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Parenting & Family · head to head

Find My Kids vs Life360

Find My Kids logo

Find My Kids

Parenting & Family

Child GPS tracker and parental control app

From
Free
Rated
-
Life360 logo

Life360

Parenting & Family

Family safety and location sharing

From
Free
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Find My Kids screen time limiting on Android depends on the accessibility services permission; Life360 the Silver membership stores only 2 days of location history and allows only 2 Places with alerts
  • They diverge on capability: Find My Kids covers Real-time GPS tracking, Life360 covers Real-time location sharing.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Find My Kids and Life360 actually diverge.

Attributes where Find My Kids and Life360 differ
AttributeFind My KidsLife360
PlatformsIos, AndroidIos, Android, Web
Founded20162008

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Parenting & Family).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Find My Kids

  • Real-time GPS tracking
  • SOS button
  • Loud signal
  • App usage stats
  • Screen time control
  • Geofencing
  • Battery status
  • Data encryption

Only in Life360

  • Real-time location sharing
  • Place alerts
  • Crash detection
  • Emergency SOS
  • Driving safety reports
  • Roadside assistance
  • Family messaging
  • Apple Watch

Both cover

  • Location history
  • Cloud deployment
  • Ios support
  • Android support
  • English language support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Find My Kids

  • Viewing a child's live location and the route they travelled during the daynot Life360
  • Getting alerts when a child arrives at or leaves school, home or another saved placenot Life360
  • Sending a loud signal that rings through silent mode and receiving SOS alertsnot Life360

Life360

  • Sharing family member locations on a shared mapnot Find My Kids
  • Alerting parents when a child arrives at or leaves school, home or worknot Find My Kids
  • Crash detection and roadside assistance for family driversnot Find My Kids

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Find My Kids

  • Screen time limiting on Android depends on the accessibility services permission
  • The app requires camera and photo access to set a child avatar and microphone access to send voice messages in chat
  • Tracking requires the child to carry a phone running the paired child app

Life360

  • The Silver membership stores only 2 days of location history and allows only 2 Places with alerts
  • 30 days of location history and unlimited Place alerts require the Gold membership
  • Crash detection with emergency dispatch and live agent support, 24/7 roadside assistance and individual driver reports are Gold membership features
  • Stolen phone protection is capped at $250 on Gold and $500 on Platinum
  • Stolen fund reimbursement is capped at $25,000 on Gold, with $1 million only on Platinum
  • Free towing is limited to 50 miles and only on the Platinum membership
  • Travel support with disaster assistance and medical support are Platinum only
  • The Android app contains ads and in-app purchases

Pricing, plan by plan

Find My Kids

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Basic location
    • SOS button
    • Limited history
  • Premium$2.99/month
    • Real-time tracking
    • Unlimited history
    • Multiple children

Life360

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Location sharing
    • Place alerts
    • 2 days location history
  • Silver$7.99/month
    • Everything in Free
    • 30 days location history
    • Unlimited place alerts
  • Gold$19.99/month
    • Everything in Silver
    • 24/7 emergency dispatch
    • Roadside assistance
  • Platinum$39.99/month
    • Everything in Gold
    • SOS emergency response
    • Medical assistance

Which should you pick?

Choose Find My Kids if

  • You need real-time gps tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Ios, Android.
  • You also want sos button.

Choose Life360 if

  • You need real-time location sharing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Ios, Android, Web.
  • You also want place alerts.

Questions people ask

Is Find My Kids or Life360 better?
Neither clearly leads. Find My Kids starts at Free and Life360 at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Find My Kids or Life360?
Find My Kids starts at Free and Life360 at Free.
Does Find My Kids or Life360 run on more platforms?
Find My Kids runs on Ios, Android. Life360 runs on Ios, Android, Web.
Can I use Find My Kids for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Find My Kids best used for?
Find My Kids is most often used for viewing a child's live location and the route they travelled during the day, getting alerts when a child arrives at or leaves school, home or another saved place, sending a loud signal that rings through silent mode and receiving sos alerts. Of those, viewing a child's live location and the route they travelled during the day and getting alerts when a child arrives at or leaves school, home or another saved place are not what Life360 is typically brought in for.
What can Find My Kids do that Life360 cannot?
Find My Kids covers Real-time GPS tracking, SOS button, Loud signal, App usage stats. Life360 covers Real-time location sharing, Place alerts, Crash detection, Emergency SOS. Both handle Location history, Cloud deployment, Ios support, Android support.

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