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These 12 Automatic Cat Feeders Were the Best We Tested in 2026
An automatic cat feeder may just change your life. No more begging at 4 am. Plus, it can give you peace of mind while you're away from your fur baby. As seen with the rise of automatic litter boxes and pet tracking, technology has made it so we can closely monitor our pets without doing a lot of the manual labor normally involved.
Gravity-fed automatic dry-food dispensers were invented nearly a century ago, but today most automatic cat feeders use Wi-Fi and connect to a phone app that lets you set a schedule or feed on demand from afar, all while monitoring your pet’s eating habits. Newer models have taken this tech further, like the Petkit YumShare Dual-Hopper 2 Automatic Feeder With Camera ($170), which has a built-in, AI-enabled camera that analyzes the remaining food in the bowl and stops dispensing to prevent overfeeding. Automatic wet-food dispensers—our top pick in this category is the Petlibro Polar Smart Wet Feeder ($170)—are relatively new, often using ice packs or mini-refrigeration cooling systems to keep the food as fresh as possible.
Automatic feeders are also helpful for pet parents who want to monitor their pets’ health, maintain specialized schedules, or foster healthier eating habits. (A customizable automatic cat feeder can help with the endless gorging-vomiting cycle many cats struggle with.) Nearly all of the automatic cat feeders on this list are marketed toward cats, but some can be used with smaller dogs, and I’ve noted these below.
Check out our related guides, like the Best Automatic Litter Boxes, Best Cat Water Fountains, Best Smart Cat Collars, and Best Pet Cameras.
Updated October 2026: I've added the Neakasa Riko Automatic Cat Feeder and Petlibro Granary 2 Vision and removed the out-of-stock Cheerble Match G1. I've also updated prices and links throughout.
This model is an upgrade of one of my favorite models below, the Petkit YumShare Dual-Hopper Automatic Feeder With Camera, with added AI features. It offers a crystal-clear video feed, night vision, customizable meal calls, and a dual-hopper for two types of food. Through the connected app, you can set feeding schedules or feed on demand from both tanks, use two-way audio, and monitor the feeder from your phone. Unlike most other brands, the AI-enabled camera doesn't require a subscription and can identify up to 20 pets and log when each has eaten. The camera also uses AI to analyze the remaining food in the bowl and will stop dispensing to prevent overfeeding.
This feeder performed very well throughout testing, and I appreciate that you don't need to opt into the subscription plan for AI to recognize different pets. However, I still think the connected Petkit app isn't as reliable or as easy to use as Petlibro's app.
This updated Petlibro Polar Wet Food Feeder solves nearly every gripe I had with other automatic feeders for storing wet food—it’s essentially a mini-fridge that keeps food fresh, and it’s connected to an app where you can schedule and customize feedings and keep a feeding log. Food is dispensed into three wide, shallow stainless-steel bowls, which means less chance of whisker fatigue with wide bowls or feline acne from bacteria-harboring plastic. When it’s time to feed, the cover slides back from the hole, revealing the food beneath.
The refrigerator uses thermoelectric cooling and stays at 50 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Cooling is paused 30 minutes before scheduled feeding time to ensure it’s at the ideal temperature. The bowls are now numbered, so you can easily match feedings to specific bowls in the app. Through the app, you can adjust schedules, manually feed on demand, and control how long it's open—there's even a sensor to make sure it doesn’t close while your kitty is feeding. This is the best automatic wet feeder on the market, in my opinion—I even bought a second one for my other cat.
Note: For certain Amazon locations, this feeder is marked as a “Frequently Returned Item.” I haven't experienced any issues with