Guide
Apps that let you catch real animals: the 2026 guide
Updated October 1, 2026. By Jurre de Ruiter, who makes Gotcha.
A real-life animal collecting app turns your phone camera into a net. You photograph a real animal, the app works out the species, and it lands in a collection you are trying to complete. These apps sit between two older ideas: nature ID tools that name what you photograph, and location games where the creatures you chase are imaginary.
A disclosure before the list: we make Gotcha, so read our take on it with that in mind. Every claim about another app comes from its own website or store listing as of October 1, 2026, and each section says plainly what that app does better. Prices change often, so the table describes how each app charges rather than quoting numbers.
The apps side by side
| App | Platforms | What you collect | Battles | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gotcha | iPhone and Android | 2,225 animal species (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, spiders) | No | Free to play. Optional Gotcha+ subscription with a free trial. | A long-term collection game where every catch builds something |
| BioSnap | iPhone and Android | Real animals, turned into cards with stats | Yes | Free, with in-app purchases and a paid pass | Players who want to battle the animals they photograph |
| Snappit | iPhone, iPad and Android | Nearly 10,000 things to identify, including plants, fungi and everyday finds | No | Free to download, with a subscription | Families with young children, and anyone who wants plants too |
| Seek by iNaturalist | iPhone and Android | Plants, animals and fungi | No | Free, no ads | Learning to identify everything in nature, for free |
| iNaturalist | iPhone, Android and web | Any living thing, recorded as a scientific observation | No | Free, run by a nonprofit | Contributing real sightings to science |
| WildDex | iPhone | 1,000+ species | No | Free to start, then a subscription | iPhone users who want a lightweight dex with a map |
| WildDeck | iPhone | Real animals, turned into cards | Yes | Free download, with a subscription and in-app coins | Card collectors who want to battle friends |
| dobudex | iPhone and Android | Animals, pets included | No | A handful of free scans, then a subscription | Fans of a retro pixel-art look |
| Animalis | iPhone and Android | Real animals, collected into a team | Yes | Paid. Catching needs a subscription or a one-time lifetime unlock | Players who want turn-based battles tied to real places |
| Merlin Bird ID | iPhone and Android | Birds only, by photo or by sound | No | Free, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Birders, especially identifying birds by their song |
Each app, in a paragraph
Gotcha
Gotcha turns a photo of a real animal into a collectible. The app cuts the animal out of your shot, names the species, grades it from common to legendary, and files it in an index of 2,225 species. Since version 2.0 the animals you catch move into a zoo you build and run. It is available in 44 languages.
What you do with a catch: Rarity from common to legendary, stickers cut from your own photos, and a zoo you build where your catches live and draw visitors. Eight leagues, a seasonal Zoo Pass, friends and clubs.
Best for: A long-term collection game where every catch builds something. More about Gotcha
BioSnap
BioSnap turns animal photos into cards with stats and rarity that you can level up and take into battles against other players, from 1v1 up to 3v3, with guilds and seasons on top. Its website describes it as being in open beta.
What you do with a catch: Rarity, stat cards, 1v1 to 3v3 battles, guilds and seasons.
Best for: Players who want to battle the animals they photograph. Gotcha vs BioSnap
Snappit
Snappit is a family nature app rated for ages 4 and up. It identifies plants, animals, birds, bugs and fungi, explains each one with facts written for children, and turns finds into collections with rarity tiers, badges and streaks.
What you do with a catch: Collections, digital cards with rarity tiers, badges and streaks. No battles.
Best for: Families with young children, and anyone who wants plants too. Gotcha vs Snappit
Seek by iNaturalist
Seek, from the team behind iNaturalist, identifies plants, animals and fungi live through your camera and rewards you with badges and monthly challenges. It is free, has no ads, and is a nature learning tool first and a game second.
What you do with a catch: Badges and monthly challenges. No collection to complete.
Best for: Learning to identify everything in nature, for free. Gotcha vs Seek by iNaturalist
iNaturalist
iNaturalist is a citizen science platform. You record an observation, the community helps confirm the species, and research-grade sightings feed scientific datasets. It is the reference tool for serious naturalists, not a game.
What you do with a catch: None. Observations are checked by a community of naturalists.
Best for: Contributing real sightings to science. inaturalist.org
WildDex
WildDex lets you scan animals to add them to a personal dex, earns you XP by rarity, and shows your finds on a map with a social feed. It is on iPhone.
What you do with a catch: XP by rarity, from common to mythical, a map of your finds and a social feed.
Best for: iPhone users who want a lightweight dex with a map. Gotcha vs WildDex
WildDeck
WildDeck identifies wildlife you photograph, turns it into cards for your deck, and lets you battle your friends and climb leaderboards.
What you do with a catch: A card collection, battles against friends and leaderboards.
Best for: Card collectors who want to battle friends. wild-deck.com
dobudex
dobudex, launched in July 2026, turns each animal you scan into a pixel-art card with stats. Rarity is decided by how often the whole community scans a species.
What you do with a catch: Pixel-art cards with stats, and rarity set by how often the community scans a species.
Best for: Fans of a retro pixel-art look. Gotcha vs dobudex
Animalis
Animalis has you build a team of six from animals you photograph and fight turn-based battles, including at gyms placed on real-world landmarks.
What you do with a catch: A team of six, turn-based battles and gyms at real landmarks.
Best for: Players who want turn-based battles tied to real places. Gotcha vs Animalis
Merlin Bird ID
Merlin, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, identifies birds from a photo or from their song and keeps a life list. It is free and it is the best tool there is for birds alone.
What you do with a catch: A life list of the birds you have seen. No game.
Best for: Birders, especially identifying birds by their song. merlin.allaboutbirds.org
How to choose
- You want your collection to turn into something. Gotcha. Every animal you catch moves into a zoo you build, with habitats, paths, landmarks and visitors.
- You want to fight with your animals. BioSnap, Animalis or WildDeck.
- You want plants and mushrooms too. Snappit, or Seek if you want it free.
- You are buying for a four-year-old. Snappit or Seek.
- You want your sightings to count for science. iNaturalist.
- You only care about birds. Merlin Bird ID.
What people actually catch
One thing we can add that nobody else can: what 100,000+ Gotcha collectors actually photograph. Dogs, cats and houseflies are the animals Gotcha collectors catch most, followed by feral pigeons and chickens. The housefly is the most-caught wild animal of all. That is also why rarity matters in a game like this: legendary species are genuinely hard to find. More is in the Gotcha press kit.
Questions people ask
What is the best app to catch real animals?
It depends on what you want from the catch. Gotcha is the most complete collection game: 2,225 animal species graded from common to legendary, stickers cut from your own photos, and a zoo your catches move into. BioSnap and Animalis are the picks if you want to battle your animals. Snappit is built for young kids and covers plants too.
Is there a free app where you collect animals by taking pictures?
Yes. Gotcha is free to play on iPhone and Android, with an optional Gotcha+ subscription that removes the daily catch limit. BioSnap is free with in-app purchases, and Seek by iNaturalist is completely free with no ads, though Seek is a nature learning tool rather than a collection game.
Which animal collecting apps work on Android?
Gotcha, BioSnap, Snappit, Seek, dobudex and Animalis are all on Google Play as well as the App Store. WildDex and WildDeck are iPhone only at the time of writing.
Can you battle the animals you photograph?
In some apps. BioSnap has 1v1 to 3v3 battles and guilds, Animalis has turn-based battles and gyms at real landmarks, and WildDeck has battles against friends. Gotcha has no battles. Its animals move into a zoo you build instead, and the competition is how many visitors your zoo draws.
Which app is best for kids?
For young children, Snappit is designed around them and rated for ages 4 and up. Seek by iNaturalist is free, has no ads and needs no account. Gotcha is also rated 4+ on the App Store and suits older kids who want a real game with a long-term goal, since it asks for an account to back up the collection.
Do pets count as catches?
In Gotcha, yes. Dogs and cats are the two most-caught animals of all. They are graded common, so the rarer animals are still out there to find.