How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Pet insurance reimburses vet bills; it does not work like human health cover. You usually pay the vet, file the claim, and get a percentage back after a deductible.
- Almost no policy covers pre-existing conditions. That single exclusion matters more than any price difference, and it is why insuring a young, healthy pet is cheaper and broader than insuring an old one.
- Trupanion stands apart on structure: 90 percent reimbursement, no payout limits and direct payment to many vets, priced accordingly. Spot, Embrace and Pets Best compete on flexible plans at lower premiums.
- Compare the maths on your own pet: deductible style, annual limit, reimbursement rate and waiting periods change the real value more than the monthly premium does.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Trupanion | No limits and direct vet payment | See website | No |
 Spot Pet Insurance | Flexible plans and fast signup | See website | No |
 Embrace | Wellness add ons and diminishing deductible | See website | No |
 Lemonade Pet | Cheap, app first cover for young pets | See website | No |
 Healthy Paws | Simple unlimited accident and illness cover | See website | No |
 Pets Best | Budget plans and direct deposit claims | See website | No |
 Figo | Short illness waiting period | See website | No |
 ASPCA Pet Insurance | A familiar name with complete options | See website | No |
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The best pet insurance companies compared in 2026
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Trupanion is the structural outlier: while rivals compete on plan menus, it sells one plan with unlimited payouts and a lifetime per condition deductible, then charges what that promise costs. Its direct vet payment is the feature owners praise most after a midnight emergency, because reimbursement insurance is only helpful if you can front the bill in the first place. For a young purebred with breed typical risks ahead, Trupanion's maths often wins over a decade. For a tight monthly budget, the premium is the objection, and it is a fair one.
What we like- One simple plan at 90 percent reimbursement with no payout limits, it can pay the vet directly at checkout in its network, so you are not floating a large bill, the deductible is per condition for the pet's life rather than resetting every year, strong record in comparisons for claim satisfaction
Watch out for- Among the most expensive premiums in the market, and they rise as the pet ages, no wellness or routine care cover, the per condition deductible means several unrelated problems each carry their own deductible, enrolment age limits apply at the top end
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Spot competes on the configurator. It lets a buyer build the plan around a budget: lower the reimbursement, raise the deductible, cap the limit, and the premium follows, which makes it a sensible home for both the careful maximiser and the owner who wants accident cover and little else. The discipline Spot demands is reading: waiting periods for illnesses and orthopaedic conditions differ from the accident cover that starts quickly, and the value of the whole product sits in those dates. Configure slowly, download the sample policy for your state, and the flexibility becomes an advantage rather than a menu of ways to underinsure.
What we like- Highly configurable plans: you choose deductible, reimbursement rate and annual limit, including an unlimited option, accident only plans for minimal budgets, preventive care add ons for routine costs, no upper age limit for enrolling in its published material, a short accident waiting period
Watch out for- Illness waiting periods and special waits for cruciate issues apply, so read your state documents, options multiply decisions, and the cheapest configuration is cheap because it covers less, premiums at unlimited, high reimbursement settings approach Trupanion territory
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Embrace earns its place on two thoughtful details. The diminishing deductible rewards the lucky years instead of only pricing the bad ones, and its policy on curable pre-existing conditions, where a condition resolved and gone for a defined period can be covered again, is more humane than the industry's standard lifetime refusal. Its wellness add on should be bought with open eyes: you are prepaying routine care through the insurer for convenience and a small bonus structure. Owners who like one company handling everything will find Embrace the most complete package in the middle of this market.
What we like- Its Healthy Pet Deductible reduces your deductible by $50 for each year you make no claims, a wellness rewards add on covers routine care as a set allowance rather than insurance maths, curable pre-existing conditions can become covered again after a symptom free period, defined in its terms, strong customer service reputation in comparisons
Watch out for- Wellness Rewards is a budgeting tool, not insurance, and pays a fixed allowance for a fixed fee, orthopaedic waiting periods for dogs can be long unless a vet exam shortens them, premiums and terms vary by state more than the marketing suggests
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Lemonade applied its insurance app formula to pets: quote in minutes, claim by phone camera, and premiums for a young mixed breed that undercut most of this list. For a new puppy or kitten with no history, where every insurer's exclusions are empty and the comparison is mostly price and process, Lemonade is hard to beat. The long game needs watching. Pet insurance is a ten to fifteen year relationship priced year by year, and the company that wins at age one must still be fair at age nine, when switching means every condition on file becomes pre-existing somewhere else.
What we like- Among the lowest premiums quoted for young, healthy pets, an entirely app based purchase and claims process, with some claims approved in minutes by its automation, preventive care packages are clearly priced add ons, the company's giveback model donates unclaimed premium pools to charities customers choose
Watch out for- Price rises with age will test the cheap first impression, cover and availability vary by state, and some policy features are newer than rivals', a digital only service is a poor fit if you want a human on the phone, exam fees and some categories need add ons to be covered
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Healthy Paws is the purist's policy: accidents and illnesses, unlimited, reimbursed at the rate you chose, with claims handling that owners consistently rate among the best in the industry. There is no configurator to get wrong and no wellness arithmetic to decode. The cautions are availability and scope. It sells no routine care cover, excludes the exam fee itself, and in recent years has paused or limited new policies in some states, so check your state first. Where it is available and the quote is sane, it remains one of the easiest recommendations in this market to explain.
What we like- One accident and illness plan with no caps on payouts, per incident, annual or lifetime, a long record of fast claims payment and high satisfaction in owner reviews, covers hereditary and congenital conditions in its standard terms, no add on maze: the simplicity is the pitch
Watch out for- No wellness or routine care option at all, exam fees are excluded, it has restricted new enrolments in some states in recent years, so availability needs checking, premiums for older pets are steep, and enrolment has an upper age structure
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Pets Best is the value shelf of the customisable insurers, often quoting below Spot for similar configurations and adding small operational kindnesses, like direct deposit reimbursement that shortens the wait for your money. It suits the owner who has done the comparison maths in this guide and wants the result at the lowest monthly cost. The work is in the configuration: waiting periods and add on rules decide whether the saving was real, and Pets Best gives you more switches to set wrong than Trupanion or Healthy Paws give you switches at all.
What we like- Among the most affordable accident and illness plans for younger pets, with an accident only tier below that, claims can be paid by direct deposit, and it offers direct vet payment options through its systems, routine care add ons at two price levels, wide plan customisation in the same style as Spot
Watch out for- Its orthopaedic and cruciate waiting periods need the same careful reading, some benefits in headline comparisons are add ons rather than core cover, service reviews are more mixed than the leaders here, unlimited cover is a higher tier, not the default
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Figo's historical calling card is time: while most of this list makes illness cover wait about two weeks, Figo built its name on a much shorter illness waiting period, which matters to anyone insuring a pet today because they are worried about something specific this month. It pairs that with clean tiers and an app that keeps the pet's records with the policy. Because its terms have been revised over the years, treat the waiting period as a question to confirm in the current policy documents. If it still leads on that measure in your state, Figo is the connoisseur's mid price pick.
What we like- Its illness waiting period has been among the shortest in the industry, with cover for illnesses starting far sooner than the common fourteen days in its published terms, three simple plan tiers with reimbursement up to 100 percent on the top tier, a pet cloud app that organises records and claims, coverage for exam fees on its higher tiers
Watch out for- Terms and waiting periods have changed over the years, so verify the current sample policy for your state rather than trusting any comparison, including this one, a smaller company than the giants here, extras such as lost pet and boarding cover vary by plan
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
ASPCA Pet Insurance closes the list as the brand trust play: the name reassures, the product underneath is a full featured policy from an experienced pet insurance operator, and the cover menu is as complete as Spot's. None of that is a criticism; licensing a trusted name to a competent insurer is how much of this industry works. It is a reason to read the policy rather than the logo. Compare its quote at your settings against Spot, Embrace and Pets Best, which compete for the same buyer, and let the documents and the premium decide.
What we like- A household name, operated under licence by an established pet insurer, complete cover options including accidents, illnesses, hereditary conditions and behavioural issues, preventive care add ons at two levels, no upper age limit for accident cover enrolment in its material
Watch out for- The ASPCA itself is a charity licensor, not the insurer
- Claims are handled by the underwriting company, a distinction the branding blurs, waiting periods include longer special periods for cruciate and hip conditions, quotes at high settings are mid market rather than cheap
How we chose
We compared the pet insurers a US owner will realistically shortlist in 2026 on structure rather than headline price: deductible style, payout limits, reimbursement rates, waiting periods, pre-existing condition rules and claims handling reputation across current comparisons. Every company here actively sells policies now. We did not print sample premiums as rankings, because a quote is a function of your pet's breed, age and postcode and any table of prices would mislead more than it informed. We did not insure a pet for this guide; the sample policy for your state, which every company must provide, is the document that counts.
How to compare pet insurance on your own pet
Price the same pet everywhere. Run one animal, its real breed, age and postcode, through every finalist with identical settings: same deductible, same reimbursement rate, same annual limit, or as close as each menu allows. Quotes gathered any other way compare menus, not prices, and the differences are large enough to matter for a decade.
Read four clauses before any price. The pre-existing condition definition and any curable condition path back to cover. The waiting periods, including the special orthopaedic ones, which in several policies run to six or twelve months unless a vet exam waives them. The deductible style, where per condition lifetime and annual mean opposite things at claim time. And the bilateral exclusion, which can refuse the second leg, eye or ear with the same disease as the first.
Do the emergency sum. Imagine a $6,000 surgery next month. With an annual deductible of $500 and 80 percent reimbursement, you pay $500 plus 20 percent of the rest, $1,600 in total, if the condition is covered and the waiting period has passed. Run that sum on each finalist's terms, including whether the policy pays the vet directly, because for many households the binding constraint is the card limit on the worst night, not the premium.
Finally, think in lifetimes, not years. Premiums rise with age at every company here, and switching later strands your pet's history as pre-existing at the new insurer. The fair question is not who is cheapest for a puppy; it is whose structure you can still afford, and still value, for a twelve year old dog. Choose the company you can stay with.
Frequently asked questions
Does pet insurance cover pre-existing conditions?
Almost never at the start. Conditions your pet had, or showed signs of, before cover begins or during waiting periods are excluded. Some companies, such as Embrace in this list, will cover curable conditions again after a defined symptom free period. Incurable conditions such as diabetes or arthritis are excluded for the policy's life everywhere in this market.
What does pet insurance typically cost?
Industry surveys put average accident and illness premiums at roughly $50 to $60 a month for a dog and around $30 for a cat in recent years, but breed, age and city move quotes far from those averages in both directions. Accident only plans cost much less. Your quotes, run identically across finalists, are the only figures worth budgeting on.
Is pet insurance worth it?
It is worth it if a sudden $3,000 to $10,000 vet bill would force you to choose treatment by price, and you insure early while the exclusion list is empty. It is poor value bought late for an older pet with a long medical history, where premiums are highest and exclusions longest. The alternative is a dedicated savings account, which works if it is funded before it is needed and never raided.
What are waiting periods and why do they matter?
They are the days between buying the policy and cover starting: typically a few days for accidents, around fourteen days for illnesses, and often six to twelve months for cruciate ligament and sometimes hip conditions unless a vet examination shortens them. Anything that occurs or shows signs inside the window is treated as pre-existing. A short illness wait, Figo's speciality, is worth money to a worried owner.
Can the insurer pay my vet directly?
Only some. Trupanion offers direct payment at many practices, and Pets Best has direct pay options; most others reimburse you after you pay the vet and file the claim with invoices. If cash flow on a large bill is your constraint, direct payment is not a luxury feature; it is the deciding one.
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Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.