If you’re a parent of a teen or a kid then the thought of safeguarding your child would have certainly dropped in your mind.
Securing your kid with a monitoring app is another thought that you would have gone through. But when you finally decide to go for a spying app and search for the best one, this is where the mind starts boggling.
Qustodio supports all Windows laptops and desktops running Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 and superior. Qustodio is a software company designed to provide advanced parental controls, allowing parents to be aware of what their children are exposed to on the internet. With so many devices in each household these days, it can be hard for parents to manage this task.
The list of apps showing themselves as unbeatable is never-ending. This is where you need someone like us, who is an expert in the spying world.
If you have searched the internet and looked for the best parental control apps designed to monitor the kids, reading about FamiSafe and Qustodio is not a big deal.
But you only need one of them to monitor your kids. So which one you should go to – FamiSafe or Qustodio? Well, let’s compare both the parental control apps in this article today and see who takes the final trophy.
FamiSafe Vs Qustodio
The comparison between both the tracking apps has been made after a rigorous use of both of them. You can have a look at their detailed reviews by us for further information about the two apps.
Comparison List
We are making the comparison of several features and other important things which certainly counts to make a parental control app stand alone in the crowd.
All these factors have been covered to finally decide which app takes the win. So let’s start and compare these factors thoroughly.
1. Pricing
Everything else matters afterward, the pricing is the first thing that lures the customer to either go for the app or either kick it out of its list.
FamiSafe
FamiSafe is one of the cheapest monitoring apps for the kids especially when you compare the price to its amazing features. The tracking app gives you 3 different plans.
MONTHLY plan which costs $9.99/month with connectivity to 5 devices. The QUARTERLY plan will cost you $6.66/month, and ANNUAL plan for $4.99/month.
Interested buyers can take 3 days free trial and make a final decision that FamiSafe is good for the kid safety or not.
Qustodio
Qustodio is no less than FamiSafe, be it the features or the less pricing of the app. You can monitor the teens by hardly spending anything.
The SMALL plan of Qustodio is for $54.95/year with connectivity to 5 devices. The medium plan can be accessed by spending $96.95/year with connectivity to 10 devices, and the LARGE plan with connectivity to 15 devices can be accessed by spending $137.95/year.
On top of that, Qustodio has a free trial with access to all the premium features for 3 days. If you don’t want the premium features, you can use Qustodio for free with all basic features handy.
Who Wins?
The pricing of both apps is genuine. But still, Qustodio takes the win. The reason is that you get to use the free version of the app. Free use and free trial are hardly given by any app in the market.
2. Setup
Monitoring apps are meant to extract data from the target device. And full control of the kid’s smartphone is given remotely to the parents and that’s not something that can be done by a normal app.
Due to this reason, the tracking apps take enormous permissions from the target device in the case of Android phones.
This is the case with both Qustodio and FamiSafe. Both the apps demand plenty of permissions as well as physical access to the target device while setting up the app.
Who Takes The Win?
It’s a tie. The time that will be taken to completely install and set up the app is almost the same. That said, it takes around 10-15 minutes to set up a parental control app completely.
3. Screen Time
Parents usually get concerned about the time their kids spend on the phone or on some particular app.
This habit of using the phone or some particular app for hours can be problematic in the future. It can lead to the addiction to the smartphone or may cause some physical or mental problems like joint pain, weak eyesight, anxiety, stress, etc.
So it’s your duty to keep a check on the time spent by your kids on their phone with Screen Time feature of the spying apps.
FamiSafe
FamiSafe understands that screen time is an important feature to keep the child in control.
This is the reason that the app gives access to the screen time of the target device for the present day as well as the cumulative screen time of 30 days.
Getting the record of 30 days can be really helpful and you can set the limit for the cellphone usage based on that data.
Qustodio
Qustodio also reveals the total screen time spent by the kid on the smartphone. The data for the time spent on the apps individually is available in percentage.
But this feature didn’t work up to our expectations and the screen time showed by Qustodio was too inaccurate.
Who Takes The Win?
No doubt that FamiSafe is the winner this time. First of all, unlike Qustodio the total screen time is available for the present day, 7 days, 15 days, and 30 days in FamiSafe.
Secondly, the time shown by Qustodio is completely inaccurate, which gives an upper hand to FamiSafe.
4. Web Filtering
It’s gonna be really terrible for you if someday you caught your kid watching adult content on the internet like pornography, gambling, drugs, etc.
But you can secure your kids from these sensitive websites by blocking them in the first place.
Now, even if the child tries to access these sites manually, they won’t be able to do so. Both Qustodio and FamiSafe provides the settings that filter and deliver only the content that is safe for the kids.
FamiSafe
The app is supposed to detect inappropriate content automatically and stop it from appearing on the teen’s smartphone.
But this feature of FamiSafe wasn’t that accurate as it should have been.
We tested the web filtering feature of FamiSafe ourselves. The app was just able to detect and block those adult websites that included an inappropriate name in their domain name.
Qustodio
We expect the same from Qustodio that the app filters the content before presenting it before the child. The app stands on our expectations completely.
Qustodio was able to detect the explicit content on its own no matter the website consisted of the inappropriate name in the domain or not.
Is there any particular website that you don’t your child to access? If yes, then simply include the link to that website in the exception list.
Qustodio won’t allow the child to open that site at all.
Who Takes The Win?
The explanations given above are enough to tell that Qustodio gives a better web filtering service than FamiSafe.
FamiSafe also gives an option to add exceptions. But blocking the sites by automatically detecting the unsafe one is where the app lacks.
5. Number Of Devices
If you have more than one kid than as a parent, it’s your duty to keep not just one but all your kids safe.
Or if you live in a joint family with quite a number of kids then also you need an offer that monitors all the little ones with less money spent.
For that, you need to choose an app that supports more number of devices in a single plan.
FamiSafe
As we have told in the pricing section, FamiSafe offers 3 different plans to its users. The number of devices that FamiSafe supports differ according to the plan.
The monthly plan supports 5 devices per FamiSafe account, Quarterly plan supports up to 10 devices, and the annual plan can let you connect 30 devices to a single FamiSafe account.
Qustodio
Qustodio also has 3 different plans for its users. Based on these plans the number of devices that Qustodio supports also differs.
The small plan supports 5 devices with one account, the medium plan supports 10 devices and the large plan supports 15 devices at a time.
Who Takes The Win?
As we can see, FamiSafe gives more device connection with its annual plan. For the first two plans both the apps support the same number of devices.
So it’s clear that FamiSafe wins here.
6. App Blocking
Apps like PUBG, Call Of Duty Mobile, and Instagram are too much addictive. People use these apps continuously for hours without even realizing that it is such a waste of time.
This mostly happens with tweens and teens. Parents need to make sure that their kid is not walking on the same path of addiction that most of the kids of their age are walking on.
FamiSafe
This concern of the parents for their kids insisted FamiSafe to add an app blocker feature.
All the apps that you think are hampering their studies and wasting the kid’s time can be blocked with a single click.
If the child needs to open the blocked app immediately, they can send you a request which can be seen in the notification center.
Qustodio
The feature to block the unnecessary or addictive apps is given by Qustodio as well.
Just like FamiSafe, Qustodio stops the app from opening the moment you toggle on the button in front of the app.
The same button needs to be toggled off to let the kid get back the access to the app.
There’s no use of keeping the app blocked forever. Time needs to be set for which the kid should be given access to the app.
Qustodio makes it possible and you can easily set the time for the use of a particular app. Right after that time elapses, the app becomes inaccessible.
Who Takes The Win?
The app blocking feature of both the apps works perfectly. The block gets implemented right after you click the button, so we can say that it’s a tie.
7. Compatibility
One can only utilize a monitoring app if the operating system of the kid’s device supports it. If the device doesn’t support the app it doesn’t matter how good monitoring service you own, you won’t be able to relish it.
So we can say that the compatibility of the device is the most important thing in order to secure the kid with a tracking app.
FamiSafe
Android and iOS are the most common operating system in the market today and FamiSafe works amazingly with both of them.
Windows PC and macOS system of the child cannot be secured with FamiSafe.
Qustodio
Qustodio provides its service for Android and iOS as well but this is not the end. The computer and laptops can act as a companion and help the child fulfill their wrong deeds.
This is no more a concern as the Qustodio app secures the Windows PC and macOS system of the child. Security to the Kindle devices, iPod touch, and iPad is given as well.
Who Takes The Win?
Keeping the number of operating systems in mind there’s no doubt Qustodio secures its position above FamiSafe.
There is hardly any monitoring app service available that provides compatibility with Kindle, iPod touch, and iPad.
8. Location Tracking And Geofencing
Not letting the kids go outside can make them lethargic and develop an annoying behavior in them. But letting them go out and explore the new things can put them in danger which is totally unacceptable.
They might go somewhere they are not supposed to or maybe they can get lost. So what to do now?
Why do you think location tracking and geofencing features are given in the tracking app? To keep a track of the kids by monitoring their location and giving a sigh of relief to the parents.
FamiSafe
FamiSafe gives both location tracking and geofencing features. Both of them work as you expect them to work.
FamiSafe continuously reads the location of the target device and shows it on the parent’s device.
A market place in the city with all the cars and trucks running on the roads is highly dangerous for the child.
Every parent wants their kids to stay in the vicinity, but it’s impossible to always track their location by watching the screen continuously.
The geofencing feature makes your work easy and notifies you whenever the teen leaves the area set by you. The minimum area that can be set is 100 meters and the maximum can be 1000 meters.
Qustodio
Qustodio sends the current location of the target device every few minutes which can be seen in the activity timeline. But you can’t personally check the location when you feel like it.
Talking about the geofencing, this feature is not at all present in the Qustodio app.
Who Takes The Win?
Both location tracking and geofencing features are present in FamiSafe, and both of them work well.
But Qustodio’s location tracking is quite inferior to FamiSafe and the geofencing is not present at all. This is enough to state that FamiSafe wins here.
Qustodio Family Portal
Qustodio Vs FamiSafe: Who Takes The Final Trophy?
Both the apps work perfectly and do their job as expected from them. There’s an imperceptible difference in their working but as we have to choose any one of them, I’ll recommend FamiSafe.
The app provides other amazing features as well like, detection of suspicious photos, alerts on the use of adult words, etc.
But this doesn’t mean that you can’t go for Qustodio. Features of Qustodio like web filtering work far better than FamiSafe.
Similarly, if you want to secure the computer device, iPod, or iPad of your little one, Qustodio is the best option for you.
Extended reporting
Receive a full 30 day breakdown of your child's activity directly in your inbox on a daily or weekly basis.
Block pornography
Qustodio’s real-time internet filter blocks inappropriate content even in private browsing mode.
Balance Screen Time
Easily set a time schedule or limits for how much internet time is allowed each day.
Control Games & Apps
Set time limits for games & apps or block apps you don’t want from running altogether.
YouTube Monitoring
See what your child searches for and watches on the YouTube Android app and YouTube website. Android, Windows, and Mac devices only.
View Social Network Activity
Qustodio Support
Monitor time spent on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and more.
Track Calls & SMS for Android
See who your child calls and texts most, read SMS, and set a list of blocked contacts. Android devices only.
Family Locator
Find your child on the map and know where they have been. Available for Android and iOS only. Discover more
Panic Button for Android
Qustodio Reviews
Add an SOS button to your child's Android smartphone that will send you location-based alerts if there's trouble.
Qustodio App
* Calls and SMS monitoring and Panic Button are Android-only features. Location tracking is available only for Android and iOS.