Seek vs Miau — Species Identifier vs Cat Breed Identifier
Seek is a powerful app for identifying wildlife and plants. But when it comes to cat breeds — especially mixed-breed cats — a purpose-built tool does a better job.
What Seek does well
Seek, by iNaturalist, identifies thousands of animal and plant species from photos. It's excellent for wildlife, insects and garden plants. Point it at a domestic cat and it will correctly identify the species — but not the breed.
Where Seek falls short for cat breeds
Seek is not trained to distinguish between cat breeds. A Maine Coon, a Siamese and a British Shorthair all return as 'domestic cat'. It doesn't show breed-level results, confidence scores or breed facts.
What Miau does instead
- Identifies specific breeds, not just the species.
- Returns the closest breed matches with confidence scores.
- Works for moggies — shows the breeds a mixed cat most resembles.
- Includes quick facts: temperament, size, coat and care needs.
Who should use which
Use Seek to identify the bird in your garden or the spider on your wall. Use Miau specifically for cat breed identification — it's the right tool for the job, and it's free.
Built for cat breed nuance
Download Miau and get a breed-level answer from a photo in seconds — not just 'domestic cat'.
Common questions
- How does Miau identify a breed?
- It reads the cat's features — face shape, ear set, coat type and colour pattern — and matches them against dozens of breeds, returning the closest match with a confidence score.
- How accurate is it?
- Very accurate for distinctive purebreds like Maine Coons or Siamese. For domestic shorthairs and moggies, it shows the closest matches and a confidence score rather than forcing a single answer.
- Does it work for mixed-breed cats?
- Yes. For a moggy it shows the breeds your cat most resembles, so you still get a useful answer.
- Can I identify a cat from a saved photo?
- Yes. Scan live with your camera or upload any photo from your gallery.
- Is Miau free?
- Yes. Miau is free to download and use, with no account required.
Curious about a cat right now? Open the app page: Cat breed identifier app.