What this actually costs. Including the free options.

Pricing in this category is deliberately hard to compare: per-device tiers, annual-only discounts that don't apply monthly, and features moved between tiers. Here's how to work out what you'd actually pay.

Start here: the genuinely free options

Before paying anything, check whether these cover you.

• Apple Screen Time — free, built into every Apple device. Downtime, app limits, communication limits, allowlist web filtering, purchase approval.
• Google Family Link — free. Best-in-class screen time controls for Android, weak content filtering, ends at 13.
• Microsoft Family Safety — free. Windows and Xbox time limits, Edge web filtering.
• Filtering DNS at your router — free from several public resolvers. Covers every device on your home network.
• Defenras Free — one device, full content filtering, PIN-locked, no expiry, no card.

A realistic free stack — built-in OS controls plus filtering DNS at the router — costs nothing and covers a substantial share of what most families need. Set that up first.

Where the free stack runs out

You need to pay when you need one of these, and not before:

1. Coverage past age 13 that your child can't end
2. Filtering on cellular data, not just home Wi-Fi
3. Cross-platform from one dashboard
4. Content categories beyond adult — gambling, vaping, scams, self-harm, anonymous chat
5. Per-app blocking with a parent PIN
6. Different rules per child

The pricing traps

1. Per-device pricing

A price that looks reasonable for one device multiplies. Three children with a phone and a tablet each is six devices. Always check the device cap on the tier you're comparing.

2. Annual-only headline prices

The advertised figure is usually the annual plan divided by twelve. The actual monthly price is frequently 40–60% higher. Compare annual to annual.

3. First-year discounts

Heavy introductory discounts that renew at full price. Check the renewal rate, not the sign-up rate, and set a calendar reminder before it renews.

4. Features that move tiers

What's in the mid tier this year may be in the top tier next year. Check current tier contents rather than a review written eighteen months ago.

5. Auto-renewal with an awkward cancellation

Subscribe through the App Store or Play Store where you can and cancellation is one screen. Subscribing on a website sometimes means an email request and a wait.

6. "Free" that isn't

A 7-day trial is a trial. A view-only tier with no blocking is a demo. Check whether the free tier actually blocks anything.

Working out your real number

1. Count the devices. Every phone, tablet, and laptop your children actually use — including the old one in a drawer they still pick up.
2. List what you need, from the six-item list above. Be honest — most families need two or three, not all six.
3. Check the free stack first. If it covers your list, stop.
4. Price the annual plan for your device count, at the renewal rate.
5. Check the free tier of whatever you're considering, and start there before paying.

The cheapest thing that works

For most families, honestly: built-in OS controls for time limits, filtering DNS at the router, and a paid on-device filter only on the phones of children old enough to be out of the house with them. That's usually one or two paid devices, not six — and it's the configuration that covers the actual risk rather than the one that maximises the invoice.