Bump is the Zenly team’s encore. Same friend map, same battery-conscious live location, same shake-to-greet idea, now with a Spotify feed and an auto-built scratch map of everywhere you have wandered. It works, and the polish shows. The reason people start hunting for Bump alternatives is usually one of three things: friends who refuse to install another social map app after Zenly shut down, the always-on location ask that drains a phone fast on older hardware, or a need that goes beyond friends. A partner you want to keep tabs on safely, a kid who should be home from school by now, or a teammate you want to ping a one-time ETA without adding to your map forever.
The seven Bump alternatives below split into three groups: family-first trackers built for parents, lightweight one-tap shares that do not need a permanent map, and the freebies that came with phones already. We picked apps that are actively maintained, work reliably on Android, and respect mutual consent for location.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price/mo | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life360 | Family circles with driving reports | Yes, two places, basic location | Gold $7.99 | Crash detection and SOS |
| Snapchat | Friends who already use Snap | Yes, full Snap Map | None for map | Same vibe as Zenly map |
| Find My Kids | Parents tracking a child’s phone or watch | 3-day trial | About $3 | Listen-in audio and school zones |
| GeoZilla | Battery-friendly family sharing | 7-day trial | About $5 | Location history with low drain |
| iSharing | Couples and small private groups | Yes, basic share | About $5 | Panic button and walk-with-me |
| Glympse | One-off ETA shares without an account | Fully free | None | Time-limited shares, no signup |
| Google Maps | The most-installed option already on your phone | Yes, full sharing | None | Cross-platform, no extra app |
Why people leave Bump
Battery use on always-on location. Bump’s pitch is that the map updates in near real time, which is the whole point, and that needs background location to stay alive. On a four-year-old phone the drain shows. Users on Reddit and the Play Store mention 15 to 30 percent extra daily battery use when the app stays active for a full friend circle. Bump’s team has worked on this, but live mapping on mobile is hard to make free.
The social map model is not for everyone. Bump is descended from Zenly, and Zenly’s shutdown left a community burned. Some friends will not opt in again, which kills the value of a mutual map. If half your group never joins, the map is empty.
Limited beyond friends. Bump is friend-shaped. It does not have parental controls, driving reports, crash detection, or school-zone alerts that family-focused apps build out. A parent watching a teen wants different tooling than a college friend group.
Privacy questions about ambient context. Bump shows what your friends are doing, their battery, their speed, what they are listening to right now. Some people love this; others find it intrusive even between friends. Once that data is on a map, it is on someone else’s server too.
No native paid tier yet. Bump’s roadmap is heavy and the free tier is generous, but power features like longer location history or driving insights live in the family-tracker apps. If you want those, you have to leave.
The alternatives
Life360, best for family circles with driving reports
Life360 is the default family location-sharing app in the US and the UK. The free tier covers live location for everyone in your Circle, two named places (Home and one other), and the basic map. Paid Gold and Platinum tiers add crash detection, SOS alerts, driving reports, and roadside assistance. Around 70 million monthly active users keep it the category leader.
Where it falls short: the free plan caps places at two, so a family with school, gym, and grandparents’ house will hit the wall fast. The driving features need Bluetooth and motion permission, which some teens find creepy and disable.
Pricing:
- Free: live location, basic map, two named places.
- Paid: Gold around $7.99 a month, Platinum around $14.99 a month.
- vs Bump: Life360 is built for parents, not for friends. It costs money once you want the good stuff, and the UX leans serious.
Migrating from Bump: install Life360, create a Circle, invite the family by phone number. Bump’s data does not transfer; it is a separate friend graph.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play · App Store
Bottom line: pick Life360 if you are a parent or a partner who needs the safety features. Skip it if you just want a fun map with college friends.
Snapchat, best for friends who already use Snap
Snapchat added Snap Map back in 2017, and for the Zenly cohort it is the closest mood-match to Bump that millions of people already have installed. Friends show up as Bitmoji on a live map, you can chat from the map, and Snap Map even surfaces public Stories from places you tap. The map is opt-in per friend, and Ghost Mode disables it instantly.
Where it falls short: Snapchat is a full social app, not a focused location tool. If you do not already use Snapchat for messaging and stories, opening it just to check the map is overkill. Battery use is also heavier than dedicated location apps.
Pricing:
- Free: Snap Map, messaging, full app.
- Paid: Snapchat+ around $3.99 a month, mostly cosmetic.
- vs Bump: same vibe, way bigger network. You probably already have it.
Migrating from Bump: turn on Snap Map for the friends you want to see, set everyone else to Ghost. No data migration needed.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play · App Store
Bottom line: best Bump vs Snapchat trade if your friend group is already on Snap. Worst pick if you do not want yet another social feed.
Find My Kids, best for parents tracking a child’s phone or watch
Find My Kids is built specifically for parents. It pairs with a kid’s phone or a kid’s GPS watch and gives a parent live location, location history, a school-zone alert, and a listen-in audio feature that turns on the child’s mic briefly so a parent can hear surroundings during a tough call. The app crossed 100 million downloads and is one of the few in this space with a clear single-purpose design.
Where it falls short: the listen-in feature is controversial and many older teens find it invasive. The audio quality is also rough. The free trial is short, and core features sit behind a subscription.
Pricing:
- Free: 3-day trial.
- Paid: around $3 a month after trial, with annual discounts.
- vs Bump: Find My Kids is asymmetric. The parent gets data the child does not. Bump is mutual and friend-shaped.
Migrating from Bump: not applicable. Different relationship model.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play · App Store
Bottom line: only for parents with a young kid. Not a friend map.
GeoZilla, best for battery-friendly family sharing
GeoZilla is a family-locator that focuses on battery efficiency. The app polls location less aggressively than Life360 and most users report meaningfully better battery on older phones. The map covers family location, place alerts, history, and a phone-finder option for lost devices. Around 30 million people have downloaded it.
Where it falls short: the free plan is thin. Almost every feature beyond live location asks for an upgrade after a short trial. Reviews mention occasional notification lag of a few minutes when the family member’s phone goes into deep sleep.
Pricing:
- Free: 7-day trial.
- Paid: around $5 a month, family plan for up to 6 members.
- vs Bump: GeoZilla is family-tuned and lighter on battery, but you pay for the polish.
Migrating from Bump: install, create a family group, invite by phone number.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play · App Store
Bottom line: pick GeoZilla if Life360 drains your phone too much and the family-tracker model fits.
iSharing, best for couples and small private groups
iSharing sits between a family tracker and a friend map. It is popular with couples and small trust groups who want each other’s location without the parental-control feel of Life360. The app includes a panic button, a walk-with-me mode for late-night routes, and basic location history. Over 100 million downloads.
Where it falls short: the design is dated next to Bump’s polished map. Some users on Reddit mention the app occasionally drops the connection and needs a manual refresh. The free tier is limited.
Pricing:
- Free: basic live location for one partner.
- Paid: Premium around $5 a month, family plan available.
- vs Bump: iSharing is more about safety and trust. Bump is more about hanging out.
Migrating from Bump: install, send an invite link, the other person accepts to start sharing.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play · App Store
Bottom line: best Bump alternative for couples or close pairs. Not for a wide friend circle.
Glympse, best for one-off ETA shares without an account
Glympse is the simplest tool here. No account, no permanent map, no friends list. You open the app, pick a contact or paste a number, set a duration from 15 minutes to 4 hours, and share a live link to your location. When the timer ends, the share disappears. Glympse has been around since the early App Store days and still works exactly like that.
Where it falls short: no persistent map and no friend list mean nothing accumulates over time. If you want to glance and see where everyone is, Glympse is the wrong tool.
Pricing:
- Free: fully free for personal use, no paid tier.
- vs Bump: Glympse is the anti-Bump. Maximum control, zero ambient social context.
Migrating from Bump: no migration needed. Glympse is per-share.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play · App Store
Bottom line: pick Glympse for an airport pickup, a hike with friends, or a delivery. Not for an always-on social map.
Google Maps, best for the most-installed option already on your phone
Google Maps has had live location sharing since 2017 and most people forget it exists. You pick a contact, pick a duration (or “until you turn this off”), and the recipient sees your dot in their own Google Maps without installing anything new. It works across Android and iOS, syncs with Google Calendar for ETA, and uses the same battery profile as navigation. The map view is not as fun as Bump but the network effect is unbeatable: nobody has to download anything.
Where it falls short: no scratch map, no song sharing, no shake to greet. It is utilitarian. The interface for managing who you share with is buried.
Pricing:
- Free: fully free, no paid tier for sharing.
- vs Bump: Google Maps wins on reach and friction. Bump wins on vibe.
Migrating from Bump: open Google Maps, tap your profile, choose Location sharing, pick contacts, pick duration. Done.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play · App Store
Bottom line: pick Google Maps when getting your friend or family member to install a new app is the bottleneck.
How to choose
Pick Life360 if you are a parent and the safety features (crash detection, SOS, school zones) actually solve a problem you have. The price stops feeling steep the moment you need driving reports for a teen.
Pick Snapchat if your friend group is already on Snap. You do not need to convince anyone to install anything; they probably have a Bitmoji on the map already.
Pick Glympse for one-off shares. Airport pickup, late-night walk home, dropping someone off at the airport. The time-limited model is exactly right for these and you do not have to manage a friends list.
Pick Google Maps when the bottleneck is “everyone has to install the same app.” It is the lowest-friction choice and the location is accurate.
Pick GeoZilla or iSharing if Life360 drains your phone too much. They are lighter, with iSharing fitting couples and GeoZilla fitting full families.
Stay on Bump if your friend group is already on the map, the Zenly nostalgia lives in your group chat, and you enjoy the music feed and scratch map. None of the alternatives match that exact vibe. The reason to switch is almost always practical: battery, a parent’s needs, or one stubborn friend who will not install another social app.
FAQ
Is Bump the same as Zenly?
Bump is built by the team that made Zenly, but it is a new app, not a revival. After Snap shut Zenly down in early 2023, Amo (the team’s new company) launched Bump with the same spirit: live friend maps, fun social context, battery-aware design. The data does not carry over.
What is the best free Bump alternative?
Google Maps has the best free tier because it is fully free with no paid upsell, and most people already have it installed. Glympse is a close second for one-off shares. Snapchat’s Snap Map is fully free too if you already use the app.
Is Life360 better than Bump?
For families, yes. For friends, no. Life360 is built for the parental relationship and ships features (crash detection, SOS, driving reports) that Bump does not pretend to offer. Bump is built for friends to hang out on a shared map, which Life360 does badly.
Can I share my location without an app?
Yes. Google Maps has share-by-link, where you send a URL and the recipient sees your location in their browser without installing anything. Glympse works the same way. Both are good for sharing with a person who refuses to install a tracker.
What is the safest location-sharing app?
“Safest” depends on what you care about. For end-to-end-encrypted location, none of these mainstream apps qualify cleanly; all of them keep location data on a server. For minimizing what gets stored, Glympse is the most privacy-friendly because it has no account and no persistent map.
Does Bump work on iPhone?
Yes. Bump is on both iOS and Android, and friends across both platforms see each other on the same map.
