Best child monitor software

Joanne Croft. FamiSafe This accurate monitoring software for parents offers many options to manage children's activities such as application blocking, internet, geo-dependence, location, and more. FamilyTime It does everything. Features of FamilyTime Geofencing: You can easily set alerts for when the target device leaves specific locations. This monitoring software helps you analyze location and location history to find out where your children have been and are currently at any time. Contact List: view your children's contact list by installing FamilyTime.

This app can readily disclose the contacts of your child with numbers and call duration. Internet Accessibility: Parents have access to filter the content what their children should utilize online and whatnot.

Limit the Screen Time: Set schedules to permit your kids to access their phones only at a specific time. You can set device usage schedules. Block Unnecessary Apps and Games: It is the best feature that allows your kids to use only the apps and games that are useful for them.

Qustodio With the help of Qustodio as phone monitoring software, you'll get more information to prevent your kids from adolescent content and to cyberbully. Features of Qustodio Block Unnecessary Content: The app with smart filters allows parents to block inappropriate content or the content that parents think not suitable for their kids. Balance Screen Time: It efficiently limits the screen time for your kids Control inappropriate games and apps for your children.

KidLogger It tracks not only what your children type but on which websites they visit. Spyrix Free Keylogger This software is used to capture passwords and website usage. Net Nanny It has excellent web-filtering technology.

OurPact This monitoring software for parents is easy to use and an effective screen time solution. Phone Sheriff Hybrid monitoring software allows you to access your child's device in real-time. TeenSafe You can easily see the deleted messages, as well. Joanne Croft staff Editor. Related Articles. Parental monitoring guide: how safe is Instagram? Parental monitoring guide. Get the full scoop of our testing experience in our in-depth Bark review.

Boomerang really shines in terms of screen-time management. We especially love that you can limit activity on a per-app basis. For example, you might want to encourage your kid to use educational apps while limiting their activity on other apps. Boomerang offers call and text monitoring, but you have to download that app from their website. Boomerang does mention this discrepancy on their website, but it can still be confusing.

This is the website blocker. Get the full scoop of our testing experience in our in-depth Boomerang review. Kaspersky delivers a lot for a low price. As nice as the free version sounds, it includes zero push notifications for the parent. You have to go directly to the app to see if your child has been using their phone too long, for example. We also found that many in-app alerts are toggled off by default. The interface isn't intuitive, but we got the hang of it within about 20 minutes.

Our main surprise came when our child tester quickly uninstalled the app. But it did work well as a website blocker. Kids have to use the Kaspersky browser for the website blocker to work, so make sure you uninstall all other web browsers before setting up Kaspersky. All parental control apps offer limited features on Apple devices, but we found Kaspersky Safe Kids to be the least iOS-friendly.

For example, you won't get notifications if your child tries to use a forbidden app or download a new app to their iPhone. We also think it rivals Boomerang in terms of clever screen-time management. FamilyTime offers more functionality for iOS devices than competitor apps. Qustodio takes the guesswork out of your parenting choices, at least when it comes to screen time. 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.

Other apps offer simpler interfaces for parents. Need to trace their steps? Of course, each of these platforms has its own rules regarding privacy. Android users have access to the most features, whereas Chromebook users basically get a web filter to block inappropriate content.

Get the full scoop of our testing experience in our in-depth Qustodio review. We started out with a list of 16 parental monitoring apps. We liked MMGuardian a lot until we saw its price. You can get almost all of the same features for a cheaper price by choosing Boomerang. If that sounds good to you, we recommend Bark Home instead.

You can read more about our experience with Circle Home Plus in our in-depth review. 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. OurPact offers a free version that lets you block apps and set up one schedule for screen time. At that rate, you might as well pay for Bark and get social media monitoring and email monitoring. Read more about our testing experience in our in-depth OurPact review.

We think web filtering is the more useful feature, but you can always install Google Family Link in addition to Kaspersky or Qustodio if you want. In our original roundup of the best parental control apps, Net Nanny earned a spot among the top four. Net Nanny is one of the most expensive options 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 think Bark is the best app for parental control in terms of screen-time management and internet safety. If you want location tracking, geofencing, and location history, try FamilyTime or Qustodio.

Some parental control apps also monitor calls and social media activity. Exact features and reports vary by app. We recommend Bark for comprehensive phone and internet monitoring. We like the free version of Kaspersky Safe Kids or Qustodio. Google Family Link is free too. By the time your child is old enough to join social media, you might want to switch over to Bark. 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:.

Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product. Certain content that appears on this site comes from Amazon. Anyone found anything like that? Teens spend an average of seven hours and 22 minutes on their phones a day, and tweens — ages 8 to 12 — are not far behind, at four hours and 44 minutes daily, according to a new report by Common Sense Media.

Nowdays technology in homeschooling is a must. But we cannot forget about disadvantages of the screen time. If child is spending several hours in front of the computer or tablet, even only for school activities, there has to be a counterpoint. In my opinion the best offline tool is chess. Of course chess is the best logic game in every aspect. The longer time it takes to focus, the more difficult it is for the child and the results are worse.

Hello, what would you say is best Android parental control app to prevent hacking or work arounds? Do any of these apps prevent that? Thanks so much! Bark offers all you asked for and more, I am a single dad of 1 daughter and very happy with the results.

I need something to download to a MAC and iPad to block pornography. I can pay for it. Please tell me what. I am raising a teenage grandson. Home since March due to covid. Do you have information on which, if any of these, can also be installed on a Windows Laptop for additional monitoring? Great question. One that does is Kapersky Safe Kids. Qustodio also works with Windows XP and higher.

Good luck, I hope that helps! Kapersky safe kids is easy to get around, from personal experience, look for more comprehensive like bark or qustodio. This free parental control software not only tracks what your children type and which websites they visit — it also keeps a record of which programs they use and any screengrabs they take.

If you're concerned about who your kids might be talking to online, there's even a voice-activated sound recorder. If your children are a little older and more responsible, you can pick and choose which options to monitor and give them a little privacy.

The free software only covers one device and lacks some of the sneakier features of the premium editions including silent monitoring of WhatsApp conversations and the ability to listen to Skype calls , but it's still a well-rounded tool if you're concerned about your kids' safety.

Read our full KidLogger review. Keyloggers have something of a bad reputation online, as they're often used by crooks hoping to capture passwords and bank details, but they can be a force for good too, and Spyrix Free Keylogger enables you to see what your children have been up to.

Although it's dubbed parental control software, the free version of Spyrix really a monitoring program; it doesn't stop the kids getting up to no good, but it does let you see exactly what they've done. If you want content blocking too, premium subscriptions aren't expensive. The absence of filtering means Spyrix might not be the best choice for younger kids' computers, but it may be useful for older children if you suspect online bullying or other unpleasantness.

The free edition includes a blacklist that prevents your kids seeing inappropriate content online, plus app controls that let you manage app use by time used, age restrictions, and category if you don't want your kids playing games on a school night, for example.

There's also a screen time management tool to help you control overall device use,. The paid version adds more mobile-specific features, including a battery tracker so you can see if your kid's phone is about to go flat, leaving them without a way to contact you. You can also keep an eye on their location with GPS tracking, manage their social media use, and receive real-time alerts if they visit websites they shouldn't or leave a pre-defined 'safe' area.

We found that it took longer than usual to log into a Windows account when Kaspersky Safe Kids was running on a Windows 10 PC, so this is worth bearing in mind if your kids' PC is a little on the slow side already. Read our full Kaspersky Safe Kids parental control software review. Wondershare Famisafe. A premium parental control app for mobile devices, Famisafe can be installed on up to 30 devices per account.

It features all the usual tools for keeping kids safe, including setting time limits and blocking inappropriate content, but can also detect potentially inappropriate photos and text messages, block games, and monitor your kids' whereabouts with GPS and geofencing.

Daryl had been freelancing for 3 years before joining TechRadar, now reporting on everything software-related. If you have a story about an updated app or one that's about to launch, drop him a line. North America. Jump to: Best free parental control app: How did we choose?