Here Are the Best Automatic Litter Boxes, To Do the Dirty Work for You (2023)

In This Article

The Whisker Litter-Robot 4 is not merely an iterative improvement on our former "Best Overall" automatic litter box, the Litter-Robot 3 Connect, but a comprehensive upgrade. In lab testing—and throughout weeks of follow-up testing with real cats—our testers expressed repeated admiration for various features, design improvements, and their overall experience using the Litter-Robot 4.

It's hard not to boggle at the litter robot's high price, but Whisker has pulled out all the stops to justify the premium cost with a premium user experience. It begins with an incredibly easy setup, since the Litter-Robot 4 arrives fully assembled in the box—all you need to do is plug it in and download the Whisker app (which is synced using a QR code on the back of the device).

But the first thing you're likely to notice about the Litter-Robot 4 is its design, which stacks a wide open, circular entrance atop a more square base. It's a significant improvement on the previous version of the Litter-Robot, which has a narrow entryway (more than 5 inches narrower). The entrance to the litter box looks inviting, even intriguing, with our home tester confirming that cats are more than willing to interact with the futuristic-looking device.

"They were very curious," our tester said. "My three cats took to it very quickly after the initial fear and confusion about it seemingly coming to life on its own!"

The Litter-Robot 4 works by maintaining a supply of litter atop of a heavy-duty fabric hammock. After your cat uses the bathroom, the interior sphere performs a slow barrel roll, dumping the litter through a sieve that pulls out solid waste and returns the clean litter back to its original position. The clumps of kitty litter are then dumped into a reservoir tray underneath.

Sensors in the entrance track both motion and weight, ensuring that the Litter-Robot never begins a cleaning cycle with a cat inside. This allows it to measure how much waste is sifted, and even create custom data for multiple cats, since it can differentiate them by weight. The only precaution needed is for kittens under 3 pounds, but you can disable the automatic sifter and instead use a button to manually clean until your cat is grown up enough to register.

The control panel on the Litter-Robot 4 features big, colorful buttons, though the wide variety of settings and cleaning options can make for a bit of a learning curve. In addition to a power button, there are buttons for "Cycle," "Reset," "Empty" and WiFi "Connect," with each button performing multiple functions. For example, the Cycle button initiates a cleaning, or you can hold down the button for three seconds to activate a "Sleep Mode," ensuring a cleaning cycle won't be activated for eight hours. A big, friendly light bar beneath the buttons delivers a wide range of information, indicating when a function has been paused, or even when a cat has spent too long inside the machine. It's pretty intuitive, but a little overwhelming at first—one tester mistakenly emptied all of the litter, rather than initiating a standard clean.

"There are a lot of colored lights to learn, which all signify different things, but once I got that down, I found them very helpful," the tester said.

Cleaning the Litter-Robot 4 was also a cinch. The bags used in the reservoir are tall enough that even an over-stuffed reservoir is easy to empty—simply lift up the edges of the bag and use that extra height to tie it off. There's even a QR code on the bottom of the reservoir that provides a retail link for easily purchasing new bags, smell filters, and even litter (but it doesn't require proprietary litter, and worked great with our generic, store-bought litter).

Even better are the beefy components. Despite the high-tech sheen, the Litter-Robot 4 doesn't feel finicky or breakable. Instead, you can remove the entire barrel and hose the whole thing down if you want. The tray beneath is similar, and can be easily removed and washed in the sink.

It's all part of a comprehensively thoughtful design, right down to the built-in night light. It's weird to say that an automatic litter box was a joy to use, but the Litter-Robot 4 impressed us at every step.

We did note a few downsides to the Litter-Robot 4. The most noticeable is the increased potential for unpleasant smells. While the Litter-Box 4 has several features that tamp down odors, by sifting your cat's waste out of the litter reservoir, you're also sifting away the kitty litter that contains so much of the smell in a traditional litter box.

"Because the clumps get dumped into the bottom drawer, there is no litter covering up the waste," our tester noted, describing the result as a more "prominent" smell.

We've found this to be an issue with most automatic litter boxes, which pull waste out into a separate tray, losing your litter's scent-absorbing qualities in the process. The Litter-Robot 4 works to counter this by sealing its waste drawer in a compartment with a built-in carbon filter. You can buy additional packs of the Whisker OdorTraps, but it's always a little frustrating buying an expensive product and then having to continually buy additional, proprietary accessories.

The Litter-Robot 4 also shares with its predecessor a very large silhouette. Anyone living with cats in a small apartment should measure first, and have a good sense of whether they have enough room to accommodate the Litter-Robot.

The Litter-Robot 4 may also not be right for you if you're looking for an automatic litter box right away. While Whisker is accepting orders, new orders of the Litter-Robot 4 won't start shipping until August.

While we think the Litter-Robot 4 is worth the wait, the Litter-Robot 3 Connect is still a high quality product. It's a little larger (more than 2 inches wider), less attractively designed, and a little louder, but the reduced price and immediate availability makes the previous Litter-Robot model worth your consideration. Read our comprehensive review for more details.

For our tests, we used a sample model provided by the manufacturer. While we were able to test all of the device's features, we only had access to a beta version of the Whisker app. What we tried worked very well. We were previously impressed by the app included with the automatic food dispensing Whisker Feeder-Robot. The Litter-Robot 4 app looks to be similarly clean, useful, and loaded with fun data, but we have yet to test the final retail release version.

The Whisker Litter-Robot 4 is available in both white and black. You can opt for a slotted "handle" on the front, or an optional step for easier climbing (Whisker has also announced an accessory ramp, but it is not yet available). In addition to the 1-year warranty, there's also a 90-day trial period, where you can test out the Litter-Robot 4 in your own home, risk free.

The PETKIT Pura X is remarkably similar to our Best Overall pick—the Litter-Robot 4—using an internal cylinder to fully rotate the litter reservoir so that it passes through a filtration screen and removes clumps of cat waste. Just like the Litter-Robot, it can be set to perform this operation manually, on a timer, or automatically after a cat is done using the device.

In testing, the Pura X performed with similar excellence. The Pura X operates quietly, is easy to clean, and has an attractive design, which sometimes makes it look like your pooping cat is flying a tiny spaceship.

The main downside our tester noted was the smaller entry hole, which was barely more than half the circumference of the wide opening on the Litter-Robot 4. This may make the Pura X a less attractive option if you have especially large cats. While the Pura X is suitable for cats up to 18 pounds, one tester had trouble getting all four of their cats to consistently use it.

"It feels like it's aimed more towards small and medium cats," our tester said.

But there where also a few areas where the PETKIT Pura X had an edge. One of our favorite minor design differences was the chute that allows you to load new litter from the top of the machine—now you have to bend over even less to keep your litter box in good, working order.

The biggest area where the Pura X impressed us, even over our Best Overall pick, was in its odor eating abilities. Similar to the Litter-Robot, the Pura X dumps waste into a sealed tray on the bottom of the device. But rather than a carbon filter, the PETKIT litter box opts for an automated deodorant spray. The results are consistently impressive, with the Pura X containing bad smells better than any other litter box we tested.

"I kept this in my living room for testing and there was no odor from the box, which was amazing!" our tester said.

There are also several areas where the Pura X takes a different design approach than the Litter-Robot 4, making selecting between them partially a matter of taste. This is most noticeable when it comes to the interface on the device itself. Whereas the Litter-Robot 4 opts for big, bright indicators that allow you to access most features directly, the Pura X has a more minimalist interface, with only two buttons used to navigate a small OLED display embedded in the front of the litter box. Our tester found it usable, but a little too minimalist.

"It would be nice of the menu icons showed text with the icons," our tester noted. "It's a little hard to remember if not using them often or without the manual."

Similarly, we preferred the Whisker app to its PETKIT alternative, though the Pura X app does offer a lot of useful data—tracking your cat's weight, toilet times, and other info.

The Pet Zone Smart Scoop Automatic Litter Box senses when your cat has used the litter box, then cleans it 30 minutes later. It operates using a rake, which scrapes across the box, then scoops whatever clumps it catches into a reservoir.

One tester summed it up, noting that the Pet Zone Smart Scoop Automatic Litter Box "doesn't dazzle with bells and whistles, but absolutely does the trick."

The Pet Zone is also surprisingly quiet, raking across the box in a slow cycle that does a good job of catching most waste. The machine comes with six plastic bags to get you started. It also includes a carbon zeolite filter, which fits into a bracket on the underside of the waste reservoir lid.

While our at-home tester wasn't impressed with the overall build quality, noting its mediocre plastic construction, she was impressed with its overall performance. "It doesn't have the fanciest design, but it's good for what it is and what you pay for."

She also lamented the lack of a place to store extra bags and the included scoop. But those features included with the Pet Zone Smart Scoop Automatic Litter Box worked well, right down to the odor filter. Our tester didn't notice any smells throughout weeks of use.

We reviewed an older version of the PetSafe ScoopFree Self-Cleaning Litter Box in 2020, and much of what we had to say then still holds true. The main determination you'll need to make is whether or not your cats are ready for crystal kitty litter, which uses non-clumping silica beads that absorb liquids, rather than hardening. Crystal litter has several advantages, including strong odor-absorbing capabilities and a lack of dust or grit. However, not every cat likes crystal litter, so there may be an adjustment period. Plus, crystal litter tends to be more expensive.

But if you know your cat is ready for crystal litter, then the PetSafe Scoop-Free Smart Covered Self-Cleaning Litter Box is one of the best ways to take full advantage. The automated box rakes through the litter 20 minutes after your cat is done using it, moving solid waste to a separate compartment. Meanwhile, the silica crystals absorbs urine and other smells. Once a month (for a single cat household), you simply slide out the entire tray, put a lid on it, and throw it away.

Of course, this means buying a whole new tray of crystal litter every month, or even more often. So while the PetSafe ScoopFree is much more affordable than our Best Overall automatic littler box, the cost of using the same expensive litter month after month will add up fast. While it's possible to dump out the waste reservoir without completely replacing the litter tray, our tester found this to be an unwieldy task, requiring lifting away the entire upper assembly of the device.

Our home tester found the PetSafe ScoopFree to be effective at both self-cleaning and odor control. It's also remarkably quiet. Plus, unlike the Litter-Robot 4, the PetSafe won't take up a ton of space in your home.

"I would recommend this product for people living in an apartment or smaller space," our tester said. "I think it’s a great value and also looks aesthetically pleasing. Despite coming in a huge box, it seemingly does not take up that much space."

The Smarty Pear Leo's Loo Too is the most affordable of the premium "cylinder" design automatic litter boxes we recommend, but we found it to be nearly as impressive as the Litter-Robot 4 and Pura X.

Since it doesn't have the wide open entryway of the Litter-Robot 4, the Leo's Loo Too is more comparable to the Pura X in its operation, and was comparable quiet when running a cleaning cycle. Otherwise, it's a familiar design, rotating a barrel so that litter passes through a grate, leaving behind solid clumps, which are dumped into a lower reservoir.

The app is less fun to use than the slick Whisker app, but what makes the Smarty Pear automatic litter box stand out is its wide smart home compatibility. Capable of syncing with both Amazon Alexa and Google Home, the Leo's Loo Too is the best option for anyone looking to activate their litter box using voice controls.

It's also an excellent pick for anyone concerned about microbes, since the Smarty Pear utilizes UV sterilization, blasting its waste drawer with light rays that kill most bacteria and viruses. Frankly this seems like overkill, since waste is contained in plastic bags anyway, but it's likely to be an appealing feature for some.

Odor control was also excellent with the Smarty Pear, even with the large waste drawer, which enables you to go a week or more without emptying. With a single cat, our at-home tester only had to change the Smarty Pear reservoir bag once a month, though they did note this made for a cumbersome load.

"I am very satisfied with this litter box," our tester said. "It is really thorough with its waste filtering, and it gives you the option to add an additional spin cycle to be sure to get all of the waste."

The Smarty Pair Leo's Loo Too is available in four fun colors. There's even a 90-day free trial.