Automatic Pet Litter Boxes

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The Litter-Robot 3 Is Discontinued: What to Buy Instead

By Automatic Pet Litter Boxes Editorial

A tabby cat standing on a wooden floor in warm afternoon light, looking up toward the camera

Whisker discontinued the Litter-Robot 3 and the LR3 Connect in late 2025 [s1]. Search results still show prices for the older globe, which makes it look like a live option. Whisker’s own page lists the LR3 Connect at $549 and shows it out of stock. The reconditioned unit at $449 is gone too, and every Amazon listing for an LR3 reads Currently unavailable [s1][s2].

That leaves two people still searching for this box: someone who was about to buy one, and someone who owns one that has started flashing error lights.

The short answer

Buy the Litter-Robot EVO if you were shopping for an LR3. Whisker built it as the LR3’s stand-in at close to the old price, $599, and its LR3 page now points shoppers to the EVO by name [s1][s3]. It is the smallest box in the current line, so a cat over about 19 pounds wants the Litter-Robot 4 at $699 instead [s8][s10].

Owners of a working LR3 should keep it running. Whisker still stocks the parts and they cost little against a new box: $30 for the pinch contact and drawer-sensor kit, $85 for the main control board [s5]. The catch is that Whisker will not do the repair for you once the warranty is up [s6].

Check the Litter-Robot EVO price on Amazon

Check the Litter-Robot 4 price on Amazon

You cannot buy one new

WhereListed priceStatus
LR3 Connect, Whisker direct$549out of stock [s1]
LR3 Connect reconditioned, Whisker$449out of stock [s2]
Litter-Robot 3, Amazonno live pricecurrently unavailable
LR3 Connect, Target$499.99out of stock [s15]

The LR3 and LR3 Connect “were discontinued to make way for newer, more advanced models,” in Whisker’s own words [s1]. The company replaced its line in late 2025, putting the Litter-Robot 5 and 5 Pro at the top and the EVO underneath [s8]. It has since pointed the old /litter-robot-3 web address at the EVO’s product page [s3].

Reconditioned stock was the last to dry up. The $449 page is still online with a price on it, but it reports out of stock, and the unit no longer appears on Whisker’s refurbished hub, which lists reconditioned Litter-Robot 4s only [s2][s11].

If you were about to buy one

The EVO is the closest thing to a like-for-like swap. It runs $599 and handles one or two cats up to 19 pounds, going about seven days between drawer emptyings [s3][s8]. Against the LR3 it adds a phone app with per-cat weight tracking, plus a sealed carbon-filtered waste drawer [s3].

Check two ceilings against your cat before you order. The EVO’s entry is 14.85 inches and its interior headroom is 14.5 inches, both smaller than the Litter-Robot 4’s 15.75 and 16.5 [s8]. A large cat or a third cat pushes you up to the LR4.

There is also a $599 option with more box in it. Whisker sells a reconditioned Litter-Robot 4 at the EVO’s price, and it takes four cats up to 25 pounds with more room inside [s11][s8]. Reconditioned units carry the same one-year WhiskerCare coverage and 90-day in-home trial as new ones [s11]. Our full Litter-Robot 4 review covers what that box is like to live with.

Warranty is where the discontinued box loses outright. Whisker states that it “no longer offers an extended warranty for Litter-Robot 3 and Litter-Robot 3 Connect,” so an LR3 is capped at its original year [s4]. The EVO and the LR4 extend to three years for about $100 [s4].

Where the Litter-Robot 3 still wins

It is not fussy about litter. Whisker’s own litter guide warns that translucent or white crystal litter “may impact the litter level and Drawer Full Indicator (DFI) accuracy” in the Litter-Robot 4, 5, 5 Pro and EVO, and its per-model table marks PrettyLitter as working on the LR3 while listing it as not recommended on the newer boxes [s7]. The reason is mechanical: the newer boxes read litter depth optically and need contrast to do it, and the LR3 has no optical level sensor at all. If you are choosing litter for a newer box, our guide to the best litter for the Litter-Robot 4 covers which types confuse the sensors.

There is more room inside it. The LR3’s globe measures about 20 inches wide and 20 deep against the LR4’s 19 by 18 [s9][s13]. The newer box has the far wider doorway, 15.75 inches across versus 10.25, and slightly less space once the cat is in. Cats.com puts it flatly: the newer model “really doesn’t give your cat more space on the inside, just in that doorway” [s9].

A dead board costs $85 instead of a new base. Whisker sells an LR3 main control board for $85 and an LR3 Connect board for about the same [s5]. It sells no main board for the Litter-Robot 4, so a logic failure on the newer box routes you to a replacement base at $449 [s5].

Nothing can change how it behaves. The last firmware for the LR3 Connect shipped in October 2022 [s12]. That cuts both ways, since it means no fixes either, but the LR3 keeps working the way it worked the day you set it up. The LR4 picked up a February 2026 update that stopped it cycling automatically on power-up [s12].

If you already own one

Keep it. An LR3 typically runs five to eight years, and the parts that fail first are cheap.

A fast-flashing yellow light points at the pinch sensor, and a red flash points at the cat sensor [s14]. Whisker’s parts store is fully stocked for both. The pinch contact and DFI kit is $30, or $5 for a bare contact; a motor assembly runs $48 and a waste drawer starts at $55 [s5]. Under an active warranty those parts come free through your account.

Labor is the part Whisker will not supply. Its support page reads: “We don’t offer out-of-warranty repair services, but we do provide several support options” and “If your Litter-Robot is out-of-warranty, we offer replacement parts for purchase” [s6]. An out-of-warranty LR3 is a parts-and-your-own-screwdriver proposition.

An LR3 base runs $349 and a Connect base about $399, well over half the price of a new EVO [s5][s3]. A $30 sensor kit on a box that otherwise cycles is easy arithmetic. A failed base on a nine-year-old unit, with no extended warranty available to it, is the point to move up.

Whisker also publishes no support horizon for the LR3. Its ten-year service goal appears on the Litter-Robot 2 discontinuation page and does not name the LR3, and the LR3’s own page commits to nothing beyond existing warranties [s4]. Parts are plentiful now. Nobody has promised they will be in 2030.

Check the Litter-Robot EVO price on Amazon

Frequently asked questions

Is the Litter-Robot 3 still available? No. Whisker discontinued the LR3 and LR3 Connect in late 2025, and its listings show the new and reconditioned units both out of stock [s1][s2]. Amazon listings read currently unavailable.

What replaced the Litter-Robot 3? The Litter-Robot EVO at $599. Whisker describes it as a compact model offering a similar experience at a similar price, and points LR3 shoppers to it directly [s1][s3].

Can you still get parts for a Litter-Robot 3? Yes, and they are in stock across the range, from a $5 pinch contact to a $349 base [s5]. Whisker does not perform out-of-warranty repairs, so fitting them is your job [s6].

Is the Litter-Robot 3 better than the Litter-Robot 4? On interior room and litter tolerance, yes [s7][s9]. The LR4 is quieter and has a much wider entry, and it can still be bought with a warranty behind it, which is why it wins for almost everyone now [s8][s4].

Sources

Prices and stock status were read from Whisker’s own product pages and from Amazon listings on 2026-07-26 and move often; check the current figure through the links. Reddit and retailer review text were not reachable when this was written, so owner-experience claims here come from published hands-on reviews rather than forum threads. No live Amazon price was readable for any Litter-Robot 3 listing, so none is quoted.

Check price on Amazon