SimpleGPS vs Bouncie
Bouncie tracks one car through its OBD port, and does it well. SimpleGPS fits the same car, and also a trailer, a generator, a motorcycle and a 1994 pickup - because the tracker does not have to be an OBD plug.
Bouncie is a good product and this page is not going to pretend otherwise. $89.99 for the device, $9.65 a month, $8.35 each once you have three, no contract, cancel whenever, 45 days to change your mind. Over seven thousand reviews at 4.5. If you have one car built after 1996 and you want to see where it is, they are a straightforward answer.
The limit is not the price. It is the port. Bouncie is an OBD2 plug, so it goes in a car - and only in a car. A trailer has no OBD port. Nor does a mini excavator, a generator, a boat, a motorcycle, or the 1994 pickup somebody actually worries about. And a plug that sits under the dashboard is out in two seconds, by anyone who opens the door.
SimpleGPS sells the OBD plug too, and four other shapes: hardwired units that hide behind the trim, a magnetic battery tracker you drop on a trailer in about a minute, and an asset tracker that runs for months on its own. One account, one app, whatever the thing is.
Side by side
| SimpleGPS | Bouncie | |
|---|---|---|
| Fits more than a car with an OBD port | Yes | OBD only |
| Can be hidden, not plugged into the dash | Yes | No |
| Remote engine disable | Yes | No |
| Crash detection and notification | No | Yes |
| You own the device outright | Yes | Yes |
| No long-term contract | Yes | Yes |
| Self-serve online signup | Yes | Yes |
| Transparent public pricing (€) | Yes | Yes |
SimpleGPS keeps full route playback for 31 days, and routes, stops and statistics for 365. We state both numbers because we have them.
The differences in detail
An OBD port is a category, not a feature
Every Bouncie is the same plug, so the question "will it work" is really "does this thing have an OBD2 port". A car from 1996 onwards does. A trailer, a boat, a tractor, a motorcycle, a generator, a shipping container and a 1994 pickup do not. We sell the OBD plug (FMM00A, $129.99, or $52 with the annual plan) alongside hardwired units, a magnetic battery tracker and a standalone asset tracker - and they all report into the same account.
A plug is the first thing a thief pulls
An OBD tracker announces itself: it is a lit dongle under the steering column, and removing it takes about as long as opening the door. That is fine for knowing where your teenager drove and much less fine as anti-theft. Our hardwired trackers go behind the trim with nothing visible, and on an install with a relay fitted you can cut the ignition remotely from the app. Bouncie has nothing equivalent - which is reasonable, since you cannot immobilise a car through a diagnostic port.
Crash detection: they have it, we do not
Bouncie detects an impact and sends a notification. We do not do this today, and if that is why you are shopping then it settles the question. What we do instead is read the same car's own data over OBD - fuel level, VIN, odometer, fault codes - and record every trip with the route, which is a different job.
What the first two years actually cost
Bouncie: $89.99 for the device plus $115.80 a year, so $205.79 the first year and $115.80 after. SimpleGPS on the annual plan: $52 for the tracker (the $129.99 shelf price drops 60% when you pay the year up front) plus $119.88, so $171.88 the first year and $119.88 after. We are $33.91 cheaper to start and about $4 a year more thereafter. Both of us publish these numbers on the site; neither of us asks you to book a call.
One account, several kinds of vehicle
The reason this matters is not the shopping list. It is that a landscaper with two vans, a trailer and a mower does not want two apps and two invoices. Every SimpleGPS tracker - OBD, hardwired, magnetic, asset - lands in the same fleet view with the same trip history, the same geofences and the same alerts.
If you have one car, it was built after 2010, you want the cheapest way to see it on a map, and crash detection matters to you - buy Bouncie. Their crash detection and notification is a real feature and we do not have it. They are also cheaper than us from year two onwards: $115.80 a year against our $119.88. We are cheaper in year one ($171.88 against $205.79, because our tracker drops to $52 with the annual plan), and after that they are ahead by about four dollars a year. Four dollars is not a reason to choose either of us.
Bottom line
Bouncie answers "where is my car". SimpleGPS answers "where is it" about anything that moves - and on a hardwired install, can stop the engine. Choose on what you own, not on four dollars