5 Best Pet Cameras for Cats

#1 Overall Best: Eufy Security Solo IndoorCam P24

My overall favorite was the Eufy Solo IndoorCam P24 model. It’s not a pet camera, but most of us won’t really need a pet camera—regular security cameras should work just as well for most homes.

At $49.99, the Eufy camera is reasonably priced compared to most pet cameras. And while it doesn’t toss treats or let you play with a laser pointer, it excels in the areas that matter most.

The video quality is the highest of any of the cameras I tested, offering up to 2K resolution streaming video, along with a 125-degree lens, 360-degree panning, and 96-degree vertical tilt for full visibility. Paired with the motion tracking function, this allows you to keep an eye on everything your cat does in the room.

The Eufy camera had the best streaming quality of any of the security cameras I tested. Mallory Crusta / Cats.com

You’re able to set it to detect only certain types of movement, and on pet-only mode, it did a great job of detecting cats in front of the camera and instantly started recording every time my cats passed in front. Notifications were clear and consistent. Perhaps more relevant to barking dogs than cats, sound detection is also available, letting you know if your cat is loudly meowing or knocking something over in the house.

One of my favorite features was the IndoorCam’s activity zones. By setting an activity zone, you can get notifications when your cat goes into a specific area, like a counter, stovetop, or other danger zone. The pet command feature turns this into a training tool, allowing you to record a custom audio message that will play every time your cat enters the zone.

Normally, you get one week of videos logged on the app, but you can pair it with a non-included microSD card for local storage or pay for a plan to get cloud storage for 30 days or more.

Plans start at $2.99 a month and go up to $9.99 a month.

What I Liked

• Offers outstanding streaming video quality
• Packed with plenty of features that benefit cat owners
• Great functionality with or without a monthly subscription
• Allows you to store videos locally
• Offers detection zones and pet warnings; helpful for training
• Excellent speaker and microphone quality

What I Didn’t Like

• Doesn’t toss treats
• Doesn’t have a laser pointer

#2 Budget Pick: Wyze Cam v3 With Color Night Vision

Rated as the number one recommendation in the New York Times guide to the best pet cameras, this budget-friendly camera did everything a cat camera should—at less than $30 upfront.

It’s also cheaper in the long term, offering a rolling 2 weeks of free cloud storage and a continuous recording option for less than $2 a month. Disappointingly, this subscription is also required to unlock certain important features, like person and pet detection. If you’re okay with standard motion detection and no custom alerts, you can insert an SD card to store locally and skip the subscription.

The Wyze cam did a good job of detecting movement. With a paid subscription, it can send notifications only when it sees a pet. Mallory Crusta / Cats.com

Overall, the Wyze Cam doesn’t have as many features as the Eufy camera. Even on the paid subscription, you can’t record a warning to play whenever your cat enters a certain area or make the camera track your cat around the room. But every customer gets detection zones, reliable motion detection alerts, and sound detection.

While the Wzye microphone wasn’t impressive in my tests, its speakers were loud and clear, meaning that, in theory, you could scold your cat off of a counter or say hello from anywhere.

When I tested the Wyze Cam’s microphone, I was disappointed. The audio was garbled and faint, with significant lag from a poor connection. Mallory Crusta / Cats.com

And while it doesn’t capture crystal-clear, booming audio, the Wyze Cam is made to detect smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and send notifications warning you that your cat may be in danger.

Overall, I found that it worked competently, doing exactly what I needed it to do. It’s slightly less feature-rich than the first recommendation, but at $32.49 with low monthly rates, it’s a great value.

With an upfront price of $29.98 and between $1.66 and $1.99 a month ($19.92 – $23.88 per year), the Wyze Cam is about as reasonably-priced as security cameras come, and it has all the basic features cat owners need.

What I Liked

• One of the most affordable security cameras on the market
• Functional with or without a subscription
• Compatible with an SD card for local storage
• Allows you to set detection zones
• Reliable notifications

What I Didn’t Like

• Doesn’t toss treats
• Doesn’t have a laser pointer
• Pet-specific notifications are only available with a subscription
• Poor audio quality

#3 Best Pet Monitoring Cam: Furbo 360 Dog Camera

While its pet-oriented feature list makes it an appealing option for hyper-engaged cat owners, the Furbo 360 Cam left me with mixed feelings.

Priced at up to $210 on Amazon, the Furbo camera is the most expensive one on this list, and given its relatively basic camera functionality, you’re paying a premium just to get a handful of pet-specific features.

The Furbo camera’s wide-angle lens and ability to turn 360 degrees allowed it to capture plenty of action. Mallory Crusta / Cats.com

Frustratingly, those features aren’t available without a Dog Nanny subscription, which starts at $5.37 a month if you pay for 2 years in advance. A month-to-month subscription costs a whopping $6.99 a month or $83.88 a year—for that money, you could upgrade to a better cat food or pay for an extra checkup at the vet.

Out of the box, the camera offers 1080p HD video, turns 360 degrees, and spits out treats on command.

My cats loved the treat tossing functionality of the Furbo camera. Tossing treats from the app is easy and intuitive. Mallory Crusta / Cats.com

A Dog Nanny subscription gives you things like motion tracking, carbon monoxide and smoke detector alerts, and a doggie diary—daily (delightful) compilations of your cat’s daily shenanigans set to music. Running and chewing alerts are exciting, but they’re not really relevant to cats. Of course, the subscription is also needed to give you just 24 hours of cloud storage. There’s no local storage option.

On the bright side, the treat tossing is effective, and my cats loved it. You can fit about a whole bag of Temptations in there, and you can adjust how many treats go out at a time, as well as the strength of each toss and the sound it makes with each dispensation.

Overall, I didn’t feel the Furbo 360 Dog Camera offered enough to justify the cost. However, it’s a fun camera, and it’s a good fit for those who are dead-set on a wide variety of pet-specific features, love treating their cat from afar, and are willing to spend up to $6.99 a month for the full use of their cat camera.

What I Liked

• Packed with plenty of pet-oriented features
• Wide angle camera rotates to give you 360-degree views
• Excellent treat tossing functionality; can help with training

What I Didn’t Like

• Cloud storage is minimal even with a subscription
• Locks most features behind an expensive paywall
• Costly upfront

#4 Best Treat Cam: Petcube Bites 2 Lite

If you want a treat cam, but aren’t willing to drop the money on the Furbo 360 Dog Cam, I’d recommend the Petcube Bites 2 Lite. It’s a stripped-down version of the Petcube Bites 2—a more expensive model with a laser pointer built in—and offers the basic features you need for under $110.

Fundamentally, the Petcube Bites 2 Lite is a basic security camera with a treat hopper and dispenser built in. The camera has 1080p HD video and a 160-degree wide angle lens, but it doesn’t move or pan, and the large size of the feeder can make it awkward to find the perfect place to put it.

The Petcube Bites doesn’t have an adjustable camera, so you can’t pan up, down, or to the sides. As a result, the view is a bit limited. Mallory Crusta / Cats.com

Treat tossing is where this camera shines—with a large hopper, multiple inserts for varied treat sizes, and plenty of in-app adjustments, you’re able to give your cat exactly the treat experience you want them to have.

The angle isn’t adjustable, and while you can mount the Bites 2 either on a shelf or other surface or on the floor, you can’t adjust it to point down or up or pan around, so it’s a little limited in its view.

However, like the Furbo, Petcube demands that you pay to get some basic features, like cloud storage and the ability to download your videos, along with smart alerts and recording filters.

While it does buy you smart alerts like notifications for cats meowing, pet motion, and people in front of the camera, even the Premium plan doesn’t have a carbon monoxide or smoke detector alert.

The Petcube Bites 2 Lite itself costs $104.99 on Amazon, and subscriptions start at $3.99 a month, going up to $9.99 a month.

What I Liked

• 1080p HD video, wide angle lens
• Large treat hopper
• Works with multiple sizes of treats; highly adjustable
• Offers pet-oriented notification features

What I Didn’t Like

• Limited visibility; no camera pan or tilt
• Most useful features are locked behind a paywall

#5 Crowd Favorite: Petcube Cam Indoor Wi-Fi Pet And Security Camera

Finally, I want to mention one of the most popular pet cameras on the market and why I don’t think it’s worth it.

Sold by the makers of the Petcube Bites 2 Lite, this little camera is among the best selling pet cameras on the market. It’s small, goes wherever you want it to, and is reasonably priced at $29.74. And it’s marketed specifically to pet owners. No wonder it’s a hit.

Initially, it looks similar to the Wyze Cam, offering the same 1080p HD video streaming, 110-degree wide-angle view, and the option to get custom motion alerts with a subscription.

The Petcube Cam offers 1080p HD video, but I found the streaming quality disappointing—both Petcube cams struggled with more connection issues than any of the other cameras I tested. Mallory Crusta / Cats.com

During my test, the Petcube Cam worked well, and it seemed to have the best speakers of any of the cameras I tried.

However, it’s disappointing that baseline features are locked behind the same Petcube Care paywall as the Bites 2 Lite. You’ll have to pay between $3.99 and $9.99 each month to unlock basic features like cloud storage, smart alerts, and more.

Overall, the Petcube Cam looks like a bare-bones security camera that uses pet-oriented branding to reel customers into an expensive subscription plan. If you want a basic camera, something like the Eufy or Wyze Cam would offer better performance and cost less over time.

What I Liked

• The unit is reasonably-priced upfront
• Offers a variety of strong pet-oriented features
• Very powerful speaker

What I Didn’t Like

• Most useful features are locked behind a paywall
• More expensive than other similar cameras over time
• Doesn’t toss treats
• Doesn’t have a laser pointer