The Best Parental Control App – 7 Cheaper Alternatives to Qustodio

It will be difficult for us to argue with facts and evidence. The best parental control app in terms of features is Qustodio. Yes, we said it but that is not all the story has to say. What you want is an app that does not put a hole in your pocket or affect your budget. That is what the Parentyn app and the others we talk about here have as a selling point over Qustodio.

Picking the best parental control app to help you in protecting your children in this tech age is tricky. You obviously want to get quality regardless of the option you take. However, it is not a place you are upon to invest too much in.

Most times, the money is not even there to throw around and other times you rather use it somewhere else. Qustodio is there when you are talking about the best parental control apps. However, it makes no sense to spend much when you can get that same thing cheaper.

Parental control in general is a difficult and sensitive subject but one that needs addressing. The internet just like any other thing has its bad side and they need to be mitigated. Regardless of how many words we put in this case, it is difficult to find the best app for this. This is because being the best is subjective and depends on how you look at things.

Qustodio -The Best Parental Control App

Now, in terms of features, it is one of the best you can find. Qustodio sits arguably as the number one parental control app. There are other options also in this category and value is the yardstick here. This app has a lot of things going for it, the first of these things is universality. Regardless of what device your child is using, it works perfectly for them.

Some of the main features of the Qustodio parental control app will include;

• Apps download and usage restriction
• Panic button
• Family Locator
• Daily and weekly email reports for 30 days
• Monitor for social media
• Daily time and phone usage limits
• Smart web filtering & safe search
• Multiple device protection
• Screen time monitoring
• Calls & SMS monitoring

There are so many features you get to enjoy especially when you are using the premium package. Now, Qustodio just like most apps come with a free version. That being said, you wouldn’t be calling it one of the best, if you used that. Because you are concerned with getting the best parental control app, we suggest the premium package. However, this is just too expensive as they charge you $11.5 per month.

You might not end up with a parental control app that cannot be deleted. Yet, the goal is to find the options that will offer you more features or a very similar number of features for cheaper.

7 Cheaper Alternatives to The Best Parental Control App

The number of parental control apps to choose from is unending and some come with more features than others. However, the most important feature for consideration on this list was value for money. We considered the best options but made sure they cost less than Qustodio and other top options. Some of the options that made the list includes;

S/No	Apps	Pricing
1	Parentyn	See Pricing
2	Bark	See Pricing
3	Kaspersky Safe Kid	See Pricing
4	Google Family Link	free
5	NetNanny	See Pricing
6	Kidlogger	See Pricing
7	SecureTeen	See Pricing

1. Parentyn

It might seem like we are saying this to boost our ego but walk with us for a second. A lot of time and resources went into this and we wanted to maintain affordability which makes this one of the best. For Parentyn, we thought more like Parents and not just a group of developers providing a service. Another thing Parentyn has as a selling point is the fact that it was made for you. it is a solution by African parents for African parents. Everything you wish to enjoy if you got Qustodio and then a little extra is what you will be getting.

Protection with Parentyn is both online and offline starting with phone and SMS monitoring. This is one of the uncommon features which is also found in Qustodio. Daily reports from app usage to word usage are another thing we do perfectly here. There is an unending list of amazing quality out their features and you can check it out on our website. Remember, if you are looking for a parental control app in Nigeria or Africa with personalized features – this is it.

2. Bark

The bark is another very popular option we are going to be looking at here. Quality is the watchword not just popularity and there is a complete understanding of that here. The bark is one of the few that made profit a secondary need when they were making their product. While others saw the potential to earn more and increase sales – this app kept on with their rates. Even with these rates, the amount of quality that is on display is unbelievable. For starters,

it is available both on iOS and Android which brings some universality to the table. There are very few limitations in features here and with the price, we will be surprised if there weren’t any. The monitoring of social media with this application/software will be seamless and detailed. You will get reports of things like messaging and word usage and also how your child explores the app.

Even with the amazing price, there are still amazing features in the free version. You have so many options to consider when you are looking at a free parental control app for android. But not too many of them do it better than the Bark app.

3. Kaspersky Safe Kid

We have established that there are so many options to consider when you want the best parental control app. However, the very next one to consider when you are looking for a cheap option is the Kaspersky Safe Kid. The Kaspersky brand has always been about safety online, so we will be surprised if they are not here. The app becomes even cheaper if you decide to get it alongside other Kaspersky products like their antivirus.

Stealth in monitoring is another thing they have going for them as they offer more than one functionality. So, your child thinks you have an antivirus installed on their phone while in fact, you are monitoring their cyber activity.

All round protection for your children is what you are being offered here. The features stretch from monitoring them online to doing the same thing when they are offline. About 20 devices can be connected when you are using their highest package. There will be little or no competitors with Kaspersky in the market today when you need a parental control app for teens.

4. Google Family Link

Whether you are looking to find a free parental control app for iPhone or Android – this is our recommendation. The selling point – it is totally free. Yes! It is absolutely free. In our question to find the cheapest parental control app – there is no better option than this one. Google probably thought of increasing value to their uses and decide this was the best way.

So, why is it not number one when we are talking about cheaper options? The problem comes from the fact that although it has quality features there are still limitations. Google couldn’t spend a lot of time and resources on a solution that is offered for free to the world. This, however, remains one of the cool options to consider if you are sceptical about the concept of parental control apps.

One of the selling points is the remote access you have to your child’s phone. You can decide to completely look at your phone from your device. Because Google offers other services, this is a less invasive way to monitor their activities. It comes with a strong website filter which helps you prevent access to flagged websites.

5. NetNanny

NetNanny alongside Parentyn and Qustodio make up for the top options to consider for parental control apps. It is the second most expensive of them all which is why it is number five on our list. There are simply a lot of things that go into parental control apps and they understand it here. With the features you get here, it will be impossible to consider another app as the best free parental control app. Everything you will be needing to make sure you can track your child’s cyber footprint in real-time is offered here.

We cannot say categorically if this is the best parental control app but we know it is a contender for the title. The features are just too good to pass on from the customer experience to the user interface. There is an application for Android and another one for iOS. it also has a web page which can be used on any OS. Universality and ease to use become an advantage thanks to this. They use instant notifications to help you track everything your child does in real-time.

6. Kidlogger

It might not be the best parental control app but this does not mean value cannot be found here. Customers will say this is more of a monitoring app than a control app. However, if you are looking for a cheaper alternative to Qustodio, this is an option you should consider. The price is just too good to pass on regardless of what you look at.

Everything you would like to see can be seen with this app. You are going to be able to monitor everything when you are tracking things with this app. Regardless of the OS, your device or your child’s device is operating on, this software is compatible with it. You can record as much as a random conversation they have when around their friends.

As far as they are audible enough the microphone of the phone records directly. Since you are not controlling, this is a very subtle way to protect your child by monitoring the things they do. Another cool feature here will be the fact that the paid version cannot be easily uninstalled from their device.

7. SecureTeen

The last option we are looking at while we consider the best app for parental control is SecureTeen. This app is one of the few that are fully committed to protecting your kids from the dangers online. Your child has total protection from everything from cyberbullying, pornography and explicit content, etc. You wouldn’t have to consider the type of phone your child uses as it is available on all the operating systems.

One of the things they have going for them is the fact that the UI is easy to navigate here. Monitoring messages from every social media platform they are on is one of the features you enjoy here. You can block or filter sites you find inappropriate for your child because of the content there.

A timer can also be set for the usage of their device hence managing their screen time. Another selling point here is that monitoring does not just end online, it follows them offline. You get to track their calls and text messages to ensure total protection for them.

Conclusion on The Best Parental Control App Excluding Qustodio

It is not up for debate – you cannot talk about the best parental control app without mentioning Qustodio. However, one big blemish for this app is the fact that you are going to be spending a lot every month here. Value and money are always important considerations in everything we do as humans. If we perceive we will get the same value when we go for a product, we go for the cheaper one. This is what we set out to discover here.

The features of these different applications starting with the Parentyn app are equal to or close to that of Qustodio. Which springs us to ask why then would you even consider paying for Qustodio? If you are looking for a totally free parental control app, Google Family link offers you that, however, it will be unwise to pick this over Parentyn, these are some reasons why.

The Parentyn app has a lot of quality features which is why it remains number one here. A lot was put here and this is why we are the best alternative to Qustodio when you need something cheaper.