Bark vs. Qustodio 2024: Which One Is Right for Your Family?

We tested Bark and Qustodio and found that Bark has better parental control features overall, including more robust monitoring and location tracking, though Qustodio can be slightly cheaper.

Both options work on both Android and iOS devices and offer a variety of control features on a child’s phone or computer. With these apps and their user-friendly tracking features, you can help your child learn about the amount of time they should spend online.

If you’re looking for a way to monitor your child’s device or keep an eye on their online activity, Bark provides the content filtering and in-depth reporting features you need. Qustodio can give you similar features if you’re on a budget and it has some unique features of its own.

So which is the best parental control app for you? Let’s get into it.

Bark vs. Qustodio review at a glance

Overall, Bark offers more robust controls than Qustodio. You can even upgrade to a Bark Phone or Bark Home if you want to fully commit to Bark, which is a special phone with Bark-infused operating system, and a router that applies search monitoring on the WiFi-level (not just individual devices).

Qustodio, though not a bad option, just can't compete against the sheer size of Bark's offerings.

• Bark: Best for robust monitoring
• Qustodio: Best for a budget

Bark vs. Qustodio compared

	Our Pick
Star rating	4.9 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.	4.5 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.
Starting price	$5.00/mo	$4.58/mo (billed annually)
Free trial	Yes — 7 days	Yes — 31 days
Number of protected devices	Unlimited	1, 5, or Unlimited
Website filtering
Conversation monitoring	Social media, text, emails	Text only
Screen time management
Location tracking
Activity reports
Remote lock
Learn more	Get Bark Read Bark Review	Get Qustodio Read Qustodio Review

Bark pros and cons

Bark is one of the quintessential parental control options, giving you pretty much every feature you'd want from a parental control app — location tracking, content filtering, screen time management, and more.

This includes monitoring your children's conversations across a wide variety of social media accounts, though you can only read the messages if they're flagged by Bark's alerts. That means you can't read everything your child is doing, but you can feel secure that anything bad will be filtered to you.

During our hands-on testing of Bark, we were happy with the amount of features it had, but were mostly disappointed with how delayed the alerts were. We'd regularly only be alerted of inappropriate content the day after, which may not be fast enough depending on the circumstances.

Qustodio pros and cons

Qustodio also offers a healthy amount of parental control features, mostly missing the more intrusive options. It doesn't allow you to read your children's emails or social media conversations, though you do get full access to all text conversations. In our testing, the alerts didn't flag inappropriate content in texts, so you'll have to keep an eye out on what your children are saying yourself.

That said, all the more basic features, like screen time management and search monitoring, worked like a charm. We were only disappointed that we were unable to get the geo-fencing feature to work, which would've allowed us to set known locations that we would be alerted if the device left the bounds of.

The major downside to Qustodio is that it was named multiple times in a damning 2020 study on the risks of parental control software. If data safety is your priority, this may be enough to make you look past all of Qustodio's pros.

Which parental control app is the better value?

Qustodio is slightly cheaper than Bark overall, with a better free trial option and the extra bonus of having a 30-day money-back guarantee. That said, Bark does offer a bit more features, so it makes sense that it's a bit more expensive than its competitor. 

		Our Pick
Monthly price range	$4.00–$14.00/mo	Free-$8.33/mo (billed annually)
Best value plan	Bark Premium for $8.25/mo (billed annually)	Qustodio Complete for $8.33/mo (billed annually)
Free trial	Yes — 7 days	Yes — 31 days
Money-back guarantee		Yes — 30 days
Learn more	Get Bark Read Bark Review	Get Qustodio Read Qustodio Review

Bark plans

Bark offers two tiers of pricing — Bark Jr. and Bark Premium — plus the extremely unique option of having a phone and router available, both with the parental features baked right in. This will let you achieve even further parental control functionality, since Bark no longer has to work around Android or iPhone settings to share the device's activity.

• Bark Jr.: Starts at $5.00/mo for the monthly plan. Allows web filtering, screen time management, and location tracking.
• Bark Premium: Starts at $14.00/mo for the monthly plan. Comes with the above plus the ability to monitor texts, apps, social media, and web searches. 
  
• Bark Home: Starts at $6.00/mo. Lets you apply safety features directly at the Wi-Fi level, meaning any of your children's devices hooked up to the internet will be subject to the same monitoring and filtering features.
• Bark Phone: Starts at $39.00/mo + cost of phone. An actual mobile phone with all of Bark’s protection features preinstalled. The only service that includes the inability to delete text messages, lets you create alerts on the phone, and approval ability to add both apps and contacts.

Qustodio plans

Qustodio offers three different plans, including a free plan with basic coverage. The coverage offered in the free plan may be enough for teens who need some guidance on how to responsibly use the internet.

If you want a little more control or have younger kids who are just starting to become independent, the paid plans offer a lot of controls that can keep your kids safe online.

• Qustodio Free: Offers basic functions like web filtering and time limits. Best for helping teens maintain healthy device usage and content choices.
• Qustodio Basic: Starts at $4.58/mo (billed annually). Includes all of the features available in the free version with the addition of visibility reporting, location monitoring, and email-based support.
• Qustodio Complete: Starts at $8.33/mo (billed annually). This plan has the most features, including alerts for downloaded apps and monitoring for YouTube, messaging, and calls.

Which app has the better monitoring and alerts?

Bark offers more features than Qustodio overall, including geo-fencing functionality and the ability to monitor social media and emails.

Feature	Our Pick
Website filtering
App filtering
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 Qustodio Read Qustodio Review

Bark offers more customization options throughout the entire product. Bark specifically looks at 30-plus different social media apps, while Qustodio relies on app and web filtering to catch any issues. 

Although Bark has more customization options, both services allow you to set time limits or block harmful content on social media platforms.

Compared to Bark, the two biggest features that Qustodio lacks are social media and email monitoring and geo-fencing features. Geo-fencing is particularly useful for parents who are allowing their children the opportunity to be independent for the first time. You can set geographic boundaries and be alerted when your kids are outside of those parameters.

The one feature that Qustodio has that Bark doesn't is a panic button that allows your child to send an alert to all associated email addresses. The alert will also automatically track the child's location, updating every few minutes so it's up to date.

Which parental control app has the better support and compatibility?

Bark has better compatibility than Qustodio, thanks not only to being available on more platforms, but also due to its unique reach through its Bark Phone and Bark Home products.

	Our Pick
Windows
macOS
Android
iOS
Other devices	Android tablet, iPad, iPod, Amazon Fire, Chromebook, Gaming console	iPad, Chromebook, Kindle
24/7 customer support
Customer support options	Online guides, FAQs, email	Guides, email, phone number
Learn more	Get Bark Read Bark Review	Get Qustodio Read Qustodio Review

When it comes to support, neither service offers particularly robust options. At least with Bark, you get email support on all products. With Qustodio, you have to purchase the Premium plan to get email support. Mostly, however, these services want you to dig through help sections or FAQs to troubleshoot your product.

FAQs

Bark vs. Qustodio: Which is better?

Bark edges out Qustodio thanks to having extra features (like social media monitoring) and unique products like the Bark Phone. Even though Qustodio offers a free version and is overall a good product, Bark is still just a bit better.

Category	Our Pick
Value
Features
Compatibility & customer support
Learn more	Get Bark Read Bark Review	Get Qustodio Read Qustodio Review

We like that Bark requires consent to share your data. We also like the user friendliness of the Bark phone. Honestly, though, either service is a great choice. It’ll really come down to what works best for you and your family. The most important thing is protecting your kids, and both of these services offer enough features to do that.

Top alternatives

While Bark and Qustodio are great options for parental control software, you may want something different or something with more software options. Whatever you’re looking for, there’s likely an option here to fit your needs.