mSpy Price 2025: Is This Spyware App Worth the Cost?

Q: Is mSpy better than Bark?

Generally speaking, no, mSpy is not better than Bark . While mSpy provides powerful tracking and monitoring tools, it’s very expensive compared to Bark, and supports a maximum of only three devices. Bark supports unlimited devices and also offers features that are likely to be more useful for monitoring a child’s device usage. Additionally, mSpy is more comparable to invasive spyware , whereas Bark offers legit parental controls.

mSpy is spyware marketed as a parental control app. But due to a lack of transparency, it’s hard to tell how much mSpy costs. We did the research, and here’s what we found.

Dave Schafer, Author

Kate Quinlan, Editor

Last updated Aug 18, 2025

We receive compensation from the products and services mentioned in this story, but the opinions are the author's own. Compensation may impact where offers appear. We have not included all available products or offers. Learn more about how we make money and our editorial policies.

mSpy pricing ranges from $11.56-$69.99/mo. For the money, you get very strong tracking tools: The service really puts the “spy” in mSpy.

However, it lacks some useful parental control tools, such as screen time monitoring and content filtering. Plus, it’s also limited to only three devices.

Considering that mSpy is more expensive than its competitors, we think most people should probably look elsewhere. There are several excellent alternatives — more on those below. That said, if you just need a powerful tracking tool for iPhone or Android, mSpy might be worth a look.

4.9

Editorial Rating

On Bark Premium's website

Parental Controls

Bark Premium

Save up to 41% with Bark Premium annual plan

Robust parental controls to track, monitor, and limit device usage
Machine learning catches the latest slang and keywords
Screens content across 19 categories

In this article

How much does mSpy cost?
What do you get with mSpy?
Top alternatives
FAQs
Bottom line: Is mSpy worth it?

How much does mSpy cost?

mSpy plans range from $11.56-$69.99/mo, depending on the specific plan and subscription term you choose. There are two tiers of plans: Premium and Extreme. There’s also a Family Kit plan that offers mSpy Premium for up to three devices at a discounted rate.

mSpy is considerably more expensive than most of its competitors. For example, Bark Premium costs $14.00/mo or $8.25/mo (billed annually). mSpy Premium — the most affordable option — is $48.99/mo or $28.00/mo (billed every three months). That’s over three times Bark’s price!

mSpy price

	mSpy Premium	mSpy Family Kit	mSpy Extreme
Monthly cost	$48.99/mo	N/A	$69.99/mo
Three months cost	$28.00/mo (billed every three months)	$57.75/mo (billed every three months)	$41.99/mo (billed every three months)
Six months cost	N/A	$42.00/mo (billed every six months)	$23.99/mo (billed every six months)
Annual cost	$11.56/mo (billed annually)	$28.00/mo (billed annually)	$13.99/mo (billed annually)
Max number of devices	1	3	1
Call, text, and email monitoring
Social media monitoring
Location tracking
App and web browser monitoring
Keyword alerts
Keylogger (Android only)
Remote camera access
Remote microphone access
Screen recording

Discounted monthly prices are applicable only for the initial term, and rates revert to the full price after renewal. This is pretty standard practice, but worth mentioning.

mSpy offers a 14-day refund window, although the company states that the reason for the refund can’t contradict its refund policy. To request a refund, fill out this form.

What do you get with mSpy?

mSpy offers a large range of features to help keep tabs on your child’s devices and online activity:

Call, text, and email monitoring: mSpy enables you to monitor and read calls, texts, and emails on the target device.
Social media monitoring: mSpy lets you keep tabs on social media chats on nearly every major platform, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Tinder, and even ChatGPT.
App and web browser monitoring: Keep track of apps and browsing history and block apps and websites as needed.
Keyword alerts: Get alerted if certain words or phrases are used on the target device.
Keylogger: Get a log of everything typed on Android devices.
Remote camera access: mSpy Extreme enables remote camera access so you can peek in from anywhere.
Remote microphone access: mSpy Extreme also gives remote microphone access. This enables you to record ambient surroundings and listen back at any time.
Screen recording: With mSpy Extreme, you can take unlimited snapshots of the target device’s screen.
Location tracking: mSpy provides GPS location tracking and a geofencing feature that alerts you when the target device enters or exits a designated location.

A caveat: Some mSpy features require jailbreaking your iPhone or rooting your Android to work properly. If you’re not familiar, jailbreaking and rooting are essentially hacking your own device to grant yourself additional access and privileges. Jailbreaking is not recommended by Apple and can leave your device vulnerable to hackers.

Top alternatives

While mSpy offers powerful spying features, it also has several downsides.

There’s no screen time management feature, which makes it challenging to recommend it as an all-in-one parental control app.
mSpy also focuses heavily on tracking, but falls a bit short in filtering out content — another key feature in a parental control app.
Plus, mSpy is more expensive than most of its competitors.

If you’re looking for more robust content monitoring or a more affordable parental control app, we’re big fans of Bark, Norton Family, and Aura Parental Controls. Based on our in-house testing, we can recommend these top monitoring tools for safeguarding children online.

Service
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.	4.6 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.	4.0 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.
Price	Starts at $8.25/mo (billed annually)	Starts at $4.17/mo (billed annually)	Starts at $8.25/mo (billed annually)
# of people covered	Unlimited	Up to 15 kids	Unlimited
Screen time management
Content filtering
Conversation monitoring	Yes, on social media, texts, and email
Location tracking
Details	Get Bark	Get Norton Family	Get Aura

FAQs

Can my child delete mSpy?

Yes — at least, in theory. mSpy does a fairly good job of keeping itself hidden (especially mSpy Extreme). However, if the child is tech savvy and has free access to device settings, they can remove the app.

Can mSpy block websites?

Yes, mSpy can block websites. On Android, you can create a list of specific websites to block or block entire categories. On an iPhone, the device needs to be jailbroken to achieve the same functionality.

Is mLite the same as mSpy?

No, mLite is not the same as mSpy, although they’re similar. mLite is essentially a free, bare-bones version of mSpy. mLite includes GPS location tracking and a handful of very basic parental control features. mSpy is more fully featured, offering a vast array of tracking and monitoring tools.

Is mSpy better than Bark?

Generally speaking, no, mSpy is not better than Bark. While mSpy provides powerful tracking and monitoring tools, it’s very expensive compared to Bark, and supports a maximum of only three devices. Bark supports unlimited devices and also offers features that are likely to be more useful for monitoring a child’s device usage.

Additionally, mSpy is more comparable to invasive spyware, whereas Bark offers legit parental controls.

Bottom line: Is mSpy worth it?

For most people, we think there are better options than mSpy. Its monitoring features lean a little too heavily toward invasive spying, rather than parental controls. It lacks core parental monitoring features that parents need, such as screen time management and category-based filtering.

mSpy is also more expensive than the best parental control apps we’ve tested, making it difficult for us to recommend it to most parents.

Learn more about how mSpy compares to other parental control apps:

4.9

Editorial Rating

On Bark Premium's website

Parental Controls

Bark Premium

Save up to 41% with Bark Premium annual plan

Robust parental controls to track, monitor, and limit device usage
Machine learning catches the latest slang and keywords
Screens content across 19 categories

Author Details

Dave Schafer

About the Author

Dave Schafer is a professional writer with a decade of experience specializing in cybersecurity. His expertise spans gadgets, technology, and the internet, with a focus on topics such as routers, hardware, and VPN product comparisons.