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Bark Reviews

Bark Reviews

By Richard C. Richard C. — Verified by Sander D. Sander D. — Last updated: February 7, 2025 — User reviews (4)
Overall
4/5
(4)
Features
(4)
Price
(4)
Customer service
Pros
  • Thorough app and social media monitoring
  • Comprehensive content filter
  • Reliable AI technology
  • Customer service
  • Unlimited users
Cons
  • No live chat support
  • Flags false positives
Table of contents

Bark is a cleverly named solution that acts as a watchdog for your children’s social media activities, protecting them from all the online dangers that kids face in the digital age. Founded in 2015 in Georgia, the company received a great amount of media coverage in the U.S. – and for good reasons. Detecting over a hundred sexual predators and many potential acts of violence in American schools, Bark is one of the most comprehensive parent control tools on the market. It keeps an eye on text messages and covers over 30 popular apps and social media platforms. The service goes beyond just analyzing keywords. It uses artificial intelligence and statistical techniques to study context and give parents warning signs of cyberbullying, depression, drug use, and a host of other issues that are a huge concern for families. The best part is that you can take advantage of the 7-day free trial to test out Bark’s services and see if it fits your needs.

Up to 42% off Bark
Opt for an annual plan and save up to 42% on Bark's exceptional parental control software. You can block and filter content as low as $4.09 per month.
Save 42% on Bark
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Features

Features
Profile limitsUnlimited
Number of devicesUnlimited
Content filter
Website blocker
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Bark is a comprehensive parental control app: it supervises your child’s online activity, monitors their social media interactions, and raises red flags for any concerns it detects. Parents can create an unlimited number of profiles across many devices, meaning it safeguards the entire family. After setting up profiles and registering the devices that your kids use, you can manage your child’s screen time by creating schedules that limit access to certain apps and websites at specific times of the day. Another helpful feature is website filtering, which provides parents the power to restrict access to potentially harmful websites 24/7.

Bark sends alerts via text or email about any concerning issues, and it even checks deleted messages. It’s not restrictive to text either as the AI analyzes audio files, images, and text from pictures. Moreover, Bark covers email servers, file hosting services, incognito browsing, and more. As no parental control tool is perfect, Bark occasionally flags content as false positives, resulting in parents seeing questionable content without context. Fortunately, this is easily resolved by adjusting the sensitivity level of the content filter.

It’s also important to mention that Bark goes out of its way to help parents approaching their kids about online security. When the platform flags harmful content, it sends parents recommendations from childcare professionals on how to react and the best way to discuss the matter with their children. Same goes with music, where the app provides recommendations on how to discuss inappropriate music with their kids.

Social media

Platform support
Web app
Mobile optimized
macOS
Linux
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Bark‘s main selling point is its ability to monitor a vast array of social media accounts. It covers all the popular social media outlets where children spend most of their time, such as Snapchat and TikTok – but that’s just scratching the surface. Other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Discord, Kik, and WhatsApp are also covered. Bark shows children’s online activity in its dashboard, which gives insights on app usage, screen time, and location history. The company aims to keep children safe by using advanced AI, which crawls through children’s online activity around the clock looking for potential threats.

Spotify music monitoring

Children express themselves through music and understanding what they listen to not only allows you to keep tabs on them but also gives you a sense of how they are feeling. Spotify, the popular music streaming platform, lacks features that prevent children from accessing mature content. Thankfully, Bark monitors Spotify for issues like suicidal ideation, threats of violence, and more. Instead of parents spending hours on end going through various playlists and looking up song lyrics, the service analyses the title and lyrics of a song and notifies parents when it identifies any harmful music.

Device support

Mobile
Location tracking
Geofencing
App blocker
Call monitoring
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Bark’s mobile app runs on Android, iOS, Chromebook, and Amazon Fire tablets. While there is no exclusive app for Windows or macOS monitoring, Bark does have a dedicated browser extension that monitors a child’s browsing history and web searches, even when using incognito mode. Although it’s not possible to monitor texts and photos on iOS via the Bark Kids App due to Apple’s strict security, parents can enable iOS monitoring by completing a one-time setup. It’s only a matter of downloading the desktop app and plugging the child’s device to a Mac or Windows computer, and voila – Bark will analyze the device and forward copies of messages and photos to parents throughout the day.

It’s possible to set up location sharing on iOS and Android devices to automatically receive alerts when their kids arrive or leave a specific location. There’s also a check-in feature wherein a kid manually taps a button on the child app to confirm where they are. If necessary, parents can also send a request for their kids to check in.

Another option is getting Bark Phone – a black Samsung Galaxy A14 that operates with the Android 13, which comes Bark app built right into its system, giving the phone more robust parental control than just a regular cell with Bark installed.

Pricing

Bark gives customers two product tiers to choose from: the entry-level, Bark Jr., and the feature-packed Bark Premium. Both subscriptions are available on a monthly or yearly basis. The cheapest plan comes with basic features to protect your loved ones and costs $4.09 per month on a yearly subscription, saving users up to 42% off.

The more popular subscription, Bark Premium, comes with a host of features and costs $8.25 per month with an annual plan. It’s best suited towards users who want full control over the monitoring of their child’s online activity. The plan provides text messages, emails, and content monitoring, as well as alerts for potential threats in real time.

Bark Jr.
$4.09
Unlimited profiles
Unlimited devices
Screen time management
Website filtering
Location sharing
–
–
Bark Premium
$8.25
Unlimited profiles
Unlimited devices
Screen time management
Website filtering
Location sharing
Content monitoring
Alerts for potential threats

Bark also offers a free 7-day trial, though users will need to add their credit card details to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA). If you need more time to test out the service, you can contact the company by filling out an online form on its website. It should be noted that Bark doesn’t provide refunds, so it’s best to make the most of the trial before subscribing.

Payment options
Visa
Mastercard
American Express
Discover
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Customer service

Customer support
24/7
Live chat
Email
Phone
Show all

Bark has excellent customer service agents that guide users through the time-consuming installation process. Support is available via a chatbot, where you can leave your details for an agent to get back to you. Although the support team is not available 24/7, Bark has online forms for users to email questions directly.

The company’s website contains helpful guides and an extensive FAQ section, which tells you everything you need to know about the app and its features. Bark also hosts a large active group on Facebook, meaning you can get support and talk with other parents in similar situations. Moreover, everyone has access to the Bark blog, which provides news about app updates and informative articles about parenting life in the digital age.

Bottom line

Bark is a must-have for those who want total coverage of how their child interacts online. Its comprehensive content monitoring across more than 30 apps and social media platforms is second-to-none. In addition, Bark’s advanced AI does an incredible job of finding any potential issues over images, videos, and more. Features like Spotify monitoring and location sharing on Android and iOS apps allow parents to keep tabs on their children at all times. Thanks to Bark, managing your child’s screen time and restricting access to specific websites and apps couldn’t be easier. Despite the occasional false positive, Bark is still considered a comprehensive parental control monitoring tool. Although the company doesn’t offer refunds, there is a free 7-day trial to test out the service risk-free. After that, getting a paid subscription costs as little as $4.09 per month.

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User reviews

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    Ann Ann
    We got Bark and the text alerts shortly after we starting using it were a true life saver. My son was depressed and searching ways to harm himself and Bark alerted us. We had no idea and are so thankful we had installed it when we did. He is doing much better now but we will use Bark until he is older to be safe.
    Overall
    Features
    Price
    Customer service
    1. Daniel (Best Reviews Team) Daniel (Best Reviews Team)
      Hi Ann, and thanks for your comment. We're thrilled to hear about your experience with Bark and that your son is doing much better. It's truly a life-saving tool that protects children from harmful content on the internet. Have a nice day!
    Linda M. Linda M.
    I’ve used Bark on my kid’s devices for 3 years now and I can’t imagine parenting without it. I no longer have to take the phones physically away and read through hours’ worth of texts, open each app, and stress my relationship with my teens. Instead, I’m able to receive alerts and decide which alerts I need to address and which I don’t. I also really appreciate the recommended actions that come with the alerts and the conversation starters, trends, and parent group — I’ve learned so much about my kid’s experience (it’s so different than ours was) and how to support them through it!
    Overall
    Features
    Price
    Customer service
    1. Daniel (Best Reviews Team) Daniel (Best Reviews Team)
      Hello Linda, and thank you for your comment! We're happy to hear about your experience with Bark. Indeed, it's a great way to keep your kids safe without losing so much time going over everything yourself. Have a nice day!
    No comments with that rating.

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