BuddySOS vs Life360
Life360 has been publicly documented selling location data to data brokers and stores up to 30 days of location history on its paid plans. BuddySOS guarantees no location history is ever stored, and signs you in with just a phone number.
Is Life360 safe?
Switch if you want the location sharing without the data trail. Life360 works, but it stores your location history and sold user data to brokers before. BuddySOS keeps no history at all and signs you in with a phone number, not an email profile.
| Feature | BuddySOS | Life360 |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free forever, safety features never gated | $0 (basic). $14.99 to $24.99/month for full features |
| SOS / emergency alerts | Free. SOS button plus SMS to your contacts | Basic Circle alert free; live dispatch is a paid add-on |
| Arrival / departure zone alerts | Free, 1 per group, up to 5 | Limited places on free; unlimited on Gold and Platinum |
| Location history stored | Never. There is no setting to change | Yes, stored and shown in a timeline |
| Data collected at sign-up | Phone number only | Email + profile info required |
| Sells your location data to third parties | No, never | Documented sales to data brokers (The Markup, Dec 2021) |
| Available on | iOS and Android, worldwide | iOS and Android |
Why people ask if Life360 is safe
“Is Life360 actually safe to use?”
It's safe from a security standpoint, but in December 2021 The Markup reported that Life360 sold precise location data for tens of millions of users to data brokers including Arity, X-Mode, Cuebiq, and SafeGraph. In January 2022 the company said it would wind those deals down, though it kept the one with Allstate's Arity. BuddySOS shares your live location only with the people in your private group, never with advertisers or data brokers, and stores no location history at all.
“I don't want a history of everywhere I've been saved anywhere.”
Life360 stores a timeline of your Circle's movements. BuddySOS stores nothing. There is no history setting to find, because the app was built without the feature.
“I don't want to pay for basic safety features.”
Life360 gates live emergency dispatch behind its Gold and Platinum plans. BuddySOS's SOS button and SMS escalation to emergency contacts are free at every tier, no upsell wall.
No location history. Ever.
Free on iOS and Android. Your location reaches your group and stops there. Nothing stored, nothing sold.
