Pets Best vs Trupanion
Trupanion wins on payout design, Pets Best wins on price. Trupanion pays unlimited with no annual cap, settles claims directly with participating clinics through Vet Direct Pay (about 75% of claims within 24 hours), and charges its per-condition deductible once per diagnosed condition for life. Pets Best answers with illustrative premiums of about $33/mo for a dog and $14/mo for a cat (the cheapest cat figure in our catalog) versus Trupanion’s roughly $62/$35, the lowest deductible floor in our lineup ($50), two wellness tiers, and a 3-day accident wait waivable entirely with a qualifying exam. Scores run 8.6 for Trupanion against 8.1 for Pets Best on dogs, but 8.4 for Pets Best against 7.8 for Trupanion on cats, where price dominates.
Side by side
| Pets Best | Trupanion | |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial score (dogs) | 8.1/10 | 8.6/10 |
| Illustrative starting price | dogs from $33/mo, cats from $14/mo | dogs from $62/mo, cats from $35/mo |
| Annual limit | $5k-unlimited | Unlimited |
| Deductible | Annual, $50/$100/$200/$250/$500/$1,000 | Per-condition, not annual , pay it once per diagnosed condition, for the life of the pet, not every year. Configurable in $50 steps from $0 to $1,000, plus $1,350/$1,500/$1,750 options. |
| Reimbursement options | 70%, 80% or 90% | Fixed at 90% , not configurable, unlike every other insurer here |
| Accident wait | 3 days (waivable entirely with a qualifying vet exam submitted within 30 days of enrollment) | 5 days |
| Illness wait | 14 days | 30 days |
| Orthopedic / cruciate wait | 6 months for cruciate ligament events. Waiting periods may be reduced or waived when a participating veterinarian certifies the pet (exam up to 3 days before or 7 days after the effective date; form back within 30 days of the exam) | None listed |
| Wellness add-on | Available | Not offered |
| Direct vet pay | No, reimbursement only | Yes (VetDirect Pay) |
Starting prices are illustrative estimates for a healthy one-year-old animal, not quotes. Your real premium depends on breed, age, ZIP code, deductible and reimbursement rate.
Pre-existing conditions
Pets Best: Not covered, standard exclusion for signs shown before enrollment or during the waiting period.
Trupanion: Not covered, standard exclusion for signs shown before enrollment or during the waiting period.
Choose Pets Best if
You want friction removed at the worst moment: unlimited payout with no cap, Vet Direct Pay so you never front the bill at participating clinics, a once-per-lifetime per-condition deductible ($0-$1,000 configurable), and fixed 90% reimbursement. Accept consistently higher month-to-month cost than anyone else in this lineup.
Choose Trupanion if
Budget leads, especially for cats. Illustrative cat premiums start around $14/mo and dogs around $33/mo. Deductibles run $50 to $1,000 annually, limits come in $5,000, $10,000 or unlimited, and the 3-day accident wait can be waived with a qualifying vet exam within 30 days of enrollment. Note the 6-month cruciate wait (reducible via vet certification) and that exam-fee coverage costs extra on the base Essential plan.
Questions
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Written by the WhichPetPlan editorial team. Rankings are editorial, not paid placement. Some links (currently Lemonade) may earn a fee; it never changes the premium and never changes a ranking. Other insurers listed here do not pay us. Scores are our own editorial ratings, not an industry standard. See our methodology for how scores are set.