The Best Pet Cameras to Keep You Connected with Your Dog or Cat

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Do you ever wonder what your pets are up to when you’re not home? You can easily find out with a pet cam that lets you drop in and view a live feed of your cat or dog from your smartphone anytime, anywhere.

Pet cams are great for managing separation anxiety—both for pets and their doting pet parents —making it possible to interact remotely by “chatting” over two-way audio, dispensing treats, or even playing a quick game together.

The Best Pet Cams

What to Consider When Buying a Pet Camera

Monthly subscription

Many pet cams can be used for free, but usually require a subscription to access premium features like storing videos on the cloud. A few pet cams also offer SD card storage, allowing you to store video without paying each month for a subscription. An SD card is included with some pet cams, but if it isn’t, you can purchase one for around $5-$15 bucks.

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Alerts

Most pet cams can be set up to alert you when sounds or movements are detected. Some pet cams can distinguish between barks and other non-pet noises. If you’re concerned about neighbors being disturbed by your dog barking, then a pet cam with bark alerts is a must. It works like this: You’ll get notifications when your dog barks. Once you receive the alert, you can open an app on your smartphone to see what’s happening and talk to your pet through the camera to help them calm down. You might also be able to identify what’s causing your dog to bark so you can eliminate triggers.

Night vision

This technology allows you to keep up with your pets at any time—day or night. It’s an essential feature if your pets sleep in another room other than your bedroom. You can check in with your dog or cat during the night or review recorded footage the next day to determine if they got into mischief while you were asleep. Most pet cams automatically emit “invisible” infrared light via LEDs that is picked up by an infrared sensor to generate black-and-white video in low-light conditions. Typically, you can see in the dark anywhere from 6 to 10 feet. If you need to watch your pet overnight in a large room, you’ll either need to set up the camera closer to their bed, or invest in a model that features high-quality night vision.

How We Evaluated Pet Cameras

When researching pet cams, I looked for products from trusted manufacturers with excellent customer service and glowing reviews from pet parents like you. I also trialed my favorites with my dogs Matilda and Cow, and my cat Sabrina. From anything-but-basic cams that start at $35 to so-worth-it splurges that go for over $200, this roundup will help you find the perfect gadget to keep an eye on your pets.

Bites 2

The Petcube Bites 2 is the priciest pet cam I recommend, but if you’re looking for optimal sound and video quality, an easy-to-use app, and flawless treat dispensing, it’s worth every penny. It features four microphones, a speaker bar, and simultaneous two-way audio. Petcube Bites 2 can be loaded with 1.5 pounds of treats up to 1 inch in diameter, and despite its large capacity, it’s got a sleek design and won't take up much space. The Petcube Bites 2 even includes hardware for wall mounting.

Puresight 360

At a budget-friendly price, the Instachew Puresight 360 offers a ton of value with 355-degree rotation, 110-degree tilting, 1080p HD coverage, night vision, 2-way audio, and motion detection. While it isn’t equipped with any special interactive features like treat-tossing or a laser pointer, the Instachew still allows you to view and talk to your pet in real-time.

360° Dog Camera

The Furbo 360-Degree Dog Camera is designed for dogs with unmatched safety features like detailed AI-powered alerts available with the premium Doggy Nanny subscription. The camera can pick up sounds that may indicate danger or a home emergency like carbon monoxide detection and smoke alarms, glass breaking, and people entering your home. It also records cute moments to create a short "Doggy Diary" video that you can review at the end of the day.

Play 2

The Petcube Play 2’s standout feature is its built-in laser, which can be controlled from your smartphone or you can set to "autoplay" mode so your cat can play "hunt the red dot" when you’re busy or asleep. I love that it has Alexa built in, so you can not only control the camera with voice commands, (e.g., "Alexa, have Petcube play with Sabrina!"), but you can also use features to play music, check the weather, and order from Amazon. Smart filters detect humans and pets, and you can get alerts when your pet barks or meows.

EBO Air

EBO Air from Enabot is an interactive pet cam that doubles as a toy. It rolls from room to room and can be steered from a smartphone app or it can be set to track and follow your pet using AI technology. It reminds me of a softball-sized Pokemon as it buzzes across the carpet chirping, "EBO! Ouch! Pew pew!" Both my dogs and my cat are crazy about it, especially when I turn on the built-in laser. Despite its small size, it stands up to collisions, bites, and smacks.

Pet Camera

The eufy Pet Camera features a wide-angle lens with 270-degree rotation, giving it an incredible high-definition 360-view of any room with great night vision thanks to four infrared sensors. It’s a little bulky and I find myself moving it around trying to find an unobtrusive spot for it, but its size allows it to hold about two cups of food—that’s a lot of treats!

Automatic Cat Feeder with Camera

This 2-in-1 automatic cat feeder from PetLibro doubles as a pet camera that’s angled so your pet’s bowl is in view, that way you can monitor them while they eat and see if they’ve finished their meals, and it works just as well to view your home beyond your pet’s bowl. It’s equipped with a 1080p high-resolution camera with 145-degree wide viewing angle, plus motion- and noise-activated recording and alerts so you're notified if your pet barks or meows.

Cam Pan v2

If you already have security cameras, adding an indoor cam from the same brand means you can monitor your pet’s cam in the same app. The Wyze Cam Pan v2 detects sound and movement and even tracks your pets, with a 360-degree horizontal range and 93-degree vertical range so your pet is always in view.

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