Electronic gadgets and digital platforms seem to have become a normal part of everyone’s routine, especially teenagers. Of course, we can’t deny the fact that technology plays a big role in making our lives more efficient and productive in various aspects. In all of its forms, technological innovation is a game-changer. We must not overlook the possible risks and dangers that come with such innovations and enhancements.
The virtual world is a deep and vast venue with advantages and disadvantages, benefits and risks, opportunities and challenges – all at the same time. If one’s not careful enough, they could very well easily fall victim to certain cyber dangers while enjoying the freedom offered by the digital world. So, the key to keeping safe, secure, and private online is taking conscious efforts on your end – ensuring safety nets are in place, security protocols are followed, precautionary measures are taken, or any other possible means of protection. You could also utilize third-party apps like monitoring tools. Since these programs provide remote real-time monitoring access, it would be easier for you to identify and address issues. Let’s see in this Qustodio review if this is one of the many tools you could trust and rely on.
What Is Qustodio?
Qustodio is a paid cross-platform spying software designed to work well with Android, Kindle, Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS devices. This program has been specifically created for child security and protection. It’s meant to steer children away from online predators, regulate a kid’s phone use, filter the content young audiences get to access to, create a well-balanced real-world and virtual-world social life of teens, and various other safety and security guarantees.
This all-in-one phone tracker app lets parents and guardians remotely track GPS locations, phone diagnostics, Google Chrome searches, Safari web history, social media activities, and so much more. When navigating to their official website, focusing solely on the promises and guarantees being showcased, Qustodio seems like software worth its price. Unfortunately, after initiating a series of tests, it doesn’t provide great value for your money. And several online Qustodio reviews would surely agree.
By theory, the solutions and opportunities Qustodio offers are quite promising. Our digital experts think their algorithms can’t quite catch up. There seems to be much room for improvement with its back-end programming. While the codes used are kind of impressive and intuitive, these aren’t perfected yet like other premium spy apps. Unlike Auto Forward, per se, we’ve seen various signs of loopholes and vulnerabilities in Qustodio.
Pros and Cons of Qustodio
To give you a clearer picture of what Qustodio has to offer, here’s an overview of what we’ve discovered after initiating an in-depth review of this parental control app.
- Pros:
- Offers a free version/trial.
- Compatible with various devices, including Kindle, Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS.
- Cross-platform monitoring tool.
- Real-time GPS tracking.
- Built-in panic button.
- Screen time limit feature.
- Cons:
- Very expensive.
- Easily traced and detected.
- Limited social media app access.
- Annoying pop-ups, alerts, and notifications.
- Web, content, and app filters aren’t fool-proofed.
- Confusing interface especially to less tech-savvy users.
- Frequent latencies and crashes.
- Long queues on customer support.
Qustodio Features
The Qustodio family portal aims to be a powerful all-in-one tool capable of granting remote real-time access to parents, making child monitoring a bit easier. To start utilizing the parental controls and monitoring features of Qustodio, you only need to follow a few steps indicated on their site or the confirmation email once you’ve subscribed. Heads up though, successfully completing the installation steps or even accessing the Qustodio login page isn’t as straightforward and smooth as advertised.
Nevertheless, once you’ve fully activated the software, you can enjoy the features included in the plan you’ve availed of. Here are some features you could look forward to.
- Phone Use Regulator – Set screen time limits which could prevent addiction and promote better sleep routines. If the child being monitored is tech-savvy, this setting could be easily bypassed.
- Recording Functionalities – Recording of activity logs like chat conversations, phone calls, text messages, and video calls.
- Tracking Tools – Track GPS locations letting you know your kid’s whereabouts. There are instances, however, where the fed coordinates are miles away from the actual location of the monitored device.
- Filter Features – IFilter mature, explicit, and age-inappropriate content. While testing the software though, it seems the filters aren’t always functional.
- Monitoring Capacity – Utilize basic monitoring features capable of capturing phone activities, both online and offline.
Qustodio Pricing
Another downside of the Qustodio phone tracking app is that it’s unreasonably expensive. Unlike other apps to monitor kids’ phones offering one-time payments, you’ll have to pay for recurring fees (billed annually though). Plus, taking into consideration the reliability of the included features, it just doesn’t provide great value for your money.
Here are the available plans you can choose from.
- Free Version – Free; monitor 1 device
- Small Plan – $54.95 annual fee; monitor up to 5 devices
- Medium Plan – $96.95 annual fee; monitor up to 10 devices
- Large Plan – $137.95 annual fee; monitor up to 15 devices
Auto Forward vs. Qustodio: Which Is Better?

Qustodio proposes great solutions, making it a good tracking app for kids. Unfortunately, there are certain inconsistencies and loopholes to its programming algorithms and codes resulting in unreliable and inaccurate outputs.
If you’re looking for a phone monitoring app packed with monitoring features and parental controls, then you might want to try Auto Forward. This software has been providing efficient monitoring and tracking services for almost a decade now. With the convenience and assurance it offers, this is trusted by millions of users across the globe.
Auto Forward is designed to work well with all versions of Android and iOS. It’s capable of recording online and offline activities, providing exact copies of information. Aside from extracting currently available files, it can also retrieve lost, stolen, or deleted data. The Auto Forward web-based control panel is also very easy to use despite the complexity of the codes used. Above all, you get to enjoy the available features and tools for a one-time payment only – no extra fees, no additional charges.