AirTags vs Milwaukee ONE-KEY: Tool Tracking Comparison 2025

The Network Problem That Nobody Talks About

If you're a contractor looking at Milwaukee ONE-KEY for tool tracking, there's one critical factor that most marketing materials don't emphasize: your tools can only be located when someone with the ONE-KEY app is nearby.

This matters more than any other specification, and it's where AirTags have an overwhelming advantage.

How Each Tracking System Actually Works

Milwaukee ONE-KEY TICK

1. You attach a TICK tracker to your tool
2. The TICK broadcasts a Bluetooth signal
3. Only phones with the Milwaukee ONE-KEY app can detect it
4. When detected, the app sends the location to Milwaukee's cloud
5. You see the last known location in your app

The critical limitation: If no ONE-KEY user passes within ~100 feet of your tool, you get no location update. Period.

Apple AirTags

1. You attach an AirTag to your tool
2. The AirTag broadcasts a Bluetooth signal
3. Any iPhone, iPad, or Mac can detect it (they do this automatically)
4. The detecting device anonymously sends the location to Apple's cloud
5. You see the last known location in Find My (or AirPinpoint for business)

The advantage: With over 2 billion active Apple devices, AirTags get detected almost everywhere people exist.

Network Size: The Numbers Tell the Story

One contractor put it this way:

"I installed a TICK on my equipment and it's only ever been located by my phone. Not once has it ever been seen by another ONE-KEY app user in 2 months." — Home Depot Review

Another noted:

"Milwaukee would have been better off partnering with an existing device tracking system like Tile, that way finding a missing tool isn't dependent on such a tiny network." — Tool Guyd

Real-World Accuracy Problems

The small network creates compounding accuracy issues. Here's what contractors actually report about Milwaukee ONE-KEY:

Location errors:

• "When mine does tell me a location it is usually a block off"
• "In the app it claims my table saw was last seen off the coast of Africa... roughly 47 years before the Milwaukee tick hit shelves"
• "I finished up a job out of town 3 days ago and the app says my tools are still an hour away although they are currently in my garage"
• "They've never pinged a correct location or time even once"

Why this happens: The location shown is based on the GPS of the phone that last detected the TICK, not the TICK itself. If that phone had poor GPS accuracy or the user had location services partially disabled, your tool location is garbage.

AirTags benefit from:

• Much higher detection frequency (more data points)
• Apple's sophisticated location algorithms
• UWB for precision finding when nearby (shows direction and distance)

Feature Comparison

Best Use Case for Each

When Milwaukee ONE-KEY Makes Sense

ONE-KEY works best in very specific scenarios:

1. Large job sites where your whole crew uses the ONE-KEY app: If you have 20+ workers all with iPhones running ONE-KEY, the site has good coverage
2. Inventory management more than tracking: ONE-KEY excels at knowing what tools you own, assigning to workers, and managing inventory lists
3. Tool customization: ONE-KEY lets you adjust settings on compatible power tools (RPM, torque, etc.)
4. You only need to find misplaced tools on-site: Within 100 feet and your own app, it works fine

When AirTags Are Better

AirTags win for most real-world scenarios:

1. Recovery of lost or stolen tools: The massive network means tools get detected almost anywhere
2. Mixed tool brands: AirTags work identically on Milwaukee, DeWalt, Makita, or any equipment
3. Small teams: Even with just one person, AirTags leverage everyone else's Apple devices
4. Off-site tracking: Tools in vans, at client locations, or in transit get detected by passersby
5. Actually finding things: UWB precision finding shows exact direction and distance

The Theft Recovery Reality

Let's be honest about what each system can actually do if tools are stolen:

Milwaukee ONE-KEY Scenario

Your Milwaukee drill is stolen from a job site:

1. You report it missing in the app
2. For the tool to be located, a thief must be within 100 feet of someone with ONE-KEY installed
3. What are the odds a random person near a thief has a Milwaukee tool tracking app? Very low
4. Result: Tool likely never shows up

AirTag Scenario

Your drill with an AirTag is stolen:

1. You mark it as lost in Find My
2. The thief drives through any neighborhood, parks anywhere, enters any building
3. Any of the 2+ billion Apple devices within range automatically reports the location
4. Result: High likelihood of getting location updates

Multiple contractors have reported recovering stolen equipment using AirTags. Finding similar success stories with ONE-KEY is much harder.

Cost Analysis

Both solutions are reasonably priced, but let's look at total value:

50-Tool Deployment

Milwaukee TICK

• 50 TICKs: ~$1,000-1,250
• ONE-KEY app: Free
• Subscription: Free
• Tracking effectiveness: Limited by network size

AirTags

• 50 AirTags: ~$1,450
• Find My app: Free
• AirPinpoint for business: ~$100-200/month
• Tracking effectiveness: Excellent due to network size

The AirTag solution costs slightly more upfront, but the dramatically larger network means you're actually getting functional tracking, not just inventory management.

The Honest Assessment

Milwaukee ONE-KEY is good for:

• Inventory management and tool assignment
• On-site tool location when your team uses the app
• Customizing ONE-KEY enabled Milwaukee power tools
• Businesses deeply invested in the Milwaukee ecosystem

ONE-KEY is NOT good for:

• Recovering stolen tools
• Tracking tools that leave your immediate work area
• Small teams or solo contractors
• Mixed-brand tool collections (yes, it works, but why use a limited network?)

AirTags are good for:

• Actual location tracking anywhere people exist
• Theft recovery with realistic chances of success
• Any brand of tool or equipment
• Businesses of any size
• Precision finding when nearby

Our Recommendation

For pure inventory management and tool assignment, Milwaukee ONE-KEY is adequate. But if you actually want to find things when they go missing—whether misplaced or stolen—the network size difference makes AirTags the clear choice.

The Apple Find My network isn't just bigger than ONE-KEY; it's orders of magnitude larger. That's not marketing spin; it's the fundamental reality of how crowd-sourced tracking works.

Consider this: would you rather have your tools detectable by every iPhone on the planet, or only by the small percentage of contractors who've downloaded a specific app?

The answer is obvious. Use AirTags.