Protect Your Family With These 10 Parental Monitoring Apps

In terms of social media monitoring, Bark is the most comprehensive parental app on the market. It offers an extensive range of content monitoring—over 30 different apps. Along with texts and emails, parents can monitor videos, photos, voice memos, and popular social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and more. Bark doesn’t give parents full access to their child’s phone. Instead, it uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze content for signs of cyberbullying, violence, sexting, suicidal ideation, or adult content. Parents are only alerted if something problematic is detected.

The ability to monitor social media is likely a huge draw for parents of teens and tweens, but for those with younger kids, it might not be necessary. To accommodate that, Bark offers two plan options. With Bark Jr., parents pay $5 a month or $49 a year for location tracking, screen time management, and website blocking features. Bark Premium costs $14 a month or $99 a year.

If you’re looking for an app with extensive features and the ability to cover multiple devices, Qustodio is a perfect option. Like most parental control apps, you can block inappropriate content and set limits for screen time, but you can also monitor calls, messages, and YouTube history. Plus, with the parent dashboard, you can easily view your child’s online activity in real time.

But what really makes Qustodio stand out is just how advanced all of its features are. You can filter web content based on over 30 categories and get alerted if your child tries to access a blocked website. For screen time, you can limit phone use throughout the day, at certain times, and for specific apps or games. And there are robust safety features in place, including GPS location tracking and real-time alerts and notifications.

Qustodio works on both iOS and Android and across multiple platforms, including phones, tablets, computers, Chromebooks, and Kindles. There’s also a free version, but it’s fairly limited and only allows you to monitor one device. To take advantage of the full range of features, you’ll need to upgrade to a premium version. Plans are billed annually and cost $55 per year for five devices or $100 per year for unlimited devices.

For parents of teens and tweens, Canopy is one of the best apps out there. Since it doesn’t monitor calls or texts, it offers more privacy and independence than other apps while still providing parents with peace of mind. It’s also one of the easiest apps to use and only takes 15 minutes to set up.  

You can schedule downtime to set limits on phone use, track location, and filter inappropriate content, but Canopy really stands out with its sexting prevention feature. The app monitors any photos taken or downloaded. Photos are analyzed for anything potentially inappropriate, and if something is detected, it gives your teen the option to keep or delete it. If they choose to keep it, the photo will be sent to you for review, thus encouraging kids to make smarter choices in their communication. However, it doesn’t currently monitor videos. It’s also specific to sexual content, so it won’t filter or alert you to issues like cyberbullying, suicidal ideation, or violence.   

There are three subscription plans to choose from. Each plan includes a free, 7-day trial and the same features; the only difference is the number of devices it supports.

• Three devices: $8 per month
• Five devices: $10 per month or $100 per year
• 10 devices: $16 per month

MMGuardian offers parents the ability to monitor their child’s incoming and outgoing text messages, even if messages are deleted. While it’s nice to have that option if necessary, some parents may not want to fully invade their child’s privacy. In that case, there’s a safety alert that will notify you if a message indicates suicidal thoughts, drugs, violence, sexting, or cyberbullying.

The app works with iOS and Android phones and tablets. Unfortunately, iPhone users won’t be able to access messages on Snapchat, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram, but messages on WhatsApp and Kik will be available. Other notable features include location tracking, web filtering, and app control. There are two plans to choose from.

• Family plan: Up to five devices for $10 per month or $100 per year
• Single device: One phone or iPad for $5 per month or $50 per year; one Android tablet for $2 per month or $25 per year

FamiSafe is one of the best options when it comes to keeping tabs on your child. It allows you to track location in real time, check location history, and create geofences. Geofencing allows you to set up specific locations and a time range and get alerts if your child breaks from the expected routine by leaving the area. Another helpful feature is reverse location tracking, which gives kids a way to see their parents’ location.

With FamiSafe, parents can also check in on their child’s online activities, monitor social media, block inappropriate websites, and limit screen time. The app will also detect suspicious photos, which can be especially useful for parents of teens who are worried about sexting or exposure to pornography. Parents of teens beginning to drive will also love that FamiSafe offers detailed driving reports to track driving routes, speeding, and hard braking. The app can support up to 10 devices and offers three different pricing options to choose from.

• Monthly plan: $11 per month for up to five devices
• Quarterly plan: $21 every three months for up to 10 devices
• Annual plan: $61 per year for up to 10 devices

There is also the option to add Geoconnection, a separate mobile app that adds GPS tracking to your child’s device, for an additional $2 per month (the first month will be $1).

From phones to tablets to video game consoles, kids have a lot of devices these days and with Circle Home Plus, parents can monitor all of them. There are two components to Circle: a physical device and a parental control app. The device connects with your router to manage everything in your home that uses the internet. You can set up an unlimited number of profiles and customize the settings for each family member. Plus, no need to worry about guests. When a new device joins the Wi-Fi, it’s automatically set to be unmanaged until a profile is assigned.

The parental control app allows you to filter and block content, set time limits, create a bedtime, view internet history, check app use, and track location on smartphones. There is also a "pause the internet" feature. Parents can also offer rewards like extra time online or a later bedtime to promote good behavior.

Circle Home Plus is definitely one of the pricier options on our list. Your first payment includes both the physical device and a subscription to the premium app. There are two subscription plans to choose from.

• Three-month plan: $69
• One-year plan: $129

After that, your subscription will renew at $10 per month or $89 per year. Although you can try the Circle parental control app free for 14-days, there is no trial period for the full Circle Home Plus system. However, there is a 30-day return policy that allows you to try it without a full commitment.

Most parental control apps focus on screen time and website blocking, but Life360 is primarily designed with safety in mind. Easily share your location, track family members, and maintain digital safety. For parents of new drivers, Life360 really shines with features like crash detection, emergency roadside assistance, and driving reports.

Parents can monitor their teen’s driving habits each week with a detailed report that outlines dangerous behaviors like speeding or hard braking along with phone usage on the road. Additional safety features can also help parents worry less while their teen is behind the wheel. With crash detection, the app detects any collision over 25 mph and sends an alert and location notification to all emergency contacts.  Premium memberships also offer roadside assistance for towing, tire changes, jumpstarting a battery, car lockouts, and refueling.

There is also a free option, which includes basic location tracking, crash detection, and a family driving summary. To take advantage of the full range of features, parents can choose from two premium membership options.

Gold Membership

This option includes extensive location tracking, crime reports, crash detection, individual driving reports and family driving summary, roadside assistance, towing for five miles, and digital safety features (including ID theft protection) for $15 per month or $100 per year.

Premium Membership

With this subscription, you get extensive location tracking, crime reports, crash detection, individual driving reports and family driving summary, roadside assistance, towing for 50 miles, digital safety features (ID theft protection and credit monitoring), emergency medical assistance, and travel support for $25 per month or $200 per year.

Kaspersky Safe Kids is the best choice for parents interested in monitoring YouTube. While fairly limited in terms of other social media sites, Kaspersky goes all out with its YouTube features. Parents can monitor YouTube searches and view watch history in browsers on Windows, iOS, and Android devices. Android users can also monitor YouTube within the app and enable a safe search feature to block inappropriate or harmful searches. Geofencing and GPS tracking are also offered along with website filters and screen time controls.

Unfortunately, not all features are available for iPhone users, but the good news is that Kaspersky is actively working on this. Within the last year, new updates have offered more functionality for iOS users and even more extensive YouTube monitoring features. Another huge plus is the pricing. For one thing, there’s a free version of the app which includes web filtering, safe searches, app use control, and screen time limits. Parents who want to take full advantage of the location and YouTube monitoring can opt for the premium version at an affordable rate of $15 per year.

FamilyTime offers a free way for parents to track calls, view downloaded apps, and check app usage on their child’s phone. But the best feature is the SOS/panic button which allows your child to send an instant alert if they’re in danger by simply pushing a button. The app will then notify you of their location.

While the free version of the app is fairly limited, there is a premium option which offers more extensive features. With a premium plan, parents can track text messages, limit screen time, monitor social media, create geofences, ensure safe driving habits, and more. Plus, the premium app allows you to track location all the time, not just in the event of an emergency. Pricing is broken into four tiers based on the number of devices you need to monitor, but all plans are affordable compared to most of the apps on this list. You can cover up to five devices depending on the plan you choose.

• One device: $27 per year
• Two devices: $35 per year
• Three devices: $45 per year
• Five devices: $69 per year

Another free option to consider is Google Family Link, which allows you to limit screen time and track location. However, we’d only recommend it for Android users. It’s available on iOS but due to Apple’s restrictions, almost all of the features are unavailable on iPhone.

OurPact offers a scree- time allowance, a unique feature that allows parents to set healthy screen limits while also encouraging more responsibility. You can allocate a certain amount of screen time each day and then allow your kids to choose how they want to spend it. Plus, you can grant extra time as a reward for good behavior or as an incentive for doing extra chores. There’s also a scheduling feature that allows parents to ensure consistent routines with a set screen-free timeframe.

But screen time isn’t the only thing OurPact is helpful for. The app offers website filtering, text and app blocking features, location tracking, and live views, which give parents a way to monitor their child with an instant snapshot of their device.

There is a free version, but it’s limited to one device and has minimal blocking features. In order to limit screen time, track location, and manage up to 20 devices, you’ll need to choose a premium plan. There are two premium options available.

• Premium: Schedule and limit screen time; block apps, websites, and texting; and track location for $7 per month or $70 per year
• Premium Plus: All premium features plus live screen views for $10 per month or $100 per year