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For years, when it’d come up in conversation that I have an automatic litter box, everyone always asked: “Oh, you have a Litter-Robot?”
The product category as a whole really got the Roomba treatment — the automatic assumption that every automatic litter box is a Litter-Robot, just like many people assume that every robot vacuum is a Roomba. So when Whisker released a more apartment-friendly version of the Litter-Robot in fall 2025, it was time to find out firsthand: Is the Litter-Robot actually that much more iconic than all of the other automatic litter boxes?
I retired my Leo’s Loo Too litter box to my parents’ house and put the Litter-Robot EVO in its place. Here’s how it’s going after six months.
What’s different about the Litter-Robot EVO?
The Litter-Robot EVO is just under two inches slimmer (20.6 inches wide) and almost three inches shallower (24.5 inches sticking out from the wall) than the Litter-Robot 4, making it the most compact Litter-Robot model. Aesthetically, I’m not a huge fan of the super rectangular automatic litter boxes, so I like that the EVO retains the minimalist circular design that makes a Litter-Robot recognizable.
Since the waste drawer is smaller, the EVO is best for one- or two-cat households. Whisker says that the drawer holds waste for between three and seven days for a two-cat household like mine, and up to 10 days for a single cat.
Switching to the Litter-Robot EVO
Out of my two cats, only one uses the EVO.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable
My cats ignored the EVO’s existence for at least the first month, despite the fact that it’s extremely similar in size and noise level to the Leo’s Loo Too that they were using without issue. It was literally in the same exact spot in the kitchen, too.
Originally, I suspected that they were thrown off by the difference in size of the entry holes. The 15-inch diameter of the Litter-Robot EVO opening is nearly double the size of the Leo’s Loo Too opening. My cats couldn’t care less about privacy when they’re doing their business in the PetSafe ScoopFree litter box in my bathroom, but maybe a cozier design feels safer when the litter box is in the middle of a common area. (This isn’t a design flaw — some cats might be intimidated by the idea of crawling into a tiny hole.)
But in my attempts to coax them to make the switch, I removed the litter guard at the bottom of the hole that’s supposed to prevent litter tracking. That made the opening even bigger, but oddly enough, it helped. I couldn’t find much advice online about switching from one brand of rotating automatic litter box to another. All I could really do was use the litter that they were already familiar with, sprinkle some litter attractant inside, and wait. Both cats tried it eventually, though Leota uses it far more frequently than Sansa does.
The Litter-Robot EVO works with just about any clumping litter, making it easy to experiment with what your cat likes the best or what feels the cleanest in your home. If you’re switching from a pan litter box with clay litter, your best bet is to transition to the Litter-Robot with clay litter. I like the BoxieCat BoxiePro clay litter, which uses probiotics to eliminate stinky bacteria and was designed specifically for automatic litter boxes.
Leota shows off her current litter spread after tracking an unnecessary amount of litter onto the floor.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable
Until Whisker makes plastic-free waste liners, I’ll be using these corn starch ones.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable
I’m always looking to try new natural cat litters — I feel less bad about trashing bags of a biodegradable formula, and I’ve convinced myself that their dust is less dirty than clay. The Litter-Robot EVO plays very nicely with the grass seed litter I’m currently using, but corn cob litter has also worked. As long as the granules aren’t pellets, the clean litter should safely sift through the small grate holes just like clay.
Speaking of my quest for the most eco-friendly litter box setup possible, I ditched the Whisker brand plastic waste drawer liners for biodegradable waste drawer liners made from corn starch. Whisker’s plastic waste drawer liners weren’t dramatically sturdier or dramatically better-smelling, so I don’t see a major pull toward them. And if you know me, you know that single-use plastic doesn’t fly in my household. Plus, the official Litter-Robot liners can get pricey. At $25 for 25 liners, assuming I change the bag at least once per week, I’d rack up an extra hundred dollars or two per year.
Litter-Robot EVO self-scooping: Inaudible and reliable
Without my EVO’s dutiful record keeping of trips to the bathroom, I’d rarely be able to tell that the Litter-Robot was used at all on any given day. That’s how inaudible and unobtrusive the spinning cycle is — literally, the sound of my cat digging around in there is louder. It only lasts for 30 seconds or so, sans any creaking that might spook a skittish cat. If a bedroom is the only place that you have enough room for a litter box, you’d have to be a remarkably light sleeper to notice the EVO scooping in the middle of the night.
I don’t pay for Whisker+, so the app doesn’t track my cats’ weight fluctuation.
Credit: Screenshot / Whisker
Leota uses the Litter-Robot at 5 a.m. almost every day.
Credit: Screenshot / Whisker
The Whisker app keeps a log of trips to the bathroom, as well as a meter showing how close your waste drawer is to being full. If you have more than one cat, the app will decipher between them based on weight. That could get hairy if both cats are roughly the same size, though you wouldn’t be missing out on much important data about either of them. The EVO doesn’t have the Litter-Robot 5‘s WasteID system to differentiate between No. 1 and No. 2 or the Litter-Robot 5 Pro‘s AI cat recognition cameras. But if you have more than one cat and presumably more than one litter box, metrics from a single litter box can’t give a holistic picture of a cat’s bathroom habits, anyway.
My EVO’s scale and sensors are temperamental from time to time. The app occasionally tells me that a five-pound cat entered, or marks that Sansa (the heavier cat) was the sole user for multiple days when I know she strictly uses the other litter box. I think this happens when I add a fresh scoop of litter and forget to tell the EVO that I did that. It’s very finicky about the amount of litter in the barrel, and if you put too much in, it’ll drop a ton of clean litter into the waste drawer.
Similarly, the waste drawer tracker gets thrown out of whack if I forget to manually reset the waste once I’ve emptied it. The EVO tracks waste pileup with infrared sensors rather than by weight, but can’t the sensors see that there’s nothing in the clean liner?
Litter-Robot EVO odor control: Great, from far away at least
Litter-Robots are praised for their elite odor control — to the point where I’m getting Whisker Facebook ads throwing direct shade at other automatic litter boxes for smelling bad. But that ad fails to mention that the amazing odor masking probably won’t last forever.
On one hand, I’ll vouch for the Litter-Robot EVO’s ability to sequester the stink. I’m not hit with the muggy stench of litter box as soon as I walk in the door, which is impressive given my apartment’s crappy ventilation. No one in my household would be shy about letting me know that it smells like litter box in here, so I’m confident that the EVO is keeping things fresh.
But I am hit with the stench just about any time I crouch down there, even if I’m just getting extra cat food out of the credenza nearby. When it actually is time to empty the EVO’s drawer, I legitimately have to warn anyone who’s home to “not walk over here right now.”
I’ve had cats my entire life and am not prissy about being a foot away from cat shit. What turns me off is that the drawer still stinks after you’ve replaced the dirty bag with a fresh one. Because plastic is microscopically porous, molecules that cause odor eventually absorb into those tiny holes. A carbon filter or really intense scrubbing doesn’t have much power over that.
So while my Litter-Robot EVO has successfully contained the litter box smell for the past six months, I believe that it’s only a matter of time until the smell baked into the drawer starts seeping into my living space. That’s exactly what happened with my Leo’s Loo Too after two years. Which makes me wonder: Why don’t brands like Whisker make some longevity-centered design tweaks and switch to a stainless steel drawer?
Hypochlorous acid is non-toxic and great for deodorizing plastic.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable
The Dyson PencilVac is skinny enough to reach the whole way back.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable
I’m going to hold your hand when I say this: Having a self-scooping litter box does not mean you never have to clean that litter box by hand. If you want to slow down the stink buildup I’m talking about, regular cleaning of a few parts is a must. At least once a week, I wipe down the empty drawer with some dish soap and hypochlorous acid spray (not bleach), then let it air dry. I regularly vacuum the waste drawer slot to ensure no fallen clumps of waste are rotting down there.
Giving the crusty globe a good wash down is crucial here and there, though that’s much easier to do with a hose outside than it is in an apartment with no outdoor space. I spray mine down in the bathtub every few months. Between these deep cleans, I grab a scoop to scrape off any waste clumps that are crusted to the inside of the globe.
Litter-Robot EVO build quality: Cute, but a little discombobulated for $600
As I said earlier, the Litter-Robot EVO genuinely has such a delightful little design compared to more robotic-looking litter boxes. But up close, there are a few nooks and crannies that take away from the EVO’s overall build quality.
I feel like the pieces should click more seamlessly.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable
The liner is quite visible from the front.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable
The EVO’s plastic feels flimsy, and some large pieces don’t click together as sturdily as you’d expect. Mine has a small gap between the bonnet (the big round dome covering the rotating globe inside) and the base, as well as a large gap between the bonnet and the ring around the entry hole. The bonnet latch is also fussy, often giving multiple “bonnet removed” errors when reassembling after washing or gently scooting the machine to vacuum.
The new waste drawer setup is also a bit prone to error. Compared to the older Litter-Robots, whose litter drawer and step were all one piece, the EVO’s compact waste drawer is a two-piece design. The parts are held together by a plastic notch system that can get knocked out of place if the drawer isn’t pushed in perfectly. It doesn’t take much to stir up a “waste cycle interrupted” error in the app, despite the fact that neither cat tried to re-enter during the cycle.
Is the Litter-Robot EVO worth it?
The concept of the Litter-Robot EVO is great. Whisker read the minds of cat parents who don’t have a ton of open floor space for a giant litter box, and the EVO’s quiet scooping and odor masking work well in an apartment. But I’m not sure that the EVO offers a premium enough experience for its price tag.
Sure, $599 seems cheap compared to a $799 or $899 Litter-Robot, but $599 isn’t cheap in the grand scheme of automatic litter boxes. Other popular Litter-Robot alternatives like the Petkit PuraMax 2 or PetSafe SmartSpin perform the same basic self-scooping that the EVO does for far less money. The Petlibro Luma that my fellow shopping reporter, Bethany, tested costs the same $599, but offers waste identification and camera insights that Whisker only offers with the most expensive Litter-Robots.
