Top 6 Best Parental Control Apps to Keep Kids Safe Online

Today, children are being exposed to all kinds of harmful and inappropriate online content right from a young age, be it on phones, tablets, or computers. Whether your child is browsing for educational or entertainment purposes, the internet is likely to show them explicit content, websites, and apps that pose danger. 

To avoid this, there are various parental control apps out there that offer access control and monitoring capabilities over the kids’ devices remotely. Such apps have impressive features such as call/text monitoring, location tracking, real-time alerts, etc.

To help you make an informed decision, we have reviewed the Top 6 Best Parental Control Apps in 2022 to keep your kids safe online:


Top 6 Best Parental Control Apps to keep your kids safe online

Google Family Link: For the budget buyers out there, Google Family Link is a completely free app available for Android and iOS. It has a minimalistic interface with features that allow you to monitor and control an unlimited number of devices and users. 

The kids need to set up a Google account, and then on you can leverage this app for activity monitoring, limiting screen times, locking devices remotely, app management and location tracking. You can block or approve apps your child wants to download. Besides, you can even receive alerts for when your child enters or leaves a certain location.

With permissions management, you can view and manage permissions for websites and extensions accessed via apps or Chrome. 

Since it is a free app, it does not have too many bells and whistles like paid apps such as real-time monitoring, site blocking, etc. However, it is ideal for young children to enhance their online experiences. The only downside is that the app is not ad-free.


2. Qustodio:

Qustodio: is a robust app available for all your devices including Android, iOS, Kindle, Mac, Windows, and Chromebook. Through a single real-time dashboard, you can manage kids’ screen time and monitor your child’s digital activity. 

With Qustodio, you can block apps/websites/games, get insightful reports, filter websites, set screen time limits, and get a real-time view of your child’s browsing history.

Qustodio app

The platform also allows you to track messages and calls for iOS and Android to see who your child is interacting with. Further, you can block calls from and to a certain contact. 

The location tracking feature shows you locations where your family members have been. You can receive notifications when they leave or arrive at a certain location.

Lastly, your child can send you SOS in case of emergencies as well.

Qustodio is available in Free and Premium versions. With the free plan, you get basic features and you can monitor only 1 device.

3. Bark:

Bark: is an award-winning app that proactively monitors 30+ social media platforms, YouTube, text messages, and emails to look for safety issues. The power-packed features in Bark are what make it stand out from the rest!

Through a single console, you can monitor online content 24*7, manage screen times, filter websites, and set up location alerts.

bark app

No matter which pricing plan you choose- Bark Jr. or Bark Premium, you can monitor unlimited users and unlimited devices regardless. It offers 7-day Free Trial as well.

Social Media monitoring of 30+ apps to look for signs of bullying, sexual content, and predators is the key highlight of the Bark platform. 

Bark works on iOS, Android, and Amazon mobile devices.

The downside of Bark is that it doesn’t provide search or browsing history, no call logs, or the ability to lock devices. 

4. Kaspersky Safe Kids:

Kaspersky Safe Kids: is robust parental control software to watch over your child’s activity online and on their devices. It offers parental controls such as a GPS locator, screen time limiting, and blocking access to harmful or inappropriate content.

Kaspersky software is compatible with iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows devices.

The main highlights of the software include GPS tracking to locate your child, screen time controls, app & website filters to block adult content, and YouTube safe search.

The only downside is that it lacks social media monitoring.

The Kaspersky Safe Kids tool offers 2 pricing plans: 

  • The free plan includes online content filtering, YouTube Safe Search, app usage control, and screen time management.
  • The premium plan includes everything in the free plan along with a GPS child locator, screen time scheduling, battery tracker, real-time alerts, and full YouTube activity history.

Kaspersky Safe Kids can monitor up to 500 devices.

5. Canopy:

Canopy: is a digital parenting app that mainly focuses on detecting and blocking explicit pornography content on every single website. It is the only app that immediately sends alerts to parents when it detects sexting.

Canopy works with iPhones, iPads, Android, Mac, and Windows devices. The platform allows you to filter inappropriate content on all sites, block websites & apps, schedule screen times, and track the location of your child.

It has impressive anti-tampering features, hence your child won’t be able to disable or remove Canopy without your approval.

canopy

The Canopy comes in 4 different plans that allow you to monitor anywhere from 3 to 10 devices, as per the pricing. 

The downside of the Canopy app is that it does not offer a text or call monitoring. Besides, it does not offer plans for large families.

6. Net Nanny:

Net Nanny: Net Nanny is another top-rated parenting control app, ideal for real-time monitoring.

It leverages Artificial Intelligence to block inappropriate content online, even on social media apps like Instagram and Tiktok.

netnanny

It allows you to limit screen times, filter content for safe browsing, and block apps & websites. 

The new online search reporting feature alerts you on apps used by your child, and when they view drug-related, porn, suicidal, and weapons-related content.

Net Nanny works with Mac, Windows, Android, iOS, Kindle, and Chromebook devices.

Conclusion

This brings us to the end of our comprehensive review of the Top 6 Best Parental Control Apps that keep your kids safe online. All of the tools reviewed here offer best-in-class features to limit and monitor your child’s activity on the internet. Besides, these apps or software are compatible with a wide range of devices, making them more flexible and easy to use.

Compare the features and pricing plans, and choose the best parental control app that suits your needs. 

Amrita Biswas
Show full profile Amrita Biswas

Amrita is a cybersecurity technical writer with over eight years’ experience in the field. She is also a tech enthusiast and appreciated for her deep researching skills. When not writing, you can find her trying out new recipes and practicing yoga. Connect with her on LinkedIn or Twitter.

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