Desktop Pets for Mac: A 2026 Comparison
A desktop pet for Mac is a small animated creature that hangs out on your screen while you get on with things. This page puts six side by side: Desktop Goose, Dockling, Mac Pet, Nibbii, OpenPets and Pets Therapy, with every outside fact taken from that app's own page. Nibbii is a pixel pet that lives in your MacBook notch. On a Mac with no notch, it draws its own perch at the top of the screen. It reacts to music playing on your Mac. Nibbii is a Mac app and requires macOS 15+.
1. What this page compares
The table in the next section lists Desktop Goose, Dockling, Mac Pet, Nibbii, OpenPets and Pets Therapy in alphabetical order. Each row shows what the app is, where it lives on screen, which platform it lists, what it costs and what else its page lists. Every fact about an app other than Nibbii comes from that app's own page, linked in the next section.
Where this page has no recorded fact for an app, the cell says "See its page." Pages change. Before you download, check an app's page for your Mac's macOS version and its current price.
Pixel Pals has its own page, Pixel Pals vs. Nibbii. Pixel Pals' App Store page lists iPhone (iOS 18.3 or later) and iPad (iPadOS 18.3 or later) and mentions no Mac version.
Desktop Goose has one too: Desktop Goose on Mac, with what it does and how to quit it.
Looking for shimeji? Shimeji on Mac covers the Mac ports and how to open them.
2. Desktop pets for Mac, side by side
- Facts about Nibbii come from this site.
- Facts about Desktop Goose come from the itch.io page, as of October 2026.
- Facts about Dockling come from dockling.space, as of October 2026.
- Facts about Mac Pet come from mac-pet.com, as of October 2026.
- Facts about OpenPets come from openpets.dev, as of October 2026.
- Facts about Pets Therapy come from its website, as of October 2026.
- Facts about Pixel Pals come from the App Store page, as of October 2026.
| App | Described as | Placement | Platform | Price | Other features listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop Goose | A goose that steals the mouse cursor, tracks mud across the screen and opens notepad windows. | A goose that lives on your desktop. | Windows (v0.31) and macOS (v0.22, macOS 10.10 or later). | Name your own price. | See its page. |
| Dockling | Turns a photo into an animated pixel pet. | Dock, menu bar, beside the notch (14 or 16 inch MacBook Pro), or the desktop. | macOS 13 (Ventura) and newer, tuned for Apple silicon. | A one-time purchase, with a free preview from a photo. The amount is on its page. | A Pomodoro timer and quick notes. |
| Mac Pet | A pixel pet app. | Menu bar or notch, with a MacBook notch mode. | macOS 10.15 (Catalina) and newer. | $9.99 (Buy Now on its page). | Several pets to choose from, cats to dogs, each with its own animations. Its page gives no count. A built-in Pomodoro timer with custom durations. |
| Nibbii | A pixel pet. | Lives in your MacBook notch, or draws its own perch at the top of the screen on a Mac with no notch. Roaming around the desktop is a Pro feature. | A Mac app. Requires macOS 15+. | The base app is free to keep. Lifetime Pro is $9.99 once (Details) | 11 pets. Doggo is the free starter; Pro lets you collect the rest as you play. Reacts to music playing on your Mac. Focus Buddy and focus sprints (Pro). Optional AI chat (Pro). |
| OpenPets | Customisable animated desktop pets. | On your computer screen; the page says the pets roam your dock. | Downloads for macOS, Windows and Linux. | Free, open source and MIT licensed. | A gallery of more than 1,300 pets. The page says your pet can talk back, by chat or voice. A plugin SDK for features such as reminders and focus timers. |
| Pets Therapy | Pixel-art pets that roam your screen. You feed them, hand them toys and watch them chat with each other. | Roam freely on your screen, perching on window title bars and screen edges. | The Mac App Store, the Microsoft Store and Steam for Windows. | Free to download. A supporters tier is mentioned; amounts are not stated on the page. | 100+ pets on macOS. Pets chat with each other in speech bubbles (67 topics). Ambient chatting is in its supporters tier. |
Want a closer look at one app? Read Nibbii vs. Dockling, Nibbii vs. Mac Pet, Nibbii vs Pets Therapy or Pixel Pals vs. Nibbii.
3. Nibbii and the MacBook notch
Nibbii lives in your MacBook notch. On a Mac with no notch, it draws its own perch at the top of the screen. The MacBook notch pet guide has the setup steps.
- Pets and worlds: There are 11 pets (Doggo, Foxxy, Mochi, Clover, Lottie, Maple, Pebble, Yuzu, Sunny, Nova and Pearl) and 22 worlds. The base app includes Doggo as the free starter and two worlds. Pro lets you collect all 11 pets and 22 worlds as you play.
- Music: Nibbii reacts to music playing on your Mac.
- Chat: With optional AI chat, it remembers what you tell it. AI chat is an optional Pro feature. The AI desktop companions for Mac guide compares what the chatty ones can see.
4. Before you download one
Whichever one you pick, four quick checks are worth a minute first:
- Platform: Find the platform or macOS version on the app's own page. Compare it with your Mac.
- Source: Download from the developer's own page or from a store listing, and check that the page you're on is that one.
- Price: Check what's free and what's paid, and whether a paid option is a one-time payment or a subscription.
- Data: Read what the app's page and its privacy notice say about the data it uses and the permissions it asks for.
For Nibbii: Download from nibbii.pet. Signed with a Developer ID and notarised by Apple. Nibbii is a Mac app and requires macOS 15+.
5. Privacy and permissions
Here's what Nibbii says about privacy:
- App-aware: When App-aware is enabled, Nibbii uses frontmost app metadata. It does not use screen recording, screenshots, or accessibility content. Turning App-aware off stops collection and clears App-aware data. App-aware comments are Pro.
- Stored on your Mac: Pet state and memories are stored locally by default.
- High-privacy defaults: Nibbii uses high-privacy defaults. Read the Privacy Notice for the data the app can handle and your choices.
6. How to set up your first pet
Getting Nibbii going takes three steps:
- Visit the Nibbii download page to grab the DMG installer.
- Move Nibbii into your Applications folder.
- Launch Nibbii. There's no Dock icon, so look to the top of your screen. Then feed it, play with it, or put some music on and watch it react.
There's also a separate guide on Tamagotchis for MacBook.
7. Questions people ask
Can I use a desktop pet if I don't have a notch?
Yes. On a Mac with no notch, Nibbii draws its own perch at the top of the screen.
Is Nibbii free to download?
The base app is free to keep: one starter pet, two worlds, core care and play, simple essentials, and growth through Level 10. Doggo is the free starter. Full details are on the pricing page and the FAQ page.
What does each of these desktop pets cost?
Each price below is what that app's own page said, as of October 2026. Desktop Goose's page offers a name-your-own-price download. Dockling is a one-time purchase, with a free preview available from a photo. The amount is on its page. Mac Pet's page shows a Buy Now price of $9.99. For Nibbii, the base app is free to keep and Lifetime Pro is $9.99 once, with details on the pricing page. OpenPets is free, open source and MIT licensed. Pets Therapy is free to download, and its page mentions a supporters tier without stating amounts. The Platform column shows what each page lists. Check it against your Mac's macOS version before you download.
Get Nibbii for Your MacBook Notch
The base app is free to keep. Nibbii is a Mac app and requires macOS 15+.