The 10 Best Pet Trackers

Editor's Notes

November 1, 2026, by Ezvid Wiki Editors:

The Tractive DOG 6 now leads. It was the most accurate cellular tracker in independent field tests, it works on all three major U.S. networks, and it doesn't cost much to buy. The catch for every cellular tracker is the monthly plan, so this version also covers the fee-free kinds: the Tabcat V2 and Marco Polo Advanced use radio homing, and the Garmin Alpha TT 25 talks by radio to a handheld.

Only the Marco Polo survives from the earlier version. Whistle shut down its service in 2025, and the Link AKC Plus, PetFon GPS, FitBark GPS, Cat Tailer and Pawfit 2 have left the market. The Tractive 3G ran on 3G networks that U.S. carriers have shut down. We dropped the Dynotag ID and The Cat Caller because they don't track location.

The ranking leans on two field tests that ran several collars side by side through towns and woods, a cat tracker roundup, each maker's battery and plan terms, owner complaints about coverage and fees, and CPSC recall records, which showed nothing for these brands.

Earlier notes

April 29, 2021, by Will Rhoda:

For the most part, this list still seemed to be in good shape, and included some of the best options on the market, but we did identify a few places to improve on things, starting by removing the Loc8tor Tabcat, which wasn’t available at the time of this update’s publication.

We replaced the Link AKC Smart Collar with its logical successor: the Link AKC Plus. Aesthetically, the Plus sports a style that’s quite similar to the company’s original model, but this version benefits from firmware upgrades that improve the unit’s accuracy, and it also offers better battery life.

We added the Pawfit 2 to our list, despite noticing some complaints of questionable accuracy and spotty connectivity with the app. Our leniency in this respect came down to acknowledging that virtually every prominent option in this category had some such complaints attached to it, and appreciating that the Pawfit 2 had some standout features that deserved to be recognized by our rankings.

What were those features? Well, we liked that it issued temperature warnings, which might not be overly useful, but it could also save your four-legged friend’s behind once or twice, if you live in a cold climate and you’re the sort of absent-minded pet owner who has been known to be guilty of leaving your pet outside for longer than you intended. And, we also liked the unit’s text-to-speech functionality, which will identify your pet and let a stranger know where to return it, if it ever gets lost and found before you realize it’s missing. Granted, that’s really just a techy spin on a traditional engraved collar tag, but it still serves a purpose. Last but not least, we liked that it notifies you anytime it’s removed from your pet’s collar, which is a step toward guarding against deliberate petnapping, and not just accidental loss.

If what you’re looking for isn’t so much a loss-prevention device, but rather a capable tracking unit to take your dogs out hunting with, then you might find that you have better luck with our list of GPS dog collars.

March 19, 2020, by Jeff Newburgh:

One of the most important factors to consider with a pet tracker is how well it can ensure an animal's overall safety, regardless of the environment in which it lives. These devices provide you with peace of mind and visibility into your dog or cat's behavioral patterning and physical whereabouts. This is accomplished through a variety of GPS, Bluetooth,and/or cellular network technologies that are built into our selection so that you're always connected to a pet in one way or another.

We've done our best to present options that not only satisfy the expected status quo for keeping Fido as safe as possible, but that also go above and beyond to provide additional insight into a pet's daily life and how they interact with the world around them.

The Whistle Go Explore, for example, provides any combination of email, text, and app alerts when your dog leaves a designated safe zone, but it also offers monthly monitoring and reporting of a pup's scratching, eating, and sleeping behaviors, some of which can clue you into his overall well-being and whether or not preventive measures may be needed. For the more adventurous human-canine duo, we've included the PetFon GPS, which delivers a tracking range of nearly 3.5 miles in open territory.

Self-contained systems like the Eureka Marco Polo eliminate the need for expensive cellular contracts or dependence on GPS technology, which comes in handy if you travel to places with poor network coverage.

For those who want more than just a tracking solution, we've also added the FitBark GPS, as it can be linked with Fitbit, Apple Watch, Apple HealthKit, and Google Fit devices, allowing both human and canine companion to meet their fitness goals together.

Some of our options, like the Loc8tor Tabcat and Cat Tailer, are dedicated to tracking felines when they happen to wander off. From personal experience, I can tell you that cats, as independent as they may be, are even more difficult to track down than many dogs when they have a mind of their own. Just in the last 6 months alone, I've returned a neighbor's lost cat several times after finding him wandering the street (and nearly hit by a car), thinking to myself how useful it would be if his owner were to equip him with a tracker on his collar and not just a phone number engraved into his tag.

Few people want the mental anguish of spending hours posting lost pet flyers around their neighborhood when they could use one of these trackers for added insurance. While these devices may not be miracle workers, they can help to increase the odds of saving your pet's life at the crucial moment and bringing them back home quickly and safely.