Comparison

VirtuPet vs Pathlings

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 walks into an engaging game by linking your step count to the well-being of a virtual pet. Discover and hatch a variety of creatures, collect them, and compete with friends while staying active.

Highlights
  • Step tracking for pet health
  • Map-based egg discovery
  • Hatch and collect 101 animals
  • Maintain daily step streaks
  • Walk with friends and leaderboards
  • Daily quests and in-game currency
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

Pathlings

This app transforms your daily steps into a gentle adventure with a virtual companion. Nurture your unique buddy, unlock new stages of growth, and complete daily quests to build a consistent routine. Goals are customizable to fit your lifestyle, making fitness fun and private.

Highlights
  • Virtual companion with unique personalities
  • Daily step-based adventures and quests
  • Unlockable growth stages and rewards
  • Customizable step goals
  • Collect in-game items
  • Private and ad-free experience
Features
Read full description

Walk more with a little buddy who grows alongside you. Pathlings turns your real daily steps into a cozy game. Choose a tiny creature, give them a name, and help them grow through five forms as you reach milestones and finish quests. There are snacks to share, Rubies to collect and a home to make your own. • Find your walking buddy. Start with a leaf-eared forest mouse, a lava frog or a water panda, each with their own personality and five forms to discover. Feed them snacks, play with toys, and watch them grow. • Make room for more friends. Save your Rubies to adopt other Pathlings, including a storm owl and Pebblehorn, the sandstone rhino. Decorate their home with plants, lanterns and treasures, unlock new habitats, and watch your little crew wander around together. • See who walks the most. PathLeague turns your weekly steps into a friendly race with your Game Center friends. See their Pathlings, chase a place on the podium, and win weekly Ruby prizes. Earn 100 Rubies for each new friend you add who plays Pathlings. • Turn your steps into playtime. Earn a Trail Run pass halfway to your daily goal and another when you reach it. Then dash down forest, volcanic, underwater, mountain or canyon trails: switch lanes, jump over obstacles and collect Rubies to bring home. • Take your Pathling for a stroll. Follow your walk live on your iPhone’s Lock Screen and look back on your outings in Walk History. Walk half your daily goal in one stroll, with a minimum of 2,000 steps, to earn 50 bonus Rubies once a day. • Find a pace that fits. Choose your own daily step goal and change it whenever you need to. Complete daily and weekly quests, collect badges, and look back on your progress with a weekly recap. When you need a day off, a Rest Day Shield can protect your streak. • Keep your buddy close. Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets let you check in at a glance, with Feed and Play shortcuts on the Home Screen widget. See your synced progress and PathLeague race on Apple Watch, start and end walks from your wrist, or ask Siri to start a stroll. Pathlings counts your steps using Apple Health and your iPhone’s motion sensor. Free to play with optional Ruby packs. No ads, no subscriptions, and no Pathlings account needed. PathLeague is optional and uses Game Center. Choose your buddy and take your first walk together.

Screenshots

VirtuPet4 screens
Pathlings4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Pathlings at free against VirtuPet's free with in-app purchases. Pathlings also leads on update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). VirtuPet's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 88%). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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 9 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Pathlings sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for VirtuPet against 4.6 for Pathlings. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 9 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of VirtuPet's written reviews are positive against 88% of Pathlings's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

VirtuPet ships an update fortnightly, Pathlings weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 15, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
VirtuPet versus Pathlings: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVirtuPetPathlings
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (4 ratings)4.6 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better87.5% of reviews
Number of ratings49 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size520 MB249 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMONTEL ANTHONY NEVERSDave Mohan

Customer experience

VirtuPet

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Pathlings

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%

In-app purchases

9 purchases

VirtuPet

Subscriptions3
  • VirtuPet Premium Monthly1 Month trial$7.991 Month
  • 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
4 purchases

Pathlings

One-time4
  • 500 Rubies$0.99
  • 1,200 Rubies$1.99
  • 3,000 Rubies$4.99
Show 1 more
  • 6,500 Rubies$9.99

Questions

Is VirtuPet free?
VirtuPet is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pathlings free?
Pathlings is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, VirtuPet or Pathlings?
Pathlings is rated higher. VirtuPet averages 4.5 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Pathlings averages 4.6 from 9 ratings.
Do VirtuPet or Pathlings have ads?
Neither VirtuPet nor Pathlings shows ads.
Which is updated more often, VirtuPet or Pathlings?
VirtuPet ships an update fortnightly, and Pathlings weekly. Most recently, VirtuPet was updated on November 15, 2026 and Pathlings on November 10, 2026.

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