The Best Parental Control Apps of 2024 | SafeWise (2024)

Even though some new online safety brands have appeared on the scene since we first published our round-up, Bark is still our favorite parental control app. Bark can’t be beat in terms of email and social media monitoring, and our testers thought Bark was the easiest app to set up and use.

We prefer other parental control apps for specific features—like location tracking and contact management—and for more comfortable price points. Learn more about the differences between our top picks, and discover why other apps didn’t make the cut.

Compare parental control app prices

Info current as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Read full disclaimer.
*For up to 5 devices
**For 1 device, plus $29.95/yr for additional devices. (Equivalent to $15.81/mo. for 5 devices)

Parental control app similarities

Our top five picks share these features:

• App management
• App usage history reports
• Texting history reports
• Screen-time management
• Content filter
• Website blocker

We’ve organized the major differences in the chart below. To compare prices, see the chart above.

If you're not sure which features to prioritize, check out our guide to parental controls.

Info current as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

1. Bark: Best overall and most comprehensive message screening

But there is a catch to Bark—you don't get to see everything your child does online or on their phone. Bark's philosophy hinges on respecting kids' privacy when nothing's wrong. And if the content filters do catch something amiss, Bark gives practical guidance on how to have a conversation or seek counseling services. It doesn't give you the ability to lock down the phone apart from turning off its internet access.

Bark's unique in this approach, so if youdowant to have a more hands-on role in your child's digital life, the other parental controls on our list have you covered.

Read our full Bark app review to learn more about what it monitors and how it performed during our tests. And if you haven't bought a phone for your kid yet, check out our Bark Phone review to learn why it's even better than the Bark app.

“The Bark app and software oozes consideration for the user. The installation walkthrough was incredibly easy.” —Rebecca E., Bark tester

Video: Bark parental control app review

Play Video

2. MMGuardian: Best contact management

MMGuardian doesn't offer the same depth of social media monitoring as Bark, but it does cover some of the most popular apps like Facebook messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

You can also track your child's location at any time without requesting a check-in. MMGuardian no longer offers geofencing, though, since it led to too many false alarms.

Pricey for large families

MMGuardian isn't very affordable if your children use more than five devices altogether. The price for a single child device is around $35 a year, and it doubles to around $70 a year for five child devices, such as smartphones and tablets.

That price is comparable to FamilyTime, but you'd get better bang for your buck with Qustodio or Boomerang. And spending a little extra with Bark gives you unlimited device coverage.

Read more in our full MMGuardian review.

3. Qustodio: Best free version

We love the in-depth cloud-based dashboard, which shows you exactly what your child has been typing into search engines or YouTube and automatically flags concerning activity for you to review.

You’ll see which apps and websites your kid spends the most time on, who they’re calling, and the content of their texts. There’s also social media monitoring, but it’s limited to Facebook, Twitter, and Yahoo Messenger.

You can also set up rules and restrictions from this dashboard, but that’s where Qustodio’s user-friendliness takes a nosedive. Other apps offer simpler interfaces for parents.

Location tracking and history

The other neat feature we like about Qustodio is its “family tracker.” You can glance at it and see the current location of each child. Need to trace their steps? You can do that too with the “location history” function.

Get the full scoop of our testing experience in our in-depth Qustodio review, or learn how Qustodio compares to Bark, our top pick.

4. FamilyTime: Best management tools

FamilyTime monitors text messages, general app and device usage, and web browsing history. If you detect an issue, here's how you can intervene:

• Remote internet shutdown
• Remote device shutdown
• Uninstall protection
• Time limits
• Contact management
• App installation management

We also like these unique features in the FamilyTime app:

• SOS/panic button
• Speed limit alerts
• Location history
• PickMeUp alerts
• Contact Watchlist alerts
• Gamified screen-time management with TimeBank and FunTime

Good functionality for iPhones

FamilyTime offers more functionality for iOS devices than competitor apps. For example, you can use geofencing and block apps on your child’s iPhone with FamilyTime, whereas Boomerang only offers those features for Android users.

You still can’t track calls or texts on iOS devices with FamilyTime. That’s an Apple rule.

Learn more in our full FamilyTime review.

5. SentryPC: Best for full access

Aside from surveillance, SentryPC offers basic screen time management, content filtering, and geofencing. It lacks a few other management tools like contact management and remote internet and device shutdowns.

Even though there's no social media or email monitoring, the keylogger is a catch-all that would show anything typed into the device.

SentryPC's online dashboard is a little clinical. There's a demo available on their website if you want to see it for yourself.

Finally, SentryPC is best if you only have one device to monitor. The first one costs around $70 a year, and each additional device license is another $30.

More brands we considered

6. Boomerang

Boomerang's main appeal is its affordability—about $16 a year for one device or $31 a year for ten devices. But most of its features are limited to Android devices, so skip this one if your child uses an iPhone.

We also like that Boomerang doesn't allow new apps to be downloaded until you give the OK. It also has good screen time management features.

Boomerang just squeaked out of our top five. If you're on a budget, give it a closer look by reading our full Boomerang review.

7. Screen Time

Screen Time (not to be confused with Apple's parental control of the same name) has a free version that covers one Android device. The Premium subscription comes to about $84 a year.

As long as your child uses an Android phone, you can read their full texts with Screen Time, monitor messages sent through WhatsApp, Viber, and Kik, and see all photos your child takes, sends, and receives.

There's no contact management, or call log history, but Screen Time has a nice buffet of other management tools. We especially like that it can block all new app downloads.

8. Norton Family

Norton Familyis best for parents and kids who already have an open dialogue aboutinternet safety, since the dashboard is more for guiding your conversations than instituting a total device lockdown. It lacks the social media monitoring and app management of more comprehensive parental control software likeBark.

You can read more about our experience with our in-depth Norton Family Parental Control Review.

9. Circle Home Plus

The Circle Home Plus internet filter costs about $130 per year and controls any device connected to your home’s Wi-Fi. If that sounds good to you, we recommend Bark Home instead. It costs about $80, and you don’t need to pay an annual fee.

You can read more about our experience with our in-depth Circle Home Plus review.

Circle also came out with an app that's now sold with Circle Home Plus, but it didn't knock our socks off. It doesn't monitor texts, emails, or social media messages and doesn't provide call logs or contact management. It's good for regulating screen time and blocking apps or content categories, though.

10. Mobicip

Mobicip offers a web filter, screen-time management, location tracker, app blocker, website blocker, and history report starting at around $48 per year for five devices. If you use Android devices, Boomerang offers those same features and more at around $31 per year for 10 devices.

If you use iOS, macOS, Windows, Kindle, or Chromebook, then Mobicip is a slightly more affordable alternative to Qustodio (but without the info-heavy reporting dashboard).

11. OurPact

OurPact offers a free version that lets you block apps and set up one schedule for screen time. If you want any other functionality, you need to pay nearly $84 per year. At that rate, you might as well pay for Bark and get social media monitoring and email monitoring.

We do think it’s cool that this parental control software lets you see a live view of your child’s screen, but its reporting dashboard lacks insight into web history, call history, and overall device usage.

Read more about our testing experience in our in-depth OurPact review.

12. Google Family Link

13. Net Nanny

Once upon a time, Net Nanny earned a spot among the top parental controls. We’ve bumped it down the list because there are more affordable and easier-to-use alternatives on the market now.

In fact, Net Nanny is one of the most expensive parental controls and offers no trial period. It took our tester an hour to set up Net Nanny for one device, and they were able to get around the web filter. We don’t see a reason to choose this brand, especially since it offers no message monitoring.

14. Cocospy

15. Kidslox

Kidslox takes the cake for location history. It not only shows your child's current location, but the route they took to get there and how long they lingered at stops along the way. You'll see corresponding addresses and times too.

Location history is saved for 7 days. You can also set up geofences.

Other than that, Kidslox offers average parental controls with no message monitoring.

16. Canopy

Canopy offers the basics: web filtering, scheduled screen time, and geofencing. But it stands out in terms of sexting prevention and mature content screening.

Canopy alerts you if it thinks your child has taken a sexual photo, and it also scans websites in real time for suggestive photos and replaces them with white squares. You have the ability to filter images with partial nudity too, like swimsuit photos.

While Canopy's image AI is impressive, make sure this parental control app has all of the other features you want before you buy. Coverage for 15 devices costs over $190 a year—very expensive for large households.

17. mSpy

mSpy is an alternative to SentryPC but costs at least twice as much. It's an invasive parental control that shows you almost everything that happens on your child's device—including any captured photos and videos. It also can also monitor emails, texts, Facebook messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Snapchat, and seven other social media apps.

mSpy is very expensive compared to the competition and charges extra for technical assistance. We'd steer clear.

Final word

FAQ

How we reviewed parental control apps

• 30+ parental control apps considered
• 27 data points assessed
• 8 hours of testing
• 50 hours of research

To find the best parental control apps, we set up different apps, tested them as both “children” and “parents,” and then addressed strengths and weaknesses.

On top of hands-on testing, we dug into each app’s features, prices, compatibility, and customer reviews. We also consulted with other online safety experts.

Three members of our team tried out the different apps, looking for how well each performed in these specific areas:

• Setup and installation: how easy it was to install on different devices (including iOS, Android, mobile, and desktop), how much time it took, and whether or not there were any issues that came up.
• Performance: Did the app do what it was supposed to do? Would it be easy for kids to work around it?
• Features: what extra features were available, and did they deliver as promised?

Read more about our methodology.

Related articles on SafeWise

• Internet Safety Guide for Kids
• How to Keep Your Teen (or Tween) Safe Online
• How Can I Protect My Child from Strangers Online?
• How Can I Secure My Internet Connection?
• What to Teach Your Children about Home Safety
• What Age Should Kids Get a Phone?

Recent Articles