Most of us don’t like to think about emergency vet visits…until we’re sitting in one at 10 PM wondering how a routine day turned into a four-figure bill.
Statistically, about 1 in 3 pets will need emergency care at some point. Not exactly comforting, but it does explain why pet insurance has gone from “nice idea” to “probably should look into that.”
The tricky part? There are a lot of options, and they all sound pretty similar at first glance.
So instead of trying to decode marketing pages at midnight, I put together a straightforward comparison of three solid choices: MetLife, Lemonade, and Embrace . Different strengths, different styles, and depending on what you care about most, a different “best fit.”
Top Picks at a Glance
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#1 Pick
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#2 Pick
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#3 Pick
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Fast, app-based coverage with a budget-friendly entry point. |
Flexible, customizable coverage with strong overall value. |
Unexpected vet bills can be stressful, but with Embrace cat insurance and dog insurance you don’t have to choose between your pet and your savings. Over 90% of Embrace customers surveyed agreed that pet insurance extended their pet's life. |
Fast, app-based coverage with a budget-friendly entry point.
Unexpected vet bills can be stressful, but with Embrace cat insurance and dog insurance you don’t have to choose between your pet and your savings. Over 90% of Embrace customers surveyed agreed that pet insurance extended their pet's life.
What’s Covered: MetLife vs Lemonade vs Embrace
Let’s break down how these three stack up, starting with the one that landed in the top spot.
Lemonade Pet Insurance (Top Pick)
Lemonade is basically the “everything happens in an app” version of pet insurance. If you like fast, digital-first experiences, this one feels very modern.
It’s also one of the more affordable entry points, which makes it appealing if you’re just getting started with insurance.
What Lemonade covers:
- Dogs & cats
- Accidents and illnesses
- Hereditary and congenital conditions
- Diagnostics (labs, imaging, etc.)
- Surgeries and hospitalization
- Medications
- Optional wellness and preventative care
What’s not covered:
- Pre-existing conditions
- Breeding and pregnancy
Lemonade’s biggest strength is speed and simplicity. Claims can be processed very quickly (sometimes surprisingly fast), and the whole experience happens through their app.
The trade-off is customization. You don’t get quite as much control over plan details as you do with something like MetLife.
Pay for the health plan your pet really needs, and not what you don’t want. Plus, their hassle-free, digital claims resolution let you spend less time on paperwork and more time on belly scratches.
MetLife Pet Insurance
MetLife has been around forever in the insurance world, and their pet coverage feels like it benefits from that experience. It’s flexible in a way a lot of newer, app-first companies just aren’t.
You can use any licensed vet in the U.S., and the plans are highly customizable, which is a big deal if you don’t want to be boxed into a one-size-fits-all policy.
What MetLife covers:
- Dogs & cats
- Accidents and illnesses
- Chronic and hereditary conditions
- Diagnostic testing and imaging
- Surgeries and hospitalization
- Medications and treatments
- Emergency and specialty care
- Optional wellness coverage (routine care, vaccines, etc.)
What’s not covered:
- Pre-existing conditions (with some exceptions)
- Breeding and pregnancy-related costs
- (Like most plans) routine care unless added on
What stands out here is flexibility. You can tweak deductibles, reimbursement rates, and annual limits to match your budget instead of working around preset tiers.
MetLife Pet Insurance offers flexible, customizable coverage designed to fit your pet’s needs and your budget. Plans cover accidents, illnesses, chronic conditions, and more, with optional wellness add-ons for routine care. You can visit any licensed vet in the U.S., and reimbursement options are easy to tailor.
Embrace
Embrace has been in the pet insurance space for a while, and it shows. Their plans are detailed, flexible, and come with some extras you don’t always see elsewhere.
They’re especially known for their wellness rewards program, which covers a surprisingly wide range of routine care.
What Embrace covers:
- Dogs & cats
- Accident-only or accident + illness plans
- Chronic and breed-specific conditions
- Diagnostic tests and treatments
- Surgery and hospitalization
- Prescription medications
- Rehabilitation and follow-up care
- Behavioral therapy
- Dental issues
What’s not covered:
- Pre-existing conditions
- Routine care (unless you add Wellness Rewards)
- Breeding and pregnancy
Unexpected vet bills can be stressful, but with Embrace cat insurance and dog insurance you don’t have to choose between your pet and your savings. Over 90% of Embrace customers surveyed agreed that pet insurance extended their pet's life.
Plans & Pricing
Before comparing numbers, it helps to understand what you’re actually adjusting when you pick a plan:
- Wait period: How long before coverage starts
- Reimbursement rate: How much you get back (usually 70%–90%)
- Deductible: What you pay before coverage kicks in
- Annual limit: The max the policy pays each year
To give you a better idea of price comparisons, I ran a quote simulation on each site using a 3-year-old male Golden Retriever (since Goldens are the most popular dogs).
Keep in mind that pricing depends on location, too, though, so you may not get the exact same results even if you have the same exact dog. 🙂
MetLife
MetLife pet insurance pricing varies quite a bit depending on how you build your plan, but most policies start in a moderate range compared to competitors. You can pay monthly or annually, and there’s a lot of flexibility in how you structure your coverage.
- Free quotes: Yes
- Discounts offered: Multi-pet discounts and employer-based discounts (if available through your workplace)
- Wait period: Typically 0–14 days depending on coverage type
- Reimbursement rate: Up to 90%
- Process time: Usually within 5–10 days
- Claim limit: $2,000 up to unlimited annual coverage options
- Deductibles: $50 – 500 options
Out of the three, MetLife gives you the most control over how your plan is structured. If you like being able to tweak every detail (and not just pick from a couple preset tiers), this is where it stands out.
Lemonade
Lemonade pet insurance starts at around $10 per month for dogs, making it one of the more affordable entry points. Plans are available monthly or annually, though customization is a bit more limited.
- Free quotes: Yes
- Discounts offered: 5% for multiple pets or annual payments, 10% if you use another of their insurance services, e.g. home or car insurance.
- Wait period: 2 days for accidents, 14 days for illnesses
- Reimbursement rate: 80%
- Process time: Same day
- Claim limit: $5000 or $100,000 options
- Deductibles: $100, $250, $500, or $750 options
Lemonade’s signup process is fast and very app-driven, but it doesn’t offer as much flexibility. It’s great if you want something quick and simple, less so if you want to fine-tune every detail.
Embrace
Embrace pet insurance starts at $18 per month for dogs, with the usual variables and monthly or annual payment options.
- Free quotes: Yes
- Discounts offered: 10% multiple pet discount & healthy pet deductible program
- Wait period: 14 days for illnesses, same-day for accidents
- Reimbursement rate: 70-90%
- Process time: 10-15 days
- Claim limit: $5000 (accident-only) or $5000, $8000, $10,000, $15,000 or unlimited options for accident & illness
- Deductibles: $100 – $1,000 options
Out of the three, Embrace strikes a nice balance between flexibility and structure. You still get plenty of ways to customize your plan, but it feels a bit more guided than MetLife’s build-your-own approach.
Add-Ons & Other Features
Each of the policies also has supplemental add-ons & extras which may be beneficial to you.
MetLife
MetLife keeps things fairly flexible with optional wellness add-ons that help cover routine care, plus some nice built-in perks like multi-pet discounts and employer-sponsored plans (if you have access to them).
MetLife’s wellness add-on may cover:
- Routine wellness exams
- Vaccinations
- Flea, tick, & heartworm prevention
- Spay/neuter procedures
- Dental cleanings
- Blood tests & diagnostic screenings
- Microchipping
- Health certificates
Lemonade
Lemonade offers a handful of optional add-on packages that you can stack onto your base policy, all managed right through their app (which is kind of their whole thing).
Lemonade’s optional add-ons:
- Preventative care package (vaccines, parasite testing, etc.)
- Puppy/kitten package (spay/neuter, microchipping)
- Vet visit fees
- Dental illness coverage
- Behavioral treatments & training
- Physical therapy (acupuncture, hydrotherapy, etc.)
- End-of-life & remembrance (euthanasia, cremation, burial)
Embrace
Embrace has one of the most extensive wellness add-on programs out there, called Wellness Rewards, with tiered annual allowances of $250, $450, or $650. They also include a 24/7 pet health helpline, which is one of those features you don’t think about until you really need it.
Embrace’s wellness rewards:
- Wellness exam fees
- Vaccinations & titers
- Flea, tick, & heartworm preventatives
- Spay/neutering
- Fecal & routine blood tests
- Microchipping
- Nutritional supplements
- Grooming
- Medicated shampoos
- Toenail trimming
- Routine anal gland expression
- Wearable pet activity monitors
- Cremation or burial
- Gastropexy
- Preventative teeth cleaning
- Prescription diet food
- Training
- Routine chiropractic care
- Reiki, massage therapy, & acupuncture
Final Thoughts
If you want the short version:
- Lemonade is great if you want something fast, simple, modern, and budget-friendly
- MetLife is great it you want to customize your coverage down to almost the last dollar.
- Embrace shines if you like customizable plans with strong wellness perks
None of these are bad options, which is honestly the good news here. It really comes down to how much control you want over your plan and how you prefer to manage it.
That said, if you’re the kind of person who wants to fine-tune coverage (and not feel locked into whatever the app decides for you), Lemonade is the one that checks the most boxes without overcomplicating things.
Pay for the health plan your pet really needs, and not what you don’t want. Plus, their hassle-free, digital claims resolution let you spend less time on paperwork and more time on belly scratches.
Disclaimers:
Embrace: Pet Health Insurance is administered by Embrace Pet Insurance Agency, LLC (Lic. No 0G89328) and underwritten by one of the licensed insurers of American Modern Insurance Group, Inc., including American Modern Home Insurance Company d/b/a in CA as American Modern Insurance Company (Lic. No 2222-8) and American Southern Home Insurance Company. Coverage is subject to policy terms, conditions, limitations, exclusions, underwriting review, and approval, and may not be available for all risks or in all states. CareCredit is a credit product offered by Synchrony Bank. Embrace does not own, administer, or make decisions regarding CareCredit. An affiliate of Synchrony Bank holds a minority equity interest in an affiliate of Embrace. For full terms and conditions, visit www.embracepetinsurance.com/coverage/embraceterms Premiums are based on the current age of your pet. Premium may increase due to the age of your pet at renewal. Initial premiums may be impacted by the species or breed of your pet. Premium may change based on your home address. *Wellness Rewards is offered as an optional membership plan, non-insurance benefit administered by Embrace Pet Insurance Agency, LLC in the United States. Wellness Rewards not available in RI. (c) 2024 American Modern Insurance Group, Inc.
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