Best Home Pet Cams of 2025, Expert Tested
A cat crouches on a carpet in front of a Petcube camera on a table.
Is leaving your pet at home during the day stressing you both out? There's a special kind of technology designed to help: Pet cams made to watch over your pet and let you interact with them through an app.
Cams like these are packed with sensors to recognize barks or meows, track your pet as it moves across the room and give you alerts about your pet's daily life while you're away. Some, like Furbo, are smart enough to guess if your pet does specific actions like jump on a no-no couch or start eating food. They also let you save and share adorable pet videos, or talk through the cam to console a lonely buddy.
What is the best pet camera?
After testing, our favorite model for 2024 was the Furbo 360-Degree Cam with Subscription , a cam that does it all with a bevy of smart alerts about specific actions your pet may be taking. Just be aware it requires a subscription fee to access all information.
We've got several other pet cameras at varying price ranges, depending on what you're looking for, plus all the advice you need on how to use these cameras properly.
Best pet cameras
Furbo 360-Degree Cam with Subscription
Furbo offers several pet cameras, but we're recommending this version which requires a subscription for around $70 a year. While we're not always fans of cameras that need subscriptions , this subscription offers important benefits like smart alerts for barking, cloud recording of motion-detected events and daily pet summaries. You also get security-related benefits like fire alarm detection and person recognition, so it can take the place of an indoor security camera too.
The cam itself is no slouch, with 360-degree panning and intelligent tracking features plus an HD resolution with 4x zoom and night vision. It also has two-way audio and a small treat-tosser to pop out a treat on command. While its AI isn't perfect, it can make a wide variety of intelligent guesses about exactly what your pet is doing (it even has a vomit alert) and send you many different alerts, which you can customize in the app to filter out the noise. That alone makes it our first recommendation.
Furbo offers models for dogs and cats, but there's not much difference except for an added cat lure on top. There's also a mini version of the cam available.
Furbo's subscription cam packs in a whole lot for pet owners.
Petcube Cam 360
360-degree viewing is particularly helpful when pets are moving and playing (and chewing) around in a large area. Petcube's pan/tilt model can automatically track pets and is one of the most budget-friendly models available. You give up extras like treat tossing but retain two-way audio, night vision and a digital zoom. Plus, it's easier to mount a pan/tilt cam on a shelf or wall and still have it capture everything a pet is doing.
Petcube's smart alerts have also come a long way, with the ability to identify separate pets and get customized notifications. That requires a Petcube Care subscription starting at $4 per month, but it adds a lot of useful capabilities. The app can send you alerts if a pet has been barking for a long time, for example, or if they jump up on something unexpected.
If you like the idea of a 360-degree cam for your pet, consider the Eufy S350 indoor camera as well, which offers excellent 4K/2K resolution with pan/tilt tracking, fairly accurate pet detection, two-way audio and high-quality zooming to see exactly what Speckle has in his mouth this time.
Petcube's 360 camera is an affordable way to keep track of the action.
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Arlo's compact cams also make a great bundled discount.
Petcube Bites 2 Lite
Petcube's Bites 2 Lite doesn't pan, but the HD cam is more affordable than many alternatives and has similar benefits like two-way audio and 30-foot night vision. It also includes a treat dispenser, but its design also means you can mount it directly to a lower wall, which some pet owners may prefer if you have an overactive dog.
For free you get basic motion alerts, but the Petcube Care subscription starting at $4 a month adds a ton of vital features including live viewing through the app, video storage or downloads, and smart alerts to recognize pets, humans or barking/meowing. That makes the monthly fee more or less a requirement for this cam.
If you really for a cam that can take a look around but like Petcube's affordable prices, an alternative option would be t he Petcube 360 cam : It can't throw any treats, but it comes with most other Petcub benefits in a pan/tilt package.
Petcube's latest cam is flexible in terms of placement.
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Eufy's indoor cam has both pan/tilt capabilities and Apple support.
Important factors when buying a pet cam
Pet cams help keep tabs on pets, but it's important to test your pets reactions first.
Resolution
A higher resolution gives you more information about what your pet is up to. A 1080p resolution is usually sufficient for indoor cams, although we do like picks like Eufy's, which bumps that up to 2K -- the better for spotting furry details.
Field of view
A wide field of view or a panning cam is a big plus. Panning pairs well with object detection and tracking to follow your pet automatically.
Wireless or wired
Pet cams don't need to be wireless, and their indoor locations usually make finding a nearby outlet easy. However, wireless cams are a bit safer around pets without electrical cords to worry about, and make placement more flexible.
Object detection
It's important to find a cam that can detect animals and screen out other distractions. Not every cam provides the abundant AI alerts that Furbo does, but it should at least let you know when a pet appears or log pet interactions automatically.
Pet cams help keep an eye on pets, flick treats, record video and enable remote conversations: Here's everything you should know about them.
Audio
Two-way audio allows owners to console pets -- or tell them to stop eating shoes. Pets don't always recognize what's happening, but it's an important feature for most pet owners.
Treat options
As long as the vet doesn't have a problem and your pet doesn't have weight issues, tossing treats can be an important pet cam feature. We suggest staying open-minded about how well treat tossing will work with your pet as it can stir up a lot of emotions, including the ones that lead to damaged cams (or pets trained to make a fuss). But this feature is readily available if you want it.
Video saving and sharing
If you're primarily interested in live views of your pet throughout the day, you don't need video storage. But if you want to capture and share cute videos, look for cameras and subscriptions that have these options.
How we test pet cams
Petcube's tiny 360 cam is a strong budget option for petowners.
We have a full guide about how we test the various features of security cameras , including audio quality night vision and how well motion detection works. However, for pet cams we extend the tests to a few more activities. For those cams that can detect pet actions, we see if they can identify specific activities accurately. We check how far they can lob treats and if the treat mechanism is reliable and sturdy. We also take a close look at panning and tracking features for cams that can scan a room.
These tests also involve our pets here at CNET! And while pets can be a little unpredictable around new pet cams (we always recommend making sure your pet will be happy with one before buying), we work to get them to play with the features and see how easy cams are to knock over, how well they detect barking or meowing, and other important basics.
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Blink's floodlight cam is one of the most affordable options.
Where to install a pet cam
Hands hold a phone looking at an app live view of a small dog in a living room.
Pet cams are a bit different than other security cameras when it comes to installation. Instead of finding a high perch, it's often better to look for a location closer to the ground, focusing on the spots where your pet spends time. With a panning camera, a corner table position can catch motion throughout a room. The floor is also an option. Keep in mind, pets may want to "play" with a device if they know it has treats somewhere inside.
If you'd like to watch your rambunctious pet in an outdoor setting then swing by our list of the best outdoor home security cams too, as well as our picks for the best wireless cams . And if pet cam prices are making you wince, take a look at the best cheap security cams .
