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Best for Bundled Security
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Blocks harmful content on mobile devices
Unlimited devices
Best Overall Parental Control App
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Machine learning catches the latest slang and keywords
Screens content across 19 categories
In today’s world, kids and pre-teens get access to phones much earlier than ever. A study performed by Stanford Medicine found that by age 12, nearly 75% of adolescents already had access to a smartphone.[1] Cyberthreats are ever present for kids, from gaming platforms to social media and messaging apps. Parental control software allows parents to teach healthy cyber habits and monitor their child’s usage by setting up filters and restrictions and even blocking entire websites.
Aura offers plans that include parental controls, identity theft protection, and other top-notch services. Better yet, we like that Bark offers a set of extensive monitoring capabilities and location services — two essential features of parental control apps. In this review, we will dive into the specifics of pricing, monitoring and alert features, usability, and more. And if neither Aura Parental Controls nor Bark offers the coverage your family needs, we also recommend more of the best parental control apps.
At first glance, these two parental control services are similar. Both offer the ability to block and filter websites and apps, managing what your child can and can’t see on the internet. Additionally, they both offer screen time limits. On closer inspection, we found that these parental control software services have some notable differences, namely their monitoring capabilities.
While Aura offers alerts for cyberbullying and online predator threats through gaming platforms, it doesn’t offer any monitoring for social media, text messages, or emails. Conversely, Bark offers extensive monitoring for social media, text messages, and emails, as well as videos and images. Additionally, Aura doesn’t offer location tracking, while Bark services include location tracking and geo-fencing.
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| Starting price | $8.33-$20.00/mo | $5.00–$39.00/mo |
| Free version | ||
| Max number of protected devices | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Web filtering | ||
| Screen time limits | ||
| Location tracking | ||
| Activity reports | ||
| Learn more | Get Aura Parental Controls | Get Bark |
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| Price range | $8.33-$20.00/mo | $5.00–$39.00/mo |
| Best value plan | Aura Ultimate Family for $20.00/mo (billed annually) | Bark Premium for $14.00/mo |
| Free trial | Yes — 14 days | Yes — 7 days |
| Money-back guarantee | Yes — 60 days | Yes — 30 days |
| Get Aura Parental Controls | Get Bark |
Aura has two plans: Aura Parental Controls and Aura Ultimate Family. Aura Parental Controls covers one adult and unlimited children. Its best for those who are solely seeking parental controls.
Aura Ultimate Family plan covers five adults and unlimited children. It's best for families who want comprehensive coverage, including identity theft protection, credit monitoring, and parental controls.
Aura offers a free 14-day trial that requires payment information upfront, as well as a 60-day money-back guarantee on annual plans.
Bark offers four plans for families to choose from. Bark plans are all designed to help parents work cooperatively with their children to monitor content, set screen time limits, and overall, protect kids online. Bark Jr. is their most basic plan, perfect for younger kids. The Bark phone is a product designed to keep your child safe online.
Bark offers a free seven-day trial but requires payment information upfront.
| Feature | |
Our Pick |
| Website filtering | Yes — gambling, chat forums, dating, explicit content | Yes — gambling, chat forums, social media, explicit content |
| App filtering | Yes — Amazon, Facebook, Fortnite, Hulu, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Minecraft, and more | Yes — Facebook, GroupMe, Kik, Instagram, Slack, Spotify, WhatsApp, and more |
| Social media monitoring | Yes — Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, Tumblr | |
| Text message monitoring | ||
| Email monitoring | ||
| Internet search monitoring | ||
| Screen time limits | ||
| Remote lock | ||
| Cyberbullying and online predator alerts | ||
| Location tracking | ||
| Geo-fencing | ||
| Activity reports | ||
| Learn more | Get Aura Parental Controls | Get Bark |
When you break it down, Aura’s parental control offering is really identity theft protection, with some parental control features built in. The most glaring discrepancy is Aura’s lack of monitoring. While Aura does offer website and app blocking, as well as cyberbullying alerts from online gaming, there really is no way for parents to monitor what’s being sent via email or text message. Plus, Aura doesn’t offer typical parental control location services, like location tracking or geo-fencing. This isn’t a total deal breaker, as these features are important components of keeping kids safe offline, while Aura really specializes in online cybersecurity. So if you’re more interested in bundled online protection, the Aura Ultimate Family plan will comprehensively cover you.
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But as far as standalone parental control apps go, we were impressed by Bark’s robust filtering and monitoring features. In addition to text and email, Bark offers social media, photo, and video monitoring. Bark’s content screens span over 18 categories, and the app library reaches over 30 popular apps, like Discord and TikTok, to help keep kids safe on social media apps. We also appreciate Bark’s location services. Bark not only offers location tracking but also a location alert feature. This feature automatically alerts parents when your child arrives at a location you’ve added to their account.
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When it comes to parental control software, security is a major concern. When we were comparing products, we looked for a minimum of two-factor authentication, such as a verification code. Even though multi-factor authentication, such as a security question or biometric screening, is preferred, most parental control apps don't offer this feature.
Since parental control software services monitor your child’s accounts and profiles, a certain amount of data collection is expected. Registration information, account information for online profiles, location services, and web forms are examples of data we expect these products to collect.
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Our Pick | |
| Two-factor authentication | ||
| Multi-factor authentication | ||
| Collects data | ||
| Shares data with third parties | ||
| Learn more | Get Aura Parental Controls | Get Bark |
At a bare minimum, we expect to see two-factor authentication as a base layer of security. While Bark does provide two-factor authentication, it’s disappointing to see Aura’s lack of additional login security. We appreciate Bark’s transparent privacy policy and appreciate their protection of sensitive, personal information.
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Our Pick | |
| Windows | ||
| macOS | ||
| Android | ||
| iOS | ||
| Browser extensions | Yes — Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox | Yes — Chrome, Microsoft Edge |
| 24/7 customer support | ||
| Customer support options | Phone, email, forums, online guides | Live chat, email, forums, online guides |
| Learn more | Get Aura Parental Controls | Get Bark |
In our testing, we found Bark’s interface to be really accessible. Installing the software and setting up our account was easy and intuitive, but adding all the accounts to monitor was a little time-intensive. We were impressed with Bark’s vast array of resources. Bark’s YouTube channel, linked on the Contact Page, has dozens of tutorials on everything from setting up your Bark account to utilizing monitoring features. While Bark doesn’t have a customer support phone number, the online guides and support articles are thorough. We used the chat feature, and the bot eventually answered our question but routed us to several articles first.
Our experience with Aura, however, was not as smooth. We tried to access the portal through Safari, which didn’t work. Then, we couldn’t get the service to accept our credentials when using our iPad. We used the customer service bot, and our question wasn’t sufficiently answered, but it directed us to the customer service phone number. We called during normal business hours and, after a 10-minute hold, talked to a customer service representative who answered our question quickly and thoroughly.
When it comes to determining if Aura is better than Bark, you need to take into account what you’re looking for. Aura is a rock-solid solution for families looking for online identity protection since it also offers online security features, like a password manager, VPN, dark web monitoring, and SSN monitoring.
But if you’re looking for dedicated parental control software that offers monitoring services, Bark is a better choice.
There are many factors to consider when choosing a parental control app for your family. Price, features, the age of your kids, and what they’re interested in online are all things to consider before choosing which service is best for you. Bark may not be the best fit for your family. If you’re still uncertain, look at our guide to the best parental control apps. We compare Bark, Norton Family, Net Nanny, Kaspersky Safe Kids, and Aura Parental Controls to help you find the best fit for your family.
According to our survey on social media and kids, 23% of parents check their children’s internet history at least once per day. A parental control app like Bark helps make that more manageable. Bark screens content across 18+ categories and monitors over 30 apps for potentially inappropriate content, so we believe Bark is worth it.
If you’re wondering if Aura Parental Controls is worth your money, it really comes down to whether you want Aura’s bundled protection or a more robust, standalone parental control app. Aura doesn’t offer social media, text message, or email monitoring, nor does it include geo-tracking. Even still, Aura’s parental controls are powered by Circle, so it does alert you to cyberbullying, offer safe gaming, and monitor your child’s identity online in case of identity theft.
Aura’s parental control plans are more expensive than other parental control apps because they include an antivirus, a VPN, a password manager, and other features. If you’re considering the Aura identity theft protection plans in addition to parental controls, then the Aura Family plan is a great option. But if you’re specifically looking for just parental control software, Aura is on the pricier side, with fewer options than some competitors.
If you’re serious about keeping your kids safe online, it’s worth investing in parental control software. For a standalone parental control app, we recommend Bark.
Bark offers an extensive monitoring suite and a more robust parental control setup. Bark’s software monitors text messages, emails, photos, and videos for over 18 content categories and alerts parents of potentially dangerous conversations or images. Bark also offers location services and geo-fencing so you can rest easy that your child is where they should be.
Conversely, Aura offers features to protect your child’s identity, like Social Security number monitoring, and safe gaming to offer parents peace of mind while their kids game online. Cyberbullying and online predator threat alerts offer an additional layer of security. However, Aura’s lack of monitoring and location services is a big miss in our book. But if you’re looking for an identity theft protection service for your child that has a few parental control bonuses built in, Aura could be a good option for you.
There are many factors to consider when choosing a parental control app for your family, including features and price. If you aren’t sure if Aura or Bark is right for your family, there are more of the best parental control apps that might suit your family’s needs:
Machine learning catches the latest slang and keywords
Screens content across 19 categories
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