If you are shopping past Embrace, the five providers worth a quote first are Healthy Paws (unlimited payouts, simple single plan), Trupanion (pays your vet directly, per-condition deductible), Pets Best (low $100 deductible option plus wellness add-ons, can pay some vets directly), Figo (the rare 100 percent reimbursement option), and Nationwide (the one major insurer that covers birds and exotics). The right pick depends on whether you care most about price, payout ceiling, or how you get paid back — not on which brand has the best ads. Get a written quote from at least three before you commit, because every premium below moves with your pet’s age, breed, and ZIP code.

GetPetPros does not sell insurance or test policies on real claims. The plan terms here are pulled from each insurer’s current published documents and independent 2026 reviews, cited inline so you can verify them yourself.

What Embrace Actually Offers (So You Know What You Are Replacing)

Embrace sells one accident-and-illness policy with annual limits from $2,000 up to unlimited, annual deductibles of $100 to $1,000, and reimbursement at 70, 80, or 90 percent. Its long-running diminishing-deductible feature (the Healthy Pet Deductible, which dropped your deductible $50 for every claim-free year) is being phased out in favor of a Healthy Pet Discount that trims your premium 5 to 10 percent instead. Wellness is a separate Wellness Rewards rider with a $250 or $450 annual allowance for routine care (CNBC Select, 2026).

Owners usually leave Embrace for one of four reasons: premiums climb as the pet ages, the deductible-reset perk is changing, they want their vet paid directly instead of waiting on reimbursement, or they want a higher payout ceiling. Each alternative below answers at least one of those.

The Five Alternatives at a Glance

Premiums are not in the table on purpose. A single quoted figure for a “$30/month” plan is meaningless until it is tied to your pet. For scale: the most recent NAPHIA industry data puts the average accident-and-illness premium at about $62 per month for dogs and $32 for cats; Forbes Advisor’s 2026 sampling came in lower at roughly $46 for dogs and $23 for cats on a $5,000 limit, $250 deductible, 80 percent plan (CNBC Select, 2026). Trupanion runs higher than the field — one 2026 sample dog rate was about $165 per month — which is the trade-off for unlimited coverage and direct vet pay (U.S. News, 2026). Request your own written quote rather than trusting any range.

1. Healthy Paws

Healthy Paws sells a single accident-and-illness plan with no annual, per-incident, or lifetime payout cap, which makes it the simplest high-ceiling option on this list. You choose a deductible and a reimbursement rate, and that is the whole decision. Most claims are processed in about two days (U.S. News, 2026).

The catches: there is no wellness add-on at all, so routine care is out of pocket, and coverage starts 15 days in with a 12-month wait on hip dysplasia and other orthopedic conditions. Premiums also are not locked at enrollment, so expect age-based increases like any insurer here.

Learn more: Healthy Paws

2. Trupanion

Trupanion’s signature feature is Vet Direct Pay: at the more than 10,000 hospitals running its software, the insurer pays the covered portion of your bill at checkout, so you never front the full amount and wait. It reimburses 90 percent with no annual or lifetime limit (NerdWallet, 2026).

Its deductible model is different from everyone else here: it is per condition and charged once for the life of that condition, not annually. For a breed prone to one expensive chronic issue, that can work out cheaper over time; for a generally healthy pet that sees several small unrelated issues, multiple per-condition deductibles can add up. There is no wellness add-on, and Trupanion’s premiums are typically the highest in the category.

Learn more: Trupanion

3. Pets Best

Pets Best offers deductibles starting at $100, which is useful if you would rather pay a bit more monthly and less per claim. It reimburses 70, 80, or 90 percent, offers two wellness tiers as add-ons, and can pay some vets directly. Claims typically settle in two to seven days (NerdWallet, 2026).

The main knock in independent reviews is that claims processing can lag the two-day turnaround you get from Healthy Paws or Trupanion’s direct pay. If speed of reimbursement matters more than the wellness add-ons, weigh that.

Learn more: Pets Best

4. Figo

Figo is one of the only insurers offering a 100 percent reimbursement option, meaning no co-pay on covered costs. That tier is available with $500 and $750 deductibles but not with the unlimited annual limit, so you trade payout ceiling for the zero co-pay. Annual limits are $5,000, $10,000, or unlimited, and the whole plan is built to be configured in the app (U.S. News, 2026).

Watch the exam-fee gap: Figo does not cover vet exam fees for accidents and illnesses unless you add that coverage, and exam fees show up on nearly every visit. Budget for the add-on or the 100 percent reimbursement headline overstates what you will actually recover.

Learn more: Figo

5. Nationwide

Nationwide is the practical pick if you own a bird, reptile, rabbit, ferret, or other exotic — it covers more than 600,000 pets across species and writes bird-and-exotic plans around species-specific conditions rather than retrofitted dog-and-cat language. Its Whole Pet with Wellness plan folds routine care (vaccines, dental cleanings, parasite prevention, annual exams) into accident and illness coverage at a 90 percent reimbursement rate (CNBC Select, 2026).

The trade-offs: the traditional plan caps at $10,000 annually with 50 or 70 percent reimbursement, the comprehensive Whole Pet tier costs more, and independent reviews flag slower claims handling than the fastest competitors here.

Learn more: Nationwide

The Five Numbers That Decide Your Premium and Payout

Annual limit. Caps run from $5,000 to unlimited. Unlimited costs more but protects you against the truly expensive events — cruciate surgery, cancer treatment, repeated specialist visits. Breeds prone to costly conditions are where unlimited earns its premium.

Reimbursement rate. Most plans pay 70, 80, or 90 percent after the deductible; Figo reaches 100 percent on specific configurations. A higher rate means a higher premium, so match it to how much of a surprise bill you could absorb yourself.

Deductible structure. Annual deductibles here range from $100 (Pets Best, Healthy Paws) to $1,500 (Figo). Trupanion is the outlier with a once-per-condition lifetime deductible — model it against your specific pet rather than comparing the dollar figure straight across.

Waiting periods. Expect roughly 14 days for illnesses, 2 to 3 days for accidents, and 6 to 12 months for orthopedic conditions like hip dysplasia. Shorter waits matter if you are enrolling because you already sense something is off — though anything already showing will be treated as pre-existing.

Pre-existing conditions. No provider on this list covers them. This is the single biggest reason to enroll while your pet is young and healthy; the longer you wait, the more of their history becomes uninsurable.

Common Questions When Switching From Embrace

Is Embrace worth keeping over these alternatives? Embrace remains a solid accident-and-illness policy, and its Wellness Rewards rider is more flexible than some rivals’. But if your priority is unlimited payouts (Healthy Paws, Trupanion), direct vet payment (Trupanion, some Pets Best vets), wellness add-ons on a budget plan (Pets Best), or zero co-pay (Figo), one of these may fit better. Compare written quotes for your exact pet before deciding.

How do I switch without a coverage gap? Enroll in the new policy before you cancel Embrace — there is no penalty for a brief overlap, and it protects you from an uninsured day. Then cancel Embrace before its renewal date to avoid double billing. The catch that surprises people: any condition that developed while you were on Embrace will be treated as pre-existing by the new insurer, so a switch is cleanest done while your pet is healthy.

Does any of this cover routine and preventive care? The base accident-and-illness plans do not. Pets Best, Figo, and Nationwide offer wellness add-ons or riders for vaccines, exams, and dental cleanings at extra cost; Healthy Paws and Trupanion do not offer one at all.

Can I use my own vet? Yes. All five reimburse care from any licensed vet, specialist, or emergency clinic in the U.S. — there are no HMO-style networks. Trupanion’s direct-pay perk only kicks in at hospitals running its software, but you can still use any vet and file normally.

How to Choose

Start from your single biggest worry. Want the highest ceiling with the least complexity? Healthy Paws. Want your vet paid at the counter and have a breed prone to one big chronic issue? Trupanion. Pinching pennies but still want a wellness option? Pets Best. Want no co-pay and a slick app? Figo. Own an exotic, or want one carrier for a multi-species household? Nationwide. Then pull written quotes from your top two for your actual pet and compare the real numbers — premium, deductible, and what is excluded — side by side.

For more on how we assess pet products and services, see how we evaluate, and browse the vet care hub for related guides on keeping costs down.

Affiliate Disclosure: GetPetPros.com participates in affiliate programs and may earn a commission when you buy through some links, at no extra cost to you. We do not sell insurance and our recommendations are based on independent research and editorial judgment, not commission rates. Plan terms change — confirm current coverage and pricing with each provider before purchasing.