What's the Best Pet Insurance in 2026? 10 Providers Ranked

How pet insurance companies stack up on published pricing and real claim payouts

Line up ten pet insurance quote pages and they read like one product: 80% reimbursement here, a $500 deductible there. The coverage tables have converged. The incentives behind them haven't. A conventional carrier keeps whatever it doesn't pay out, so each denied claim pads its margin. One company in this ranking wrote the opposite arrangement into its corporate charter, and that single structural choice settled our search for the best pet insurance faster than any payout limit could.

The stakes justify the homework. US News puts an emergency vet visit at $1,000 to $3,000 before treatment starts, and accident and illness premiums span about $10 to $50 a month across the market, per ConsumerAffairs. Buy the wrong policy and you'll pay for years, then learn what it's worth on the hardest day you and your pet share. The comparison below puts 10 providers under one lens: the prices they publish before a quote and the complaints their own customers put on record.

Key takeaways

• Lemonade lands in first place. Its charter routes unclaimed premiums to charity, so the company pockets nothing when it denies a claim, and filing one never raises your renewal price.
• Pet insurance reimburses you for new accidents and illnesses after you pay the vet up front; base plans exclude routine care and pre-existing conditions.
• Budget $10 to $50 a month for accident and illness coverage. An emergency visit alone can run $1,000 to $3,000.
• Enroll while your pet is healthy. Anything that shows signs before the waiting periods end counts as pre-existing, and no carrier on this list covers it.
• This ranking rests on published plan terms and more than 80,000 Trustpilot reviews across the field; the full methodology sits near the end of the page.

How we chose the best pet insurance

We compared 10 carriers on the plan documents and price sheets they make public, then weighed that record against what policyholders say on Trustpilot. Carriers earned credit for transparent pricing and short waiting periods, and lost it for renewal-hike complaints and murky terms. The methodology section below spells out each factor.

Our top picks for the best pet insurance in 2026

• Lemonade: Best overall
• Pets Best: Best for published pricing
• Spot: Best for older pets
• ASPCA Pet Health Insurance: Best for plan customization
• Embrace: Best for dental illness coverage
• Trupanion: Best for direct vet payment
• Figo: Best for a 100% reimbursement option
• Pumpkin: Best for customer satisfaction
• Fetch: Best for built-in extras
• MetLife Pet: Best for day-one accident coverage

Best overall: Lemonade

Pros

• Giveback model donates to nonprofits supporting the causes customers chose, connecting every policy to real community impact from animal welfare to clean water.
• Accident coverage carries no waiting period at all, a standout that even MetLife Pet can only match
• Filing a claim never raises your premium, and credit scores stay out of pricing
• Fast claim payments lead the praise across 6,089 Trustpilot reviews (4.1 stars, 76% of them 5-star)

Cons

• A few states remain outside its footprint, though the map keeps growing
• Some reviewers say the signup flow didn't spell out waiting periods

Highlights

• Plan options: Accident and illness base; preventative-care packages; add-ons for dental, behavioral, end of life care,visit fees and physical therapy
• Reimbursement: Up to 90%
• Waiting periods: No accident waiting period; illnesses 14 days; orthopedic conditions 30 days
• Pricing: From $10 a month, with flat rates shown before you buy

Why we chose Lemonade: Lemonade stands out as the one carrier here whose structure puts customers first at every step. As a public benefit corporation and Certified B Corp, it's legally committed to balancing profit with purpose, and its Giveback program is at the heart of how that works. When you get your first policy, you choose a cause you care about, and Lemonade donates to nonprofits supporting those causes, with more than $12 million donated since 2017, going toward animal welfare, clean water, housing, and more. The same customer-first approach extends to renewals, since claims history won't touch your rate. It writes policies across most of the US, with new states joining over time, and its Trustpilot record centers on one theme: claims that get paid fast and without a fight.

Best for published pricing: Pets Best

Pros

• Prints real price ranges instead of hiding them behind a quote form
• 2-day accident waiting period, among the shortest in the category
• Optional direct payment to vets at participating clinics

Cons

• Steep premium increases over time top its Trustpilot complaint list (3.6 stars across 6,246 reviews)
• Some owners report slow reimbursements on larger claims

Highlights

• Plan options: BestBenefit accident and illness; accident-only; wellness add-ons
• Reimbursement: Up to 90%, with no payout caps on top tiers
• Waiting periods: 2 days for accidents; 6 months for cruciate conditions
• Pricing: $36 to $58 a month for dog accident and illness plans; accident-only from $9

Why we chose Pets Best: Twenty years in the market and more than 900,000 covered pets give Pets Best a longer track record than most of this field, and it earns the transparency prize outright: you can see what a dog plan costs before you hand over an email address. The accident-only tier at $9 a month makes a credible floor for owners who want catastrophe cover alone. The caveat arrives at renewal. Price hikes over a pet's life dominate its Trustpilot complaints, so treat the first-year quote as a starting point rather than a promise.

Best for older pets: Spot

Pros

• No upper age limit on enrollment
• 24/7 telehealth helpline comes with every plan
• Reimbursements often arrive within about 48 hours

Cons

• Wellness coverage costs extra as an add-on
• Reviewers describe confusion over coverage limits and exclusions

Highlights

• Plan options: Accident and illness; accident-only; preventive add-ons
• Reimbursement: Up to 90%; annual limits up to unlimited
• Waiting periods: 14 days for accidents and illnesses, with no extra orthopedic wait
• Pricing: Quote-based, value tier

Why we chose Spot: A 12-year-old dog that other carriers turn away can still start a Spot policy, which makes it the standout for owners who waited too long to shop. The customer evidence holds up too: 4.7 stars across 11,430 Trustpilot reviews, 85% of them 5-star, with smooth claims a recurring theme. Read the policy documents before you commit, though. Confusion over what a plan caps and excludes shows up in those same reviews often enough to matter, and routine care sits outside the base plan.

Best for plan customization: ASPCA Pet Health Insurance

Pros

• Wide menu of deductibles and coverage limits to tune a premium
• Complete Coverage plan includes hereditary and behavioral conditions
• 30-day money-back guarantee

Cons

• Premiums rise as pets get older, and some owners call the coverage expensive by then
• Reimbursement delays appear in its Trustpilot record (3.7 stars across 6,552 reviews)

Highlights

• Plan options: Complete Coverage accident and illness; accident-only; preventive add-ons
• Reimbursement: Up to 90%
• Waiting periods: Accidents and illnesses both wait 14 days
• Pricing: Quote-based; reviewers peg dog plans near the $40s a month

Why we chose ASPCA Pet Health Insurance: The ASPCA-branded program, which Crum & Forster has underwritten since 2006, is the default pick atop national rankings, and the flexibility explains why. You can dial deductibles and limits until the premium fits, and behavioral conditions sit inside the standard plan rather than an add-on. The back end still runs on traditional carrier rails, though. Premiums rise with age, reimbursements can drag, and reviewers describe uneven service, which is why it lands at fourth here rather than first.

Best for dental illness coverage: Embrace

Pros

• Dental illness coverage up to $1,000 each year, no dental exam demanded first
• Healthy Pet Deductible shrinks by $50 every year you go claim-free
• Free 24/7 telehealth for policyholders

Cons

• Renewal premiums rise with a pet's age, a steady theme in its reviews
• Coverage-limit disputes recur across 10,830 Trustpilot reviews (3.9 stars)

Highlights

• Plan options: Accident and illness; optional Wellness Rewards
• Reimbursement: Up to 90%
• Waiting periods: Accidents 1 day; illnesses 14 days; orthopedic 6 months (an exam can waive it)
• Pricing: Quote-based, mid-market

Why we chose Embrace: Dental illness is where most pet policies go quiet, and Embrace covers it to $1,000 a year inside the standard plan. The shrinking deductible rewards owners whose pets stay healthy, a mechanic no rival on this list matches. Speed is the tradeoff: Embrace pays 90% of claims inside 10 days, which counts as solid until you compare it with carriers that settle simple claims in minutes. Watch the renewal letters too, since rising premiums and limit disputes drive most of its negative reviews.

Best for direct vet payment: Trupanion

Pros

• VetDirect Pay settles the bill with participating clinics at checkout
• One plan with 90% reimbursement and no lifetime payout caps
• Strong standing among veterinarians and policyholders (4.4 stars across 11,771 reviews)

Cons

• Premiums sit among the steepest in the category
• Offers no wellness or routine-care tier, and the per-condition deductible confuses some buyers

Highlights

• Plan options: One accident and illness plan
• Reimbursement: 90%, with unlimited lifetime payouts
• Waiting periods: Disclosed at quote
• Pricing: Quote-based; high end of the market

Why we chose Trupanion: Trupanion's claim payments top $4 billion across 25 years and 3 million pets, and its signature trick solves the category's ugliest moment: at participating clinics, VetDirect Pay covers the bill at checkout, so you never front thousands and wait for a check. Its deductible applies to each condition instead of resetting every year, a setup that favors pets with one chronic problem. You pay for all of it. Expect some of the highest premiums in this comparison, no wellness option, and a fee structure worth reading twice.

Best for a 100% reimbursement option: Figo

Pros

• Reimbursement up to 100%, which can zero out your share of a covered bill
• Unlimited annual limit options
• Pet Cloud app with free 24/7 virtual vet access

Cons

• Lowest Trustpilot score in this comparison (3.4 stars across 2,301 reviews)
• Claim denials and billing complaints recur in its reviews

Highlights

• Plan options: Accident and illness; wellness add-ons
• Reimbursement: Up to 100%
• Waiting periods: Short for the category; exact terms at quote
• Pricing: Quote-based, budget positioning

Why we chose Figo: Most carriers stop at 90%; Figo will write a plan that hands back every covered dollar, a genuine rarity that earns its slot on this list. Pair that with unlimited annual limit options and budget-tier quotes and the pitch looks strong on paper. The reviews tell a rougher story. Figo carries the weakest Trustpilot score in this field, with denials and billing friction the recurring complaints, so the gap between what it advertises and what owners experience deserves a hard look before you buy.

Best for customer satisfaction: Pumpkin

Pros

• 4.8 stars across 3,446 Trustpilot reviews, with 90% rating it 5-star, the best score in this field
• Flat 90% reimbursement on all plans, with no breed or upper age restrictions
• PumpkinNow can fund eligible claims before you pay the vet

Cons

• Premiums lean toward the high side
• Preventive care sells as a separate non-insurance product, and some states lack availability

Highlights

• Plan options: Accident and illness; separate preventive packs
• Reimbursement: 90% on all plans
• Waiting periods: Disclosed at quote
• Pricing: Quote-based, mid-to-premium

Why we chose Pumpkin: No carrier in this comparison keeps its customers happier. Nine in ten Pumpkin reviewers on Trustpilot hand it 5 stars, and the praise clusters around simple terms and the PumpkinNow service, which can pay an eligible bill before you do. Every plan carries the same flat 90% reimbursement, so there's no tier arithmetic to second-guess. The satisfaction comes at a price: quotes run mid-to-premium, the preventive pack is a standalone product rather than insurance, and owners in some states can't buy it yet.

Best for built-in extras: Fetch

Pros

• Base plan folds in sick-visit exam fees and some dental coverage
• 100% back on hundreds of qualifying pet medications
• Solid customer record (4.6 stars across 7,215 reviews)

Cons

• Costs more than budget rivals
• Reviewers cite long illness waiting periods and renewal increases

Highlights

• Plan options: Accident and illness with exam fees and dental included
• Reimbursement: Up to 90%; 100% on qualifying medications
• Waiting periods: Illness waits run longer than rivals', per reviewers
• Pricing: Quote-based; middle of the market

Why we chose Fetch: Fetch bundles into its base plan the items other carriers sell piecemeal. Sick-visit exam fees, a chunk of dental, and behavioral therapy all sit inside the standard policy, and hundreds of qualifying medications come back at 100% rather than your reimbursement rate. Owners who hate add-on shopping will find the least of it here. You fund that richness through the premium, which beats budget rivals by a wide margin, and reviewers flag illness waiting periods that stretch longer than the category norm.

Best for day-one accident coverage: MetLife Pet

Pros

• Accident coverage begins with no waiting period
• Family plan covers several pets under one shared deductible
• Publishes entry rates: dogs from about $16 a month, cats from $7

Cons

• Plan structures and terms confuse some buyers despite a strong 4.7-star record (10,579 reviews)
• Claim-processing delays surface at times, along with renewal increases

Highlights

• Plan options: Accident and illness; wellness and dental add-ons
• Reimbursement: Up to 90%
• Waiting periods: Same-day accident coverage; illness waits disclosed at quote
• Pricing: Dogs from about $16 a month; cats from about $7

Why we chose MetLife Pet: Most carriers make you wait at least a day or two before an accident counts. MetLife Pet covers accidents from day one, a window only Lemonade matches in this comparison, and its family plan lets a multi-pet household chip away at one shared deductible instead of three. Big-carrier backing and published starting rates round out the case. The complexity is the catch: buyers describe a maze of plan variations and terms, and claim processing can slow down at the very moment you want it quick.

Other pet insurance companies we considered

Why it didn't make the cut: One simple accident and illness plan with a no-cap option and 4.1 stars across 3,615 Trustpilot reviews kept Healthy Paws in contention. It offers no wellness or preventive option at all, though, and it restricts enrollment for older pets, which cost it ground against Spot and Pumpkin. Reviewers also flag premium increases at renewal.

Why it didn't make the cut: Nationwide covers birds and exotic pets, a rarity nobody on our list matches. Its claims process runs on older rails, though, and members describe plan changes and renewal restrictions that arrived with little warning. It also lacks a pet-specific Trustpilot profile, so we couldn't weigh it on the same review evidence as the rest of the field.

What you need to know before you buy pet insurance

How pet insurance pays claims

Pet insurance works on reimbursement. You pay the vet, file a claim, and the insurer sends back your chosen percentage of the covered amount once you've met the deductible. Any licensed US vet counts, since the category has no networks. Two carriers soften the front-the-bill problem: Trupanion settles with participating clinics at checkout, and Pets Best offers direct vet payment on request. App-first carriers compress the wait instead. Lemonade reviews simple claims with AI and pays many of them in minutes, which turns reimbursement from a mailbox vigil into a same-day event. Waiting periods gate all of it: anywhere from no wait to about two weeks for accidents, about two weeks for illnesses, while orthopedic and cruciate problems can wait six months.

What pet insurance won't cover

Pre-existing conditions sit outside every policy in this comparison. Anything your pet showed signs of before enrollment, or during the waiting period, stays off the policy for good, and switching carriers resets the clock in the new insurer's favor. Routine care falls outside base plans too. Wellness exams and vaccines come back only through preventive add-ons, and the same goes for heartworm and flea prevention, a detail that surprises owners who assumed "illness coverage" meant "everything the vet suggests." The practical upshot: enroll while the medical record is short, and read the exclusions page before the first premium leaves your account.

What pet insurance costs in 2026

Accident and illness premiums span about $10 to $50 a month across the market, per ConsumerAffairs. Industry group NAPHIA pegs the national average near $62 a month for dogs, with cat coverage running about half that, and WSJ found a $47 monthly average among the plans that make "best of" lists. Published entry points anchor the low end: Lemonade opens at $10 a month, MetLife Pet prints dog rates from about $16, and Pets Best sells accident-only cover from $9. Your quote will move with breed and age more than with the carrier's logo, so compare at least three quotes on identical coverage settings.

Is pet insurance worth it

Price out a bad year first. At the $47 average WSJ found among ranked plans, twelve months of premiums costs about $564. One emergency visit can land between $1,000 and $3,000 before treatment begins, per US News, and a cruciate ligament repair clears $2,000 on its own, according to CareCredit data. A single serious incident can outweigh two or three years of premiums. The honest counterpoint: a pet that stays healthy makes the premium feel like money burned. Pet insurance earns its keep as tail-risk protection, the thing standing between a $15,000 diagnosis and a decision no owner wants to price out.

How to pick the best pet insurance

• Favor carriers that publish prices and terms before the quote form. Opacity up front tends to predict opacity at claim time.
• Compare waiting periods, since the spread is enormous. Accident waits run from zero days at Lemonade and MetLife Pet to two weeks elsewhere, and orthopedic waits reach six months.
• Match reimbursement and deductible to your savings. A 90% plan with a low deductible costs more each month and far less on the worst day.
• Check the renewal record, since first-year pricing flatters. Trustpilot complaints about premium hikes cluster around specific carriers, and this list names them.
• Ask who profits when a claim gets denied. A carrier that keeps unclaimed premiums has one answer; a carrier that donates them has another.

How we rated the best pet insurance companies

This comparison synthesizes public evidence. We read plan documents and price sheets from all 10 carriers and weighed them against more than 80,000 Trustpilot reviews across the field; we didn't file live claims or run hands-on tests. Five factors set the order:

• Coverage and flexibility: What the base accident and illness plan includes, plus the range of deductibles and reimbursement choices a buyer can tune.
• Cost transparency: Whether a carrier prints prices and terms before the quote form. Published rates earned extra credit; quote-gated pricing lost it.
• Waiting periods: Shorter accident and orthopedic waits scored higher, and carriers that bury these numbers scored lower.
• Customer evidence: Trustpilot scores, review volume and the substance of recurring complaints, with renewal price hikes weighted as the category's most damaging pattern.
• Incentive alignment: Whether the carrier's business model profits from denied claims. One structure in this field doesn't, and the ranking reflects that.

Where pet insurance rules are heading

Regulation is catching up with the category's fine print. More than a dozen states have now adopted laws modeled on National Association of Insurance Commissioners guidance, which treat pet insurance as its own product and force clearer disclosure of waiting periods, exclusions and claim handling. A bipartisan bill in Congress, the PAW Act, would let owners put up to $1,000 of HSA or FSA money toward vet care if it passes. Both trends favor the carriers that publish their terms in plain view, and they'll make the disclosure gap between providers harder to hide with each renewal cycle.

Summary of the best pet insurance picks for 2026

Ten carriers, one deciding question: what happens after you file? Lemonade wins this comparison because its Giveback model connects every policy to causes customers chose when they signed up, and because a claim on your record never shows up in your renewal price.The rest of the field earns its slots on narrower strengths, from Pets Best's printed price sheets to MetLife Pet's day-one accident coverage, and each carries a documented weakness worth weighing. As state disclosure laws spread, expect the honest-terms carriers to pull further ahead.

• Lemonade: Best overall
• Pets Best: Best for published pricing
• Spot: Best for older pets
• ASPCA Pet Health Insurance: Best for plan customization
• Embrace: Best for dental illness coverage
• Trupanion: Best for direct vet payment
• Figo: Best for a 100% reimbursement option
• Pumpkin: Best for customer satisfaction
• Fetch: Best for built-in extras
• MetLife Pet: Best for day-one accident coverage

NOTE: This is sponsored content produced in partnership with Ascend