Alternatives to life 360?

Start with the free options, because for most families one of them covers the gap Life360 leaves: Google Maps location sharing across platforms, Apple Find My if everyone is on iPhone, and Google Family Link if you manage an Android child's device. None of them needs a subscription.

Free, and what each one does

1. Google Maps → Location sharing — Android to iPhone, share for a set time or indefinitely, shows last-seen time and battery. The closest free drop-in for Life360's map.
2. Find My (Apple) — precise location, arrival and departure alerts per person, works via the Find My network when the phone is offline. Apple-only.
3. Google Family Link — live location, screen-time limits, app approval, bedtime for a child's Android account. No driving reports, no crash detection.
4. Carrier family locators — Verizon Smart Family, AT&T Secure Family, T-Mobile FamilyMode: location plus network-level filtering, a few dollars a month, no app on the child's phone.

What Life360's paid tiers genuinely add is why people stay: crash detection with automatic dispatch, SOS, driving reports, roadside assistance. Maps, Find My and Family Link do none of that, and no dashboard replaces a 911 call.

Where a dashboard fits instead. If you want a record rather than a family circle — where the device was, SMS and call logs, browser history, installed apps — Ultimate Phone Spy covers that on Android 4.0+, Windows and Mac (https://ultimatephonespy.com/location-tracker). Plans are $69.90 per month, $40 per month billed quarterly, or $16 per month billed annually, all with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Two limits to know before paying: there is no iPhone support, so an all-iPhone household should stay on Find My, and it is monitoring for a device you administer, not a real-time crash-alert service.

The lawful frame. A minor child's phone, your own device, or a company phone with written notice. Installing it on another adult's phone without consent is unlawful in most jurisdictions; if you need that evidence, the admissible path is consent or a court order.