By Best Pet Picks Daily • September 02, 2026 • Contains affiliate links
Fall is prime crate-shopping season. The dog is shedding into your rug, the windows are closed, and that folding wire kennel parked in the middle of the living room suddenly looks a lot more like an eyesore than a training tool. So the annual question comes back around: do you upgrade to a furniture-style wooden crate, or stick with metal and spend the money on something else?
There isn't one universal answer, and anybody who tells you otherwise is selling something. A wooden end-table crate is a beautiful piece of furniture and a mediocre containment device for a strong chewer. A wire kennel is the opposite — ugly, but nearly indestructible and machine-simple to clean. The right pick depends almost entirely on your dog's chew drive, your training stage, and whether the crate lives in the mudroom or next to the couch.
Before purchasing, measure your dog's dimensions (length, height, and width when standing) and compare them to the crate specifications, as an undersized crate will be uncomfortable and an oversized one defeats the training purpose. Additionally, consider your living space and whether you need a collapsible metal kennel for easy storage or a sturdy wooden crate that doubles as furniture.
To make this useful, we compared AECOJOY's wooden furniture-style crates against three genuinely popular alternatives you'll actually find in stores and on Chewy: the MidWest Homes for Pets iCrate, the Diggs Revol, and the Casual Home Wooden Pet Crate End Table. Real prices, real trade-offs, and an honest verdict at the end about which one wins for which dog.
AECOJOY sits in the middle of the furniture-crate market: typically $130–$220 depending on size, which undercuts boutique brands like Fable or Unipaws while offering more finished construction than the cheapest Amazon no-names. The build is usually MDF or engineered wood over a solid frame, with vertical slats, a magnetic or latch-style door, and a flat top rated to hold a lamp, plants, or a TV soundbar. Sizes generally run from small up to large (roughly 42"), and most models arrive flat-packed with numbered hardware — expect 30–45 minutes with a screwdriver. Where AECOJOY earns its keep is the finish quality per dollar: the veneers are consistent, the slat spacing is tight enough that small dogs can't wedge a head through, and the crates read as furniture rather than as a crate wearing a costume. AECOJOY also sells matching pet beds and outdoor pet gear, so if you're building a coordinated setup for a living room this fall, you can buy the crate, the cushion, and the outdoor pen from one brand. You can browse the current lineup at the AECOJOY store here. The honest caveat: like every wooden crate in this price band, it is not built for a determined escape artist or a dog in the destructive phase of separation anxiety. Wood scratches, slats can be gnawed, and there is no bottom pan to catch accidents.
MidWest Homes for Pets iCrate (the metal benchmark)
The iCrate is the crate almost every trainer and vet tech defaults to, and for good reason. A 36" double-door model runs roughly $45–$70, a 42" around $70–$90 — often half or a third of a wooden crate. It folds flat in under a minute for car trips, includes a removable plastic pan you can hose off in the driveway, and ships with a divider panel so one crate grows with a puppy from 15 lbs to 70 lbs. Cleaning is trivially easy, which matters enormously during house-training and during the muddy-paw months of October and November. The downsides are equally real: it looks like a cage, the thin-gauge wire on the cheaper sizes can be bent by a powerful dog, corner welds occasionally fail on the largest models, and it rattles. If your crate lives in a bedroom or laundry room where nobody sees it, none of that matters. If it lives in your living room, all of it does.
Diggs Revol (the premium metal option)
The Revol is what happens when someone redesigns the wire crate from scratch, and it costs accordingly — roughly $300 for the medium, $400+ for the large. You get diamond-pattern steel mesh instead of bars (no gaps to catch a jaw or paw), a puppy divider, a ceiling hatch, a side door, an included plastic tray, and wheels so you can roll it room to room. It collapses like a stroller in about ten seconds. For anxious dogs, powerful chewers, or anyone who genuinely travels with their dog, the Revol is the safest and most durable option in this comparison by a wide margin. But you're paying two to three times what an AECOJOY wooden crate costs, and it still looks like a crate — an attractive, well-designed crate, but not furniture. Larger dogs also max out around 70–75 lbs on the biggest size, so giant breeds are out.
Casual Home Wooden Pet Crate End Table
Casual Home is AECOJOY's most direct competitor and the longest-running name in furniture crates, usually priced $110–$190 depending on size. The construction is comparable — engineered wood, slatted sides, single latching door — and Casual Home offers a slightly broader color range including espresso and white. In practice the two brands are close enough that price and available finish should decide it. Casual Home's advantage is a longer track record and wider retail availability, meaning easier returns through big retailers. AECOJOY tends to feel slightly more contemporary in styling and often includes a more usable, better-supported tabletop. Neither brand is a serious containment solution for a chewer, and both share the same weak point: the door latch. If your dog paws at doors, add a carabiner on day one, regardless of brand.
The Cleaning Factor Nobody Mentions
Fall changes the math. Wet leaves, mud, and the start of indoor-heating shed season mean your crate gets dirtier from October onward. Metal crates with removable pans win here outright — pull the tray, hose it, done. Wooden crates require a washable liner or a waterproof mat you commit to laundering weekly, because engineered wood and repeated moisture do not get along. If you're crating a puppy who is still having accidents, buy metal now and buy the wooden crate in spring when house-training is finished. That sequence saves money and saves a warped crate floor.
Pros & Cons
Pros
✓ Roughly $130–$220 versus $300–$400+ for a Diggs Revol — you get living-room-acceptable looks for a fraction of the premium-crate price
✓ Functions as a real end table with a usable flat top, something no MidWest iCrate or Diggs Revol offers at any price
✓ Slat spacing and veneer consistency are tighter than most budget Amazon furniture crates, and styling reads more contemporary than Casual Home's espresso-heavy range
✓ Matching pet beds and outdoor pet gear from the same brand make it easier to build a coordinated setup than mixing MidWest, Diggs and a random wood crate
Cons
✗ No removable plastic pan — cleanup after accidents is far messier than the MidWest iCrate, and moisture can damage engineered wood over time
✗ Nowhere near the containment strength of a Diggs Revol; a determined chewer or escape artist will damage the slats or defeat the latch
Our Verdict
Here's the honest split. If you have a puppy still house-training, a heavy chewer, or a dog with separation anxiety, buy metal — the $60 MidWest iCrate for budget builds, the $300 Diggs Revol if you want the safest, best-engineered crate available and travel with your dog. No wooden crate, AECOJOY's included, is the right tool for those jobs. But if you have a settled, crate-trained adult dog who treats the crate as a den rather than a puzzle to solve, and the crate has to live in a room you actually entertain in, a wooden crate is the better long-term buy — and AECOJOY is the better value in that category, offering finish quality comparable to Casual Home at a similar or slightly better price, with a more usable tabletop. Our practical recommendation for fall: metal first, wood second. Get through mud season and training with an iCrate, then upgrade to an AECOJOY once your dog has earned it. If your dog is already there, skip the metal step entirely.
Can a wooden dog crate hold a large breed like a Lab or German Shepherd?
Size-wise, yes — AECOJOY and Casual Home both make 42-inch models that fit most Labs and Shepherds. Strength-wise, it depends entirely on the individual dog. A calm, crate-trained adult will be fine. A dog that scratches, pushes, or chews at the door will damage a wooden crate, and you'd be better served by a MidWest iCrate or a Diggs Revol.
How do you clean a wooden dog crate after an accident?
Blot immediately, clean with an enzymatic pet cleaner, and dry thoroughly — never let liquid sit on engineered wood. The practical fix is prevention: use a waterproof crate mat or washable liner from day one and launder it weekly. If accidents are still frequent, use a metal crate with a removable pan until house-training is complete.
Is the Diggs Revol worth three times the price of a regular wire crate?
For most owners, no. For anxious dogs, frequent travelers, or anyone who has already had a dog injure itself or escape a standard wire crate, yes. The mesh sides eliminate paw and jaw entrapment, the collapse mechanism is genuinely fast, and the build quality is a clear step up. If your dog crates quietly and stays home, a $60 MidWest iCrate does the same job.
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