The Best GPS Trackers for Kids and Their Concerned Parents

This keychain-style device is powered through many's cell phone provider, allowing you to bundle its service fee into your monthly bill. (Of course, 12 months are included, so you won't have to sweat it for the first year.) It has 10 feet of water resistance, a super-long battery life, and geofencing.

AngelSense has been a favorite of ours when it comes to performance, and with a recent update, which makes its battery last 30 percent longer while adding an SOS call and fall detection, it's better than ever. Of course, these features only add to its laundry list of functionality, including live location tracking, non-removable wearing (great for kids with special needs; it unlocks via key), speakerphone, geofencing, and even a school bus monitoring. The downside: While it's cheaper on the front end, it requires a $33/month fee for monitoring.

Waterproof, camera-enabled, and running off 4G, the Tracker Pro provides multiple redundancies that allow you to contact and track your child. Along with calls, messaging, SOS button, and geofencing, your child is concurrently tracked via GPS, LBS, and WiFi for precision. If one goes down, the others are quietly humming in the background.

With its carabiner-like design, it attaches to your child on obvious or hard-to-reach locations alike. Then, powered by a three-day battery, it gives off a signal strong enough to be detected from up to three miles away, making it ideal for use in amusement parks, zoos, and other large gatherings. The best part: It's not smartphone-service dependent, but rather operates with a unit you yourself hold on to. It has a 'home base' function for lunchtime meetups and end-of-day rendezvous.

This top-rated and very small tracker (minuscule enough to attach to your kid's shoelaces) clips onto clothing and shoes, and lets parents know not just where their kids are but who they're with. It uses Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular, and GPS data to track your kids. It pairs with the parent's smartphone to provide real-time location information and geofencing data. Plus, parents invite other adults to their 'care team' and thus, know exactly who their kids are with at any given time. Note that this tracker requires a subscription plan; the battery lasts about a day and a half.

Both a walkie-talkie type phone and a GPS tracker, this device combines the best of both worlds. You can use this screenless phone to communicate with your kids via another unit or through your smartphone, and use the associated app to always know where they are. Plus, parents set up geofences for home or school and get automatic notifications when kids get to or leave those areas. Note: The service costs $10 per month. You can add up to 10 Relays to your account, so this is great if you have multiple kids out and about. Finally, right now the company is selling refurbished models, which may not be new-in-box, but you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at them.

We love a good piece of tech wizardry as much as the next parent, but if your child is already fused with his or her iPhone, then the Find My Kids app may be the best option. Installed on your kid's device (and with protections to make sure he or she can't turn it off or delete it), it tracks his or her movements with geofencing, as well as sounds a literal alarm bell if your child has muted his or her phone. That will certainly catch his or her attention. It's a monthly fee, but rather affordable.