Comparison

VirtuPet vs Hardcore Walk

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

Hardcore Walk

Features
Read full description

YOUR STEPS MOVE YOUR CHARACTER Hardcore Walk is a walking game where your everyday steps move a character through meadows, forests and mountains. Connect Apple Health to use your step count in the game. Walk alongside players from around the world, chat with nearby walkers, and challenge your friends. WALK ON THE PUBLIC ROAD The public road is a shared world where you can see and chat with players near your character. The more you walk in real life, the farther your character travels. There is no finish line or leaderboard. Choose a daily step goal and one of two modes: Relaxed: Your goal is a personal target. If you miss it, you keep your progress and carry on whenever you next walk. Hardcore: Reach your goal each day to keep your walk going. Miss it and your walk ends. You can start again from the beginning and try to go farther. CHALLENGE FRIENDS IN A PRIVATE ROUND A private round is a separate walking challenge for you and your friends. Create one and share its invite code, or join a friend's round. The person creating it chooses the mode, and each player chooses their own daily step goal. Relaxed rounds: Compete to see who walks farthest. Every step adds to your distance, and missing your goal does not knock you out. Hardcore rounds: Compete to see who can keep reaching their daily goal. Miss your goal and you're out. Here, your goal also limits how far you can travel each day. With a 5,000-step goal, walking 8,000 steps adds 5,000 to your distance. A higher goal lets you travel farther, but you must reach it to stay in. In Hardcore, on the public road or in a private round, you can raise your goal for tomorrow, but cannot lower it during that walk. Private rounds have their own progress and results. You can take part in them while continuing your walk on the public road. GET STARTED Choose your walker's name, connect Apple Health, and start walking. No sign-in is needed to get started. Open the app to see where your steps have taken you. Free to play. Terms of Use: https://hardcorewalk.com/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://hardcorewalk.com/privacy.html

Screenshots

VirtuPet4 screens
Hardcore Walk4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Hardcore Walk at every 3 days against VirtuPet's every 3 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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 and Hardcore Walk sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

VirtuPet ships an update every 3 weeks, Hardcore Walk every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
VirtuPet versus Hardcore Walk: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVirtuPetHardcore Walk
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.616.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size483 MB307 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperMONTEL ANTHONY NEVERSKanatago AS

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
3 purchases

Hardcore Walk

One-time3
  • 1 Hardcore Walk Credit$0.49
  • 10 Hardcore Walk Credits$3.99
  • Hardcore Walk Credits x50$17.99

Questions

Is VirtuPet free?
VirtuPet is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hardcore Walk free?
Hardcore Walk is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do VirtuPet or Hardcore Walk have ads?
Neither VirtuPet nor Hardcore Walk shows ads.
Which is updated more often, VirtuPet or Hardcore Walk?
VirtuPet ships an update every 3 weeks, and Hardcore Walk every 3 days. Most recently, VirtuPet was updated on November 5, 2026 and Hardcore Walk on November 6, 2026.

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