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Best Overall
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Activity can only be viewed if it’s triggered
Best for Antivirus Bundle
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Can't add screen time limitations on a per-app basis
Best for ID Theft Bundle
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No location tracking
Best Budget App
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Reads text messages but doesn't send alerts for harmful content
For the parent who wants a more collaborative parental control application that monitors activities like texting, web searches, and social media, Bark is hands-down your best option. Its software helps you create screen time schedules, tracks your child’s location, and packs a lot of other features, starting at only $5.00/mo.
In our 2023 survey of how parents feel about the impact of social media and the internet, half of the parents surveyed expressed concerns about the internet's impact on children. This number will likely only go up, and figuring out which app is best for your needs is the first step to tackling it.
Here are your top options based on our independent, hands-on testing.
While Bark is your best option overall, there are several apps out there that might fit your needs better, whether it's offering a free version or letting you bundle your features with other products.
 Best Overall
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| Star rating | ||||
| Price | $4.00–$14.00/mo | $4.16-$24.99/mo (billed annually) | $8.25-$32.00/mo | Free-$8.33/mo (billed annually) |
| Free trial | Yes — 7 days | Yes — 30 days | Yes — 14 days | Yes — 31 days |
| Number of protected devices | Unlimited | 15 children | Unlimited | 1, 5, or unlimited |
| Web filtering | ||||
| Social media monitoring | ||||
| Text message monitoring | ||||
| Email monitoring | ||||
| Screen time management | ||||
| Remote lock | ||||
| Location tracking | ||||
| Details | View Plans | View Plans | View Plans | View Plans |
We put every parental control app through vigorous hands-on testing by downloading the software to our own devices. We test how the product works from both the parent's and child's perspectives, evaluating how well we're able to monitor device usage and deliberately attempting to sneak around the limitations.
By taking a fine-tooth comb through all available features and settings, we carefully compare each product using our proprietary grading rubric. The star ratings take into account price, screen time management, content filters, location tracking, monitoring, alerts, and ease of use.
To learn more about how we test, check out our full testing methodology here.
To keep your children safe online, there are features you should look for that make all the difference. To make the most informed decision, you’ll want to have some or all of these options included in the parental control software you choose. Here are some questions you may want to ask when looking for a parental control app.
Robust parental controls to track, monitor, and limit device usage
Machine learning catches the latest slang and keywords
Screens content across 19 categories
Bark is the best control app for parents who want plenty of features at a reasonable price. Whether you’re concerned about cyberbullying or online predators, the Bark parental control app has alerts to make you feel more at ease. With multiple pricing options, Bark has a plan to fit almost any budget. No matter which plan you choose, you’ll get location alerts, screen time management, and website filtering.
With the Bark Premium and Bark Phone plans, you get text, app, and social media monitoring. Is your child spending too much time on Discord discussing gaming? Worried about the content your child may be viewing? With Bark, you’ll have unlimited activity scanning and monitoring for over 30 social media apps. This also may be the best parental control app for having productive conversations with your children about inappropriate content. It includes tips from child psychologists to tackle those hard discussions.
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Most parental control apps have some type of monitoring available. We liked that Bark Premium has unlimited device monitoring and that it includes protection for over 30 apps and websites. Parents can manage the settings they want to allow for their children. If you want to schedule screen time, you can. If you’d like to block the internet when little Johnny needs to get some homework finished, you can do that too.
With Bark’s location tracking, you can request a check-in from your child whenever you want. These notifications are immediate, which can give you more peace of mind knowing your child is safe. It’s geo-tracking at your fingertips. You also get location alerts that show a timeline of your child’s recent activity. We liked how Bark includes expert advice from child psychologists to help you better communicate with your kids too. That alone could make it one of the best parental control apps on the market.
Although setting up the Bark account wasn’t difficult, we did note that you’ll need to connect each device you want to monitor. That took quite a bit of time, so it’s worth keeping in mind if you have numerous devices.
Another thing we didn’t like is that although Bark’s control app monitors emails, it doesn’t scan images within them. That means that if someone sends an inappropriate photo through email, it’s likely you won’t get an alert. We weren’t crazy about the activity reports either since these are more of a summary of past events. You will receive them once per week, so it may be better and more efficient to view the parent dashboard.
Read our full Bark review here
Excels at app blocking and content filtering across 47 categories
Offers age-specific restriction levels to enhance safety and unlimited device connections
Norton Family is a good parental control app when you need fewer features and are more concerned with location tracking and screen time management. This is the best parental control app if you want an antivirus bundle. When you buy Norton 360 Deluxe or Norton 360 Select with LifeLock, you get Norton Family included. The Norton Family app shows you how much time your kids spend on their phones or tablets (so you can set screen time limits), and it gives you a list of YouTube videos watched. If you want a parent portal that’s easy to use, Norton Family has a dashboard to manage security protection.
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We like that you can set the restriction levels depending on what you want to allow. You can change the content filters based on your child’s age or maturity. If you have an Android device, you can monitor which apps your child downloads. Norton Family also allows you to set screen time limits, locking out specific phone features during the times you set. We like how the school and sleep schedules are preloaded for convenience.
We think the best parental control apps include location tracking, and Norton Family is no exception. Once you enable the permissions, you can get real-time updates of your child’s location. You can also search the locations your child has visited based on time and date, which can be beneficial for parents with kids who have activities away from home, like sports or plays.
Although Norton Family will alert you to the apps viewed on an Android device, it would be nice to have this feature for iOS, too. Many kids use iPhones, so we aren’t thrilled that parents won’t be able to access those features for iOS.
We also didn’t like not having text and email monitoring. With social media being so prevalent in the lives of most kids today, it would be good for Norton to include social media management in the future. That means if your child gets bullied online, the current control app likely won’t catch it.
Review our full Norton Family review here
Blocks harmful content on mobile devices
Robust screen time management tools
Unlimited devices
Aura Parental Controls is best for those parents who need unlimited device support without all the bells and whistles that come with other parental control apps. Aura is also perfect for parents who want bundled device and identity theft protection.
You can use Aura Parental Controls on your iPhone, Android, or iPad, but it isn’t available for other devices. If you’re looking for website filtering, screen time management, and cyberbullying alerts, Aura may be the one you need.
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Aura Parental Controls is a straightforward application powered by Circle, an award-winning parental control tech. It gives parents a way to monitor and set screen time limits. We liked that you can set age-appropriate restrictions so your child doesn’t view inappropriate websites.
A standout feature that Aura has is the way it uses your child’s birthday to filter internet content. When we tested it, Aura indeed blocked some of the more adult websites.
The screen time management feature allows parents to set limitations on the time children spend online. As a bonus, you can add more screen time as a reward. If you want to discuss appropriate and responsible screen time limits with your child, you can view those activity reports together. We think that is a good way to have a conversation about internet usage with kids because it gives them a clear view of how much time they spend online.
Another option we’d be remiss to not mention is the Safe Gaming feature. This alerts parents of cyberbullying and monitors gaming activity. Aura includes Dark Web Monitoring and Data Breach Alerts to help keep your information more secure and will notify you if your data has been used.
Although the high price point isn’t ideal, you get a lot more with Aura. Unlike other exclusive parental control apps, Aura provides child identity theft protection, SSN monitoring, antivirus software, a VPN, a password manager, an ad blocker, and much more.
Aura doesn’t have all the features most parental control apps might include. For one, you won’t get location tracking, which is what many parents want so they’ll know their child is safe and accounted for at any time. Aura doesn’t come with social media monitoring, either. A workaround is to view how much time your child spends on all apps, but that doesn’t seem efficient for busy parents.
Another issue we found is that Aura doesn’t monitor texts or emails. Parents have no way to track incoming or outgoing mail and messages. We also didn’t find the portal accessible or user-friendly from the Safari browser. We had to switch to Chrome for that part, even though the payment options and main Aura website worked fine on Safari.
Read our full Aura Parental Controls review here
Parental control app with lots of features
User-friendly, clean interface
If you’re on a budget and want a parental control app to help monitor your child’s internet use, Qustodio is not only one of your least expensive options, but it also offers a limited free version. Its premium plans still pack a punch with features like website filtering, text monitoring, location tracking, screen time management, and more. If you opt for the free version, you'll still be able to filter content and limit screen time without paying a dime.
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We liked that Qustodio offered almost everything we want in a parental control app for a good price. This includes robust screen time management, app and website blocking capabilities, location monitoring with a unique panic button option, and YouTube monitoring.
The price is another factor we like with the standalone parental control app starting at $4.58/mo (billed annually). That makes it a great option for parents on a budget. You can even pause the internet remotely, making it easy to make sure your kids are paying attention when you need them to be.
The main thing missing from Qustodio is that it doesn't monitor conversations on social media or through emails. Though monitoring text messages is a big step up from a lot of other options, a lot of kids communicate on apps like Snapchat, and those chats would be in a major blind spot
Read our full Qustodio review here
The best app for parental controls overall is Bark, with other apps like Norton Family, Qustodio, and MMGuardian standing as solid runner-ups.
While parental control apps should be safe and regulated, they will be monitoring a lot of data on your child's phone. This data may be shared with third-party companies for advertisement purposes, so it's up to you to decide if you feel comfortable with that.
Many parental control apps allow you to see everything on your child’s phone. You can monitor texts, emails, and internet history, and apps that are visited.
When it comes to Bark vs. Norton Family, Bark is the winner. It simply offers more features than Norton Family, giving you more control and insight over your child's cell phone use. That said, Norton Family is still a good option if you want to give your child more privacy by not monitoring their conversations.
There are completely free parental control apps, like the free version of Qustodio, but you won’t get all the features of the paid plans. With the Qustodio free plan, you get a GPS tracker and screen time management features, but not much else.
Bark is the best parental control app available, offering you plenty of value and packing in features like unlimited device coverage and customized screen time limits.
The internet has a lot to offer, but not all of it is good. The right parental control app will give you peace of mind, whether your child is at a sports event or browsing the web at home.
| Starting price | Best for | Learn more | |
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$5.00/mo | Best overall | View Plans |
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$4.16/mo (billed annually) | Best for antivirus bundle | View Plans |
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$9.00/mo (billed annually) | Best for bundled identity protection | View Plans |
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$4.58/mo (billed annually) | Best budget app | View Plans |
Robust parental controls to track, monitor, and limit device usage
Machine learning catches the latest slang and keywords
Screens content across 19 categories
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