The 5 Best Cheap GPS Vehicle Trackers in The US

Looking for a reliable and cost-effective way to keep track and manage your fleet? Our latest round of independent research reveals that Motive is the best cheap GPS vehicle tracker in the US. It offers users flexible monthly subscriptions and fast location data updates.

However, when it comes to GPS fleet management, quality should always come before cost. We’ve compared and ranked the top five cheap providers in the US based on their value for money, unique selling points, and their strengths and weaknesses.

Motive: Best Value for Money

Motive is the only system on this list that offers monthly subscription plans, which is rare in the vehicle tracking world, where the standard contract length is three years. Moreover, it offers a five-year warranty on its hardware, such as dash cams and trackers, should you decide to invest in them.

When it comes to cutting costs, Motive stands out with its no-fee fuel card, which gives you discounts on fuel and maintenance, beating all other providers. Moreover, Motive has a unique interface designed to help you pinpoint fuel inefficiencies and provide actionable solutions to reduce them. 

However, Motive lags behind in our tracking category as it doesn’t allow you to set custom locations and dispatch drivers on the fly. If you want to streamline your daily operations with powerful driver dispatching abilities, look at Verizon or Azuga.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer a free installation setup, something only RAM technicians offer. Moreover, Motive only offers a 14-day trial, which is much shorter than RAM’s 30-day trial.

RAM Tracking: Best Help and Support Channels

RAM is an ideal option for fledgling fleet businesses that require hands-on assistance. It’s the only system that offers free installation, a 30-day free trial, and a user-friendly 14-day cooling-off period. It is worth noting that RAM’s customer support is only available on weekdays, between 9am and 5pm. 

RAM also has crash detection capabilities, which is rare at this price point, and is something Motive, the top scorer in our pricing category, does not offer. RAM provides a useful breakdown reporting functionality, which alerts both roadside assistance and fleet operators of all pertinent breakdown information.

However, while RAM scores an above-average in our vehicle management category, it lacks automated scheduling and maintenance tracking tools. If you want powerful automated alerts, Verizon has a foolproof maintenance reminder system. 

RAM is pretty hush-hush about its pricing, but our research tells us it starts from a very affordable $15.99/vehicle/month. That’s rivalling Motive for top spot, depending on what features you need (as Motive is variable, dependent on this, unlike RAM’s specific pricing plans).

Samsara: Best for Managing Vehicles

Traversing long routes? Samsara can ensure a smooth journey with its powerful vehicle diagnostic capabilities, which help keep your vehicles in tip-top shape. This catapults Samsara to the top of our vehicle management category, along with Verizon and Azuga.

Samsara stands out as it can help you ensure compliance with US Hours of Service (HOS) regulations. It keeps track of your drivers’ activities, manages state-level rulesets, lets you set exceptions, and ensures it complies with the relevant rulesets based on your drivers’ locations.

Samsara prices aren’t available to the public, but our researchers found that their most popular packages in the US cost around $27 to $33 per vehicle, per month.

While they do not provide free installation, they do offer a 30-day free trial and a five-year hardware warranty. Not bad, overall. However, its minimum contract length is three years. If you want shorter contracts and more payment flexibility, it’s worth scrolling back up to Motive or RAM.

Azuga: Best for Efficient Routes

With unparalleled routing capabilities, Azuga ensures that your fleet stays on track and arrives at each destination without any unexpected hiccups. Azuga is just a wee bit behind Verizon, as it offers a slightly slower data refresh of 30 to 59 seconds.

Still, Azuga remains our top recommendation for those who work in a fast-paced industry, such as retail. Azuga leverages machine learning to identify optimal routes and avoid traffic and dangerous work zones. This enables its software to efficiently plan, re-route, and reschedule deliveries, while helping to keep your drivers, vehicles, and cargo safe.

However, Azuga’s full capabilities also come with fairly steep prices of $25 to $35/vehicle/month. This tends to be only on a standard three-year subscription, too. Moreover, its contracts are continuous – meaning you have one renewal date, no matter when you add your devices.

An upside is that its hardware comes with a lifetime hardware warranty and Azuga provides plug-and-play trackers that can be installed in minutes. Moreover, Azuga’s team can set up your software and help you migrate information from your previous system.

Azuga does offer a demo, but its free trial is only available for businesses with over 30 vehicles. If you wish to cancel your subscription, you need to let their representatives know 60 days prior to your contract renewal. If you want customer-friendly policies, scroll back up to RAM or Motive.

Verizon Connect: Best Vehicle Tracking Features

Saving the best for last, Verizon is the only supplier to score a perfectly across three categories that are crucial for efficient fleet management: tracking, driver management, and vehicle management. While it doesn’t update data as quickly as Motive, its 30-second data refresh remains a standout feature as it provides accurate monitoring of your entire fleet.

Moreover, Verizon provides an extensive level of features for vehicle maintenance, keeping a comprehensive record of all your maintenance services, and it alerts you when a tune-up is due and when one has been missed. This makes Verizon a great solution for large fleets where keeping track of vehicle health is a time-consuming and difficult process.

Unfortunately, Verizon places last in pricing as its full capabilities can only be unlocked with its pricier Reveal packages. In contrast, RAM scores offers far more affordable subscription plans.

On to some good news: Verizon Connect offers a free trial and 14-day cooling off period, so you can experience the power of its services risk-free. If you ever decide to part ways, you can just send them a 30-day written notice without the need to give any reason for the termination.

How Did We Compare Cheap GPS Trackers?

At Expert Market, we are committed to providing you with the most reliable and up-to-date information to help you choose the best and most affordable GPS tracking system for your business. To bring you the most comprehensive analysis of each system, our team of unbiased software researchers compared and evaluated several key factors, such as:  

• Route optimization: How efficiently it can guide you to the swiftest and safest routes, no matter the weather or the traffic condition.
• Driver scheduling/dispatching: If it can help you seamlessly assign drivers to routes, manage their schedules, and monitor their progress throughout the day. 
• Price: We scrutinize its value for money, and if it offers bundle pricing and long-term deals.
• Vehicle management: To help keep your vehicles in tip-top shape, we inspect if it has intuitive maintenance, scheduling, and diagnostic tools. 
• Product features: We investigate its cutting-edge features to help give you unmatched control over your fleet.
• Help and support channels: We examined each of its support channels, and its ability to give you quality support 24/7.