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Best Pet Camera
Tkenpro 2K Pet Camera Treat Dispenser
Best Affordable 360 Rotating Camera
Petcube Cam 360
Best Affordable Feeder Camera
Petcube Bites 2 Lite
Best Affordable Compact Camera
Petcube Cam
I never knew I needed a pet camera, but now I don’t think I can ever go into the office (or on vacation) again without one. A security camera can give you extra peace of mind when you’re out, and pet cameras specifically designed for our furry friends combine things like the ability to follow your pet around, engage in play, or dispense kibble for an added bonus. Connected to an app on your phone and with Cloud storage options, these pet cameras—including our top pick, the Tkenpro 2K Pet Camera Treat Dispenser ($70)—ensure you’ll never miss a moment in your pet’s life when you’re away (or home).
For more peace of mind while you’re away from your pet, be sure to check out our related guides, like the Best Automatic Feeders, Best Cat Water Fountains, Best Automatic Litter Boxes, Best Indoor Security Cameras, and Best Outdoor Security Cameras.
Regular Security Camera vs. Pet Camera
So, is there really a difference between security cameras and pet cameras? Sort of.
Security cameras enable you to watch your house (and pet) while you’re away, but pet cameras often have a few more pet-specific features, like dispensing treats or abilities to interact with your pet via two-way speaker. These cameras with special features can help ease common issues like separation anxiety or boredom. The Enabot Rola PetPal Robot Pet Companion, for example, has attachments so you can remotely give your pet a treat or engage in “playtime” (more on that in the review below).
That’s not to say that you can’t use a security camera as a pet cam, but like any other smart home device that connects to Wi-Fi, there’s a chance it can be hacked and compromise your privacy. Make sure your Wi-Fi password is strong, set up two-factor authentication with your camera’s app, and it’s not a bad idea to keep it turned off when you’re home, as an extra precaution.
Keeping the criteria in mind above, I looked for security cameras that had extra pet-specific features. I set up each camera individually, noting any difficulty or issues with initial setup, configuration with Wi-Fi, and speed and reliability of the camera feed. I tested each camera for at least a week (most, much longer) in various spots around my house and rigorously tested the extra features available on most of the cameras, like scheduled feedings, food-dispensing, playtime, and scheduled recordings, and I noted any issues. Over the months of testing, I went out of town several times and completely relied on these cams to keep an eye on my two children—I mean, cats.
What Are We Testing Next?
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Best Pet Camera
Photograph: Molly Higgins
Tkenpro
2K Pet Camera Treat Dispenser
This smart pet camera uses pan rotation for an almost-360-degree viewing angle. It has a crystal clear, 2K HD live videofeed and intelligent infrared night vision. The bottom of the camera has suction cups, making it easy to move around the house without needing hardware. Through the app, you can pan the camera, take photos and record video, talk and listen to your pet through the microphone, schedule repeated regular feedings, or toss them a snack. This camera has motion, bark, and voice detection, and AI auto tracking—meaning when something out of the norm is detected, the app sends you a notification.
Its AI features create a minute-long video from motion-triggered recordings and automatically saves it for 30 days, and you can download and share on socials. You can opt for cloud storage (with the option to upgrade to a monthly subscription for 30 days of continuous recording) or you can buy a memory card (up to 128 G) for 24/7 recording. The video is always hi-def clear, never laggy or giving error messages, and I love that I can pan to see the whole room.
Resolution 2K high definition Angle View 355 degrees PTZ Capabilities Yes Image type Color, night vision Storage Cloud and/or memory card (up to 128 G, not included) Audio Two-way -
Best Affordable 360 Rotating Camera
Photograph: Molly Higgins
This camera from Petcube is great, but it suffers one of the pitfalls I have with the rest of the brand’s lineup—the features are seriously limited if you don’t want to pay for Petcube’s upgraded Care plan (which starts at $4 a month) with video storage, pet detection, and automatic video recording capabilities. At a super-affordable price, this camera has 360 PTZ rotation capabilities, 1080p HD resolution, 8X digital zoom, 2-way audio, night vision—all the bells and whistles for under $50.
There’s optional mounting that requires some tools, so setup is a bit tricky. The camera feed rotated pretty smoothly, and with the wide fish-eye-like lens and panning abilities, I was able to clearly see more of the room than I thought possible. Plus, with the new privacy mode, you can easily turn off the camera lens for more security. I was pleasantly surprised by this 360 PTZ camera and its seriously affordable price.
Resolution 1080p HD Angle View 360 degrees PTZ Capabilities Yes Image type Color, night vision Storage Only live feed; storage with paid Care plan Audio Two-way
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Best Affordable Feeder Camera
Photograph: Molly Higgins
This food-dispensing camera from Petcube has HD 1080p live streaming video, night vision up to 30 feet, ability to zoom up to 8X, and two-way audio to talk to and hear your pets. There’s also an easily detachable plastic treat dispenser that holds up to 1.5 pounds of kibble, and you can toss treats remotely from the app, where you can also control the amount and distance.
With the subscription service, the app alerts you when motion or sound is detected, and logs it with playback video stored in-app. I like the customization capabilities and clear videofeed, but like other Petcube devices, you sort of need the extra Care plan to unlock all of the best features.
Resolution 1080p HD video Angle View 160 degrees PTZ Capabilities No Image type Color, night vision Storage Only live feed; storage with paid Care plan Audio Two-way -
Best Affordable Compact Camera
Photograph: Molly Higgins
This simple, compact camera from Petcube doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, but it’s a great price for being a reliable, basic pet camera. Like others in Petcube’s lineup, it has a 1080p HD camera, night vision, and two-way audio. It sits on hinges and can angle upward and downward, with the option to flip the videofeed in-app if you want to lay it horizontally. Like other Petcube cameras, you need the brand’s subscription Care plan to get any features beyond live feed.
You can set a “motion zone” to only get notifications in a specific area, and you connect your phone’s location to the app, so that you’re alerted more often when away. You can also share the camera feed with others so they can watch remotely and only specify certain times you want shared. This camera is basic, but it has a high-quality camera feed and advanced extras that make it a steal at this price.
Resolution 1080p HD Angle View 110 degrees, wide-angle PTZ Capabilities No Image type Color, night vision Storage Only live feed; storage with paid Care plan Audio Two-way
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A Camera With a Laser Toy
Photograph: Molly Higgins
This model from Petcube attempts to combine popular laser toys that cats go crazy for with a pet security cam, to mixed results. Like many other cameras from the brand’s lineup, it has crystal clear color and night vision, an extrawide view, two-way audio, and fun features available with the paid Care plan, like video history, playback, and a 30-second compilation reel of highlights of the day.
The laser toy is supposed to auto-engage when motion is detected, but very often it didn’t, and when it happened to catch my cats’ attention, it stopped displaying the laser soon after. Plus, because the camera needed to sit high on a shelf to see the area, the laser was often too high for the cats to attempt to catch. You can manually play with the cat with the laser through the app, although it’s often laggy, and my cats ended up being more perplexed than playful when the laser was on. It’s a solid camera but the toy aspect falls a bit flat.
Resolution 1080p HD Angle View 160 degrees PTZ Capabilities No Image type Color, night vision Storage Only live feed; storage with paid Care plan Audio Two-way -
A Movable Pet Camera on Wheels
Photograph: Molly Higgins
Enabot
Rola PetPal Robot Pet Companion
This rolling pet camera has the best of intentions, but the sometimes glitchy app makes the combo pet camera/toy/feeder a little unpredictable. Through the app, you can watch your cats on the security cam and drive the robot around, pressing buttons to do tricks and dispense treats. You can watch the camera feed live from the app, but you can also schedule recordings, which are viewable via Cloud Playback. The robot is also supposed to detect abnormal movement or sounds, like barking or broken glass, and send a smart alert to the owner with a timestamp to make anything out of the ordinary easier to monitor while away.
The bot also automatically compiles a 30-second “day-in-the-life”-type video of your pet so you can watch a recap while away, and through AI-powered pet recognition, the bot can also snap a picture of your pet. All of those AI features were unreliable. Although the promised AI capabilities fell flat, I liked being able to move the bot around my house to watch everything going on, since the camera was not just stationary in one spot.
Resolution 5MP, 2.5K high-resolution camera Angle View 135 degrees PTZ Capabilities No (although the whole machine moves) Image type Color, night vision Storage App; scheduled recording; 24/7 cloud playback Audio Two-way
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A Popular Treat-Dispensing 360-View Option
This Furbo 360 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is marketed toward dogs, but like gender, it’s a construct—both cats and dogs will like this treat-dispensing cam. Former WIRED reviewer Haley Sprankle praised it for its clear 1080p and color night-vision camera, two-way communication, noise notifications, 360-degree pan abilities, and treat dispensing. It also has Auto Tracking, which follows your pet to make it easier to find them without having to search your phone screen.
Like the majority of pet cams, there’s an option to subscribe to Furbo’s Nanny service, which snaps pics and sends safety alerts about things like smoke or fallen objects—even chewing alerts—and can spot intruders too. The video clips are stored in the cloud so you can review the footage at any time.
Resolution 1080p HD video Angle View 360 degrees PTZ Capabilities Yes Image type Color, color night vision Storage Extra storage with paid plan Audio Two-way -
Another Treat-Dispensing Option
Photograph: Molly Higgins
Closer Pets
TreatView with Pet Camera
This solid pet cam from Closer Pets (I’ve tested a few of the brand’s automatic feeders with mixed reviews) features an HD camera, two-way communication, motion detection, a built-in memory card, and 1-cup storage for kibble or treats, which can be scheduled or given at random. The video feed was always crystal clear, although sound was a bit laggy and hard to hear well. The treat portions were huge, dispensing a heaping handful of kibble at even the lowest setting. The alert sound when dispensing is super jarring, and my pets were scared of it—there was no way to silence it.
Because of the placement of the hole for dispensing kibble, the camera is angled low, which made it hard to see the area I wanted while giving enough room for the treats to dispense downward. I ended up nixing the feedings after a while because of this problem. There’s an option to wall mount, which would mitigate this problem, but I like being able to move the cam to different areas. This is a solid pet camera whose additional features become a burden rather than an asset.
Resolution 1080p HD Angle View 130 degrees PTZ Capabilities No Image type Color, night vision Storage Built-in 16-GB TF card Audio Two-way
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A Kawaii Option
Photograph: Molly Higgins
Catit
Pixi Smart Mouse Camera
This cutie doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, but if you prioritize having an adorable pet camera, look no further. It looks like a miniature mouse with oversized, magnetic feet that attach to a metal stand, and the mouse legs hinge so you can adjust the camera’s height and angle. It’s cute but expensive for what it is—the lens doesn’t move and requires microSD to get video footage beyond a live feed. The videofeed auto-adjusts from color to night vision, and with the SD card, you can scroll through the video to see the goings-on from past days, record live footage, and save photos and videos to your smartphone’s camera roll.
Two-way audio is also supported, and you can set the camera to only capture select motion detection. Although it was hard to pinpoint exactly which time you’re looking at when reviewing footage, video feed can be laggy, and there were connectivity issues a few times. Overall, I still recommend this camera if it’s on deep discount, but it’s a tad expensive at this price point for its (lack of) capabilities.
Resolution 1080p HD Angle View Not applicable PTZ Capabilities No Image type Color, night vision Storage microSD memory card (not included) Audio Two-way -
A Feeder That’s Also a Pet Camera
Photograph: Molly Higgins
Petlibro
Granary Smart Camera Feeder
While this is primarily an automatic cat feeder (and a damn good one at that), the Petlibro Granary Feeder shot to the top of my list because of its incredible camera surveillance capabilities. The feeder is connected to Wi-Fi and controlled via an app, dispensing food based on a feeding schedule you create. This features a 1080p HD camera in color and night vision, so you can watch and hear your pet eat at all hours when far away, and you can communicate with them via speaker. Through the Petlibro app (for Android and iOs), you set up a feeding schedule or feed snacks; plus, you can store and review pet videos in the cloud with a 30-day video history.
The app also alerts with real-time notifications when the motion and sound sensors are set off, and you can even customize sensitivity and detection range settings based on preference. The camera has a downward-facing 145-degree wide-angle lens, and that customizable range in small, medium, and large surveillance area lets you choose how much of the surrounding area you see. I love closely monitoring how much and often my pets are eating with the camera right on the feeder.
Camera Type 1080p HD Angle View 145 degrees PTZ Capabilities No Image type Color, night vision Storage Micro SD card (capacity of 16 to 256 GB), accessed through app Audio Two-way
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Best Automatic Litter Box With a Camera
Photograph: Molly Higgins
The Petkit Purobot Ultra Automatic Cat Litter Box (8/10 WIRED Recommends) uses a camera and AI technology to monitor litter box usage and the goings-on around your automatic box, and actually lets you see your cat’s stool to help more closely monitor their health. The camera’s 210-degree-wide angle is attached to an arm in front of the opening, which swivels 180 degrees and follows your cat when it senses motion and records both the outside goings-on and the inside of the litter box. You can also manually move the camera through the app to pan to the outside or inside of the box. It records in both color and black-and-white, plus it has night vision.
Through the app, you can view the camera footage live or watch short clips of each time your cat—or anyone—walks near the litter box and when a cat uses it. You get a free trial of Premium Petkit Care+ for 30 days from setup, and there are three tiers of subscription plans, starting at $4 a month for Basic and going up to $12 a month for Premium+, so that you can watch any and all footage taken. The automatic litter box also uses AI to identify which cat used the box through the videos taken.
Resolution Unspecified Angle View 210 degrees PTZ Capabilities 180 degrees Image type Color, night vision Storage Unspecified; stored and accessed through app Audio Two-way
