The hardware is cheap. The plan is not.
A GPS tracker is a subscription with a battery attached. Every genuine tracker carries a SIM and therefore a monthly plan; the Bluetooth tags sold beside them are not trackers at all — they find a collar in the house, not an animal in a field. We compare plan cost over three years, update interval in live mode, real battery life at that interval, weight on the collar, and whether the plan follows you abroad.
Multi-network SIM · 1-second Superlive mode · 4G LTE-M/NB-IoT and 2G
The smallest tracker here, with a multi-network SIM and a Superlive mode that returns a new position every second. A subscription is required, as everywhere in this family.
Best for: A cat that roams, where size and a fast live refresh matter more than health graphs.
Bluetooth · Google Find Hub · Android only · CR2032, 12 months · IP67 · 10 g (0.4 oz)
A Bluetooth collar tag that reports through Google Find Hub when an Android phone passes nearby, with a year of battery on a coin cell.
Best for: An Android household in a town, for a collar that gets lost rather than an animal that runs
Apple Find My · iOS only · no SIM · IP65 · integrated collar · $16.99
The iOS version of the MDTZULIK collar tag, reporting through Apple Find My with no subscription, on an integrated adjustable collar rated IP65.
Best for: An iPhone household in a town, where seventeen dollars is the deciding figure
4G · Europe and North America · LED light · speaker · escape alerts
A 4G tracker with an LED light on the collar, a built-in speaker you can talk through, and escape alerts when the animal leaves a safe zone.
Best for: Dogs that get lost after dark, and anyone who has stood in a field knowing the dog is within fifty meters and invisible.
32 g (1.1 oz) · integrated collar · LTE/2G · subscription from €5/month
Tractive’s cat tracker: 32 grams including an integrated collar with a weight-adjustable safety catch, live tracking with no range limit, and a subscription that starts at €5 a month.
Best for: An outdoor cat, where the question is which field it is in rather than which room.
≈ $72
LTE · 175+ countries · heart and breathing rate · bark monitoring
Tractive’s dog tracker: live location in more than 175 countries, resting heart and breathing rate, sleep and activity, and bark and scratch monitoring.
Best for: A dog that recalls unreliably, a dog that travels, or a dog whose barking you want counted rather than guessed at.
≈ $55
Find My and Find Hub · no SIM · IP67 · trim-to-size nylon collar · dogs
A no-subscription collar tag claiming both Apple Find My and Android Find Hub, supplied on a trim-to-size nylon and PU collar rated IP67.
Best for: A full-grown medium or large dog in a household with both iPhones and Android phones
Apple Find My · iOS 15.4+ · IP68 · speaker · 18–30 cm (7.1 to 11.8 in) collar · 12-month standby
An Apple Find My collar tag with a speaker that can be sounded from the phone, IP68, and a claimed twelve months of standby.
Best for: An iPhone household in a town, to find a collar rather than follow an animal
No SIM · DEONETAG app · IP68 · 7-day route history · QR sharing
A collar tag with no SIM or subscription, paired to the DEONETAG app, keeping seven days of route history.
Best for: A collar that goes missing around the house, not an animal that runs
No SIM · 10 g (0.4 oz) · IP67 · 365-day battery claimed · app by QR code
A ten-gram collar tag with no SIM and no subscription, claiming a year of standby and real-time positioning.
Best for: Nothing this page establishes — the architecture is not stated
Apple Find My · iOS only · no SIM · IP68 · 9–16 in collar included
A collar tag reporting through Apple Find My, supplied with an adjustable 9 to 16 inch collar, at $22.98.
Best for: An iPhone household that needs the collar as well as the tag
Apple Find My · iOS only · no SIM · IP68 · magnetic case and keychain
A collar tag that reports through Apple Find My, with no SIM and no subscription, supplied with a magnetic case and a keychain.
Best for: An iPhone household in a built-up area, for a collar rather than an escape
GPS + LTE + Bluetooth · 29 g (1 oz) · 14-day battery · IP68 · 12-month plan included
A cellular pet tracker with live GPS, escape alerts and a recovery network, sold with twelve months of Silver subscription and a fourteen-day battery.
Best for: A dog that gets out, where a position from a field is the whole point
Radio direction-finding · 2 tags of 5 g (0.2 oz) · 150 m (492 ft) range · 1 inch accuracy · no app
A radio homing system with two five-gram tags and a handset that guides you to within an inch, with no phone, no satellite and no subscription.
Best for: An indoor-outdoor cat that hides within the gardens rather than one that roams
Network coverage and service quality decide the real usefulness. A tracker out of coverage locates nothing.
Proximity trackers without a SIM card cost nothing to run, at the price of a very limited range.
The usual rule of thumb is that an accessory should stay within a few per cent of the animal's weight, and a four-kilo cat sets a low ceiling. The weight stated in grams is the first sort for a cat, not the range.
SIM-card GPS trackers need one, usually monthly. Proximity trackers without a SIM need none and reach far less far.
From a few days to a few weeks depending on the position frequency set. Live mode drains the battery fast.
Wherever there is network. In a dead zone, the last known position is the only information available.
As light as possible: that is the main limit on a cat. The collar must stay safe, with a fastening that releases if it snags.
No. The chip is permanent, legal identification; the tracker is an object that gets lost and runs flat. They complement each other.
They alert when the animal leaves a perimeter. Their accuracy depends on the signal and sometimes produces false alerts.
Most are to some degree. Check the rating if the animal swims or goes out in all weathers.
The tracker becomes unusable. That is a real risk on this kind of product tied to a remote service.
A tracker never replaces the microchip: one is permanent identification, the other an object that runs flat and gets lost. The collar must have a fastening that releases if it snags, and a tracker in a dead zone gives only its last known position.
For a column to exist, four items in five have to publish the value. Otherwise we would mostly be comparing empty cells.
| Model | Price | Subscription |
|---|---|---|
| Tractive GPS Dog (2025 Edition) | $55 | Required — from €5/month depending on plan |
| Tractive GPS Cat Mini (2026) | $72 | Required — from €5/month depending on plan (Tractive) |
| BOMERAHE B-02 collar and locator | — | None |
| Focushine F18A | — | None |
| Knvieeu DEONETAG tag | — | None |
| Life360 RETP-4041 | — | 12 months Silver included, then auto-renews |
| MDTZULIK Google Find Hub tag | — | None |
| MDTZULIK Tracker for iOS-01 | — | None |
| NGXDFL GF11 | — | None |
| SxingUxing F18B | — | None |
| Nilone F 18B | — | None |
| TabCat V2 homing tags, pack of 2 | — | None, ever |
| Pawfit 3 | — | — |
| Weenect XS for cats | — | Required |
Specifications: manufacturer sheets for pet devices and the matching Amazon product pages. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure in this table names its source.
Most recent revision in this category: October 6, 2026.
Prices quoted in these summaries are dated readings. The live price is shown next to each product.
