An Animal Shelter Manager Alternative — Hosted & Supported
All the day-to-day capability, none of the servers, updates, or backups to run yourself.
Let's be fair: Animal Shelter Manager (ASM) is a genuinely capable, long-running open-source project, and it's free. If your organization has the technical capacity to run and maintain it, it can be a great fit. Pet Friend is for the many shelters and rescues that would rather pay a modest, predictable fee and have everything managed for them.
Why shelters look for an ASM alternative
The most common reasons organizations tell us they move from a self-hosted or open-source setup to Pet Friend:
- No servers to run. Self-hosting means someone has to manage installation, updates, security patches, and backups. Not every shelter has an IT person for that.
- Included support. When something breaks, they want a team to call — not a community forum.
- A modern, polished interface. Staff and volunteers pick it up fast, with less training.
- Native mobile apps. Real iOS and Android apps for field intakes, transports, and events.
How Pet Friend compares
Pet Friend trades "free but do-it-yourself" for "affordable and fully managed":
- Nothing to install or maintain. It's cloud-hosted — we run the servers, updates, security, and backups.
- Support is included on every plan.
- Transparent pricing: $25/month for rescues, $50 for shelters, $100 for large organizations — published, no quotes.
- Modern workflow: intake, medical, adoptions with e-signatures, foster, reporting, plus animal control tools and Petfinder and microchip integrations.
- Native iOS & Android apps plus responsive web.
| Animal Shelter Manager | Pet Friend | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free (open-source); paid hosted option available | $25 / $50 / $100 per month |
| Setup | Self-host (technical) or hosted plan | Fully managed — nothing to install |
| Maintenance & backups | You run them (if self-hosted) | Handled for you |
| Support | Community / paid options | Included on every plan |
| Mobile | Responsive web | Native iOS & Android + web |
| Migration in | — | CSV importer + free white-glove migration |
Compiled July 2026 from public information. ASM is a capable free/open-source project; confirm current details on its own site. Which fits depends on whether you'd rather self-manage software or have it managed for you.
Bringing your data over
Export your animals and history to CSV and Pet Friend's importer walks you through mapping the columns, with a full preview before anything is created. Or let us do it: white-glove migration is free — we import your export and verify the counts with you.
Animal Shelter Manager alternative FAQ
Is Pet Friend free like Animal Shelter Manager?
No. ASM is free and open-source; Pet Friend is paid ($25/$50/$100 per month). The difference is that Pet Friend is fully hosted, maintained, and supported for you — there are no servers, updates, or backups to run yourself.
Do I need technical skills or a server to use Pet Friend?
No. Pet Friend is cloud-based. There is nothing to install or self-host — you sign in from a browser or the mobile apps.
Can I move my data from ASM to Pet Friend?
Yes. Export your data to CSV and Pet Friend's importer maps it with a preview before importing. Free white-glove migration is available if you'd like us to handle it.
Does Pet Friend have native mobile apps?
Yes — native iOS and Android apps, plus a responsive web app, so staff and volunteers can work from the field.