Best Asset Tracking Companies

Our research shows that the best asset tracking company is Samsara due to its powerful GPS software, which offers all key alerts including usage, geofencing, and maintenance.

Nearly every business owns equipment to use as money-earning tangible assets, whether these are file folders, laptops, or ten-story construction cranes. Those businesses can save a ton of money and time by getting a software that tracks all these assets.

This software should prevent lost assets. However, the best ones will also track maintenance needs to prevent breakdowns, track depreciation and contracts to ensure compliance, and track each asset’s physical location to stop misuse, as well as a lot more. This all leads to longer asset lifecycles and a better bottom line. Some solutions even offer free asset tracking.

Here, we’ve researched the top asset tracking providers and explained the specific strengths each one has to offer you.

In this guide:

• Best Asset Tracking Companies
• Types of Asset Management Software
• The Asset Tracking Buyers’ Guide
• About Our Research
• Verdict: What Is the Best Asset Tracking Company?

Best Asset Tracking Companies

We’ll walk you through the top asset tracking companies, including each system’s individual features and what makes each most appealing to customers. When you’re ready to pick the solution that’s right for your business, our free price comparison tool can help you compare personalized quotes.

Samsara Asset Tracking – Best overall

Starts from: Price on request
Asset tag type: GPS

With Samsara, every step of an operation’s daily tasks has the ability to be streamlined, from travel times to on-site usage to the billable hours that go into final reports. However, its prices aren’t public at the moment, so you’ll have to contact Samsara directly for a personalized quote.

Samsara earns an overall score of 4.7/5 (moving up from second place in our previous round of research), and ties with Tenna for top place. We’ve awarded it the top spot because its real-time tracking makes it great for tracking both unpowered and powered assets, and the simple “Find my Asset” tool saves users from trawling through inventories.

However, Samsara offers several alert types that the other top services don’t have, including in-motion alerts that will notify you when your asset is moved. This means you can react quickly to any suspicious access or suspected thefts – a feature every business will be glad for.

Other alert mechanisms keep managers aware of geofencing violations, when a powered asset is turned on or off, and the total engine hours for each use. This allows managers to keep tabs on the authorized usage of their assets and track maintenance needs.

Samsara’s software offers a check-in history for each asset. Image source: Samsara.

If you’re looking for durable hardware, on the other hand, you’re in the right place. Samsara’s GPS-powered asset tags are weatherproofed to withstand “high-pressure power washing.” What’s more, the internal antennas power cellular connectivity and can operate anywhere in North America, the EU, and the UK. For comparison, its rival tracking service, Tenna, only covers North America.

Automatic reports also cover fields that include asset dormancy, detention, and utilization, but you’ll also be able to create “Time on Site” reports which demonstrate how long assets stayed in certain locations while in the customer’s possession – a crucial feature for any businesses looking to recoup as much revenue as possible.

Other money-saving features include an unused asset tracker, which tracks how long your assets have remained dormant so you can make data-driven decisions about depreciation and deployment. It’s features like this that Samara took the top spot – it really goes beyond the basics like no other.

Find out more about the platform in our Samsara review.

Tenna Asset Tracking – Great for those with both fixed and movable assets

Starts from: Price on request
Asset tag type: GPS, RFID, barcodes

Tenna’s consolidated asset tracking platform gathers and displays data to cover every asset your business owns – and we mean every asset. We picked Tenna as our top-rated asset tracker for GPS bluetooth devices, short-range RFID, and scannable barcodes – Samsara only supports GPS devices. RFID is the best tracking system for businesses with a large number of small or fixed assets, since it makes each asset easy to find quickly.

Since it offers access to three different types of asset tags, Tenna is the best choice for businesses with both powered and unpowered assets.

Your equipment will be in good hands, thanks in part to Tenna’s trackers’ great battery life and a good range of alerts. The devices are weatherproof and will work for any asset, from heavy yellow iron and trailers to parts, attachments, and small tools.

Tenna’s asset tracking product lets users associate assets with specific sites. Image source: Tenna

Trackers might be plug-in or battery powered. Tenna’s batteries can last up to seven years, making it great for assets that are away from sources of power for long periods of time. Even otherwise strong competitors like Azuga and ATTI only offer products with a battery life of up to five years.

GPS alerts include geofencing, usage, and maintenance scheduling notifications: All key features for frequently moved assets, since they’ll alert managers when assets are on the move to an unauthorized location or when they are due for an oil change. Alerts can even be triggered when assets go offline or low on battery.

Tenna remains particularly popular among oil and gas, construction, and landscaping companies, where assets must be durable and highly visible.

Verizon Connect Asset Tracking – Best for range of features

Starts from: Price on request
Asset tag type: GPS

Verizon Connect is one of the biggest names in asset tracking systems and telemetrics in general, and we’ve picked it as one of our top three recommended asset trackers for the past three years. It’s among the biggest brands in asset tracking, thanks in part to multi-platform support, detailed alerts, and sturdy hardware.

Is bigger better? It is when it comes to support teams: Verizon Connect has offices around the globe, so the locality of support won’t be a concern – and it supports any organization size, small and large. However, prices can vary and are not public, though there is a free demo on offer.

Verizon’s asset tracking system works on a desktop, the well-rated mobile app, or via the notifications managers can receive on either device. Managers stay up-to-date on asset location and status in real time, no matter where they are.

Verizon Connect’s asset tracking system also includes all the hardware units you’ll need, all bundled into the main service package. The GPS hardware is weatherproof, with a battery life of up to four years, so it can handle wear and tear. The tags operate on 3G or 4G networks, with GPRS cellular network data available to track assets when they’re outside your network.

Verizon’s asset tracking program offers plenty of dashboard charts. Image source: Verizon

Alerts cover geofencing, usage, and maintenance scheduling, with reporting times that can be customized to your needs. Historical data is tracked (within the limits of Verizon’s data privacy policy), which means users can glean insights and build reports to better understand their operation.

Fuel tracking is also covered, so businesses will be able to mitigate fuel theft and promote the most efficient use of fuel across their organization.

Like Samsara, Verizon Connect also offers fleet management and field service dispatch software that integrates with asset tracking, allowing for a streamlined business.

Wasp AssetCloud – Good for small companies with fixed assets

Starts from: $1,295/user/year
Asset tag type: Barcode, RFID

Wasp AssetCloud is our top-rated service for barcodes and RFID-type asset tracking, so we’ve picked it as the best for companies with a large number of fixed assets. If you’re also in need of GPS, however, Tenna would be a better option.

While Wasp’s asset tracking service won’t be an option for businesses with movable assets, it should be a great choice for warehouses and small, inventory-heavy businesses that need strong reporting and auditing abilities in addition to tracking their assets. It’s also a great option for tracking education and school assets.

The Wasp AssetCloud tracking software has four plans: Cloud-Hosted Complete AssetCloud for $1,295 per year per user; Basic AssetCloudOP (Self-Hosted Only) for a one-time payment of $2,995 per user; Self-Hosted Complete AssetCloud for a $6,995 one-time cost that covers five users; and Complete + RFID AssetCloud (Cloud-Hosted Only) for $7,990 per year per five users. If you choose one of the two self-hosted plans, there will be an extra fee in addition to the one-time cost: you’ll need to fork over an 18% support and maintenance fee after the first year.

Assets are unlimited across all plans, and sites are unlimited on all plans except Basic, which allows for just one site. This makes Wasp AssetCloud the highest-rated asset tracker in this guide to explicitly support unlimited assets: Verizon, Tenna, and Samsara don’t publically state the maximum assets supports with their plans.

What’s the value of tracking unlimited assets? It makes AssetCloud an attractive option for a business that plans to scale quickly and doesn’t want the hassle of switching to a new asset tracker down the road.

The Wasp AssetCloud software lets users run a range of different reports. Image source: Wasp AssetCloud

The service is aimed at tracking fixed assets, supporting barcodes and RFID, but not GPS. Billed as an easy-to-use option, Wasp AssetCloud offers features including auditing tools, a quicker check-in/check-out system, and streamlined, accurate reporting. A consolidating “multi-quantity” asset tracking feature lets you track the quantity of your identical items without creating a new entry for each one: Your managers will thank you for that time-saving feature.

Email alerts can be auto-sent daily or at multiple customized times throughout the day. Geofencing and in-motion alerts are not available, since these are GPS-only. Maintenance scheduling and work orders are supported on all plans except Basic.

Read our Wasp AssetCloud review to learn more about Wasp’s services, or check out our dedicated guide to all the best fixed asset tracking software tools for more options.

FreshService – Best for IT businesses

Starts from: $49/agent/year
Asset tag type: Barcodes, QR codes

FreshService’s software lets users set up their own company knowledge base, ticket support system, and internal workspaces — all key elements for IT service management teams. Another reason why we picked it for IT? The software streamlines the process of signing out assets for specific projects and helps track software and coding problems alongside assets.

The service is best for IT companies that need plenty of internal management tools at their disposal, and want them all in a central location.

FreshService offers four plans, but only three support asset tracking: Growth, for $49 per agent per year; Pro, for $95 per agent per year; and Enterprise, for $119 per agent per year. Each plans nets the user 100 managed assets, with upgrades of 500 assets for $75 per month each, or unlimited assets for $1,500 a month.

FreshService’s business model is similar to Wasp AssetCloud’s, with users receiving barcodes and QR codes that are available with 3G connectivity rather than GPS trackers like Samsara, Tenna, Azuga, and ATTI. Usage alerts are not supported, so your managers won’t be instantly notified if an asset is misused. However, there’s a workaround, as incident reports can be generated to document this after the fact.

By logging in as an administrator, users can assign assets to specific agents within the organization, allowing you to track work orders. This is a very helpful feature, since it streamlines tasks that might otherwise take more time and resources to manage.

With Freshservice, users can view all new and open tickets in a group. Image source: Freshservice

Other asset trackers support work orders as well (Tenna, Wasp AssetCloud, and Snipe-IT ), but FreshService stands out for its additional IT management tools. No other asset tracker on this list also allows the user to host their own knowledge base or ticket support system for their clients.

To find out more, check out our Freshservice review.

Asset Tiger – Best permanently-free option

Starts from: $120/500 assets/year
Asset tag type: Barcodes, QR codes

The Asset Tiger asset tracking solution is the highest rated company we recommend in this guide to offer totally free asset tracking. This makes it our top pick for businesses that need to keep management costs low while scaling up the rest of the business. The only other service on this list to have a permanent free plan is Snipe-IT.

There’s a catch, as only Asset Tiger’s first 250 assets are free. After that, prices rise significantly, to the point where an alternative service might offer you better value. After testing out the software, we found Asset Tiger offered great tracking tools and overview graphs. Together with the 250 asset cap, this makes Asset Tiger the best option for businesses that plan to always have a low number of assets and don’t want to add an extra expense to their budget, such as local mom-and-pop stores that don’t plan to dramatically increase their audience.

When it comes to its paid plans, Asset Tiger offers up to 500 assets costs $120 per year, up to 2,500 assets costs $230 per year, and so on up to a max of 250,000 assets for $1,600 per year.

The company also sells metal barcode asset tags, offering a free subscription to its software for anyone who buys a certain amount. For example, $180 worth of tags will get users a free year of 500 assets, and $345 of tags will get you 2,500 assets for a year. The maximum is $2,400 worth of tags, earning buyers a year of tracking for 250,000 assets. As with Wasp AssetCloud, the number of users are unlimited on all tiers.

Asset Tiger’s dashboard displays auto-updated stats about your assets’ numbers and total worth. Image source: Tech.co testing

Asset Tiger supports barcodes and QR codes, not GPS. Its tags are heatproof, and are even able to withstand short-term exposure to temperatures as high as 1,000° Fahrenheit, a feat no other system in this guide claims its trackers can accomplish. Asset Tiger will be able to handle the extremes as temperatures rise in states like Florida, Arizona, and Texas.

The software system allows users to set custom email reminders for regular maintenance needs, contracts, or licenses that are about to expire, as well as assets that are past due. As with any automations, these functions serve as reminders that can keep even the busiest manager on track.

The software is well suited to organizations with small or medium-sized assets, like schools, offices, or bike rental locations. It will be free until the user surpasses 250 assets, and then it’s just a small annual payment.

Check out our full guide to the best free asset tracking software.

Azuga Asset Tracking – Great for companies that move assets frequently

Starts from: Price on request
Asset tag type: GPS

We picked Azuga as the best for small or medium operations with plenty of movable assets that are often on the road, since the service offers impressive two-pound cellular and GPS hardware units.

Each tracker comes with motion detectors and detailed historical activity reports, and is rugged enough to withstand harsh weather, humidity, and temperatures. Battery lives can range from six months to five years, depending on the device, so Azuga is a good tracking solution for construction or landscaping crews working remote, months-long gigs.

Azuga’s GPS asset tracking system is one of the best for sheer granular detail, particularly when it comes to movable assets. Managers can set up and receive real-time notifications when an asset begins moving, stops for a lengthy duration, operates outside of working hours, or leaves a geofenced region. This helps avoid misplaced assets and mitigates asset theft.

Azuga’s asset tracking software offers a breadcrumb view of each asset, letting users see that asset’s past locations. Image source: Azuga

Reports can be automatically assembled from a job, allowing bills to be itemized down to every hour of asset use. Fuel and insurance tracking are supported as well – two big perks that only the feature-rich Verizon also offers, but that help a business conserve its resources and stay on top of compliance.

Azuga offers fleet management in addition to asset management: Read our Azuga vehicle tracking review.

ATTI Asset Tracking – Great for companies with heavy equipment

Starts from: Price on request
Asset tag type: GPS

ATTI is our top pick for companies that need to regularly monitor heavy equipment, including trailers, generators, or other large storage containers. This is because alerts can be set for geofencing notifications, upcoming maintenance, and to warn managers of unauthorized use.

ATTI offers GPS trackers that are weatherproof and operate on 4G networks, with a battery life of up to five years. You’ll need to contact the company for a quote and any further pricing information, although our ATTI review can tell you more about the software itself.

As with other top GPS-focused asset trackers, including Samsara, Tenna, and Verizon, ATTI stores historical data, which can help streamline insurance claims or verification processes.

Not available? Fuel tracking or work orders, the former of which you can get from two GPS trackers (Verizon and Azuga) and the latter of which is available from one other GPS tracker (Tenna). These tools boost efficiency for businesses that have a large volume of work orders or fuel use.

ATTI tracks speed limit violations as part of its fleet management system. Image source: ATTI

ATTI’s asset tracking system also works with the brand’s fleet management system, letting an operation track their fleet through the same software as their assets. This makes ATTI one of four options on this list that can allow a fleet to easily upgrade to a full fleet system while remaining integrated with their asset tracking system: Samsara, Verizon, and Azuga are the other choices.

Snipe-IT – Best for programmers

Starts from: $39.99/month
Asset tag type: Barcodes

Snipe-IT focuses on barcodes and stands out for its free plan and open API, so we picked it as the best when it comes to coding-friendly office building settings. Asset Tiger is the only other service to have a free plan, and Snipe-IT is arguably the better choice, since, as we found in our testing, it offers unlimited assets and users for free. That’s a big benefit for businesses that have a lot of items to monitor but no budget.

However, your business will need some technical know-how: Unlike other forever-free asset trackers like Spiceworks, you’ll have to self-host the Snipe-IT system, with no support or security features available. This isn’t unusual for completely free software, but it is for asset tracking services. All the other trackers in this guide come with some form of support and software security.

Paid plans include Basic Hosting for $39.99 per month or $399.99 per year, Small Business Hosting for $99.99 per month or $999.99 per year, Dedicated Hosting for $249.9 a month or $2,499.99 a year and Enterprise Support for $4,999 per year. Of the paid plans, our research found Basic Hosted is the best deal since it includes support and security features at the lowest cost overall. Security is key for tech operations, so it’s worth the price.

Since the system is barcode-based, it’s a better fit for tracking office assets rather than movable ones – companies with powered and movable assets should instead opt for Samsara or Tenna for a GPS system.

Any asset groups can be manually entered into Snipe-IT’s software, we found during our demo. Here, a list of laptop assets is viewable. Image source: Tech.co testing

The larger reason why Snipe-IT appeals to programmers is its open API, which gives users with coding knowledge an easy way to tweak the software to fit their needs. No dedicated mobile app is supported, but the web-based software is mobile-friendly. Assets can be assigned to users, allowing work orders to be supported, and trackable asset data includes its history of checkouts, check-ins and maintenance. Email alerts are limited to notifications of expiring warranties and licenses.

Learn more about the asset tracker in our comprehensive Snipe-IT review.

The Asset Tracking Buyers’ Guide

Every business is unique. It’s not always easy to figure out the best software for tracking your asset lifecycles all the way from purchase date to EOL (that’s “end of life”). Here are the core factors that are most likely to lead you towards one asset tracking solution rather than another.

• Powered or unpowered assets: If your main assets are machinery or vehicles, you’ll likely need a GPS system, to track engine status, fuel use, and geofencing. If your assets are unpowered, a more simple RFID system will likely be best.
• Physical or digital assets: Asset tracking systems are mainly for tracking physical assets, but most of them offer a way to catalog digital assets like deeds and licenses as well.
• Reporting needs: What paperwork can be automated with an asset tracking system? You may find it helpful to track total use, tax compliance, asset depreciation, and maintenance reports.
• Total cost: Your budget is a top concern, of course, but thanks to opaque pricing from most asset tracking software providers, you’ll need to get quotes in order to compare prices between brands.

You’ll also want to keep a few common business concerns in mind as well. These aren’t specific to asset tracking, but are important considerations for any software service. Will the system scale with your business growth? Will you have the customer support you need? Is the system customizable? Is personal data kept secure?

Once you do the back-of-envelope math, you’ll likely have some idea of what the asset tracking system will cost and how it will justify the price by keeping your assets functional and visible. Just remember to complete an inventory audit on a regular basis, so that you’ll have the data you need to stay on track.

Types of Asset Management Software

The concept of an “asset” is a broad business term. It might refer to a laptop, a construction crane, or a property deed — and each of those assets requires a different type of software before they can be safely monitored.

Here are the four main types of asset software, along with two sub-types:

• Fixed asset management software: These systems work with assets that are designed to stay within one location. These are often unpowered, like furniture, but might include small power tools or desktop computers.
  • IT asset management is a common example of a fixed asset management software, and is designed to track typical office supplies, from printers to laptops.
• Movable asset management software: These systems monitor large assets with GPS, tracking them between warehouses or across state lines.
• Digital asset management software: These systems track digital multimedia files, including deeds, tax documents, or surveillance footage.
  • Real estate asset management software is a common form of digital asset tracking system, since this industry deals with key digital assets like leases, in addition to digitally tracking occupancy rates and property maintenance schedules.
• Enterprise asset management software: The final type of software can do it all, tracking fixed, movable, and digital assets within the same centralized system. It’s a powerful and expensive option, best used by large and growing operations.

The asset tracking software we recommend in this guide deals largely with fixed and movable assets, although some systems can also track digital assets.

About Our Research

At Tech.co, we don’t make tech recommendations lightly: Our research team rigorously studies and tests all the products we write about. To identify the top asset tracking companies you need to monitor your valuable business assets, we analyzed five different research categories for each of the top 20 asset tracking companies in the US. This in-depth analysis took us 100+ hours.

The five categories we examined were: price, (plans, free trials, and value-to-cost ratio), types of asset tags (RFID, GPS, and/or barcodes), alerts (usage, geofencing, out-of-working-hours, and in-motion), organization (support for work orders, maintenance, fuel tracking, and insurance tracking), and hardware (weather proofing, network connectivity, battery life, and mobile app support).

Once all five categories are factored into our tests for each provider, we converted those scores into a single, weighted, five-point overall ranking: This allows us to compared the brands on a high level in addition to granular category-by-category ratings.