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Qustodio Review

Qustodio is a parental control app that has gained recognition from multiple review sites. To find out whether it’s any good, we tested the app to lay out all its pros and cons. Check out our in-depth Qustodio review to learn more.

Eugenie Tiu
By Eugenie Tiu (Editorial Assistant)
— Last Updated: 2025-01-30T01:18:23+00:00 Facts checked by Igor Kurtz
Key Takeaways: Qustodio Review
  • Excellent Performance: Qustodio earned stellar points for almost all of the features we tested. The only time it fell short was when it didn’t manage to identify one of the games we used. 
  • Operating Systems: Some of Qustodio’s most lovable features are available for specific devices only. Its panic button tool works only on Android devices, and its anti-tampering feature works only on iOS devices. 
  • Try for Free: You can use Qustodio’s three-day free trial to test all its features. You can also use the free version, but the features are limited and it allows you to protect only one device. 

What Is Qustodio Good For?

  • Managing your child’s online activities: Qustoido offers a wide range of well-thought-out features designed for both stay-at-home and working parents.
  • Using advanced features: Call and monitoring text messages, panic button and anti-tampering system are just some of Qustodio’s most unique offerings.
  • Flexible pricing plans: While Qustodio’s free plan is great for single-child families, its paid plans offer excellent value and are on-par with the market averages.

Qustodio is one of the best parental control apps we’ve tested here at Cloudwards. Its intuitive user interface made using it a breeze, its range of features is useful and practical for working parents, and its pricing is inexpensive compared to other child-monitoring software on the market. Keep reading this Qustodio review to see if it is the right parental app for you.

Apart from having the standard features of location tracking, screen time-monitoring, web filtering and app blocking, Qustodio is also equipped with unique tools that make it stand out from the competition. The drawback is that some of these distinctive features are available only on certain devices. 

If you’re not sure it’s the right fit, you can also take advantage of the Qustodio three-day free trial to see how it works firsthand. Qustodio even offers a free version for those who are interested in only its most basic features and for those who need to protect only one device. 

What Is Qustodio and Who Is It For?

Qustodio is a monitoring software app parents can use to keep an eye on and manage their kids’ online activities. Founded in 2012, Qustodio takes its name from the Latin word “custodia,” which means “guardian,” and reflects its mission to provide a safe digital experience for kids. At the time of writing, Qustodio claims to have six million users across 180 countries.

Like most parental control apps, Qustodio is packed with features to set time limits, block apps, filter web content and see your child’s location in real time. Unlike other tools, though, it has unique features to monitor incoming calls and text messages, get alerts when your child is in an uncomfortable situation, and be notified about their online activity via email. 

If you’re considering supervising your child’s internet habits, read our Qustodio review to decide whether its features, pricing and security mechanisms are right for you.

The Cloudwards Expert Opinion

Eugenie Tiu is a parent and a Cloudwards expert in parental control apps.

I really loved Qustodio’s email notification system, which allows you to see your child’s online activity in real time. You can also view this in the dashboard of the parent app. However, I don’t open my phone at work, so I also get updated when I check my work email.

Aside from Qustodio being very easy to install, its intuitive user interface makes it simple to navigate the tools to add web-filtering conditions. 

Its call- and text-monitoring and anti-tampering measures are other impressive features I’d like to see as standard in other parental control apps. In my opinion, Qustodio is a must-have for parents who need a well-rounded app for children of any age. 

Qustodio Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Email notifications
  • Easy setup process
  • Free version available
  • Call & text monitoring
  • Broad platform support
  • Excellent user interface

Cons:

  • No email monitoring
  • No photo or video monitoring
  • Panic button is only Android only

Qustodio Features: What Does Qustodio Do?

90 % – Excellent

Qustodio lets you manage your child’s device by monitoring their online activity, setting screen time limits, and filtering web content. Unlike many parental control apps available on the market, Qustodio also offers a rare iOS feature that enables parents to monitor calls and text messages. This makes the app a complete package for most parents. 

Powerful Web Filtering for Safe Browsing

Qustodio Web Filtering
You can choose to filter online content by category or by entering the
URL of a site you want to block, allow or link to alerts. 

With Qustodio’s content-filtering feature, users are able to choose whether to filter by category or by website. If you don’t have a strong idea of the various types of content kids could possibly be exposed to on the web, the option to filter by category is handy.

There are 19 “normal” content categories, such as educational, government, entertainment, search engine, news, sports, technology, games and travel. There are also 10 “harmful” categories, such as gambling, proxies, violence, profanity, mature content and drugs. By selecting a specific category, you can receive alerts about that content, or allow or block it. 

If you choose to filter by website, you can add website URLs and set which ones to allow, alert, block or ignore.

Daily Time Limits

Qustodio Daily Time Limits
To use Qustodio’s daily time limit feature, first select a specific day of the week, then move the slider clockwise to set the time and click “allow.” 

Setting screen time limits is as easy as it gets with Qustodio. This feature will take you to a screen with the days of the week, a circle that resembles a clock and a slider that you can rotate in 15-minute increments. Select the day of the week, set the amount of screen time you want to allow your kids and click “allow,” which is represented by a clock icon.

When the time runs out, Qustodio will automatically hide all the child’s apps (excluding the pre-installed ones). The phone is still visibly connected to the internet, but using any kind of browser, like Chrome or Safari, will not work. To increase screen time, all you need to do is click the plus sign in the screen time dashboard in the parent app to add more. 

If you want your kids to fully detox from their devices on certain days, just click the day of the week and the lock icon to block usage for that entire day. 

Location Tracking for Child Safety

Qustodio’s location tracking is enabled by default. If you want to see your child’s whereabouts, you’ll find every detail of their location on the parent app dashboard. Clicking “see locations” reveals the specific place, zip code, city and country in which they are located. 

Qustodio Location Tracking
When you enable Qustodio’s location-tracking feature, you’ll be able to see your child’s whereabouts in real time. If you want to set geofencing, click the three horizontal dots.

You can also activate Qustodio’s geofencing technology, called “family locator,” by clicking on it on the right-side panel of the app. The screen will then show you a small map pinpointing your child’s current location, as well as a location history list underneath.

On the map is a location icon with a plus sign, which Qustodio calls “my places.” Here, you can add places your child frequently visits, such as their school or a friend’s house. Select “add a new place” to enter an address and a place name. You can also set a specific distance of up to 200 meters and be notified when your child arrives in or leaves that zone. 

Call and Text Monitoring

Qustodio offers a rare feature that many parental control apps don’t have: call and text monitoring for Android and iOS. This tool provides a unique solution, but it requires a separate setup process and iOS 14 or macOS 10.15 or higher. Your phone and your child’s must also be connected to the same Wi-Fi network. 

Qustodio Call and Text monitoring
Qustodio allows parents to monitor phone calls and
text messages on the child’s device.

If you activate the feature while on the free plan, you’ll get much more limited information about the calls and messages your child receives. However, if you’re using Qustodio’s premium version, you’ll be able to monitor the following details:

  • Full content of the messages received and sent
  • Incoming and outgoing SMS messages and iMessages 
  • The time at which the call or message was received or sent
  • Incoming and outgoing calls from your child’s device (this includes app calls and messages)

Panic Button for Instant Alerts

The panic button is another tool worth including on the list of Qustodio’s impressive features. It works best if your child knows what it is and how to quickly navigate to it on their phone. Note that it is available only on Android devices. You can find the panic button on the iOS app, but it doesn’t actually work.

Qustodio Panic Button
Qustodio’s panic button is available only for Android devices.

To activate this feature on Android, go to the parent app, click “set rules” and enable the panic button. You can add other family members or guardians and set them as trusted contacts by adding their names and contact numbers.

If your child ever feels uncomfortable or unsafe in a specific place, they just need to open the child app on their phone and click the SOS button. Doing so will send alerts and notifications with your child’s location information to the trusted contacts. The alerts will stop only when the child taps on the SOS button a second time. 

YouTube Monitoring

If you often see your kids getting lost in time with YouTube Shorts and videos, you’ll love YouTube monitoring. Enabling this feature lets you see your child’s YouTube search history, the number of videos watched and the videos, Shorts and ads they’ve seen. There are even thumbnails of videos they’ve viewed. Clicking them opens the video on your YouTube app.

Qustodio YouTube Monitoring
Qustodio’s YouTube-monitoring feature worked well in our tests. It
was able to detect not only Shorts but also ads that played.

You can have Qustodio block or set limits on your child’s YouTube activity by clicking “set rules” in the parent app. Just click “block” to instantly cut off YouTube access; alternatively, you can click “set limits,” which takes you to a screen time dial (the same dial shown in “daily time limits”), where you can adjust the amount of time your child can use the app. 

Qustodio Features Overview

Features
Core Features
Screen Time Management
App Filtering
Website Filtering
Content Filtering (SafeSearch)
Location Tracking
Geofencing
Call & Text Monitoring
YouTube Monitoring
Reporting
Advanced Features
Social Media Monitoring
Web History Monitoring
App Usage Monitoring
Online Purchase Control
Alert Button
Device Tampering Protection
Device & Internet Usage Controls
Driving Safety
Device Support
Android
iOS
Mac
Windows
Web Browser
Customer Support
Live Chat
Email
Pricing
Free Version Available
Free Trial

User-Friendliness & Hands-On Testing

100 % – Excellent

Qustodio’s parental control software is organized in a simple, modern and clean user interface. From installing the parental app to setting app and web activity rules, there’s hardly anything to complain about. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, and the icons are labeled and visually appealing.

How to Install Qustodio

To use Qustodio, you first need to download the parent app on your phone or on your computer, and then create an account. You can also sign up using Qustodio’s web portal. 

You also need to create a child profile and indicate the type of device your child uses. After that, you need to follow the instructions shown on the parent app.

For this guide, we’re using the iOS version of Qustodio’s parent app.

  1. Download the Parent App on Your Phone

    Head to the app store, type in “Qustodio Parental Control App” and download the app. The parent app is colored green and the kids app is purple.

    Qustodio Parent App in App Store
  2. Sign Up for an Account

    Enter your details, read the terms of service and the privacy policy, click the checkbox if you agree to the details and click “sign up.” Once you have the parent app ready, the next section will help you set it up.

    Qustodio Sign Up
  3. Download Kids App Qustodio on Your Child’s Device

    On your child’s device, go to the app store and search for “Kids App Qustodio” (it should be colored purple). Then, sign in with your parent login credentials.

    Kids App Qustodio
  4. Follow the Prompts

    Click “protect this device” and enable Qustodio to allow notifications.

    Protect this device
  5. Install the MDM Qustodio Profile

    MDM, short for “mobile device management,” is a type of software you need to install on your child’s phone, as it enables you to remotely control their devices. To install it on your child’s device, follow the instructions from Qustodio in the child app: Go to your child’s phone’s settings, tap “general,” enter your phone’s passcode and then select “Qustodio profile configuration.” Click “download.”

    Qustodio MDM Profile
  6. Start Using Qustodio

    Once you’ve successfully installed Qustodio’s MDM profile on your child’s phone, Qustodio will show you a message that the setup is “all done.” You can then start setting rules on the parent app. Your child’s profile on the parent app should show up as “active.”

    Complete Qustodio Child App Installation

Configuring Preferences and Controls

Setting rules on the parent app is very easy. Qustodio has made its interface so clean and modern that you can figure out how to set screen time limits or location tracking in just a few minutes. For this example, we’ll show you how to use and set rules on its game- and social media-monitoring tool. 

  1. Select the Child Profile

    Select the child profile for which you want to configure rules. Under the child’s name, the word “active” should appear. Click on it to see the main dashboard, which will show that Qustodio is active, the type of device being protected and the list of online activities your child has been participating in.

    Select child's profile
  2. Go to the “Set Rules” Page

    On the bottom-right side of the main dashboard, click the green filter icon and tap “set rules.” Doing so will show you the list of features Qustodio can protect.

    Qustodio features
  3. Click “Games & Apps”

    Click the feature for which you want to set rules, and follow the instructions. Tapping on “games & apps” will first show you an empty page and a message saying that Qustodio will automatically list the games and apps it detects are being used. Wait for the apps to show up. Then, you can block them or set limits on how much your child can use them.

    Choose the feature

Qustodio Pricing: How Much Does Qustodio Cost?

80 % – Good

Qustodio costs $99.95 per year if you want to protect unlimited devices. The price is worth it for the value you get, as the tools function smoothly and show promising performance. There is a cheaper plan that costs $54.95 per year — about the same as other parental control apps on the market — but it has fewer features and protects only up to five devices.

Plan:Free PlanBasicComplete
Price$0.00$54.95 per year$99.95 per year
Devices1510
Web Filtering
Daily Time Limits
Pause the Internet
Location Tracking
Web Filtering
App Blocking
YouTube Monitor
Call & Text Monitor
App Download Alerts

If you decide you don’t like the service, Qustodio has a 30-day money-back guarantee. Note that its refund procedure varies depending on whether you purchase a plan via the Qustodio website or via an app store. 

Key Differences Between the Free and Paid Plans

In terms of the features you can access, the free plan is very limited. With it, you get safe search, web filtering, screen time limits and seven-day access reports. The free plan works well if you have only one child to protect, but let’s face it — many of these features come built-in on some Android and iOS devices.

Extra Premium Features Unlocked in Paid Plans

Subscribing to the basic plan for $54.95 per year (roughly $4.58 a month) unlocks access to location-tracking and app-blocking tools, and increases the device limit to five. To protect unlimited devices, you need to spend $8.33 per month to get all the advanced features, such as call and text monitoring, custom routines and custom alert features.

Qustodio Security & Privacy: Is Qustodio Safe?

80 % – Good

Qustodio is a safe app for both parents and children to use. When it comes to security, it equips iOS devices with anti-tampering mechanisms to ensure kids can’t just uninstall the app whenever they want. Qustodio needs to work on equipping Android devices with anti-tampering measures as well, though.

In terms of privacy, Qustodio collects some personal data from its users. However, since it’s GDPR- and CCPA-compliant, you can send an email to request that your data be removed. 

Security Protections to Prevent Tampering

You can remove the Qustodio app from your child’s phone by signing in to the kids app, tapping “remove Qustodio” and entering the phone’s passcode. Qustodio has an extra anti-tampering measure to prevent your child from removing the app. This security feature is available only on iOS devices, though, and they need to be running on iOS 15 or later. 

To enable this extra protection, you need to download software called Qustodio Advance for Windows or Mac, log in and install it on your child’s phone via a cable. After you’ve successfully installed Qustodio Advance on your child’s phone, you’ll need to follow a few more steps to properly activate it. 

If your child tries to remove Qustodio, you’ll receive an alert on the dashboard in your parent app as well as in your email notifying you of the activity. You’ll be able to activate this feature even with the free version of the parental control app. 

Privacy Policies for Data Collection and Usage

Like many other online services, Qustodio collects data when you sign up for an account. This data includes information such as your first name, last name and email, which are all mandatory when you create an account. Qustodio also obtains your computer’s IP address and the type of browser you’re using.

If you’re monitoring an iOS device, you’ll need to install an MDM profile. The third-party services Qustodio works with will not share data such as the user’s online behavior, online content or the types of applications or programs used. These external services may include your internet service provider, AWS, Mailchimp or PayPal, among others.

Though it’s understandable that companies collect some data for the purposes of enhancing their services, Qustodio’s privacy policy gets more tricky when it comes to its data retention guidelines. It states that the company will retain your personal data as long as you have an active subscription and for five years after that for administrative and/or legal purposes.

The silver lining is that Qustodio is GDPR- and CCPA-compliant, so you can send an email to [email protected] to exercise your privacy rights. You can request to access or erase your personal data, or object to your data being processed for marketing purposes. You can even file a complaint with Spain’s Data Protection Agency if you feel Qustodio is violating any data privacy laws.

How Qustodio Stacks Up Against Competitors

Qustodio Parental Control boasts a diverse selection of valuable features that aren’t overly intrusive. You can use its powerful web-filtering feature to block any inappropriate sites or rely on its impressive YouTube-monitoring tool to see the types of Shorts and ads your child encounters.

Whenever your child participates in an activity on their phone, Qustodio doesn’t just notify you on the parent app; you also get updates in your email. This, plus Qustodio’s anti-tampering security tool, are particularly useful features for working parents that Net Nanny fails to include in their package. Learn more in our Net Nanny review.

The majority of Qustodio’s parental control features worked flawlessly during our testing, but there are some minor details we hope will improve. For example, when we downloaded two games from the app store and tried to play each one for five minutes, Qustodio managed to detect only one of the games. It failed to notify the parents about the other one. 

In addition, some of its features are limited to just one type of device. The panic button is for Android devices only, and the anti-tampering protection feature is for iOS devices only (not on the Android app). It’s also somewhat inconvenient to carry out an extra setup process to activate the call- and text-monitoring feature. 

However, these are minor aspects that can easily be overlooked, as the pros outweigh the cons, especially compared to other parental control apps. 

Qustodio vs Norton Family

The Qustodio and Norton Family parental control apps have a highly organized and sleek interface. However, though Norton Family is a few dollars cheaper than Qustodio’s Basic plan, it also offers fewer monitoring and protection features.

If you’re looking to build solid online protection for your entire family, including yourself, Norton 360 Deluxe may be the better choice. It includes Norton Family parental control, a VPN, antivirus protection and a password manager. Protecting five devices costs $49.99 the first year, and protecting 10 devices costs $99.99 the first year. 

Qustodio Parental Control App Review Conclusion: Is It Right for Your Family?

Qustodio is the right parental control software for your family if you need a comprehensive solution to gain an overview of your child’s online activity. You can use it to protect them from harmful content, block any apps they find addictive or simply help them strike a good balance between time spent on studying vs amusement. 

There is a three-day free trial if you want to experience Qustodio’s powerful set of features at work. Qustodio also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’ve used it and decided that it’s not the right tool for you. There’s also the free plan, but the features are limited and you can’t test it on multiple devices, like your kids’ devices.  

Do you think you’ll use Qustodio after reading this review? Which key features of Qustodio do you find most appealing? Are there any other parental apps you would like us to review? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks for reading! 

FAQ: Qustodio App 

  • Qustodio’s parental control tools performed excellently in our tests. It also has an intuitive user interface that left a very good impression on our overall experience.

  • Qustodio Basic costs $4.58 per month and allows protection for up to five devices but has limited features. For $8.33 per month, you can protect unlimited devices and access all of its features.

  • Some of Qustodio’s best features work only on specific devices. Its panic button feature works on Android only, and its anti-tampering feature works only on iOS.

  • A child can disable Qustodio if you missed some steps in the setup process or if they know your phone, Google Play store or Apple app store passwords. If you’re planning to protect iOS devices, activate the anti-tampering feature to ensure your child won’t be able to remove the app without you knowing.

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