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Are you worried about your child being exposed to profanity, pornography, or potential predators while using their smartphone?
Whether your child is eight or sixteen, she could have access to all kinds of inappropriate images, language, and people without your knowledge.
Fortunately, you have some tech help on your side. Welcome to parental control apps. These best family tracker apps and software give you remote supervision over your child’s mobile activity, so you can make sure she is safe and making smart choices with her mobile use.
Article Overview
- How Do They Work?
- FAQ
- Best Apps
- Features Comparison Table
- Other Parental Control App Reviews
- More Advice
- Infographic
How Do Parental Control Apps Work?
Parental control and monitoring apps allow you to:
- Set up filters to block websites that contain pornography, profanity, and any other content you deem inappropriate for your child’s age.
- Block your kids from downloading specified apps to their mobile devices. And you can get detailed reports on their mobile device activity.
- The best parental control apps for smartphones even give you the ability to monitor their texting, calling, and contacts, as well as tracking their location using GPS.
Parental Control Apps FAQ
Before we jump into our reviews, we want to share some important information when shopping around for the best parental control apps.
Is This Spyware?
The apps we’ve reviewed here aren’t technically spyware. Your child knows that you’ve installed the software on her device and that you’re monitoring her usage. Some parental control apps do have a feature called invisibility, which cloaks its existence on the device. But even if you’ve set the software to be invisible, it won’t take long for savvy pre-teens and certainly teens to know it’s there.
iPhone vs Android Monitoring
Android mobile devices are easier to monitor, hands down. Apple’s operating system has more limits on the type of content and activity third-party apps can control. So, most parental control software behaves differently for iOS vs Android devices. Some workaround Apple a bit better, but there are limits.
What Social Media And Chat Apps Should Be On Your Radar?
As a mom of two teenage girls, I have the unwelcome privilege of knowing what apps kids today use to communicate with each other (and with potential predators). So, what’s hot these days? Snapchat, Kik, Vine, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Facebook should all be on your radar. There are plenty of other social sharing sites and apps out there, but these are the most popular and a good start for concerned parents.
Best Parental Control Apps
How did we choose our best parental control apps? We based our rankings on several factors, including web filtering and app blocking tools, location tracking features, the ability to block and monitor texting, calling and social media, pricing, and more. Our reviews give you our rankings and recommendations for the type of monitoring you want. Read on to see how you can gain more supervision over your kid’s mobile use!
Best For Multiple Devices: Qustodio Review
Visit Website |iOS App |Android App
Qustodio is the best parental control app for multiple devices. This app is a strong contender, especially for families who want to monitor multiple users and devices. Its standout features include text and call monitoring, device compatibility, and time limits per Internet, apps, and each device. Qustodio offers data monitoring, location tracking, the ability to set custom limits and alerts, and limited social media monitoring. Qustodio offers a free version for one user on one device — it doesn’t include premium features, but it’s a good option to get you started.
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Pricing & Compatibility
- Free version for 1 user and 1 device
- Small Plan: $4.58/month for 5 users and 5 devices
- Medium Plan: $8.08/month for 10 users and 10 devices
- Large Plan: $11.50/month for 15 devices
- Compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, Android, iOS, Kindle, and Nook
Best For Web Blocking: Norton Family Review
Visit Website |iOS App |Android App
Norton Family is the best app for web blocking. Norton really shines on Android devices (its iOS version is more limited). It’s hard to beat this parental control app and software for its robust web filtering and app blocking tools that you can install on smartphones and computers. And its location tracking feature rivals Qustodio’s. But if you want the ability to adequately monitor your child’s text messaging, calling, and contacts, you’ll have to look elsewhere. You can’t block phone numbers, and text monitoring is very limited. If these features aren’t important to you, then Norton Family Premier has better web filtering control than Qustodio.
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Pricing & Compatibility
Norton Family Premier offers a generous 30-day free trial.
- $49.99/year for unlimited devices and users
- Compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, Android, iOS
Best Free Version: ESET Parental Control Review
ESET Parental Control is a budget-friendly app for Android phones. In fact, ESET offers a decent free version that includes age-based app filters and time limits for such activities as gaming. For only $29.99 per year, you can get ESET’s premium version that also offers site blocking and filtering, a child locator feature, and full reporting. But if you want to monitor your child’s calling, texting, and social media use, ESET is not the app for you. This app is likely all you’ll need for younger children, but it lacks the monitoring features needed to control devices for pre-teens and teens.
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Pricing & Compatibility
ESET Parental Control offers a limited free version, as well as a 30-day free trial for its premium version.
- $29.99/year for unlimited users and devices
- Compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, and Android (no iOS version planned at time of writing)
Parental Control Apps Features Comparison Table
See an easy, side-by-side comparison of each best parental control software for mobile devices in the table below.
| Best for Multiple Devices: Qustodio | Best for Web Blocking: Norton | Best Free Version: Eset | Net Nanny | |
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| Best for Multiple Devices: Qustodio | Best for Web Blocking: Norton | Best Free Version: Eset | Net Nanny | |
| Lowest Price Per Year | $54.95 | $49.95 | $29.99 | $59.99 |
| Free Trial | Free Version | 30 Days | Free Version | |
| Number of Users | 1-10 | Unlimited | Unlimited | 5-15 |
| Number of Devices | 1-10 | Unlimited | Unlimited | 5-15 |
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| Customer Support | Email Only | 24/7 Live Chat, Phone, Email | Email Only | Mon-Sat. Via Phone, Email |
Honorable Mention: Net Nanny
Parental control is a booming market, with many fantastic options. Net Nanny didn’t make it into our top 3 this year, but is worthy of serious consideration depending on your budget and family’s needs.
Net Nanny Review
Net Nanny has been around since 1996 and remains one of the most popular parental control software solutions out there. It’s an excellent option for PCs and Macs and internet usage on mobile devices. Net Nanny masks profanity, blocks inappropriate sites and images, and has some of the best web filtering and app blocking capabilities you’ll find. And the higher-end version, called Family Protection Pass, includes social media monitoring on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+ and LinkedIn. What’s missing? Net Nanny doesn’t offer text or call monitoring, and it doesn’t have a location tracker. But if you’re mainly concerned about your kids’ Internet and app usage, Net Nanny is among the best.
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Pricing & Compatibility
- $39.99/year for 1 device (Windows or Mac only)
- $54.99/year for 5 computers or devices
- $89.99/year for 10 computers or devices
- Compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, and Android
- View all options
Video: Need More Advice On Keeping Your Kids Safe?
There’s no doubt that a large majority of kids in the U.S. use mobile devices. According to a 2019 report by the Pew Research Center, nearly 95% of teenagers say they have access to a Smartphone, and 45% say they are on the internet “almost constantly.”
Controlling and monitoring your kids’ cell phone activity isn’t easy, but the following news broadcast gives you some added tips to help you do your best.
Parental Controls App Infographic (Printable)
Here’s a summary of the benefits of these tools in a visual format.
How Can Parental Control Apps Build Trust?
We think a major selling point for the parental control apps we’ve reviewed here is the fact that they’re not spyware. The openness of the software encourages parents and kids of all ages to have ongoing conversations about online and cell phone safety. This method builds more trust than simply spying on your child’s mobile activity.
Another huge plus in our book is that you can customize what you’re blocking or filtering at age-appropriate levels. It’s a safe, smart way to keep your kids secure as they grow and gain more freedom.
Also, take a look at our review of family tracking apps that serve a similar purpose.
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