Comparison

Petcube vs Mao

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

Head to head
About

Petcube

This app offers comprehensive pet care, including AI health guidance, vet consultations, activity tracking, and a digital journal. It helps you manage your pet's health, routines, and daily moments, providing personalized insights and support for confident pet parenting.

Highlights
  • AI-powered pet health insights
  • 24/7 licensed veterinarian chat
  • Pet journal for tracking data and moments
  • Activity and routine tracking
  • Smart pet device integration
  • Care reminders and alerts
Features
Read full description

From tailored AI health guidance to chats with licensed vets, pet journal, activity tracking, and smart pet devices — everything your pet needs is now in one place. Petcube goes far beyond smart hardware. It’s a pet-first platform designed around the animal you love — not the technology you use. Start by creating a profile for your dog or cat. Add their age, breed, habits, and health history. Complete a Health Check by answering health and care-related questions about your pet. From there, Petcube becomes a companion with personalized AI insights and around-the-clock certified vet chat to help you make better decisions for your pet and be a more confident pet parent. With Petcube App you can: - Get AI-powered answers about your pet’s health, behavior, food, and training; - Chat with licensed veterinarians when you need on-the-spot medical guidance; - Track activity, routines, health data, and daily moments in your pet’s journal; - Get reminders, smart alerts, set up voice commands, and care schedules; - Connect your Petcube devices for live streaming, smart alerts, emergency monitoring, and activity insights. Your pet’s profile, photos, logs, and history help unlock more personalized advice, reminders, and care recommendations — turning the app into a digital diary for your pet. Whether you’re checking in while you’re away, worried about a symptom, or just want to be a better pet parent, Petcube puts everything you need right at your fingertips.

About

Mao

Features
Read full description

Mao is not for remembering extraordinary moments. It is for noticing that ordinary ones were extraordinary all along. Mao does two things: it reminds you to look after your cat, and it keeps every day you spend together. (There's a third, but that one's for the cat.) 【CARE REMINDERS】 • Litter, brushing, nail trims, deworming, the yearly check-up: local notifications when they come due • One tap to mark done: undo if you tapped by mistake • Weight: weigh-ins go straight onto a curve • Birthdays and gotcha days: counted down for you • Your own list: add care items, switch off the ones you don't need 【DAILY JOURNAL】 • Photos and video: filed under the day they were taken • Voice diary: a purr, or a few words of your own • Letters to your cat: sideways or upright, on stationery that changes daily • Share to import: old photos land on their original date, not today • Video, handled lightly: referenced not copied, played by the system player 【BODY NOTES AND VET VISITS】 "That scab I found last week": which day, how big, whether it changed. • Body marks: tap the spot on a cat illustration, attach a photo from that day • Monthly photo set: from above, from the side, a portrait; eyes, ears, teeth, paws • Vomit log and vet notes: each one dated; vet notes carry photos too • Everything carries a date, so there's nothing to reconstruct in the exam room 【SCRAPBOOK】 • One page per month: flipped like a book • Back to the kitten days: long-press the page edge to travel back • Boxes by age: older photos settle into one box per year of your cat's life • Cards that make a sound: a small bell under each print plays that day's recording • Craft: 7 layout templates, stickers, doodles, lasso cutouts; postcard size to print • Monthly story: written for you from that month's records • Home screen widget: a random photo, with the age your cat was 【GAMES FOR YOUR CAT】 • Three chase games: wiggle worm, laser dot, little fly • Cat TV: a full-screen show for your cat, ready for screen mirroring to your TV • Button board: record the phrases you call them with, press one to play 【YOUR DATA STAYS ON YOUR PHONE】 • No account, no servers, no analytics • One-tap backup export and import Trilingual interface (English, Chinese, Japanese). Made for one calico, dedicated to every cat.

Screenshots

Petcube4 screens
Mao4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Mao at 3 against Petcube's 1. Mao also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Petcube versus Mao: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPetcubeMao
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (1K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews25.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings1K — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size394 MB46 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPetcube IncFeier Cao

Bugs and requests

Petcube

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashing and freezing issues
  • Inconsistent video quality and audio
  • Unreliable motion detection and alerts
  • Inability to reconnect camera after updates
  • Syncing issues between multiple devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to turn off camera remotely
  • Option to disable vet chat feature
  • Bulk video deletion
  • Customizable motion detection settings
  • Support for more pet types beyond just dogs and cats

Mao

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Petcube

No in-app purchases

None

Mao

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Petcube free?
Petcube is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Mao free?
Mao is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Petcube or Mao have ads?
Neither Petcube nor Mao shows ads.

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