Bark vs. mSpy 2025: Which Is Best To Keep Your Children Safe Online?

When comparing Bark and mSpy, it’s clear that Bark is the better choice for most families. It offers powerful parental controls without crossing the line into surveillance, using machine learning to detect concerning content (like harmful slang or threats) while still respecting your child’s privacy. With support for unlimited devices and pricing that starts at $5.00/mo, Bark strikes the right balance between safety and trust.

By contrast, mSpy is more of a spy tool than a parenting aid. It allows access to your child’s camera and microphone,  which may seem like an advantage, but can also feel highly invasive. Its limited support for just three devices and a higher starting price of $11.56/mo (billed annually) may also give parents pause.

In this guide, we’ll break down the pros and cons of both apps so you can make an informed decision about which is the best parental control app for your parenting style.

Bark vs. mSpy review at a glance

A key difference between Bark and mSpy is how many devices you can protect. Bark supports unlimited devices, making it ideal for larger families or households with multiple kids. mSpy, on the other hand, is limited to just three devices, which can be restrictive—and expensive if you need broader coverage.

Pricing is another major factor. Bark offers more flexible and affordable plans, ranging from $4.08–$39.00/mo, and doesn’t lock you into long-term commitments to get the best rate. mSpy starts at a higher cost ($11.56-$69.99/mo) and typically requires you to sign up for longer periods to unlock any savings.

If you’re looking for a budget-friendly, trust-based solution, Bark is the better option—especially if you don’t want or need to read your child’s texts directly. mSpy charges more but gives you full visibility into text messages, emails, and more, which may appeal to some parents but can also feel overly invasive to others.

You can install these parental controls on iOS or Android devices.

• Bark: Best for controlling screen time for a reasonable price
• mSpy: Best for extensive monitoring

Bark vs. mSpy compared

	Our Pick
Starting price	Starts at $5.00/mo	Starts at $11.56/mo (billed annually)
Best value
Best monitoring
Best safety
Best compatibility and customer support
Learn more	Get Bark Read Bark Review	Get mSpy Read mSpy Review

Bark pros and cons

Bark uses machine learning to catch risky slang and language that other apps might miss, helping parents stay ahead of evolving online behavior. It also monitors over 30 social media platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram, giving broad insight into where kids spend time online. One of its best features is unlimited device coverage, making it a great fit for larger families or households with multiple shared devices.

That said, Bark has some limitations. It doesn’t scan image files, so potentially harmful content in photos could go unnoticed. Also, there’s no phone-based customer support—only chat and email—so getting help may take longer if you prefer speaking with someone directly.

mSpy pros and cons

mSpy offers extensive monitoring features, including access to texts, emails, call logs, and more. It also provides keyword alerts, so parents can be notified when specific terms are used, and includes real-time location tracking, making it easy to keep tabs on your child’s whereabouts.

However, mSpy’s tools can feel overly intrusive, especially with remote access to your child’s camera and microphone, which may raise privacy concerns. It also limits coverage to just three devices, which can be restrictive for families. Unlike some other apps, mSpy doesn’t monitor for cyberbullying or harmful social media content, which may leave certain risks unchecked.

Bark vs. mSpy: prices

	Best value
Price range	$4.08–$39.00/mo	$11.56-$69.99/mo
Best value plan	Bark Premium for $14.00/mo	3 Months for $28.00/mo (billed every three months)
Free trial	Yes — 7 days	No
Money-back guarantee	Yes — 30 days	Yes — 14 days
Learn more	Get Bark Read Bark Review	Get mSpy Read mSpy Review

Bark plans

Bark has four different options, with one being the Bark Phone. All Bark plans come with a 7-day free trial to test the product and a 30-day money-back guarantee if you decide it’s not what you need. You may be required to enter your debit or credit card information for compliance purposes, but Bark assures you there will be no charge.

• Bark Jr: Bark Jr is the entry-level plan for younger children. Parents can monitor screen time, filter websites, and use location alerts.
• Bark Home: Bark Home is an internet router that won’t have as many in-depth features. You’ll get website and app blocking, and you can create screen time schedules.
• Bark Premium: Bark Premium packs a punch with features like location tracking, text and email monitoring, website blocking, and expert tips for addressing internet issues with your child.
• Bark Phone: This plan has everything Bark offers, with a device included. Bark is pre-installed, and your child can’t delete texts without your consent. You get to control everything your child can do online.

mSpy plans

mSpy’s plans all come with the same options, with a few exceptions. You’ll get the 14-day money-back guarantee with all plans, but you should carefully read the refund policy. The company is specific regarding what qualifies you for a refund. If you need more than one device covered, you’ll have to get the Family Kit, and even so, this covers only three devices.

• mSpy Premium: With the Premium package, parents can monitor texts, installed applications, phone calls, and more. According to mSpy, this plan gives you extra insight into your child’s online activity.
• mSpy Extreme: This is the plan mSpy considers to have the most powerful features. With mSpy Extreme you can listen to your child’s conversations, see social media chats, and activate their phone’s camera.
• mSpy Family Kit: This is the only plan offered that covers more than one device. It has most of the features of the Premium plan, like app and email monitoring, and works in stealth mode, meaning it leaves no trace of being installed.

Bark vs. mSpy: monitoring and alerts

	Our Pick
Website filtering	Yes, 18 categories	Yes, but does not filter by category
App filtering	Yes, 30+ social media apps, like YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok	Yes, common apps include Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Tinder
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 Bark Read Bark Review	Get mSpy Read mSpy Review

From the table above, you can see Bark gives you plenty of options. Like most parental control apps, not all features come with every plan, so if you opt for Bark Jr or Bark Home, you’ll get fewer options. We don’t think that’s a big deal since those are the entry-level plans and internet router subscriptions.

Bark Premium and Bark Phone have all the features available. We consider location tracking and website filtering critical features for parental control apps. You likely want to know your child is always safe and that you can choose the content they can view.

With mSpy, you get almost the same features as you have with Bark, except no online predator and cyberbullying alerts, or remote lock ability.

Although these might not be considered critical features, today’s social media use makes it easier for predators to contact children. To help kids stay safe on social media, these alerts are useful. This missing feature may be a dealbreaker for some parents and we understand why.

Also, unlike Bark, mSpy doesn’t have category filtering, which could mean potentially missing something you want to know about since you must manually block each website.

Which is safer, Bark vs. mSpy?

With any software, including parental control apps, top security is a must. You want to know there are safeguards in place to protect your children and your data. There are different security measures, like two-factor authentication and compliance regulations that these applications can include to make them safe.

Most apps collect data. The difference is how that data can be used and what data gets collected. Some collections are reasonable as they pertain to app administration, payment requirements, and effective content monitoring. If an app makes it difficult to find how data is collected, that should be considered a red flag.

	Our Pick
Two-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication
Collects data
Shares data with third parties
Learn more	Get Bark Read Bark Review	Get mSpy Read mSpy Review

Both of these parental control apps claim to keep your data safe and not share it with third parties. We did notice Bark complies with many privacy regulations, such as the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which protects minors from deceptive marketing, and uses Amazon Web Services for extra security protection.

Bark vs. mSpy: Compatibility and customer support

	Our Pick
Windows
macOS
Android
iOS
Browser extensions	Chrome, Edge, and other browsers with Bark Home plan	Chrome, Opera, Firefox
24/7 customer support
Customer support options	Chat, email, online guides and forums	Phone, email, online guides
Learn more	Get Bark Read Bark Review	Get mSpy Read mSpy Review

Setting up mSpy was a straightforward process. It took only a few minutes, and the interface was well organized, with intuitive settings. We did have issues connecting to iCloud and when it did connect, it didn’t refresh our data. Again, we do think mSpy could improve by allowing category-based web filtering.

Bark was easy to set up and we had an account ready to go in a few minutes. It may take a little time to connect each device for monitoring, though. There must be a separate account for each child, but the instructions provided are clear and we had no issues setting everything up. The dashboard was easy to use, with four tabs for monitoring.

Neither parental control app offers 24/7 customer support. That would be a good option for parents to have, but Bark returned our email query within an hour.

FAQs

Bark vs. mSpy: Which is better?

Both of these apps will monitor your child’s device and provide you with some peace of mind. Still, Bark surpasses mSpy with more features, better pricing, and clearer data transparency.

You can also purchase the user-friendly Bark Phone if you prefer a device over an app. Both Bark and mSpy are worth considering, but comparing the two side by side, Bark is the best parental control app for your money.

Bark vs. mSpy alternatives

What if you have checked out both of these parental control apps, and neither one works for your family? We know this can be the case, so we have included some alternatives you might like better: