
The best pet camera for you depends on what you value for your pet. Personally, I never knew I needed a pet camera, but after trying several models, I don’t think I can go into the office or on vacation without one set up at home. A home security camera can give you extra peace of mind when you’re out, and pet cameras specifically designed for our furry friends add helpful features, like the ability to follow your pet around, engage in play, and dispense kibble. Connected to an app on your phone and with cloud storage options, these pet cameras—including our top pick for most people (and pets!), the Furbo Mini 360° ($49), and our compact 360 rotating budget pick, Petcube Cam 360 ($47)—ensure you’ll never miss a moment in your pet’s life when you’re away (or at 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.
Updated October 2026: I’ve added the SwitchBot Pan/Tilt Cam Plus 3K and Amazon Blink Mini 2K+ to Others Tested, and retested the Enabot Ebo Max FamilyBot. I’ve also ensured up-to-date links and prices throughout.
I love that this affordable model has most of what every pet parent looks for in a pet camera: it dispenses treats, pans so you can see the whole room, and, if you subscribe, provides daily highlights, broken down by activity or motion. There’s also seven-day storage and a report with insights into your pet’s daily activities. It pans left and right so you can see the entire surrounding area; has super-clear 1080p HD color and night-vision resolution; supports two-way audio so you can hear, talk to, and see your pet; and dispenses treats through the app. That said, you can’t schedule feedings or change the amount dispensed, and when dispensing treats, it makes a jarring, loud chirping noise that my cats seem to find alarming and perplexing. It can sit on a flat surface without drilling, and like all Furbo cameras I’ve tested, this one is only compatible with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi (5 GHz isn’t supported).
As with most pet cams, you’ll need to subscribe to a service to access the best features (starting at $8 per month with a yearly subscription). Furbo’s Nanny service captures photos and sends safety alerts about hazards like smoke or falling objects, along with chewing or barking/meowing alerts. It can also spot intruders. The video clips are stored in the cloud, so you can review the footage at any time.
Although it's a great pet camera overall, this model shares a pitfall that affects the rest of the brand’s lineup: Its features are seriously limited unless you pay for Petcube’s upgraded Care plan (which starts at $4 a month), which includes video storage, pet detection, and automatic video recording. Even so, this camera has 360 PTZ rotation, 1080p HD resolution, 8x digital zoom, two-way audio, and night vision. Getting all of these included bells and whistles for around $50 makes this camera a super-affordable buy.
Optional mounting requires some tools, which can make setup tricky. Once up and running, the camera feed rotated smoothly, and with the wide, fisheye-like lens and pan-and-tilt capabilities (including up and down), I could clearly see more of the room than I thought possible. It covered more space than most pet cameras I’ve tested. Plus, with the new privacy mode, you can easily turn off the camera lens for added security. I was pleasantly surprised by this 360 PTZ camera and its seriously affordable price.
This dual camera features 3K high definition, with a 360-degree rotating top camera and a stationary camera below for even more coverage. There’s also live view, two-way chat, night vision, and 6X zoom. AI detection alerts you to events like barks, meows, loud noises, and fire—really anything alarming. Through the app, you can view live footage, review footage stored on the microSD card or in the cloud, and share the content with family. Plus, you can access smart voice control with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant.
There's an adjustable mount you can install on the ceiling for even greater range. It provides some of the clearest images I’ve seen during testing, and I love that the dual views let me see what my pets are doing on the ground and the 360-degree views above at the same time.
Using pan rotation for an almost 360-degree viewing angle, this model also has a crystal-clear 2K HD live video feed and intelligent infrared night vision. The bottom of the camera has suction cups, making it easy to move around the house without hardware. Through the app, you can pan the camera, take photos, and record video, talk and listen to your pet through the microphone, schedule regular feedings, or toss your pet a snack. This camera has motion, bark, and voice detection, along with AI auto-tracking. Essentially, when the camera detects something out of the norm, the app sends you a notification.
Its AI features create a minute-long video from motion-triggered recordings and automatically save it for 30 days. From there, you can download and share it on socials. You can opt for cloud storage (with the ability to upgrade to a monthly subscription for 30 days of continuous recording) or buy a memory card (up to 128 GB) for 24/7 recording. The video is always hi-def and clear, never laggy or showing error messages. I also love that I can pan to see the whole room.
The Furbo 360 is marketed toward dogs, but both cats and dogs will like its treat-dispensing feature. (Read our full review here.) Very similar to the Tkenpro 2K Pet Camera Treat Dispenser pick, the major selling points of this Furbo are its rotation and kibble dispensing.
The pet camera also has a crystal-clear 1080p color night-vision camera, two-way communication, noise notifications, and 360-degree pan capabilities. It also uses auto-tracking to follow your pet, making it easier to find them on your phone screen while using the app. Just remember, you'll need to pay for Furbo’s Nanny service for features like alerts and video playback storage.
A rarity for pet camera services, this pet camera promises all the best features without a required subscription. It has three lenses, with 360-degree horizontal and 270-degree vertical views, two-way audio, and clear 8-MP color and night vision. When you set up the camera, you'll create pet profiles for each pet, and the camera will learn to track and identify each pet independently. Through the app, you can view footage categorized as daily, weekly, and monthly, by pet and by activity type (like vocalizations and abnormalities). Unlike most other AI-enabled pet products (including our Petlibro camera pick below), the AI correctly identified and categorized my cats during my testing. The pet camera has many customizable features, including sleep mode, scan settings, a parked position, and the ability to share footage with up to five people.
This camera is ready to use out of the box, with 32 GB of storage and AI features included at no extra cost. If you want extras, there's the extended cloud storage plan, which starts at $6 per month and also includes additional replays and downloads.
In my opinion, anything beyond what’s included isn’t super necessary. The only drawback is the sometimes chaotic camera whirring and auto-tracking in the app. Sometimes auto-tracking would pan right past my cats and land on a nearby fan. I’d have to wait for the auto-tracking cycle to complete, then manually reset.
I found that this rolling pet camera is the most polished of all the Enabot wheeled pet camera models I’ve tested. It delivers clear 2K video and black-and-white night vision. It weighs just over a pound, works on 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi, climbs slopes up to 15 degrees, and can clear obstacles up to 10 millimeters. It charges via a magnetic cord, and the battery lasts up to 25 days, so unlike other models, you don’t need to charge it frequently. The camera sleeps when it’s not in use to conserve battery.
You can use the app to virtually control camera speed and movement, as well as action and sound settings that spin, zigzag, and swing the device and send meows, purrs, and duck quacks. You decide whether each action or sound plays once or for three minutes. The app also lets you take pictures or video recordings. The camera has a built-in 32 GB microSD card, but you can opt for a cloud storage subscription.
You can schedule recordings, and the camera also has automatic motion detection, recording 10-second videos when it detects humans or pets. Additional privacy features include camera control, allowing you to disable the in-app camera view. You can also manage individual user permissions and controls, such as customizing device-sharing schedules and in-app notifications when someone views or records footage. Although my cats are still scared of and perplexed by the animal noises and erratic movements, this camera has a surprisingly wide field of view, a solid ability to cover my home, an always-clear video feed, and a super-long battery life.
The newest—and only—camera model from one of my favorite pet tech brands, Petlibro, is sleek, and the app is intuitive and easy to use. (Read my full review here.) The camera offers 1080p HD video, black-and-white and color night vision (you can choose your preference), two-way audio, and a mounting option. It works with both 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks, and you just need to set up profiles for your pets in the app to get started. As the Scout camera captures footage, the built-in AI (which requires an additional subscription plan that starts at $12 per month) begins to learn which pet is which, uploading photos for the human to review so the AI continually gets smarter. Throughout testing, the camera continuously asked me to categorize pets to ensure each was labeled correctly, and through the app, you could view historical footage by activity type and cat that the AI sorted.
Through the app, you can view live footage, watch clips organized by day, pet, and activity type, and review 30-second highlight reels for each day. You can also easily send feedback on each pet and behavior with a click of a button, so the AI can learn to label them correctly. Overall, I personally don't think the upgraded built-in AI features are worth the subscription price for me, but it’s still a techy pet camera worth checking out.
There’s a lot to love about this compact pet camera on wheels. It uses a 16 GB SD card (which you can swap for a larger one if needed) instead of a pricier cloud subscription, and it handles varied terrain easily (up to 4 degrees uphill), from high-pile carpet to hardwood to doorways. It also has a charging dock, so it doesn't need to be plugged in manually. Maintenance is super easy: When the pet camera-robot’s battery runs low, it automatically returns to the charging dock using built-in infrared scanning technology. Charging takes about two and a half hours and lasts for about five hours.
The pet camera on wheels works on both 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi. Through the built-in app, you can adjust movement speed, control the camera's movements; use voice chat to talk to and listen to your pets; take photos or videos; and “play,” which refers to action movements like moving in circles and swinging. You’ll also receive app notifications for events like unusual robot movement (such as being stuck on carpet or in a corner) and low battery. You can store and review footage and photos through the app. While it doesn't have as many features as the Enabot Rola Mini (who really needs their pet camera to make duck noises?), it’s a solid smart camera that can surveil your entire house for a little less money.
Like the dual-lens pet camera pick above, this is one of the cameras I’ve tested that covers the most area. The 2K camera on the bottom stays fixed, while the panning camera above pans left/right and up/down for nearly 360-degree views of the camera’s surroundings. It also comes with an optional mount if you’d rather hang it from a ceiling for even more bird's-eye coverage. (I live in an apartment, so I set it upright on various surfaces in my house throughout testing.) The front has a call button to call a pre-saved contact with one press, and the pet camera stores historical video feed on a microSD card (not included) rather than a pricey cloud storage system. I appreciate this because I much prefer storing video on a disk rather than through a company’s internal cloud storage, which can be unsafe and has recurring costs that add up.
Through the connected Lorex app, you can view live footage (and historical footage with a memory card), pan the camera, take photos and videos, talk to and hear from your pet, and adjust settings such as volume and video resolution. With both cameras, you can adjust each camera's settings independently, including tracking and detection sensitivity, and enable AI auto-tracking for pets and humans. Online reviewers had trouble with an unreliable Wi-Fi connection, which led to a laggy feed. Others complained that the camera's panning abilities caused the app to freeze, which could be resolved only by manually rebooting the camera. However, I did not encounter either issue during my weeks-long testing.
Enabot Ebo Max FamilyBot for $600: I’m usually a big fan of Enabot’s pet tech—especially its line of pet cameras, which are generally affordable and work consistently well without needing a pricey add-on cloud storage system. This camera is touted as an AI family companion that can recognize pets and household members, remember routines and preferences, and come when called. It also has the expected pet camera-on-wheels features, like two-way audio and video, night vision, and 4K imaging. During initial testing, the camera didn't charge properly on the dock and often froze or stopped charging. I got a second model to test, and it worked better—it handled tasks on command, returned to the charging station, and recognized my cats. However, I still don't think its AI-powered companion features are cool enough to justify that price tag. If price is no issue for you and you want a moving camera on wheels, it's worth checking out.
SwitchBot Pan/Tilt Cam Plus 3K for $50: I generally liked this pan/tilt camera, which offers a 360-degree horizontal field of view and a 115-degree vertical field of view, and can be mounted with the provided tools. It also has two-way audio, voice commands, and smart-home support like Amazon Alexa or Google Home. It has eight infrared LEDs that support enhanced night vision, with a range of up to 32 feet. Through the app, you can adjust camera settings for motion detection or tracking and switch to privacy mode when you want the camera to stop recording. However, it only works with 2.4-GHz Wi-Fi and, like many other cams on this list, requires a paid subscription plan to access enhanced features like AI recognition, smart event summaries, unlimited cloud storage, and access to historical recordings. It also required several firmware updates throughout testing and would freeze during updates. It also lagged when moving through the app and often froze for a prolonged period when first opening the app.
Amazon Blink Mini 2K+ for $40: This small, budget-friendly camera supports 2K video, 4X hybrid zoom, and color night vision. In his testing, reviewer Simon Hill found its motion detection reliable, but only with a subscription: $3 per month or $30 per year for one camera, or $10 per month or $100 per year for unlimited cameras. You can record locally by purchasing a Sync Module 2 ($50) and inserting a USB flash drive. Luckily, you don't need a subscription to record the motion-triggered footage from the camera to the Sync Module 2. You just need to insert an approved USB flash drive (up to 256 GB) into the Sync Module 2 to enable subscription-free local storage. Without a subscription, however, live viewing is limited to five minutes, recording is unavailable, videos load much more slowly, people/animal detection isn’t included, and you can’t share clips.
Enabot Ebo Air 2 for $199: The new model from Enabot is an improved interactive robot toy and camera on wheels from the brand’s lineup. It’s got a 2K HD camera, two-way audio, and a built-in laser toy, and you control the robot’s movements from your phone’s app. It’s lightweight and compact, and it can easily maneuver around objects. While acting as a pet camera, the robot also entertains (or scares or confuses) your pet by making animal noises, doing tricks like spinning and zigzagging, and displaying “emotions” via its front screen. It also has a built-in laser toy that my cats actually played with, along with key features like 24/7 video recording with smart playback, motion detection, and activity alerts.
Petcube Play 2 for $75: This Petcube camera attempts to combine popular laser toys that cats love with a pet security cam, with mixed results. Like many other cameras in the brand’s lineup, the Play 2 has excellent color and night vision, an extra-wide view, and two-way audio. The laser toy is supposed to auto-engage when motion is detected, but this often didn’t happen during my tests. When the laser did work and caught my cats’ attention, the feature turned off quickly. 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 using the laser through the app, although it’s often laggy, and my cats ended up more perplexed than playful when the laser was on. It’s a solid camera, but the toy aspect falls a bit flat.
Furbo Mini for $25: I love this super-affordable, 360-degree-rotating basic pet camera. Furbo’s app is easy to use, the 1080 HD feed is clear, it can be mounted on a wall, and it has two-way audio. It’s powered via USB, but it works only with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, so beware. As with most other pet cameras, to access the full features—like smart detection, alerts, and access to historical video footage—you’ll need Furbo Nanny, the paid subscription service. Luckily, Furbo offers a 14-day free trial to see if the service is a good fit.
Petcube Bites 2 Lite for $80: With HD 1080p live video, night vision up to 30 feet, 8x zoom, two-way audio so you can talk to and hear your pets, and food-dispensing abilities, this pet camera has all of the bells and whistles. It also includes an easily detachable plastic treat dispenser that holds up to 1.5 pounds of kibble. You can toss treats remotely from the app, and you can also control the amount and distance. With the subscription service, the app alerts you when the device detects motion or sound and logs it with playback video. I like the customization options and clear video feed, but—like other Petcube devices—you need the extra Care plan to unlock all the best features.
Enabot Rola PetPal Robot Pet Companion for $200 (treat dispensing): A pet camera on wheels, this rolling model 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 pets on the security camera and drive the robot around, pressing buttons to do tricks and dispense treats. You can watch the camera feed live in the app, and you can also schedule recordings, which are viewable via cloud playback. It also assembles a 30-second “day in the life” compilation. 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 while away from home. Through AI-powered pet recognition, the bot can also snap a picture of your pet, but the AI features were unreliable when I tested them.
Petcube Cam for $32: It's simple, compact, and doesn't have all the bells and whistles like more advanced models do, but it’s a great price for 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 up and down, with the option to flip the video feed in-app if you want to lay it horizontally. You'll need the brand's subscription Care plan to access any features beyond the live feed. You can set a “motion zone” to receive notifications only in a specific area, and you can connect your phone’s location to the app so you’re alerted more often when you’re away. You can also share the camera feed with others so they can watch remotely, and specify the footage you want to share. This camera is basic, but it delivers a high-quality camera feed and advanced extras that make it a steal at this price.
Catit Pixi Smart Mouse Camera for $51: This cutie looks like a miniature mouse with oversized, magnetic feet that attach to a metal stand. The mouse legs hinge so you can adjust the camera’s height and angle. While adorable, it’s expensive for what it is: The lens doesn't move, and it requires a microSD card to capture video beyond a live feed. With the SD card, you can scroll through recorded video to see activity from past days, record live footage, and save photos and videos to your smartphone’s camera roll. Even with the SD card, though, it was hard to pinpoint the exact time when reviewing footage. The live video feed can be laggy, and there were connectivity issues a few times. It’s a tad expensive at this price point for its (lack of) capabilities.
Closer Pets TreatView with Pet Camera for $100: With an HD camera, two-way communication, motion detection, a built-in memory card, and a one-cup storage for kibble or treats, which you can schedule or dispense at random—on paper, this pet camera has all of the bells and whistles. The video feed was always clear, though the audio was a bit laggy and hard to hear. The treat portions were huge, dispensing a heaping handful of kibble even at the lowest setting. The dispensing alert was super jarring, and my pets were frightened by it—there was no way to silence it. Because of the kibble-dispensing hole's placement, the camera is angled low, making it hard to see the area I wanted. This is an okay pet camera, but its additional features become a burden rather than an asset.
To find the best pet cameras to test, I first looked for security cameras with extra pet-specific features. I set up each camera individually, noting any difficulties with initial setup, Wi-Fi configuration, and the camera feed's speed and reliability. I tested each camera for at least a week (most for much longer) in various spots around my house, and I rigorously tested the extra features available on most of the cameras, like scheduled feedings, food-dispensing, playtime, and scheduled recordings, noting any issues I experienced. 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.
So, Is There Really a Difference Between Security Cameras and Pet Cameras? Sort Of
Security cameras let you keep an eye on your house (and pet) while you’re away, but pet cameras often include additional pet-specific features, such as the ability to dispense treats and interact with your furry friend via a two-way speaker. These cameras with special features can help ease common pet issues like separation anxiety or boredom. The Enabot Rola PetPal Robot Pet Companion, for example, has attachments that let you remotely give your pet a treat or engage in “playtime.”
That's not to say you can’t use a security camera as a pet cam, but like any other smart home device that connects to Wi-Fi, it could be hacked and compromise your privacy. Make sure your Wi-Fi password is strong, and set up two-factor authentication in your camera’s app. It’s also a good idea to keep it turned off when you’re home, as an extra precaution.
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