Poki and Belly use the same core mechanic: walk, sync with Apple Health, earn hearts, care for your pet. Both are free downloads. The main differences are scope and depth. Poki ships across iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and Vision Pro, with one $4.99 Pro IAP. Belly is watch-only by design, with deeper hand-drawn customization, social features, and active development.
Disclosure: this comparison draws on each app's App Store listing and our own product knowledge of Belly. We have not done extensive hands-on testing of Poki.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Belly | Poki |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no paywalls | Free, $4.99 Pro IAP |
| Designed for | Apple Watch only | iPhone, iPad, Watch, Mac, Vision Pro |
| Core mechanic | Steps earn hearts and unlock cosmetics | Walk to earn hearts via Health |
| Customization depth | Hand-drawn cosmetics, scenes, auras, toys, food items | Care actions, idle game elements |
| Social features | Friends, leaderboard, visit | Not specified on listing |
| Languages | 40 supported | English only |
| Last App Store update | April 2026 | April 2025 |
| App Store rating | 5.0 (small sample) | 4.1 (34 ratings) |
Belly: Watch-First, Deep Customization
Belly does one thing well: a pet that lives on your wrist. The Apple Watch is a small surface, and Belly is built to fit that surface rather than being a phone app with a Watch tag-along. There is no iPhone companion app on purpose. The argument is straightforward: a phone is the wrong interface for a pet sized for the wrist.
The customization is where Belly puts most of its content. Hand-drawn cosmetics (not procedural), scenes and backgrounds for your pet to live in, auras and effects, plus toys and food items that change happiness and health in different ways. The Belly content library is wider than what a typical free pet app offers.
Belly Strengths
- Free with no paywalls. Cosmetic IAPs are skippable.
- Deeper customization library with hand-drawn art.
- Social features: friends, leaderboard, and visit other pets.
- 40 languages.
- Built for Apple Watch. The form factor argument: a wrist pet belongs on the wrist.
- More recent App Store activity with regular updates.
Belly Limitations
- No iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Vision Pro app. Real consideration if you wanted to play across devices.
- Currently cats only.
Poki: Pet on All Your Apple Devices
Poki's value proposition is breadth. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac with Apple Silicon, and Apple Vision Pro. The 8-bit graphics are explicitly described in its listing as "like your favorite tamagotchi toys." The mechanic is steps-from-Health for hearts, then idle-game-style care.
Poki is free to download with one $4.99 Pro IAP for additional features. The app last updated in April 2025. It has 34 ratings averaging 4.1.
Poki Strengths
- Cross-platform: same pet across iPhone, iPad, Watch, Mac, Vision Pro.
- Single Pro IAP model at $4.99, simpler than freemium catalogs.
- 8-bit visual style close to classic Tamagotchi aesthetic.
- Apple Health integration for steps as hearts.
- Lightweight at 17 MB.
Poki Limitations
- No major update since April 2025. Still maintained but slower release cadence than Belly.
- Less customization depth. The listing emphasizes idle care over wide content libraries.
- Social features not advertised on the App Store listing.
- English only.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Belly if you want:
- A pet built for the wrist, not a phone app with a Watch port
- Deeper customization (hand-drawn cosmetics, scenes, auras, toys, food)
- Social features: friends, leaderboard, and visiting other pets
- Updates in the past month, not the past year
- Your pet game in a non-English language
- No required spending at all
Choose Poki if you want:
- One pet that lives across iPhone, iPad, Watch, Mac, and Vision Pro
- An 8-bit Tamagotchi-style visual feel
- An idle-game pace rather than a customization-driven loop
- A simple one-tier Pro IAP model over a wider cosmetic catalog