Comparison

VirtuPet vs Glow Stride

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

VirtuPet

This app transforms your daily steps into a virtual pet game. Walk to keep your digital companion healthy, hatch eggs found on a map, and collect over 100 unique animals. Compete with friends and complete quests to earn rewards.

Highlights
  • Step tracking integration
  • Virtual pet care
  • Egg hatching and collection
  • Map-based egg discovery
  • Friend leaderboards and challenges
  • Daily quests and rewards
  • Home screen widget
Features
Read full description

Your steps keep a little pet alive. Walk, and they thrive. VirtuPet turns every walk into a game. Apple Health counts your steps in the background, your pet's health follows your daily goal, and the eggs you find on the map hatch as you walk. WALK. THEY THRIVE. Hit your goal and your pet is happy, healthy and full of energy. Skip a day and they feel it. It's the nudge to move that actually works, because someone is counting on you. FIND EGGS ON THE MAP. Open the Map and eggs land near you, at real parks, cafés and landmarks. Walk to one, pick it up and pop it in your incubator. Your steps do the rest. HATCH AND COLLECT 101 ANIMALS. Fill your Virtudex with dogs, cats, wildlife and mythic creatures from nine regions. Hatch one you already own and it ranks up to bronze, silver and gold. Bring your favourites on walks as your Walking Crew: they follow you on the map and leave paw prints behind. KEEP YOUR STREAK. Every day you hit your goal grows your streak, and the calendar shows each goal day with the steps you walked. Hit your goal without opening the app? It still counts. WALK WITH FRIENDS. Add friends with a code and climb this week's leaderboard. Start a Duo Challenge: pick a friend and a weekly step goal, walk it together, and you both spin for Scout Packs, coins and XP. QUESTS, XP AND PAW COINS. New daily quests every morning. Earn XP to level your pet up, and Paw Coins to spend in the Paw Shop on looks, scenes and themes. Play minigames with your pet between walks. ON YOUR HOME SCREEN. Add the widget and your pet is there every time you pick up your phone. VIRTUPET PREMIUM VirtuPet is free to download and free to play: walk, hatch and collect, forever. Premium adds a second incubator and a bigger egg bag, all three daily quests, biome eggs on the map and a Grand egg every Sunday, better hatch odds, two pets in your Walking Crew, full Insights and a free streak repair every month. Terms of Use: https://virtupet.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://virtupet.app/privacy Your steps have never meant more. Go find an egg.

About

Glow Stride

Features
Read full description

GlowStride turns every walk, run, and hike into something you actually look forward to. Set a goal, tap START, and watch your route light up on the map as you collect glows scattered around you. No tracking. Total Free to use. ONE TAP TO START Pick your activity — Walk, Run, or Cycle. Set a distance, step, or calorie goal. A 5-second countdown and you're off. No complicated setup, no friction. COLLECT GLOWS ON YOUR MAP Glows spawn near your location before each session. Walk close enough and they're yours. Every glow collected adds to your total and fuels your progress through quests and badges. LIVE SESSION TRACKING See your time, distance, pace, and calories in real time. Your route draws on the map as you move. Pause, resume, or swipe to end — you're in full control. DAILY QUESTS AND LIFETIME BADGES Complete daily quests like hitting step targets or collecting a set number of glows. Earn lifetime badges across categories — distance milestones, streak records, glow collections, and more. STREAKS THAT KEEP YOU MOVING Build your daily streak by staying active. Track your current and longest streaks at a glance. Miss a day and start fresh — simple, honest motivation. STATS AND WEEKLY CHARTS Review your steps, distance, and calories across the week with clean bar charts. Browse your full session history and tap into any past session for a detailed summary. OFFLINE-READY WITH CLOUD SYNC All your data is stored locally on device. Sessions, profiles, and progress sync seamlessly through iCloud — no account required, no sign-up walls. PRIVACY FIRST GlowStride does not collect personal data on external servers. Your health and location data stays on your device and in your private iCloud container. Built for people who want to move more without the noise. GlowStride is simple, focused, and designed to make every step count. GlowStride reads active energy burned to show accurate calories after your sessions, and saves your completed workouts to Apple Health. For more information, please visit https://mecapps.fun

Screenshots

VirtuPet4 screens
Glow Stride4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Glow Stride at none against VirtuPet's 8. On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. VirtuPet sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Glow Stride asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
VirtuPet versus Glow Stride: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVirtuPetGlow Stride
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.617.6
Further details — not scored
Size483 MB4 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperMONTEL ANTHONY NEVERSLuu Thi Tuyet Minh

In-app purchases

8 purchases

VirtuPet

Subscriptions2
  • VirtuPet: Premium - Monthly7 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • VirtuPet: Premium - Annual7 Days trial$79.991 Year
One-time6
  • Scout Pack$2.99
  • 1000 Paw Coins$2.99
  • Ranger Pack$4.99
Show 3 more
  • 2500 Paw Coins$4.99
  • Naturalist Pack$9.99
  • Curator Pack$19.99
None

Glow Stride

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is VirtuPet free?
VirtuPet is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Glow Stride free?
Glow Stride is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do VirtuPet or Glow Stride have ads?
Neither VirtuPet nor Glow Stride shows ads.
Which is updated more often, VirtuPet or Glow Stride?
VirtuPet ships an update every 3 weeks, and Glow Stride every 3 weeks. Most recently, VirtuPet was updated on November 9, 2026 and Glow Stride on October 31, 2026.

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