looking for a family location tracker that's actually free. not a free trial, not "free with subscription" — something i can use indefinitely without paying. don't care about fancy features just want to see where my family is on a map
google maps location sharing. 100% free, made by google, cross platform (ios and android).
no subscription, no trial, no ads. just open google maps > tap your profile > location sharing. share with whoever.
most people don't realize this is free and built-in. they go download life360 and complain about the paywall. google maps does the same thing and doesn't nickel and dime you
OP: wait that's actually free forever?
forever. google's business model with maps is advertising / local business data, not location tracking subscriptions. no incentive for them to paywall it
if everyone in your family has iphones, find my (built into ios, free, zero setup beyond family sharing) is even better. only works for apple families though
life360 free tier used to be useful. then they started locking core features (driving reports, place alerts, history) behind paywalls. now the free tier is pretty gutted. i moved my family to google maps
little fyi — "free" location apps all have to make money somehow. google's making money by learning where you go and correlating it with searches and ads. not charging you directly but you're the product in a sense. fine with most people, just know it's the tradeoff
OP: i'm ok with that, i already use google for everything
we use google maps. works fine. my kids are 8, 11, 13, 1 6. no drama, no battery issues, and when someone's phone dies i can see their last location. no complaints after 2 years
if you want more features than "where are they" eventually (driving reports, geofencing, etc) life360 and bark exist. but for pure location, google maps. set it and forget it
Start with a full-feature demo — no credit card needed.