Best Way to Track a Phone Location for Free [Tried & Tested, 2024]

A phone tracker is a tool or app that locates and monitors the position of a mobile device. Utilizing technologies like GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell towers, it provides real-time or historical location information of the device. It’s used for security purposes, parental control, or recovering lost or stolen devices.

There are numerous situations that may arise which will require you to track the particular location of a phone. With the use of phone location trackers, you can carry out the following and more:

• parental monitoring of children’s location;
• finding out where a husband or wife is;
• locating a boyfriend or girlfriend;
• location data of employee;
• tracing a call from an unknown number;
• determine the caller’s country of origin;
• tracking the whereabouts of a stolen phone;
• finding the location of a misplaced device.

The location of a phone can be tracked using several methods: use of the mobile number, with cell phone applications, making use of official Android and iOS applications and services, direct usage of IMEI, and some bonus tricks from our team that we’ll tell further.

“We conducted the assessment of different services while putting our accounts as well as mobile devices at risk to obtain the most honest and thorough report possible. You can install phone trackers if the situation is not pressing, and you have access to the phone of the desired subscriber. Try using the Reverse Phone Lookup if you’re not interested in the current location, but rather in a user’s past movements. Now, let’s go straight to the detailed reviews to know the best options.”

Content Marketing Department

Table of the Phone Location Trackers Research Results

We marked all services in the summary table for your convenience, and you can read a thorough review of each tool by clicking on each. We also included a few commercial services for comparison to check if the free functionality is significantly inferior to the paid capabilities, or if it’s rational to pay for this service while having free alternatives.

We took some resources from the top reviews of the best, and almost all of them were awful. So trust only verified sources of information or blogs of specialized services related to telecommunications. For example, like our HeyLocate blog.

How to Track Phone Locations by Numbers Using Third-Party Apps with No Charge

There are plenty of apps on both Play Store and App Store that claim to track a cell phone location for free just with the use of phone numbers. But while trying, we discovered that “free” not always means “best”.

1. Number Locator – Prasad Appco

This app was developed by Prasad Appco. It gives you all the details on any Indian mobile number, including the service provider. This mobile number location tool can also assist you to identify STD and ISD codes.

Compatibility:

Only Android devices.

Features:

• at the moment of an incoming call, Number Locator records the caller’s name and location;
• user can track their current location on a map.

User Experience:

The app was one of the first that I found on the Play Store. The interface looks elementary with purple highlights. Although it has many ads, it showed me some details about the number I searched for. I saw the carrier, country, and in some cases more precise location. According to my test, it is worth trying, but you don’t get the street or house number.

Try Number Locator – Prasad Appco

2. Phone Number Locator Caller ID – iCareLife

Caller ID and spam prevention are included in this mobile number lookup. The app tells you who’s calling by distinguishing between real and bogus callers. With the caller ID and number lookup software, you may block spam, scammers, telemarketers, and any other unwanted or unfamiliar calls.

Compatibility:

Only Android devices.

Features:

• find any phone and device using GPS maps and SMS;
• block spam, scammers, and other undesirable calls by recognizing caller ID;
• powerful call notification with call flash.

User Experience:

I got the app installed, and the user interface was good. It offers different options in the menu. These include caller location, area codes, contacts, GPS navigation and more.

Most of these just lead you to another app on Google Play Store. The main function I expected the app to serve was not available. I was unable to track the location of the different phone numbers I tried. It just kept pointing to the same location every time I searched.

Try Phone Number Locator Caller ID – iCareLife

3. Phone Tracker by Number – Awesome Game Studio

Family members will benefit the most from this tracking app. To track a family member, they must first give you their permission, install the app, allow for localization, and provide you with a unique code.

When the family member you wish to track provides you with their code, you may enter it into the app and track them.

This program is primarily designed for older persons who may become disoriented in a city. As a result, it includes a feature that allows you to see the battery level of the phone, as well as its position.

Features:

• tracking of family members and loved ones is easy due to the use of unique codes.

User Experience:

This app gives two options of tracking: either by phone number or GPS coordinates. An issue I had while using the app was how long it took to get the location of the numbers I tried to track. It takes about 48 hours for you to get a message about the location of the device you are trying to track. So, what’s the point?

Try Phone Tracker by Number – Awesome Game Studio

4. Mobile Number Locator – Axon Apps

A new call finding app, Mobile number locator, caller location application, claim to help you identify the location of a phone number, STD & ISD codes, and block undesirable callers.

Compatibility:

Only Android devices.

Features:

• discover the details of the number calling you;
• track a phone for free seeing the location of incoming calls.

User Experience:

The application has adverts, but most of them were on the upper part of the screen. The app helped me to know the carrier and country of the phone number. However, the state was always wrong and the exact location of the phone was never shown. At the end of my test, I can’t recommend this app.

Try Mobile Number Locator – Axon Apps

5. Mobile Number Locator – Droid-Developer

Looking how to track a phone for free? This real-time phone number locator tool is meant to assist you in finding the location of a phone number.

The developers claim that you can add an unlimited number of phone numbers to determine their position in real-time, which will appear on your phone screen right away. Without loading any personal information, the phone number location finder app will perform a truecaller HLR query to assess caller ID security.

Compatibility:

Only Android devices.

Features:

• block spam, telemarketers, and fraud calls, as well as undertake background checks;
• truecaller identities and caller ID information are revealed in detail on your phone;
• caller ID HLR lookup, area code search, and free caller ID lookup are all available globally.

User Experience:

There are multiple adverts present on the screen at a time. During my experimenting with it, the app only showed where the number’s country is. It didn’t show the exact location the phone was. It was just repetitive and kept showing the same location or region for different numbers with the same country code.

Try Mobile Number Locator App

6. Phone Number Tracker – Future Droid Apps

This free phone locator app allows the user to check phone numbers from all countries and to see the phone number network connection name. It claims to find a phone location free of charge. Let’s see.

Compatibility:

Android devices (5.5 and above).

Features:

• look up of ISD codes;
• data is encrypted in Transit and can’t get leaked.

User experience:

The user interface of this application is cool. When I opened the app, it loaded for a couple of seconds and brought me to a menu where I could see various options such as number tracker, number info, live address and more. Though, anytime you click an option, you get an ad in video format.

During my test, every option that could actually help in tracing a phone did not work. It kept stopping and closing the application with a black screen. The application turned out to be unusable in the bid to locate a phone. I could not track my phone for free online with it.

Try Phone Number Tracker – Future Droid Apps

7. Mobile Number Location – Onex Apps

Phone Call Locator is a free program that allows you to search for a phone number, a location, and STD and ISD codes without having to use the internet. Live Mobile Number Locator, Caller ID, and Phone Call True Location are all available for free in this app. Offline, get the Caller ID Name for Incoming Calls. Does it work as it claims?

Compatibility:

Android.

Features:

• call blocker;
• free phone location tracker with results on map;
• unknown calls are identified, and unwanted spam calls are blocked;
• reverse phone lookup.

User Experience: 

During my testing of it, I was unable to track my phone for free online with this application. The interface is not pleasing and the use of colors and layers do not seem right. I tried several numbers with the application. It just kept loading every time and nothing really happened.

Try Mobile Number Location – Onex Apps

How to Track Phone Locations Without Numbers

The next services work as in-built apps and help to track the location of your phone or phone of your contacts.

Track My Phone For Free Online with Find my Device

Find My Device is switched on automatically if you’ve added a Google Account to your device.

1. Sign in with your Google Account at android.com/find.
2. Click the misplaced phone at the top of the screen if you have more than one phone.
3. Sign in with a Google Account associated with the main profile if your lost phone has multiple user profiles. Discover how to create user profiles.
4. A message is sent to the missing phone.
5. The location of the phone will be displayed on the map. The position is a rough estimate that may or may not be accurate.
6. If your phone isn’t detected, you’ll be able to see its last known location if one is available.
7. Make a decision about what you want to do. If necessary, click Enable lock & delete first.
8. Make a sound: even if your phone is set to quiet or vibrating, it will ring at full volume for 5 minutes.

Device that is secure: Your phone is locked with a PIN, pattern, or password. You can install a lock if you don’t already have one. You can add a message or phone number to the lock screen to assist someone in returning your phone to you.

Disposable eraser: Deletes all data on your phone indefinitely (but might not delete SD cards). Find My Device will not operate on the phone after you wipe it.

Find my Friends

Apple Inc. developed Find My Friends, a mobile phone monitoring app and service for iOS devices. In iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, both Find My iPhone and Find My Friends were integrated into the app Find My.

Find My Device app is an Apple Inc. asset monitoring tool and service that allows users to follow the position of their iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS devices, AirPods, AirTags, and a variety of approved third-party accessories using an iCloud account. This app is able to locate a cell phone position free online.

How to use Find my Friends

1. Make sure your friends have it installed on their devices as well. On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you can only add friends through Find My Friends.
2. Open the application Find My device app and add a new item.
3. To submit the request, select a friend or enter their email address, then touch Send or Done.
4. You can see your friend’s location in a list or on a map in the Find My Friends app when they agree to share their location.
5. If you don’t want to receive friend requests, toggle off Allow Friend Requests under Invitations on your iPhone or iPod touch.Turn off Allow Friend Requests under Invitations on your iPad by going to List > Me.

How to track a cell phone with Google Maps

You can track a cell phone with Google Maps as the service can keep track of the places you’ve visited and their locations.

You can follow your smartphone’s location in the form of a timeline using the app. You need to be connected to the internet and logged into your Google account to use this feature.

Steps to use Maps to Track your Device:

1. On any smartphone or computer, go to https://www.google.com/maps.
2. Sign in with the Google Account associated with your misplaced or lost android device or other smartphone.
3. Now, in the top-right corner, click or tap the three-horizontal bar icon.
4. Select ‘Your Timeline’ from the drop-down menu.
5. Here you must enter the Year, Month, and Day for which you want to see your device’s location.
6. Maps will now show you your device’s location history as well as its current location (if you lose your device).

Almost Free Track Phone Locations Services (Trial <$1)

As you can see, free phone trackers, even the most popular ones in the Play Store, can show you only the country and carrier. If you are keen to know more, then maybe it’s worth to pay as little as 1 dollar or euro, but to be sure that you get the necessary information.

GEOfinder.mobi

GEOfinder is a powerful phone number tracker that can pinpoint the exact position of any phone number on a map, independent of the mobile network. Works with all mobile network operators.

Geolocation is requested anonymously: you will not be recognized, and there is no need to download software to track their location. You can pay to get a premium version or get GEOfinder apps.

Compatibility:

iOS, Android, PC.

Features:

• personalize the message you want to send to the recipient. Alternatively, you can use the one that is given by default;
• take a snapshot of your current location as accurate coordinates;
• it is possible to track any mobile phone number in the world;
• send as many geolocation requests as you want.

User Experience:

This site gives you the option to choose from several languages. I had to input the number to track on the website. Then the system leads to a page asking you to confirm the message or make modifications to it.

After you send the message to the destination phone, the number’s owner gets a message asking to improve GPS services accuracy. This is a decoy and anyone who clicks on the link will only be opening themselves up to be tracked.

Once the link is clicked, it will take about 3 hours for the phone to be tracked, with a message about the location details sent to you after. You will be able to see where the number is on a map using the map view option.

You can read the full GEOfinder review on the HeyLocate blog. Besides, here is a cheap GEOfinder trial.

Try GEOfinder.mobi

Scannero.io

Scannero is an online phone tracking service operated by AVIWELL LIMITED, a Cyprus-based company. The platform lets you track a phone’s GPS location using its mobile number. Scannero has a global reach and is compatible with all operating systems. Besides, Scannero is private and anonymous because you only need a phone number.

After you enter the target’s phone number on the search bar, Scannero will help you send a personalized text message that will prompt the recipient to click on it. Once the target clicks the link, you will see their location on a map on the Scannero website.

Compatibility:

Android, iOS, PC

Features:

• access to a phone’s real-time location;
• tracks phone anywhere worldwide;
• discounted trial for only $0.89;
• Works on all phones and phone carriers.

User experience:

When I searched for a phone using its mobile number on Scannero, it gave me a text message to send to the recipient. I could edit this message to make it exciting and easier for my target to click on it. Once I created the perfect message, I sent it and waited for the recipient to click it. 

Scannero was relatively easy to use thanks to its simple user interface. It has no customer funnel, so I started searching for a phone after creating an account and paying the 24-hour trial cost. Based on my experience, Scannero is ideal for finding a phone anywhere in the world, even in remote places, as long as the phone can connect to the internet.

Try Scannero.io

Detectico.com

Detectico is a popular phone tracking app for parents and individuals who want to discover a phone’s location for the owner’s safety. This service does one thing absolutely well, and that is location tracking. You do not need to install an app or configure any settings on the phone.

With Detectico, you can learn a person’s whereabouts with pinpoint accuracy. You can use Detectico to see if employees are where they are supposed to be on field jobs, and you can ensure your kids are safe at all times.

Features:

• locates any phone number;
• uncovers the identity of unknown callers;
• checks data breaches;
• Anonymous location tracking.
• Compatibility: Android, iOS, PC.

User Experience:

Detectico proved to be a legitimate service to track a phone. I created an account and entered the desired phone number. Detectico gave me a choice of different messages to send to my target. The text message contained a link that the target was supposed to click. It did not take long before they clicked it, and I could see their tracked GPS location on a map. Detectico showed me the person’s coordinates, address, and pin location. I could zoom in on the map to see their precise location which was better than other services that show the approximate phone’s location.

After experimenting with Detectico, I liked that it was direct, and I could trace a phone in real time. You can send as many text messages as you need to get location updates at any time. Its reliable performance means you’ll always find someone every time.

Try Detectico

Top Paid Phone Location Tracker – uMobix

uMobix is a parental management program that will provide you with critical information on your child’s online and offline behavior. To get the type of data you want, you’ll need to install uMobix on the target device and follow the instructions, just like any other program of this type.

But uMobix works invisibly in the background on the target phone. This renders it fully invisible to the user of the phone. There is no other app on the market that has as many capabilities as this one without requiring the target phone to be rooted or jailbroken.

The first membership option is a one-month subscription. For only $49.99 per month, you can get the entire set. You can pay $27.99 per month for a three-month full package subscription or $11.66 monthly for a 12-month full pack subscription.

Compatibility:

Both Android devices and iOS.

Features:

• call history and text messages;
• monitor children’s social media and streaming activities;
• advanced GPS-tracker;
• you can control the target device and also go through details or information that has been previously deleted.

User Experience:

There were no adverts and the experience was smooth. Once you purchase a plan and login, you will be given software to install on the destination device. This whole process took less than 5 minutes.

When the two devices were synced, I was able to track the location as well as calls, social media messages and a lot more on the target phone. The location sharing works well.

An interesting thing is that it gives you the option to add up to 5 devices. This means that you can add different phones in your family and help anyone trace a call of their phone gets misplaced or stolen.

The site displayed the real-time location and showed the details of every address that was visited by the phone at every time interval.

Try uMobix

Bonus 1 – IPLogger

We can use link shorteners like https://iplogger.org/, with IP address tracking, to send an image or link to the number of the desired caller. After viewing the content, we will be able to track its current location. IP Logger URL Shortener helps in tracking your IP address and location, as well as perform IP lookups and retrieve IP addresses.

URL Shortener allows you to trace each click and obtain extensive information about each one, including the IP address, nation, city, language, platform, and much more.

Ho to use IPLogger:

1. Make a long link shorter.
2. Pass on the short new link to another user.
3. Capture the IP address of the user who clicks on your link.

User Experience:

The website requires you to know the IP address of the phone to track a cell phone location for free. I really like the simplicity of the website. The step to trace a number is short and simple.

First, you are asked to enter the IP address in the search bar and the click the Get Info button. After doing this, it displays informs about the IP address including the continent, country, state, coordinates, and the location on the map. The site is quite efficient.

Bonus 2 – Pic2Map

Pic2Map is a free web EXIF data reader with geolocation that lets you locate and see your photographs on a map. EXIF data is found in practically all images shot with digital cameras, cellphones, and tablets, and it is used by our system.

Pic2Map is still a simple and elegant online “EXIF” data viewer, even without GPS data. “EXIF” stands for “Exchangeable Image File,” which is a standard for storing interchange information in digital photography image files compressed with JPEG compression.

How to use Pic2Map:

To use Pic2Map, you need to ask the person to take a picture, for example, selfies and send you. Then use the service to translate the EXIF data into geolocation.

User Experience:

On the homepage, the website has a box where you can add the picture that was taken on the phone you want to track. After selecting the picture, the app takes a few seconds and generates information about the picture.

I tried about 4 different pictures and the information such as phone used, camera resolution and so on were accurate except the actual location of the phone. Perhaps it depends on the settings for photo and location on the target phone. But as it is free, you can try.

Conclusion

So, how to find a cell phone location? There are several applications that can be used to track location of cell phone. However, they all work differently. Some are based on the phone number while others may use installed apps (codes) or signed-in accounts. Another thing to note is that some of these apps have to be installed on the destination phone (the one you are trying to track) for them to work.

The difference between free and paid phone trackers is that paid services give more precise location, offer additional functionalities that let you take more control over the target phone and do extra things most free apps may not allow. Check our top trackers: GEOfinder, uMobix and search engine for trackers Detectico.