Chewy Review: Is the Pet Megastore Still Worth It in 2026?
Chewy still has the most forgiving return policy in pet retail and round-the-clock phone support, but its Chewy+ membership just got less generous and its pharmacy draws the sharpest complaints.
Sixty-second verdict
- Returns are free for 365 days from purchase, which is still the most generous policy we know of in pet supplies.
- Phone and chat support run 24 hours a day, a rarity among online retailers of any kind.
- Chewy+ costs $59 a year after a 30-day trial, and new terms dated October 2026 cut rewards to 2% on everything except food and pharmacy.
- Pharmacy orders depend on vet approval, and recent one-star reviews describe week-long waits and mislabeled prescriptions.
- Refunds land fastest as Chewy gift card balance; card refunds can take up to five business days and PayPal far longer.
Beacon Score
Excellent returns and support carry a huge catalog, though pharmacy hiccups, quiet membership changes and unanswered negative reviews keep it out of the top tier.
- Product20/25
- Value19/25
- Service20/25
- Trust17/25
Worth your money
Autoship Price varies by item
The simplest way to stop running out of food and litter, with a discount on eligible items.
Pick a schedule, and Chewy creates the order automatically and charges you only when it ships. Items marked Autoship & Save get a discount. The terms promise you pay the price in the pre-shipment email or lower if the site price drops, and a reminder arrives up to 72 hours before shipping. The fine print also lets Chewy change Autoship benefits and discount amounts whenever it likes, so check the reminder email rather than assuming last month’s price holds. You can skip, reschedule or cancel online or by phone.
- Best for
- Food, litter and monthly preventives
- Weak spot
- Discounts can change without much warning
Chewy+ $59 per year
Free shipping with no minimum and rewards back, if you order often.
After a 30-day trial, Chewy+ costs $59 a year. Members get free shipping on eligible items with no minimum, one free virtual vet visit a year, 10% off later visits, and rewards: 5% back on dog and cat food and health and pharmacy items, 2% on veterinary diets and everything else. That 2% tier is new. Terms dated October 2026 replaced the earlier flat 5%. The fee is refundable only if you cancel within three business days of the trial converting, so set a reminder.
- Best for
- Households ordering small top-ups several times a month
- Weak spot
- Rewards just got smaller; refund window is tiny
Chewy Pharmacy Price varies by prescription
Prescription meds and vet diets delivered, often cheaper and easier than the clinic.
Chewy contacts your vet to approve prescriptions, then ships them like any other order, and prescription items can sit on Autoship. Praise on Trustpilot often comes from owners whose vet diet arrived in two days once approval came through. The complaints cluster here too: waits of a week or more for vet sign-off, a claim that Chewy said it had contacted a vet when it had not, and pills filed under the wrong pet. Prescription returns go through a separate pharmacy line, not the usual return flow.
- Best for
- Long-term medications and prescription diets
- Weak spot
- Vet approval delays and occasional labeling errors
Connect with a Vet $49.99 per call
Free vet-tech chat for quick questions, and paid video visits with vets who can prescribe.
There are two tiers. Free chat, open 6am to midnight Eastern in every state, puts you through to a licensed vet tech who cannot diagnose or prescribe. Video calls with a licensed vet cost $49.99, run 8am to 3am Eastern, and can end in a diagnosis, a prescription or a vet-diet authorization, but only in the nine states listed on the page. Chewy+ includes one free video visit a year. Vaccines, tests and emergencies still need a clinic.
- Best for
- Late-evening triage and simple prescription questions
- Weak spot
- Video visits only cover nine states
What we'd pass on
Get Real
Chewy’s own fresh dog food launched in September 2025 in three recipes, sold frozen and only in select markets. The recipes may be fine, but the launch release gave no pricing, availability is patchy, and it has a short track record next to established fresh-food brands. Wait until it has a longer run of owner reviews and clear per-meal pricing before switching a dog’s diet.
How Chewy stacks up
Two brands a shopper is likely to be weighing at the same time. Words only; the numbers change too often to print.
| Row | Chewy | Petco | Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Range | Food, supplies, pharmacy, vet diets and telehealth for nearly every pet | Supplies and food online and in stores, with grooming and vet services | Enormous, but pet care is one aisle among thousands |
| Price position | Competitive, with Autoship discounts and a paid membership for free shipping | Often higher online, with membership and loyalty discounts | Frequently lowest on big brands, with subscription savings |
| Returns | Free returns for a full year after purchase on most items | Store returns plus online returns under its own conditions | Standard return windows that vary by item and seller |
| Standout | Round-the-clock phone support and a year to return | Physical stores for grooming, vaccines and same-day pickup | Speed and breadth for non-pet shopping in the same cart |
Before you check out
Each line below was read on Chewy's own site in October 2026. Policies move; if one has, tell us.
Is Chewy for you?
Buy if you are
- Owners who want food and litter on autopilot
- Anyone with a pet on long-term medication or a prescription diet
- Shoppers who like knowing they can return almost anything for a year
- People who want a human on the phone at 3am
Pass if you are
- Owners who need medication today, not after vet approval and shipping
- Anyone who prefers to see and handle products in a store
- Infrequent shoppers who would not use a membership
Still wondering?
Does Chewy really take returns for a year?
Yes. Chewy’s help center says most items can be returned within 365 days of purchase with free return shipping, started from Order History. Prescription items are handled separately by Chewy Pharmacy. Refunds are quickest if you accept Chewy gift card balance; card refunds take up to five business days.
What changed with Chewy+ in October 2026?
Chewy+ terms dated October 5, 2026 apply to new sign-ups after that date and renewals after November 4, 2026. Rewards drop from a flat 5% to 5% on dog and cat food and health and pharmacy, and 2% on everything else, with veterinary diets in the lower tier. Existing members keep the older terms until renewal.
Can I cancel Chewy+ and get my money back?
Only briefly. The terms promise a full refund if you cancel within three business days of signing up or of your free trial converting to paid, minus the value of benefits used in that time. After that, cancelling stops the next renewal and you keep benefits until the paid year ends. Recent reviewers report surprise renewal charges, so diarize the trial end.
The bottom line
Chewy remains the easiest place to buy pet food and supplies online: a year to return almost anything, free return shipping, and people answering the phone around the clock. Autoship is the reason to stay. Treat the pharmacy as reliable but slow to start, keep a buffer of medication, and do the math on Chewy+ now that rewards outside food and pharmacy have dropped to 2%.
See it at ChewyDesk notes and sources
This is desk research: the brand's own pages plus published customer reviews, read in October 2026. Nothing was sent to us and nothing was tried in person.
- Chewy help center articles on starting a return, return status, refund timing and return pickups
- Chewy+ membership page and the Chewy+ terms, including the version dated October 5, 2026
- Chewy Autoship terms and conditions, and the Connect with a Vet virtual visit page
- Trustpilot profile for chewy.com, including recent one-star reviews
- Chewy investor release announcing Get Real fresh dog food in September 2025