If you're looking for the best GPS trackers for kids, there are a lot of options out there from brands you may not have heard of before. We've even recommended some before that had a lot of promise, but ultimately shut down leaving you with a bricked device and no way to keep tabs on your kids.
That's why I recommend the Apple Watch SE 3 and Fitbit Ace LTE as the best GPS trackers for kids today. The SE 3 is ideal if you use an iPhone, as you can set the watch up for your child using your phone, and the Fitbit option is great if you're on Android; you need a subscription, but the watch is a lot cheaper than the SE 3.
The best GPS trackers for kids available right now
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Best GPS tracker for iPhone
Apple has some of the most comprehensive parental safety and child account management tools built directly into your iPhone. And you can use your Apple account to set up a cellular Apple Watch to give to your child, allowing them to message, take calls and for you to see their location in the Find My app.
Because of this seamless experience, using your iPhone without extra subscriptions, I rate the Apple Watch as the best GPS tracker for kids right now for iPhone users. And specifically, I think the Apple Watch SE 3 is the model you should go for, although you can choose any cellular edition of the best Apple Watches.
The SE 3 is Apple's latest entry-level model, but it has very similar hardware to the flagship Series 11 and the older Series 10 (released in 2024). It runs the latest version of Apple's watch software (watchOS 26) and has almost every feature of the most expensive watches, minus some of the health tracking ones like an ECG monitor.
In any case, Apple disables many of the watch's health features when assigned to a child, so there's no need to spend more on the Series watches. The battery life, like almost all Apple watches, is rated for 18 hours, so it will need a daily charge, but it should easily see them through school and any evening activities.
And since digital devices can be a distraction in class, there's a school time mode you can enable that disables notifications and blocks apps during education hours. Though, they can temporarily disable this mode if they need to do things like check for messages or call emergency services.
You will need to buy the cellular version of the SE 3, which costs $50 more than the Wi-Fi-only edition, and have a plan for it too, which increases the lifetime price. However, your existing cell plan may include free or reduced cost add-ons for wearables, so it's worth investigating before you take out a new plan just for the watch.
- Read our full Apple Watch SE 3 review
Best GPS tracker for kids for Android
The Apple Watch SE 3 is a fully functional adult smartwatch with a child-friendly mode. The Fitbit Ace LTE is a fitness-tracking smartwatch actually designed specifically for children, with a built-in access to LTE networks and a recurring monthly subscription to access all the features you need like location tracking and messaging.
It is the best GPS tracker for kids if you have an Android phone, but it's also a good option if you're more embedded in Google's ecosystem or if you don't feel your child needs a full smartwatch like the SE 3. Plus, like all of the best Fitbit trackers, it actually works with Android and iPhone, so it's more versatile too.
Since it carries the Fitbit name, it might not be too much of a surprise that the main focus is on encouraging children to stay active throughout the day. But the Ace LTE isn't a fitness tracker in the same way as adults would use. Instead, the software and tracking is set up in a more playful, less metrics-focused way.
The design of the watch has the rounded corners of the Fitbit Versa 4, but you can customize it with additional straps. These are more kid-focused, bright and fun than the standard ones you get on many of the best fitness trackers, and will (hopefully) make your child feel excited to wear it.
Like the Apple Watch SE 3, with the Ace LTE you can call and text your kid, see where they are and it has a school time feature to disable apps and notifications. You don't need a separate cell plan to make it all work, as it is built into the watch and enabled with the recurring subscription, known as the Ace Plan, for $9.99 per month.
There's a built-in reward system for staying active too — 60 minutes of activity unlocks 15 minutes of gaming on the watch. Of course, a bright and colorful screen, all-day fitness tracking and location features means that you'll need to recharge the watch when they're home; it's rated for 16 hours, but in practice, will likely be less.
- Read our Fitbit ACE LTE hands-on
How to choose the best GPS tracker for kids
Since you're on a page about the best GPS trackers for kids, it stands to reason that you're looking for a way to securely track where your child is throughout the day when they're not at home. Many people use cheap tracking devices like Apple AirTags to do this while attached to a bag or item of clothing.
These are useful proxies for your kids' location, but it's not the same, as a bag could get lost or a tracker could fall off (or be taken off) leaving you with no real way of contacting your kid to check where they are and if they're okay. So if location and safety features are your main priority, then a kid-friendly smartwatch is the way to go.
There are a lot of options from brands which solely focus on kid GPS tracking smartwatches, and some from companies which produce a large range of consumer tech items. Often, these are relatively inexpensive, but there can be compromises for that, either privacy or reliability.
I don't mean to tar all brands with the same brush — there are a lot of people who care deeply about making sure kids are safe when away from home — but it can be hard to find a balance between affordability, functionality and protecting your kids' privacy. That's why I've only recommended two options; one from Apple and one from Google.
Both companies already sell some of the best smartwatches, packed with an incredible array of sensors and safety features that integrate extremely well with their respective platforms (Apple's iPhone and Google's Android devices). And both brands have family features that allow you as the parent to manage a child's device.
So these GPS tracker kids smartwatches play nicely with your phone, making it easier to manage your kids' device, set up features like school time and screen time and get in touch with them when you need. Plus, the Apple Watch and Fitbit Ace LTE offer convenient, secure real-time location tracking with apps you already use.
