--- title: "The best desktop pets for Windows in 2026 · Desktamer" description: "Twelve desktop pets for Windows 10 and 11, from VPet and Pets Therapy to Desktop Goose, Shimeji and Bongo Cat: what each costs, where it lives, who it's for." image: "https://desktamer.com/blog/best-desktop-pets-windows/card-7d662a7a.jpg" url: "https://desktamer.com/blog/best-desktop-pets-windows/" --- # The best desktop pets for Windows in 2026 30 September 2026, updated 9 October 2026, by Taha Bozdemir, 10 min read In short - Free, with the most to look after: VPet, on Steam. - Lots of calm pets walking your taskbar: Pets Therapy, free on the Microsoft Store. - A pet you look after, with quests and your day in the tray, on Windows and your Mac or Linux PC: Desktamer, free for a week, then $9.99. - A cat that drums as you type: Bongo Cat. Classic Shimeji: Shimeji-ee. Chaos: Desktop Goose. We make Desktamer, so we’ve put it first. The others are here because each is good at something, and we’ve tried to say what, fairly. Every price and version below is from the app’s own site, Microsoft Store, Steam, itch.io or GitHub page, as of 30 September 2026. Windows has more desktop pets than any other system, so we’ve left out the ones that haven’t come out yet and the ones with only a handful of reviews. ![Pixel art: Pati the golden retriever and Luck the tuxedo cat walk along the taskbar of a desktop PC's screen, beside a paw icon in the corner.](https://desktamer.com/blog/best-desktop-pets-windows/cover-7d662a7a.webp) ## At a glance | App | Price | Where it lives | Your own pets | Care, focus and reminders | Also on | | ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | | Desktamer | $9.99 once, after a free week (no card) | Along the taskbar, and the tray | Codex pets, GIFs | Care, focus, timers, water, reminders | Mac, Linux | | Pets Therapy | Free with paid pets on the Microsoft Store, $9.99 on Steam | Walks the taskbar, perches on windows | Yes | Food and toys | Mac, iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro | | VPet | Free | Your desktop | Steam Workshop mods | Food, drink, work and study | Linux, in beta | | Desktop Goose | Pay what you like | Everywhere | Your own memes | No | Mac | | Shimeji-ee | Free, needs Java | Climbs and plays on your windows | Shimeji image sets | No | No | | Bongo Cat | Free, paid extras | On the taskbar | Cosmetics | No | Mac | | eSheep | Free | Walks the taskbar and your windows | With its pet editor | No | Android, the browser | | RunCat 365 | Free | The tray | Your own runners | No | No | | OpenPets | Free, open source | Roams your screens | Codex pets | Focus, reminder and water plugins | Mac, Linux | | Desktop Mate | Free, characters $14.99 each | Sits on your windows | No | An alarm | Mac | | MateEngine | $5.49 on Steam, free on GitHub | Sits on your windows and the taskbar | Any VRM model | An alarm and timer | No | | Rusty’s Retirement | $6.99 | A strip at the bottom or side | No | A focus mode | Mac | ## 1. Desktamer Pixel pets that walk along the bottom of your screen, on top of the taskbar, and nap, wave and keep you company while you work. Each has food, energy and fun to look after, and joins your party in Quest, a small idle RPG where your pets are the heroes. No other pet here has one. Click the paw in the tray for your day at a glance: your focus round, water, timers, next reminder and tasks. The pets step aside for full-screen games and videos. Bring any [Codex pet](https://desktamer.com/blog/codex-pets/) or animated GIF, or [draw your own](https://desktamer.com/blog/make-your-own-desktop-pet/). $9.99 once, for up to three computers in any mix of Windows, Mac and Linux. Try it free for a week first, with no card, and you get your money back within 14 days of buying if it isn’t for you. Get it from the [Microsoft Store](https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9NFKSRXK5QM9), or as an installer [from this site](https://desktamer.com/#download). Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. ![Desktamer on Windows 11: Noodle, Bean, Ember, Pati, Pebble and the Fox walk along the top of the taskbar, a reminder bubble above Bean says Stretch your legs!, and the Pets window is open on Luck's care: food, energy and fun bars with Snack, Meal, Treat, Play and Nap.](https://desktamer.com/blog/best-desktop-pets-windows/desktamer-on-windows.webp) Pets on the taskbar, a reminder to stretch, and the Pets window open on Luck, on Windows 11. Good for A pet you look after, with quests and your day in the tray, on Windows and your other computers. Windows installs it without a warning Desktamer comes from the Microsoft Store, whether you get it on its Store page or with the download button on our site, which gives you the Store’s own installer. Either way Windows installs it without a warning, and the Store keeps it up to date. ## 2. Pets Therapy [Pets Therapy](https://pets-therapy.com/) came to Windows from the Mac, where it has the biggest collection of pets. On Windows they walk along your taskbar, perch on title bars and the edges of the screen, and cross from one monitor to the next. There’s food, toys, and visits from UFOs, planes and portals, but no hunger to worry about: nothing ever dies. 37 pets are free for good, and a subscription or a one-time purchase adds 66 more. Neither its site nor its store page says what that costs on Windows. You can import your own pets. It’s free on the [Microsoft Store](https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9p5n0cbksxmw), and $9.99 on [Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4769020/), where it came out in August 2026 with a free demo. Windows 10, 64-bit. Good for Lots of calm pets on your taskbar, free to start. ## 3. VPet [VPet](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1920960/) (VPet-Simulator) is a free, open-source desktop pet with more than 200 animations. You pat its head, pick it up, feed it, and send it off to work or to study. The Steam Workshop adds new pets, food, jobs, dialogue and themes, and it comes with a tool for making your own. It’s Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam from more than 51,000 reviews, and updated often. Windows 7 or later, through Steam. Good for The most to look after, for free, with a huge mod library. ## 4. Desktop Goose [Desktop Goose](https://samperson.itch.io/desktop-goose) wanders your desktop, tracks mud across it, steals your pointer, and drags memes and notes onto your screen. Pay what you like. Windows has the newer version (0.31, from 2022, and nothing since) and the only mods: drop in your own memes and GIFs, or use its modding API. 4.8 stars from nearly 2,000 ratings on itch.io. Here’s [how to close him, change his settings and add mods](https://desktamer.com/blog/desktop-goose/). Good for Chaos. ## 5. Shimeji-ee [Shimeji-ee](https://kilkakon.com/shimeji/) runs Shimeji: little characters that wander your screen and climb and play on your windows. To add a character, drop its image set in the `img` folder. It’s free, runs only on Windows, and needs Java 8, which you install yourself. Its own readme warns that it can use up to 60% of your free memory. [Shimeji-Desktop](https://github.com/DalekCraft2/Shimeji-Desktop) is a fork that’s still updated, with fixes and proper scaling on high-resolution screens. It needs Java 25, and also runs on Mac and Linux. New to Shimeji? Here’s [how to download Shimeji-ee and get it running](https://desktamer.com/blog/shimeji/#where-to-download-shimeji-ee-and-how-to-get-it-running), and how to add characters safely. Want your own character? Here’s [how to make a Shimeji](https://desktamer.com/blog/how-to-make-a-shimeji/), with a free template. Good for Classic Shimeji, if you don’t mind installing Java. ## 6. Bongo Cat [Bongo Cat](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3419430/) sits on your taskbar and slaps it every time you press a key. Your keystrokes earn points, which drop hats and skins, and friends can play along. It’s free, with paid packs from about $5 and, since September 2026, a monthly pass with a paid track. Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam from more than 111,000 reviews. Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. Here’s [how Bongo Cat and its Paw Pass work](https://desktamer.com/blog/bongo-cat/#what-is-the-paw-pass), and what runs on a Mac or Linux. Good for A cat that types along with you. ## 7. eSheep [eSheep](https://github.com/Adrianotiger/desktopPet) is an open-source remake of the classic desktop sheep. It drops onto your taskbar, walks along the tops of your windows and wanders from one monitor to the next. It’s free, and very light. Its editor lets you make your own pet, and others have shared theirs. The GitHub version (1.4.0, from September 2026) is newer than the [Microsoft Store](https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9MX2V0TQT6RM) one. Also on Android and in the browser. Good for Nostalgia, and something very small. ## 8. RunCat 365 [RunCat 365](https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nw5lpnvwfwj) is a cat running in your tray, faster as your processor gets busier, with CPU, GPU, memory, storage and network readings a click away. It’s free and open source, and you can make your own runner. It runs on Arm PCs too. Windows 10 or later. Good for A tiny system monitor with a cat. ## 9. OpenPets [OpenPets](https://openpets.dev/) is free and open source, and like Desktamer it plays Codex pets. Pets roam across your screens, and plugins add a focus timer, reminders, a water reminder and a pet that gets hungry. Claude Code, Cursor and other coding tools can talk to it. Its Windows installer is signed. Also on Mac and Linux. Good for A free Codex pet player, and developers who want their coding tools to move it. ## 10. Desktop Mate and MateEngine Two ways to have a 3D character on your desktop instead of a pixel one. [Desktop Mate](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3301060/) is free, and its characters, from Hatsune Miku to Sanrio, cost $14.99 each. They sit on your windows, play with your pointer, and tuck into the edge of the screen when you don’t need them. It’s Mixed on Steam, and asks for 8 GB of memory. [MateEngine](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3625270/) loads any VRM model: it dances to your music, follows your pointer and relaxes on your taskbar. $5.49 on Steam, or free [on GitHub](https://github.com/shinyflvre/Mate-Engine), where it isn’t signed and Windows Defender may flag it. Good for A 3D companion. MateEngine if you already have a VRM model. ## 11. Rusty’s Retirement Not a pet, but close: [an idle farming game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2666510/) in a strip at the bottom or side of your screen, where robots tend the crops while you work. $6.99 on Steam, and Overwhelmingly Positive. There are more games like it in [idle games that play at the bottom of your screen](https://desktamer.com/blog/desktop-idle-games/). Good for Something growing while you work. ## Windows 11 and desktop pets A few things about Windows 11 decide how well a pet fits in: - **The taskbar can move again.** An update in August 2026 ([KB5120998](https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/servicing/os/windows-11/2026/08/kb5120998-windows-11-24h2-25h2-update)) is slowly reaching PCs, and lets you put the taskbar at the top or side of the screen. A pet that expects the taskbar at the bottom may end up walking behind it. Desktamer’s pets walk on the bottom of the space the taskbar leaves free, wherever it is. - **New tray icons hide under the ^.** To keep one on the taskbar, go to Settings, then Personalization, then Taskbar, and turn it on under Other system tray icons. Desktamer shows you how when you open its paw from there. - **Unsigned apps get a warning.** SmartScreen warns about apps it doesn’t know yet. Apps from the Microsoft Store and Steam don’t get the warning. Desktamer comes from the Microsoft Store, from its own site too, so it doesn’t either. eSheep’s and MateEngine’s GitHub downloads aren’t signed. OpenPets’ installer is. ## How to choose - **Free, with the most to look after:** VPet. - **Lots of calm pets on your taskbar:** Pets Therapy. - **A pet you look after, with quests and your day in the tray, on Windows and your other computers:** Desktamer. - **Classic Shimeji:** Shimeji-ee. - **Something small in the tray:** RunCat 365. - **A cat that types with you:** Bongo Cat. - **Chaos:** Desktop Goose. On a Mac too? Here are [the best desktop pets for Mac](https://desktamer.com/blog/best-desktop-pets-mac/). On Linux, see [what runs, and why Wayland makes it hard](https://desktamer.com/blog/linux-desktop-pets/). Worried about speed or battery? Here’s [what a desktop pet costs your computer](https://desktamer.com/blog/do-desktop-pets-slow-down-your-computer/). **Desktamer** puts pixel pets on your Mac, Windows or Linux desktop. [Meet them](https://desktamer.com/) Desktamer is made by [Taha Bozdemir](https://tahabozdemir.com/) at [Bold Biscuit](https://boldbiscuit.com/). 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