Life360 has launched a $7.99 Pet Tag that provides house owners a less expensive different to its Pet GPS tracker, however the two merchandise do very totally different jobs. The tag works solely after somebody finds a pet and scans its QR code, whereas Pet GPS can actively monitor an animal that has wandered away.
Life360 introduced the Pet Tag on August 25 alongside new pet-care routines and Zoomies alerts. The corporate says greater than 8 million pets at the moment are registered on Life360.
Life360 Pet Tag vs Pet GPS at a look
| Characteristic | Life360 Pet Tag | Life360 Pet GPS |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront value | $7.99 one time | $49.99 {hardware} itemizing |
| Subscription | None | Required for GPS options |
| The way it locates a pet | Finder scans QR code and might share location | GPS, LTE, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi |
| Dwell location | No | Sure |
| Escape alerts | No | Sure |
| Battery | None | As much as 14 days claimed |
| Finder can contact proprietor | Sure | Sure |
| Greatest match | Identification after a pet is discovered | Energetic monitoring and escape alerts |
The merchandise can complement one another, however house owners selecting just one ought to begin with a easy query: do they need assistance discovering the pet or primarily assist getting it dwelling as soon as another person finds it?
The $7.99 Pet Tag works solely after somebody scans it
Life360’s Pet Tag help web page confirms that the tag shouldn’t be a GPS or Bluetooth tracker and doesn’t present ongoing location updates.
When a finder scans its QR code, the proprietor can obtain an app notification, inbox message, and e mail containing data the finder chooses to share. The finder may go away a be aware or share their location with out putting in Life360.
House owners handle the contact particulars connected to the tag by means of the pet’s Life360 profile. Life360 says the proprietor’s telephone quantity and e mail could be shared with the finder.
That makes the Pet Tag basically totally different from Bluetooth merchandise trackers comparable to Google Pixel Tag and Apple’s AirTag, which may use close by gadgets to replace an merchandise’s location with out ready for anyone to scan a code.
If a pet is lacking and no person has discovered it but, the Pet Tag can’t inform the proprietor the place it’s. Its benefit is simplicity: no charging, no subscription, and no digital tracker hanging from the collar.
Pet GPS provides stay monitoring and escape alerts
Life360 Pet GPS is designed for energetic monitoring. It combines GPS, LTE, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi and might ship an Escape Alert when a pet leaves a configured Place.
Life360 charges the rechargeable battery for as much as 14 days relying on use. Beneath 6%, the tracker can enter Bluetooth Reserve Mode, which the corporate says can preserve it discoverable by means of close by gadgets for as much as six months.
The tracker weighs 28 grams, or 33.7 grams with its mount, in response to Life360’s specs. That makes it considerably bulkier than a passive tag.
Pet GPS additionally connects to Life360’s Pet Finder Community. A Misplaced Pet Alert can notify eligible Life360 members close to the reported location, whereas Life360’s help documentation says the proprietor’s telephone quantity is shared with recipients and the alert stays seen for as much as 72 hours.
There’s a QR fallback too. A finder can take away the tracker from its collar mount and scan the “Scan Me If Discovered” code on the again to contact the proprietor with out putting in Life360.
For comparability, Apple’s $29 AirTag 2 makes use of the Discover My community fairly than mobile GPS. It prices much less to take care of, however it doesn’t provide the identical stay GPS monitoring or geofence-based escape alerts.
Pet GPS prices greater than the tracker value
The $49.99 {hardware} value doesn’t inform the entire story as a result of Pet GPS requires a qualifying Life360 membership.
Life360’s newer supplies promote a $99 Pet GPS provide that features one yr of Silver for eligible new or returning members. A present Life360 help article says Silver renews at $99.99 per yr until canceled and might help as much as two Pet GPS trackers within the paid Circle.
Gold and Platinum memberships additionally help Pet GPS, though some older Life360 assist pages nonetheless replicate the earlier Gold-or-Platinum-only setup.
Multi-pet households also needs to look ahead to activation prices. Life360’s present documentation says every extra Pet GPS added to a Circle requires a one-time mobile activation payment, though it doesn’t publish the present quantity.
At launch in October 2025, Life360 stated the primary machine’s activation payment was waived and extra trackers value $79.99 to activate. Consumers including a couple of tracker ought to verify the present payment at checkout.
The Pet Tag collects much less location knowledge, however it’s not data-free
Life360’s privateness coverage particularly describes safety protections for Pet GPS, together with encryption of location knowledge at relaxation and in transit.
These {hardware} protections don’t translate on to the Pet Tag as a result of the tag has no GPS radio, Bluetooth {hardware}, battery, or programmable electronics.
The related knowledge begins when anyone scans the QR code. Life360 says a finder can submit a be aware and placement whereas the proprietor’s contact data is used to reconnect them.
The corporate’s broader safety supplies say knowledge despatched between gadgets and Life360 programs and saved in its major programs is encrypted. What its public Pet Tag documentation doesn’t specify is a tag-specific retention interval for scan data, finder-submitted areas, or messages.
That could be a narrower privateness query than the unique draft recommended. The tag shouldn’t be silently monitoring a pet, however utilizing the QR service can nonetheless create account, contact, and finder-submitted knowledge inside Life360’s programs.
Which Life360 pet product do you have to purchase?
The $7.99 Pet Tag makes extra sense for house owners who primarily need an updatable ID tag. It has no battery or subscription and offers a finder a easy route again to the household.
Pet GPS is healthier suited to pets that roam or escape steadily. It provides stay location, geofences, escape alerts, and Life360’s restoration community, however it requires extra {hardware} on the collar and an ongoing membership.
Utilizing each supplies two restoration paths: Pet GPS will help find a lacking animal, whereas the Pet Tag provides whoever finds it first a fast strategy to contact the proprietor.
Comparable restoration networks have gotten extra widespread outdoors pet monitoring too. Google’s Discover Hub can use close by gadgets and short-term location sharing to assist house owners get well misplaced belongings.
Additionally learn: Some Android apps can move exact location knowledge to promoting SDKs as soon as location permission has been granted, making data-flow disclosures one other consideration for related providers.
