory and three grooming diary apps.
Every price and quote below is from the firm's own website, read on 20 October 2026. The grooming apps mostly sell you a diary rather than clients, but they sit here because they decide what a booking costs you once the dog owner has found you.
| Route | Price | Who else sees the client | In their words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresha | 20% of a new client's first groom, min £4 | 15 pet grooming venues in London | "Mobile Pet Groomers" |
| Booksy | £40 a month; Boost 30%, min £5 | 3 pet groomers in London | "2nd visit and beyond: 0% commission" |
| Bark | Credits at £1.80, priced per lead | Up to 5 professionals | "The average price of Pet Groomers is £65" |
| FreeIndex | Free, or £9.95 a month Premium | 69 dog grooming members | "Listed above non-premium members" |
| GroomSlot | £24 a month | Your own clients only | "no per-booking charges" |
| Tuft | Free, or £35 a month Pro | A Tuft marketplace listing | "The Essential plan is completely free" |
| Pawfectly Booked | £10 to £35 a month | Your own clients only | "Mobile Gold £20" |
Fresha: pet grooming is a business type, and the fee follows the profile
Fresha sells itself to dog grooming salons, cat groomers, multi-groomer salons and "Mobile Pet Groomers". The Independent plan is £14.95 a month, and its pricing page charges 20% once, at least £4, on brand new clients who find you through its marketplace. Clients who book through your own links, Facebook or Instagram are free, and so is every returning client.
Its help centre adds the part a groomer with a busy Facebook page should read twice: a client who viewed your marketplace profile first and then booked through your own link is still charged. The fee is worked on the first completed appointment, and a cap for dearer services exists without a published figure. Unlisting your marketplace profile turns off online booking altogether, so you cannot keep the diary and drop the fee.
Booksy: a monthly fee, and Boost if you want new owners
Booksy has a pet services category with a pet grooming section and city pages, though only 3 groomers show up in London. It costs £40 a month plus VAT on its pricing page, with no commission when Boost is off. Switch Boost on and a new client's first visit costs 30%, at least £5, with nothing on later visits. Booksy counts Google Search and Google Maps as commission-free, even with Boost on, which matters to a groomer whose clients arrive from a search.
Bark: dog owners post, groomers pay to reply
Bark runs dog grooming and pet grooming categories and puts the average pet groomer price at £65. You buy credits at £1.80 to answer a request, and up to 5 professionals can answer the same owner. Bark doesn't publish how many credits a grooming request costs, so check before you reply on a £13 nail clip. More on the credit system in is Bark worth it.
Grooming apps charge for the diary, not the dog
Three UK grooming apps print their prices in pounds. GroomSlot is £24 a month with "no per-booking charges", 150 text and WhatsApp reminders a month, and deposits. Tuft has a free plan with a Tuft marketplace listing, and Pro at £35 a month (£29 paid yearly) or £49 for several groomers, with deposits and cards on file for no-shows. Pawfectly Booked runs £10 to £35 a month, with a mobile plan. Apart from Tuft's marketplace listing, they sell the diary, and finding the dog is still down to you.
Who doesn't sell grooming clients at all
Treatwell's categories are hair, hair removal, massage, nails, face, body and men's, with no pets. Google's Local Services Ads in the UK cover trades such as plumbers and cleaners and have no pet or grooming category. FreeIndex lists 69 dog grooming members, free or £9.95 a month to sit above the free ones.
Everything here about Fresha's contract comes from its own published terms and conditions, last read on 20 October 2026. Terms get revised, so check yours against the current version before you act on anything.
Rather have dog grooming leads that are yours alone?
That's what we do. We don't sell leads. We build the website and run the Google Ads that bring customers straight to you, in an ad account in your name that stays yours if you ever leave.
See pricingWant to know how many people near you search Google for what you do each month? Message us your town and we'll send you the real numbers.
Check my areaThe Book button
Google lets pet groomers take bookings from their profile. Pick the route that keeps the client yours.
"Pet groomer" is on Google's list of eligible categories for Reserve with Google, the Book button on a Business Profile. There are two ways to get it. A partner such as Fresha, Booksy, Setmore or Square Appointments connects your diary, and Google sends the owner to that partner's page to finish booking. Or you add your own booking link, which Google requires to go to a page for your business, not to Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp.
The route changes the fee. Booksy treats a Google booking as commission-free. Fresha needs your profile listed on its marketplace before the button appears. The three grooming apps above don't mention Reserve with Google on their pricing pages, so with those the own-link route is the one to use: a page on your website with the booking form on it. Who qualifies and how each partner charges is in our guide to Reserve with Google, the full commission comparison in Fresha vs Booksy vs Treatwell, and how to choose a diary in online booking systems for small businesses.
- Verify your Business Profile first
- Match the name to your Google Maps listing
- List each groom with the price owners pay
- Send regulars your own booking link
Buying the click yourself
Somebody searching for a dog groomer near them costs up to £1.28 a click.
Groomers barely search for help: "dog grooming leads" gets about 10 searches a month. Software and insurance firms bid hard for the few who do: "dog grooming software" is up to £9.63 a click, "dog grooming booking app" £13.06 and "dog grooming insurance" £18.60. The dog owners' side is cheap by comparison and huge: "dog groomers near me" gets 74,000 searches a month at up to £1.28.
Click prices below are Keyword Planner's high top-of-page bid, the dear end of what advertisers pay. Each per-client figure is that bid divided by 7.33%, an American benchmark WordStream publishes for home improvement search ads, so it shows which dog grooming searches cost more than others rather than what your budget should be. Nothing multiplies it further: an owner who books a groom online has chosen you, and there is no quote left to lose.
| Search | Searches a month | Per click, high bid | Per booked dog |
|---|---|---|---|
| dog grooming london | 1,000 | £1.67 | £23 |
| dog grooming | 27,100 | £1.52 | £21 |
| dog wash near me | 2,400 | £1.51 | £21 |
| best dog groomer near me | 880 | £1.37 | £19 |
| groomers near me | 12,100 | £1.36 | £19 |
| dog groomers near me | 74,000 | £1.28 | £17 |
| pet grooming near me | 6,600 | £1.19 | £16 |
| dog grooming birmingham | 480 | £1.16 | £16 |
| local dog groomers | 1,000 | £1.12 | £15 |
| mobile groomer near me | 1,900 | £1.11 | £15 |
| mobile dog grooming | 3,600 | £1.02 | £14 |
| puppy grooming near me | 1,000 | £0.99 | £14 |
| dog nail clipping near me | 2,900 | £0.98 | £13 |
| dog grooming leeds | 590 | £0.97 | £13 |
| mobile dog grooming near me | 9,900 | £0.79 | £11 |
| dog grooming prices | 880 | £0.63 | £9 |
Bids and volumes are UK figures from Keyword Planner on 20 October 2026. Keyword Planner gives "dog groomers near me" and "dog grooming near me" one shared figure, so the table carries it once.
London is the dearest at £1.67, about £23 a booked dog, against £510 to £680 for a year of a medium London dog. A van has its own searches: "mobile dog grooming near me" gets 9,900 a month at £0.79, about £11 a booked dog. "dog grooming" on its own is 27,100 a month and broad, so bid on it with care.
The grooming searches that will never book a dog
"pets at home groomers" is 12,100 a month of owners who want one chain by name. "dog grooming course" is 9,900 people who want to become you, at £1.97, more than any owner search. "nail trimmer for dogs" is somebody doing it at the kitchen table. Put all three on the negative list on day one, or would-be groomers eat the budget before an owner sees the ad. "cat grooming near me" gets 14,800 a month at £0.94: a buyer if you take cats, a negative if you don't.
| Search | Searches a month | Per click, high bid | Who is searching |
|---|---|---|---|
| pets at home groomers | 12,100 | £0.51 | Looking for one chain |
| dog grooming course | 9,900 | £1.97 | Wants to train as a groomer |
| nail trimmer for dogs | 8,100 | £0.92 | Doing it at home |
| dog hair trimmer | 6,600 | £0.97 | Buying clippers |
| dog grooming jobs | 1,900 | £1.32 | Wants a job |
| self service dog wash | 1,300 | £0.73 | Washing it themselves |
Set against an app listing, a groomer's own ads give you:
- Your ad, with no other groomer listed beside it
- Bids on the towns your van or salon covers
- No commission, even on a first groom
- Your prices and before-and-after photos on your site
- Google bills each click to your own card
- An ad account that stays with you if you leave
How search ads work for a small local business is in our Google Ads guide, and the monthly figure in how much to spend on Google Ads. A mobile groomer's van is an advert parked on every client's drive, and is it worth wrapping your van works out what that is worth.
Before you advertise
Grooming needs no licence. Keeping dogs all day can turn it into day care.
The RSPCA puts it plainly: "the dog grooming industry is currently unregulated". In England, the 2018 animal activities regulations license five activities: selling pets, boarding cats or dogs (including home boarding and dog day care), hiring out horses, dog breeding, and keeping animals for exhibition. Grooming isn't one of them. What catches groomers is the boarding line.
England: no licence for the groom
Preston answers the question directly: "No, Dog Walkers and Dog Groomers do not require a Licence", adding that this "may change in the near future". Gravesham says the same, as long as the business complies with the Animal Welfare Act 2006 "at all times". Newark and Sherwood agree.
The day care trap, and a real fine
Defra's day care guidance puts any business that provides "daytime housing for other people's dogs, as part of, or as the only activity of, the business" in scope. Bolton fined an owner who said she only walked and groomed £1,000 plus £1,209 costs, after she admitted keeping dogs "for hours" between walks. Don't sell all-day drop-offs without checking with the council.
Scotland and Wales: consulted, not yet law
Scotland licenses pet selling, rehoming and breeding, not grooming. It consulted in 2023, and 82.2% of answers backed licensing groomers. In Wales, Senedd research found "no specific regulation of dog grooming establishments" and no plan to license them under the 2021 to 2026 animal welfare plan. Welsh boarding law excuses accommodation that is not the business's main activity.
Northern Ireland, and the duty everywhere you groom
DAERA licenses boarding, pet shops, riding and zoos, and lists nothing for grooming. In England and Wales, a person in charge of a dog even for an hour is responsible for it, and section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence not to meet its needs "to the extent required by good practice". Northern Ireland's 2011 Act says the same, and Scotland has its own welfare offence.
A home salon may need planning. A van needs a plan for the water
Hastings Borough Council names dog grooming among home businesses "likely to need planning permission", and the test is whether the character of the house changes. Cumberland tells home groomers to notify business rates and planning. Get that settled before an ad brings a queue of cars to your road.
Nobody publishes a rule written for grooming vans, so the Environment Agency's guidance for any business with dirty water applies. It goes into the foul drain with your water company's permission, or is collected and taken away, because "Surface water drains discharge directly to the environment."
Once they book
Groomers take deposits up to half the groom. The CMA expects a small share.
A no-show leaves a gap in the diary and wastes whatever you paid to find that dog. The terms groomers publish are firm. Dogtown in London takes a £20 deposit (£40 for large breeds), charges 50% inside 48 hours and the full price for a no-show. A home salon in East Yorkshire and a Cardiff salon take 50% as a deposit when you book. A Telford mobile groomer charges 50% without 24 hours' notice, and counts a dog that can't be groomed because of its behaviour as a cancellation.
The CMA's unfair terms guidance says a genuine deposit can be kept in full when it works as a binding reservation and the circumstances are clear and narrow, but that it "will not normally be more than a small percentage of the price", and that a fee is more likely to be unfair if it ignores your chance to fill the slot with another dog. A booking taken online or by phone is a distance contract with a 14-day cancellation right, and under regulation 36 you shouldn't start inside those days unless the owner has asked you to. Which reminders and deposit settings cut no-shows is in how to reduce no-shows.
- Say in writing when a deposit is kept
- Keep the deposit a small share of the groom
- Take it off the final bill
- Re-offer the slot before charging in full
Price the rebooking, not just the dog
One Glasgow groomer prices a cockapoo by how long since its last groom: £50 for a regular 6-week dog with no matting, £55 past 6 weeks, £60 past 8 and £65 for a matted shave-down. The owner can see what letting the coat go will cost, and the cheapest price goes to the dog that keeps your diary full. Matting charges elsewhere run from £10 to £25 on top, per London and East Yorkshire price lists.
Through the year
Searches for a dog groomer rise half again from December to spring.
UK searches for "dog groomers near me" dropped to 60,500 in December and held at 90,500 a month from March to July, about 1.5 times the low.
UK searches for "dog groomers near me", by month
October 2025 to September 2026. Google Keyword Planner, rounded bands.
Fill December from your regulars
New-owner searches are at their lowest in December, so a December diary comes from the dogs already on your books. Book their next groom before they leave, and keep ad spend for when searching picks up again.
Vans: budget for March to July
"mobile dog grooming near me" ran between 8,100 and 12,100 a month, hitting the top in March, June and July. A budget that rises in spring meets that demand instead of chasing it.
Before you sign up
Ask what each new dog costs, and who keeps the owner's details, before you pay.
Fresha publishes its rate but not its cap. Booksy shows no cap. Bark doesn't say what a grooming request costs in credits. The grooming apps are clear on price and say nothing about finding you clients. Ask:
- Is the fee charged if I cancel for the owner?
- Do regulars I bring myself ever pay a fee?
- How many groomers see each request?
- Can I export my client list if I leave?
- Does it give me a Google Book button?
What sharing one owner with several groomers does to your price is in the shared-lead trap.
Which way to go
Keep whichever diary suits you. Win the dogs from Google, where owners are looking.
Think twice if
- Up to 5 groomers quote one owner
- The fee cap is not published
- Profile views trigger a fee
- The terms bar steering owners off it
Run your own ads if
- Your dogs rebook every few weeks
- You groom big, long-coated breeds
- Your van covers set towns
- You want the owner to yourself
A cockapoo owner books the same groom 6.5 to 8.7 times a year. Found through your own ad, that is £17 once against £320 to £420 of grooms, and every one of them is booked on your link. Google has 74,000 searches a month for a groomer near me. Reviews help either way, and how to get more Google reviews covers asking owners at pick-up. Setting up the profile itself is in our Google Business Profile guide. The same sum for another booking-led business is in tattoo artist leads, and how other businesses buy leads is in our guide to trade leads.
Our sources
Where every grooming figure here came from.
We build websites and run Google Ads, so we gain if you choose ads. That is why each platform is quoted in its own words.
Fresha, Booksy, Bark, FreeIndex and the three grooming apps were read on their own sites on 20 October 2026, the day we took UK search volumes and bids for dog grooming from Keyword Planner. Groom prices come from groomers' own price lists, including D-O-G Grooming Studio, Baths & Barks, Liv's Perfect Pooches and Pets at Home. Licensing comes from legislation.gov.uk, Defra and the councils linked above, deposits from the CMA, and cancellation from the Consumer Contracts Regulations. The Blue Cross and Rover pages could not be opened from our network, so neither is quoted.
Questions dog groomers ask
Dog groomer leads, answered.
- How much do dog groomer leads cost in the UK?
- Fresha takes 20% of a new client's first completed appointment when they find you on its marketplace, at least £4, on top of £14.95 a month for the Independent plan. Booksy's Boost takes 30% of a first visit, at least £5, on top of £40 a month plus VAT. Bark sells credits at £1.80 each to reply to an owner, and up to 5 groomers can answer the same request. A click on your own Google ad for "dog groomers near me" is up to £1.28 at Keyword Planner's high bid, about £17 for each owner who books a slot, and £23 in London. Set that against a cockapoo on a 6 to 8 week cycle, worth about £320 to £420 a year.
- Is Fresha worth it for a dog groomer?
- Judge it over the year a dog stays with you. Fresha charges 20% of a new marketplace client's first completed appointment, at least £4, and nothing on returning clients. While that cockapoo keeps coming, the Independent plan is £14.95 a month, you cannot unlist your marketplace profile without switching off online booking, and Fresha's partner terms say you must not solicit clients to book outside its platform. It also charges the fee on an owner who looked at your marketplace profile before booking through your own link. Fresha lists 15 pet grooming venues across London, while "dog groomers near me" gets 74,000 UK searches a month, so ask how many owners it would actually send you.
- Do you need a licence to be a dog groomer in the UK?
- Not for grooming alone. In England, the 2018 animal activities regulations license boarding, home boarding and dog day care but not grooming, and councils including Preston, Gravesham and Newark and Sherwood say groomers need no licence. Keep dogs for hours as part of the business and you may be running day care: Bolton fined one "walking and grooming" business £1,000 plus £1,209 costs. Scotland and Wales have consulted on licensing groomers but have not done it. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 applies to every dog in your care.
- Do you need planning permission to run a dog grooming business from home?
- Sometimes. Hastings Borough Council lists dog grooming among home businesses "likely to need planning permission", and says the test is whether the character of the house changes. Gravesham says permission "may be required", and Cumberland tells home groomers to notify business rates and planning. If you are unsure, a council can confirm it through a Certificate of Lawful Use.
- How much should a dog groom cost?
- On UK groomers' own price lists, a nail clip is £10 to £15, a puppy groom £25 to £35, a small dog's full groom £35 to £50 and a cockapoo £43 to £55 outside London. A large doodle or retriever is £65 to £85. In London, a medium dog is £75 to £80 and an extra large one £120 to £137.
- How often do dog grooming clients rebook?
- Groomers ask curly and long coats back every 4 to 8 weeks: Pets at Home says long-haired dogs average every 6 to 8 weeks, and one East Yorkshire groomer makes a 4 to 8 week schedule a condition of booking wool coats. At 6 to 8 weeks a £49 cockapoo is worth about £320 to £420 a year.
- How much deposit can a dog groomer take?
- The CMA says a deposit can be kept in full when it works as a binding reservation and the circumstances are clear and narrow, but that it "will not normally be more than a small percentage of the price". Groomers we read take anything from a £20 deposit to 50% of the groom, charge 50% for a late cancellation and the full price for a no-show. A booking taken online or by phone also carries a 14-day cancellation right.
- When is the quiet season for dog groomers?
- December. In the last 12 months, UK searches for "dog groomers near me" were lowest in December at 60,500 and highest from March to July at 90,500 a month, about 1.5 times the low. Searches for "mobile dog grooming near me" swung between 8,100 and 12,100 a month.
Keep reading
More straight answers for trades.
A diary of regulars who found your grooming salon on Google, and keep coming back.
We build your website and run Google Ads from an account in your own name, aimed at owners searching for a groomer in your town rather than scrolling an app past a dozen others. See what it costs, then tell us about your salon or van and we'll build the campaign around the dogs you want to groom.