Best Free Parental Control Software For Mac

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02 August 2021

  • Mobicip is a pioneer in the parental control software space, having put in more than a decade of work in making the internet safe for our children. Supporting platforms – Windows, iOS, Android, Mac OS X, Kindle, and Chromebook. Blocking and Filtering – Allows to filter and block search phrases, apps and websites.
  • Safe internet browsing for your kids free parental control for windows 7 windows 8.1 windows 10 mac os.web protection: http://www1.k9webprotection.com/getk9.
  • Qustodio Parental Control for Mac. Qustodio parental control software for Mac will ensure that your kid is safe online. The parents can easily restrict the time and data usage of their kids on the target Mac or block apps or games and keep track of their kid's online activity. Features: Added compatibility with OS X EI Capitan.

A Mac can be a great educational tool for children. They can learn to type, create artwork, and more. Plus it’ll give them access to a practically unlimited source of knowledge: the internet.
But kids need to be monitored when using technology. For a start, too much screen time can be harmful to children, so it’s important to limit how much they sit in front of their computer, no matter what they’re doing on it.
You also need to make sure they can’t access any material that’s inappropriate for them. That could mean setting up child profiles for them in services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
But it’s the wider internet that’s an even bigger problem. It’s far too easy for kids to stumble on an adult or harmful content, or to pick up malware if allowed to surf the web freely. And that’s where parental control software comes in. Although macOS has some built-in protections, dedicated parental control apps give parents more features and abilities to protect their kids online.

Five of the Best Parental Control Software for Mac

Aug 05, 2021 Free Mac Parental Control Software Mac computers have inbuilt parental controls, which you can set by following some simple steps. However, a grown child can maneuver through the settings and can be able to disable them within a few minutes, and that is why third-party parental control software comes into play.


If you want to further customize your child’s online experience, or if you’d just prefer an additional layer of security above-and-beyond the built-in Mac controls, you can always choose a third-party option. In no particular order here we are five of the best 3rd party options to keep your family safe online:

Here’s the list of the best parental control apps:

  • Qustodiofor all-round control
  • KasperskySafe Kids for well-priced protection
  • Spyrix Activity Monitoringfor real-time monitoring
  • Kidlogger for free screen grabbing
  • FamiSafefor no-nonsense controls

Qustodio is a multi-platform parental control app not just for macOS but also Windows and mobile devices. Once installed, it runs in the background, putting an icon in the menu bar (although this can be hidden), but it’s configured entirely through the online Qustodio Family Portal. Conveniently, it will immediately apply some fundamental filters and controls.
The free version enables you to set time limits and restricted times for device use. And you also get the standard web filtering feature, which enables you to block certain website categories, while also being able to add exceptions.


In the Family Portal, you can see your child’s activity for the day, the week, the last 15 days or the last 30 days. This includes apps they’ve used and the websites they’ve visited. It’s all clearly laid out, so it’s easy to get a good picture of what your child has been doing with their devices.
To get the most from Qustodio, though, you need to sign up for a paid subscription. That gives you access to features like individual app blocking and limiting, calling and SMS control, location tracking and Panic Button, which lets your kids quickly send alerts to trusted contacts.
Pros: Covers multiple devices, clear user interface in portal, daily email reports
Cons: Free version is very limited
Number of devices: Five, 10 or 15, depending on plan
Platforms: macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Kindle, Chromebook
Price: Free, or from $53.95 per year for family plans
Download: Available here

Kaspersky is, of course, well known for its range of antivirus apps. But it almost makes this capable parental control app as well.
Installing Kaspersky Safe Kids is easy, and during the setup process, you’ll be able to add kids and create macOS accounts for them at the same time. Linking their Mac account with the Safe Kids profile is simple, so there’s no confusion about which goes with which.

Similar to other parental control apps, Kaspersky Safe Kids is managed via an online portal. There, you can manage your kids’ screen time, view their location and see what they’ve been doing on their Mac — including apps opened and websites visited.
From the portal, it’s straightforward to limit website categories. You can also opt to get notifications if your child searches for anything that’s covered by one of the restricted themes.


The summary screen offers a digest of all your child’s activity for today, the past seven days or the last 30 days. It’s not as visual as something like Qustodia, but it’s a reasonably clear way to access your child’s Mac usage data anyway.
If you’re using the free version, you’ll miss out on some important features, like limiting computer and application time, as well as GPS tracking. But you can trial the premium version anyway, to see if it’s worth it for you.
Pros: Easy to set up users and accounts, intuitive user portal, week-long free trial
Cons: Lack of visual reports, no time limiting in free version

Number of devices: Unlimited

Platforms: macOS, Windows, iOS, Android


Price: Free, or from $14.99 per year for family plans


Download: available here

With a name like Spyrix, it should come as no surprise that this app focuses mainly on surveillance. Not only can it record your children’s app use and internet activity, it also has a built-in keylogger, so you can record everything your kids type.
On top of that, it captures screenshots, and you can even watch your kids’ on-screen and webcam activity via the web portal. It can record audio from microphones, and it can also be used to take control of the computer.


But despite being a spying app, Spyrix also offers website blocking. You can block by category, URL or based on keywords. This side of the app doesn’t match up to other, more straightforward parental control apps, but it’s good to have it there.

If you want to watch what your kids are up to, and you’re okay with the potentially shady ethics of spying on them, Spyrix will do the trick. Interestingly, as well as three-month and annual subscriptions, you can buy a one-week subscription as well. It’s not cheap, but it’s great if you want to use the app short term.


Pros: Multiple ways to monitor kids, short-term license available, live monitoring

Cons: Mac only

Number of devices: Up to 500

Platforms: macOS

Price: From $9.99 to $29.99

Download: available here

As its name suggests, Kidlogger doesn’t so much control what kids do on their Mac as track it and report back to you. It records all their activity on macOS, Windows and Android devices, which you can then view on Kidlogger’s online portal.


Kidlogger tracks a wide range of activities, including what apps your kids used, what website they visited, and who they communicated with. Kidlogger will also take photos from their device camera and screenshots, at intervals you set. Plus you can record keystrokes, so you can read everything they’ve typed too.

The majority of these features require a paid subscription, though: either Standard or Premium. The free version gives you the screenshot and photo features. And can track websites visited.
Kidlogger isn’t as easy to use or set up as apps like Kaspersky Safe Kids and Qustodio. But it does focus on one thing in particular, and if you have the need for it, then it’s worth considering.
But you might also want to think carefully before spying on your kids too much, especially teenagers. If you invade their privacy, it could backfire, so we’d say use Kidlogger with care, if you’re going to use it at all.

Pros: A wide range of tracking features, free version takes screenshots, password protection on app

Cons: Invasive of child privacy, difficult to set up and use

Number of devices: Five or 10, depending on plan

Platforms: macOS, Windows, Android

Price: Free, or from $9 every three months

Download:available here

Wondershare FamiSafe has all the key features you might want from a parental control app. That includes web filtering, app blocking, screen and app time management, and GPS location. And it offers activity reporting and parental alerts.

It’s all managed through a clear, well-laid-out web interface, which makes it easy to check what your kids are doing and to prevent them from accessing inappropriate content. As with other parental control apps, you can block online content based on themes, like ‘Weapons’ and ‘Violence’, simply with a toggle in the portal.

There isn’t a free version, but you can try out FamiSafe for free. This is just about good enough to see what it’s capable of, but it’s marred by constant, bugging pop-ups suggesting you upgrade. Aside from that, it’s clear FamiSafe is a decent parental control app.

Pros: Multi-platform

Cons: Monthly plan is expensive

Platforms: available for macOS, Windows, Android, iOS and Kindle Fire

Number of devices: from 5 to 10

Price: $59.99 for an annual subscription, $9.99 for a monthly one

Download:available here

What to Look For in Parental Control Apps


When you’re looking for a parental control app for your Mac, here are the main things to consider:

  • Blocking or monitoring features. Many apps have both, but others, like Kidlogger and Spyrix focus mainly on monitoring and spying. If you don’t just want to monitor your kids, something like Qustodio or FamiSafe will enable you to prevent your kids from accessing inappropriate content.
  • Time management. If you’re concerned about your kids spending too much time on their computer or with certain apps, look for a parental control solution that enables you to manage that.
  • Multi-platform support. There’s no point controlling what your kids do with one device if they can just get around it on a different device. Consider which devices you need to control before buying a subscription to an app.
  • Analytics and visualizations. Some parental control apps enable you to see graphs representing your children’s app and internet use. These can help you to quickly get a picture of how they’re using their Mac and other devices.

The Bottom Line


Parental control apps can be fantastic in many ways, but it’s important to remember that they aren’t a direct replacement for actively monitoring children’s time online.
It’s also important that you educate your kids. Discuss what’s a healthy amount of screen time, and why they need to be careful when online. In combination with these apps, you can make sure your children are able to get the most from their Mac without putting themselves in harm’s way.
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FAQ


Can kids avoid parental controls?


No system is perfect, so it’s always possible your children might find a way to turn off or get around parental control software. But most apps have password protections to stop that from happening. In most cases, your parental control solution will work exactly as expected.


Do parental control apps stop all inappropriate content?


Unfortunately, there’s always a chance that something might slip through the filters. Parental control apps will catch the vast majority of inappropriate content, but you should always be mindful of what they’re viewing. And you should make sure to look at any reports or alerts your parental control app sends you.

Can you just rely on the built-in macOS controls?


Possibly. It really depends on which features you need, and that depends on the age of your children and how responsible they are. But dedicated third-party apps offer more powerful features and more control.

With easy access to computer and smart devices, children nowadays tend to spend lots of time online, which is beneficial of course. The internet can be their best tool to learn and know more about the world. However, at the same time, the overuse of computer and exposure to inappropriate websites or content can harm. This is one of the reasons why we need parental control software. In this article, you will find the best software for parental control on Mac. The featured parental control Mac software is excellent in terms of website filtering, app blocking as well as ease of use.

What Makes A Good Parental Control App?

Filter Website

Websites or pages contain gambling, adult and other inappropriate contents are within easy reach for all internet users. Kids should undoubtedly be kept away from them. Another type of websites are actually awesome rather than harmful, but they are so addictive that children are likely to spend loads of time on them. Some of the sites are Facebook, Reddit, etc. An excellent parental control app for Mac should do a good job of keeping children away from questionable content and limiting their access to websites they are addicted to.

Lock Apps

In addition to a browser, children may also spend a lot of time on Mac apps such as social media apps and game apps. Parental control Mac software should enable parents to block or limit app usage on Mac.

Ease of Use

A good Parental Control Mac app should be easy to install, set up and customize. Good software is supposed to make things easy.

Easy, instant access to inappropriate websites and overuse of computer can be harmful for children, both mentally and physically. Spending too much time viewing a screen can cause eye discomfort and poor eyesight. With Mac OS X parental control software, parents can help their children to use Mac properly and safely.

Control

Best Parental Control Mac App

Cisdem AppCrypt can block websites and lock apps on Mac with high reliability and efficiency. Cisdem AppCrypt can block any website and lock any app on your Mac from unauthorized users and allows users to set block or lock session. Users can create one universal password to unblock websites and unlocked apps and set global shortcut keys to quickly hide or reveal main window. In addition, the app also keeps track of failed attempts with detailed reports. Let’s see how it works.

Download and install Cisdem AppCrypt which comes with a simple and very user-friendly interface. When you use this parental control Mac app for the first time, you will be asked to set a password which is used to access AppCrypt and to unblock blocked websites and Mac apps. Don’t forget the password since you have no way to retrieve it once you forget.

Lock Apps

Click the “+” button to add app(s) that you want to block. The blocked apps will be listed in the left column. Each time you try to open them, AppCrypt will ask you for the password.

Best Free Parental Control Software For Mac Computer

If you don’t want to block an app anymore, just select the app and click the “-” button to remove it from the list.

To lock an app for a specific period of time, just find the gear icon at the top of the panel and click the inverted triangle icon to choose Preferences. Then you can set the schedule as you like.

Block Websites

To use the parental control Mac app to block specific websites on Mac, click the “WebBlock” tab. Select the “Blacklist - Block all websites above” option and click “+” to add website(s) that you don’t want your children to visit to the blacklist. If one tries to visit any of the blocked website, AppCrypt will redirect it to a safe page saying that the site is blocked.

Free Parental Control Software Cnet

To unblock websites, just select them and click the “-” to remove them from the blacklist.

Other Parental Control Mac Software

ContentBarrier

ContentBarrier can block specific websites on Mac so that parents can control over what their children can read and watch online. It allows users to block websites by various categories such as gambling, drugs, racism, etc. However, the app doesn’t allow users to edit the keywords and websites of each category. Only the developer of the software can update the lists. Unlike Cisdem AppCrypt which allows users to make specific time schedule for different websites, this tool only limits the overall internet time. Using this Mac OS X parental control tool, you can control how long your children can spend online on certain days.

Best Free Parental Control Software For Mac Os

K9 Web Protection

This parental control Mac app can prevent users from visiting certain websites that contain unwanted content. Breaking down websites into more than 60 categories, the app commonly blocks websites falling into categories like adult, drugs, gambling, etc. Originally created to prevent employees from surfing the internet at work, this app can do a good job keeping children away from the bad stuff online.

Conclusion

Best Free Parental Control Software For Mac Air

The above mentioned parental control Mac software apps are excellent in content filtering or app managing or both. Cisdem AppCrypt is a great choice for website filtering and app locking on Mac. It’s easy to use and customize with great flexibility. Instead of limiting your children’s internet time in general, you can use this tool to prevent them from accessing certain websites and apps between specific time period. For example, you can limit their game time to one hour but allow them to visit educational websites for two hours. Welcome to share your thoughts and opinions on this article in the comment section below.