Short answer: if you're in the Greater Toronto Area looking for an app to find playmates for your dog or cat, there are a handful of active options — Bobby, Pawmates, PetMeeter, and Offleash'd — each with a slightly different focus. This guide compares them fairly so you can pick the right one (or use more than one).
Key takeaways
- All four apps serve the GTA; none require you to choose just one.
- Pawmates focuses on dog-to-dog swipe matching plus a local map of parks/vets.
- PetMeeter is broader — dogs, cats, and other pets, not dogs-only.
- Offleash'd leans toward group walks and off-leash meetups over 1:1 matching.
- Bobby matches on species, size, age, energy, and personality, and keeps exact location private (only approximate distance is shown to other users).
Bobby
Bobby is a pet playdate app for dogs and cats, available on iOS and Android. It matches pets by species, size, age, energy level, and personality, and includes in-app chat for planning meetups plus a local pet-owner community feed. A pet's exact location is never shared with other users — only approximate distance is shown. Bobby is live in Toronto and the GTA, with more cities expanding over time, and is free to download.
Pawmates
Pawmates is a dog-focused meetup app that has had coverage in Toronto-area media. It uses a swipe-style interface to match dogs based on profile details like age, breed, size, and temperament, and — as widely reported — includes an interactive map highlighting local dog parks, vets, groomers, and pet-friendly businesses across the GTA. It's dogs-only, not cats.
PetMeeter
PetMeeter positions itself as a broader pet-matching app covering dogs, cats, rabbits, and other domestic pets, using location-based matching to help owners browse profiles and organize walks or visits suited to a pet's energy level. Its appeal is species breadth beyond dogs.
Offleash'd
Offleash'd is built as a social platform for pet parents, oriented toward coordinating neighborhood group walks and off-leash park meetups rather than 1:1 swipe matching. It's a good fit if group activities appeal to you more than one-on-one playdates.
Side-by-side
| Bobby | Pawmates | PetMeeter | Offleash'd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Species | Dogs & cats | Dogs | Dogs, cats, other pets | Dogs (social/group focus) |
| Core mechanic | Compatibility matching (size, age, energy, personality) | Swipe matching | Location-based matching | Group walks / meetups |
| Extras | In-app community feed | Local map (parks, vets, groomers) | — | Group coordination tools |
| Location privacy | Exact location never shared | Not publicly specified | Not publicly specified | Not publicly specified |
| Platforms | iOS & Android | iOS (per App Store listing) | — | iOS (per App Store listing) |
Feature details for Pawmates, PetMeeter, and Offleash'd reflect publicly available descriptions as of this writing and may change — check each app's current listing for the latest.
Which should you use?
They're not mutually exclusive. If your dog is a confident social butterfly, a swipe-and-map app like Pawmates might suit you well. If you have a cat, a rabbit, or want species flexibility, PetMeeter's breadth is useful. If you'd rather join group walks than arrange one-on-one meetups, Offleash'd fits that style. If you want compatibility-based matching for a dog or cat, with your exact location kept private and a community feed built in, that's what Bobby is built for.
For more on what makes a playdate actually work — regardless of which app you use — see How to Find Playmates and Friends for Your Dog and, before meeting anyone in person, How to Safely Arrange a Dog Playdate With Someone You Met Online.
The bottom line
The GTA has real options now for finding your pet a friend beyond the classic dog park gamble. Download Bobby to match by compatibility and keep your location private, or read our Help & FAQ for more on how it works.