Frequently asked questions

Not in the sense most people mean, and the distinction is worth getting right. A true GPS tracker reports its position over a cellular network, and somebody has to pay a carrier for that — so there is always a cost, billed monthly or prepaid into the purchase price. What genuinely has no fee is two other things: Bluetooth crowd-network tags like AirTag, SmartTag2, Chipolo and Pebblebee, which piggyback on strangers' phones for free; and radio direction-finding systems, which have no network at all because the handheld talks straight to the collar. The full cost comparison is here.

An AirTag has no GPS receiver and no cellular radio. It broadcasts an encrypted Bluetooth identifier, and any passing Apple device relays what it heard — so you learn where the AirTag was when somebody last walked by. A GPS tracker has a satellite receiver and a SIM card: it works out its own position and sends it over the cellular network whether anyone is nearby or not. That is why one costs nothing to run and the other needs a plan. The full comparison is here.

A Bluetooth tag, by roughly a factor of fifteen. An AirTag or SmartTag2 costs its purchase price plus about a dollar a year in coin cells — call it $30 over three years. A cellular tracker at a published $12.95 a month costs $466 of plan across the same period even when the device itself is under twenty dollars. Device price is close to irrelevant in this category; the plan is the purchase.

No. There is no monthly fee, no annual fee and no paid tier, and AirTag tracking works on a free Apple Account with no iCloud+ subscription. The reason is structural rather than a pricing decision: the data that locates your AirTag is carried by the phone plan of whoever walked past it, so there is no recurring cost for Apple to pass on. More detail here.

Finding a Tile is free. The features Tile advertises hardest are not: smart alerts, 30-day location history and item reimbursement now sit behind a Life360 membership, published at $9.99 a month for Silver, $16.99 for Gold and $24.99 for Platinum. So Tile is not subscription-only, but it is subscription-shaped. The breakdown is here.

Google Find Hub tags — Chipolo, Pebblebee and Motorola's Moto Tag — work on any Android phone, with no subscription. Samsung's SmartTag2 needs a Galaxy specifically rather than just Android, which catches people out constantly: Samsung states the requirement as a Galaxy phone or tablet on Android 9 or later. AirTags do not work on Android at all beyond being detectable over NFC, which is the anti-stalking mechanism rather than a feature. The Android roundup is here.

The manufacturer figures — Samsung states up to 120 m for the SmartTag2, Chipolo states up to 120 m for the LOOP, Pebblebee states 500 ft for the Clip 5 — are open-field, line-of-sight numbers that collapse through walls. But direct range is largely beside the point: the useful range of a crowd-network tag is however far away the nearest participating phone is, which in a city is meters and in open country is miles. Why range specs mislead.

Manufacturer figures: Apple states more than a year for an AirTag's CR2032 based on everyday average usage; Samsung states up to 500 days for the SmartTag2; Chipolo states about a year per charge for the rechargeable LOOP; Pebblebee states up to 12 months per USB-C charge for the Clip 5. Cellular trackers are a different world entirely — days to months, depending almost entirely on reporting interval. The comparison is here.

The GPS part does — satellite positioning needs no network and works anywhere with a view of the sky. Sending that position to you is the part that needs a network. So a tracker in a dead zone knows exactly where it is and cannot tell you, and typically uploads its stored track when it regains signal. More on this.

Both platforms detect it automatically. Apple alerts you when an AirTag or Find My accessory that is not yours has been separated from its owner and seen moving with you over time; you need iOS 17.5 or later, Location Services with Significant Locations on, Bluetooth on, Tracking Notifications enabled and Airplane Mode off. Android has the same protection under Settings, Safety & emergency, Unknown tracker alerts — including a manual scan that takes about ten seconds. Step-by-step on both platforms.

No, and this is an important gap. Your phone's unknown-tracker scan looks for Bluetooth beaconing, which cellular trackers do not do. Finding one means a physical search or an RF detector that picks it up while it is actively transmitting — and many cellular trackers sleep when the vehicle is stationary, so a sweep of a parked car can easily find nothing. How to search properly.

On a vehicle you own or lease, generally yes. On someone else's, frequently not: California Penal Code § 637.7, for example, makes it a misdemeanour to use an electronic tracking device to determine the location or movement of a person, with exceptions where the registered owner, lessor or lessee consents and for lawful law-enforcement use. Other states differ substantially and family-law contexts add their own rules. This is not legal advice. What the statutes say.

Under FAA rules, yes. The FAA requires spare, uninstalled lithium batteries to travel in the cabin, but a battery installed in a device is treated as part of that portable electronic device and is permitted in checked baggage; lithium metal cells are limited to 2 grams of lithium content, which a CR2032 is well under. Individual airlines can be stricter, so check your carrier. The full answer with sources.

It depends entirely on whether your dog leaves, and whether it leaves where there are people. A dog that bolts into a suburban street is found by a Bluetooth tag in a waterproof collar holder, for nothing. A dog that works a field needs cellular — roughly $252 of plan over three years on Tractive's published Basic rate — or a radio system with no subscription at all. The dog roundup is here.

If they can use a phone, a phone with location sharing does almost everything a tracker does and is the device they will actually carry. For an older child, a cellular smartwatch is usually the honest answer — a carrier line rather than a tracker subscription, and they will keep it on. Dedicated trackers earn their place for a wearer who cannot call for help. And tell them: covert tracking of a family member has legal edges and, practically, a teenager who finds a hidden tracker learns how to defeat tracking. The family roundup is here.

No, and we say so on every page. There is no test lab here: no range testing, no battery endurance runs, no water-resistance checks. What we do is read each manufacturer's published specifications and cite them with the date, find the real subscription price, work out what thirty-six months of ownership costs, and name the buyer each device is wrong for. The full method is here.

Because a star rating implies a measurement we did not take. A score out of ten on a device nobody here has handled is decoration with a number painted on it, and it is the single easiest thing to fabricate in product reviewing. In its place, every pick names the use case it suits and at least one buyer who should skip it. Our editorial policy.

Directly from Amazon's product API, refreshed daily and stamped with the date they were checked. Nothing is typed in by hand — the content files have no price field at all. Any price older than 48 hours disappears automatically and the button reverts to “Check price on Amazon”, so the failure mode is a gap rather than a number that has rotted. How we make money.