Barksy
Get Started
Comparison

Barksy vs Zigzag: which puppy training app is worth paying for?

Over 150 lessons written by professional dog trainers, a tracker for anything your dog does, and reminders for everything you have to remember. Free to download.

By the Barksy team Facts checked August 10, 2026 5 min read Barksy is ours and Zigzag is made by PetCare Services Ltd.
Barksy app screens beside the title of this comparison
On this page · 5 min read

The short answer

Our pick

Barksy, if you want the tracking and the reminders alongside the lessons

Barksy is a dog training app that also runs the day: over 150 lessons alongside a tracker for anything your dog does and reminders for everything you have to remember. It is also the one of the two you can buy outright: the App Store list includes a one-time lifetime plan at $49.99 with nothing to renew, where every Zigzag plan is a subscription.

Get Barksy

Barksy is free to download, and most plans start with a 3-day free trial.

Also worth a look

Zigzag, if the puppy is eight weeks old and you want someone to ask

Zigzag publishes over 250 puppy training lessons with how-to videos, delivered as 3 lessons a day: a plan arriving on a schedule rather than a library you search, with 24/7 chat with its own training coaches. Buy it if week one is where you are and a monthly subscription is fine.

Barksy and Zigzag, side by side

Barksy compared with Zigzag on price, trial, platforms, how each one answers you, trainers, content and the App Store rating.
  Barksy ours Zigzag by PetCare Services Ltd
Published price
  • Weekly $4.99 to $9.99
  • Yearly $14.99 to $39.99
  • Lifetime $49.99
These are the in-app purchase items the US App Store listing shows, including a one-time lifetime plan at $49.99 with nothing to renew. Several price points run at the same time for the same period because the paywall is configured remotely and tested, so the figure you are offered is the one on your paywall.
  • Monthly $8.99 to $9.99
  • Yearly $24.99 to $49.99
From the US App Store in-app purchase list. Several monthly and annual price points run at once. zigzag.dog itself publishes no price.
Free trial
  • 3 days
On most plans. The paywall is built from remote configuration, so not every plan a person lands on carries a trial, and the length is stated on no public page.
  • 7 days
'Try Zigzag Premium free for 7 days - cancel anytime!'
Anything free without paying
  • Yes
Free to download, with paid content unlocked by subscription.
  • Yes
'Access free pup training learning content with Zigzag.'
Where it runs
  • iOS and Android.
  • No web app.
barksy.app offers App Store and Google Play downloads.
  • iOS and Android.
  • No web app.
zigzag.dog is a marketing site with download links only; no web app.
When you get stuck Answers in the app
  • Step-by-step guides for specific problems, plus a daily tip.
 A person
  • Human coaches. 24/7 live chat with Zigzag's training coaches, plus a community where coaches take part.
Who wrote the training
  • Barksy's lessons are written by professional dog trainers and behavior specialists.
  • One named qualified trainer and behaviourist (Dip CABT), chair of the CAPBT.
How much content
  • Structured courses covering 20 topics, with over 150 lessons and more than 20 tricks.
  • Over 250 puppy training lessons with how-to videos, delivered as 3 lessons a day.
App Store rating
  • 4.6 on the App Store
  • 4.8 on the App Store
Get Barksy

Where an app has several prices running at once, the range is shown. Both figures come from the App Store in-app purchase list, which is every price the developer currently has live, so the price either app offers you may be none of them. Facts checked August 10, 2026.

One of these you can stop paying for

Both apps put their prices on the App Store and nowhere else, so this is one of the few comparisons in the category where the money can actually be checked. Barksy lists weekly $4.99 to $9.99, yearly $14.99 to $39.99, lifetime $49.99. Zigzag lists monthly $8.99 to $9.99, yearly $24.99 to $49.99.

The ranges overlap, so the useful difference is not the amount, it is the shape. Barksy has a one-time lifetime purchase at $49.99 on its listing: you pay once, nothing renews, and there is nothing to cancel next January. Every Zigzag plan on the App Store renews until you stop it.

The other difference is what the app covers. Zigzag is a puppyhood programme, arranged as a timeline through the first months. Barksy is arranged by topic and carries the daily logistics as well, so it is still the app you open when the dog is two.

Barksy

Answers in the app

Step-by-step guides for specific problems, plus a daily tip.

Zigzag

A person

Human coaches. 24/7 live chat with Zigzag's training coaches, plus a community where coaches take part.

What you get with Barksy

  • Lessons

    150+

  • App Store

    4.6

  • Lifetime plan

    $49.99

  • Puppy parents

    125,000+

Everything your dog did, in one place

Track anything in your dog's day: potty breaks, food and water, walks, sleep, training sessions, medications and health events, and anything else you want to keep. Every entry comes with its history and stats.

The Barksy tracker screen, listing a day's logged events

Reminders for everything you have to remember

Set a reminder for anything: walks, potty breaks, meals, training sessions, vet visits, vaccinations, your dog's birthday. One-off or repeating, and they arrive as notifications on your phone.

The Barksy reminders screen, with repeating reminders set

An answer at 11pm on a Sunday

When something goes wrong, the answer is already in the app. Barksy has step-by-step guides for the specific problems: biting, chewing, nipping, leash pulling, barking. Plus a tip every day. It is there at 11pm on a Sunday, with nobody to wait for.

A Barksy behavior guide open on a specific problem

Pay once and never see a renewal

A one-time lifetime plan at $49.99, with nothing to renew.

Barksy is free to download, and most plans start with a 3-day free trial.

Who should buy Zigzag instead

If your puppy is brand new and what you want is a plan that arrives day by day with a person on the other end of it, buy Zigzag. Human coaches. 24/7 live chat with Zigzag's training coaches, plus a community where coaches take part. Co-founder and Head of Programme Lorna Winter is a qualified dog trainer and behaviourist (Dip CABT), chair of the CAPBT and a Director of the UK Dog Behaviour and Training Charter, with 17 years in petcare. Its content is sequenced through puppyhood rather than shelved by topic, which is the harder thing to build and the better fit for an eight-week-old dog.

What Barksy costs

A one-time lifetime plan at $49.99, with nothing to renew.

Barksy is a dog training app that also runs the day: over 150 lessons alongside a tracker for anything your dog does and reminders for everything you have to remember.

Barksy is free to download, and most plans start with a 3-day free trial.

4.6 out of 5 on the App Store. Zigzag scores 4.8.

Download for iPhone Download for Android

Common questions

Is Zigzag better than Barksy?

They are built for different dogs. Zigzag is a puppyhood programme: over 250 puppy training lessons with how-to videos, delivered as 3 lessons a day, arranged as a schedule. Barksy is a dog training app that also runs the day: over 150 lessons alongside a tracker for anything your dog does and reminders for everything you have to remember. It is arranged by topic rather than by week, so it still works when the puppy is a year old, and it is the one of the two you can buy once instead of renting.

How much do Zigzag and Barksy cost?

Both publish price points on their App Store listings and neither publishes them anywhere else. Barksy lists weekly $4.99 to $9.99, yearly $14.99 to $39.99, lifetime $49.99, which includes a one-time lifetime plan at $49.99 with nothing to renew. Zigzag lists monthly $8.99 to $9.99, yearly $24.99 to $49.99, and every one of those renews. Several price points run at once on both sides because both developers test prices, so the plan either app offers you may be none of the ones listed.

Can you buy a dog training app once instead of subscribing?

With Barksy, yes: its App Store listing includes a one-time lifetime purchase at $49.99, with nothing to renew and nothing to cancel. Zigzag publishes monthly and yearly plans only. If the thing you are trying to avoid is another subscription you have to remember to cancel, that is the difference between these two.

What happens in each app when you get stuck?

Barksy answers inside the app: step-by-step guides for the specific problems, biting, chewing, nipping, leash pulling and barking, plus a tip every day, available the second you look. Zigzag runs 24/7 chat with its own coaches, so you can describe your dog to a person and wait for a reply.

Which app is better for a brand new puppy?

Both are built for it. Zigzag's content is over 250 puppy training lessons with how-to videos, delivered as 3 lessons a day, which arrives day by day. Barksy publishes structured courses covering 20 topics, with over 150 lessons and more than 20 tricks plus the part nobody else does: a tracker for potty breaks, food, sleep and everything else the first weeks generate, and reminders so none of it gets forgotten at 6am.

What free trial does each app give you?

Barksy is free to download, and most plans start with a 3-day free trial. Zigzag publishes a 7-day free trial on its App Store listing.

Every figure about another app on this page is generated from one maintained file of sourced facts, not typed out, and each one carries the public page it came from and the day we opened it. We open no paywalls and start no trials, so anything that appears only inside an app is marked "not published". Checked August 10, 2026, due again by November 10, 2026. Prices and store ratings go stale fastest.

Sources: the pages these figures come from

Zigzag

Keep comparing

Get Barksy