Computer Monitoring Software For Parents Content List The best software for Computer monitoring you'll ever need With SPY24 , the most powerful and reliable monitoring software , you can keep an eye on your children or your employees. Android Spy iPhone Spy Mac Spy Windows Spy What's SPY24? The best monitoring software for phones, tablets, and computers that lets parents keep an eye on text messages, calls, GPS location , web history, media, WhatsApp, Facebook, and many other things. Computer Monitoring Software For Parents">Find out what Spy24 can do for you. Android Monitoring Learn how iOS Monitoring works. Find out how Computer Learn how.With all of these powerful tools, you can know everything. Call Logs SpyMessages Spy Social Media Spy Where GPS Is Use of Spy App Spy Photos & Videos Spy on Web Activity Spy Keylogger Spy EXPLORE ALL FEATURES Compatible with all well-known gadgets Android Spy 4.0.3 - 10 & 11 ,12,13as far as iOS Spy 15.006 Best Software to Keep Kids Safe on a Windows PC in 2022 Even though my kids spend most of their time on their phones, they still find time to use our Windows laptops. Over a few months, I tried out more than 50 paid parental control programs so I could let them use these devices while still being a good parent. I was surprised by how many of them weren't very good, even some of the "popular" ones. Even though all of the programs work on Windows, the ones I recommend also have very good apps for mobile devices. I like the multi-platform feature because it lets me keep an eye on all of my family's devices with just one program. Qustodio did very well in my tests and got the best overall score of all the programs I tried. It has a strong web filter, flexible tools for managing screen time, and a dashboard for parents that I could access from any device. The best part is that Qustodio is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee. I put this policy to the test by asking for a refund after using the service for 22 days. I got my full refund in just 3 business days. Summary of the Best Parental Control Software for Windows in 2022 Qustodio has a great web filter, tools for managing time, and a dashboard that you can get to from anywhere. Mobicip has a good web filter and tools for setting screen time, but it can only monitor Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Bark : The best tools for keeping an eye on social media , strong web filters, but no geofence option. Norton Family has a fully customizable web filter and tools for keeping track of screen time, but there are no time limits for apps. Net Nanny is a great internet filter, but the way it monitors social media could be better. FamiSafe gives you tools to set your own screen time, but the dashboard isn't very easy to use. How I tried out and ranked Windows Parental Control programmes Top 6 Programs for Windows to Keep Kids Safe Qustodio is the best parental control software for Windows. It has a great Web filter and screen time tools. What's Important Tools that help you keep track of time The web filter has 30 groups. Checking on YouTube Make each child's profile unique. Use any device to get to the parent dashboard. When I tested Qustodio for Windows, the first thing that stood out was that I could set up different user profiles for each child on the same computer. This was important because my 16-year-old didn't want to use the same web filter as my 7-year-old, and it would be hard to set time limits if all the kids were together. In terms of time limits, I was very happy with how the screen time controls could be changed. I could set a time limit for each day and make a schedule that blocked the computer at certain times. When the screen time is up, Qustodio gives you two options: Lock Navigation: This stops the computer from connecting to the internet, but it still works. I liked this option because it let my kids use the computer for writing assignments in Word or PowerPoint, but kept them from getting distracted and going online instead. Lock Device: Using this option, all users are logged out of the desktop. I thought this was a good thing to do before bed. The only thing I didn't like about the schedule was that the grid is split into hour-long sections and can't be changed. So, if I wanted to turn off the computer from 6 to 6:30 for dinner, I couldn't. The web filter can be set up in any way you want. It has 30 categories, and if my kids try to go to a site in one of those categories, I can choose to Allow, Block, or Send Me an Alert. I tried the filter on Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, and they all did a great job. The parent dashboard can be accessed from any device and makes it easy to set rules, and time limits, and find out what the kids are doing on the computer. Qustodio gives you 30 days to try it out and if you don't like it, you can get your money back. I tried out their refund policy by canceling my subscription in the middle of the third week. It was quickly approved, and my money was back in my bank account within 3 days. Qustodio is free to try for 3 days! With Mobicip, a child's age determines the default web filter and screen time limits. Track everything that happens online from a remote dashboard With a category-based web filter, it's easy to block sites that aren't good for you. Watch how people use social media. Set up a daily schedule for screen time. Mobicip for Windows is a tool for parents that is easy to use. Once I downloaded and installed the app on the computer, I was able to set up filters and watch everything that happened online from afar. The web filter is based on 18 different categories, and it is turned on by default. Based on the child's age, some categories are blocked. I made some changes based on my son's personality and the way he browses the web. I also added URLs that I wanted to block, even though the category filter would let them through. After putting up a web filter, the next important thing to do was set limits on how long a computer could stay on the screen. Mobicip has a few tools to help you keep track of screen time. The first is a list of times when the computer can be used. I can also change what kind of computer activities they can do at each time. For example, I can set up a time block for doing homework, during which sites for entertainment and social media are blocked but sites for learning are not. I can completely block the internet when I'm at school or night. I can set an overall time limit per day on top of the usage calendar. Even though my child can use the computer for 7 hours a day, that doesn't mean I want him or her to use it the whole time. Lastly, if I want my son to stop using the computer, I can clock all devices, which limits internet use no matter what the daily time usage schedule says. During the installation, I got a message that said I needed to uninstall either Norton or Kaspersky antivirus because the two programs don't work well together. Mobicip has different levels of subscriptions based on how many devices you want to track and what features you need. The Basic plan is free, but you can't use the advanced filtering or screen time options. With the Standard and Premium options, you can keep an eye on up to 20 devices and have full control over them all. You can use the 7-day free trial of Mobicip to try out the features and figure out which plan is best for your family without entering your credit card information. Mobicip is free to try for 7 days! Bark: Strong tools for keeping an eye on social media and limits on screen time What's Important Keeps an eye on more than 30 of the most popular apps and social media sites AI monitoring can pick up on slang, emojis, and keywords that indicate a problem. Chrome and Microsoft Edge add-ons There is no limit on how many devices can connect. The bark is a bit different from the other programs I've tried to keep my kids safe. Its main purpose is to keep an eye on social media. It works with more than 30 of the most popular social networks and can keep an eye on the activities, chats, images, and posts for each account. This means that it doesn't matter if the kids are talking on the computer, phone, or tablet. Bark will be able to figure out what's going on thanks to smart AI that can recognize keywords, emojis, and slang. I used the web filter to block my kids' access to certain websites and types of websites I didn't want them to see. Some of these sites wrote about and showed pictures of violence, drugs, and sex. With the Screen Time management features, I can set a "bedtime" when I can't access the internet. The phone can still make and receive calls, but at least I know my kids aren't staying in bed all night to watch YouTube videos. Bark has a great dashboard that lets me log in from any device and see reports and other important information. Because of these reports, I found out that one of my kids was being cyberbullied on Snapchat and was able to help before things got even worse. Bark recently added a monitoring feature for Windows that works with most of the most popular browsers. The software will keep an eye on website metadata, page titles, web searches, and some images and videos that have been saved to the device. It will use this information to make reports. There are two ways to sign up for Bark: Bark Jr. and Bark Sr. I got the Bark Sr. account, which has all of the paid features and a 7-day free trial where I don't have to enter any payment information. This gave me plenty of time to connect Bark to my kids' social media and email accounts and see how reliable the monitoring features were for PC. Try Bark for 7 days for free! The Norton family has a feature called "Safe Remote Learning" and "24/7 Location Tracking" What's ImportantWeb filters that can be changed Major search engines have to show safe search results when people use remote learning. Any number of child profiles The fact that Norton makes everything easy is one of its best features. From installing the software and setting up accounts for children to customizing the web filters and time limits. Nothing would matter if the software didn't work right, so I gave my kids a challenge to beat the app. They tried to get more time on the computer, get into websites I had blocked, and watch YouTube videos to see if I could tell what they watched or how long they spent on it. I was glad to see that they couldn't get around the restrictions, and I like that Norton Family has a link for kids to ask permission to access things they can't, so you can talk to them about it. Norton Family's web filter gives me full control over what I can and can't do on the web. Norton Family uses AI to put every website into at least one of 47 categories based on the text, metadata, and images on the site. Since I couldn't find any holes in the web filter, I felt safe letting my kids use their phones to browse the web. But you don't have to just believe me. You can try Norton Family for 30 days without entering any payment information. This will give you full access to all of its features and allow your kids to use the same account on as many devices as they want. For 30 days, you can try Norton Family for free. Net Nanny: Web Filtering with AI What's Important Set limits on screen time Google SafeSearch must be used with a smart filter. The Net Nanny web filter is great because it doesn't just block words (unless I tell it to) but also understands the context. So, if my son looked up a chicken breast recipe, it didn't get blocked because it didn't follow the "Sex" rules. I made different profiles for each of the kids, and each time they used the computer, they had to sign in. So, I was able to set up a detailed schedule and a limit on how much time I could spend in front of the computer each day. I liked that the parent dashboard let me block the internet at any time and from anywhere. I chose the plan that lets me use 5 devices. They also have a plan for desktops only, which is great if your kids don't have phones. Before you decide on a plan, you can try it risk free for 14 days with their money-back guarantee. Get Net Nanny for 30 days for free! FamiSafe: Blocks websites on all browsers and gives real-time reports blocks Windows apps and puts limits on them Watches what you do online in Private or Incognito Mode The web filter in FamiSafe by Wondershare is very thorough and works on all of the most popular browsers. I had my kids use Incognito Mode to try to get around it. Not only did they fail, but the parental control tool kept track of everything that was done in Incognito Mode. The web filter has more than 20 categories that cover almost every kind of website. I could choose which ones to let through and which ones to block. The screen times for FamiSafe could use some work. There is a limit on how much you can use it each day, which is nice, but the calendar is not very flexible. I can choose a time to unlock the device in the morning and a time to lock it at night, but nothing in between. But it does have a feature called "Instant Block," which is nice, but I would rather it do something automatically. One thing I like about the screentime settings is that I can limit or completely block apps that I downloaded from any website or the Windows app store. After I put the app on our Windows computer, I was able to use the dashboard to manage the schedules and filters. It has an easy-to-use interface with a full activity timeline, alerts, and a section for requests. FamiSafe has three subscription options. Each one can protect up to 10 devices, but the length of the contract is different for each. You can try FamiSafe for free for 3 days to see how the parental control features work for your family before you sign up for a plan. Try FamiSafe for 3 days for free! How I tried out and ranked the best Windows parental control programs Over a few months, I bought and tried out more than 50 parental control programs on my Windows 10 laptop and desktop. (But I made sure that all the software I suggested here works well with both Windows 8 and Windows 7, so you don't have to worry about that.) The main things that went into the rankings were: Tools for managing time: I need to be able to set limits on how long I can look at the computer screen. If I could set up different profiles for each child, that was a plus. Web Filter: The program needs a strong web filter that works on different web browsers. Many of the filters were easy for my kids to get around, or they would get alerts that pages were being blocked even though the content was fine. The programs on my list were too hard for my kids to get around, and they used cutting-edge technology to figure out what was going on. Ease of use: I liked a programme more if it was easy to download, install, and set up. Customer Service: For every program I used, I checked out the customer service teams. If they had Live Chat, I'd ask questions to find out if I was talking to a real person or a computer program. When I couldn't use live chat, I sent emails and opened tickets to see how fast they would answer and how well they would answer. I also looked through each company's knowledge base and frequently asked questions (FAQs) to answer questions I had. I always tried the money-back guarantee to see if they would keep their word and give me my money back. FAQ Are there free programs for Windows that keep kids safe? I tried out a few free parental control programs for Windows, but I don't think you should use them. Most of them were just parts of paid versions, and if you want to use the paid features, you have to buy the program. Few of them were free, but those that were weren't very good. If you're on a tight budget, I suggest Qustodio, which is one of the least expensive parental control programs that still works well. Can I watch what my kids do on my computer without them knowing? I was able to put some " spy app s" on my kids' phones without them knowing. It couldn't have screen limits or a web filter, because then the kids would know the program was running. These would just keep an eye on what was going on on the computer, recording every keystroke and keeping track of everything. From what I've seen, this kind of software should only be used in the worst cases, when you're afraid for your child's safety. It's better to talk to them about the dangers of the internet and why you need to watch what they do on their computer. Because if they find out you secretly put a program on their computer that records their most private thoughts, it could ruin your relationship forever. Even though my kids knew I set up Qustodio, they forgot about it after a few days because it runs in the background and doesn't get in the way of how they use the computer. Can I use my Android or iPhone to keep an eye on the computer? All of the apps on my list can be used on both Android and iOS. You can log in to your account and use the dashboard to control the computer. Windows already has parental controls built in, so do I need another one? Even though Windows 10 does have some parental controls, they are not very good. The web filter and time management features are very basic and don't protect you. You'll be much happier if you use Qustodio, which has great filters and tools for controlling screen time. What's the best app for keeping kids safe? We think Bark is the best app for parents to keep an eye on their kids' screen time and keep them safe on the internet. Try FamilyTime or Qustodio if you want to track your location, set up a geofence, or look at your location history. How can I keep an eye on my kid's phone? A parental control app tells you about your child's use of apps, total screen time, web searches and history, text message history, and more. If the app finds scary words in your child's search history or text messages, you'll get a push notification, an email, or a text message. Some parental control apps also let you keep an eye on calls and social media. Each app has its own set of features and reports. We recommend Bark for all-around monitoring of phones and the internet. Are there any free apps for keeping kids in line? Yes. We like Kaspersky Safe Kids or Qustodio's free versions. Family Link on Google is also free. How old does Boomerang work for? Boomerang is best for younger kids, especially those under 13 years old because it doesn't monitor social media. You might want to switch to Bark when your child is old enough to join social media. How we looked at apps for keeping kids safe 16 parental control apps considered 27 data points assessed We set up different parental control apps, tested them as both "children" and "parents," and then talked about their strengths and weaknesses to find the best ones. In addition to testing each app with our own hands, we looked into its features, prices, compatibility, and customer reviews. We also talked to other experts on online safety. Three of our team members tried out the different apps to see how well they did in the following areas: Setup and installation: how easy it was to install on different devices (including iOS, Android, mobile, and desktop), how long it took, and if there were any problems. How well did the app work? Did it do what it was supposed to? Could kids easily find a way around it? What extra features were there, and did they do what they said they would? Bottom Line All parents should have a good program to control what their kids can do on Windows. It will let our kids go online on their own while keeping them safe from possible harm. After a lot of research and testing, I found that Qustodio was the best Windows program I tried, and that's the one I've kept on my home computer. You can use all of Qustodio's premium features for 30 days with no risk thanks to its money-back guarantee. This is great if you want to try out the program before committing to it. I tried out the refund policy, and within a few days, I got a full refund.