The amount of inappropriate content online is troubling and without some form of parental control software, there is little way of knowing what your child is looking at. The free version is one of the most comprehensive parental control apps around, enabling you to set rules and time schedules, block pornography and other unsuitable content.
If you go for the paid-for version, you'll also get SMS monitoring, social media features and per-app controls. Its raft of features and support for a wide range of platforms make Qustodio the best free parental control software, but there are some other excellent free programs available, some of which may be better suited to your individual needs as a parent.
Read on for the rest of our our top choices. Read our full Qustodio parental control software review. One of the big pluses here is that while FamilyShield can run on PCs and mobile devices, you can also apply it to your network router and filter all the traffic that passes through it — it's just a matter of changing the DNS server numbers in your control panel.
By filtering everything at the router level, every device on your network benefits from the filters. For more options, there's also a premium service available.
Nothing gets past Kidlogger. This free parental control software not only tracks what your children type and which websites they visit — it also keeps a record of which programs they use and any screengrabs they take. If you're concerned about who your kids might be talking to online, there's even a voice-activated sound recorder.
If your children are a little older and more responsible, you can pick and choose which options to monitor and give them a little privacy. The free software only covers one device and lacks some of the sneakier features of the premium editions including silent monitoring of WhatsApp conversations and the ability to listen to Skype calls , but it's still a well-rounded tool if you're concerned about your kids' safety.
Read our full KidLogger review. Keyloggers have something of a bad reputation online, as they're often used by crooks hoping to capture passwords and bank details, but they can be a force for good too, and Spyrix Free Keylogger enables you to see what your children have been up to. Although it's dubbed parental control software, the free version of Spyrix really a monitoring program; it doesn't stop the kids getting up to no good, but it does let you see exactly what they've done.
If you want content blocking too, premium subscriptions aren't expensive. The absence of filtering means Spyrix might not be the best choice for younger kids' computers, but it may be useful for older children if you suspect online bullying or other unpleasantness. The free edition includes a blacklist that prevents your kids seeing inappropriate content online, plus app controls that let you manage app use by time used, age restrictions, and category if you don't want your kids playing games on a school night, for example.
There's also a screen time management tool to help you control overall device use,. The paid version adds more mobile-specific features, including a battery tracker so you can see if your kid's phone is about to go flat, leaving them without a way to contact you. It's perfect for keeping track of the conversations your kids are having, and with who. It not only monitors the obvious trigger words, but also has an AI-powered learning system that detects upcoming threats and topics that kids shouldn't be exposed to.
It also monitors behavior patterns, to prevent your kids from slipping too deep down rabbit holes, which is a brilliant feature in the current social media climate. There are loads of other features like alerts, weekly reports, and the ability to prevent certain new apps from being downloaded to phones.
The downsides are that it is expensive, and Bark isn't the best at deciding what's important and what isn't, so you'll find yourself with a lot of alerts to check through. For Mac computers we highly recommend ContentBarrier by Intego. This internet filtering software is specifically designed for Mac computers and includes preset filter categories that make it easier to block harmful content.
ContentBarrier X9 also has time controls so you can ensure your kids are focused on homework, chores or bedtime instead of playing online. You can create separate accounts for each of your children with one program and set different filters for each depending on their age and maturity. We are parents and know the importance of protecting children from online misinformation, dangerous content, cyberbullies, and too much screen time.
Over the last 15 years we have tested and reviewed parental control software that offer great tools that lets parents to know what their kids are up to online. As part of our research, we subscribe to news outlets and security bloggers that focus on internet security, online privacy and parental control, so we stay on top of the dangers lurking online and changes in the industry. We are interested in how well the tools of these programs help parents keep children safe online, and we enjoy the opportunity to thoroughly test these programs so we can give you good — and safe — internet filter options.
When we tested internet filter software, we looked at exactly what each program blocked. This included the number of filter categories, if websites slipped through the cracks and if the program included a blacklist where we could add specific site URLs to block.
Other programs have tools, such as screenshots and social media blocking, that can be used for similar purposes, but these require you to be more proactive for it to be effective.
The best programs, including Qustodio, record and report in-depth information about how long your children are on specific websites, both sides of chat messages and words they search for in search engines. You can also see if your kids attempted to go to a blocked site and which activated filter category restricted their access to it. Some programs take screenshots while your child is online so you physically see what they saw during their computer time.
Notification is just as important as reading activity reports. We appreciated when a program, such as McAfee , sent us a text message as soon as our children attempted to access a restricted site.
Being notified quickly is important for stepping in and stopping your children from getting into a dangerous situation. Nicole writes for multiple Future Publishing brands covering topics from antivirus to kitchen appliances to SAS. She has over 15 years of research and writing experience, including eight years of testing and reviewing consumer products.
In her spare time, Nicole serves as a member of several school councils and volunteers for a local arts board. Many of these software are actually extensions or add-ons of Chrome and Firefox Browsers. These extensions work similar to the listed software and are capable of blocking websites according to user-defined websites and keywords. Plus, some extensions can also maintain whitelisted websites which remain exempted from blocking. Overall, all of these software are pretty straightforward and are capable of filtering out all types of web content that you do not want to view.
Kurupira Web Filter is my favorite software because it cannot only filter out websites of your choices, but it can also track user activity and create internet usage report accordingly.
Due to this, it is ideal for both web filtering and parental control. Kurupira Web Filter is a free web filtering software for Windows. It is an advanced web filtering software that uses artificial intelligence to block all inappropriate websites. It also maintains a complete web usage report in which you can view all websites visited by a user and how much time a user spends on different websites.
This freeware also provides a dedicated Applications section to block certain system programs. By default, all applications with forbidden words are automatically blocked by this software. Similar to web filtering, you can also manually add names of certain applications that you want to block. From its Applications section, you can also enable Screen Capture feature to take snapshots of the computer screen. Overall, it is one of the best web filter software that you can use for free.
K9 Web Protection is another free web filtering software for Windows. This software works as web filter and parental control software. In this software, you get both automatic web filtering and manual web filtering methods. In Automatic Web Filtering , you need to select the level of web protection you need. There are seven categories of web protection available to choose from, namely Monitor , Minimal , Moderate , Default , High , and Custom. Plus, you can also add URL links of certain websites that you do not want to block.
There are many more handy features available in this software like URL Keyword to block websites containing certain keywords , Time Restriction to limit the web usage , Safe Search to remove inappropriate results from the search result , etc. Overall, it is another really good web filtering software. Any Weblock is yet another free web filtering software for Windows. It is a very simple web filtering software that can block multiple websites and their sub-domains with ease. Using this internet filtering software, you can block as many websites as you want.
By pressing the add button, you can add main domains and sub-domains of websites which you want to block. If you already have a list of websites in excel format , then import that list and press apply changes button to block all the websites at once. An option to export the list of websites in the excel format is also available.
Websites blocked by this freeware will not open in any web browser including Google Chrome , Firefox , and Microsoft Edge. This software is itself password protected, so only authorized person can block or unblock websites. In case some websites are not blocked by this software, then close the browser, clear its cache and restart it. Apart from websites, you can block gaming chat rooms and online gaming websites as well.
Cold Turkey is the next free web filtering software for Windows. Using it, you can easily block multiple websites at once. Plus, you can also create and manage multiple blocklists with each blocklist having a different set of websites. At the time of creating a blocklist, you also need to specify the Unblocking Date and Time.
It is very important to specify unblocking date and time because even admin cannot unblock the blocked websites before the specified unblocking time. Through this internet filtering software, you can block social media websites , chat websites , non-children friendly websites , etc. Plus, it works perfectly fine with all web browsers including Chrome , Edge , Firefox , Opera , etc.
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