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The Best Automatic Litter Box of 2026: Petkit and Litter-Robot
I can confidently say that having an automatic litter box has been the biggest game changer for me when it comes to cat ownership. I can't recommend them enough. They can be pricey, but never having to scoop poop again is priceless.
We at WIRED—well, our WIRED cats—tested a dozen of the highest-rated and most technologically advanced automatic litter boxes on the market for at least a week, often more (using standard clay clumping litter unless otherwise indicated), to see if they were really worth the money—or the hype. Our new favorite automatic litter box is the Purobot Max Pro 2 because of its compact design and camera for monitoring. The Litter-Robot 4 is a close second, mostly because of its LitterHopper attachment that easily refills litter for you. Plus, we still love the more basic Petkit PuraMax 2 (and think it's a great option for most people).
Check out our related guides, like the Best Automatic Feeders, Best Cat Water Fountains, Best Pet Cameras, and Best Cat Toys. More of a dog person? We've got you covered; see our Best Dog Accessories.
Updated September 2026: We've added the PetPivot AutoScooper 12 and Whisker Litter-Robot EVO, and updated links and prices throughout.
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The Purobot Max Pro 2 is the newest model from Petkit. It has a built-in 1080p camera with a 210-degree wide-angle view. The AI-enabled camera supports multi-cat face recognition, usage tracking (via a companion app), audio recording, night vision, and 2.4-GHz and 5.0-GHz Wi-Fi networks. The camera can also capture video of the cat using the box and their stool or urine.
This model has a 43 percent larger opening than the previous one, the PuraMax Pro, making it ideal for large cats like my 16-pound tabby, Basil. The waste bag is also bigger: It stores up to 17 days of waste for one cat, and it's self-sealing for easy disposal. The Petkit app sends an alert when the waste basket is full, and two odor eliminator cartridges help to help keep smells at bay.
You get Petkit's premium Care+ service for a free trial period, which detects if there's been unusual activity, like howling; logs weight and use frequency; and sends an alert if your cat’s weight has seen a consistent increase or decrease (which is a great way to monitor your cat's overall health). When Care+ ended, it still could tell my cats apart, but reviewer Kat Merck and others have complained that it got their cats confused. Petkit's app still could use some work to be more intuitive, and it's overcrowded with ads. Overall though, my cats took to this right away (which isn't always the case), and even my large cat was able to use this automatic litter box easily. I'm still not sure we need to be watching our cats defecate, but it is an incredible way to monitor your pets' health more closely.
I've tested over 30 automatic litter boxes, but I still go back to this old model from Whisker. This previous model of the Litter-Robot (the new Litter-Robot 5 line was released in fall 2025; see our thoughts about the new 5 Pro, 5, and EVO models below) has been a consistent favorite, largely due to its well-designed app and auto-refill Hopper (more on that below). Unlike Petkit, which has great automatic litter boxes with subpar apps that are crowded with ads for other products in the brand's lineup, the Whisker app (available for Android and iOS) is simple and intuitive. It logs usage and weight daily and historically, and it monitors litter and waste levels, alerting you when either is low. You can also adjust things like lights, manually start cycles, and set “Do Not Disturb” schedules so it won't cycle during certain periods.
After continued testing, it sometimes senses ghost cats and stops repeatedly during cleaning cycles, and alerts that the waste drawer is full when it's barely 20 percent filled. But this remains a favorite and a top pick, in part because of the super-convenient optional LitterHopper auto-refill