As leading retailers in the pet supply industry, Petco and Chewy get compared very often due to their similarities.
They also have several differences that could be what determines your pick, which is why we compared them for this article, so keep reading!
Petco Vs Chewy In 2024
Petco and Chewy are two of the biggest players in the country’s retail pet segment in 2024. They have several similarities, including their focus on pet supplies like food and toys, but they also have several differences such as how Petco has stores and a website, while Chewy is wholly online. Petco also sells live pets while Chewy does not.
Learn everything you need to know about Petco vs Chewy, including return policies, products, and more!
How Are Petco and Chewy Similar?
Petco and Chewy are similar in that they both focus on products for pets, including pet food, accessories, and supplies such as leashes, toys, and more.
Both Petco and Chewy sell medical supplies for pets, and they fill prescriptions.
Both also let you get automatic deliveries on items that you buy frequently, so you don’t have to worry about it.
With Petco, it’s called Repeat Delivery, while at Chewy it’s called Autoship.
These services offer similar specifics, such as roughly the same intervals between shipments, discounts on your first and future orders, and the ability to set up different deliveries for different items.
Petco and Chewy also offer many of the same employee benefits, including a 401(k), medical, vision, and dental, and an employee discount.
Moreover, neither Chewy nor Petco offer a tuition reimbursement program.
How Are Petco and Chewy Different?
Probably the biggest difference between Petco and Chewy is in how Petco has both physical stores and an online store, while Chewy only has the latter.
Petco and Chewy are also completely separate companies; neither owns the other, and they are not owned by the same parent company.
Petco was formed in 1965, and Chewy did not show up on the scene until much later in 2011.
They both have return policies, but Petco’s is more limiting than Chewy’s. Petco lets you return an item within 30 days of buying it, while Chewy lets you take it back within 365 days.
Petco has a price matching policy, and will also match Chewy’s prices. Chewy, on the other hand, does not have any price matching policy in place.
Chewy’s customer support is also very different. Petco’s customer service team is only available between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. PST, whereas Chewy’s support team is available 24/7.
Both Petco and Chewy sell pet supplies and accessories, but Petco is the only one that sells live pets.
Chewy does sell some live animals, such as crickets and mealworms, but they’re only intended as food for actual pets.
As for variety, both carry supplies and accessories for common pets of all sizes, but Chewy adds on to its offerings by also having products for farm animals, such as cows and horses.
Petco has pet related services, such as training and vet care, but Chewy does not because it’s limited to the internet.
What the company does have is training supplies and other resources such as online guides, all of which Petco also offers.
Is Petco or Chewy Cheaper?
We went through both Petco’s and Chewy’s websites, comparing the prices on similar products, and we found that neither was cheaper than the other for the most part.
In the instances where there was a price difference, Chewy almost always had the lower price compared to Petco.
That said, you can take advantage of Petco’s price matching policy to get lower prices on identical items that are marked lower at Chewy.
Which Is Better- Quality Petco or Chewy?
As stated above, Petco and Chewy carry many of the same items, so the quality is more or less the same in most cases.
However, Petco is the first and currently only national chain that has refused to carry pet food and treats that use artificial ingredients, including color, preservatives, and flavors.
Petco Vs Chewy Shipping
Both Petco and Chewy offer shipping when you buy from their websites, but the particulars of the process are very different.
For starters, while both of them offer free shipping when your order passes a certain dollar amount, Petco’s threshold is lower than Chewy’s.
With Chewy, you get free shipping on orders totaling more than $49, while it’s $35 for Petco.
However, the standard shipping fee before you meet this threshold is $4.99 for Chewy, and $5.99 at Petco.
Petco’s free shipping is also limited in that it doesn’t allow for products like cat litter, live fish, and other live feeds. In contrast, Chewy’s free shipping is unlimited.
Petco and Chewy also differ on how long they take to deliver products.
Since Chewy primarily operates online and has to send items from its warehouses, it doesn’t offer same-day delivery or curbside pickup.
Petco, on the other hand, can ship to you on the same day if there’s a store in your area, and you can also opt to pick your order up from the store.
When you take same-day shipping out of the equation like you would when there isn’t a Petco in your area, Chewy ships faster.
The company’s website says that you can get your orders in 1 to 3 days, but many customers say they’ve always gotten theirs in 1 to 2 days.
Petco says its shipping takes between 2 and 5 business days.
Chewy does not ship outside the contiguous United States, meaning it doesn’t deliver to places like Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Petco delivers to these places, but for a higher fee.
To learn more, you can also read our posts on whether or not Petco owns Chewy, when does Petco restock, and Petco vs PetSmart.
Conclusion
Petco and Chewy are separate companies with no affiliations aside from operating in the same segment. Both focus on supplies for pets, including feed, toys, and accessories, but Petco is the only one that sells live pets.
Chewy sells products for farm animals, including horses, while Petco does not. Neither Petco nor Chewy is far cheaper than the other, but Chewy has a lot of items with lower prices. However, Petco has a price matching policy, while Chewy does not.
