There are loads of radio immobilisers available, where the owner has an extra transmitter that has to be operated to allow the car to be started. Typically operating the transmitter gives 60 seconds in which to turn on the ignition. Similarly, they often arm when the ignition has been turned off for 60 seconds.
I suspect most of those immobiliers have very simple coding, so the code could be captured and replayed.
There are contact versions which don't have batteries and the tag has to be touched onto a pad in the car. The arming and disarming are similar to the wireless ones. One of those is the Cobra 8510 Immobiliser if you want to look it up.
I had something similar before I put tracking devices in my cars. Of course the cost of running a SIM on Pay-As-You-Go is far cheaper in the UK than in the USA. The tracking unit on my wife's car is costing under £2 a year.
The security and reliability of any aftermarket immobiliser system is very dependent on how well it is fitted and hidden. If an immobilier or its wires can be seen, it's indicating to a thief where to look.
However, anything that is non-standard will make a car thief's preparation far less useful.