The free alternative, and where it isn't the right answer.

There is exactly one way to set an iPhone's location without jailbreaking it, and every tool in this category uses it. So the interesting question is not which one works, since they all work, but what you are paying for, and whether you need it. Here is the honest version, including the cases where you should buy one of the others.

Updated 10 August 2026

They all drive the same thing

iOS exposes a location-simulation service to any computer the phone has been told to trust. It is reached over USB, it is the mechanism behind Xcode's Simulate Location, and it exists so that developers can test map-aware apps without walking somewhere. The service takes a latitude and a longitude, and that is the entire interface.

Every product on this page, Draftpin included, is a map, a search box and a movement model bolted onto that one call. None of them has privileged access, a better protocol or a secret method. When a review says one tool is "more accurate" than another, it is describing the map, not the phone.

That matters because it collapses the comparison. You are not choosing a capability. You are choosing an interface, a price and a set of promises.

What each one actually gives you

The paid tools in this space are Windows and macOS desktop apps sold on subscription: iToolab AnyGo, Tenorshare iAnyGo, iMyFone AnyTo, Dr.Fone Virtual Location, LocaChange, UltFone iOS Location Changer, MockGo. They differ from each other far less than their marketing suggests. Broadly:

What most of them have that Draftpin does not

  • Android support. Several handle Android as well as iOS. Draftpin is iPhone and iPad only, because Android already exposes mock locations through its own Developer Options and needs no desktop software at all.
  • A signed Windows installer. Their downloads carry a code-signing certificate on both platforms, so SmartScreen stays quiet. Draftpin's Mac build is signed and notarised and opens without a word; the Windows installer is not signed yet, so SmartScreen warns on first run.
  • A support desk. Somebody paid to reply. Draftpin has best effort and no service level.
  • Detection-evasion claims. Cooldown timers, per-app workarounds, "safe" modes aimed at location-based games. Draftpin has none of this on purpose, and does not consider it a gap.

What Draftpin has that most of them do not

  • The free tier is permanent. No account, no per-device tier, no trial that expires halfway through the job. Pro is £29 once or £4 a month.
  • Routes in and out. GPX and GeoJSON, both directions. Most of the paid tools import only, and often behind a higher tier. Draftpin will also record a walk and hand it back to you as a file.
  • Real speed control. Anything from 0.1 to 1,200 km/h on a slider, plus a configurable tick rate from 0.2 to 10 Hz. The usual competitor offering is three or four fixed presets.
  • Published checksums. Every build's SHA-256 is on the download section, so the Windows installer can still be verified against what was actually published despite not carrying a signature.
  • One window, one job. No bundled toolbar, no sibling product upsell, no "we also recover deleted photos" panel.
On prices

Deliberately not quoted here. Every vendor in this category runs rotating discounts, regional pricing and one-month, one-year and lifetime tiers, so any figure written on this page would be wrong within a month and would read as a competitor misrepresenting them. Check the vendor's own pricing page. The structural point stands regardless of the number: they charge a recurring fee and Draftpin does not.

The free and open-source options

Draftpin is not the only free option, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise. The realistic alternatives:

  • Xcode's Simulate Location. Free, official, and already installed if you write iOS software. The catch is that it only works while your own app is running on the device from a scheme you built, which is why the menu item is greyed out most of the time people go looking for it. Why it is greyed out, and what to do instead.
  • go-ios and pymobiledevice3. The libraries that actually talk to the device. Draftpin bundles go-ios; pymobiledevice3 is the Python equivalent and is excellent. Both are command-line tools, so you get a location setter and not a map. If you are comfortable installing one and typing coordinates, you do not need Draftpin.
  • Open-source desktop front ends on GitHub. Several exist. Most are macOS-only, several are unmaintained, and the good ones are good. Worth a look before you assume paying is the only alternative.

Draftpin's claim against these is narrow and specific: it is a proper map-based interface, it is the same application on Windows and macOS rather than one platform only, and it needs no Python environment, no build step and no command line.

When you should buy one of the others

Three situations, and they are real.

  1. You need Android too. Draftpin will never do Android. If your test matrix spans both, one tool that covers both is worth money.
  2. Your organisation will not run unsigned Windows software. A perfectly reasonable policy, and no amount of published checksums changes an allow-list. The Mac build is signed and notarised, so this one is a Windows problem only.
  3. You need someone to answer the phone. If the tool stopping work is a business problem rather than an afternoon's annoyance, a support contract is what you are actually buying, and it is a fair thing to pay for.
A fourth case, stated plainly

If what you want is to spoof a location-based game, a dating app or a family-tracking app, Draftpin is the wrong tool and no amount of comparison changes that. It contains no detection evasion, no cooldown timers and no per-app workarounds, and it never will. Some of the paid tools market themselves at exactly that use. We are not going to pretend to compete for it.

Questions

Is there a free iPhone location changer?

Draftpin has a permanent free tier for Windows and macOS, with no account and no time limit, and Pro at £29 once or £4 a month. The commercial tools all offer a free trial, but those trials are usually capped at a handful of teleports or a few minutes of movement, which is enough to confirm the tool works and not enough to use it. There are also free open-source options on GitHub, most of which are command-line, macOS-only, or both.

Do paid location changers work better than free ones?

Not at setting a location, because there is only one mechanism and every tool uses it: the location-simulation service Apple exposes to trusted computers over USB. What money buys is packaging: a signed Windows installer, a support desk, Android support, and in some cases features Draftpin deliberately omits, such as attempts to hide the simulation from apps that check for it. Draftpin's Mac build is signed and notarised; its Windows installer is not signed yet.

What is the best free alternative to iToolab AnyGo?

For setting and moving an iPhone's location on Windows or macOS, Draftpin covers the same ground free: click-to-place, search, coordinate paste, joystick and keyboard movement, road-following routes, GPX and GeoJSON import and export, and saved places. AnyGo adds Android support and markets itself to location-based games, which Draftpin does not support and makes no attempt to enable.

Why would I pay for a location changer at all?

Three honest reasons. You need Android as well as iOS. You are on Windows and your organisation will not permit an unsigned installer, which Draftpin's Windows build still is. Or you need somebody contractually obliged to answer when it stops working. If none of those apply, the paid tools are selling you the same Apple facility with a licence key attached.

Can any of these tools avoid being detected?

Some advertise that they can, and none can do it reliably, because the detection happens on a server the tool has no access to. iOS itself flags a simulated location to any app that asks. Draftpin makes no attempt at evasion and says so; treat a claim to the contrary as marketing rather than as a specification.

Try the free one first

It costs you a download.

If it does what you need, you have saved a subscription. If it does not, this page already told you which of the others to buy.

Download for Windows Download for Mac