As seen with the rise of automatic litter boxes, automatic feeders, and now the cat water fountain, technology has made it so that we can closely monitor our pets and ensure they’re being taken care of without having to do a lot of the manual labor. These techy fountains are often connected to an app, which sends reminders and tracks drinking habits. Plus, a cat water fountain encourages cats to drink more water, which helps with their overall health. I’ve noticed a definite increase in my cats’ water consumption since switching to a fountain.

After prolonged testing, I now look for these three things when shopping for an automatic cat water fountain: a wireless pump for easier cleaning, constructed from stainless steel so it's more hygienic, and a window to monitor water levels (especially if it's not connected to an app).

Best Cat Water Fountain for Most People

Petlibro Dockstream Fountain

We tested several automatic water fountains from the brand that makes our top Automatic Feeder, Petlibro. This fountain is fairly straightforward—it has a cordless, nearly silent pump, and the basin sits on a dock with a stainless steel bowl that snaps onto the basin, both of which help to make cleaning and refilling the water easier. The basin itself holds 130 milliliters in the bowl at all times in case of power outage, and the fountain has a low-water detection system, meaning that the fountain will automatically stop if water levels get too low. It's connected to an app that records when your cat drank from it, how much they drank, and for how long. It also sends alerts of low water levels, when to change the filter, and when to clean. I wish the fountain basin was made of stainless steel or glass to fight against bacteria, but it's still my top pick because the integrated app to monitor your pet's consumption.

★ Alternative: The Dockstream Cordless Fountain for $70 is essentially the exact same as above, except it isn’t connected to an app, and it’s cordless, so you can conveniently move it around in your house. The bottom of the dock lights up to indicate when charging, when the battery’s low, or when water levels are low. To conserve battery power, the fountain doesn’t run continuously and only begins to run when it senses a cat drinking and turns back off 40 seconds or so after it leaves.

Best Cordless Stainless Steel Cat Water Fountain

Oneisall Wireless Cat Water Fountain

This Oneisall fountain has everything I look for in a cat fountain: It’s stainless steel, has a wireless pump filter for safer and easier cleaning, and has a cordless, rechargeable battery pack so that the fountain can be placed anywhere around the house without having to be tethered to an outlet. The rechargeable attached battery lasts up to 60 days and has three water modes—sensor, intermittent, and constant (when plugged in). I love that it's all stainless steel and has a cordless pump for much easier cleaning. Plus, it has a convenient window to easily monitor water levels. The only problems are the poorly translated instructions and product information, which made the initial setup a little difficult and unclear. This stainless steel fountain with a cordless pump and the ability to be unplugged with the battery is a great, relatively inexpensive fountain.

Best Glass Cat Water Fountain

Best Budget Cat Water Fountain

Best Cat Water Fountain for Monitoring Pets’ Health

If Your Cat Likes Drinking From the Faucet

A Cat Water Fountain With Adjustable Spout

A Cat Water Fountain With a Large Reservoir

A Cat Water Fountain With UV Filtration

Others We Tested

Petkit Eversweet Max for $80: This tech-y automatic fountain can be either cordless or battery-powered (lasting up to 83 days), and the drinking bowl is made of stainless steel, but the reservoir is plastic. Because of the shape of the basin with the chunky battery and reservoir bowl, it’s a little awkward to clean. The app logs every time a pet drinks and compares it over time to determine whether your cat’s drinking habits have changed. The app also keeps track of when the filter needs replacing, and when you last added water. However, it doesn’t monitor or show you how much water is left in the basin; you have to manually check. The design also made it a bit difficult to clean and easily refill.

Rola Smart Pet Water Fountain for $40: This automatic fountain is cordless and runs on a rechargeable battery that lasts up to 60 days (although it can stay plugged in too). It has a wireless pump that uses magnetic induction—this pump was one of the easiest and most hassle-free to clean of all I tested. The fountain has a stainless steel top that holds a decent amount of water even when not running. Although the tank is plastic, and I’m wary of plastic now because of its propensity to harbor bacteria (plus it doesn't keep water as cold). The app gives reminders of when the water’s low, the fountain needs cleaning, or the filter needs replacing, plus it automatically stops dispensing water and sends you a reminder to refill via app. It also logs the number of times your pet drank and for how long, monitoring hydration patterns over time and comparing the stats to average time used. A complaint I had is that this fountain wouldn’t stay on Continuous stream mode, even when plugged in, instead automatically switching to the Sensing stream.

Homerunpet Wireless Pet Fountain for $60: This cordless fountain can be used as a traditional fountain plugged in on its base, or can be detached and moved around the house with 30 days of battery life. I don't love that this fountain is all plastic, but it's easy to see water levels from the outside, the top and filter layers are super easy to remove, clean, and replace, and the wireless (basically silent) pump makes it a whole lot easier to clean. Plastic doesn't keep the water as cold or clean as stainless steel, so you'll have to clean it a lot more often. The fountain only begins bubbling when a cat (or human) approaches to save battery power, and there's no option to control the flow (and no connected app). I like the wireless pump, but I'm really over plastic at this point.

Wonder Creature Cat Fountain for $21: My two cats have cycled through several water fountains over the past few years, but this no-nonsense version has been a stalwart. The inside is lit by a blue LED (bright enough to glow in the dark), and a clear viewing window on the side makes it easy to monitor the water level from afar. I also like the dishwasher-safe metal bowl and the fact you can remove parts of the yellow and white “flower” to create a fountain configuration your cat likes (waterfall, low bubble-up, tall bubble-up). The only major downsides are the fact it requires very frequent cleaning and filter changes due to the plastic body, and that there is no reservoir to hold water in case of power outage or pump malfunction. When I go on vacation I have to swap it out for an old-school gravity dispenser. —Kat Merck

Happy & Polly Gothic Cat Drinking Fountain for $55: If you prefer gothic decor to neutral blandness, this ghostly ceramic cat fountain from Happy & Polly may tempt you to bite. The water bubbles up out of the top of the ghost and pools on the ceramic top. It’s fairly quiet at around 35 decibels, but it gets loud when the water is running low, and I worry about the motor burning out, as the 1.5-liter capacity can run dry fast. While the ceramic finish is easy to clean, it is fiddly to take apart. You will want to clean it once a week to prevent it from becoming slimy, and you must change the filter once a month. —Simon Hill

Petkit Eversweet Solo 2 for $50: I love three key features of this fountain: The bowl sits on top of a wireless charging base, so you don’t have to fiddle with cables, it is super easy to clean, and it's very quiet at around 25 decibels. A flashing light warns you when the water is running low, and you can check when the filter needs to be changed in the app. There’s an optional smart mode that pumps intermittently and a night mode to turn the light off. Pleasingly, all three of our cats drink from this fountain, though that does mean I have to refill it often, as it only holds 2 liters. Sadly, the filters are very expensive at $20 for five. —Simon Hill

Not Recommended

Cat Mate 3-Level Pet Fountain for $28: This tall automatic Cat Mate fountain sets itself apart with three tiers for cats who like to drink at every level. Cleaning the motor requires disassembly using tools and extended soaking. Because of the long distance the water has to travel, evaporation caused the water to need to be refilled about every other day. Plastic also harbors bacteria, and previous plastic models I’ve owned have had mold issues. The basin is quite large and sits flat. Because of this, some debris would sit in the bottom and front of the large basin rather than moving back to the filter system behind. The plastic material and lack of ergonomic gravity design caused this fountain to be dirtier than others.

Whisker City Free Fall Cat Fountain for $40: This huge fountain is better suited for dogs—with a large 150-fluid-ounce bowl and a waterfall design. Although the basin has a small splash pad to help offset the waterfall noise, this was one of the loudest fountains I tested. The evaporation from the waterfall-like system also caused me to refill it every other day. Because of the structure of the fountain, my cats had to bend their head at an awkward angle. They tended to avoid drinking from the basin because of that, and their heads got slightly wet from the splatter of the waterfall. The basin is also not angled so crumbs and debris sit at the bottom of the bowl.

PetSnowy SNOW+ Automatic Pet Water Fountain for $55: The SNOW+ automatic fountain from PetSnowy is very simple—it’s a curved square design where water is pumped through a hole in the top and the residual water is cycled through a circular filter system. This fountain is connected to an app that doesn’t do much but act as a reminder to clean it, and it has a countdown to when the filter needs replacing. Unlike others on this list, this fountain doesn’t really have a top reservoir to store water in case of power failure—when turned off, very little water remains in the top area. Refilling it is a little tricky without taking off the top, and water often spilled.

Petkit EverSweet Solo SE for $27: This very simple, straightforward fountain has a square-shaped body, is translucent to easily see water levels from the outside, and has a nearly silent 25-decibel cordless pump to circulate water from the basin to the top level, where 60 milliliters of water is always available for drinking, even in case of power failure. The basin sits on a base and all parts easily detach, making it easier to clean. This fountain doesn’t have multiple modes or an associated app—you’ll have to manually check water levels. I noticed this fountain wasn’t as cold as some of the others, and because of the design of the top, debris often pooled in the dipped areas, which made me clean it often.