Parental control software is an application or a platform where you can monitor your kid’s devices remotely. You can control your kid’s screen time and can manage appropriate content only for them.
The parental control software will ensure that your kids won’t be exposed to mature content and protect you from cybercriminal or online predators. Each software has unique features and it also depends on whether the apps are free or paid.
The demand for parental control software in the market is very high. It helps to protect your kids in the digital world and ensure kid’s internet safety. It provides the best functionalities like Block inappropriate content, Geo-fencing, Alert system, Detail log history, and many more.
Why is Parental Control Software Important?
Nowadays, kids are becoming tech-savvy, every kid has a digital device. Even underage kids get digital technology at an early age of time. They need a digital device to do their school assignments, e-learning, and entertainment purposes.
Everything has been replaced by digital innovation. There are many pros and cons of having digital devices at an early age. The parental control software is a compulsory tool that every parent needs to use to keep their kids safe from virtual worlds. It monitors your kid’s device activities and shows your kids screen time.
There are many dangers of the internet, mobile devices, social media, and other apps. Your kids might get addicted to mobile devices. They might stumble on explicit content or get a negative influence from cybercriminals.
Every parent is concerned about their kid’s health. Due to digital technologies, the kids are having mental and physical complications. So, it’s important to monitor their kid’s activities to ensure kids’ digital safety and to prevent mobile addiction.
Best Parental Control Software for Your Kid’s Tech Use
The best parental control applications will make sure that your kids are safe in the online world while you are unable to look after the kids. It acts as digital parenting. There are many software’s available in the market and provide unique features from each other. Choosing the best parental control software will be difficult for parents. Hence, the best parental controls software for your kid’s tech uses are as follows.
Fenced.ai
- Three different categories (Parents, School, Employees)
- Alert System
- Application Screen Time
- Social media Monitoring
- Monitoring Phone activities
Pricing: Basic and Premium($5.83 and $8.33)
Compatibility: Android, iOS, and other platforms
Fenced.ai is the parental control app and monitoring software for your kid’s tech use. It helps to protect your kids from negative digital exposure. This software provides three solution controls for parents, school, and employees.
Fenched.ai monitors all the activities like phone calls & SMS, geo-fencing, social media apps, etc. You don’t have to be physically present to monitor your kid’s activities. It can be done remotely.
Likewise, Keyloggers, WiFiloggers, Alert System, Geofence Alert, are the unique features of this parental control software. It records every keystroke that has been typed on your kids’ cell phone. The keystrokes will be recorded in a separate log and you can view every pressed keystroke.
However, currently, this feature is only available on the Android platform. It also monitors the WiFi and location of connected devices. The alert system provides you every detailed information on geo-fencing, uninstall apps, Keyword alert, and WiFi change alert.
Bark
- For School and parents
- Web Filtering
- Social media Monitoring
- Parental Alert
Pricing: Premium($14), Bark Jr($5)/monthly
Compatibility: Android and iOS
Bark is a parental control software for monitoring your kids’ device activities. You just have to connect your kid’s device to this app and choose any social media apps you want to monitor.
This app monitors messages, photos & videos, mail accounts, share content, and many more activities done on social media. It uses AI not only to flag keywords but also to define the context in which kids, tween, and teens use slang words.
The unique features of this app are 24/7 detection and parental alert. The 24/7 detection protects your kids from digital threats like cyberbullying, explicit content, online predators, etc. It also sends you alert information of every possible danger from social media.
For instance, if any online predators try to contact your kids on social media the software will send you an alert message on your device, and you can block those online predators remotely. This will help your kids to prevent social media danger.
Qustodio
- For Family, Schools, and Business
- Extended reporting
- Family locator
- Panic button for Android
Pricing: Small Plan($ 54.59), Medium Plan($96.95), Large Plan(137.95)/yearly
Compatibility: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Chromebook, and Kindle.
Qustodio also provides three solution packs for families, schools, and businesses. It monitors all the device’s activities of kids. The app has a user-friendly GUI and monitoring spot but lacks geofencing or warning functionality.
Qustodio is bit more pricey than comparable apps, but it does come with added features, such as the panic button, SMS monitoring. Its informative dashboard allows monitoring your kid’s online activities and proper utilization of children’s behaviors.
The unique features of this software are the Panic button and Extended reporting. The Panic button is only available on Android. If your kids are in trouble the SOS button will send your kid’s location to the connected device.
Moreover, the extended report feature will provide you the detailed information about your kid’s device activities. You can set your settings and you can get the weekly and monthly reports in your parental control dashboard.
Net Nanny
- Parental Control app
- Family Feed
- YouTube monitoring
- Alert and reporting
Pricing: One device $39.99/yearly
Compatibility: iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Chromebook
Net Nanny is a parental control app providing lots of features, but its set-up is quite challenging. If you want to cover only one desktop computer, you can purchase Net Nanny for Windows (around $40). But with the family security pass ($55–$90), you can protect between 5 and 20 devices, including tablets and smartphones.
The best feature of this parental control software is the family feed. Its user-friendly family feed, making it easier to track the online activities of the entire family at a secure place. The software helps you to view the use of your children’s applications and internet searches. It also offers immediate warnings when it identifies and stops children from viewing explicit content.
Kaspersky Safe Kids
- For kids
- Real-time alert
- Safe search in YouTube
- Screen time scheduling
Pricing: $13.76
Compatibility: macOS, Windows, Android, iOS
Kaspersky Lab is one of the anti-virus firms that added stand-alone parenting services to their portfolios recently. It provides four free features: An online content filter, safe search in YouTube, apps usage control, and screen time management.
Similarly, the software automatically blocks unsafe and insufficient content. But you would need to update to the premium edition to specify time limits and scheduling for use with the internet and app of your child.
One of the most innovative features of Kaspersky is the battery tracker that will automatically notify your kid’s phone has a low battery. You can also know for how long your kid is using mobile devices.
Kaspersky Safe Kids Premium protects one device, but more licenses can be bought individually, making it affordable for smaller families. The premium package is now being offered for 7 days free trial and the money-back guarantee is valid for 30 days.
Norton Family
- Family and parental control
- Instant Lock
- Reports
- Search Supervision
Pricing: $49.99 and $5.99/ annually
Compatibility: Android, iOS, macOS, Windows
Norton Family is antivirus software that offers Norton Family parental control software. You need to register first (both on your phone and the device of your children) and acknowledge certain conditions before you proceed.
The monitoring standard that is different for various age ranges must be chosen as well. You should customize accounts for each of your children, so that surveillance is much easier.
In the Norton Family websites, applications, gaming, and social media, preset blocks are given. If required, you can configure settings and select which form of notifications you get. The app lets you set up house rules that remind your children of the things they should do and activities they shouldn’t do. If the house rules are violated, you can inspect your children’s actions on the dashboard.
The unique features of this software are reports and instant lock. If your kids are on mature content or playing excessive games, you will receive an alert on your device. You get the email summary of your kid’s online activities.
Mobicip
- Parental Control app
- Simple Setup
- Block Website
- Review Access Requests
Pricing: Small($3.99), Medium($4.99), Large($9.99)/month
Compatibility: Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, kindle, Chromebook
Mobicip is a parental control app that is supported on all platforms. It delivers the best offers of a 7-day free trial and 30-day cash back guarantee. You can choose one of four filtering levels for each child profile.
Age-inadequate site categories are blocked by the options of mature, mild, or strict tiers. Mobicip would not block websites if you want to track but monitor online activity. In the Block Apps tab, you can choose to approve or block several common applications.
The simple setup features attract every user’s attention. This allows parents to connect the device easily and quickly. As the system will provide the QR(Quick Response) scanner and from your kid’s device you can scan the QR code to connect your and kids devices.
You can get a real-time alert if your kids are trying to access inappropriate content or apps. Even if your kids are trying to use the block app or website the software will alert you instantly. And you can allow or block the request as you want.
Family Link
- Free parental control
- Manage apps
- Set time limits
- Lock screen
Price: Free app
Compatibility: Android, iOS, Windows, Chromebook.
Family Link a free parental control software developed by Google. This app is available on iOS and Android smartphones. You can also trace the real-time location of the associated Android mobile devices, which makes this service also an effective child tracing app. If you have iOS platform devices, this feature will not support your device.
You can protect your kids from online inappropriate content. The app allows you to monitor your kid’s app’s activities for how long they have been using the app. You can restrict your kids from downloading the app from the google play store and platform. It even lets you set a time limit on your kid’s devices and can lock your kid’s screen.
OurPact
- Parental Control app
- Family Locator
- Allowance
- Block and Grant
Pricing: Premium(6.99), Premium+(9.99)/month
Compatibility: iOS, Android
The parental control and family locator of Our Pact are built to satisfy the busy family. Our Pact access app and family locator operate through iOS and Android smartphones. The premium features of this app can manage up to 20+ devices. It also has a free plan where parents schedule screen time and manual block or grant features.
Similarly, the efficient parent control software provides a range of child monitoring solutions and resources on mobile devices. With just one tap button you can allow or block the mature content. You can set your kid’s screen time. You can block your kid’s messaging apps remotely. It also enables safe search content and will try to block those explicit content.
The family locator feature will locate your kid’s actual location. It will provide you with a real-time location update. Parents may also establish geofences in particular areas to ensure the protection and accessibility of their children.
Comparison Table of Best Three Apps
| Parental control apps | fenced.ai | Bark | Net Nanny |
| Pricing | Free (limited features) Basic and premium($5.83 and $8.33)/monthly | Jr and Premium($5 and $14)/monthly | $54.99 for 5 devices $89.99 for 20 devices |
| Limitation | All activities monitoring | Social Media monitoring only | All activities monitoring |
| No.of devices | Unlimited | Limited | Up to 20 devices |
| Special Features | Keyloggers, Alert System | 24/7 detection, parental alert | Family feed, alert, and reporting |
| Platform | Android, iOS, Mac, Windows | iOS and Android | Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, Windows, mac |
| Website | https://fenced.ai/ | https://www.netnanny.com/ | https://www.bark.us/ |
Conclusion
Hence, the parental control software is important to ensure your kid’s digital safety. Your kids may encounter mature content on the internet. He/she might be the victims of cyberbullying. Your kids might be talking with online predators.
There are many dangers of digital devices and the internet. So, to make sure your kids are protected in this digital generation. The parental control software comes in handy use. It helps you and your kids to prevent these dangers.
I would love to know which parental control app that you are using to monitor your kids, please feel free to mention them in the comment section below.
