Comparison

Beacon vs Guardian

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Beacon

Features
Read full description

When a moment turns scary, one tap sends an SOS. Beacon alerts your trusted circle with your live location, gets you to a call fast, and can even fake an incoming call to help you slip away โ€” plus a check-in timer so someone always knows you got there. Beacon is your quiet safety net โ€” simple enough to reach for in a rush, private enough to trust completely. PANIC ALERT Hold to arm, then one tap prepares an SOS with your live tracking link for your trusted circle. One more tap sends. One more tap calls. A built-in Fake Call helps you step away from an uncomfortable situation without alerting anyone around you. LIVE LOCATION SHARE Send a private tracking link and let your trusted contact watch your dot move in real time. They open a link โ€” no app needed on their end, no account, nothing to install. Sharing stops the moment you say you're safe. Nothing is ever stored. WATCH ME CHECK-IN Set a timer before you head out โ€” a night walk, a first date, a rideshare home, a solo hike. Check in with one tap when you arrive. If you don't, Beacon gets your last known location ready to send to the people you chose. YOUR TRUSTED CIRCLE Add up to 5 contacts. They need no account and no app โ€” they just get a text. You choose who hears about a Panic, a Watch Me, or both. PRIVATE BY DESIGN โ€ข No account. No sign-up, ever. โ€ข No analytics, no ads, no tracking. โ€ข Your circle and settings live only on your device โ€” visible to you, erasable any time. โ€ข Live location passes through an ephemeral relay and is never written to disk, never logged, gone the moment you stop. HONEST ABOUT HOW IT WORKS Beacon is a safety net, not a replacement for emergency services. In a real emergency, call your local emergency number first. iOS always asks you to tap Send โ€” Beacon cannot text silently, by design. Personal safety since 2017 โ€” years before iPhone added Check In. Still free. Still no account. ROIDS software โ€” indie-built, privacy-first.

About

Guardian

Features
Read full description

A personal safety app that lets you instantly alert your emergency contacts with your live location โ€” by button press, shake, or automatic crash detection. Ways to send an alert โ€ข Duress Alert โ€” one tap to immediately notify all your contacts with your location โ€ข Silent Duress โ€” sends the identical alert with no sound, flash, or visible screen change, for situations where you can't draw attention to your phone โ€ข Shake to Trigger โ€” shake your phone firmly for 2 seconds to silently fire a duress alert, no need to unlock or tap anything โ€ข Crash Detection โ€” uses motion sensors to detect sudden impacts (e.g. a car accident) and automatically sends an alert if you don't cancel it in time โ€ข Monitor Mode โ€” turn this on when doing something potentially risky (a walk home, a date, a solo hike); the app periodically shares your location with contacts until you end the session, and can escalate automatically if you don't check in How alerts reach people โ€ข Every alert sends an SMS (via your phone's Messages app) with your live location to all your emergency contacts โ€ข If a contact also has Guardian Alert installed and linked, they additionally get an instant push notification โ€” so they're notified immediately, not just via text โ€ข A live "Notifications: Online/Offline" indicator on the home screen shows whether the instant-push service is reachable; if it's offline, the app tells you SMS is still fully functional (you'll just need to tap Send yourself) โ€ข When you add a contact who's linked, they get notified: "X has added you as their emergency contact"

Screenshots

Beacon4 screens
Guardian4 screens

Verdict

The call

Beacon and Guardian are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters โ€” price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Beacon ships an update monthly, Guardian every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Beacon versus Guardian: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeaconGuardian
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 2 weeks โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS16.015.1 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size6 MB48 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMarija GvozdenovicMichael Rowe

In-app purchases

None

Beacon

No in-app purchases

None

Guardian

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Beacon free?
Beacon is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Guardian free?
Guardian is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Beacon or Guardian have ads?
Neither Beacon nor Guardian shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Beacon or Guardian?
Beacon ships an update monthly, and Guardian every 2 weeks. Most recently, Beacon was updated on November 4, 2026 and Guardian on November 2, 2026.

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