Aura Parental Controls vs. Net Nanny 2024: Good Parental Control Apps With Different Features

Best for Bundled Parental Control Software

4.0

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On Aura Parental Controls's website

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Aura Parental Controls

• Blocks harmful content on mobile devices
• Unlimited devices
• Lacks location tracking and monitoring features

Best for Web Monitoring and Location Services

4.0

AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Editorial Rating

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On Net Nanny's website

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Net Nanny

• Supports up to 20 devices
• Easy-to-use Location Tracking and Screen Time Management features
• No text and email monitoring feature

Aura Parental Controls and Net Nanny offer parental control solutions to help parents monitor what their kids do online. Parents can better understand what is happening on their kids’ devices through content filtering, app monitoring, and screen time limits. We evaluate the price, features, and compatibility of Aura Parental Controls and Net Nanny to help you determine the best parental control app for you and your family.

Aura Parental Controls vs. Net Nanny review at a glance

Aura Parental Controls and Net Nanny are good parental control apps, but neither offers all the bells and whistles. The main difference between these parental control apps is social media monitoring and location services. Only Net Nanny provides both of these features. On the other hand, Aura Parental Controls comes with top-notch identity protection features. But both apps lack text message and email monitoring capabilities.

• Aura Parental Controls: Best for bundled parental control software
• Net Nanny: Best for web monitoring and location services

Aura Parental Controls vs. Net Nanny compared

Starting price	$8.33/mo (billed annually)	$3.33/mo (billed annually)
Free version
Max number of protected devices	Unlimited	Up to 20
Web filtering
Screen time limits
Location tracking
Activity reports
Learn more	Get Aura Parental Controls Read Aura Parental Controls Review	Read Net Nanny Review

Aura Parental Controls pros and cons

Net Nanny pros and cons

Aura Parental Controls vs. Net Nanny: prices

		Our Pick
Monthly price range	$8.33-$20.00/mo	$3.33-$7.50/mo (billed annually)
Best value plan	Ultimate Family for $20.00/mo (billed annually)	20 Devices Family Protection Pass for $7.50/mo (billed annually)
Learn more	Get Aura Parental Controls Read Aura Parental Controls Review	Read Net Nanny Review

Aura Parental Control plans

Aura offers two plans for families and individuals: Parental Controls and Ultimate Family. Each plan offers a robust set of identity theft protection features coupled with some parental control features. Aura offers a free 14-day trial with a credit card.

• Parental Controls: This plan offers identity theft protection services for one adult and parental controls for unlimited kids. The parental control features include content filtering, screen time limits, and the ability to pause the internet. In addition to those parental control features, it also comes with a VPN, password manager, and antivirus software.
• Ultimate Family: In addition to the features offered in the Parental Controls plan, Ultimate Family offers coverage for five adults and unlimited kids. It also has enhanced identity theft protection features like SSN monitoring, home and auto title monitoring, and financial fraud protection features like credit monitoring and reports.

Net Nanny plans

Net Nanny offers three protection plans: 1 Desktop, 5 Device Family Protection Pass, and 20 Device Family Protection Pass. The plans only vary in how many devices you can monitor. Otherwise, the features are exactly the same. Net Nanny doesn’t offer a free trial but does offer a 14-day return policy.

• Desktop: Website filtering, social media monitoring, internet search monitoring, screen time management, cyberbullying and online predator alerts, and location tracking for one device
• 5 Device Family Protection Pass: Website filtering, social media monitoring, internet search monitoring, screen time management, cyberbullying and online predator alerts, and location tracking for 5 devices
• 20 Device Family Protection Pass: Website filtering, social media monitoring, internet search monitoring, screen time management, cyberbullying and online predator alerts, and location tracking for 20 devices

Aura Parental Controls vs. Net Nanny: monitoring and alerts

		Our Pick
Website filtering	Yes — Gambling, chat forums, dating, explicit content	Yes — Bullying, dangerous organizations, drug or alcohol-related content, hate speech, inappropriate behavior, profanity, risky app usage, sexual content
App filtering	Yes — YouTube, Roblox, Snapchat, and more	Yes — YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Netflix
Social media monitoring		Yes — Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter
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 Read Aura Parental Controls Review	Read Net Nanny Review

Regarding features, Aura Parental Controls and Net Nanny provide similar offerings. Both offer website and app filtering, screen time limits, and remote lock. However, Net Nanny’s offering is a bit more robust, covering more categories for content filtering and a wider variety of apps. Net Nanny also offers social media and internet search monitoring, whereas Aura Parental Controls lacks both features. Additionally, Aura lacks social media monitoring, which is a key feature in helping kids stay safe on social media.

Social media apps like Discord and TikTok are a big concern among parents. According to our recent social media survey, 52% of parents feel TikTok is the least safe social media platform. We appreciate Net Nanny’s social media monitoring feature, helping parents breathe a little easier as their kids navigate social media apps.

Another area where Net Nanny shines is in the location services, offering location tracking and geo-fencing. Aura Parental Controls doesn’t offer location services, which may be a drawback to parents who want to track their child’s location or receive alerts when their child reaches a set destination. A lack of location services may not be a total deal breaker since there are other ways to track your child’s location, but in parental control software, that feature adds a lot of value.

Aura Parental Controls does offer Safe Gaming alerts, which help protect your child from online predators, scams, and cyberbullying. This is a key feature not offered by Net Nanny.

Which is safer, Aura Parental Controls or Net Nanny?

Handing over data is an inherent risk in using parental control software, but that information is necessary for these apps to work properly and protect your child online. Since they’re safeguarding such valuable information, we like to see enhanced security features like two-factor authentication (such as a verification code) or, ideally, multi-factor authentication (like biometric recognition).

Aura and Net Nanny both collect personal information and share it with third parties to help facilitate their services.

Aura Parental Controls vs. Net Nanny data security

	Our Pick
Two-factor authentication
Collects data
Shares data with third parties
Learn more	Get Aura Parental Controls Read Aura Parental Controls Review	Read Net Nanny Review

We were pleased to see Aura Parental Controls offer two-factor authentication. Aura also bundles a whole suite of identity protection features into its parental controls plan, which offers several features that monitor multiple aspects of your identity to help keep you safe online.

Unfortunately, Net Nanny doesn’t offer any enhanced security layer, which we hope to see added in the future.

Aura Parental Controls vs. Net Nanny: compatibility and customer support

Windows
macOS
Android
iOS
Browser extensions	Yes — Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox
24/7 customer support
Customer support options	Phone, email, forums, online guides	Contact form, email, live chat
Learn more	Get Aura Parental Controls Read Aura Parental Controls Review	Read Net Nanny Review

Our experience testing Net Nanny could have been better. The installation on an iPhone was confusing as you must disable Safari first. Once the Net Nanny mobile device management profile was installed, some features didn’t work like blocking Facebook and Instagram. We tried to block these apps several times, but they were still accessible on our iPhone. Additionally, tracking online searches didn’t work properly. We visited multiple sites, and none of the searches appeared under the profile settings.

We contacted customer support, and while we were met with courteous service, the customer support was lacking. One time, the rep told us the information on the website was misleading, and another time, we were told the ticket would be escalated, but we never received a resolution.

Our experience with Aura wasn’t much better. We couldn’t access the portal until we switched to Chrome, the service wouldn’t accept our credentials on our iPad, and we weren’t able to set any controls other than those that came by default.

We contacted customer support through the chat option and spoke to a live customer support representative after trying with a chatbot. The chatbot did not answer our question sufficiently, but when we spoke with the customer service rep, our question was answered quickly and thoroughly.

Aura Parental Controls vs. Net Nanny FAQs

Aura Parental Controls vs. Net Nanny: which is better?

Aura Parental Controls and Net Nanny are both good parental control apps. While neither offers robust parental control software with a full suite of capabilities, they both offer important web monitoring and screen time management features.

For those looking for identity theft protection services with some built-in parental control software, Aura Parental Controls is the best choice. But Net Nanny is the better choice if you want a standalone parental control app with some bells and whistles, such as location tracking and geo-fencing services.

4.0

AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Editorial Rating

Learn More

On Net Nanny's website

Net Nanny

• Supports up to 20 devices
• Easy-to-use Location Tracking and Screen Time Management features
• No text and email monitoring feature

Aura Parental Controls vs. Net Nanny alternatives

There are many factors to consider when choosing the best parental control apps, including features, budget, and surveillance level. It’s possible to set up parental controls on iOS and call it a day. But if you’re looking for more substantial parental control features and neither Aura nor Net Nanny is what you’re looking for, we’ve tested other parental control apps.

• Bark: Bark is arguably the best parental control app on the market. It uses machine learning to stay updated on the latest slang and keywords and monitors content across 18 categories. Plus, Bark monitors texts, videos, photos, and 30+ social platforms and apps — and covers unlimited devices.

  Get Bark | Read Our Bark Review

• Norton Family: Norton is a trusted name in cybersecurity, and its parental control software meets the same standard. Norton offers a bundled service like Aura, but Norton Family also excels at blocking app content across 47 categories. It offers age-specific restriction levels to enhance safety and unlimited device connections too.

  Get Norton Family | Read Our Norton Family Review

• Kaspersky Safe Kids: Parents can monitor their child's online activity by reviewing social media posts, text, web, and YouTube history. The app also offers geo-location and notifications if a child leaves your approved boundaries.
  
  Read Our Kaspersky Review

4.7

AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Editorial Rating

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On Bark Premium's website

Bark Premium

• Machine learning catches the latest slang and keywords
• Screens content across 19 categories
• Activity can only be viewed if it’s triggered

Author Details

Courtney Daybell

About the Author

Courtney Daybell brings over 15 years of experience in print journalism and holds a B.A. in Communications from Brigham Young University. Her focus has shifted to cyber security, where she specializes in topics such as identity theft protection, password managers, antivirus software, and more.