Healthy Paws vs. Pumpkin: Which Is the Best for Your Pet? (2025)

Pumpkin and Healthy Paws both offer pet insurance options for dedicated pet owners. While Pumpkin offers a range of policy options and wellness protection, Healthy Paws offers a single plan without any wellness coverage. But both insurers are good options to help you keep your pet healthy without the risk of a budget-shattering vet bill.

Before you decide on a pet insurance company, it’s important to compare rates, customer service ratings, coverage options, and more.

Here’s what you should know about pet insurance offerings from Healthy Paws and Pumpkin.

Healthy Paws vs. Pumpkin: The verdict

Pumpkin is better than Healthy Paws in a few key areas. Its strengths include higher customer ratings on Trustpilot and more expansive policy options. Pumpkin even has wellness add-ons, making it a good choice for pet owners looking to cover routine care in addition to unexpected illness or injury. Pumpkin also insures pets of any age, while Healthy Paws sets an age limit of 14.

That said, Healthy Paws offers more affordable premiums on average, making it a budget-friendly choice for many pet parents. Healthy Paws offers solid accident and illness coverage. It even includes protection for some alternative treatments and specialty care, like chemotherapy. But it doesn’t have wellness coverage.

Both Healthy Paws and Pumpkin offer relatively fast claim processing, with most claims completed in two days. Each also offers direct vet pay in certain situations. Learn more about each insurer below.

Healthy Paws vs. Pumpkin

Compare quotesCompare	Compare quotesCompare
Reimbursement % The percentage of costs your provider will pay for a covered event, after you’ve paid your deductible. 50%–90%	Reimbursement % The percentage of costs your provider will pay for a covered event, after you’ve paid your deductible. 80%–90%
Payout limits The maximum amount your provider will pay for covered events. Unlimited	Payout limits The maximum amount your provider will pay for covered events. $5,000–Unlimited
Deductibles The amount you must pay towards a covered event before your coverage kicks in. $250–$1,000	Deductibles The amount you must pay towards a covered event before your coverage kicks in. $100–$1,000
Curable pre-existing conditions Pre-existing conditions refer to conditions your pet has shown documented symptoms of before your policy’s waiting period is over. Some companies still cover these conditions if they’re deemed “curable” and haven’t shown symptoms for a specified period of time that varies by insurer. Not covered	Curable pre-existing conditions Pre-existing conditions refer to conditions your pet has shown documented symptoms of before your policy’s waiting period is over. Some companies still cover these conditions if they’re deemed “curable” and haven’t shown symptoms for a specified period of time that varies by insurer. Covered

Data in this table has been sourced from Insurify users who received a pet insurance quote from our partner Fletch.

Healthy Paws

Pumpkin

How Healthy Paws and Pumpkin compare

Healthy Paws and Pumpkin both offer worthwhile coverage options that can help you protect your finances from unexpected pet care expenses. Here’s how these insurance companies compare in terms of premium costs, coverages, exclusions, claims handling, and customer reviews.

Cost of pet insurance

The cost of pet insurance can vary widely based on a variety of factors, including your pet’s breed, age, location, and policy details. The best way to understand your costs across companies is to compare multiple quotes.^[1]

That said, Healthy Paws is generally more affordable than Pumpkin. On average, pet owners with coverage from Healthy Paws pay $44 per month for dog insurance and $21 for cat insurance. The national average cost of coverage from Pumpkin is higher, at $66 per month for dog insurance and $29 for cat insurance. Pumpkin offers multi-pet discounts, but Healthy Paws doesn’t.

It’s also worth noting that Pumpkin charges an enrollment fee for new customers. Healthy Paws doesn’t disclose any information about enrollment fees.

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Coverages and plan features

When building out a potential pet insurance plan through Healthy Paws or Pumpkin, you’ll find different coverage options.

Healthy Paws offers a single accident and illness plan that covers 90% of eligible veterinary care costs without annual claim payout limitations.^[2] In contrast, Pumpkin offers several types of policies, including accident-only coverage, accident and illness coverage, and preventive care add-ons.^[3] Both insurers cover things like prescription medications and emergency care.

The Healthy Paws plan includes unlimited payouts, deductible amounts between $100 and $1,000, and reimbursement rates between 50% and 90%. Although the insurer offers only a single plan with varying deductibles and reimbursement percentages, the simplicity could make buying coverage easier.

When building your Pumpkin plan, you can choose an annual payout limit from $5,000 to unlimited, a reimbursement percentage of 80% or 90%, and annual deductible between $100 and $1,000. The ability to change your coverage limits could make Pumpkin an attractive choice for pet owners seeking more control over their policy.

The table below highlights some key differences in coverage features between Healthy Paws and Pumpkin.

Feature	Healthy Paws	Pumpkin
Mobile app	Yes	No
Mobile claims-filing	Yes	No
Direct vet pay	Yes	Yes
24/7 pet helpline	No	Yes
Online policy management	Yes	Yes
Live customer support	Yes	Yes

Policy exclusions

Pet insurance doesn’t cover everything. For example, neither insurance company covers pre-existing conditions. Both companies have waiting periods, so if your pet develops a condition during the waiting periods, your policy won’t cover it. Your pet insurance policy also won’t cover any ongoing chronic conditions or cruciate ligament conditions.

Healthy Paws doesn’t cover veterinary exam fees, which means you’ll likely face some out-of-pocket costs every time you visit the vet. The insurer also doesn’t offer any wellness coverage add-ons, but its plan does include some alternative therapies and specialty treatments.

Pumpkin covers issues like hereditary conditions, chronic conditions, behavioral treatments, and alternative therapies. It even pays for microchipping, hip dysplasia coverage, and cancer coverage. But it doesn’t cover elective procedures or non-illness-related dental cleanings. Pumpkin will cover select preventive care only if you have a wellness add-on.

Healthy Paws sets a maximum age limit of 14 for dogs and cats. Pumpkin doesn’t have any age restrictions for enrolling your pet.

Claims process

With coverage from Healthy Paws, you can submit your claim online or use the mobile app to quickly file a claim from anywhere. Pumpkin doesn’t have a mobile app, so you’ll need to submit your claim online. For both insurers, you’ll need to upload your vet bill when you file your claim.

Once you file a claim, both companies advertise that you’ll receive any eligible reimbursement within a few days. Both insurers also offer direct vet payments, which means the insurer may pay your vet’s office directly under the right circumstances. If you want to avoid paying the bill up front, consider setting up direct pay before heading to the vet for efficient claim processing.

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Customer reviews

Both insurers have relatively high customer ratings on Trustpilot, but Pumpkin has an excellent rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. Pumpkin pet parents reported positive customer service experiences, fast claims handling, and money saved.

Here are a couple of recent reviews that reflect common sentiments shared by Pumpkin customers:

Healthy Paws has more mixed reviews, with a lower rating of 3.7 out of 5. Dissatisfied customers complain about high price increases for aging pets and decreased customer service quality, while happy customers cite easy claims handling and reimbursement.

Read a couple of recent reviews to get a better idea of what customers are saying:

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