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Best for Bundled Parental Control Software
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Blocks harmful content on mobile devices
Robust screen time management tools
Unlimited devices
Best for Web Monitoring and Location Services
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Supports up to 20 devices
Easy-to-use location tracking and screen time management features
Net Nanny is the better parental control service, as it offers more monitoring methods and compatibility when compared to Aura. However, both can help you understand what is happening on your kids’ devices through content filtering, app monitoring, and screen time limits. We evaluated 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 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 location services, which only Net Nanny provides.
On the other hand, Aura Parental Controls comes with top-notch identity protection features. However, both apps lack text message and email monitoring capabilities.
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| Star rating | ||
| Price | $8.25-$32.00/mo | $3.33-$7.50/mo (billed annually) |
| Free version | ||
| Max number of protected devices | Unlimited | Up to 20 |
| Web filtering | ||
| Conversation monitoring | ||
| Screen time management | ||
| Location tracking | ||
| Activity reports | ||
| Remote lock | ||
| Learn more | Get Aura Parental Controls | Read Net Nanny Review |
We put every parental control app through vigorous hands-on testing by downloading the software to our own devices. We test how the product works from both the parent's and child's perspectives, evaluating how well we're able to monitor device usage and deliberately attempting to sneak around the limitations.
By taking a fine-tooth comb through all available features and settings, we carefully compare each product using our proprietary grading rubric. The star ratings take into account price, screen time management, content filters, location tracking, monitoring, alerts, and ease of use.
To learn more about how we test, check out our full parental control testing methodology here.
Net Nanny offers a more substantial parental control service overall, as all of its plans include filtering and monitoring features.
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Our Pick | |
| Monthly price range | $8.25-$32.00/mo | $3.33-$7.50/mo (billed annually) |
| Best value plan | Ultimate Family for $32.00/mo (billed annually) | 20 Devices Family Protection Pass for $7.50/mo (billed annually) |
| Learn more | Get Aura Parental Controls | Read Net Nanny Review |
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.
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.
Net Nanny offers more monitoring tools, such as social media and internet search monitoring.
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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 | ||
| 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 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 filtering and internet search monitoring, whereas Aura Parental Controls lacks both features.
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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 filtering feature, helping parents breathe a little easier as their kids navigate social media apps.
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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.
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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.
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Both services offer similar customer support. However, Aura provides 24/7 customer support so you can get the help you need.
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| Windows | ||
| macOS | ||
| Android | ||
| iOS | ||
| Browser extensions | ||
| 24/7 customer support | ||
| Customer support options | Phone, email, forums, online guides | Contact form, email, live chat |
| Learn more | Get Aura Parental Controls | 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.
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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 is a good parental control app, but it lacks features that more robust apps offer, like text message and email monitoring, location tracking, and geo-fencing services. Aura shines in identity theft protection services, so it's a good option if you’re looking for that in addition to some parental control features.
The best parental control app depends on factors like budget, the level of monitoring you’re looking for, and what you’re looking to protect your child from. In our opinion, Bark is a comprehensive parental control app that offers robust monitoring options.
Aura does not monitor text messages. However, it offers Safe Gaming, which scans all gaming-related communications in the background and sends alerts if cyberbullying or online predators are detected.
Net Nanny is a good parental control app, but it has some disadvantages that may deter some users. The biggest disadvantage is the lack of text message and email monitoring.
Net Nanny came out as the best parental control app compared to Aura, but both are 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 a good choice. But Net Nanny is the best choice, especially if you're looking for a standalone parental control app with location tracking and geo-fencing services.
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Our Pick | |
| Value | ||
| Features | ||
| Compatibility & customer support | ||
| Learn more | Get Aura Parental Controls | Read Net Nanny Review |
Net Nanny
Supports up to 20 devices
Easy-to-use location tracking and screen time management features
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.
Robust parental controls to track, monitor, and limit device usage
Machine learning catches the latest slang and keywords
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