Qustodio is another excellent multi-platform parental control software. Installation is straightforward and the interface is clean. Qustodio has an exciting range of features that pretty much puts it at the top of the tree in this area.
The geofencing feature is useful if you have a child who is a bit too keen on adventure. This feature allows you to draw out a boundary on a map, and if your child leaves that boundary, then you’ll receive a notification. It’s the kind of above-and-beyond feature that makes Qustodio arguably the best parental control and monitoring software on the market.
Geofencing is particularly useful if you live near some sketchy areas or construction sites where your danger-prone child may like to explore. It’s not just a circular radius from your home but a customizable boundary, meaning that you can target particularly risky areas. Unfortunately, Qustodio’s geofencing doesn’t work on iOS devices, but it’s part of the app’s strong parental controls for Android.
Another unique feature of Qustodio is the panic button feature, which allows your child to send out a signal to selected adults if they find themselves in some form of danger. This bonus feature extends beyond internet monitoring; in fact, it’s more of a physical child protection feature than anything else. We love the fact that Qustodio is not only possibly the best free software for parental control for internet access, but also offers real-life protection in the physical world.
Qustodio comes with a free version, as well as a paid version. The free version is competent, but you’ll only get access to one device. Monitoring, time restrictions, social media checks, and safe web filtering are included in the free package, which is a truly generous offer, and much more than we’d expect for free.
We recommend that you try the free version. It’s a good way to decide whether this really is the best parental control software for kids. If you like it, you can subscribe to the paid plan so you can protect multiple children across many devices. Or, if you only have one child and are only interested in protecting their primary device, then you can save yourself some money by sticking to the free plan.
Of course, the most advanced features come with the paid versions of the software. You’ll get control over apps and games, location tracking, the panic button feature for Android, calls and SMS monitoring for Android, and advanced Facebook monitoring. It’s a wonderful package, and in our opinion it’s the best multi-platform parental control software out there, particularly if your child has an Android phone so you can make use of all the features.
Pricing is reasonably high, starting at $54.95 per year for five devices, $96.95 for 10 devices, and $137.95 for 15. If you don’t worry about the price and focus on what the subscription offers, you’ll see that Qustodio has the most varied set of features of any parental control software we’ve reviewed. On top of that, the whole range of features is included in all the paid packages.