The 4 Best GPS Dog Collars and Pet Trackers of 2025

The most important thing a tracker does is help you find a lost pet. So we prioritized location accuracy and connection speed over all other features.

Many of the devices we tested also offer health, sleep, and activity tracking. And though these are nice to have and can be fun to use, we considered them to be bonus features, so we didn’t do extensive comparative testing on them.

I tested the trackers, both the cat and dog versions, on more than 30 different outings with my dog, Dave, over a month in Lincoln, Nebraska, and on another 20 outings in New Haven, Connecticut, in mid-summer.

I took several walks with Dave myself, usually for about 30 to 45 minutes per walk. But more often I tracked his location when my wife and a professional Rover walker took him out, with various devices attached to his collar and harness each time. I also took the trackers for a spin at a large dog park.

The weather can be temperamental in Nebraska, which, if nothing else, provides great testing opportunities. The devices were all used on cold and unseasonably warm days, as well as during several rainstorms. We also tested them under gloomy, overcast skies, when clouds might interfere with satellite signals, and all of the trackers endured the pummeling Great Plains winds. In follow-up testing in Connecticut, some of the devices were used in both moderate and extreme summer heat.

We had extra help from Six, my next-door neighbor’s 9-pound indoor/outdoor cat, who agreed to wear one of the cat trackers for a couple of weeks while he was out doing his cat rounds. We also had long-term testing feedback from a 14-pound orange cat named Hobbes, as well as two additional dogs: Mia, a 16-pound Chihuahua-poodle mix, and Piglet, a 24-pound miniature schnauzer-Chihuahua mix.

Here’s how we tested each tracker:

Location accuracy during live tracking: Each device has a live-tracking feature that you turn on when you start the frantic search for a lost pet. When enabled, the tracker should update the animal’s location frequently, so you can follow them in real time (or close to it). We tested each tracker’s ability to track a pet’s movements by comparing Dave’s location on the devices’ respective apps and asking his walker where he actually was. On several occasions, I gave Dave and his walker a five-minute head start and then tried to find them using each app. Depending on how much Dave stopped and sniffed, they often got more than a quarter-mile away before I started my search. At the dog park, I let Dave run loose within my eye line, getting up to 400 feet away, so I could compare his actual location to what the apps displayed. Finally, we watched the cat Six’s comings and goings, and we used the app several times to find him.

Speed of connecting to GPS: When you realize your pet is gone, there’s no time to waste. We timed how long it took each tracker to activate the live-tracking feature and connect to the GPS signal.

Escape alerts: We measured how long it took each tracker to push an escape alert once the animal had left the “safe zone”—a geofenced area we set up in each app. Unfortunately, none of the escape alerts were immediate—with the fastest ones arriving about a minute after crossing the boundary. Our advice is to do your best to keep tabs on your animal, since these devices are not very fast at letting you know when a pet is gone.

Battery life: A dead tracker is just a miniature brick on your pet’s collar. We compared each device’s battery life after a dozen outings under similar conditions, often using the battery-intensive live-tracking feature. We should note that most of the trackers we tested allow you to create a “power-saving zone,” where the collar can connect to a designated Wi-Fi or Bluetooth network. When the trackers are in this zone, they don’t spend energy searching for a GPS signal, thus saving significant battery life. We also compared the charging apparatuses each tracker required.

Ease of use: We compared how easy it was to set up each app and tracker, including adding a pet and creating a geofenced “safe zone.” We also considered how user-friendly the app’s interface was, and we looked at the different maps and their zoom/centering options that might make locating an animal easier (or harder, as the case may be).

Physical features: If the devices had lights or played sounds, we tested those to see how helpful they might be in finding an animal. We also evaluated the size, weight, and appearance of each model, and we looked at how easy they were to attach to a collar.

Bonus features: If an app had the ability to share your loose pet’s location with friends or family, or to form a search party for a lost animal, we tested those and evaluated their usability. As mentioned above, we did not do extensive comparisons of health- or activity-tracking features, nor did we compare each app’s other extras, such as leaderboards and external app-integration capabilities. Mostly we found these distracting, but we realize they can add value and a little bit of joy to an expensive item.

Subscription plans: Most of the models we tested must be used with a corresponding subscription plan, similar to a cell-phone service. We considered the various subscription prices and time frames, and we compared what each plan offered. But a quick word of advice: No matter which model you buy, we suggest getting the shortest possible subscription plan initially, to make sure the device works for you and in your area. Most companies offer an initial return period (usually 30 days), so you’ll have a little time to test it out. But if you’ve committed to a longer subscription and discover later that the tracker no longer works for you, or if, say, you move to a new area with less cell coverage, the company might not prorate a refund if you cancel with time left on your plan.