Free GPS Tracking Applications and Software

You can get GPS tracking for free. There are a couple of different ways to get real-time tracking for your family, friends, or co-workers, but the vast majority of them have something to do with cell phones. Below is a list of several different free GPS tracking services that you can take a look at and decide which one is going to work best for you and your family.  Not all these free applications are available on all mobile devices, so be sure to look at the specific application’s compatible device list to see if your cell phone can run this free GPS tracking software.

InstaMapper – Cell Phone Tracking Made Simple

InstaMapper is a free cell phone tracking application available for download and installation on a cell phone. Getting an account is free and only takes a minute or two (be sure to have a valid email address ready for the registration process). After registering you will install an application on your cell phone that is going to provide all the tracking data. This application, when running, will periodically send the phone’s GPS coordinates to InstaMapper servers where they will compile the data for your own use.

Once your GPS coordinates are there, you can login to your account and see your location on an interactive Google map. This can be great for finding your way around a new place or figuring out exactly how to get someplace (this does require that your cell phone have internet access).  Also, if you want your family or friends to know where you are you can give them the login credentials to your account or you can embed a map of your location on a web property (such as a web page, blog, or Facebook profile). Alternatively, you could send them a link that will take them to a map on the InstaMapper website that will look like this.

This free application also lets you record 100,000 locations per mobile phone, organizing them into different tracks and exported in a variety of formats. This volume of locations is equivalent to several months of 24/7 tracking! Now that is a lot from a completely free GPS tracking application.

This is a very powerful application for anyone looking to let other know about their position in the world. Here is a list of compatible phones for this application.

If you are interested in this option, you should really consider looking at to get one of the many Boost Mobile cell phones that are compatible with these devices. According to the InstaMapper website, data plans can run as little as $0.35 per day, which comes out to around $11 per month, making it one of the most economical GPS tracking devices ever – and with an anticipated battery life of 8-12 hours this has many different potential uses for people and for companies.

If you are going be using this cell phone GPS tracking to monitor a teen driver, to check up on a cheating spouse, to monitor workers while they operate company vehicles, or just to get a better picture of where you have been or are at in the world then InstaMapper should be a very strong candidate for your GPS tracking needs.

3dtracking – Bringing GPS Tracking To PDAs

3dtracking is another application that can be downloaded for cell phones that can provide real-time GPS tracking, but unlike the InstaMapper application this is also available on a range of PDAs. For devices that are compatible with this software see their list of compatible devices.

Being an application compatible with PDAs, it lets you integrate a GPS device that you already own (like an automobile navigation unit like a Garmin Nuvi 760) with a web-enabled or cell phone PDA.  This can be extremely useful for those that already own these devices and who want to take advantage of one of the many free GPS tracking apps out there.

Here is a mock-up combination of devices from the 3dtracking website:

A possible example of a set-up for using 3dtracking is a Windows Pocket PC device (such as an Ipaq) that is used with a GPS receiver (Bluetooth or wired). The application will obtain the GPS data from the receiver and then transmit it back to our servers (if your device is both a phone and a PDA (e.g. the i-Mate/Qtek range of products) then it can connect via GPRS. If not, you can transmit all your data to our servers when you sync your PDA to your computer). Once on our servers, you can log in at any time to see your traveled route on either Google Earth or Google Maps. Just select your starting date and time, as well as your end date and time, and our systems will show you exactly where traveled and your speeds along the way.

You can make this data available to other people in a similar fashion to InstaMapper: you can give someone the login credentials to your account or you can put a map on a web property that you own.  However, it does appear that in order to put your map up on a website you must be able to edit information in the <head> html section of the webpage.  This is not possible on websites like Facebook, MySpace, or WordPress.com.  It is possible on Blogger, a self hosted WordPress blog, or a static html page that you might create.

In the end, this is an adequate system if you already have one of the devices mentioned on the list – but if you are just starting out and don’t own a device yet you might want to give InstaMapper a shot if you want to share your position data with someone else.

Mologogo – A Free Social Cell Phone Tracking GPS

Mologogo is like the Facebook of free GPS tracking applications for cell phones.  You can access the location of yourself or your friends from your phone or the web, giving you a quick picture of where everyone is at any given moment of the day.  This is great for people who are constantly on the go and love to keep their friends close.  You can get alerts when people on your friends list are close to you, or you can search to see if your friends are around a certain point of interest (like the club you are at), and stay updated with local weather and traffic conditions all from the same screen. Mologogo also lets its users engage in mobile chat, so you don’t need to burn up text messages if you don’t have an unlimited plan but want to have a quick conversation with a friend in your area.

Mologogo also lets you interact with all this data from a PC.  You can get a picture of where your friends are at at that very moment, you can add new friends to your account, and you can even show your location on your own webpage or blog (just like InstaMapper and 3dtracking).  Your ability to engage with others via your position information with this free cell phone tracking application is pretty phenomenal and offers something that neither of the two previously mentioned applications are able to provide as easily.  This is definitely the most social of all the GPS tracking apps I have seen.

If you want to know if your phone is compatible with this application then you should take a look at the following compatible phone list.  What this list essentially includes is any Nextel, Sprint, or Boost Mobile phones that is able to support Java and also has a GPS receiver installed. Mologogo is also able to be used on Blackberries, Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phones, and SmartPhones on any mobile provider as long as there is an external or internal GPS with the device.

The social aspect of Mologogo is really the best thing about it.  If you want to use your cell phone as a GPS tracking device for the purpose of connecting with your friends then there is no better application on the market.  But it does lack some of the useful features that make InstaMapper such a good application for a wide range of applications.  You simply cannot go wrong with Mologogo if you just want to stay connected to your friends.

LiveTracker – A Blackberry GPS Tracking App In Beta

LiveTracker is currently in beta development and is only available for Blackberry devices. It is still free, so users of the Blackberry should definitely consider using this free software on their phones.  One main perk is that you don’t need to register an account to use this software – all you do is download the software from the SkyLab website and install it on your phone. Start running the application and it will begin recording and sending your location coordinates that it gathered via GPS to the LiveTracker servers.

The ability to share locations with this app is still a little limited – you can only send tracking links via EMail, PIN, SMS, and MMS. You cannot currently embed your location like you can with all the other free GPS tracking applications already mentioned. While this is not that big of a deal for some users, embedding is very important to some users. However, since this software is still in beta you have to realize that these are probably features that the developers are planning on implementing at some point.

If you use a Blackberry you still might want to check this out if you are just trying to dabble in what cell phone GPS can provide.  It might not be as cool, powerful, or full featured as InstaMapper, 3dtracking, or Mologogo – but just because it isn’t now doesn’t mean that one day it might be the best app out there.

GeoTrack24 – Free (Limited) GPS Tracking For Phones and Devices

GeoTrack24 offers a free GPS tracking service, but the “free-ness” of this service is rather limited.  A free account will allow you to track one device, allow 1 person to be able to view this data, and has a history of 3 days.  There appears to be no way to share data with others, making it very hard to use this service for very much.  What does make this service unique is that it can be used on a wide range of devices – both cell phones and various GPS tracking devices.  For a full list of compatible devices see their cell phone list and units list.

Because you can use some GPS tracking devices with this service it is something that you might want to consider using, but the limited device history and 1 account makes it severely limited in what it can do.  They do offer some subscription based plans that are relatively inexpensive (rates are quoted in Pounds), but when you can get a similar, but better, service for free on a cell phone from another software package then you should probably consider this service last on your list.

If you just want to do some minimal free GPS cell phone tracking then this software is probably going to be good enough for you.  However, you should definitely consider some of the other applications mentioned here since they offer a higher quality service.

OpenGTS – Consumer Grade Free GPS Fleet Tracking Software

OpenGTS is a free GPS tracking software that is commercial grade.  Its main application is to be used in GPS fleet tracking, but it could be used to help a family monitor the activity of several people or vehicles at the same exact time.  This free software also differs greatly from some of the other applications mentioned above in that it is a server side tracking software – meaning that it is not installed on any device but is instead installed on a computer.   OpenGTS acts like the captain of your GPS tracking device, taking in the information that the device transmits via GPRS.

If you are looking for a short right up of this service you can read more about it at OpenGTS: A Free GPS Fleet Tracking Software.

GolfLogix – Free GPS Tracking Software For Golf Enthusiasts

If you are in the market for a free golf GPS tracking software then you have to check out GolfLogix.  They offer a a free golf GPS application for iPhones and Blackberries.  They don’t currently have a free app for all the different styles of Blackberry, so head on over to their site at GolfLogix to see if your particular flavor is able to run their software.  If you are a Verizon customer, you might be out of luck since this carrier is notorious for not letting people install third party applications on their Blackberries.

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If you are looking to get free GPS tracking then you are probably going to be looking to the cell phone.  The number of free and useful applications available on these devices makes it a very compelling pick for those interested in getting GPS information in real time to a wide range of interested parties.

Do you have any experience with these free GPS cell phone tracking applications?  We would love to hear about them in the comments section below.

55 thoughts on “Free GPS Tracking Applications and Software”

  1. Of the many examples of free tracking systems mentioned in this nice overview, I tried Mologogo and Instamapper. Probably the best one was not mentioned: myTracking. Works with Blackberry, iDen, Windows Mobile, and most java phones (Nokia) and the phone software is EXTREMELY stable. No reboots needed like Mologogo. The map pages have some features I have not found in the others: geofences with SMS alerts, ability to track multiple units on one map, map pages for PDA’s, upload photos that can be openned from the maps.

  3. Transportlines.com allows full fleet tracking for free. They also have a wordpress plugin allowing you to implement a limited tracking solution with WordPress.

    1. Free GPS fleet tracking is a very useful thing. I’m glad to hear that some people are trying to make it available to people for free. I must say though, your website looks like it could use some help. If you want to make it appear more credible then I would suggest that you make things look a little cleaner. While it is a great thing to offer GPS tracking for free for people, if you want people to be serious about using your service then you want to give them a credible first impression. Just my two cents.

      Thanks for stopping by.

      -Joe

  5. Let me present my free product this is new alternative called SPYSAT
    Until now it supports Google Android and Windows Mobile, but data protocol is open so every other platform could be used. Technical documentation is available on my site.

    1. Hello Niraj,

      I really don’t know how you can track a person using their mobile number. As far as I know this is not possible for normal people or for commericial companies that are not cell phone providers themselves. I am pretty sure all such things are scams. If, however, you can get the cell phone provider of that number to give yout he location you can locate a cell phone pretty accurately.

      -Joe

  9. What info is needed to track someone via GPS that gives exact address and time. I suspect that my girlfriend retrieved some kind of info from my phone directly (when I left it around) through one of the icons and was able to download through a 3rd party. I called the carrier who said it wasn’t done through them (otherwise I would’ve gotten an email). What kind of info do you think was given to be able to track? Also, do you think that by choosing “off” on auto location – does this block the tracker? Thx.

    1. Hi Liz,

      Almost all GPS tracking applications are able to tell the time and address (though this is often an approximation) of the device that they are tracking. The device does need to have both power and the GPS turned on for this to work.

      So there are two ways for you to stop a GPS tracking application from taking down your position. The first is to keep your cell phone off. If the phone is not on the it is not able to give out your position over the cell phone network. The second is to turn off the GPS on the the cell phone. This can be done in the settings of the cell phone for most operating systems.

      I hope that helps.

      – Joe

    1. Hey Liz,

      Yeah, taking the battery out will definitely ensure that the phone is off. That is really all that matters though – turning off the phone. If you want to take the battery out that is really up to you.

      -Joe

  11. sir,
    i have lost my cell phone.. And i have the imei number and the bill and all the stuff to prove that phone is mine.. The thing is is there any way i can track it on my own without taking help of the police?? The phone i lost is a nokia e71.. It does have an internal gps receiver..
    Kindly advise..
    -Rohit

  12. is there any way to track my wifes phone for location and texts : i beleive she is having an affair and want to be sure we have a verision plan but i can not get her serial # ,only phone #

    1. Hi Larry,

      Probably the easiest way to do what you are talking about is to enable the parental controls on your verizon account. As far as I remember, it is something like $10 a month to track a phone. You can’t track the texts with this, but it does work on a lot of cell phones on the verizon network without having to download anything on the phone. If you wanted to go a free route you will have to see what type of cell phone she has and what free trackers area available for that phone.

      – Joe

  15. Does the application autorun when there is gps coverage or one must run it manually for it to transmit?This is i case the phone is stolen.

    1. Hi Titus,

      The answer to your question is that it depends on the app. A lot of social tracking apps force you to check in to make your location know. This means that the person in control of the phone has to log into the app and tell you where it is if it gets stolen. I would recommend not holding your breath to wait for that to happen.

      Then there are other apps that let you track them constantly. This includes Google Latitude and My Mobile Lookout. Both apps are going to let you track the phone for as long as it is on. My Mobile Lookout will even give you the last known location, but that normally is just the last place you did a location search on. You definitely hope that they leave your phone on if it gets stolen.

      -Joe

  17. Hi,
    I have an older Omniscout 1000 that I used to subscribe to, is there anyway to get the same type of tracking for free? It has a SIM card and both GSM and GPS antennae. It’d be nice to have it being tracked again, i just didn’t want to keep paying the fees.
    Thanks!

    1. Hi Mikey,

      I don’t know of any way to use a real-time tracking device without some sort of access to a wireless communication network. If you know how to use a cell phone network without having to pay for it I would love to hear how. 🙂

      It is the access to these networks that companies charge you for with their monthly programs. Of course they make money off what they charge you too so if you could findsome way to get you device to send text alerts from your device through a cell phone provider (most have texting plans under $10 a month) it would be cheaper than going through the tracking provider.

      – Jos

  18. can I track /trace a cell phone location using my pc by simply typing in their phone number ? Is there a down loadable program for my pc for this ?

    1. Hey Jim,

      You cannot track/trace a cell phone just by typing in the number on your PC. There is a way to find out the registration information for a cell phone by paying a company to give you that information. The registration information will include the registered address of the phone – which is like getting the location of the cell phone – but it is not necessarily the exact location of the cell phone at the time you enter the number into the website.

      These websites are often fairly expensive, $20 to $30 for the name of the owner, address, carrier, etc, and are probably not worth the money unless you really want to know who is harassing you with phone calls.

      If it is someone in your family then I would suggest downloading a tracking app onto their phone or setting up the family locator service with your cell phone provider. You will then be able to find out where they phone is pretty accurately whenever it is on.

      – Joe

  19. Hey…i got in a bad wreck yesterday and i cant find my phone anywhere! Its not on the site of the wreck or in my car and it shows no activity so we dont think it was stolen. But my phone is dead now and is there anyway i could get the location of my phone without it and with it being dead??? Im 18 so this phone is my life!
    Please help me!
    Thanks so much
    -Dallas

    1. Hi Dallas,

      I hope everything is okay after the car wreck!

      As to your cell phone, chances are likely that it is still in the car. I know that you don’t think that it is there, but that is, statistically speaking, the most likely place for it. But if windows were broken during the wreck it is possible that the phone could have flown out of the car during the collision. If that is the case then it is probably somewhere near the crash – but potentially hundreds of feet away!

      If you have some sort of tracking application already installed on the phone you may be able to see some of its historical data – but that may or may not be anywhere near the crash site. Do you have a tracking app already installed?

      – Joe

    1. Hi Parvesh,

      I have written a post about how to download cell phone tracking software. But for brevity’s sake, here is the basic concept:

      1. Find the tracker you want to use
      2. Go to the app store for your operating system or go to the apps website
      3. Follow the instructions from the app store or website to download it to your phone

      I hope that is simple enough.

      – Joe

  23. dear admin, i have a problem to my little sis,, she always going anywhere n me never know where is her… that make my family very worry … n i hope this stuf can i use for tarcking her n know where is her,,,

  24. I have hundreds of hours invested in free gps cell tracking… Let me save you some time on the front end and in return I want you too help others by posting your results and what solutions are best for you.

    Mologogo.com I have used this free for years and have multiple accounts, I use the i415 candybar (shape) phone. Download the software too your PC then use a data cable for the phone install, or you can pay a service fee and the software will be sent via air.

    they changed the terms of service that comes with the phone, when you buy the phone they give a free 40.00 or 50.00 boost phone credit card.

    they bill .xx cents per minute you make voice calls… however access to GPS info is free IF you have minutes on your phone.

    Minutes expire if not used (30 or 60 days).. the clock starts once you make the 1st call.

    IF you activate the phone and never use any minutes then the countdown never starts and you have gps access with no additional cost then then i415 phone.. I buy them from Walmart in the $45.00 -$55.00 range and supply is running out on this model, flip phones suck for gps tracking (antenna plus always on is a special hack (more work)).

    Mologogo.com can be viewed from your PC or you can view from a 2nd cell phone, you need to add friend/allow tracking. Mologogo makes use of Google Maps and you can view location changes when the phone moves from 5 to 15 feet.. it’s sensitive, will zoom not only into the house the phone is in but the room!

    If no GPS signal can be found then it will track via cell towers and this is no cost on our end either.

    review: make sure you get the right phone (candybar) 1415 is best hardware and the best cost. Mologogo.com board or my website lets users post specials or upgrades.

    with the phone get boost card with 40.00 or 50.00 free minutes.

    never tell the phone company your cell will run a program that pulls information automatic – terms of service

    get data cable for mologogo software install, I paid $25 or $30 for adapters/made my own set and FUTUREDIAL software you can buy the whole kits on sale at Fry’s that include cables. FREE with mail offer upto $85.00 retail price. (Frys has other specials every few months – read FRIDAY NEWSPAPER because they never post online this offer)

    It’s simple once you have the hardware, and if your the diy type then you start fun mods on the phone that will save battery. I should give you this stumble block that I have a a sloppy work around for explain later… problem is BATTERY LIFE… example, you want to see where X car is located, turn on phone, stealth hide it on frame with duct tape (poor antenna signal but good enuf in most applications) the std battery when sending signal every 5 minutes will go dead in 14hrs ~ 24hrs or less! buy a better battery- added cost and you gain very little in hours, find cheap 3.6v batteries, make your own battery packs, link multiple together thus more time, or tap into the car battery (if your car), other options are activate/power on phone when in motion only.

    free gps is free IF you have the right data plan, It’s brutal per phone if you only want gps feature. for example I have a setup on my truck, and each of my motorcycles that I never remove – security feature if stolen/moved mologogo will notify my when moved… I can’t wait for the next time someone tries to steal my bike (glock pre~loaded)…

    I tried to get discounts on auto insurance, it depends on who holds your policy, some ppl have had success others get the agent reply “that’s factored in already”, if you get this type of reply then you need too find out if this agent works on commission and/or if the get bumps for each level of policy sold, most of the time they can get you coverage for X amount per month, everything over X amount goes in the Agents pockets, while on the insurance topic look into advance payment discount (I save 40% when year-2-year vs. month-2-month).

    All information I offer here is per my core feelings on all information, it wants to be free and shared across all media types in pure. My texts are Not Copyright and you could take my 1337 words and Copy/Cut/Paste without fear of My Hack/Phreak Scene Members, Web Friends & Family or Special Use Anon Network ever contacting you, We have been doing it since Pre_Scene 1984 so enjoy, however posting a link to this location (My server or current page) with your comments on the subject makes global updated SE information better for everyone, many of you found this page in Google? or a Link created by a Human that knows what your interested in. Will 1 more link help a Search in Google when it has how many BILLION Pages? Yes, it does I hate too say Google is smart but it does know REAL TEXT (Master past did said… it’s why spell checked is off, so he did click!). Be nice 12/21/2o12 is near, however more will read this after 12/21/2o12 and this 1337 text is archived until the next near miss Magnet.

    FIBER0PTIC/FBR 2001, The HUMBLE Guys, Napalm, & Worship.
    – Remember that we have only 10 types of users in this world, those that know binary and those that don’t.

  28. Is there a free gps tracking that will work on my lg 420g straight talk flip phone? My son uses my phone when he is out and id like to have gps for emergencies. What will work on the lg flip phone?

    1. Hi lynn,

      I don’t know of any app that is going to work with your LG 420g that is going to provide GPS tracking. It does look like you can download Google Maps, which often comes bundled with Google Latitude. Google Latitude can be used like a GPS tracking app, but that isn’t necessarily what the app is supposed to be used for.

      – Joe

  29. Hi my name of course is regina. I have been with a guy four over four years but its been off and on. But there are so many sneaky things and things he says just sounds very fishy. I know he deletes some texts and chats with girl through his phone. Can you please help me find out the truth. because he swears he loves me but he fights every time I bring ask question about something I find.

  31. There are no reliable sites even guohth you will be paying for them most of the time the info they give out isn’t accurate, if there is someone bothering you then you need to call your carrier about this.

  32. I have recently had my phone stolen, and I was wondering if you had any suggestions about sites/software that offer FREE tracking of mobile phones. (Stuff like location, realtime finders, and things that will help me locate my cell phone.) I have been searching for sites, and all of them seem to be really bogus and just rather unhelpful all around.

    Very nervous and would really like my phone back. 🙁

    Help!

  33. Joe
    I am the manager for snow removal in a small City in Colorado. We are looking to do a fleet tracking GPS program for the fleet during snow removal. We don’t have much of a budget for this type of a thing, so I am researching free apps for smartphones and web based. I need a program that can leave “bread crums” as to where the plows have been in my City. I would welcome any suggestions you may have. I believe the contractor that I use for snow removal will have Blackberry’s for GPS. Please help as snow here in Colorado is right around the corner AGAIN.

    Thanks

    1. Hi Brad,

      It probably would depend on who you have to help you get it up and running. OpenGTS is going to provide the most control for your tracking needs, but it does require set up that will be significantly above a simple app download. If you have a technology person who could do all that for you I would recommend that software. Its free and open.

      Another route that could work is to use InstaMapper. It will be clunky, require a lot from the dispatcher/router, and will get more complex as you increase the number of people using it. If you have just one or two trucks it shouldn’t be that big of a hassle, but more than that and you might be in some trouble getting all the data to work together.

      – Joe

  34. Is there are any FREE GPS tracing system which give me to configure to my website. I mean “I want to make my own tracking system” and a web page app.

  35. Hi Joe,

    Just wanted to thank you for the information!

    Plan B gave us about 8-10 updates which was all around the area we had lunch today. Turned out that the phone was still there, but in the rubbish bin! We had a take-away lunch, and he mistakenly left his phone in the plastic bag, which I threw away together with our rubbish from lunch…

    Your information was really helpful.

    Thanks again & have a good day!
    Aubergine-Sue

  36. Hi, I’m looking for a free windows app for my 13 year old son phone. I would like to track his where abouts whenever I want. Just something basic not to fancy. Just to download it to his phone. And not have to worry about where is is and what he is doing!! Please help!!

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