Buzz vs ShelterLuv

Although both systems offer a robust set of tools to manage adoptions, donations and animal records, clients often switch to Buzz from ShelterLuv to achieve a better overall value.

Designed to serve the needs of organizations of all sizes, Buzz delivers an energetic, modern approach that amplifies your efforts. With Buzz, a website is also included for free - no need to host your own!

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ShelterLuv was originally built for larger, centralized brick-and-mortar shelters. They offer practical tools for managing shelter operations, but ultimately deliver a different approach, particularly with respect to overall cost, onboarding, customer support and training.

Buzz vs. ShelterLuv at a glance

See how Buzz and ShelterLuv’s features compare.

FEATURE
Payment Processing	Buzz is payment processor agnostic. Rescues can use whatever system they feel most comfortable with.	ShelterLuv limits payment options for donations and adoptions, mandating clients to use 'ShelterPay,' their in-house processor, or face penalties.
Overall Cost	Buzz clients pay a single, transparent, all-inclusive price, with no extra fees.	ShelterLuv’s costs vary based on the size of the organization. Clients that choose not to use ‘ShelterPay’ pay over $20 per adoption.
Onboarding	Speedy and flexible onboarding means Buzz can launch in as little as a few days. It also comes with pre-populated modules for out-of-the box functionality.	Lengthy and inflexible onboarding. Their priority is getting you signed up for ShelterPay before anything else. New users also must customize and populate all of their modules from scratch.
User Experience	Buzz has a clean, intuitive design and is both easy to learn and use. It is approachable, even for non-tech-savvy users.	Primarily a back-office management platform, ShelterLuv’s interface can be cumbersome with a steep learning curve, which can feel intimidating for casual volunteers or adopters.
Training	Comprehensive, live online training with a real person, supplemented with online resources and videos.	No live training - video tutorials only.
Support	Hands-on, responsive, people-centered customer support makes life easier for rescue operations with unique needs.	Generic support, heavily geared toward larger shelters and formal workflows.
Website	The Buzz system includes our software product and a fully integrated website, which is included for free.	Clients must pay separately for ShelterLuv and their website + hosting.
Features	New features are released frequently based on Buzz user recommendations.	Fewer upgrades and a general lack of innovation characterizes ShelterLuv’s approach to new features.
Customization	Buzz offers highly customizable branding and tools to suit the rescue's identity, including logo integration.	ShelterLuv has limited flexibility with respect to visual branding; focuses on operational consistency.
Community Engagement	Built-in tools foster storytelling, donation campaigns, and community involvement.	While strong on operational management, there is less emphasis on creating engaging public-facing campaigns.

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5 Main Difference Between
Buzz and ShelterLuv

1 Pricing & Value

Most Buzz clients pay a flat monthly fee for a powerful, fully-integrated website and animal rescue software in one There are no additional fees, and no per-adoption fees. Buzz’s goal is to save more animals, and we do that by ensuring that costs stay low.

In contrast, ShelterLuv charges you a monthly fee plus a flat fee of $20 per adoption, unless you agree to use their credit card processor for almost all payments, in which case they still charge a fee of $2 per adoption.

This can result in a huge difference in monthly costs, and also limits your ability to serve clients that prefer to pay with Venmo, Zelle, CashApp, cash, check or other methods.

Keep More of Your Money with Buzz

2 Support & Training

Both Buzz and ShelterLuv offer you support and training videos so you can learn on your own time. However, with Buzz you receive much more personal treatment.

Buzz augments their videos with written documentation as well as access to live online training with our onboarding team. ShelterLuv does not offer any live training or support.

Buzz’s flexibility and onboarding options means we adapt to your needs, and not the other way around

Live Training & Support Tailored to Your Needs

3 Digital Influence & Reach

SEO matters. Organizations with a more robust ‘digital footprint’ tend to adopt more pets and raise more money. With Buzz, you maximize the digital reach of your organization and retain all the traffic and SEO equity you've built over time.

ShelterLuv's use of iFrames to display available animals on your site actually reduces your site's online reach. Although it might not be obvious, whenever a visitor to your site clicks on a dog’s profile, they're effectively navigating away from your website temporarily, boosting ShelterLuv’s digital footprint at the expense of your own.

Maximize Your SEO Equity with Buzz

4 Onboarding Speed

Buzz is designed to get you up and running as soon as possible, and onboarding can take as little as a few days.

Many of our modules come pre-populated and ready to go. For example, Buzz’s medical section has out-of-the-box functionality that includes pre-populated sections for Vaccines & Preventatives, as well as common Medical Exams and Tests. Not so with ShelterLuv. Clients must enter all vaccines and preventatives manually from scratch during setup.

With Buzz, there is no need to start from scratch, and onboarding requires less time-consuming manual data entry.

Superior Onboarding Speed

5 Buzz's All-In-One System is Unique

Buzz is the only All-In-One software platform on the market. Buzz clients get a fully integrated website for free with their animal rescue software. ShelterLuv doesn't include a free website.

Buzz clients can choose to use one of our existing templates for a fresh new look, or we can replicate the look and functionality of your existing website. There are no information silos and all of the data you enter can be leveraged across all of our modules. We handle all technical elements (such as hosting, site speed and data security, etc.) so you can focus your attention on what’s most important.

An All-In-One Product for Seamless Operations

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

PAYMENTS

EMAIL

SOCIAL

ANALYTICS

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

Boost Adoptions, Donations and Community with Buzz

Loved By Over

Users

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In 11 Countries
On 5 Continents

Awards

Customer Stories

How to Switch to Buzz from ShelterLuv

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.

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

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,

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.

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.

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.