Aura Parental Controls Review 2024: Is It Worth Using?

In our hands-on testing, we found that Aura Parental Controls is a strong option when it comes to content filtering and screen time management, but is lacking the more heavy-duty features like location tracking and communication monitoring.

It gives you full control over when your children can access their phone or certain apps, with the ability to turn off all access at will. You can also add unlimited children with either Android or iPhone devices.

What it's lacking is the more intrusive features. It doesn't monitor texts, emails, or social media, you can't block content within apps, and alerts for cyberbullying and harassment is limited to the Safe Gaming mode.

Overall, Aura is a good option for parents who want to easily manage screen time and block access to inappropriate content. But if you want more monitoring and tracking, you may want to check out other options on the best parental control apps list.

Aura Parental Controls review at a glance

Price	$8.25-$32.00/mo
Number of kids supported	Unlimited
Content filtering	Yes
Conversation monitoring	No
Screen time management	Yes
Location tracking	No
Activity reports	Yes
Supported devices	Android, iPhone, iPad
Learn more	Get Aura Parental Controls

Our experience testing Aura Parental Controls

We tested Aura Parental Controls by installing the app on our Samsung Galaxy S10 device and monitoring its usage from our Chrome browser on desktop.

Set up was easy and only required a quick login on the device then adding a child by inputting their name and birthday. The birthday is important because the child needs to be under 18 for these restrictions to be allowed on their device.

We also needed to allow a few permissions before the app could work. The main ones were the ability to work in the background (which could drain the battery faster) and allowing the app to work as a Virtual Private Network (VPN). This means all information transmitted to the internet goes through Aura first, which is how they track and limit app usage.

Once we got the app set up on our phone, we checked out our parent-view dashboard to see what features we had. The dashboard provides an overview of each child's device usage, most recent activity, and if they tried to visit any apps that were blocked.

From here, we were also able to immediately deny access to all apps on the phone just by clicking the "Pause" button. All filters, limitations, and tracking is done on the child-level, so you can customize it for each of your children's needs.

We found the ability to block apps worked well. You can choose to filter content by blocking apps, restricting websites, and forcing safe search. We found most of the main apps were included in the list, but not sure what would happen if there was an app we wanted to block that wasn't on the list.

Blocking works by limiting internet access to the app or website you specify. Your child can still open the app and use anything that doesn't require the internet, but they won't be able to message or load new content.

We were happy with the features that helped you limit screen time. You can set a bedtime for each child and apply it only for certain days, if you want to give them a bit more freedom on the weekends.

You can also define time limits per app, so you can block access to fun apps while still keeping important apps, like the ones you use to communicate with them, fully functional.

We also tried the safe gaming feature, which is only available on Windows computers with Aura Antivirus installed. This feature is called ProtectMe by Kidas and monitors communication on common games and gaming communication apps like Discord.

We installed it and got some of our friends to "harass" on Discord but received no alerts. It seems reports only come out every Tuesday and there's no way to check on progress before then. We'll hold off judgement until we get our report, but we'd like a more real-time approach to cyberbullying protection.

Unfortunately, we were disappointed in the fact that we were able to easily delete the app from our phone and our dashboard didn't notify us that it was disconnected. If you have a older child or teen that's prone to breaking rules, this will make it a nightmare to keep the app on their device. Aura does post instructions on how to stop this on iPhone, but not Android.

Overall, we had a positive experience when it came to screen time management and content filtering features. The app is unobtrusive for both the parent and the child, plus it covers all the basics well.

Who is Aura best for?

• Recommended for parents whose main objective is to track and limit screen time 

Aura may not do everything a parental control app could do, but what it does do is done well. If you want an easy-to-use program that helps you limit and monitor screen time for each of your kids, this has exactly what you need.

We would not recommend Aura for parents who want full monitoring features, including location tracking and communication sleuthing. This also wouldn't be ideal for older children who are likely to delete the app from their own phone, since there's nothing you can do to stop that on Android.

Aura Parental Controls prices and subscriptions

Aura Parental Controls costs $8.25-$32.00/mo depending on which plan you go with.

The standard plan costs $8.25/mo (billed annually) and covers an unlimited amount of children and an antivirus program for you.

If you want the full host of Aura identity theft features, you can go for the Family plan. This will cost you $32.00/mo (billed annually) but also include up to $5M in identity theft insurance, credit monitoring, and more.

Features	Aura Parental Controls	Aura Ultimate Family
Price	$8.25/mo (billed annually)	$32.00/mo (billed annually)
Who's covered	1 adult, unlimited kids	5 adults, unlimited kids
Content filtering
Screen time management
Cyberbullying and online predator alerts	Yes — only while gaming on Windows device	Yes — only while gaming on Windows device
Online account monitoring
Child SSN monitoring
Child 3-bureau credit freeze
Identity theft insurance
Financial fraud protection
Learn more	View plan	View plan

Aura is slightly more expensive than its competitors if you’re using it exclusively for parental controls. Its starting monthly price is $8.25/mo (billed annually). Both Bark and Qustodio are a few dollars cheaper, with Bark starting at $5.00/mo and Qustodio starting at $4.58/mo (billed annually).

If you’re including it as part of an identity theft protection plan, however, it’s on par with competitors. Other identity theft protection services offer some parental controls, like Norton Family, which can be bundled into Norton 360 for similar monthly costs. While none of these tend to be as robust as services geared specifically toward parental controls, they’re all worth using if identity theft protection is your ultimate goal.

Aura Parental Controls features

If you’re looking for a way to monitor the amount of time your child spends online and to restrict what they can view, Aura definitely has you covered. There aren’t many standard parental control features, like email monitoring or geo-fencing, but Aura can help you teach your child about healthy internet usage.

It also allows you to filter the internet with age-appropriate restrictions so your kid isn’t accidentally stumbling into something you don’t want them to see.

Content monitoring

Aura’s content monitoring is kind of basic. In our testing, we found that the only real content filtering options were centered around age.

When you enter your child’s birthday into the service, it applies an age-appropriate template that filters out content that doesn’t meet that age. You can adjust it a little within the app. Since Aura doesn’t monitor within apps, this is restricted to online content and what’s searched on the web.

Social media and phone apps

Aura doesn’t offer a lot of robust app management. It has dedicated services for YouTube monitoring, but everything else is basically monitoring how much time your child spends on the various other apps. You do have the ability to block certain apps, but it varies greatly and can’t be condensed into a single list.

Text messages

Aura states that it doesn’t monitor text messages. There isn’t much elaboration on that end, and we’re not sure if it’s because of the technology or Aura not wanting to include the feature.

Email

Aura also doesn’t offer email monitoring. On mobile devices, there’s no way to set it up to track emails coming in or going out or see the content included in those emails.

We understand that this could be due to the nature of the mobile devices where it’s installed, but we wish there was some way to include this technology with Aura, as competitors do offer it.

Web browsers

This is really where the bulk of Aura’s content filtering services shine. Aura curates an idea of what is age appropriate for your child based on your child’s birthday and its own filtering system.

When we tested it out, we tried the most adult sites we could find, and it blocked us without hesitation. We were able to access the majority of the general, everyday web, although we didn’t try to get into anything weird.

Screen time management

Screen time management is the most comprehensive feature you’re going to get with Aura. It allows you to set time limits, see how much time your child is spending online, and even dole out bonus time as a reward for chores or other activities completed. Aura even allows you to set app and category time limits.

The screen time management feature allows you to have a little more control over how your kids access applications. Given the lack of app monitoring, this is a way around it. As long as you know what apps your child has on their mobile device, you can set individual limits to help you moderate app usage.

Location tracking and geo-fencing

Sadly, there are no tracking or geo-fencing features included with Aura. The majority of what Aura offers is monitoring online activity, filtering content, setting time limits, and child identity theft protection.

Activity reports

The activity reports are available in the main dashboard. You can see the activity for each child by clicking on their profile. You’ll have an overview in front of you and then a comprehensive report of each category you can expand. You’ll be able to talk with your kids about responsible internet usage and app time limits by viewing their current activity.

Aura Parental Controls customer support

Support type	Aura Parental Controls
Email or live chat
Phone
Online guides or forums

Aura’s customer support options are fine. If you require any assistance with your identity being stolen, there’s a phone number and remediation specialists.

If you need support, the chat is available 24/7 with the automated assistant. If you need to talk with a live support specialist, you’ll have to go through the live chat options first and then call the support team. Live specialist chat support is available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST.

Top alternatives

Aura has great identity theft protection, but if the parental controls aren’t robust enough for you or don’t include the features you need, then it’s time to try one of these other products. The best parental controls should have features that fit your unique situation. If Aura isn’t for you, one of these may work instead.

Aura Parental Controls FAQs

Bottom line: Are Aura Parental Controls good?

Yes. While Aura Parental Controls may leave something to be desired when it comes to location tracking and monitoring, the quality of what you get is very good. This is a good choice for Aura users who want to track and limit their children's screen time while still giving them privacy online.

We do think it’s a little expensive for the amount of features offered, but remember that it can be coupled with identity theft protection for your entire family. The biggest downside is that the app can be deleted from Android without your dashboard noticing, so you can only really use it with younger or very mature kids.

If you’re wondering how Aura stacks up against other top parental control apps on the market, check out our in-depth comparisons:

• Aura vs. Bark
• Aura vs. Norton Family
• Aura vs. Net Nanny
• Aura vs. mSpy
• Aura vs. Qustodio