The Best Pet Insurance of 2026
Six insurers, judged on the four numbers that decide what a claim actually pays out: reimbursement rate, deductible, annual limit and waiting period. Every figure below was checked against the insurer’s own policy documents and help pages, with recent independent reviews filling the gaps where an insurer doesn’t publish a number — never against its ad copy.
Three plans for three different problems
Embrace
One of the widest menus here — 70/80/90% reimbursement, deductibles from $200 to $1,000, annual limits up to unlimited — and accident cover that starts the day the policy does.
Get a quoteTrupanion
No annual cap, no per-condition cap, no lifetime cap, and at participating hospitals it can pay the vet directly at checkout, so you don’t front the covered part of the bill. You give up choice to get that — and in Maryland the state’s own statute may get in the way.
Get a quotePumpkin
No upper age limit for enrollment, exam fees included as standard, and one 14-day waiting period that covers knees and hips too, with no separate orthopedic lockout.
Get a quoteHow we judged these plans
Pet insurance is sold on brand warmth and bought on four numbers. Everything in this guide is scored against the same four, so the bars on each review mean the same thing from one insurer to the next.
Payout ceiling
How much the policy will pay in a bad year. A $5,000 annual cap sounds generous until a single emergency surgery and its aftercare clears it in a week. Five bars means an unlimited option exists.
Waiting periods
How long after you pay before the policy is worth anything. Accident waits run from none at all to 14 days, illness waits from 14 to 30, and some insurers lock out knee and hip conditions for six months. In the fifteen states that cap waiting periods by statute — New Jersey joins them in 2027 — accident waits are banned outright and illness and orthopedic waits are capped at 30 days, so read the calendar below against what your own state requires.
Plan flexibility
How many combinations of reimbursement rate, deductible and annual limit you can build. More choice means you can price the policy down to what you’ll actually pay each month.
What’s included
Exam fees, dental illness, behavioral therapy and direct payment to the vet. These are the items that quietly separate two plans quoting the same monthly price.
One rule beats all four. Every US insurer excludes pre-existing conditions, so the enrollment date matters more than anything on this page. A policy bought after the diagnosis pays nothing toward that diagnosis, at any price.
The six compared
| Insurer | Reimbursement | Annual deductible | Annual limit | Waiting periods | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Embrace Best overall | 70 / 80 / 90% | $200 – $1,000 | $2,000 – unlimited | No wait for accidents 14 days illness 6 months for some orthopedic conditions |
Get a quote |
| Trupanion | 90% only | $0 – $1,000 per condition, for life |
No cap of any kind | 5 days accident 30 days illness |
Get a quote |
| Pets Best | 70 / 80 / 90% | $100 – $1,000 | $5,000 · $10,000 · unlimited | 3 days accident 14 days illness 6 months cruciate |
Get a quote |
| Pumpkin | 80 / 90% | $100 · $250 · $500 · $1,000 | $5,000 – unlimited | 14 days for everything, orthopedic included | Get a quote |
| Fetch | 70 / 80 / 90% | $250 – $700 online higher by phone |
$5,000 · $10,000 · $15,000 unlimited by phone |
No wait for accidents 15 days illness 6 months hips and knees |
Get a quote |
| ASPCA | 70 / 80 / 90% | $100 · $250 · $500 · $750 | $2,500 – unlimited | 14 days accident and illness | Get a quote |
Six insurers, reviewed
Embrace
Embrace wins on range. You can build a policy at 70, 80 or 90% reimbursement, pick a deductible from $200 to $1,000, and choose an annual limit from $2,000 to unlimited, which means you can usually land on a monthly figure you’ll still be comfortable paying in three years.
Accidents are covered from the day the policy starts, and Embrace rewards quiet years: its Healthy Pet Deductible has taken $50 off the deductible for each year without a claim payout, though Embrace is replacing it with a premium discount of up to 10% in some states. Exam fees are an optional add-on rather than standard. The six-month wait on knee, hip and spine conditions is the catch, though in many states an orthopedic exam early in the policy shortens it to 14 days.
What we like
- Accidents covered from the first day of the policy
- Annual limits from $2,000 to unlimited
- Orthopedic wait can be cut to 14 days with an exam in many states
What we don’t
- Exam fees cost extra as an add-on
- Six-month wait on knee, hip and spine conditions without the exam waiver
- Claims typically take 10 to 15 business days to process
- Pets enrolling at 15 or older can only get accident-only cover
Trupanion
Trupanion sells one plan and doesn’t let you tune it: 90% reimbursement, no annual limit, no per-condition limit, no lifetime limit. If your pet develops something expensive and chronic, that absence of caps is the whole argument.
It is also the only insurer here that can pay a participating hospital directly while you’re still at the counter, so on a $7,000 surgery you hand over your deductible and your 10% rather than the full amount. The trade is the 30-day illness wait — the longest in this group — and a per-condition deductible that stings early on.
If you live in Maryland, ask about this before you enroll. Maryland’s pet insurance statute, in force since 1 January 2025, tells insurers to do the opposite: §19-1105(c) provides that a pet insurer “shall require that an insured submit a claim under the pet insurance policy after submitting payment to the veterinary practitioner for veterinary expenses.” Read literally, that writes pay-the-vet-first into Maryland law. How insurers apply it has not been tested publicly, so if paying at the counter is the reason you are choosing Trupanion, confirm in writing that direct payment is available on a Maryland policy. Full details in our state-by-state guide to pet insurance law.
What we like
- No annual, per-condition or lifetime payout caps
- Pays participating hospitals directly at checkout — subject to state law, see the Maryland note above
- 90% reimbursement on every policy, no downgrade option
What we don’t
- 30-day illness waiting period, the longest here
- Sick-visit exam fees are never covered, and behavioral therapy is a paid add-on
- No cheaper 70% or 80% tier to bring the premium down
- Enrollment closes at your pet’s 14th birthday
Pets Best
Pets Best gives you the same three reimbursement rates as Embrace, deductibles from $100 to $1,000, and an unlimited annual option. The 70% tier and a $1,000 deductible are the two levers that bring a premium down, and Pets Best offers both, which makes it the one to price first if the monthly figure is what decides this.
Two details lift it above a generic budget pick: it can pay your vet directly, and its waiting periods can be waived. Have a vet examine your pet within three days before or seven days after your policy start date, return Pets Best’s health assessment form within 30 days, and the waiting period can be waived back to the start date. Your policy spells out which waits the waiver applies to.
What we like
- Waiting periods can be waived with a vet exam at enrollment
- Direct payment to the vet is available, outside states whose law requires you to pay first
- Unlimited annual benefit offered alongside $5,000 and $10,000 tiers
What we don’t
- Exam fees and some therapies are paid add-ons
- Six-month wait on cruciate ligament problems unless the exam waiver is approved
- Two different underwriters, so the exact policy wording depends on which one you get
Pumpkin
Pumpkin takes pets at any age, with no upper enrollment limit, and it runs one 14-day waiting period for everything, knees and hips included. Half the insurers here make you wait six months for those, which matters most for the older and larger dogs Pumpkin suits best.
Exam fees are included, which matters more than it sounds: an emergency consult alone can run a few hundred dollars before anyone touches the animal. The cost of all this is choice. Reimbursement is 80% or 90% only, with no 70% tier to lean on when a senior pet’s premium starts climbing.
What we like
- No upper age limit for enrollment
- One 14-day wait for everything, with no separate orthopedic wait
- Exam fees included on the standard plan
What we don’t
- Only 80% and 90% reimbursement, so no cheap tier
- A knee or hind-leg ligament problem that starts before coverage rules out future ones
- Preventive Essentials is a wellness package, not insurance
Fetch
Fetch bundles in what other insurers sell as upgrades or exclude outright: sick-visit exam fees, dental illness in every tooth rather than a short list of teeth, and behavioral therapy. On a plan-by-plan reading of the fine print, it excludes the least.
The cost shows up in the calendar. Accidents are covered from day one, but illness carries a 15-day wait and hips and knees are locked out for six months, though Fetch may waive that longer wait if a vet examines your pet early in the policy. If you’re buying because something already worries you, that delay is the thing to weigh.
What we like
- Sick-visit exam fees included in the base plan
- Dental illness covered in every tooth, not just a few
- Higher deductibles and an unlimited annual limit available by phone
What we don’t
- Six-month wait on hips and knees
- Unlimited annual cover is not offered online
- No direct payment to the vet, and the lowest deductible we saw online was $250
ASPCA Pet Health Insurance
A flat 10% off for each additional pet adds up quickly across two dogs and a cat, and there’s no upper age limit on enrollment. Waiting periods are a clean 14 days for both accident and illness, with no separate six-month orthopedic lockout, which is genuinely valuable for a dog with bad knees. Exam fees for covered visits, dental disease and behavioral issues are all part of the standard plan.
Where it gives ground is the deductible menu: $100, $250, $500 or $750 and nothing above, so you can’t push the deductible to $1,000 to cut the premium the way you can at Embrace or Pets Best. The name is licensed from the ASPCA; the policies are underwritten by an insurance company, not the charity.
What we like
- 10% discount for every additional pet on the policy
- No separate six-month orthopedic waiting period
- No upper age limit for enrollment
What we don’t
- Deductible options stop at $750
- Preventive care is a paid add-on, as everywhere
- The ASPCA name is licensed, not a charity-run plan
What owners actually pay
NAPHIA, the industry body, puts the 2025 US average for accident-and-illness cover at $836 a year for dogs — about $70 a month — and $435 for cats, around $36 a month. Age moves that figure more than anything else you control.
| Pet | Accident only | Accident + illness | Plus wellness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dog, under 1 | $12 – $20 | $38 – $64 | $55 – $90 |
| Dog, 1 – 3 | $14 – $24 | $47 – $79 | $65 – $105 |
| Dog, 4 – 7 | $20 – $33 | $66 – $109 | $88 – $145 |
| Dog, 8+ | $32 – $53 | $105 – $175 | $140 – $235 |
| Cat, under 1 | $6 – $11 | $20 – $34 | $28 – $46 |
| Cat, 1 – 3 | $7 – $12 | $24 – $41 | $33 – $55 |
| Cat, 4 – 7 | $10 – $17 | $34 – $56 | $45 – $76 |
| Cat, 8+ | $16 – $27 | $54 – $90 | $73 – $121 |
What the policy is priced against: TPLO surgery for a torn cruciate ligament runs roughly $4,000 to $7,000 once diagnostics and aftercare are counted, and emergency surgery for a swallowed sock or toy runs $2,000 to $10,000. One of those events can cost more than a decade of premiums for an average cat. And the bills that run highest are not the ones people picture: across the twenty largest claims paid in 2025, only three were injuries.
Cats are where that arithmetic works out best — see whether cat insurance is worth it.
The fine printWhat’s covered, and what never is
Usually covered
- Accidents: fractures, swallowed objects, bite wounds
- Illnesses: cancer, diabetes, infections, allergies
- Hereditary and congenital conditions, on most plans
- Diagnostics: bloodwork, X-rays, ultrasound, biopsies
- Surgery, hospitalization and prescription medication
- Exam fees — but only on some plans, so check
Rarely or never covered
- Pre-existing conditions from before your coverage started
- Routine and preventive care, unless you add a wellness plan
- Cosmetic and elective procedures such as declawing
- Breeding, pregnancy and whelping costs
- Anything that starts during the waiting period
- Food, supplements and boarding fees
If you’re down to two
Embrace vs. Trupanion
Embrace if you want to control the monthly cost and expect ordinary vet years. Trupanion if you’re insuring against the one catastrophic year — it has no payout cap of any kind, and at participating hospitals it pays the vet rather than you.
Pets Best vs. Pumpkin
Pets Best if the premium is the deciding number: more deductible options, a cheaper 70% tier, and waiting periods you can waive with an exam. Pumpkin if your pet is older, or you want exam fees included and knees and hips covered after 14 days instead of six months.
Fetch vs. ASPCA
Fetch covers more — exam fees, full dental illness, behavioral therapy — and covers accidents from day one, but hips and knees wait six months. ASPCA covers everything, knees included, after a flat 14 days and discounts each extra pet 10%.
Before you apply
Will anyone cover a pre-existing condition?
Not as such. Every US insurer excludes conditions that showed symptoms before coverage began, including during the waiting period. Some will reconsider a condition your vet classes as curable — an ear infection, say — after a symptom-free window, often 180 days. Chronic conditions such as diabetes or allergies stay excluded for life.
How old is too old to enroll?
ASPCA, Pets Best, Pumpkin and Fetch set no upper age limit. Trupanion accepts pets up to their 14th birthday, and Embrace takes accident-and-illness enrollments through age 14, with accident-only cover after that. In practice the limit is financial rather than formal: premiums climb steeply from around age seven, and a senior large-breed dog can easily cost two to three times what the same dog cost as a puppy. More on insuring an older dog.
Can I keep my own vet?
Yes. US pet insurance is reimbursement-based, not network-based, so any licensed vet, specialist or 24-hour emergency hospital qualifies. There is no in-network list to check and no referral to get.
What makes one quote cheaper than another?
Species, breed, age and ZIP code set the base rate, and you can’t change those. The three levers you can pull are the reimbursement percentage, the annual deductible and the annual limit. A 90% plan with a $100 deductible and no cap can easily cost twice a 70% plan with a $1,000 deductible and a $5,000 cap on the same pet.
What is a per-condition deductible?
Trupanion charges its deductible once per condition for the life of the policy rather than once a year. It costs more early on, when a young pet racks up unrelated one-off problems, and considerably less over a long chronic illness you’d otherwise pay a fresh deductible for every January.
Is a wellness add-on worth the money?
It isn’t insurance — it’s a prepaid budget for routine care, priced to roughly break even. You pay a set monthly fee in exchange for a fixed yearly allowance for vaccines, exams and screening. Add one if you want predictable monthly costs, not because it will save you money.
Buy while there’s nothing to claim
On the published terms, Embrace is the plan that fits the widest range of owners: it bends to almost any budget, it covers accidents from the first day, and in many states its orthopedic wait can be cut to 14 days. Trupanion is the one to buy if what frightens you is the five-figure year, and Pumpkin is the answer for a pet already past its seventh birthday.
Whichever you pick, the date on the application does more for you than the brand on it. Coverage bought after a diagnosis pays nothing toward that diagnosis — that is the entire meaning of “pre-existing”.
Get an Embrace quoteRelated guides
How Pet Insurance Reimbursement Really Works
Two policies with the same 80% and the same deductible can still pay different amounts on the same bill. Why the order of two subtractions matters, and where it is written down.
Is Cat Insurance Worth It?
Cats cost about half as much to insure, but nearly everything that goes wrong with them is an illness, not an accident. Why accident-only is the wrong plan for an indoor cat.
Dog ACL Surgery Cost
What TPLO, TTA and lateral suture repairs actually cost, why the other knee belongs in your budget, and which policies start covering knees soonest.
Is It Too Late to Insure an Older Dog?
All six of these insurers will still take a twelve-year-old, and four have no upper age limit. What a senior policy costs, and how the medical record decides whether it ever pays.
Pet Insurance Laws by State
Seventeen states regulate pet insurance and 33 do not. How long you get to return a policy, whether the waiting periods above are even legal where you live, and the one state whose law makes you pay the vet first.
The Year’s Biggest Vet Bills
The twenty largest claims insurers paid in 2025, with the conditions and the ages attached. Only three were injuries, half the animals were seven or younger, and the largest was $66,600 for a three-year-old dog nobody could diagnose.
Daisuke
Daisuke writes about pet insurance and the cost of veterinary care for petloverofficial.com. He builds each comparison from insurers’ own policy documents and help pages rather than their marketing pages, cross-checks against independent reviews where an insurer doesn’t publish a figure, and says plainly when a number is an estimate.
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