Comparison · checked September 2026

MyLoco vs Life360

Both can send a live location link that opens in any browser and expires. Life360 offers that as one feature of a family-safety platform. MyLoco is only that feature, with nothing underneath it.

Life360 is the app families use to see each other all the time: always-on Circles, place alerts, crash detection, SOS, driving reports, Tile trackers. It has been doing that since 2010 and has a 4.8-star rating from about three million App Store reviews. In March 2026 it added Temporary Location Sharing for exactly the moments this page is about, and did it well: three taps, a browser link, a clean “Location is no longer shared” when it ends. If the biggest name in family location decided the in-between moments needed their own tool, the category is real.

So why does MyLoco exist? Because in Life360 the temporary share sits inside an account that also holds your Circles, your location history and an advertising business. MyLoco has no account to hold anything. The share ends, the position is erased, and there is nothing left to manage, opt out of, or delete.

Side by side

Life360 column from Life360’s own pages as of September 2026; details and dates under “How we checked.” Prices are the monthly rates on the plans page.

Why “temporary” is the whole difference

Life360’s temporary share really is temporary: the link dies on time, and their own words for it are “no residue, no lingering access.” The difference is everything around the link.

• There is no account for anything to accumulate in. A Life360 temporary share is sent from a Life360 account, and that account keeps location history (2 days on the free plan, 7 on Silver, 30 on Gold and Platinum) and, per the privacy policy, retains data for as long as you use the service. MyLoco has no account. The position is erased when the share ends and the share record is deleted within a day.
• Your location isn’t part of a business model. Life360 runs advertising in the app and its policy says it licenses precise geolocation data to business partners for their own advertising and monetization, with an opt-out under “Your Privacy Choices.” MyLoco has no ads, no ad partners and nothing to opt out of; the website runs analytics only on its marketing pages, only after consent, never on a share page.
• There is no always-on mode to drift back into. Life360’s temporary link is the exception to a product built around permanent Circles. In MyLoco there is nothing else: every share is 15, 30 or 60 minutes, or until you stop, and there is no extend button. If you need longer, you decide again.
• Groups work without everyone installing something. Life360’s Temporary Circles need every member in the Life360 app. MyLoco’s group share puts app users on one live map and gives everyone else a watch link in the browser.

The long version of this argument is in Temporary location sharing, explained.

Where Life360 is ahead

If you want a family to see each other all day, with their knowledge and consent, Life360 is the right tool and MyLoco is not. Its temporary shares run longer (up to the end of the day) and show the viewer your photo and battery level, which matters when you are picking someone up with a dying phone. Temporary Circles can last days, not hours. The paid plans add crash detection with emergency dispatch, SOS alerts, roadside assistance and driver reports, none of which MyLoco has or plans to have. It is on iPhone today. And it has sixteen years and about three million ratings behind it; MyLoco has a release from this month. For a family that wants a safety net, Life360 is the better choice, and we would rather say so than pretend.

On iPhone

Life360 is available today. MyLoco’s iPhone version is with Apple for review. On Android, MyLoco is available now. If you’re on an iPhone and this page made sense to you, leave an email and we’ll send exactly one message the day it lands.

Sending a driver or a technician to a customer?

Life360 is a consumer product for families. If what you need is a live tracking link per delivery or service call, with your name on the page, that is a different job: MyLoco for Business gives you an API that creates the link, feeds it from the driver’s phone, tells you by webhook when it ends, and deletes the position afterwards.

POST /v1/shares  →  tracking URL  →  live location for the customer
                 →  webhook when it ends  →  position deleted

Retention is off unless you turn it on (opt-in, up to 90 days, and it belongs to your business — the customer’s page says so). Plans start at $29/month after a free trial; the endpoints are on the API page and the product on MyLoco for Business.

Which one for what

• A family that wants to see each other every day, with crash detection and SOS: Life360. That is what it is for.
• Meeting up, a pickup, a date, a run: either. MyLoco if you don’t want an account or a history anywhere; Life360 if you already have it and want the viewer to see your battery too.
• A group where not everyone has the same app: MyLoco, for the watch link. A group that already lives in Life360: Temporary Circles.
• Anyone who left Life360 over its data practices but still needs to say “here I am, for the next hour”: MyLoco.
• A business sending people to customers: MyLoco for Business. Life360 doesn’t do that.
• iPhone: Life360 today; MyLoco when the review is done. Android: MyLoco now.

How we checked

Life360 facts come from Life360’s own pages as of September 2026: the blog post introducing Temporary Location Sharing (published 30 March 2026, updated 5 April 2026), the Help Center article of the same name, the Temporary Circles feature page, the plans and pricing page, the privacy policy (last modified 26 August 2026), the App Store listing (version 26.33.0, updated 4 September 2026), and Life360’s June 2025 press release on its advertising platform. MyLoco facts describe the app as shipped. If something here is out of date, write to hello@myloco.app and we will fix it. Life360 is a trademark of Life360, Inc.; MyLoco is not affiliated with Life360.

Fair questions