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Parenting & Family · head to head

Life360 vs Find My Kids

Life360 logo

Life360

Parenting & Family

Family safety and location sharing

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Find My Kids logo

Find My Kids

Parenting & Family

Child GPS tracker and parental control app

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

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

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Life360 and Find My Kids differ
AttributeLife360Find My Kids
PlatformsIos, Android, WebIos, Android
Founded20082016

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 Life360

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

Only in Find My Kids

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

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.

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

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

Where each one falls short

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

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

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

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Find My Kids

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

Which should you pick?

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.
Life360 review

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.
Find My Kids review

Questions people ask

Is Life360 or Find My Kids better?
Neither clearly leads. Life360 starts at Free and Find My Kids at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Life360 or Find My Kids?
Life360 starts at Free and Find My Kids at Free.
Does Life360 or Find My Kids run on more platforms?
Life360 runs on Ios, Android, Web. Find My Kids runs on Ios, Android.
Can I use Life360 for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Life360 best used for?
Life360 is most often used for sharing family member locations on a shared map, alerting parents when a child arrives at or leaves school, home or work, crash detection and roadside assistance for family drivers. Of those, sharing family member locations on a shared map and alerting parents when a child arrives at or leaves school, home or work are not what Find My Kids is typically brought in for.
What can Life360 do that Find My Kids cannot?
Life360 covers Real-time location sharing, Place alerts, Crash detection, Emergency SOS. Find My Kids covers Real-time GPS tracking, SOS button, Loud signal, App usage stats. Both handle Location history, Cloud deployment, Ios support, Android support.
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