Norton Family vs. Net Nanny 2024: Well-Rounded Protection or No Frills?

Take a look at this in-depth analysis on Norton Family and Net Nanny and find out which one reigned supreme.
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Best for overall security

4.6
Editorial Rating
Learn More
On Norton Family's website

Parental Controls
Norton Family
  • Excels at app blocking and content filtering across 47 categories
  • Offers age-specific restriction levels to enhance safety and unlimited device connections
  • Can't add screen time limitations on a per-app basis

Best for Apple Users

3.9
Editorial Rating
Learn More
On Net Nanny's website

Parental Controls
Net Nanny
  • Supports up to 20 devices
  • Easy-to-use location tracking and screen time management features
  • No text or email monitoring features

Overall, Norton Family is a better parental control app than Net Nanny. You'll get extra features like geo-fencing, plus the ability to bundle your services with top-of-the-line antivirus software.

Net Nanny does have one thing over Norton, however: it's available on Macbooks. So if you're an Apply family, than Net Nanny will likely be your choice out of the two.

This deep-dive comparison article will help you figure out which is the best parental control app for you.

In this article
At a glance
Prices
Monitoring and alerts
Compatibility and customer support
FAQs
Which is better?

Norton Family vs. Net Nanny review at a glance

Norton Family provides more tools and monitoring than Net Nanny. Families could also choose to buy a Norton antivirus package that comes with Norton Family for comprehensive security coverage.

Net Nanny doesn't offer any protection from cyberthreats like malware or viruses. It focuses exclusively on parental controls and offers all the essential features you need to protect your child online.

Norton Family vs. Net Nanny compared

Our Pick
Star rating
4.6
3.9
Price $49.99/mo $3.33-$7.50/mo (billed annually)
Free trial Yes — 30 days
Number of protected devices 15 children 1 - 20 devices
Web filtering
Conversation monitoring
Screen time management
Location tracking
Activity reports
Remote lock
Supported devices Windows, Android, and iOS Windows, macOS, iOS
Learn more Get Norton Family

Read Norton Family Review

Get Net Nanny

Read Net Nanny Review

How we test and rate parental control apps

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.

Norton Family pros and cons

Norton Family surprised us during our testing, proving itself as a well-rounded parental control app and not just a half-baked antivirus add-on. We were able to easily set it up on our phone and monitor, block, and limit all sorts of device use.

We were particularly impressed with its location tracking — including geo-fencing capabilities that can give notifications when the device leaves a specified area — as well as the web monitoring and filtering.

The major downside we found was that you can't set screen time limits per app, which we thought was a loss. It's also not available on macOS devices and some of the monitoring features are less powerful on iOS devices.

Pros
  • Can be bundled with antivirus software for extra security
  • Has more location-tracking features
  • Offers age-specific restriction levels to enhance safety
Cons
  • Fewer monitoring features for iOS
  • Not compatible with macOS

Net Nanny pros and cons

Net Nanny is an interesting parental control product that offers a lot of what parents are looking for. The website and app are both outdated and clunky, but if that's not a dealbreaker for you, then you could find a gem hiding underneath.

The biggest unique factor it has going for it was the ability to force safe search on all social media apps, not just Google. So if you set a warning for drugs, you'd be alerted for it if they searched for it on Instagram.

Net Nanny doesn't have any geo-fencing or conversation monitoring features, however, which is one of its biggest downsides. If those options are what's important to you, than Net Nanny likely isn't the app for you.

Pros
  • Offers social media filtering
  • Screen time management is simple
  • Best for essential online monitoring
Cons
  • Limited device coverage available
  • Interface is outdated and clunky

Which parental control app is the better value?

Overall, Norton is a better value than Net Nanny because of its higher device limit, free trial, money-back-guarantee, and ability to bundle with its antivirus services.

Our Pick
Price range $49.99/mo $3.33-$7.50/mo (billed annually)
Best value plan Norton Family for $4.16/mo (billed annually) 20 Devices Family Protection Pass for $7.50/mo (billed annually)
Free trial Yes — 30 days
Money-back guarantee Yes — 60 days
Learn more Get Norton Family

Read Norton Family Review

Get Net Nanny

Read Net Nanny Review

Norton Family plans

Norton Family provides parents with the ability to monitor and control their child's online experience. There is only one annual subscription offered if you’re only interested in parental control.

However, if you would like to bundle parental control with security tools like antivirus software, then you should consider Norton's other plans. Norton 360 Deluxe and Norton 360 with LifeLock Select provide other features to help you and your family stay safe online.

  • Norton Family: For $4.16/mo (billed annually), Norton Family includes web filtering, location tracking features, time monitoring, and supervision features across web searches, apps, videos, and more. It also includes instant lock and reporting features. Norton backs all of its products with 24/7 customer support.
  • Norton 360 Select: For $99.99/yr (first year only), you'll get all of the above plus an antivirus, 250 GB of cloud storage, a password manager, VPN, credit monitoring, and ID theft protection.
  • Norton 360 Advantage: For $199.99/yr (first year only), you'll get the above PLUS more extensive ID theft protection, like up to $100,000 in stolen funds reimbursement, bank alerts, and identity lock.
  • Norton 360 Ultimate Plus: The ultimate digital protection starts at $299.99/yr (first year only) and offers everything above, plus home title monitoring, investment alerts, and up to $1,000,000 in stolen funds reimbursement.

If you opt for just Norton Family, then you can take advantage of a 30-day free trial before purchasing. However, you’ll need to enter payment information to get the free trial. The Norton 360 plans provide a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Net Nanny plans

Net Nanny provides three different plans that cover a varying number of devices and operating systems. The same features are available across plans.

  • 1 Desktop: For $3.33/mo (billed annually), you'll get coverage for 1 PC or Mac and there's no option to cover an iOS device. This plan includes all of the Net Nanny features like screen time management and web filtering.
  • 5 Devices Family Protection Pass: At $4.58/mo (billed annually), this plan covers up to five devices. Unlike the 1 Desktop plan, it includes iOS devices.
  • 20 Devices Family Protection Pass: At $7.50/mo (billed annually), this plan covers up to 20 devices, which is substantial coverage for families. It covers PC, Mac, and iOS devices and provides the best overall value.

There’s no free trial currently available for Net Nanny. 

Winner: Norton Family wins. The most affordable plan provides the most value since it covers unlimited devices. Net Nanny can only cover up to 20 devices and costs twice as much.

Which app has the better monitoring and alerts?

When focusing on specifically parental control monitoring features, Norton Family has the slight edge over Net Nanny because of its geo-fencing feature. Other than that, they're pretty evenly matched.

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 Norton Family

Read Norton Family Review

Get Net Nanny

Read Net Nanny Review

Norton Family shines because it covers far more categories for website filtering than Net Nanny. It also provides more significant location-tracking tools like geo-fencing. This tool alerts parents when a child's phone has gone outside a designated safe zone.

Norton Family location tracking alerts

But Norton Family's app filtering only works on Android and Windows. If you need it on iOS, you're out of luck. It's also important to note that Norton Family only notifies you what apps are downloaded and not the content of the apps. On the other hand, Net Nanny only works on iOS, but it can review and monitor specific apps' content.

There are essential features that both Norton Family and Net Nanny lack. For example, the ability to monitor text messages and emails. When it comes to social media filtering, only Net Nanny offers it but we had a difficult time getting it to work. We understand wanting kids to stay safe on social media, so these services might be disappointing in that regard.

A screenshot of Net Nanny Social Media Protection feature
Net Nanny social media protection dashboard

If you have older children, monitoring texts, emails, and social media may be important features to you. In that case, neither Net Nanny nor Norton Family are good choices.

Winner: Norton Family. Our testing shows that all features worked, unlike Net Nanny. Norton Family also provides more location-tracking tools.

Which parental control app has the better support and compatibility?

Though neither Norton Family and Net Nanny cover all devices, Norton does have better support — which gives it the edge in this category. 

Our Pick
Windows
macOS
Android
iOS
Other devices
24/7 customer support
Customer support options Guides, phone, live chat, forum Guides, live chat, email
Learn more Get Norton Family

Read Norton Family Review

Get Net Nanny

Read Net Nanny Review

Neither Norton Family nor Net Nanny works across all operating systems and devices. You may find that some features are missing on other platforms too.

Norton Family doesn't work on macOS. On top of that, we noticed some monitoring features were missing on the iOS version. Overall, Norton Family might not be a great option if your family heavily uses Macs or iPhones.

Net Nanny can handle macOS and iOS. It's also compatible with Windows. The main problem comes with Android. It currently doesn't offer support for Android, Fire Kindle, or Chromebooks. Net Nanny is planning on releasing versions to support these devices in 2024. In the meantime, Net Nanny isn't a great option if you want to monitor your child's Android phone .

Net Nanny also doesn't have robust customer support compared to Norton Family. Net Nanny has a live chat, but it's only available Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST. If you have a problem on the weekend, then you're on your own. Meanwhile, Norton Family has 24/7 support available.

Winner: Norton Family slightly edges out Net Nanny due to having better customer support options. However, Norton Family is a poor choice if you want parental controls on a Mac. You may be better off with Net Nanny if you don't need Android coverage.

FAQs


+

Is Norton Family worth it?

Norton Family may be worth it if you're looking for parental controls like web filtering, location tracking, and app monitoring at a reasonable price. It's available on Windows, Android, and iOS. It's not a great fit if you need Mac coverage.


+

Is Net Nanny or Bark better?

It would depend on your parental control needs. Bark may be a better choice if you want text, email, and social media monitoring since Net Nanny doesn't offer functioning services. Bark is also considerably cheaper than Net Nanny.

You can learn more about how these two compare in our Bark vs. Net Nanny review


+

How much does Norton Family cost?

Norton Family costs $49.99/yr for an annual subscription. Currently, there's no option to pay monthly.

If you’d like to try out Norton Family, there is a 30-day free trial available. You'll need to sign up for an account and share payment information to access the trial.


+

Is there a free alternative to Norton Family?

Norton Family offers a 30-day free trial. However, you’ll need to share payment information to get the trial. If you aren't satisfied and don't want to pay for a subscription, make sure you cancel it on time.

Norton Family vs. Net Nanny: Which is better?

Norton Family won every category in our list. It provided more monitoring features that actually functioned when we tested them. It's also more affordable overall considering you can add unlimited devices. Another plus is that you can bundle it with antivirus software to further keep your devices secure. However, it doesn't work on macOS and the iOS version lacks monitoring features.

Net Nanny may be a better option if your family uses Apple products. While more expensive, it does offer several tools to protect and monitor your child's online activity.

Our Pick
Value
Features
Compatibility & customer support
Learn more Get Norton Family

Read Norton Family Review

Get Net Nanny

Read Net Nanny Review

4.6
Editorial Rating
Learn More
On Norton Family's website
Parental Controls
Norton Family
  • Excels at app blocking and content filtering across 47 categories
  • Offers age-specific restriction levels to enhance safety and unlimited device connections
  • Can't add screen time limitations on a per-app basis

Top alternatives

Norton Family and Net Nanny may not be your perfect match. Luckily, there are a few other options to consider for the best parental control app for you. Here are a few other alternatives to evaluate:

Service
Star rating
4.9
4.5
4.0
Price Starts at $5.00/mo Starts at $8.33/mo (billed annually) Starts at $8.25/mo (billed annually)
# of people covered Unlimited 1 - unlimited Unlimited
Screen time management
Content filtering
Conversation monitoring Yes, on social media, texts, and email Yes, on social media, texts, and email
Location tracking
Details Get Bark Get Qustodio Get Aura

4.6
Editorial Rating
Learn More
On Norton Family's website
Parental Controls
Norton Family
  • Excels at app blocking and content filtering across 47 categories
  • Offers age-specific restriction levels to enhance safety and unlimited device connections
  • Can't add screen time limitations on a per-app basis
Author Details
Sara J. Nguyen is a freelance writer specializing in cybersecurity. She aims to help people protect their data while enjoying technology. She has written about online privacy and tech for over 5 years for several organizations. When she's not writing about the latest cybersecurity trends, you can find her on LinkedIn.