Qustodio Parental Control App Review 2022: Protect Your Kids Online

Hey there, tech-savvy parents! As a mom who‘s passionate about raising kids in our digital world, I know how challenging it can be to keep tabs on what our children are doing online. While the internet offers amazing learning and social opportunities, it‘s also rife with potential dangers – from cyberbullying to adult content to online predators.

That‘s where parental control apps like Qustodio come in. Founded in 2012, this popular software helps families supervise kids‘ digital activity across all devices. I tested it out myself and scoured hundreds of user reviews to bring you this in-depth guide. Let‘s dive into exactly how Qustodio works, what features it offers, and whether it‘s the right fit for your family.

What Is Qustodio?

In a nutshell, Qustodio is a parental control app that lets you monitor and manage your kids‘ screen time, web browsing, social media, calls/texts, and physical location. The goal is to protect children from online threats while still allowing them age-appropriate digital freedom.

You install Qustodio on your kid‘s devices and manage everything from your own parent app. It‘s compatible with all the major operating systems, including:

• Android
• iOS
• Kindle
• Windows
• Mac
• Chromebook

So whether your family has an iPhone, iPad, Android tablet, PC, or a mix, Qustodio has you covered. The company now has over 4 million users across 180+ countries!

Key Qustodio Features

What exactly can you do with Qustodio to safeguard your kids and encourage healthy digital habits? Here‘s a roundup of the top features:

Web Filtering & Monitoring

Through the parent app, you can choose which websites your kids can access on their devices. Qustodio uses 60 preset categories (like Adult Content, Gambling, Mature, Social Media, etc.) to make setup quick and easy. You can also manually block or allow specific URLs.

I love that you can create different filter settings based on each kid‘s age and maturity level. For example, you may ban all social networks for your 10-year-old while allowing limited, supervised access for your teen.

The detailed web activity reports show you every site your child visits, complete with screenshots. This visibility is so valuable for starting conversations about smart surfing!

App Blocking

Similarly, you can restrict access to any apps you deem inappropriate via the App Blocking feature. Qustodio will detect all the apps installed on your kid‘s device and let you block or set time limits as needed.

For example, if your elementary schooler is addicted to Minecraft, you could limit play to 1 hour per day only after they finish homework. Or if you don‘t want your tween using Snapchat at all, you can block it entirely.

Time Limits & Scheduling

Qustodio makes it easy to combat excessive screen time, which has been linked to everything from poor sleep to behavior issues. You can set a total daily time limit (say 2 hours) that applies across all your child‘s devices.

I find the scheduling tools super helpful too. You can allow screen time only during specific hours, like between 4-8 pm on weekdays. The app also lets you set a device bedtime, after which everything locks until morning – no more 2 am YouTube scrolling!

If your kid uses up their daily limit, Qustodio can either lock down their device entirely or just block internet access. You get notified and can grant bonus time as needed.

Texts & Calls Monitoring

Worried about who your kid is talking to? Qustodio tracks all calls and texts on Android devices. You can view contacts and full conversations in the parent app. It even flags suspicious interactions based on keywords related to bullying, sexting, drugs/alcohol, etc.

The app also lets you block any phone numbers you don‘t want contacting your child, like a bully or stranger. Just note that SMS/call monitoring isn‘t currently available on iOS due to Apple restrictions.

Family Locator

Qustodio‘s GPS tracking shows you exactly where your kids‘ devices are at any given time on a map. You can even get alerts when they enter or leave designated areas, like school or home. No more wondering if they really went to their friend‘s house!

In an emergency, kids can also activate an SOS button to send their location to trusted contacts. While I fortunately never needed this, I can imagine it offers huge peace of mind to parents of more independent middle and high schoolers.

YouTube Monitoring

With 80% of parents letting kids 11 and under watch YouTube, this is a standout feature. Qustodio Premium users can track all viewed videos and search history on the site. You can also set a YouTube time limit and restrict channels as needed.

Pricing

While there‘s a limited free version, most families will want to upgrade to one of Qustodio‘s paid plans for full functionality. Your options are:

• Small Plan: Protects 5 devices for $54.95/year
• Medium Plan: Protects 10 devices for $96.95/year
• Large Plan: Protects 15 devices for $137.95/year

All plans come with a 30 day money-back guarantee. You can also often find Qustodio discount codes or seasonal promos to save 10-20%.

Ease of Use

No one wants a parental control app that takes a PhD to figure out. Fortunately, Qustodio is extremely user-friendly. The interface is clean and intuitive, with all features clearly organized.

Installation took only about 5 minutes per device in my testing. Then it was just a matter of choosing my kids‘ names, ages, and any filter preferences. You can change all the settings anytime right in the parent app.

I also appreciate the helpful onboarding tips and video tutorials Qustodio provides. There‘s a detailed support section for troubleshooting too.

The only slight downside is that applying some of the more advanced settings (like call/text alerts) can be a bit complicated. But overall, this is one of the most straightforward parental control apps I‘ve tried.

Customer Support

Need help with your account or have a billing question? Qustodio offers several easy ways to get in touch with the customer service team:

• Help Center with FAQs, guides, and tutorials
• Live chat on the website
• Email support
• Phone support (only for Premium users)

When I tested the live chat, I got a friendly and knowledgeable agent within a couple minutes. The company also has very active and responsive social media pages.

The biggest complaint I saw in my research was around cancellation issues. Some users said they had trouble getting ahold of support to end their subscription. So just make sure to contact them in advance of your renewal date if you decide to cancel.

Qustodio Pros and Cons

Let‘s recap the major pros and cons of Qustodio. While no parental control app is 100% perfect, I found Qustodio‘s strengths far outweighed the negatives.

Pros:

• Comprehensive monitoring across all your kids‘ devices
• Highly customizable filtering, blocking, and scheduling tools
• Intuitive apps for both parents and kids
• Helpful extras like SOS alerts and breach detections
• Compatible with all major devices/platforms
• Responsive customer support
• Transparent privacy policy
• Generous 30 day free trial

Cons:

• No call/text monitoring on iOS
• Some very tech-savvy kids may find ways around it
• Expensive for large families
• Reported issues with cancellation process
• Slightly clunky geofencing compared to competitors

How Does Qustodio Compare to Other Parental Control Apps?

When it comes to monitoring kids‘ devices, parents have several options. Here‘s a quick look at how Qustodio stacks up against some other popular apps I‘ve tried:

Qustodio vs Bark

Bark offers many similar features to Qustodio, with a couple key differences. Bark focuses more heavily on monitoring social media, email, and texts for signs of issues like cyberbullying, self-harm, and suicidal ideation. It uses AI to detect potential problems and alert parents.

However, Bark lacks some of Qustodio‘s time management and internet filtering features. It also can‘t block specific apps or websites. Since I‘m more interested in setting screen limits than analyzing every message, I prefer Qustodio.

Qustodio vs Net Nanny

Net Nanny is one of the oldest and most trusted parental control apps. Like Qustodio, its core features include web filtering, time scheduling, and app blocking.

One standout is the profanity masking tool to hide curse words – helpful if you have little ones using your devices!

I found Net Nanny just slightly less user-friendly than Qustodio. It also lacks a couple of the location tracking tools and detailed reporting.

Qustodio vs FamilyTime

FamilyTime is a lesser known but capable parental control option. Its feature set is very similar to Qustodio, with tools for limiting screen time, blocking adult content, tracking kids‘ locations, and monitoring texts.

One unique feature is FamilyTime‘s driving reports to see teen‘s speed and route history. It also offers a broader selection of geotracking options than Qustodio (though I found them a bit glitchy in testing).

Overall, FamilyTime is slightly cheaper than Qustodio but has more mixed user reviews. Most complaints center around technical issues. The apps also feel a little less polished.

What Qustodio Customers Are Saying

Of course, you don‘t have to just take my word for it. Qustodio has thousands of mostly positive reviews across sites like Trustpilot, Sitejabber, Google Play, and the App store. Here are a few highlights:

"Qustodio basically saved my daughter from some very sketchy people and websites when she first got her phone. The reporting is excellent and it‘s mostly very easy to use. 100% recommend for peace of mind!" – Anna, Google Play

"I love being able to set time limits for specific apps, it‘s helped a lot with my son‘s Roblox obsession. Also the location tracking for when he walks home from school is super handy." – Jenna, Trustpilot

"Great app, horrible cancellation process. Impossible to reach a human to stop the auto-renew and they just keep charging." – Anonymous, Sitejabber

The most consistent praises were for the customizable filtering, user-friendly apps, and detailed monitoring capabilities. The main complaints were around difficulty cancelling and some teens finding loopholes.

Is Qustodio the Best Parental Control App?

As a busy mom, I need a parental control solution that‘s effective, easy to use, and works on all my kids‘ many devices. After thorough testing, I can confidently say Qustodio checks all those boxes.

While no technology is foolproof, Qustodio provides such valuable peace of mind. I love that I can easily set age-appropriate limits, keep tabs on online activity, and start important conversations about digital safety. Compared with other apps I‘ve tried, Qustodio strikes the best balance of features and simplicity.

If you have younger kids just starting their digital journey, I highly recommend starting with the free version. It‘s amazing how much control you get at no cost! Most families with tweens/teens will want to upgrade to Premium to unlock the full feature set.

The main things to be aware of are the lack of iOS call/text monitoring, potential tech-savvy teen workarounds, and reported cancellation challenges. Make sure you don‘t need SMS tracking on Apple devices and keep an eye on your subscription.

But overall, Qustodio is a fantastic tool to help your family enjoy technology‘s benefits while minimizing the risks. With such a generous free trial, you really have nothing to lose by trying it! I hope this in-depth review helped you decide if it‘s the right fit to protect your kids online.