The Best Parental Control Apps of 2022

Even though some new online safety brands have appeared on the scene since we first published our round-up, Bark is still our favorite parental control app. Bark can’t be beat in terms of email and social media monitoring, and our testers thought Bark was the easiest app to set up and use.

We prefer other parental control apps for specific features—like location tracking and speed tracking—and for more comfortable price points. Learn more about the differences between our top picks, and discover why other apps didn’t make the cut.

Our top five picks share these features:

• App management
• App usage history reports
• Texting history reports
• Screen-time management
• Content filter
• Website blocker 

We’ve organized the major differences in the chart below.

Bark is one of the few parental control apps that monitors emails and PC-based online activity so there are fewer ways for kids to sneak around the app. 

We do think Bark has one minor flaw: “screen time management” is more like “internet management.” The remote time-out function only turns off the phone’s internet access. If your kid is a text-aholic, they might still be glued to their screen when they’re supposed to be taking a break.

At $99 per year, Bark is on the expensive side. There are more affordable options for managing screen time or blocking dangerous apps and websites, but Bark is the best way to go if you want social media and email monitoring or have lots of devices to monitor.

Bark doesn’t offer location tracking and/or geofencing capabilities. Instead, you must “request a check-in.” If your child agrees to share their location, you’ll get a precise coordinate on Google Maps. We’re sure that teenagers will appreciate this autonomy, but it may not offer the level of safety you’re looking for with younger kids.

You can use other parental control software in tandem with Bark for no-permission-needed location tracking. Or, consider purchasing a wearable GPS tracker or kids smartwatch.

Boomerang really shines in terms of screen-time management. You can remotely pause all activity on your child’s phone at any time, but you can also schedule automatic shutdowns at specific times, like bedtime or during school hours. 

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. The Google Play version doesn’t include these features due to Google’s own rules about call and text monitoring. Boomerang does mention this discrepancy on their website, but it can still be confusing. 

You also have to download another app called SPIN and link it to Boomerang. This is the website blocker. 

All in all, our tester thought the 40-minute setup process was confusing.

One of Kaspersky’s most innovative features is low-battery alerts. When your child’s phone needs a charge, you get a notification. This means no more “my phone died” excuses when you ask why your kiddo ignored your call or text message.

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.

Android users can enjoy all features, and some are also available for Windows.

We like these unique features in the FamilyTime app:

• SOS/panic button
• Speed limit alerts
• Location history
• PickMeUp alerts
• Contact Watchlist alerts
• Gamified screen-time management with TimeBank and FunTime

FamilyTime offers more functionality for iOS devices than competitor apps. For example, you can use geofencing and block apps on your child’s iPhone with FamilyTime, whereas Boomerang only offers those features for Android users. 

You still can’t track calls or texts on iOS devices with FamilyTime. That’s an Apple rule.

You can use FamilyTime for free, but you’ll only be able to access these features:

• Call tracking
• App usage history
• Viewing installed apps
• SOS button

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. 

You’ll see which apps and websites your kid spends the most time on, who they’re calling, and the content of their texts. There’s also social media monitoring, but it’s limited to Facebook, Twitter, and Yahoo Messenger. 

You can also set up rules and restrictions from this dashboard, but that’s where Qustodio’s user-friendliness takes a nosedive. Other apps offer simpler interfaces for parents.

The other neat feature we like about Qustodio is its “family tracker.” You can glance at it and see the current location of each child. Need to trace their steps? You can do that too with the “location history” function.

Downloading the free version of Qustodio gives you these features for one device:

• Web, app, and search monitoring
• Online content filter
• Safe search
• Facebook & Twitter monitoring
• Time limits
• Online reporting dashboard

The other major perk to Qustodio is its platform/device compatibility:

• Android
• iOS
• Windows
• Mac
• Chromebook
• Kindle

Of course, each of these platforms has its own rules regarding privacy. Some features aren’t available across the board. Android users have access to the most features, whereas Chromebook users basically get a web filter to block inappropriate content.

We started out with a list of 16 parental monitoring apps. Here are some that didn’t quite make the cut for our top five.

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. MMGuardian does offer limited social media monitoring, but if that’s your main concern, it’s worth paying for Bark.

The Circle Home Plus internet filter costs about $130 per year and controls any device connected to your home’s Wi-Fi. If that sounds good to you, we recommend Bark Home instead. It costs about $80, and you don’t need to pay an annual fee. 

You can read more about our experience with Circle Home Plus in our in-depth review.

Mobicip offers a web filter, screen-time management, location tracker, app blocker, website blocker, and history report starting at around $48 per year for five devices. If you use Android devices, Boomerang offers those same features and more at around $31 per year for 10 devices.

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. If you want any other functionality, you need to pay nearly $84 per year. At that rate, you might as well pay for Bark and get social media monitoring and email monitoring. We do think it’s cool that this parental control software lets you see a live view of your child’s screen.

Read more about our testing experience in our in-depth OurPact review.

Google Family Link is free and lets you manage apps, control screen time, and track your child’s location. Google Family Link’s closest competitors are the free versions of Kaspersky or Qustodio, which don’t track location but do offer a web filter. 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. We’ve bumped it down the list because there are more affordable and easier-to-use alternatives on the market now. 

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 don’t see a reason to choose this brand. 

We think Bark offers the most comprehensive monitoring service if you can spare about $100 per year toward your child’s online safety. It’s the only parental app that monitors email, and that’s just as important as monitoring text messages and DMs.

• 16 parental control apps considered
• 27 data points assessed
• 6 hours of testing
• 20 hours of research

To find the best parental control apps, we set up different apps, tested them as both “children” and “parents,” and then addressed strengths and weaknesses. 

On top of hands-on testing, we dug into each app’s features, prices, compatibility, and customer reviews. 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:

• Setup and installation: how easy it was to install on different devices (including iOS, Android, mobile, and desktop), how much time it took, and whether or not there were any issues that came up.
• Performance: Did the app do what it was supposed to do? Would it be easy for kids to work around it?
• Features: what extra features were available, and did they deliver as promised?

Read more about our methodology.

• Internet Safety Guide for Kids
• How to Keep Your Teen (or Tween) Safe Online
• How Can I Protect My Child from Strangers Online?
• How Can I Secure My Internet Connection?
• What to Teach Your Children about Home Safety
• What Age Should Kids Get a Phone?