Desktop pet for Mac
A Desktop Pet for Mac: Your Cat or Dog, in 3D
Not a cartoon, not a sprite. Your own pet, rebuilt in 3D from a few photos, walking the Dock and napping on your windows.
What a desktop pet does all day
A desktop pet is a small animal that lives on your screen while you work. Ours walks along the bottom of your screen and the Dock, jumps up onto the top edge of a window when there's room, and settles there for a nap. It sits and looks around, grooms, stretches, and now and then wanders off to explore.
It notices you, too. It turns to watch your cursor, comes over when you call it from the menu bar, and if you scroll over it, it leans into the petting. Pick it up and drop it somewhere else and it lands on its feet. Leave your Mac for a while and it curls up and sleeps until you're back.
Walks the Dock
Sits and watches
Naps when you're away
Grooms and stretches
Your pet, not a pet
Most desktop pets are the same cartoon cat for everyone. That's fine, and some of them are charming. But if you have a real cat or dog at home, the one you want on your screen is them.
So we start from your photos. In the Mac app you add a few pictures of your pet, and we build a 3D model from them: their shape, their coat, and the details that make them yours. The white sock stays a white sock. The ear that flops stays floppy. If your tabby has a smudge on its nose, the smudge comes too.
You see the result before you pay. Turn them around, compare them with your photos, and if something is off, ask for a change. Two regenerations are included, and if it still doesn't look like your pet, you get your money back. Want to know more about the photos that work best? Read how a custom desktop pet is made.
Light on your Mac, by design
A pet that makes your fans spin is not a pet you keep. Ours uses about 2.5% of the CPU while walking, measured on Apple silicon, and far less while it sits or sleeps. It renders only what it needs to, and when your screen is locked or your display sleeps, it stops altogether.
It also stays out of your way. Clicks pass straight through it to the window underneath. It never steals focus from the app you're typing in, and it keeps inside the screen instead of wandering off the edge. When you need it gone for a call or a screen share, hide it from the menu bar in one click, or keep it out of screen recordings altogether.
On battery it slows down and naps more, so your laptop lasts. If you have more than one display, you choose which screen it lives on, and it moves over when you plug a monitor in or take it away. And it only ever runs on your Mac: nothing about your desktop, your windows or your apps leaves the machine.
Mac requirements
- An Apple silicon Mac: M1 or later.
- macOS 14 Sonoma or newer.
- A few photos of your cat or dog. A side view and a clear face are enough to start.
- An internet connection while your pet is being made. After that it lives on your Mac.
It's a native Mac app, sold directly rather than through the App Store. One purchase covers up to three of your Macs, and your pet follows you from one to the next when you sign in.
Cats and dogs of every kind
Border collie with a white blaze, a grey tabby, a pug, a long-haired Persian, a mix nobody can name: the app works from your photos, not from a list of templates, so it isn't limited to popular breeds. Our border collie page shows what that looks like for one breed, and the breed guides cover twenty more.
If you've used a pixel-art desktop pet before and want something closer to real, the Shimeji comparison lays out the differences honestly, including who should stick with Shimeji.
What it costs
Seeing your pet in 3D is free. If you like them, it's $19 once to keep them: no subscription, up to three Macs, two free regenerations, and every new behaviour we add later. A second pet is $9.
If your pet has passed away, we make them with extra care: gentler behaviours, and a person checks every detail before you see them. Read more about memorial pets.
How it works
Step 1
Add photos
In the Mac app, add a few photos of your cat or dog. A side view and a face are enough to start.
Step 2
See them in 3D, free
In under ten minutes you can turn them around and compare them with your photos. Nothing to pay yet.
Step 3
They move in
Keep them for a one-time price and they live on your desktop: walking the Dock, napping on your windows.
Pricing
Free
See your own pet in 3D before you pay anything.
$19 once
Keep them. No subscription. Up to 3 of your Macs, 2 free regenerations, every behaviour we add later.
14-day money back
If it doesn't look like your pet, you get your money back. No questions asked.
Another pet is $9. All pricing
Questions
Which Macs does the desktop pet run on?
Apple silicon Macs (M1 or later) on macOS 14 Sonoma or newer. One purchase covers up to three of your Macs.
Will a desktop pet slow my Mac down?
It uses about 2.5% of the CPU while walking, measured on Apple silicon, and much less while it rests. When you step away it falls asleep, and on battery it slows its frame rate further.
Does the pet get in the way of my clicks?
No. Clicks go straight through to whatever is under your pet unless you mean to pick it up. It never takes focus from the app you're using.
Is it really my pet, or a generic cat or dog?
Your pet. You add photos of your own cat or dog in the app and we build a 3D model from them, markings included. You see the result free before you pay.
Is there a subscription?
No. It's $19 once to keep your pet, including two free regenerations and every behaviour we add later. Another pet is $9.
Can I hide the pet during a video call?
Yes. Hide it from the menu bar or with a keyboard shortcut, and there's a setting to keep it out of screen sharing.
Meet them in 3D
Download the Mac app, add a few photos, and see your pet in 3D before you pay anything.
See your pet in 3D free