9 Samsara Competitors and Alternatives in 2026

The Core Problem with Samsara: You're Not Allowed to Know the Price

Samsara order forms contain a confidentiality clause requiring customers to hold "the pricing and payment terms specified in this Order Form in strict confidence" and never disclose them to competitors. You can read that clause yourself in the City of Maple Grove's October 2025 Samsara quote, because government purchases are public record even when the vendor would prefer otherwise.

Those same public records show what the secrecy protects. Samsara's Sourcewell cooperative price sheet lists the full Vehicle Gateway license at $39 per vehicle per month and the dual-facing AI dashcam license at $55 per vehicle per month more. That is $94 per vehicle per month at list before hardware. Maple Grove negotiated a stripped-down license to $151.80 per vehicle per year, about $12.65 per month. The spread between list price and a negotiated government deal is roughly 3x for comparable GPS tracking. What you pay depends entirely on how hard you negotiate against a number you were never supposed to see.

Samsara reported $1.991 billion in ARR for Q1 fiscal 2027 (quarter ended May 2, 2026), up 30% year over year, with its third consecutive quarter of GAAP profitability. The business is working. For Samsara. This guide covers what the alternatives cost, who each one fits, and where the contracts bite.

Samsara Actual Pricing: What Public Records and Customers Report

Samsara requires a sales call for every quote. These numbers come from its own published government price sheet, a real city quote, and third-party reviews.

Two details from the Maple Grove order form worth knowing before any negotiation: payment is upfront for the full license term, and credit card payments add a 3% processing fee. Late payments accrue 1.5% per month.

Quick Comparison Table

1. Airpinpoint: The No-Contract Alternative

Pricing: $11.99/device/month (Business), $14.99/device/month (Enterprise) Hardware: $29 per AirTag one-time ($24.75 each in 4-packs) Contract: None. Cancel anytime.

Airpinpoint is not a telematics platform. It doesn't do ELD compliance, dashcam footage, or driver behavior scoring. What it does is track every asset you own on one dashboard, self-serve, with no sales call and no order form to negotiate.

It runs on Apple's Find My network, which has 2.5+ billion active devices providing crowd-sourced location updates. You stick a $29 AirTag on a trailer, generator, tool case, or vehicle and get location within 1-5 minutes in populated areas. No wiring, no OBD port, no cellular subscription.

What you get:

• Fleet dashboard with all assets on one map
• Location history (up to 1 year)
• Polygon geofencing with entry/exit alerts
• Team access with role-based permissions
• Webhook integrations and REST API
• Multi-site inventory visibility

Key strength: No lock-in and no pricing opacity. The price on the website is the price. A 25-asset deployment runs $11,410 over 3 years, and you can cancel any month.

Key weakness: Not real-time. Location updates depend on nearby Apple devices, so rural areas with low iPhone density update less often. No driver behavior data, no dashcam footage, no ELD.

Best for: Any business where the question is "where is this asset?" rather than "what is this driver doing?" That covers construction equipment, trailers, rental fleets, tools, generators, containers, and the majority of commercial assets that sit parked 90% of the time.

2. Motive (formerly KeepTruckin)

Pricing: $25-50/vehicle/month; small fleets report typical quotes of $31-35 (Spytec) Hardware: ~$150 per ELD device, often bundled into the subscription Contract: 12 months minimum, longer terms common

Motive filed for a NYSE IPO in December 2025 under the ticker MTVE, at $501 million ARR growing 28% with nearly 100,000 customers. It is roughly a quarter of Samsara's size and the closest head-to-head competitor.

The rivalry is now also legal. Motive won the ITC patent case in February 2026: the commission found Motive does not infringe any valid Samsara patent claim. The same month, an arbitrator awarded Samsara $30.3 million over Motive's AI dashcam marketing claims. A Delaware patent case and a California trade secrets case remain stayed with no trial dates. None of this affects the product day to day, but a company heading into public markets while fighting multi-front litigation has every incentive to push contract value at renewal.

Key strength: Lower entry price than Samsara for comparable ELD and GPS functionality, a 12-month minimum instead of 36, and a simpler driver-facing interface that trucking fleets consistently rate well.

Key weakness: Narrower platform than Samsara, fewer integrations, and quote-only pricing with the same opacity problem.

Best for: Mid-size trucking and logistics companies (20-200 vehicles) that need ELD compliance and want to pay less than Samsara. Not cost-effective for unpowered assets.

Detailed comparison: Samsara vs Motive

3. Geotab

Pricing: $20-40/vehicle/month for software, set by resellers Hardware: ~$130 per GO device, purchased outright Contract: Varies by reseller (typically 1-3 years)

Geotab passed 5 million global connected vehicle subscriptions in September 2025, the largest installed base of any vendor on this list. If Samsara is the iPhone of fleet tracking (polished, opinionated, closed), Geotab is the Android (flexible, open, complex).

Geotab sells through a reseller network rather than direct, which means pricing and contract terms vary. This creates both opportunity (you can shop resellers against each other) and complexity (support quality depends on which reseller you signed with). The GO device is purchased outright rather than leased, so upfront cost is higher but you own the hardware.

Key strength: Open platform with an SDK, a robust API, and a marketplace of third-party integrations. Fleets with custom workflows get more flexibility than Samsara allows.

Key weakness: Complexity. Steeper learning curve, inconsistent reseller experiences, and total cost that lands near Samsara's once you add integrations.

Best for: Enterprises with 200+ vehicles that need custom integrations, data exports, or niche vertical solutions, and have in-house fleet technology staff to use the open platform.

Detailed comparison: Samsara vs Geotab

4. Verizon Connect

Pricing: $20-45/vehicle/month; one customer reported $405/month for 15 vehicles ($27/vehicle) on a 1-year agreement Hardware: Bundled into the contract Contract: 3 years standard, with auto-renewal

Verizon Connect is what happens when a telecom giant buys fleet tracking companies. It acquired Fleetmatics and Telogis, merged them, and sells fleet telematics as part of the broader Verizon enterprise bundle.

The contract terms are the story here. BBB complaints document a customer who called to cancel in August 2024 and was told the contract had auto-renewed in October 2022 for another 3-year term, with the full remaining balance due as an early cancellation fee. Another reported being charged for three billing cycles after a confirmed March cancellation. Trustpilot reviews repeat the pattern: auto-renewals without notification, billing disputes that run for months, and support that promises resolutions that never land.

Key strength: Verizon's network and enterprise credibility. If your company already runs on Verizon for mobile and internet, bundling simplifies vendor management and sometimes unlocks discounts.

Key weakness: The most consistently documented contract-dispute record of any vendor on this list, and a platform with a reputation for lagging Samsara and Motive on product.

Best for: Large enterprises where vendor consolidation matters more than having the best fleet product, with a legal team that reads renewal clauses.

Detailed comparison: Samsara vs Verizon Connect

5. Lytx

Pricing: $35-55/vehicle/month depending on features (eVehicleTracking) Hardware: ~$500 per vehicle upfront Contract: 2-3 years

Lytx is the dashcam company that added fleet tracking, while Samsara is the fleet tracking company that added dashcams. That distinction matters. Lytx has been doing video telematics since 1998 and has the most mature video safety platform in the industry.

Its DriveCam product captures distracted driving, harsh events, and near-misses with AI analysis, and its machine vision engine processes more video events per year than any competitor. If your fleet's biggest problem is driver safety or insurance costs, Lytx is the specialist.

Key strength: Video safety is the core product, not an add-on. Deeper AI analysis of driving events and a longer track record with insurance carriers.

Key weakness: Expensive, with roughly $500 per vehicle in upfront hardware before the $35-55 monthly fee. If you don't need dashcams, you're paying for Lytx's core value proposition and getting a mediocre GPS platform as a side product.

Best for: Fleets with a documented safety problem, where insurance premium reduction or accident prevention justifies premium dashcam pricing.

Detailed comparison: Samsara vs Lytx

6. Fleetio

Pricing: $4-10/vehicle/month Hardware: None (software only) Contract: Annual

Fleetio is the odd one on this list because it's not a tracking platform. It's maintenance management software. You need to integrate it with a telematics provider (Samsara, Geotab, Motive, or dozens of others) to get location data.

Fleetio raised a $450 million Series D in March 2025 and acquired Auto Integrate, valuing the combined business above $1.5 billion. The combined company services over 8 million vehicles through a network of 110,000+ repair shops. Its focus is work orders, maintenance scheduling, parts inventory, fuel tracking, and fleet analytics.

Key strength: Best-in-class maintenance management at a fraction of telematics pricing, with integrations into nearly every GPS provider.

Key weakness: Not a tracker. You pay for two platforms, which can exceed Samsara's cost depending on which GPS provider you pair it with.

Best for: Fleets that already have GPS tracking and need to layer on maintenance management. Not a Samsara replacement for location tracking.

Detailed comparison: AirTags vs Fleetio

7. Azuga (Bridgestone Fleet Solutions)

Pricing: $25 (BasicFleet), $30 (SafeFleet), $35 (CompleteFleet) per vehicle per month (Business News Daily) Hardware: Included Contract: 36 months, mandatory

Azuga was acquired by Bridgestone in 2021 and targets small to mid-size fleets with a simpler, more affordable version of what Samsara offers: GPS tracking, driver behavior scoring, geofencing, and a driver rewards system.

Read the tier descriptions carefully. Active real-time tracking is only available on the top CompleteFleet tier at $35/month; lower tiers provide periodic updates, which is not what most buyers picture when they hear "fleet tracking." A 15-truck fleet on BasicFleet commits to $13,500 over the mandatory 36 months with no early exit.

Key strength: Simpler pricing and interface than Samsara, and the driver gamification system (rewarding safe driving) is genuinely effective for fleets that want safety improvement without coaching scorecards.

Key weakness: The 36-month contract matches Samsara's lock-in without Samsara's platform depth, and the tier structure pushes you to the $35 plan for true real-time data.

Best for: SMB fleets (10-50 vehicles) that want GPS tracking and driver rewards at a lower sticker price than Samsara and don't need ELD or advanced analytics.

Detailed comparison: AirTags vs Azuga

8. Zonar / GPS Trackit

Pricing: ~$40/vehicle/month Hardware: Varies ($100-300+) Contract: Month-to-month available

GPS Trackit merged with Zonar Systems on December 3, 2024. The combined company operates under the Zonar brand and launched the Zonar Ignition cloud platform in August 2025, nine months after the merger.

GPS Trackit historically served mid-market fleets with standard GPS tracking. Zonar brings heavy-duty vehicle expertise, electronic inspection reports (EVIR), emissions compliance tools, and school bus tracking. The merger creates a broader offering plus the usual integration growing pains while legacy products converge on Ignition.

If month-to-month flexibility is your filter, also get a quote from GPS Insight: verified buyer reports put basic GPS at $15-25/vehicle/month with month-to-month plans available.

Key strength: Month-to-month contracts available, which is rare in this market, plus inspection and compliance tools that compete with Samsara's DVIR features.

Key weakness: At ~$40/vehicle it costs more than Samsara's base tier, and reviews during the Zonar transition mention app issues and disrupted legacy features.

Best for: School transportation, heavy-duty trucking, and fleets where Zonar's inspection compliance tools add specific value without a multi-year contract.

Detailed comparison: AirTags vs GPS Trackit

9. One Step GPS

Pricing: $13.95/vehicle/month (GPS), $20.95 (GPS + ELD), $29.95 (GPS + AI dashcam) (One Step GPS) Hardware: Free (returned on cancellation) Contract: None, with a 100-day money-back guarantee

One Step GPS is the budget play and the only telematics vendor on this list that publishes its prices. At $13.95/vehicle/month with no contract, no equipment fee, and no cancellation fee, it's the cheapest real-time GPS option on the market. It holds a 4.8/5 rating on Capterra.

The platform covers core GPS tracking: real-time location, speed alerts, geofencing, idle time monitoring, driver behavior scoring, and OBD diagnostics. The $20.95 tier adds ELD compliance and the $29.95 tier adds an AI dashcam, both still contract-free.

Key strength: Published pricing, no contract, no hardware cost. The per-vehicle cost is roughly half of Samsara, Geotab, and Verizon Connect.

Key weakness: Powered-hardware-only, so you still need a different solution for unpowered trailers and equipment. Reviewers note location accuracy off by roughly 10 meters in some cases and limited diagnostics versus enterprise platforms.

Best for: Budget-conscious fleets under 50 vehicles that need real-time GPS and speed alerts without enterprise complexity or contracts.

Detailed comparison: AirTags vs One Step GPS

Pricing Comparison: 25 Vehicles Over 3 Years

Subscription plus hardware for 25 tracked units over 36 months, using the sourced per-unit figures above. Ranges reflect plan tiers and reseller variation.

Airpinpoint and One Step GPS are the cost leaders by a factor of 2x or more, and the only two with no contract. The difference between them: One Step GPS provides real-time cellular GPS for powered vehicles. Airpinpoint covers any asset type, powered or not, on Apple's Find My network.

Where Samsara Genuinely Wins

An honest list, because Samsara is not overpriced for every buyer.

Regulated CDL fleets. If you run FMCSA-regulated routes, you need ELD, and Samsara's ELD plus dashcam plus coaching stack in one vendor is genuinely strong. No competitor matches the full breadth in a single platform.

Video safety at scale combined with operations. Lytx beats Samsara on pure video, but if you want dashcams, GPS, fuel, maintenance, and dispatch in one pane, Samsara's bundle is the most complete.

Asset trackers, if you're already a Samsara vehicle customer. This surprised us when we ran the numbers. At list price, Samsara's AG46 unpowered tracker ($99 hardware + $120/year license) costs about the same over 3 years as an AirTag on Airpinpoint ($29 + $143.88/year). The catch is everything around the price: it's quote-only, prepaid, bound to the 36-month term, and the $20 Asset Tag for small tools only works near your Samsara-equipped vehicles. If you're deep in the Samsara ecosystem and happy with it, adding their asset trackers is reasonable. If you're not, you can't buy them standalone without taking on the platform.

Enterprise integration requirements. Samsara's API, SSO, and admin tooling are built for 500+ vehicle operations with dedicated fleet staff.

What Reviewers and Customers Say

The complaint patterns across review platforms are consistent and specific.

Renewal pricing. Trustpilot reviewers report renewal rates of 2-3x the original contract price, with one customer still charged at 2.5x after 45 days of tickets confirming the renewal was cancelled.

Unauthorized auto-renewal. One Trustpilot reviewer reports a $10,000 auto-renewal charged to a credit card from a 3-year-old contract without authorization. Samsara's terms allow renewal for up to a year, the length of the prior term, or whatever aligns your expiration dates with other active orders, whichever is greatest, if you miss the 30-day written cancellation window.

Cancellation that doesn't stick. BBB complaints include billing that continued for two years after a documented and acknowledged cancellation, and a February 2026 complaint about Samsara refusing to adjust a contract down to only the devices actually in use.

Hardware in the real world. Capterra reviewers note that gateways plugged into the OBD port can be kicked loose or unplugged by drivers, silently stopping location updates.

The product reviews themselves are largely positive: accurate tracking, useful video, good dashboards. The dissatisfaction concentrates almost entirely on the commercial relationship, not the technology.

How to Choose the Right Samsara Alternative

The decision tree is simpler than vendors want you to think.

Do you need ELD compliance?

• Yes: Motive (12-month minimum, lower price) or Samsara (broader platform, 36 months). One Step GPS covers basic ELD at $20.95 with no contract.
• No: You don't need a telematics platform.

Do you need dashcam footage?

• Yes: Lytx (specialist), Samsara (bundle), or One Step GPS at $29.95 if your needs are basic.
• No: Don't pay for camera licensing baked into your tier.

Do you need real-time GPS (seconds, not minutes)?

• Yes: One Step GPS ($13.95, no contract) or GPS Insight ($15-25, month-to-month). Ask whether Samsara's 2x price premium gets you 2x the value.
• No: Airpinpoint at $11.99/device covers location, geofencing, and history for any asset type.

Do you need maintenance management?

• Yes: Fleetio ($4-10/vehicle) paired with whatever GPS solution you already use.
• No: Skip it.

For most businesses, the answer is Airpinpoint for the assets that only need location, plus a telematics platform on the vehicles that legally or operationally require ELD, dashcams, or real-time dispatch.

The Hybrid Approach: 50-Asset Mixed Fleet

15 delivery trucks that need ELD and dashcams, plus 35 trailers, generators, and equipment that need location only. Using Samsara list prices from the Sourcewell sheet and Airpinpoint published pricing:

Option A: Everything on Samsara (list price)

• 15 trucks, GPS + dual dashcam: 15 x $94/mo x 36 = $50,760, plus hardware 15 x ($179 + $399) = $8,670
• 35 powered asset gateways for trailers/equipment: 35 x $19/mo x 36 = $23,940, plus hardware 35 x $299 = $10,465
• Total: $93,835 before negotiation, prepaid on a 36-month term

Option B: Hybrid (Samsara trucks + Airpinpoint assets)

• 15 trucks on Samsara: $59,430
• 35 assets on Airpinpoint: 35 x $11.99 x 36 = $15,107, plus 35 x $24.75 = $866
• Total: $75,403, with the Airpinpoint portion cancellable any month

Option C: Everything on Airpinpoint (no ELD or cameras needed)

• 50 assets: 50 x $11.99 x 36 = $21,582, plus 50 x $24.75 = $1,238
• Total: $22,820

Yes, you can negotiate Samsara below list. Maple Grove proves discounts above 40% exist. But you negotiate against a hidden number, prepay the result, and face the renewal pricing documented above. The hybrid keeps full telematics on every vehicle that needs it and removes the negotiation entirely for everything else.

Our Recommendation

Samsara is a good product for regulated fleets that need ELD compliance and AI dashcams. If you're running CDL drivers on FMCSA-regulated routes and can negotiate well below the $39-94/month list prices, the platform justifies itself.

For everyone else, split by actual need:

• Just need location tracking: Airpinpoint. $11.99/device, no contract, any asset type, published pricing. Start here.
• Need real-time GPS on a budget: One Step GPS. $13.95/vehicle, no contract, free hardware.
• Need ELD at a lower commitment: Motive. $25-50/vehicle, 12-month minimum.
• Need open-platform customization: Geotab. $20-40/vehicle plus hardware, 5M+ vehicles connected.
• Need best-in-class dashcams: Lytx. $35-55/vehicle.
• Need maintenance management: Fleetio. $4-10/vehicle, software only.

The most expensive mistake in fleet tracking is buying an enterprise platform for a simple problem, then discovering at renewal what the contract you signed actually allows. If you need to know where your trailers, tools, and equipment are, a $29 AirTag with an $11.99/month Airpinpoint subscription does exactly that, at a price you never have to negotiate.