Halo Collar vs SpotOn Collar – What's the difference?

SpotOn Fence and Halo Collar are both popular GPS dog fence systems that offer an alternative to traditional or Invisible Fences®. So naturally, if you’re doing your research, you are bound to have questions about what makes the two systems different. 

Ensuring your pet's safety means getting the facts straight, so we encourage you to research both products. Here are some reviews from neutral third parties who’ve done the heavy lifting of exploring the two products in-depth to provide their honest feedback, as well as links to our 5,000+ verified customer reviews.

In this article, we’ll provide our perspective on what makes SpotOn different from Halo Collar 4. Here is a preview of some of the key areas we’ll explore and why we think you can rely on SpotOn:

• SpotOn:$1,178 for 2 years
• Halo 4: $1,242 for 2 years

*Prices include shipping, tracking, unlimited fences, and a protection plan.

SpotOn's True Location™ Technology Helps Solve for GPS Drift

When we designed SpotOn, we set our standards extremely high, knowing that all GPS products have inherent GPS drift, a natural phenomenon that occurs with any GPS product. To address this limitation, we patented True Location™ technology, which balances GPS drift and automatically adjusts your dog’s location to make their boundaries and position more accurate. 

We determined that 10 feet was the maximum acceptable drift for a GPS fence. We built SpotOn to meet this standard, and it performed as advertised 96% of the time in lab testing. The few times it drifted beyond the spec, it was only by 16 inches (a maximum of 11.4 feet of drift). In testing, Halo’s maximum drift was recorded at 32 feet. 

The World Animal Foundation recently compared Halo 4 versus SpotOn, which helps validate the lab testing results: 

The reliability of the fence’s alerts is also critical. SpotOn’s alerts and warnings are designed to be issued 10 feet and again at 5 feet before the fence line. In the independent testing, these alerts were issued 100% of the time. 

Why is this important? Consistent alerts make it easier to train your dog and help them understand and respect the fence's boundaries when unsupervised outdoors. During independent testing, Halo issued both alert tones 16% of the time, and it issued a correction 30% of the time with no alert preceding it.

Not only does SpotOn excel in accuracy, but our system also proves to be 99.28% effective at preventing escapes. For the rare cases of a boundary breach, only 0.0066312% of these sessions result in an escape that’s 5 minutes or more (and if you add a tracking plan, you can watch their every move).

Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) measures the rate at which energy is absorbed by the human body when exposed to a radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic field. It is a critical indicator of the safety levels of various wireless devices, including wearables.

By attaining SAR compliance, SpotOn has minimized your dog's RF exposure and potential health risks. Although regulations for pet wearables regarding SAR are not required, SpotOn’s SAR compliance meets regulations for human use.

SpotOn is the only GPS smart collar that meets this standard, showing that we seek to go above and beyond for the safety of your pet as a company.

SpotOn’s GPS fence technology is built to perform where others can’t, making it highly effective in wooded areas and under dense foliage. Equipped with Forest Mode as a default setting, the collar automatically boosts GPS sensitivity to ensure secure boundaries even when trees, brush, or thick vegetation surround your dog. This advanced feature adjusts in real-time, keeping virtual fences intact regardless of challenging terrain. Unlike traditional GPS devices that can struggle with interference in natural environments, SpotOn’s innovative design allows your dog to roam securely within an accurate perimeter.

It’s no secret that SpotOn is more expensive than Halo. A proud American brand, SpotOn is designed, assembled, and shipped from Manchester, NH. Our entire manufacturing team and customer service staff are based in-house. We pay our employees a fair living wage and, when possible, source our components and sub-assemblies from local suppliers.

• No extra fees for features powered by a GPS connection. SpotOn’s unlimited fences, Keep Out Zones, Home Zones, and Off-grid Mode will all work right out of the box. With Halo 4, you must upgrade to a Gold Plan for unlimited fences. 
• Subscriptions are always your choice. Subscriptions are extremely valuable, but if you live in an area with little to no cellular coverage, you will run into issues, no matter which GPS dog fence you choose. SpotOn does not force customers to pay for a subscription, while Halo does. Our monthly subscriptions start at $7.49 and unlock cellular-powered features like tracking, escape reports, and more. 
• Every SpotOn collar has a free 5-star guarantee to protect your investment in SpotOn. It entitles you to a 90-day return window (with no restocking fees), a 1-year warranty with a free one-time replacement if your collar is lost or damaged, a free session with a certified dog trainer, and unlimited customer support. Everyone gets the same top-notch customer service with SpotOn, unlike Halo, which limits top-tier support only to those who pay for their priciest pack membership plan. 
• All customers are eligible to beta tests for new features and a 50% discount on accessories. 
  
  

SpotOn’s philosophy is that our customers should get everything they need to get started when they invest in a collar. Furthermore, GPS-powered features should be free (since GPS signals are free), and cellular-powered features should be a shared cost (since cellular data incurs fees). In contrast, Halo collars are non-functional until you pay for and activate a subscription. With Halo, you may also run into hidden fees you wouldn’t face if you purchased SpotOn. Here are five examples of Halo’s hidden fees: 

• Halo Shipping Fee: $19.99
• Halo Restocking Fee: $25 (if you return) 
• Halo Charging Kit: $39.99 (the collar has the wire, but no charging block) 
• Halo Beacons: $39.99 (required for keep out zones) 
• Halo Protection Plan: $9.99/mo + $149-$199 for a replacement collar.

When you look at the cost of ownership beyond a year, SpotOn provides more value for less. In fact, Halo is nearly $140 more than SpotOn when you analyze the two-year cost of ownership. 

“The gap in price between the two reflects the gap in quality. The SpotOn collar's design seems to be focused on high-quality components that deliver a high level of precision and accuracy and ultimately a high level of performance, whereas Halo's design kind of seems like it was an afterthought.”

- Zach Lovatt, The Pampered Pup,
  SpotOn Collar vs. Halo 3 Review (view here)

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With SpotOn, you can draw your fences on the app or walk them in real time if you desire more precision. SpotOn virtual fences can contain up to 1,500 virtual posts, letting you create fences of any shape or size. Halo Collar’s fence creation maxes out at 20 virtual fence posts, which will be limiting if you have an odd-shaped lot or want to contour your fence to a curved property line. 

Halo 4’s latest updates take a new approach to fence creation. They automatically set your fence boundary to your address based on a database of deed records. This is an interesting idea in theory, but in practice, users report that it often sets your fence to the property next door and often cannot draw from deed records for newer builds.

With Halo, users on a basic plan get a maximum of 5 fences. To add more, a pricier Pack Membership is required. Halo used to give all users up to 20 fences but recently restructured its subscriptions to “gate” unlimited fences only to those who invest in their priciest subscription level. With SpotOn, all users get unlimited fences for free and don’t need a subscription.

SpotOn GPS dog fence also lets you activate GPS fences individually. Make, save, and activate different fences for different times, seasons, and places. You can create different fence configurations on the same property if you like, such as a daytime fence that includes the woods and a nighttime fence that goes to the edge of the grass. Because Halo 4 collar’s fences cannot be activated individually (all are either on or off), you cannot have any boundary lines overlap in any way, which makes creating multiple fences on your property nearly impossible.

In their article, Halo attempts to paint this SpotOn capability as a negative, arguing that it is cumbersome to activate fences manually. In reality, this takes just a moment on your app. Some may also argue that it is more cumbersome to delete your primary fence on the Halo app if you require a secondary fence on the same property, since both fences couldn’t exist at the same time using Halo. That’s why SpotOn’s user experience is a step ahead of Halo's. It gives you more realistic capabilities you can use daily (like overlapping fences), versus Halo’s more limiting “all on or off” approach to fences. While it could provide some advantages, it would only apply to niche scenarios that won’t dramatically improve your daily user experience with a GPS collar. 

SpotOn's Keep Out Zones are GPS-enabled and let you create custom-shaped, off-limits areas within your fences. This feature is free and available to everyone. You can use Keep Out Zones to keep your dog out of the garden, the pool, the chicken coop, or to prevent playtime in the poison ivy patch. Keep Out Zones have a minimum size of 30’x30’. But, unlike Halo 4, which uses Bluetooth Beacons for keep-out areas, SpotOn zones have no maximum size or range and are not restricted to a circle shape. So, you can create a custom-shaped zone to keep your dog out of whatever area you need to with SpotOn. No extra pieces are required, and there is no need to purchase outdoor Beacons (required by Halo), which cost $39.99 each.

It’s a fact that GPS signals are not as accurate indoors. SpotOn Home Zones are GPS-enabled and allow you to disable corrections inside your house and any other buildings, enabling your dog to come indoors without deactivating fences or removing the collar. So your dog can go in and out freely without any false corrections. Halo 4 claims that it “automatically disables fence feedback when the collar detects it is indoors,” but in reality, it’s not so automatic. It does this using a battery-powered Bluetooth Beacon. These beacons emit a circular “safe zone” where corrections are disabled. The purchase of a Halo Collar does NOT include any beacons, and will cost $39.99 each. SpotOn’s Home Zones require no extra hardware; you simply set your zone in the App. With SpotOn, you’re not restricted to a circular zone, unlike Halo’s beacons, and you don't have to worry about your Home Zone deactivating due to a dead battery.

When enjoying time spent outdoors in remote areas, SpotOn’s Off-Grid Mode lets you create fences on the fly in areas without reliable signals. With Halo, you cannot create new fences off-grid. Only pre-saved fences work off-grid, so you’ll need to plan ahead, as new fences can’t be set up without a signal. You also cannot modify Halo fences if you’re in a remote area, so if you enjoy outdoor adventures, this will be a limitation.

SpotOn will automatically notify you if your dog leaves and begin tracking its location in real-time, posting location updates every 6 seconds in the app. If your dog returns to the fence, you will receive an automatic notification. Like Halo, SpotOn offers escape reports (Halo refers to it as feedback responsiveness) so you can see where your dog left, where they went, and where and when they returned. This is helpful for establishing patterns and retraining the dog if needed.

Halo 4 also provides real-time tracking updates, boasting four updates every second. While this frequency is impressive, SpotOn produces the same level of tracking accuracy without the hyper-frequent tracking updates, which are necessary for Halo since it has a lesser-quality GPS antenna and components.

Both collars offer very similar battery life and charging time. 

For SpotOn users who opt out of a tracking plan, you’ll experience 40+ hours of battery life.

Halo requires a tracking plan. It provides 30+ hours of battery life and the collar takes 1 - 2 hours to charge. A single charge on SpotOn's battery averages 25+ hours of runtime, or 35+ hours when you activate SpotOn’s new Extended Battery Life Mode. Halo lacks the Extended Battery Life Mode feature.

Last, SpotOn includes the wall plug you need to charge your collar in the box. To get a wall plug for Halo, you'll have to purchase the charging kit for $34.99 or supply your own, which is a regular point of frustration for Halo users. While this cost is nominal on its own, it adds one more thing to the list of extras that Halo users need to purchase versus SpotOn, which provides everything you need to get started up front with no additional cost.

Comparison of Features: SpotOn vs. Halo

Here’s a summary of the key features that both products offer, as discussed above, and an overview of each collar’s core functionality and specifications.

*Source: Electrical specifications for each GPS chip.

When it comes to standing behind your product, companies should SHOW their commitment vs. simply telling customers about it in a tagline. SpotOn embraces this approach and aims to be customer-friendly in every avenue of the company. Here’s how:

• 90-day Returns - There can be a learning curve when using GPS products. That’s why SpotOn offers the longest return policy. Halo gives its customers just 60 days. 
  
  
•  Warranty Protection - SpotOn offers a 1-year warranty, which includes accident forgiveness if your collar is damaged or lost. While Halo has a 1-year warranty, they sell a protection plan at $9.99 per month, which gives customers the opportunity to purchase a discounted collar if it’s damaged or lost. This will range from $149 to $199. 
  
  
•  Choice - With both collars, cellular data powers the subscription plans and enables two-way communication between the collar and the app, unlocking great features like tracking, escape reports, and more. But what if you live in an area with poor coverage? With Halo, you pay for that subscription plan regardless–at SpotOn, you choose how you spend your money.
  
  

While Halo 4 collars are capable of Wi-Fi connectivity that can bridge the gap of poor cellular coverage, this solution is limited by the reach of your Wi-Fi network and won’t work if your dog roams too far from home base.
 

SpotOn gathered a team of engineers who created GPS devices for the US military and applied that knowledge to invent the first GPS containment system for dogs. We hold multiple patents, have been in the market since January 2019, and have 100,000 of dogs who rely on SpotOn. We have tested our system with thousands of dogs, including independent livestock guardian dogs, rough-and-tumble farm dogs, and wandering suburban dogs. We’ve worked through challenges with durability, technology, and bugs, identifying and resolving many of the issues Halo users report, including poor GPS accuracy and software glitches that result in the dog being corrected where it shouldn’t or not corrected where it should.

SpotOn is a proud American brand that designs, assembles, and manufactures its products in New Hampshire using a combination of domestic and foreign parts. By choosing SpotOn, you’re not only getting a high-quality product but also supporting local jobs and fair wages for American workers, strengthening our commitment to U.S. manufacturing.

We further our mission of service with USA-based technical customer support, which is available for reliable assistance by phone, chat, or email. As the only GPS fence brand offering discounts to veterans and first responders, we’re proud to have saved military and first responder families nearly $1 million since 2019.

When it comes to tech products, some companies are in it for the mission, while others aren't as straight-forward, and willing to put down honest companies.

If you are doing your research, we figure you might also check out Halo’s blog on SpotOn – we have too. We’re disappointed to see so many myths, misconceptions, and wholly fabricated details in Halo’s comparison article. Here are a few we would love to clear up!

1. Halo claims that SpotOn issues tracking updates every 20 minutes. This is extremely misleading.
   
   With SpotOn, you can view real-time tracking updates at any time. If you’re not actively using the app and your dog is securely roaming within its bounds, SpotOn sends a tracking update every 20 minutes. Why waste battery power sending tracking updates from the collar to the app if nobody is viewing the app and your dog is in bounds?
   
   Halo is purposely misleading readers by exaggerating a “performance gap” in tracking, even though Halo and SpotOn systems deliver nearly identical user experiences. 
   
   
2. Halo also claims that SpotOn issues feedback 20-feet after they've crossed the boundary. This is untrue.
   
   SpotOn issues two levels of tones before your dog reaches the boundary, then emits a vibration (and optional static correction) if a breach occurs. Our third-party data backs up the consistency of these boundary warnings. 
   
   
3. Halo claims that SpotOn issues feedback “indefinitely while in or beyond the warning zone or fence line”. False.
   
   SpotOn stops prevention feedback if the dog turns back to the boundary or away from the boundary. Once outside the boundary SpotOn prevention feedback only lasts 10 seconds, not indefinitely. 
   
   
4.  Halo claims “SpotOn’s receiver chip is 33% less accurate” and says this was “Independently verified.” This is unverified.
   
   Per the electrical specifications for each collar’s GPS chip, Halo’s position accuracy (CEP) measures 2.5m while SpotOn measures 1.5m. Details about Halo’s independent verification are not stated. Meanwhile, SpotOn has a web page devoted to independent lab testing results. 
   
   
5. Halo states SpotOn’s collar updates “occur far less often.” This is false.
   
   Both collars are updated frequently. Any difference is nominal. 
   
   
6. Halo claims that SpotOn requires you “to train your dog to memorize any/every fence you may want to create and use.” This is also false.
   
   With both collars, dogs are trained to understand the alerts and tones, which indicate the boundary. Halo also claims SpotOn’s training methodology is “based on pain or fear;” however, if you gather the main points of each collar’s training program they’re nearly identical (Halo Training vs. SpotOn Training).
   
   

SpotOn has gone through independent lab testing to prove we deliver what matters: 

• Absolute Accuracy - Works as promised with minimal fence line drift, according to the GPS experts. 
• Consistent Alerts - The alerts were issued 100% of the time during lab testing. 
• Pinpoint Precision - Performs just as precise in the presence of trees, buildings, and other multipath conditions. 

Real Customer Reviews