Dog Gadgets Comparison Health & Safety

Halo Collar VS SpotOn GPS Fence: Which Is the BEST Dog Tracker in 2024

SpotOn collar vs. Halo collar 2 featured image
Written by Mark Braeden

When it comes to keeping Fido safe, choosing the right GPS dog collar is crucial, and today, we’re diving into a head-to-head comparison between two top contenders: SpotOn and the Halo Collar 3.

In the world of dog tracking technology, these two collars have been making the biggest waves, especially with the latest updates from both brands. While they have many features in common, in a head-to-head showdown there are a few standouts that set each brand apart.

Keep reading to see a side-by-side comparison of these two leading smart collar brands, and to find out which one we crowned the champion (spoiler alert for those who prefer the bottom line upfront: it’s the Halo Collar 3.

FYI, this post includes affiliate links. If you buy anything through these links, TechnoBark earns a commission at no extra cost to you.

Halo Collar VS SpotOn 2024 Pricing

Before we get to the side-by-side comparison charts, I just want to share some exciting 2024 pricing updates with you.

As of this week (3/12/24), the Halo Collar 3 now costs $599! That’s $100 off the previous price! Even better news: our exclusive discount link gives you another $25 off, bringing it down to $574!

Back in January of this year (2024), SpotOn also dropped their price from $1295 to $999. If you decide to go with SpotOn, don’t forget to use our coupon code BARK to save $25, bringing it down to $974.

Halo Collar VS SpotOn Collar Features

Let’s start with a quick rundown of the major features and most common questions. Don’t worry, we’ll get more in-depth as we move on.

 
 
Primary Rating:
4.8
Primary Rating:
4.7
Min/Max Fence Size:
30 square feet minimum, no max size
Min/Max Fence Size:
1/2 acre minimum, no max size
GPS Coverage:
AI-driven PrecisionGPS™, GNSS
GPS Coverage:
True Location™ Technology, High-sensitivity GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/Beidou receiver
Flexible Fence Shapes:
Yes
Flexible Fence Shapes:
Yes
Multiple Fences in One App:
Yes
Multiple Fences in One App:
Yes
Overlapping Fences :
No
Overlapping Fences :
Yes
Portable (Take Anywhere):
Yes
Portable (Take Anywhere):
Yes
Subscription Optional:
No
Subscription Optional:
Yes
Static Correction Levels:
15
Static Correction Levels:
30
Primary Rating:
4.8
Min/Max Fence Size:
30 square feet minimum, no max size
GPS Coverage:
AI-driven PrecisionGPS™, GNSS
Flexible Fence Shapes:
Yes
Multiple Fences in One App:
Yes
Overlapping Fences :
No
Portable (Take Anywhere):
Yes
Subscription Optional:
No
Static Correction Levels:
15
Primary Rating:
4.7
Min/Max Fence Size:
1/2 acre minimum, no max size
GPS Coverage:
True Location™ Technology, High-sensitivity GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/Beidou receiver
Flexible Fence Shapes:
Yes
Multiple Fences in One App:
Yes
Overlapping Fences :
Yes
Portable (Take Anywhere):
Yes
Subscription Optional:
Yes
Static Correction Levels:
30

Virtual Fence Features

 
 
4.8
4.7

With the Halo Collar 3 owners can instantly create, edit, and store fences in the Halo Collar app and use them anywhere after moving, when visiting friends and family, going away on vacation or camping trips. Place fences anywhere you want, starting at as little as 30 square feet. Like SpotOn, there are no wires involved, so you don't have to worry about them being cut or damaged. Plus, it's extremely accurate, thanks to its advanced GPS/GNSS system. 

The SpotOn GPS Fence with patented True Location™ technology is also highly customizable, allowing you to create unlimited GPS fences and save up to 20 at a time. You can also make overlapping fences. You can activate each fence individually, so you can have a fence covering your entire property for use during the day and a smaller fence of just the backyard for bathroom breaks at night.

4.8

With the Halo Collar 3 owners can instantly create, edit, and store fences in the Halo Collar app and use them anywhere after moving, when visiting friends and family, going away on vacation or camping trips. Place fences anywhere you want, starting at as little as 30 square feet. Like SpotOn, there are no wires involved, so you don't have to worry about them being cut or damaged. Plus, it's extremely accurate, thanks to its advanced GPS/GNSS system. 

4.7

The SpotOn GPS Fence with patented True Location™ technology is also highly customizable, allowing you to create unlimited GPS fences and save up to 20 at a time. You can also make overlapping fences. You can activate each fence individually, so you can have a fence covering your entire property for use during the day and a smaller fence of just the backyard for bathroom breaks at night.

When it comes to virtual fence features, both SpotOn and Halo Collar 3 are extremely accurate with competitive features.

One thing I love about SpotOn vs. Halo Collar is that you can create overlapping fences with the former.

However, Halo allows for MUCH smaller fences, making it the only option for those of us who don’t own at least half an acre of land.

Terrain Types

 
 

Thanks to its PrecisionGPS™ and all-carrier coverage, when used as a tracking collar, the Halo Collar 3 can go anywhere that your dog goes, including over mountains and in the forest. As long as the collar can access a GPS signal, you're good to go! In addition, Halo Fence posts can be placed anywhere, and are not limited by geography or other obstacles.


The SpotOn Virtual Fence Dog Collar also uses GPS, meaning it works just about anywhere, including remote areas, both when used as a tracker and as an invisible fence.

Thanks to its PrecisionGPS™ and all-carrier coverage, when used as a tracking collar, the Halo Collar 3 can go anywhere that your dog goes, including over mountains and in the forest. As long as the collar can access a GPS signal, you're good to go! In addition, Halo Fence posts can be placed anywhere, and are not limited by geography or other obstacles.


The SpotOn Virtual Fence Dog Collar also uses GPS, meaning it works just about anywhere, including remote areas, both when used as a tracker and as an invisible fence.

Both SpotOn and Halo Collar can be used virtually (no pun intended) everywhere in the world, thanks to each brand’s patented GPS technology. I’ve had zero issues creating fences or tracking my dog where I live. Nicole, who wrote the Halo Collar 3 review, lives in an area surrounded by trees with cruddy cell service, and she hasn’t had any issues, either.

Training Features

 
 

When it comes to training features, the Halo Collar goes miles beyond the competition. Their in-app training course not only teaches Fido how to use the invisible fence, it also includes other handy dog training features. In fact, the Halo Collar is marketed as a combination GPS fence, tracking collar, AND training collar.

SpotOn also offers great tutorials and guides to help you teach your dog how to use their invisible fence feature. The great thing about these is that you don't have to subscribe to view them. Most- if not all- are available on the SpotOn Fence YouTube channel, along with a plethora of other great tutorials.

When it comes to training features, the Halo Collar goes miles beyond the competition. Their in-app training course not only teaches Fido how to use the invisible fence, it also includes other handy dog training features. In fact, the Halo Collar is marketed as a combination GPS fence, tracking collar, AND training collar.

SpotOn also offers great tutorials and guides to help you teach your dog how to use their invisible fence feature. The great thing about these is that you don't have to subscribe to view them. Most- if not all- are available on the SpotOn Fence YouTube channel, along with a plethora of other great tutorials.

If you’re looking for a training collar as well as a GPS tracker and invisible fence, there’s really no competition between Halo vs SpotOn. Halo Collar emerges as the clear winner.

In terms of the invisible fence feature, I do like how SpotOn features all of their training videos on YouTube. While Halo has an incredible YouTube channel as well, you won’t find many training tips on it.

Battery

 
 
Up to 24-hour battery life, depending on how you use it.
Up to 22 hours in containment (when used as a fence), 14 hours when used as a tracker
Up to 24-hour battery life, depending on how you use it.
Up to 22 hours in containment (when used as a fence), 14 hours when used as a tracker

Now we’re getting down into the nitty-gritty details. Both SpotOn and Halo Collar have roughly the same battery life. Depending on how you use it, expect each one to last roughly 20-24 hours on a single charge.

Cellular Connectivity

 
 
The Halo Collar 3 is an "all-carrier" device, meaning that you don't have to choose a specific carrier. It'll simply connect to the carrier with the best coverage where ever you go.
SpotOn uses either a Verizon or AT&T LTE-M Sim Card, so you don't have quite as many options.
The Halo Collar 3 is an "all-carrier" device, meaning that you don't have to choose a specific carrier. It'll simply connect to the carrier with the best coverage where ever you go.
SpotOn uses either a Verizon or AT&T LTE-M Sim Card, so you don't have quite as many options.

Again, the Halo Collar 3 is the clear winner here, since it works with ANY carrier.

Subscription Price

 
 
Halo Collar 3 requires a subscription, end of story. There's no getting around it. However, they do have quite a few options, including:
- Basic Plan: $5.99/month, $5.09 when paid annually
-Silver Plan: $9.99/month, $8.49 when paid annually
-Gold Plan: $29.99/month, $25.49 when paid annually.
Additional collars range from an extra $3.39-4.99 a month.
SpotOn doesn't require a subscription to access virtual fence features, but you will need one to use it as a tracker. Their subscription model is a bit simpler, with fewer options:
- $9.95/Month
-$95.40 billed every year
-$142.80 every two years
Halo Collar 3 requires a subscription, end of story. There's no getting around it. However, they do have quite a few options, including:
- Basic Plan: $5.99/month, $5.09 when paid annually
-Silver Plan: $9.99/month, $8.49 when paid annually
-Gold Plan: $29.99/month, $25.49 when paid annually.
Additional collars range from an extra $3.39-4.99 a month.
SpotOn doesn't require a subscription to access virtual fence features, but you will need one to use it as a tracker. Their subscription model is a bit simpler, with fewer options:
- $9.95/Month
-$95.40 billed every year
-$142.80 every two years

SpotOn doesn’t require a subscription to use the collar strictly as a virtual fence, whereas Halo does. However, Halo costs $400 less upfront. If you just go with the basic plan and pay annually, it would take about 6 years to spend that $400.

Honestly, by then I’m sure both collars will have released new models (given the rate technology changes, they’ll probably walk your dog for you AND do your laundry while they’re at it), so you’ll be due for an upgrade long before you “catch up” to the SpotOn pricetag.

The Winner: Halo Collar 3

The Halo Collar 3 comes with so many amazing features AND now costs around 40% less than SpotOn. So, based on the most bang for your buck alone, it’s definitely the way to go!

That said, SpotOn came VERY close to our top pick. Compared to Halo Collar 2+, it actually was our #1 favorite GPS tracking collar and invisible fence. But the new features of the Halo Collar 3 (combined with the fact that those new features didn’t come with a new higher price) gave it a great big push over the finish line to become our WINNER.

2024 Best GPS Dog Fence
Halo Collar 3 GPS Wireless Dog Fence

Marketed as the most accurate dog fence ever created, the Halo Collar 3 GPS Dog Fence allows users to create, edit and store unlimited-sized fences, starting at 30 x 30 feet, and is compatible with dogs weighing over 20 lbs. While the invisible fence features help prevent dogs from leaving the yard in the first place, the almost-pin-point accurate GPS tracking features help owners find lost dogs quickly. Last, but far from least, the Halo Collar also has amazing dog training features AND acts as an activity monitor.


Top Features: 

  • 24-hour battery life 
  • PrecisionGPS™
  • Active GPS Antenna
  • Real-time tracking
  • All-carrier cellular coverage worldwide. 


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Author

  • Mark Braeden

    Mark is a Boston University graduate and former electrical engineer. In 2017, he decided to combine his tech knowledge with his love for dogs. He spent a year familiarizing himself with the latest GPS tracking collars, invisible fences, and other hot pet gadgets before he wrote his first product review. After selling Technobark, Mark remained a writer and consultant but spends more time on his other passion now: raising and training his growing family of dogs.

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4 Comments

  • Mark,
    First, I would like to thank you for all the information which I found extremely informative and helpful.

    I do have some additional questions and have tried to contact SpotOn through email but haven’t heard back from them. I am hoping you might know the answers to my questions.

    I have 2 dogs – 13 week Airedale with a 10 1/2 neck and 18 week cavapoo with a 9 1/2 neck ( I am measuring their collars which have a 2 finger gap to get their neck size.

    While both of my dogs are still puppies, my Cavapoo will not get much bigger. Does either system have small enough collars for my Cavapoo? My last question is since my Airedale is still growing, how adjustable are the collars and what size would you recommend getting.

  • All carriers seem to be eliminating 2G and 3G by end of year 2022. If the Spot On collar only has 2G/3G capability (I assume Halo is the same), wouldn’t the collars become bricked as far as cellular tracking at that point? If so, $1500 for a little over 1 year of service is indeed very steep.

  • Spot on will graciously allow you to upgrade for 500 a collar more to be on 4G. We have had the collars for 18 months and they have had to send them in twice for warranty work. When it works it is great but we spend as much time upgrading and resetting the maps as we do allowing the dogs to be lose on our property.

  • I have had 3 of the SpotOn Collars and 1 Halo in the last 2 months.

    My first SpotOn Collar had a hardware issue, defective speaker in collar, and would provide no feedback to the dog. The last two would either not read the fence at different places or would give false readings sometimes 30 yards away from where the fence should have been. After numerous phone calls, SpotOn tech support even said my cell service was too spotty for it to work correctly. The GPS Tracking on the SpotOn Collar was awesome and easy to use. Way to expensive if that’s all your getting. Average wait time for their tech support is 45 minutes via phone. If they can’t figure out your issues, they will promise to get back to you with an answer. They never do, a week later you get to repeat the process.

    The Halo Collar has a faster and more accurate tracking feature. Their access to tech support is an average of 3-5 minutes with all questions answered. The app is easy to use and the training videos are phenomenal.

    Both collars basically do the same thing. The Halo seems to have the bugs worked out of their product and comes in at about half the cost.

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