Pet care apps fix a mess most owners know well. Your dog’s vaccine card sits in a kitchen drawer. The flea pill reminder lives in your head. The last vet invoice is buried somewhere in your email. Then the clinic asks when your dog got the rabies shot, and you have no idea.
Some pet care apps log health records and reminders. Others track your pet’s live location, train your dog, or find you a sitter. Here are five that each solve a different problem, so you can pick the one you actually need.
What Does a Pet Care and Tracking App Do?
A pet care app keeps your pet’s health info in one place: vaccines, medications, weight, vet visits, and reminders for each. Some apps connect directly with your vet clinic, so records and appointment requests sync without paperwork.
A pet tracking app usually pairs with a GPS collar. It shows where your pet is right now, alerts you when they leave a set area, and logs activity, sleep, and other health signals.
Why These Apps Matter More Than You Think
Missed doses and lost records cause real problems. A late heartworm pill or an expired vaccine can mean extra vet visits, or a refused booking at a kennel.
GPS tracking matters for a different reason. A microchip only helps after someone finds your pet and scans it. A GPS tracker shows you where to look while your pet is still out there.
5 Best Pet Care Apps for iPhone and Android
We compared apps on price, platform support, hardware requirements, and how well each handles one specific job. This is a research-based comparison of store listings, each company’s own pricing pages, and published reviews.
We did not test each app or tracker over time, so treat the trade-offs as what the listings and reviewers report. Prices are US prices at the time of writing and change often.
1. Tractive GPS
Tractive is the pick if your pet tends to escape. The app pairs with Tractive’s own collar trackers and shows your dog or cat’s live location, with updates every 2 to 3 seconds in LIVE mode. Virtual fences alert you the moment your pet leaves a set zone.
Location is only half of it. The DOG 6 tracker monitors activity, sleep, resting heart rate, and respiratory rate. Vitals monitoring is for the dog trackers only. Bark monitoring, which helps spot signs of separation anxiety, is exclusive to the DOG 6. Cat owners get a separate line of smaller trackers.
The catch is cost. The DOG 6 lists at $79 and is often discounted. The older CAT Mini lists at $49, and the newer CAT 6 Mini costs more, so check the current price for your cat. Every tracker also needs a subscription, and the cheapest monthly rates require a long prepaid term.
- Basic: $9 a month billed annually ($108), or $6 a month on a two-year plan ($144). It keeps only 24 hours of location history, works in one country, and has no family sharing.
- Premium: $10 a month billed annually ($120), $7 a month on two years ($168), or $5 a month on five years ($300). It unlocks 365-day history, coverage in more than 175 countries, GPS data export, and family sharing.
Tractive’s App Store listing also notes the app may use your location even when it is not open, which can reduce battery life.
Best for: Escape-prone dogs and outdoor cats.
2. PetDesk
PetDesk connects you with your vet clinic instead of making you log everything by hand. You can request appointments, order medication refills, and view records, lab results, and vaccine history from your phone.
It also sends care reminders for medications and exercise, and it includes loyalty features tied to participating clinics. PetDesk says more than 12,000 veterinary practices use its platform, and the iPhone app holds a 4.9 rating from hundreds of thousands of reviews.
The app is free to download, but its best features depend on your clinic. PetDesk sells to veterinary practices, not directly to owners. If your vet doesn’t use it, you lose records sync and in-app booking, and the app has little to show you. It also centers on North America, so readers in India or Europe will get little out of it.
Best for: Owners whose vet uses PetDesk.
3. 11pets
11pets suits you if your vet isn’t on any app and you want to run records yourself. It logs medical history, vaccines, medications, weight, vital signs, grooming, and appointments, with reminders for each.
Its standout feature is controlled sharing. You choose which data to share, for which pet, with whom, and for how long. Your vet can add entries without creating a full account, while family members sign up to see shared records. The app runs on iPhone and Android.
The free tier covers the basics, but it is limited. More pets, unlimited storage, vet integrations, and advanced sharing sit behind Premium, with US App Store in-app purchases listed at $1.99 and $17.99. The listing does not label the billing periods, so check them before you subscribe. The iPhone rating sits in the low 3s from fewer than 100 ratings, so expect some rough edges.
Best for: Multi-pet households managing records on their own.
4. Dogo
Dogo tracks training progress rather than location. It offers 100+ tricks with video steps, 12 programs covering puppy training, potty training, and behavior correction, and a built-in clicker and whistle.
The feature that sets it apart is trainer feedback. You record your dog performing a trick, submit it as an exam, and a professional trainer reviews it. The programs include potty training, which helps a lot during the first weeks with a new puppy. The iPhone app holds a 4.8 rating.
Dogo is dog-only and most content sits behind a subscription after a 7-day free trial. The US App Store lists subscription prices from $3.99 up to $99.99 depending on the plan, plus a $299.99 lifetime purchase. The listing does not label every plan, so confirm what you are buying in the app.
Best for: New puppy owners.
5. Rover
Rover covers the days you can’t be there. You book sitters and walkers who have passed a third-party background check, then follow the visit in the app. Sitters send photos and messages. A report card shows arrival and departure times and a map of each walk.
Every booking includes the Rover Guarantee, which can reimburse up to $25,000 for eligible vet care if something goes wrong during a stay. Know what it is. It is a reimbursement program, not insurance, and it only applies when you book and pay through Rover. Support runs 24/7.
The app is free, but you pay per booking at rates each sitter sets. Rover doesn’t log health records or track your pet outside bookings. It operates in several countries, including the US, Canada, and the UK, so check your city first.
Best for: Owners who travel or work long hours.
Final Thoughts
These five apps solve different problems, so the right pick depends on what goes wrong most often in your pet’s routine.
If your pet escapes, Tractive is worth the subscription. If your clinic already uses PetDesk, install it before anything else. If you manage records yourself across several pets, 11pets keeps it organized. Training a new puppy? Dogo gives you a plan and real feedback. And if you’re away a lot, Rover lets you watch the walk happen on a map.
Pick the app that fixes your actual problem, not the one with the longest feature list.
Which Pet App Do You Use?
Drop a comment below with the app you use and what problem it fixed. Plans and pricing change often, so reader reports help keep this comparison accurate.
Apple designed AirTag for items, not pets. It relies on nearby Apple devices to report location, so it has no live tracking, virtual fences, or health data. If you already use one, our Find My app icons guide explains what each status means. For a pet that roams, a cellular GPS tracker like Tractive is the safer choice.
PetDesk and Rover are free to download. 11pets also has a free tier for basic records. Tractive needs a paid subscription, and Dogo locks most training content behind one.
GPS pet apps need location access for the tracker to work. Check each app’s privacy label and permissions before you sign up, and see our guide on how to stop iPhone apps from tracking you to limit what others collect.
Tractive, PetDesk, and Rover support cats. Tractive sells separate cat trackers, and PetDesk works through your clinic. Dogo is built for dogs only.
Yes, for the features that matter. Without a participating clinic, you lose records sync, appointment requests, and refills. If your vet is not on PetDesk, 11pets is the better way to keep records yourself.
