Make a phone you already have safer
Not every family needs a dedicated safe device. If your child already has a phone, or you're handing down an old one, a parental-control app adds guardrails: screen-time limits, content filtering, app approval, and alerts. Here are six options, described in their makers' own words.
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Controls from Apple and Google
Already on the phone you own. Start here before paying for anything.
Apple Screen Time
Apple
Per Apple, parents can approve app downloads and websites, choose who their child can message and call, set Screen Time Schedules and Time Allowances, and set content and privacy restrictions.
- Works on
- iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro, per Apple
- Price
- Built into Apple devices, per Apple
What the maker says: Apple says Screen Time's parental controls are built into its devices and managed from a parent's own iPhone or iPad.
Google Family Link
Per Google, parents can set screen-time limits and school-time schedules, approve or block apps, apply content controls across Chrome, Play, YouTube, and Search, and see an Android device's location.
- Works on
- Supervises Android devices and Chromebooks, with the parent app on Android or iPhone, per Google
- Price
- Free app (Google Play), per Google
What the maker says: Google says Family Link sets parental controls on Chrome, Play, YouTube, and Search.
Monitoring & filtering apps
Paid apps that add monitoring and filtering. Check each one's platform list against the devices in your home.
Bark
Bark Technologies
Per Bark, it monitors texts, email, YouTube, and 30+ apps and platforms and alerts parents to potential issues like cyberbullying, plus app and site blocking, screen-time schedules, and location.
- Works on
- iOS, Android, Chromebook, Fire, and computers through Chrome and Edge, per Bark
- Price
- Per Bark, Premium (includes monitoring) is about $14/mo or $99/yr, with a 7-day trial. Checked September 2026.
What the maker says: Bark says it alerts parents to potential issues rather than showing every message.
Aura
Aura
Per Aura, it offers content filtering and site blocking, screen-time limits, a 'pause the internet' control, usage reports, and wellbeing insights.
- Works on
- iPhone and iPad, and Android (Safe Gaming alerts on Windows PCs), per Aura
- Price
- Per Aura, Kids is about $10/mo and Family about $32/mo (billed annually), with a 14-day trial. Checked September 2026.
What the maker says: Aura says it offers content filtering plus wellbeing insights based on a child's online activity.
Qustodio
Qustodio
Per Qustodio, it offers web and app filtering, screen-time limits, activity monitoring, calls and SMS tracking, and location.
- Works on
- Android, iPhone and iPad, Windows, Mac, Chromebook, and Kindle, per Qustodio
- Price
- Per Qustodio, a free plan covers 1 device, and paid plans start at about $60/yr (Basic) or $105/yr (Complete). Checked September 2026.
What the maker says: Qustodio says it works across Android, iPhone and iPad, Windows, Mac, Chromebook, and Kindle, and offers calls and SMS monitoring.
Canopy
Canopy
Per Canopy, it filters explicit images and video in real time and alerts parents to possible sexting, plus app and site blocking and screen-time tools.
- Works on
- iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and ChromeOS, per Canopy
- Price
- Per Canopy, plans start at about $8.33/mo billed annually for 1 device, with a one-week free trial. Checked September 2026.
What the maker says: Canopy says it filters explicit images and videos in real time and alerts parents when it detects possible sexting.
Prices and features reflect each provider's US information as of September 2026 and change often; confirm at the source. This page is informational and not an endorsement. No parental-control tool is perfect, and determined kids can sometimes work around them, so pair any tool with ongoing conversation.