Life360 vs. Greenlight: Which family safety app should you use?

Both Life360 and Greenlight are popular with families, but they serve very different roles. Life360 helps you keep tabs on safety and location, while Greenlight focuses more on teaching kids about money and building smart financial habits, with many safety features in higher-tier plans. There is some overlap in their features, making the choice between them dependent on your family's specific needs.

Features comparison 

When it comes to keeping your family safe, connected, and financially savvy, both Greenlight and Life360 bring something different to the table. Life360 centers on real-time tracking and emergency response. Greenlight has some of those same safety features, but includes them in a platform that also helps kids manage money, set savings goals, and more. Below, we explain how each app stacks up in key categories, from crash detection to data privacy, so you can choose what fits your family best.

Life360 at a glance

With Life360, families can check in on each other’s location, get notified if someone’s in an accident, and keep track of teen driving habits. It’s popular with parents who want to track driving behavior and get notified quickly if something goes wrong.

Life360 pros:

• Real-time location tracking with customizable alerts

• Crash detection and emergency dispatch

• Driving behavior reports

• Identity theft protection on premium plans

• Free basic plan available

Life360 cons:

• Shares data with third parties (opt-out available)

• No financial tools for kids

• Ads on lower-tier plans

Greenlight at a glance

Greenlight gives kids hands-on experience with money, whether they’re learning how to use a debit card, setting savings goals, tracking spending, or learning how investing² works. The Infinity plan adds safety tools on top of Greenlight’s financial features, like GPS tracking, SOS alerts, crash detection, and even driving reports¹ to help parents keep tabs on new teen drivers.

Greenlight pros:

• Comprehensive financial tools for kids

• Parental controls and monitoring

• Educational resources for financial literacy

• No ads or data sharing

• Safety features included in premium plans¹

Greenlight cons:

• Monthly subscription required

• Safety features only available on higher-tier plans

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Pricing

Life360’s pricing starts with a free plan that includes basic location sharing. As you move up to the paid tiers, you’ll get access to crash detection, emergency dispatch, and identity protection.

• Free basic plan with limited features

• Gold: $14.99/month

• Platinum: $24.99/month

Greenlight starts at an affordable monthly price and includes debit cards and financial literacy tools for up to five kids. Higher-tier plans add features like investing², identity theft protection, and location-based safety alerts¹.

• Core: $5.99/month

• Max: $9.98/month

• Infinity: $14.98/month

• Family Shield: $24.98/month

Who wins?

Families focused on financial literacy and safety will likely get more out of Greenlight’s platform, while those prioritizing in-depth safety features may lean toward Life360’s upper-tier plans.

Safety features: SOS alerts, crash detection, and more

Life360 focuses on helping families stay connected and safe. Whether it’s a car accident or an emergency alert, you’ll get notified right away if something’s wrong.

• Manual SOS alerts with location sharing

• Crash detection on all plans

• Emergency dispatch and 24/7 roadside assistance (premium)

• Driving behavior summaries

While Greenlight is known for its money tools, the Infinity plan also builds in key safety features. You’ll get real-time GPS tracking, crash detection, emergency dispatch, and even driving reports¹. This is especially helpful for families with new teen drivers.

• Real-time location sharing through the app¹

• Crash detection and SOS alerts¹

• Emergency dispatch¹

• Driving reports for teen drivers¹

Who wins?

Life360 leads in overall safety depth, with crash detection on all plans, roadside support, and detailed driving behavior insights. But Greenlight offers a compelling all-in-one package: safety tools and money management in one app, especially appealing for families with teens just starting to drive.

Location sharing

Location tracking is at the core of Life360. Families can view each other’s real-time locations, set up alerts for common destinations, and review location history to stay in the loop.

• Real-time GPS tracking

• Customizable place alerts

• 30 days of location history on Gold plan

• Unlimited location history on Platinum plan

Greenlight includes location tracking¹ with its Infinity plan, allowing parents to see where their kids are in real time, but without the deeper driving or location history features of Life360. 

• Location tracking¹

• No location history feature

Who wins?

Life360 excels in location tracking, offering customizable alerts and detailed trip history. But if you’re already using Greenlight for your kids’ debit cards or chores and allowance, adding location tracking through the Infinity plan keeps money tools and safety features in a single app.

Built for them. And for you.

Both you and your kids download the Greenlight app — with tailored experiences. They check off chores, you automate allowance. They spend wisely, you set flexible controls. They build healthy financial habits, and you cheer them on.

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Identity theft protection

Life360 offers built-in identity protection as part of its higher-tier plans, helping families safeguard sensitive information with credit monitoring, lost wallet support, and up to $1 million in coverage on the Platinum plan.

• Gold plan: Up to $25,000 coverage per member

• Platinum plan: Up to $1 million coverage per member

Greenlight’s Family Shield plan includes identity theft protection for the whole family, not just the kids. In addition to monitoring and alerts, Greenlight offers 24/7 resolution services and coverage of up to $1 million for stolen identity costs³.

• Family Shield plan: Up to $1 million coverage per family³

Who wins?

Life360 offers higher individual identity theft coverage on its top-tier plan, which may appeal to adults worried about personal risk. But Greenlight’s family-wide coverage (up to $1 million total) is especially helpful for households with multiple kids and accounts to protect, all bundled with financial tools your kids can use every day.

Data privacy

Life360 has faced scrutiny over how it shares user data. While the company says it respects user choices and offers opt-out options, the app does share certain data with third parties, including for advertising and analytics purposes.

• Shares data with third parties for advertising and analytics

• Users can opt out of data sharing in settings

Greenlight puts a strong emphasis on privacy. The app does not show ads or sell data to third parties — ever. That means your family's financial and location information stays secure and private.

• Does not share data with third parties

• No ads on any plan

Who wins?

Greenlight doesn’t sell your family’s data or show ads, and that’s true across every plan. You don’t need to dig into settings or opt out of tracking. Everything is private from the start. For parents who care about their kids’ digital footprint, that kind of default protection can go a long way. While Life360 allows you to limit data sharing, it’s something you’ll need to manage manually.

Life360 vs. Greenlight: Which family safety app should you use?

If you’re trying to decide between Greenlight and Life360, it depends on what matters most to your family. If staying on top of your kids’ location, driving habits, and emergency response is the priority, Life360 might be the right choice for your family.

On the other hand, if you're looking to teach your kids financial responsibility while also having access to safety features, Greenlight offers a well-rounded solution.