Qustodio allows parents to monitor what their kids get up to online and get insight into their activities. The app offers a wide range of features, including web filtering, screen time scheduling, and app limits. On top of that, Qustodio’s location tracking services are extremely precise!
But is Qustodio worth your money? One thing to note is that the app is less compatible with iOS devices and that there are some security uncertainties. For this Qustodio review, our testing panel of parents and kids put the parental control app under a loop to find out more.
Can’t wait to try the app? Qustodio offers a fantastic 3-day free trial of its premium features! You don’t have to submit any payment information, and you can connect your kids’ devices right away.
Qustodio: Short Review
What We Like:
- Lots of features: screen time scheduling, app limits, and web filtering
- User-friendly app, very quick to install
- Has a very decent free version available
- Three-day trial of Premium features (no payment info required)
- Location services are very precise
- Works on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Amazon Kindle, and Chromebook
- Available in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Japanese, and Chinese
What We Don't Like:
- More expensive than other parental control apps
- Set-up can be a bit time-consuming
- Limited features on iOS: not the best parental app for iPhone
- Security not independently audited
Qustodio provides parents with valuable insight into their kids’ online activity. When testing the software, we found that the app is easy to use and comes with a range of features.
You won’t have to worry anymore about unfinished homework; our testing panel was positively surprised by how easy it was to set up a daily screen time schedule! Moreover, web filtering and app blocking are well-designed and effective.
We consider Qustodio a feature-rich app, as it offers text and call monitoring and the ability to keep kids from deleting the app manually. These also make Qustodio quite a controlling parental app — a pro or a con, depending on your personal views.
All in all, Qustodio is one of the best parental control apps you can find, though there are some unaddressed security issues. With Qustodio, you’ll get very precise activity logs of websites visited, apps used, and YouTube videos watched.
In terms of pricing, the Qustodio parental control app is on the expensive side, starting at $54.95/year. However, there is a completely free version available. You can also get a 3-day free trial without having to register any payment information.
Qustodio: How Much Does It Cost?
Qustodio has various plans available at different costs. There’s a Qustodio Free if you want to get started right away (just click “Sign up” and enter your details!).
For Premium features, you can choose between Basic and Complete.
New users get a three-day free trial on both Premium plans. You don’t need to submit any credit card details or other payment information.
Premium plans also have a 30-day money-back guarantee: if you’re not satisfied with the software, you can be refunded within the first 30 days of your purchase. How do the plans differ from one another?
Qustodio’s specifications
Is Qustodio the best parental control app? In the table below, you can see the differences between each subscription package, as well as the features offered.
| Specifications | Qustodio Free | Qustodio Basic | Qustodio Complete |
|---|---|---|---|
| Download link | Get Qustodio Free | Get Qustodio Basic | Get Qustodio Complete |
| Pricing | Free | $54.95/year | $99.95/year |
| Available devices | PC, Mac, Android, iPhone/iPad, Chromebook, Kindle | PC, Mac, Android, iPhone/iPad, Chromebook, Kindle | PC, Mac, Android, iPhone/iPad, Chromebook, Kindle |
| Multiple devices | 1 | Up to 5 | Unlimited |
| Safe Search | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Screen time monitoring | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Daily time limits | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Restricted time periods | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Web filtering | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Location tracking | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Panic button | ✖ | ✔ (Android devices) | ✔ (Android devices) |
| Games and apps blocking | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| YouTube monitoring | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| Web activity alerts | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| Call & SMS monitoring | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| Customer support tickets | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
As we discovered in our Qustodio Free review, the free version of Qustodio has a lot of essential features that will boost your kids’ safety online!
However, to get the full range of premium features, we recommend opting for the Qustodio Complete plan.
Features and Effectiveness: How Well Does Qustodio Perform?
Qustodio is one of the best parental control apps. For performance, we give it a score of 9/10 since the app is packed with features to keep your children safe online.
After testing the app extensively, here are some main things we took note of:
- Web and app filtering works well and is easily customizable
- Setting up daily time limits and a screen time schedule was easy and effective
- Location tracking is very accurate
- Setting up the calls and messages feature is complex, and the tool can be invasive
Web filtering
Qustodio’s web filtering settings are impressive! We found 25+ predefined web categories that include Social Media, Entertainment, Games, Violence, Pornography, Mature Content, and Profanity.
For each category, parents can choose “Allow,” “Alert Me,” or “Block.” When testing, we were also able to add websites manually by clicking on the “Websites” tab at the top of the app.
Additionally, Qustodio can block unknown websites and automatically enable “Safe Search” for Google, Bing, and YouTube.
We were happy to find that all filtering features worked effectively! The kids in our testing panel could not gain access to categories or sites that were restricted, even in Incognito Mode.
Note:
Not all browsers are compatible with Qustodio. Browsers that work are Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, and Amazon Silk Browser. If your child uses more anonymous browsers such as Tor, Opera, and Brave, Qustodio won’t work.
We did find that alerts were not always very timely, especially when kids were using iOS devices. However, they were always accurate.
For a full overview of which apps and websites your kids visit, have a look at the Timeline. Unfortunately, kids don’t have an in-app option to request a specific website to be unblocked, something Norton Family does offer.
Games and apps blocking
Don’t want your kids to spend excessive time playing games or watching videos on TikTok and its alternatives? Qustodio lets you block apps completely or set time limits for certain games and apps.
The table below shows you which apps Qustodio can block.
| App | Can Qustodio Block It? |
|---|---|
| TikTok | ✔ |
| YouTube | ✔ |
| ✔ | |
| X (Twitter) | ✔ |
| ✔ | |
| Snapchat | ✔ |
| Telegram | ✔ |
| ✔ | |
| Roblox | ✔ |
| Minecraft | ✔ |
| Fortnite | ✔ |
We were happy to see that app blocking worked well with iOS devices. Not all parental control software apps can get past Apple’s defenses so easily, and it can be difficult to find a good parent app for iPhone.
Of course, it’s also possible to manage apps through the Qustodio Android app, Windows, macOS, Kindle, and Chromebook.
For each app, you can block or allow access by clicking on the arrow on the right. You can also set a daily time limit. This prevents your kids from using harmful apps like Instagram for too long or playing games you might think they’re too young for.
While the Qustodio app can manage time spent on social media apps, parents won’t be able to see their kids’ messages or posts. Depending on your parenting style, this can be a positive or a negative feature for your family.
If you’d like more comprehensive social media monitoring, Bark is a good alternative.
Screen time scheduling
One of our favorite features to test in this Qustodio review was screen time monitoring. Parents can create a weekly screen time schedule or set daily screen time restrictions for each of their children.
Want to give your child enough time to connect with their friends online but still do their homework in the afternoons? Or make sure they can’t access their phone at night? Just create a personal schedule!
Qustodio divides the day into morning, afternoon, and night. Simply highlight the restricted time periods in red. During these hours, your kids won’t be able to access their devices unless they use them for emergency calls or the “panic button” (Android app).
Note:
The panic button is only available for Android devices.
To boost your kids’ internet safety, you can also introduce daily screen limits. Once a limit has been reached or your child is in a “red” zone, you will receive a notification, and their phone will be locked.
All time restriction features worked seamlessly and definitely made Qustodio rise in our rankings!
Location services and location tracking
As a parent, it can be helpful to know your child’s location. The Qustodio app lets you keep an eye on your child and shows you an overview of where they’ve been. We found location tracking to be extremely precise.
You’ll receive updates from your child’s device every five to 10 minutes.
Pro Tip:
On Android, Qustodio can give parents directions to their child’s location via Google Maps.
Be aware that children, especially older kids, might feel like location tracking is too invasive. If you’d like to give your child more privacy, you can use a feature called Your Places, which is available in the Qustodio parents app.
Your Places is a geo-fencing tool that lets you mark a certain area as safe, such as school or a friend’s house. You will only be notified if your child leaves this area.
Call and SMS monitoring
Qustodio offers a pretty decent phone monitoring app for parents.
Premium Qustodio plans allow you to monitor calls and text messages on your child’s device. It requires a separate setup that you need to download directly from the website rather than the App Store or Google Play Store.
When setting it up, we realized the process was not very straightforward, though the feature does work well. You can block or allow certain phone numbers and even monitor the content of your children’s text messages in Qustodio’s activity reports.
Keep in mind that this feature won’t work for third-party apps like Snapchat or WhatsApp. The best phone monitoring app for iPhone at the moment is Bark.
Note:
Monitoring your child’s texts and phone calls is not to be taken lightly. We advocate for privacy, including children’s privacy. Moreover, spying on your children can backfire quickly. Make sure you communicate openly with your children at all points and consider what is best for your family in the long-run.
While you might want to prevent cyberbullying, experts warn that monitoring your children too closely limits their development of digital skills.
YouTube monitoring
Is YouTube safe for kids? It’s certainly very popular! Qustodio’s parental control software lets you set limits for YouTube and gives insight into what your children are watching.
In the Timeline, you can see your kids’ YouTube app search history as well as what videos they watch. On your child’s device, you will see that comments are disabled due to “Restricted Mode.”
Depending on the age of your children, you might consider YouTube monitoring to be too invasive and disregard it. But if you choose to use the feature for younger kids, it can also help to enable “Safe Search” in the web filtering section. This way, your child doesn’t risk accidentally coming across any harmful YouTube videos.
Ease of Use: How User-Friendly Is Qustodio?
Qustodio has a user-friendly interface and is pretty easy to install. Certain set-ups require more time and effort. Overall, we give the Qustodio app a rating of 8/10 for ease of use. Here’s what our testing panel noted:
- Qustodio’s website is easy to navigate.
- The installation process for the parental control software takes some time, but the steps are easy.
- Customer support is helpful, but there is no live chat feature.
Qustodio’s website and installation process
When you get started with Qustodio, you get a free three-day trial. This is a great way to get acquainted with the parental control app.
How to install Qustodio
As with most parental control apps, it takes some time to set up Qustodio. But luckily, Qustodio’s setup process is very easy!
New to parental controls? Here’s a step-by-step guide to installing the app:
- On the Qustodio homepage, click the “Sign Up” button.
- Enter your name, email address, and password, and click “Create an account.”
- Log into Qustodio once your account is successfully created to connect your children’s devices.
- To sync your child’s device (whether phone or laptop), download Qustodio from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. For the iOS app, the configuration requires a few extra steps, but Qustodio guides you through the process.
- Head over to the online dashboard for parents to set your “Rules” once you’ve got the app installed.
Using Qustodio
In comparison to other parental control apps, Qustodio is very intuitive to use and easy to understand. On the parent app, you can see each of your children and their connected devices under the “My Family” tab.
Click on your child’s name to see the details of their activity. You can see how much time they’ve spent on their device, as well as their app and web activity. For example, if your kids are addicted to video games, it’ll be useful to see how long they’ve spent playing games.
For an extensive overview, go to the “Timeline” tab. This is also where you can see your child’s current location. If you’d like to manage any of the settings, head over to “Rules” to find all Qustodio features in one place.
Our testing panel was impressed with the wide range of features that can help your kids be safer online.
Can a child delete Qustodio from their phone? No! Kids can’t delete the Qustodio parental control app from their phones without parental permission. This might be useful for younger children but cause resistance in teens.
For a more privacy-sensitive app that’s focused on promoting communication between kids and parents, you can also have a look at Bark.
Potential security concerns
We were notified by a user of a potential major security flaw in the Qustodio parental control features. It was suggested that portal sessions never close and that there’s no way to force-close them. This would mean anyone who manages to log in once would forever be able to see your kids’ devices.
Luckily, when testing Qustodio for this flaw, we were logged out automatically and had to re-enter our login details every single time we wanted to use the portal. This was the case for both PC login and mobile login.
Frequently changing your login details and generating secure passwords through an encrypted password manager should improve your safety on this front.
However, we don’t want to make light of the issue. Users should keep in mind that no parental control app is completely secure.
An extensive report by the Association for Computing Machinery identifies several security vulnerabilities that are typically found in parental controls. Notably, Qustodio also hasn’t been independently audited for security. This means the service is not entirely without risk.
Note
At this point, it’s unclear whether Qustodio is addressing any potential security flaws. If you don’t feel comfortable using the product, we recommend Bark, which is regularly audited and has better data security in place.
Customer service
During our Qustodio review, we discovered that this app provides good customer support for premium users.
There’s a ticketing system for email support. When we sent out a request, customer support responded promptly (within 24 hours) and provided expert advice.
Qustodio also offers a feature called Care Plus, which comes at an extra charge for the Basic plan subscription but is free with the Complete plan. Through this feature, users can arrange a call with a customer representative.
Moreover, the Qustodio website has a very in-depth and helpful support library where you can find frequently asked questions (FAQs), tutorials, and some troubleshooting tips.
We do want to note that there is no live chat feature, which is unfortunate and a definite point of improvement.
Data Privacy: How Does Qustodio Use Your Data?
The Qustodio parental control app treats your data with relative care. Our testing panel gives Qustodio an 8/10 for data privacy overall. Here’s why:
- Qustodio does not share personal data with third parties.
- Anonymous data may be provided to other service providers to enhance Qustodio’s performance.
- By contacting Qustodio, you can ask for your data to be deleted.
Privacy policy
We looked into Qustodio’s privacy policy to see how they handle user data. On the whole, it seems pretty standard, and the company assures that it treats personal data “with strict confidentiality in accordance with applicable law.”
They claim that, unless otherwise indicated, personal data will not be provided to third parties. The company is COPPA-compliant and processes the data of EU users under the GDPR.
Qustodio does claim that they may share information with specific third-party service providers when necessary. This is required for the optimal performance of the app. This happens on an “aggregated, non-identifiable basis.”
Information stored by Qustodio on their secure servers is non-identifiable; even if a server is hacked, data cannot be easily connected to a specific person.
Pro Tip:
You can contact Qustodio at any point to request access to your data and ask them to delete it if you want.
Keeping Kids Safe Online With Qustodio
If you’re looking for good parental control software, the Qustodio parental control app definitely worth a try. It is certainly among the best parental control apps you can get right now!
Optimize your family’s online security with Qustodio’s web and app filtering, screen time schedules, and activity reports. You can even monitor your child’s YouTube history and keep an eye on their calls and texts (if you so desire).
On iOS, some features are limited and require a more thorough set-up, which means Qustodio is ultimately not among the best parental control apps for iPhone.
Social media monitoring is also not as advanced as it could be. Finally, there are some unaddressed security flaws found by independent researchers that might put some parents off.
Even so, the Qustodio app does what a parental control app should do! It’s very customizable and offers accurate location updates. While it’s on the pricier side, there’s a completely free plan, as well as a 3-day free trial! All plans are covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
For more information, check out these related articles:
- Norton Family Review: Will It Keep Your Family Safe?
- Canopy Review: Is the Canopy Parental Control App Safe?
- Social Media for Kids: How to Keep it Safe and Fun
Got a question about the Qustodio app? We’ve got you covered in the FAQ section below. Click or tap on a question to see the answer.
Qustodio has a completely free plan available that offers decent features. On top of that, you can get a Basic premium plan at $54.95/year and a Complete plan at $99.95/year.
Qustodio is not very compatible with iOS devices. On top of that, there’s no in-app option for kids to request more screen time or for a website to be unblocked. Real-time alerts are a bit slow. Finally, some potential security flaws have yet to be addressed by Qustodio.
To disable Qustodio, your child will need to enter the password for the parent account. So, as long as your child does not know the password, they cannot disable or delete Qustodio from their device.
Yes, parents can monitor text messages and calls. However, social media messaging is not available.
Qustodio's iOS protection can be easily bypassed, and the company has not been transparent in informing customers about this vulnerability or providing guidance on how to address it. When I requested a refund due to Qustodio not effectively protecting my child, they declined without addressing the core issue.
We were aware of the limited features available on iOS, but will look into this particular issue during our next round of testing and adjust the review according to our results! Thank you for notifying us.