Best GPS Trackers for Cats and Dogs in 2020

Best GPS Trackers for Cats and Dogs iMore 2020

• Best Overall: Tractive 3G GPS Dog Tracker
• Best Short Range: Loc8tor Tabcat Pet Tracker
• Best in the Wild: Findster Duo+ Pet Tracker
• Best Battery Life: Whistle Go Explore
• Best Tracker Unit: PetFon Pet GPS Tracker

Best Overall: Tractive 3G GPS Dog Tracker

Capable of working in over 150 countries around the globe, this comprehensive solution is a GPS-based option that requires a low-fee, monthly subscription plan. Thanks to its 3G technology, Tractive gives you real-time, unlimited range tracking of your pet, with their position updating every three seconds that you can view in the companion app or via a browser.

The unit itself is suitable for animals weighing nine pounds and up, boasts a rechargeable battery good for up to five days, and is IPX7 waterproof and shock-resistant.

As well as the live tracking that can be used when your animal does a runner, you can also use the Tractive system to view your pet's past activity and location history. You can also set up a virtual fence and receive alerts if your pet strays from a predetermined area.

Best Short Range: Loc8tor Tabcat Pet Tracker

A best-seller, the Loc8tor Tabcat Pet Tracker is a small, lightweight, splashproof tag that you can attach to your pet's collar to track them down if they go missing. Weighing in at only five grams, it's a solution that is suitable for cats as well as dogs. Rather than a GPS-based solution, this uses RF-based directional tech that works like an electronic version of the hot and cold finding game to show you the right direction to go to find your fur buddy. It works indoors and outdoors up to a range of 400 feet (just under 122 meters).

As well as helping you find your pet, you can use this tracker as a training device. The control unit can set off a small beep from the pet's tag, which, depending on how compliant your pet is, could be used to train them to come home.

Best in the Wild: Findster Duo+ Pet Tracker

Designed for pets that weigh eight pounds and up, the Findster Duo+ is perfect for use out and about and while on walks. A GPS-based solution that doesn't require a monthly subscription, thanks to the unit's "MAZE" technology, you don't even need cellular coverage for this to track your pet. It has a range of up to three miles in open, outdoor conditions and a half a mile reach in urban ones.

The unit has a battery life of 12 hours in always-on mode, weighs in at eight ounces and is waterproof and shock-resistant. As well as tracking down a pooch that's gone too far when off the lead, you can also use this unit as a pet activity monitor. It can also ring-fence a safe area with alerts if the animal strays.

Best Battery Life: Whistle Go Explore

If you need to know where your dog's at all times, consider a fully-fledged, real-time GPS-based solution like the Whistle Go's Explore. Requiring a monthly data plan from AT&T, this device uses the service provider's nationwide network, Google maps, and the companion Whistle app to show your animal's location anywhere in the country. The tracker unit itself is rugged and waterproof, offers up to 20 days of battery life, and even has a built-in light.

As well as straight-forward tracking, this solution also lets you view a 24-hour timeline of your dog's activity, set up alerts, so you get a notification if your pet leaves a designated safe area, and provides health data by displaying info on your pet's licking, scratching, sleeping and activity levels.

Best Tracker Unit: PetFon Pet GPS Tracker

Another outdoor solution, the PetFon tracker uses GPS and Bluetooth for accurate, real-time positioning of your pet with an outdoor, open space range of three and a half miles, and an urban range of 0.65 miles. The tracker itself measures in at 1.65 inches by 1.65 inches by 0.7 inches and is both rugged and waterproof. The rechargeable battery can last up to 16 hours, and the compact charging station can re-juice the tracker unit several times once fully charged.

Using the companion PetFon app, you can geofence certain areas and get notifications if your pet leaves the safe zone. What we really like about this solution's hardware is that you can activate colorful lights on the tracker and play audio from it to pinpoint your pet's exact location when you know you're close-by but can't see them because of foliage/low light, etc.

Finding Fido

With 80% of lost pets never found, you really want to consider putting a safeguarding system in place for your precious pupper or much-loved moggie. A GPS-based solution is the most universally useful with the ability to track your pets wherever they have wandered.

Our overall pick, the Tractive 3G GPS Dog Tracker, works in 150 countries around the world. It updates every few seconds so you can see, at a glance, exactly where your pet has got to. This option also offers a much recommended geofencing functionality that will alert you the second your pet leaves a safe zone you have created, so you can get a heads up that they are straying before you even start to miss them.

Credits — The team that worked on this guide