AdventureLive vs Bivy Stick tracking: what each does

What is the difference between AdventureLive and the Bivy Stick?

The Bivy Stick is a satellite communicator you carry. AdventureLive is a web page your family opens. They are not the same kind of thing, and one fact decides everything: AdventureLive does not support the Bivy Stick. It reads an inReach (through MapShare), a SPOT (through its shared page) and Garmin LiveTrack, and nothing else.

AdventureLive never replaces a tracker or its plan. It reads one you already carry and adds a 3D map, the weather where you are and HELP emails to home contacts. If your tracker is a Bivy, you do not need AdventureLive's page to follow it: Bivy has its own link. This page is part of our guide to the best live tracking for adventures.

We make AdventureLive, so weigh our view with that in mind. What we say about Bivy comes only from Bivy's own pages, linked under Sources. Where they do not say, we write "not stated on the pages we read".

At a glance

What does the Bivy Stick do well?

It is a complete package. Bivy's product page says it uses the Iridium network, which it describes as global coverage, so it works where a phone does not. It offers two-way messaging and shares your real-time location through a link that opens a tracking webpage. Family can follow without carrying a device of their own.

It also has a group feature. Bivy says GroupTrack follows up to 16 members with messaging and GPS position, even off-grid. That suits a group on the same trip, where each person carries a unit.

For safety, the page describes 24/7 emergency monitoring through Global Rescue and two-way emergency communication. For weather, it says you can get detailed forecasts for your current location or a destination. The pages we read do not say what those forecasts show or whether they cost extra.

What does it cost?

The pages we read do not agree, so check Bivy's site before you buy. The product page lists the device at $199.95 and subscription plans from $14.99 a month, and also shows a $349 figure. The Bivy Go page lists a subscription at $54.99 to $89.99 a month with no upfront device cost on a 6 or 12 month term, or a one-time purchase of $199.95 or $299.95 with $54.99 to $59.99 a month. It also lists a $29.99 activation fee. These are figures at the time of writing (November 2026), and they may differ by plan and by model.

The pages we read do not state whether a phone or the app is required to operate the unit. They link the app and describe in-app SOS, and they say the SOS button also works without a phone.

What does AdventureLive do, and what can it not do?

AdventureLive gives your family a 3D satellite map with your planned route and the line you have actually travelled. It shows the weather where you are now and for the next 48 hours, with safety alerts for strong wind and gales, severe cold, heat, heavy rain and thunderstorms, where you are and on the route ahead. Followers open a link in any browser, with no app and no account unless the trip is for approved people only.

You can name up to five home contacts. If your inReach or SPOT sends a HELP message during a trip, each gets an email with the time, the place on a map and the trip page. Followers never see that. Rescue is run by Garmin Response for an inReach, or SPOT's GEOS centre, not by AdventureLive. An SOS goes to that service, which tells the emergency contacts you set up with Garmin or SPOT. AdventureLive does not email home contacts about an SOS.

Its limits are plain. It has no phone app. It needs an inReach, a SPOT or a Garmin watch with LiveTrack, plus that device's own plan. It reads a tracker only while a trip is live, no more often than every 4 minutes for an inReach and every 2½ minutes for a SPOT, so the dot is as fresh as the device's own interval. Garmin LiveTrack needs the phone to have signal.

When should you choose the Bivy Stick?

Choose a Bivy Stick, and use Bivy's own link, when:

• you want one device that messages, tracks and calls for help on its own plan;
• you travel as a group and want GroupTrack;
• you are happy for family to follow on Bivy's tracking webpage;
• you do not already own an inReach or a SPOT.

When should you choose AdventureLive?

Choose AdventureLive when you already carry, or plan to carry, an inReach or SPOT and want more for your family to look at:

• the weather where you are, with safety alerts, beside your dot;
• a 3D map people open on a phone with no app and no account;
• HELP emails to named people at home;
• one dot from several trackers, such as an inReach and a SPOT;
• a long leg with no set route, such as an ocean row.

To start, Plan your trip. You sign in with Google, or with email and password plus a 6-digit code we email you. Then follow linking a tracker.

Can you use both?

Only by carrying a second device. AdventureLive cannot read a Bivy Stick, so a Bivy alone gives nothing to put on an AdventureLive page. If you want the AdventureLive page, carry an inReach or a SPOT as well, keep MapShare or the SPOT shared page on, and link it. Your Bivy keeps working as it did, with its own link, so family can have both. Two satellite plans cost more than one, so for most trips pick the one tracker that suits you.

Which is better for a trek or a long trip?

For a group trek where everyone carries a Bivy, GroupTrack and Bivy's link do the job without AdventureLive. For one person on a long trip with an inReach or SPOT, AdventureLive adds the weather and the map. The forecast is a guide, not a guarantee, so check local forecasts and warnings before you set out. For choosing a device, see inReach vs SPOT vs ZOLEO, and see how AdventureLive compares with Garmin MapShare and with the SPOT shared page.