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Buzz vs ShelterBuddy

Posted: August 19, 2025 / Posted in: Uncategorized

Buzz vs ShelterBuddy

ShelterBuddy’s heritage is in high-volume, institutional sheltering. Buzz focuses on practical, mission-driven tools that foster-based rescues and mid-sized shelters can implement without major overhead. Smaller, volunteer-driven rescues may find ShelterBuddy’s scope more than they truly need, along with a correspondingly higher learning curve.

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While Buzz can handle large organizations easily, it was originally designed for foster-based organizations and sanctuaries. Its ease of use and modern, intuitive design makes it a better fit for most smaller animal rescue organizations. Buzz pricing is also straightforward and transparent.

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ShelterBuddy was built "for shelters, by shelters," designed for large, centralized locations, animal control agencies and complex organizations with up to tens of thousands of staff and volunteers. ShelterBuddy also doesn't advertise its price on its website, but charge a monthly fee and per concurrent user, or in some cases, based on the number of new animal or person records created. Extra modules also cost extra.

Buzz vs. ShelterBuddy at a glance

See how Buzz and ShelterBuddy’s features compare.

FEATURE Buzz to the Rescues
Pricing A single, transparent, all-inclusive price with no extra fees. Pricing for ShelterBuddy is undisclosed, and user-based.
Online Reviews Buzz is popular on review sites. Reviews for ShelterBuddy are hard to find.
Website Buzz is a fully-integrated website and software product, included together. Must pay separately for the website and the software.
Product Buzz comes with everything you need Extra functionality and modules cost extra with ShelterBuddy.
Ease of Use Modern, intuitive software design that is easy to learn and use. A highly complex interface.
Core Audience Originally designed for use by foster-based rescues. Originally designed for shelters and animal control facilities.

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What Clients Think

It's been fantastic!

It has reduced the amount of time we spend processing applications and posting dogs, and we even eliminated a couple of volunteer "positions" so that those folks could be used for different tasks.

~ Amanda A. | Board Member

A great move for our rescue

Our adoptions and intakes have increased since using Buzz. We are able to have custom reports made within weeks rather than months(or years) and we have more access to the information we need. Most of our information can be stored in the software so we have far fewer side documents to manage. We love having easy access to our website right in the software, even for folks who know nothing about building or maintaining a website.

~ Janean L. | Foster Coordinator

It does EVERYTHING

Buzz to the Rescues is a seriously passionate team with a nonstop dedication to rescues and animals. The platform itself is so good (easy, modern, intuitive, customizable) I wish I could use it for other parts of my life!

~ Tania L. | Board Member

Operational Design

ShelterBuddy was designed "For Shelters, By Shelters." Buzz works with organizations of all sizes, but was originally targeted to streamline the work of foster-based rescues and sanctuaries. The difference in the type of client these two organizations target is clear in each software's approach, design and functionality.

According to ShelterBuddy's website, they offer a software solution for "advanced shelters and animal control agencies." It was developed by Australia's largest nonprofit (RSPCA Queensland), which itself cares for over 50,000 animals, operates 11 shelters, employs hundreds of staff and manages thousands of volunteers. It's a muscular software to be sure, but perhaps more than necessary for many smaller organizations.

Buzz's tighter focus on functionality is more appropriate for the day-to-day realities of running a rescue.

Buzz Keeps It Simple and Easy to Use

Buzz-Software-Integrations

Pricing, Transparency and Value

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Buzz is transparent about its pricing. Clients pay a flat monthly fee (usually $99/month) for a powerful, fully-integrated combination website and animal rescue software. There are no additional costs, and no per-adoption fees. There are also no additional transaction fees, and Buzz is payment processor agnostic. Buzz helps rescues keep every dollar they earn.

By contrast, ShelterBuddy charges a monthly fee as well as a per-user fee. There are options to lower the monthly fee, but only if users pay fees based on the number of animal or people records you create. In other words, the larger your shelter, the higher the costs. ShelterBuddy also offers extra modules - paid add-ons that add to overall costs.

Keep More of Your Money with Buzz

Online Reviews and Credibility

opular software comparison sites like Capterra usually capture a large amount of user feedback. Not so with ShelterBuddy. Across most review sites, there is only one user review available, and they give ShelterBuddy 3 out of 5 stars.

Buzz has been reviewed dozens of times by happy customers, earning an average rating of 5 stars. In contrast to ShelterBuddy's one review, there are almost 40 reviews on Capterra. Buzz clients show their appreciation because we built the system based on their needs, and over the years Buzz is improved it based on their suggestions.

Buzz has a great reputation, and it's only getting better.

Ask the Audience - Buzz is Better
New-features

Usability, Interface & Onboarding

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ShelterBuddy’s feature-rich environment means you might navigate numerous screens or modules to complete basic tasks. Staff onboarding can also be time-intensive. Built for large shelters with professional staff, its interface can feel cluttered and more geared toward advanced reporting than day-to-day volunteer usage.

Buzz prioritizes intuitive layouts and simple workflows. Most volunteers or staff can quickly learn the system with minimal formal training. From your first login, Buzz offers a streamlined onboarding experience, ensuring you only see the features you need, rather than sifting through exhaustive menus.

Buzz Stands Out for Ease of Use

Buzz's Has a Unique All-In-One Solution

Buzz is completely unique in the marketplace, in that it is the only combination website + animal rescue software. There is no need to pay for website hosting, and Buzz handles the technical details such as hosting, site speed, data security and server issues.

Anything you change in the backend is instantly reflected on the client-facing website, and the data you enter is leveraged across all modules, all for a flat monthly fee. Buzz streamlines day-to-day operations so you can focus on fundraising and day-to-day operations.

Buzz's All-In-One Product Simplifies Your Day-to-Day
Buzz-Software-Integrations

POPULAR INTEGRATIONS

In addition to our all-in-one website + animal rescue software platform,
you can connect your essential business tools to Buzz to the Rescues and make it your rescue control center.

Pets

Buzz to the Rescues - Petfinder
Buzz to the Rescues - Adopt-a-Pet
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PAYMENTS

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EMAIL

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buzz-constant-contact
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SOCIAL

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buzz-instagram

ANALYTICS

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Boost Adoptions, Donations and Community with Buzz

Loved By Over
Users

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In 11 Countries
On 5 Continents

Customer Stories

How to Switch to Buzz from Shelterbuddy

Whether you’re joining Buzz from another animal rescue system or upgrading from emails and spreadsheets, all it takes is a few simple clicks to get started onboarding. Our typical onboarding workflow is included below. We say “typical” because Buzz will always adjust onboarding to fit a new client’s needs.

Website

Use one of our many templates or use your own design.

Your Rescue Coach will create the shell of your site, add your logo, colors and fonts. We will teach you how to edit the site (HINT: Its super easy). You will have access to the site throughout the onboarding process.

We have an entire library of 30 pages chock full of content that is available to you. Use what you like and delete what you don't.

website

Applications

The Buzz Team will completely customize your Adoption, Foster and Volunteer Applications.

This step is simple and should not take long. All we need to complete this task is for you to share your current Adoption, Foster and Volunteer applications.  

 When onboarding, we’ll provide a spreadsheet like the one below. You’ll share the fields you want applicants to fill out, and voila - you’re done! Simply follow the instructions you find at the top of each sheet and check the box on the last sheet to let us know when you’re done.  

 Need any help? Refer to one of our helpful onboarding videos for further instruction, or email us for direct assistance.

Click to See How the Customization Process Works
AppCustomization

Data

We will import your Animals, Adopters, Fosters, & Volunteers.

Transferring your existing data into Buzz is a breeze. Just like with your Applications, once we receive your Data in our spreadsheets, our team will import it and upload it to your new site so you can hit the ground running.
 

To help you do so, we have created step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow. As long as we know which software you are migrating from, we can provide the documents and assistance you need to get started. 

 The Buzz Team will also review all spreadsheets prior to launch to ensure the data has been entered correctly. 

Click See How We Upload Your Data
 Click here to see sample spreadsheets,
data

Training

Now that we're getting close launch, let's make sure your team is trained!

We offer two types of training sessions:

  • Train the Trainer:
    This is used by organizations that have more than 20 people.
    We recommend that directors or team leaders in each area of your organization learn their roles and responsibilities in Buzz so they can effectively train other team members.
  • All Team Training:
    This is used by organizations that have fewer than 20 people.
    We suggest that all members of your organization attend and learn their workflows in the software.

Each training session will be recorded and provided to the Director for members who cannot attend the training session. Each session runs for approximately 45 minutes.

Buzz-Training

Launch

We cannot make your site live without you!

In order to activate your new website, we need to point your domain to the new site files on the Buzz server. This is a simple process that the Buzz Team will do for you. 

Needed Access

Buzz requires the following to complete the process: 

 Name and link to your domain hosting company
(IE: GoDaddy, Network Solutions, HostGator) 

 Technical Access to that account 

 Access to the person in your organization on the day of launch in case there are security codes that we need. 

 Please Note: Our Team is only authorized to point domains from the domain hosting companies listed above. If you use a different company to host your domain, we can still handle it fairly easily, but you may need to get the hosting company’s helpdesk involved as well. 

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WHat Is Happening Behind The Scenes

Step One: Pointing the NameServers

You or the Buzz team will update the NameServers in your Domain Hosting account (GoDaddy, Blue Host, Network Solutions, etc.).

Time: Typically 2-24 hours (NOTE: This period is called Domain or DNS Propagation and refers to the amount of time needed for DNS changes to update across the web. Updating the nameservers of a domain usually takes 0 to 24 hours to take effect, but they are known to take as long as 48 hours to go into full effect.)

Step 2: Securing the site

Once the NameServers have propagated, the Buzz Team will add the SSL certificate to your domains. From the time of propagation until the SSL certificates are installed the site may show a red warning sign to site visitors showing the site is not safe. This will change as soon as the SSL certificate has been installed.

Time: This typically takes approximately 30 minutes.

ShelterBuddy FAQ

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