Last verified: 19 October 2026. Prices, policies and legal cases in this category change often. Where sources disagree, this article says so instead of picking a number.
Location sharing is a family safety decision, not just a software choice. The app you pick decides who can see where your children, partner or parents are, how long that history is kept, and whether the company earns money from it. This comparison is built from each company's own policies and filings, regulator and court records, and named journalism, and it marks clearly what we could not verify.
Key takeaways
- Privacy model: HeyPolo says it never sells family location data and is built around each member consenting to what they share. Life360 has a documented history of selling location data, says it cut back after 2021, and still runs a data and advertising business alongside its subscriptions.
- Track record: Life360 reported about 102.4 million monthly active users in Q2 2026. HeyPolo is new, with its earliest press coverage in June 2026, so its claims have had far less outside scrutiny.
- Age limits matter: HeyPolo's privacy policy says its services are not intended for anyone under 16. Life360 publishes a children's privacy policy that covers under-13 accounts. If you are choosing for a young child, this single point may decide it.
- Emergency services: Life360's paid tiers advertise emergency dispatch and roadside assistance. We found no equivalent in HeyPolo, whose SOS alerts your chosen contacts.
- Price: Both charge per family, not per person. Published prices conflict for both apps, so check the checkout screen in your country.
How we researched this
We read both companies' pricing pages, privacy documents and press materials, Life360's August 2026 earnings release, The Markup's investigations into Life360, and the Texas Attorney General's complaint against Allstate and Arity. We also read independent coverage of HeyPolo.
Two limits you should know about. First, we did not run long hands-on tests of either app, so feature descriptions reflect what the companies and reviewers state. Second, several HeyPolo reviews carry promotional elements: for example, one launch article includes a reader discount link, which suggests a commercial arrangement. We treated those as secondary and checked claims against HeyPolo's own privacy policy. This article contains no affiliate links and TrendyInAI earns nothing if you choose either app.
This is general information, not legal, safety or parenting advice.
HeyPolo vs Life360 at a glance
| HeyPolo | Life360 | |
|---|---|---|
| Company | HeyPolo Inc., California; built by the team behind Surfshark | Life360, Inc., listed on NASDAQ and ASX |
| Maturity | Launched 2026; earliest coverage we found is June 2026 | Established; about 102.4M monthly active users in Q2 2026 and about 3.2M paying Circles |
| Approach | Consent-based sharing: choose exact location, general area or private mode, per person or group | Always-on family location with paid tiers for history, alerts and services |
| Platforms | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android |
| Location history kept | Trip and location data processed for 30 days, per its privacy policy | 2 days on the free plan, 7 days on Silver, 30 days on Gold and Platinum |
| Driving features | Speed monitoring, phone use while driving, driving safety score, crash detection | Crash detection, family driving summary; individual driver reports on higher tiers |
| Emergency help | SOS alert with location to your chosen contacts | SOS alert; emergency dispatch on higher tiers; roadside assistance on Gold and Platinum |
| Pricing model | One subscription covers the family; no free plan found | Free plan plus Silver, Gold and Platinum; each covers the whole Circle |
| Stated data-sale position | Never sold to advertisers, insurers or data brokers | Documented past sales; current partner and advertising use described in its own privacy page |
| Minimum age | Not intended for under 16, per its privacy policy | Children's privacy policy covers under-13 accounts |
Privacy and data practices (the part that matters most)
Life360: what is documented
In December 2021 The Markup reported, citing former employees of Life360 and of location data brokers, that Life360 was selling precise location data on its users to about a dozen data brokers. The company's chief executive did not deny selling data and said it helped keep core services free. The Markup reported that location data sales brought in $16 million in 2020, nearly 20 percent of the company's revenue that year. Life360 told investors in a later filing that it had received information requests from US regulators, including after The Markup's article, and the FTC and CFPB declined to comment to The Markup.
After the report, Life360 said it would stop selling to most brokers and sell precise data only to Arity, an Allstate subsidiary, and aggregated data to Placer.ai.
What the company says today: Life360's own privacy page says it uses Arity technology for drive and crash detection and allows Arity to use location data from the app to derive traffic insights and aggregated driving patterns. It also says it partners with Arity for personalized advertising, excludes data from members under 18, avoids sensitive places such as medical clinics, K-12 schools, military facilities and places of worship, and offers an opt-out under the app's privacy choices. Wording varies by region, so read the version for your country.
Two more facts that bear on trust. In January 2025 the Texas Attorney General sued Allstate and Arity, alleging they paid app developers to embed tracking software, and the complaint named Life360 among the apps involved. Allstate said its actions were legal. Life360 is not the named defendant in the sources we reviewed, and we could not confirm the case's current status from primary records. Separately, Life360's Q2 2026 results credit record revenue to subscription and advertising growth, which shows advertising is now a core revenue line.
We found no FTC enforcement action against Life360 in reliable sources. Some low-quality legal-claims sites assert otherwise; we did not rely on them.
HeyPolo: what its policy says
HeyPolo's privacy policy (last updated 28 August 2026) is detailed and specific, which is a good sign. Key points:
- Precise geolocation and trip information are processed for 30 days or until you withdraw consent, and driving scores and safety events for 30 days. Account data is kept while the account is active and for 2 years after your last login.
- Location and motion data are collected with separate consent, and you can revoke it in device settings, though features then stop working.
- It states data is never sold, leased or shared for reasons unrelated to the service. It also says marketing and analytics providers receive basic account and usage data but never precise location or trip history.
- Driving analysis is handled by a named partner, Sentiance NV in Belgium, which receives movement and device data to produce driving scores. This is a real third-party data flow, so "no sharing" would be an overstatement.
- If you give another member exact real-time access, they can also see your trip history, including routes. Group members can see the full address of places you add.
- The website uses advertising cookies from Meta and Google and attribution tools, with consent. The policy says these do not receive precise location.
- Services are not intended for anyone under 16.
The caveat is track record. HeyPolo's promises are written down and specific, but the company is months old and has no regulatory or breach history to examine either way. "No known problems" and "proven safe" are different things.
Features and real-world safety
Location and alerts. Both apps share live location and send arrival and departure alerts. HeyPolo reports updates as often as every five seconds and lets each person choose exact, general-area or private sharing, plus low-battery alerts and a feature that rings a family member's phone through silent mode. Life360 offers place alerts that are limited on the free plan (two places) and unlimited on Gold and Platinum.
Driving. HeyPolo scores speeding, phone use, harsh braking, rapid acceleration and cornering and detects crashes. Life360 detects collisions at roughly 25 mph and above and provides driving summaries, with individual reports on higher tiers. Driving scores are only as good as the sensors behind them, and we found no independent accuracy testing for either app.
Emergencies. Life360 advertises live dispatch on crash detection for paid tiers and roadside assistance on Gold and Platinum. HeyPolo's SOS sends a text with your location to contacts you choose, who need not be in your group. If professional dispatch matters to you, that difference is significant.
Pricing
Neither company's pricing is stable across sources, so treat these as ranges and confirm at checkout.
- HeyPolo: One subscription covers the whole family. Press coverage in June 2026 reported $3.99 a month. A separate review says plans start from $1.99 a month, and one outlet's reader promotion cited an annual plan working out to $3.99 a month. HeyPolo's pricing page lists a 30-day money-back guarantee and its site metadata mentions a trial, while an app-store listing mentions a 7-day trial. We could not pull a definitive price from HeyPolo's own page.
- Life360: Free plan plus Silver, Gold and Platinum. Silver has been reported at $7.99 to $9.99 a month, Gold at $14.99 to $16.99 and Platinum at $24.99. The $7.99 and $14.99 figures come from a March 2026 investor presentation; the higher ones come from a later membership-page snapshot reported by a third party. Canadian and Australian prices differ again.
On price alone, HeyPolo appears cheaper for the features compared, but only if its $3.99 figure holds for your region.
Who each app suits
HeyPolo may suit you if your family includes teenagers or adults who want a say in what is shared, you care most about a no-sale commitment in writing, and everyone is 16 or older.
Life360 may suit you if you need support for younger children, want emergency dispatch or roadside assistance, or value a mature product with a very large user base. If you choose it, review the privacy and data-sharing opt-outs in the app settings.
Neither is a substitute for conversation. Life360's own safety guidance recommends agreeing as a family on when location sharing is on and why. The same applies to any app.
A safety note on consent and abuse
Location-sharing tools are used in healthy families and also misused for control. Domestic violence organizations warn that location data can be used to stalk and threaten. If you are worried that someone is tracking you, the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233 in the US) and the Safety Net project at NNEDV publish guidance on phone and location safety. Only share location with people who know and agree.
What we could not verify
- Hands-on accuracy, battery impact and reliability of either app.
- HeyPolo's current official price, and its ratings, which are self-reported on its own site.
- Current status of the Texas case, and exactly how Life360's data flows to Arity work in each US state today.
- Independent security audits for either company.
We will update this article as new primary-source information appears.
FAQ
Is HeyPolo better than Life360? It depends on your priorities. HeyPolo is stronger on stated privacy design and price; Life360 is stronger on track record, emergency services and support for younger children.
Does Life360 sell your location data? It has, according to The Markup's 2021 reporting, and the company says it scaled that back in 2022. Its current privacy page describes a data partnership with Arity and personalized advertising, with opt-outs. Review the policy for your region.
Does HeyPolo sell location data? Its privacy policy and website say it does not, to advertisers, insurers or data brokers. It does share movement data with a driving-analytics partner to compute driving scores.
Is HeyPolo safe for kids? Its privacy policy says it is not intended for anyone under 16. For children under that age, Life360 has a children's privacy policy.
Is Life360 free? There is a free plan with limited history and place alerts, and paid tiers add more.
How long does HeyPolo keep location data? Its policy says geolocation and trip data are processed for 30 days or until you withdraw consent.
Sources
- HeyPolo homepage and pricing page, accessed 19 October 2026
- HeyPolo privacy policy, last updated 28 August 2026
- 9to5Google on HeyPolo, 10 June 2026
- 9to5Mac on HeyPolo, 13 June 2026 (includes a reader discount link)
- Cybernews, HeyPolo vs Life360
- Life360 Q2 2026 results, 10 August 2026
- Life360, Respecting Your Privacy Choices
- The Markup, Life360 selling precise location data, December 2021
- The Markup, regulators questioned Life360, April 2022
- Texas Attorney General press release on Allstate and Arity, January 2025
- BleepingComputer on the Texas lawsuit
- Life360 member protection resources
- Greenlight, Life360 review (note: Greenlight sells competing family products)
- iTechGuides, Life360 plans and pricing
