Here at MMGuardian, we believe our app is by far the best parental control app available to parents who want to protect their children and have peace of mind. In this review, we will provide you with an honest comparison of the premium features available between MMGuardian and Qustodio for Androids and iPhones.
Note: The features available depend on the child’s device. The parent’s device does not make a difference.
Message monitoring
Android– MMGuardian allows parents to view all of their child’s SMS text messages, as well as chat messages from popular social media messaging apps such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and more. Qustodio’s app on the Play Store does not report SMS messages so you have to download the app directly from them to do so. Neither version of Qustodio monitors social media/messaging app messages. However, it does also offer monitoring for Facebook so that you can see status updates, pictures, friends, and more (but not messages).
iPhone– MMGuardian allows parents to view all of their child’s SMS and iMessage text messages, as well as chat messages from popular social media messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Qustodio offers SMS and iMessage monitoring for iPhones but does not provide monitoring for any other messaging apps.
Alerts
Android– MMGuardian provides AI-powered alerts about concerning topics detected in the child’s messages and internet browsing such as contact with predators, cyberbullying, suicidal thoughts, inappropriate pictures, and much more. Qustodio provides alerts for browsing, not messages. MMGuardian also offers a large number of other alerts (such as apps being downloaded, adding new contacts, contacts being changed, the device being powered off, etc).
iPhone– MMGuardian provides AI-powered alerts about concerning topics detected in the child’s messages and internet browsing such as contact with predators, cyberbullying, suicidal thoughts, inappropriate pictures, and much more. Qustodio only provides alerts for browsing.
Anti-tamper
Android– MMGuardian has patented anti-tamper technology to prevent children from bypassing it. The developers frequently release updates to address any new loopholes that are introduced from phone updates. Parents can also download a version of MMGuardian directly from the company instead of the Play Store which can even block the child from using safe mode to bypass or remove the app. Qustodio has basic removal prevention such as requiring a password to uninstall the app, but anti-tampering capabilities are limited, and there is no way to stop children from using safe mode to get around the app. This review goes into detail about how the reviewer’s children were easily able to bypass Qustodio.
iPhone– Due to Apple’s restrictions, parents will need to use the iPhone’s native Screen Time controls (found in the child’s phone’s Settings) to prevent the child from uninstalling both MMGuardian and Qustodio.
Web Filter
Android– Both apps allow parents to view their child’s browsing history and block or allow websites based on categories or specific URLs. They can also both monitor most browsers, including incognito modes. Qustodio gives parents to block incognito mode if they desire. Qustodio also has a “safe search” option which parents can enable to limit search results and remove potentially inappropriate content. MMGuardian will automatically block any searches that result in inappropriate content.
iPhone– MMGuardian requires the parent to install the MMGuardian app which will act as a web browser. Parents will need to be sure no other browsers are installed and can disable disable the App Store and Safari on the child’s device to ensure they do not have access to another browser. Qustodio is capable of filtering and monitoring Safari and Google Chrome. Both apps also allow parents to view browsing history and to block websites individually or based on categories. Qustodio also has a “safe search” option which parents can enable to limit search results and remove potentially inappropriate content. MMGuardian will automatically block any searches that result in inappropriate content.
Location
Android– Both apps allow parents to retrieve their child’s location on demand and view their current and past locations on a map. MMGuardian also allows parents to create schedules during which their child’s location will be retrieved automatically, and Qustodio allows you to set regular intervals for your child’s location to be retrieved. Qustodio also recently introduced its Your Places feature that uses geofencing to notify you if your child leaves a preset location. MMGuardian used to have a geofencing feature, but it was removed due to the imprecise nature of GPS hardware on phones rendering it not very effective from our experiences.
iPhone– Only MMGuardian provides on demand location retrieval for parents. Both apps allow parents to view their child’s location history.
App Blocking
Android– Both apps allow parents to block or allow specific apps and view their child’s app usage statistics. MMGuardian will alert parents to new app downloads and allow parents to view the install/uninstall history of apps vs Qustodio which does not and also does not show new apps listed unless they are opened on the child’s device. MMGuardian allows parents to create groups of apps that they can assign daily time limits or block schedules, offering a lot of flexibility. Qustodio allows parents to assign daily limits to individual apps. MMGuardian also provides parents with the ability to set any apps that are downloaded (from any source) to be blocked automatically so that their child can’t use them until the parent manually unblocks them.
iPhone– MMGuardian allows parents to disable all downloaded apps, either according to a schedule or on demand. You are not able to disable apps individually. You can also set restrictions on apps based on age. Qustodio allows parents to disable internet for individual apps, but children can still open and use them if they don’t require internet. Qustodio can also only disable internet on a specific list of apps which you can find on their website. Qustodio also reports app usage on those apps and a few additional apps which it cannot block.
Phone locking
Android– Both apps allow parents to lock the phone completely, only allowing the child to contact the admins or emergency contacts. This can be done manually for a set amount of time or according to schedules. Qustodio also offers this function once a child has reached a set amount of screen time, and it allows parents to do a less restrictive lockdown which will block all apps except essentials such as calendar, home screen, calculator, etc.
iPhone– Neither app offers a way to completely lock the phone down due to Apple’s restrictions. Qustodio does offer time limits for web browsing.
Contact blocking
Android– MMGuardian allows parents to control who their child is able to communicate with. Parents can create a list of contacts to either allow (and all others will be blocked) or block (and all others will be allowed). All texts to and from blocked contacts will be blocked. Blocking calls will depend on the operating system on the child’s device. If it’s Android 9, you’ll need to download the app directly from us to block calls instead of the Play Store. For Android 10+ phones, only incoming calls can be blocked.
Qustodio’s app on the Play Store does not offer contact blocking of any kind, so you’ll need to download the app directly from them to access this feature. Qustodio allows users to block all contacts and then add exceptions.
iPhone– Due to Apple’s restrictions, neither app offers contact blocking features.
Pricing
MMGuardian offers a 14 day free trial, and Qustodio offers a 3 day free trial. We highly recommend trying both apps out to see which will work best for you!
MMGuardian Pricing
Qustodio Pricing
Thank you for taking the time to read our article. I hope you found it helpful, and if you have any questions about MMGuardian, feel free to reach out to us at support@mmguardian.com.
For informational videos about MMGuardian, click here.
You can also check our MMGuardian vs AT&T Secure Family article to make the best decision about which parental control app is the most suitable for you and your child.