The Best Parental Control Apps of 2025

After more than 250 hours of research and testing, we chose Bark as the best parental control app on the market. It scans messages, images, and songs for more than 29 inappropriate or harmful themes and sends parents real-time alerts. No other brand follows your child around the internet quite like Bark. That said, Qustodio is a close contender and our preferred partner in this category with the release of their new AI-powered alerts for suspicious content on websites, in apps and social media messages.

If you're on a budget or looking for specific monitoring tools, we trust three other brands to protect your child online: FamilyTime, MMGuardian, and Canopy. 

Below, we'll talk about the differences between our top picks and explain why other apps didn’t make the cut.

Consider the following features when choosing a parental control app to protect your kids online:

• Safe web browsing: The app should allow you to create customized web filters, block specific websites, and disable other browsers. The best parental control apps also scan and block images and videos.
• Text monitoring: Look for an app that alerts you if your child sends or receives inappropriate messages. Some apps let you read the full content of your child's texts, while others only show the problematic snippets.
• Sexting prevention: Some apps recognize when nude photos are taken and will block access to those photos so they can't be shared.
• Social media monitoring: Make sure you choose a parental control app that monitors content and messages on your child's favorite social media apps.
• App management: Ideally, you should be able to approve an app before your child can download it. Otherwise, you should receive a real-time alert for all app downloads and have the ability to block specific apps or app categories.
• Contact management: This is a relatively rare feature that allows parents to control who their child can call or text, and vice versa. 
• Screen time management: Find out if you can set up time limits for specific apps and activities. Some apps also let you turn off internet access or shut down the phone depending on the time of day. 
• Parent notifications: Make sure you'll get notifications about things that concern you, and that those notifications are delivered where you'll see them. Many apps only send push notifications, for example.
• Usage reports: Find out how much time your child has spent on specific apps or websites. Some parental control apps will also display call logs, search history, and web history. 
• Location tracking: Keep an eye on your child's whereabouts with built-in GPS tracking. Some apps also let you set up safe zone alerts, which tell you when your child left school, made it to a friend's house, etc.
• Uninstall protection: This ensures the app can't be removed from your child's device without a password. All of the brands on our list have uninstall protection. 
• Device compatibility: Make sure the app protects all of your child's devices. 
• Free trial: Look for a parental control app with a free trial so you can test it and make sure it meets your needs.

If you're not sure which features to prioritize, check out our guide to parental controls.

Read more: How to secure your home internet connection

We chose Qustodio as the best free parental control app because it offers a sufficient range of features to be truly useful. Most free parental control apps are borderline useless because the features are severely limited. With Qustodio, the main catch is that you can only monitor one device with the free plan.

Here's what you get for absolutely nothing:

• Web, app, and search monitoring
• Online content filter
• Safe search
• Internet pausing
• Daily time limits
• 7 days of activity reporting

• Go ahead and use Qustodio if you're dipping your toe into the world of parental controls and want to explore some features without committing.
• Keep shopping if you want to monitor your child's activity in emails, doc-sharing apps, and other corners of the internet (see Bark above).

We tested Qustodio to explore all of its features and reports. 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. Like Bark, Qustodio offers tips for addressing sensitive topics.

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 currently limited to Instagram messages and WhatsApp. 

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. However, you need to pay for a subscription if you want to track more than one kid. 

Bottom line: Qustodio is a good option for tech-savvy parents looking for a free way to keep their kids safe online.

Get the full scoop of our testing experience in our in-depth Qustodio review, or learn how Qustodio compares to Bark, our top pick.

We chose Bark as the best parental control app because it screens social media and other messaging avenues—like text messages, emails, and doc-sharing apps. No other parental control app screens so many messaging platforms at once—and we researched over 30 competitors just to make sure.

Plus, we were really impressed with the sensitivity of Bark's content filters and the immediacy of their alerts during testing. You'll know right away when your child needs some guidance.

• Go ahead and buy the Bark app if you want reliable content monitoring across a variety of platforms and communication channels.
• Pivot to the Bark Phone if you want even more protections, like the ability to remotely disable the phone's camera or control the contact list.
• Keep shopping if you want to see your child's call logs, search history, browsing history, and text messages in the parent dashboard (see MMGuardian below).

Read more: What age should my child get a phone?

You'd be surprised how many ineffective content filters and web blockers we've tested over the years. Bark is not one of them. It caught all of our inappropriate messages and web searches during testing and immediately notified the parent account. Bark is undoubtedly the most thorough, reliable, and easy-to-use parental control app we've seen so far.

Much of Bark's success lies in its ability to analyze incredible amounts of data for concerning content, whether it be in a photo, text message, or audio file. It even uses AI to learn the latest slang, so kids can't easily code their messages to avoid triggering an alert.

If you do get an alert from Bark, the app offers tips on how to talk to and support your kid. Bark monitors for 29 categories of concerning or dangerous content, and their tips are tailored to each scenario. 

Bark also gives parents the ability to set screen time schedules, block specific apps, and view their child's current location. The Bark app works best on Android phones because Apple limits its ability to access and analyze data on iPhones.  

If you're looking for a parental control app that will let you look at all of your child's text messages, web searches, call history, and browsing history, Bark may not be right for you. Bark's philosophy hinges on respecting kids' privacy when nothing's wrong, which may allow a more trusting relationship to develop between the two of you. 

Bark's unique in this approach, so if you do want to have a more hands-on role in your child's digital life, the other parental controls on our list have you covered.

We recommend pairing the Bark app with a router-level control called Bark Home to protect your child on gaming consoles, TVs, and more. And if you haven't bought a phone for your kid yet, check out our Bark Phone review to learn why it's even better than the Bark app.

Bottom line: Bark offers the most comprehensive content monitoring available today, making it a great choice for kids of all ages. 

Read our full Bark app review to learn more about what it monitors and how it performed during our tests. 

We chose FamilyTime as "best for management tools" because it gives parents tons of options for controlling the device, including the ability to remotely shut down its internet access or completely turn off the device. Parents can also control the phone's contact list and get alerts when specific people call or text the phone.  

We think all of these management tools and alerts make FamilyTime a great option for younger kids and tweens. While FamilyTime does have some teen-specific features, like speed limit alerts, its lack of social media monitoring could be a dealbreaker for older kids. 

• Go ahead and buy FamilyTime if you have younger kids and want as many controls and alerts as possible to help them stay safe.
• Keep shopping if you want to monitor or block harmful content on social media, in photos, or in audio clips (see Bark, MMGuardian, or Canopy). 

In many ways, FamilyTime is the opposite of Bark.  Whereas Bark screens tons of content but lacks some management tools, FamilyTime offers a plethora of management tools but goes light on content monitoring.  

FamilyTime lets parents see a detailed call log history, general app and device usage history, web browsing history, and YouTube and TikTok watch history. Parents can also view the full content of their child's text messages and WhatsApp, Bip, Instagram, TikTok, Imo, Twitch, and Signal chats. 

One unique feature is the ability to put contacts on a watchlist. If that person messages or calls your child's phone, you'll get an alert. It's a quick way to monitor messages for inappropriate content, but it requires a more hands-on approach than Bark. 

Here are some of the other management tools available through FamilyTime: 

Like most parental control apps, FamilyTime works best on Android devices. The representative we spoke with confirmed that FamilyTime doesn't have an internet filter for iOS devices, so you may need to use a separate filter or turn off internet access completely if your child has an iPhone.  

Bottom line: FamilyTime is a good choice for families with younger kids thanks to its emphasis on screen time and location tracking. 

Learn more in our full FamilyTime review.

MMGuardian is our pick for "best contact management" in a parental control app because parents have the option to only allow calls from specific contacts, which may help cut down on spam, scams, and bullying. Parents also have the ability to view their child's call log history and the full content of all sent and received texts.

• Go ahead and buy MMGuardian if you like Bark but want to see your child's browsing history, call logs, and sent and received messages.
• Keep shopping if you want to monitor emails or more than five devices. 

We think MMGuardian is a good alternative to Bark because they share some important features, such as image scanning and social media monitoring on popular platforms. Parents must also give permission before any apps can be downloaded, and they have the ability to remotely turn off the phone's camera.

Unlike Bark, MMGuardian allows parents to see their child's full browsing history. You can also track your child's location at any time without requesting a check-in. However, MMGuardian no longer offers geofencing, though, since it led to too many false alarms. 

MMGuardian isn't very affordable if your children use more than five devices altogether. The price for a single child device is around $50 a year, and it doubles to around $100 a year for five child devices, such as smartphones and tablets. That price is comparable to Bark, but you get unlimited coverage with Bark's parental control app.  

Bottom line: MMGuardian is a good choice for parents who want to keep a close eye on who their kids contact and what they're saying without compromising on quality content monitoring. 

Read more in our full MMGuardian review.

We chose Canopy as the best parental control app for blocking explicit content because it scans all sites, apps, and texts for inappropriate photos or videos and covers them with a white rectangle. It also detects when the phone has taken a nude photo and will block access to that photo so it can't be shared. 

This focused approach earned Canopy the title of Best Parental Control App to Block Explicit Content in our inaugural Kids Safety Awards.

• Go ahead and buy Canopy if inappropriate images are your main concern and you don't mind using a second parental control app to bolster Canopy's weak spots.
• Keep shopping if you want an all-in-one solution with numerous content alerts (see Bark above).

Blocking explicit images and videos is Canopy's primary goal, and we think it succeeds. But there's a huge piece missing from Canopy's content monitoring: text scanning. If your child is receiving explicit texts or emails, you may not realize it unless you have a secondary parental control in place like Bark. 

While Canopy says it plans to introduce new features to monitor text content, oversee social media usage, and identify potentially harmful or bullying conversations, we don't know when parents can expect these upgrades. 

Parents can choose to filter content on apps and websites or block them altogether. If you're looking for alerts, Canopy's not for you. 

Bottom line: Canopy is an ideal secondary line of defense against pornography and sexual content, but it's not powerful enough to protect your child from other online dangers.

Check out our full Canopy review for more details. 

We started out with a list of 30 parental monitoring apps. Here's why some notable brands didn't make the cut. 

• 30+ parental control apps considered
• 27 data points assessed
• 50 hours of testing
• 200 hours of research

To find the best parental control apps, we started by making a list of as many brands as possible. We found more than 30 on the market. Then, we looked at all the features available. We wanted to focus on comprehensive apps or apps with unique features. We ended up comparing each app across 27 data points.

After narrowing down our initial list of apps, we started testing them hands-on. One team member set up the child account, and another team member set up the parent account. The "child" then tried to trigger alerts by searching for concerning topics, sending mean-spirited texts, and attempting to download other web browsers and apps.

Meanwhile, the "parent" evaluated the reporting dashboard. Was it easy to use? Were alerts sent in a timely manner? What kind of reports and data are available? Was it easy to set up the app? Were there any neat features the brand didn't advertise?

On top of hands-on testing, we read customer reviews for each app, spoke with customer service as mystery shoppers, consulted with other online safety experts, and interviewed brand representatives.   

Read more about our methodology.

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. Plus, it caught all of our deviant activity during testing, so we know it works. 

If you have only one device to monitor and want to get a real feel for how well it works before you commit to a monthly payment, start with Qustodio. In addition to the best free version, Qustodio earns top marks for its family tracker and real-time AI-powered alerts.

1. United Nations, "Global Issues: Child and Youth Safety Online" Accessed April 9, 2025.