Ever fancy having a collection of software to help you tackle photo editing, page design, and vector illustrations all under one roof? Well that’s what CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2025 is all about.

It's part graphic design software, part photo editor, and one of the most comprehensive alternatives to Adobe Photoshop around. We tried out the latest version to see how it compares to rivals.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2025: Pricing & plans

• The Corel suite is cheaper than a lot of the competition, and on top of that, you also have the option of purchasing a licence, if you prefer that over subscribing. The 15-day trial is also welcome

We know it’s been six years since the momentous occasion, but it’s worth mentioning often: after a 20-year absence from the field, Corel finally made its professional apps compatible once more with the Mac in 2019, and version 2025 is no exception: whether you own a Windows or Mac computer, you can download this suite and test it out free for 15 days by clicking here.

After the trial is up, you’ll need to open your wallet, although unlike companies like Adobe, Corel offers you a choice: a one-time purchase for $549 / £659, or an annual plan, where you pay $22.42 / £26.58 each month (which means a one-time purchase is roughly equivalent to two years of rental, but without any possibility of upgrades, and the loss of some additional features which we’ll explore below).

This price includes PHOTO-PAINT (a Photoshop equivalent) and DRAW (an Illustrator equivalent). Quickly checking the competition, you’ll find subscribing to those two Adobe apps would cost you around twice as much ($45.98 / £45.96), so right there Corel’s offering is a pretty good deal. But what can you do with the suite?

• Score: 4/5

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2025: The suite

• 6 apps, but really only 2 major ones, comprise this suite. The online service is a good addition but it’s only for subscribers, and why couldn’t they include ‘Capture’ with the Mac version, or at least reduce the Mac’s price since it doesn’t include all the apps that are part of the Windows suite?

This Graphic Suite comes with a host of creative apps. The main one, the one the suite borrows its name from, is CorelDRAW. This is a vector illustration and page layout program. If you’re familiar with Adobe Illustrator, it’s similar. CorelDRAW comes with PowerTRACE, which is an AI-powered bitmap-to-vector tracing tool, and is a massive time saver (as all good time-saving AI tools should be).

Next is Corel PHOTO-PAINT, which is Corel’s Photoshop equivalent. With it, you can edit images and create pixel-based projects. Corel Font Manager is an alternative to your computer’s default font management tool which we found fun and easy to use, and also gives you direct access to over 1,000 Google fonts.

CorelDRAW Web, is a browser-based service that lets you create projects online, wherever you may be. There is one drawback to it, mind: it’s only available to customers who subscribe to the suite. Those who opted to purchase their licence are sadly out of that loop.

And finally, there’s Capture, a screen capture tool which is sadly Windows only. Even though Mac users pay the same price for the suite, they end up with 5/6th of what Windows users get. Be that as it way, we’ll take a brief look at the two main apps, PHOTO-PAINT and DRAW.

The integration between all apps in the suite allows for the sharing of numerous features, including Pantone Dualities, which bring powerful colour management between all apps in the suite, designers and printers, through industry recognised palettes.

• Score: 4/5

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2025: Corel PHOTO-PAINT

• We found this image compositing program to be very competent, with tools similar to its competition, even if its way of working is different and will necessitate a bit of a learning curve if you’re used to the way other apps do things

One of the two main apps of this suite is PHOTO-PAINT, which is designed to be as welcoming as it can be. OK, you must sign in (or create an account) before you can use it, but once you’re in, you’ll be greeted with a welcome page offering you numerous online tutorials to help you understand which features are available and how you can make use of them.

Even when you open a file, you’ll find a ‘Learn’ sidebar on the right to guide you through any creative process, but if you don’t need this, just close it to get on with your work.

If you’re familiar with other image compositing tools, it won’t take you long to acquaint yourself with PHOTO-PAINT as the concept is pretty much the same: you have tools in a sidebar on one side, with an inspector sidebar on the other, and contextual parameters above.

You’re offered a range of tools to retouch or enhance an image, and of course create one from scratch. If you’re used to Photoshop or other tools that borrow easily from that program’s interface, you will quickly feel comfortable in PHOTO-PAINT, although there are enough differences to impose a learning curve on you. Still, for most of the basics, you’ll find yourself up and running in no time. All the tools you’d expect are there, from drawing and painting, to selecting, colour correction, filters and effects.

We did find it taxed our computer’s CPU the longer we experimented with it though, forcing us to quickly relaunch the program to resolve the issue - something we haven’t encountered with other image compositing software. Still, it could be because we were using an oldish Mac (a 2019 Intel Core i9 MacBook Pro with 64GB of RAM), but we thought it worth mentioning nonetheless.

• Score: 4/5

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2025: CorelDRAW

• CoreDRAW is an impressive vector-based drawing package with powerful tools, which seamlessly combine bitmap drawings and photos with resolution independent vectors

When you launch CorelDRAW, you’ll be graced with a very similar welcome page to PHOTO-PAINT, along with tutorials and a ‘Learn’ section when you’re in the app proper. This family resemblance extends to file formats, as CorelDRAW can open PHOTO-PAINT documents. The reverse is not as seamless, as the DRAW files need to be converted; DRAW can handle bitmap content just as well as vector ones in its files.

CorelDRAW is a program designed to work with vectors, essentially resolution independent art, represented by mathematical equations. You have at your disposal powerful tools and brushes to design complex artwork which will look sharp and crisp at any resolution. Perhaps the most impressive tool we explored is PowerTRACE, which is fully embedded within CorelDRAW itself.

Its purpose is to convert a bitmap image (i.e. any photo, or any drawing created in PHOTO-PAINT, Photoshop or similar), into a vector equivalent. Depending on your image’s complexity and your computer’s power, it may take a few seconds for the action to complete, but we were highly impressed by the results. We chose particularly complex images, and the output was truly excellent.

Other impressive tools are the Painterly brushes, which allow you to replicate realistic brush strokes inside CorelDRAW: it’s a pixel-based brush tool that’s controlled by vector curves, combining the best of both worlds when it comes to design and illustration. This means you get great detail and effects, which are easily scalable with zero resolution issues. CorelDRAW comes with hundreds of preset brushes but if you feel the urge to own more, there's an online store which you can access via the Welcome screen, where you can purchase additional packs. Also, as yet another incentive to get you to subscribe rather than buy, you’re given a further 100.

A further bonus for subscribers is CorelDRAW Web, which allows you to perform quick edits to projects directly from a compatible web browser, from any machine. You can upload existing work and carry on with this online, or bring projects you started in the browser to further refine in CorelDRAW itself. It’s a very nice touch, and it’s pretty amazing what you can achieve from within a web browser these days - for those who don’t mind renting their software, that is.

• Score: 4.5/5

Should I buy CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2025

Buy it if...

You’re looking for an affordable design suite that allows you to work with bitmap pixel-based images, and vectors, work online when you need to, gain access to Google fonts, and even record your screen (PCs only)

Don't buy it if...

All you want is to draw a little and don’t wish to feel overwhelmed with a powerful set of tools with far too many features, and you don’t like that those who buy get fewer features compared to those who subscribe.

When it comes to professional video editing, the first software that likely comes to mind would be Adobe Premiere Pro; some might come up with Avid Media Composer; Mac users would probably point to Final Cut Pro.

But did you know there’s another option that offers professional grade tools at an unbeatable price? That option is Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve.

It's not just one of the best free video editing software tools out there - it's some of the best video editing software we've ever tested, period. There are no compromises here. Packed with pro-grade features for creative professionals, for what you get here (absolutely loads), it's impressive that it doesn't cost a cent.

DaVinci Resolve: Pricing & plans

• You can’t beat free, especially for a professional-grade product, but if you want even more power, then grab the ‘Studio’ version for just under $300

Why does it have an unbeatable price? Put simply, because it's free. That’s right: you don’t pay anything to get your hands on a powerful video editor, which also comes with media management, impressive colour grading, compositing and sound editing tools, and not an ad or watermark in sight.

How can such a tool be free? Likely because it's heavily subsided by Blackmagic Design’s extensive hardware portfolio. But surely it must have some limitations, right? Well yes, there are, but frankly they may not be seen as a hindrance to most editors: the biggest limitation is restricting exports to 4K and 60fps.

If that clashes with your workflow, then you should consider DaVinci Resolve Studio, which raises the ceiling to 32K and 120fps, and includes a host of other advances features, including HDR10+ formats, digital cinema packages for theatrical distribution, including a host of advanced AI tools which have been released with version 20. Studio will cost you just under $300 - all future updates, large or small, are included in that one-off fee.

This review’s focus is on the free version, which you can download for your PC, Mac and Linux machine, which you can get by clicking here.

• Score: 4.5/5

DaVinci Resolve: Interface

• A wealth of editing tools wrapped inside a very well organised interface, coupled with detailed online video tutorials. Perfect for pros and novices alike

DaVinci Resolve is a big app. As we’ve mentioned above, not only can you edit a video project with it, but you have access to other features that would often be offered as a separate dedicated program. In order to facilitate working with so many tools, Resolve is broken down into seven different categories, which are referred to as ‘Pages’.

These are organized in the order in which your project progresses: you import and sort out your clips in the ‘Media’ page, then use ‘Cut’ or ‘Edit’ to build your project; after that, ‘Fusion’ is where you assemble complex special effects, followed by ‘Color’ for colour correction, ‘Fairlight’ to work on your audio, and finally, ‘Deliver’ to export your work and share it with others.

It’s all very well designed and straightforward, with perhaps the exception of ‘Cut’ and ‘Edit’. Why would anyone need two separate pages to cut a movie? The answer is simple: one is to do quick work, while the other offers more tools and additional precision. ‘Cut’ can also be seen as an introduction to Resolve, for those with little to no previous experience with video editing.

You can easily switch from one to the other, using tools in ‘Edit’ that aren’t available in ‘Cut’, then moving back to ‘Cut’ to carry on in a simplified environment (you can still see the effects of the tools you used in ‘Edit’ even if you can’t access and alter these effects while in ‘Cut’).

If you’re an experienced editor, you’ll acclimatise to Resolve’s way of working in little time, but newcomers to this art might well feel overwhelmed by the sheer power at their disposal - this is not your basic run of the mill limited free app.

But don't panic and run for the hills, as this software can and does grow with your skills and confidence - being able to switch between the basic ‘Cut’ to the more advanced ‘Edit’ is testament to that. And to help you on your journey, Blackmagic Design offer a detailed series of tutorials, complete with project files, on their website, again, completely for free (click here).

• Score: 5/5

DaVinci Resolve: Features

• So many new features designed to improve, enhance and add to your editing experience. Sadly (but unsurprisingly) the best ones are kept for paying customers

DaVinci Resolve was recently updated to version 20, and the number of new and improved features is huge - the list is far too long for us to discuss each in turn. Instead, you can check what’s new here. We’ll discuss here the ones that struck a chord with us the most.

Version 19 was released only a year ago, and the improvements are stark… although, as you’d expect, Blackmagic Design have unsurprisingly kept the best for their paid-for Studio version. Need another incentive to upgrade? How about getting Studio to automatically edit a Multicam project for you? Or get it to retime a score so it fits the exact length you’re after? Or how about feeding it a script and let AI edit a scene for you based on the clips you’ve imported, complete with multiple takes spread across multiple layers so you can choose between them?

But fret not: the free version of Resolve also comes with a host of new and very useful features, which will greatly improve your workflow. For instance, you can now (finally!) easily extract a multi-layered PSD file and work with its layers individually in the Edit page’s timeline (prior to 20, this was only possible in the Fusion page).

You can record a voice over directly from the Cut and Edit pages, with controls located just above the timeline. You’ve even got numerous options, such as a countdown timer, being able to choose from all connected microphones (even your iPhone), where to save the recording and on which layer to display it, for instance.

The text tools have received some love too. Your text can (finally!) wrap inside a text box, and there’s a new ‘multi text’ clip within which multiple text boxes can be created, enabling you to create complex titles without cluttering your timeline.

If you’re working with multiple timelines within a single project, you’ll likely appreciate being able to open a second one in the source viewer. This is nothing new, but 20 allows you to also edit that timeline from there, enabling you to see two timelines at once, switch between them and edit either (to help you differentiate them, the playhead changes colour from red to blue depending on which timeline you’re in).

And we’ve got just enough time to gush over the revamped keyframe tools. They’ve been greatly improved and are now available in multiple locations, depending on your preferred way of working.

You can see them top left, either as a list, or as curves (which makes it so much easier to tweak them - you can even hold down the shift key to restrict their movement, allowing for much greater precision). These keyframes are also available in the timeline itself, giving you a greater visual feel for how they affect the clips in question.

Let’s be honest: this is just scratching the surface. Blackmagic Design have worked hard to deliver a significant update to Resolve (and especially Resolve Studio), and despite the fact the best tools are reserved for paying customers, those on an extremely tight budget haven’t been abandoned.

Resolve is an incredibly powerful application, with complex tools, from video editing, to image compositing, colour correction and audio manipulation. If you’re serious about filmmaking but have to watch your budget, downloading DaVinci Resolve should be a no brainer.

• Score: 4/5

Should I try DaVinci Resolve?

Try it if...

You need a professional grade video editing solution with advanced compositing tools, audio manipulation, extensive colour correction, and you’re on a seriously tight budget

Don't try it if...

You don’t like free software with no ads and no watermark. Seriously, the only reason you shouldn’t try it is if you’re not interested in video editing.

For more creative software, we've tested and reviewed the best video editing software for beginners and the best video editing apps for mobile devices.

As its name suggests, Adobe Premiere Pro is for professionals, or at the very least, people who are super serious about video editing, and want control over every aspect of their project, right down to the individual pixel…

But what about the rest of us, those who want to create with something simple, but also have fun with the process? That’s where Premiere Elements comes in.

It's a consumer-grade alternative to Adobe Premiere Pro for anyone who wants video editing software for beginners.

However, while the 2025 version comes with a great new interface, there's also a big catch we can't ignore: your purchase is limited to three years' use.

Adobe Premiere Elements: Pricing & plans

• A good price for an easy to use video editing application. Well.. it would be a good price were your purchase not limited to three years - after which your licence expires. This isn’t a purchase: it’s a rental

Unlike Adobe’s professional portfolio, you don’t need to subscribe to the software in order to use it: you can grab Premiere Elements for just under $100 (or £87), or get it bundled with Photoshop Elements for $150 (£131).

You can download the software for Mac or Windows directly from Adobe by clicking here.

You’re even granted a 7-day trial to check out the software, although you’ll have a great big “created with trial version” plastered all across your clips during that period.

If you’re happy with what you see, you’ll need to redeem your purchase. Unfortunately there’s an annoying hoop you have to jump through, as you don’t get to put your code in the software itself, but online through a special page here.

And, frustratingly enough for us, even though we were logged in with our AdobeID and the code was recognised online, our software kept insisting it was still in trial mode. Hopefully this may just be an isolated incident, or linked to the fact ours was a review copy, but we would be remiss if we didn’t mention it here (we used our free 7 days to put the software through its paces, hence the unsightly watermark in the screenshots).

Sadly, there’s an even bigger issue we have to highlight: despite the fact you’re paying a one-off fee, and Adobe clearly refers to it as a ‘purchase’ that you are ‘buying’, you don’t get to own that software for as long as you want. Back in the day, that is what a “one-off fee” was.

As long as your computer’s hardware and OS remained compatible with the software, that fee would’ve been all you had to pay. You didn’t even need to buy any future upgrades if you didn’t want them. One fee, one app, job done.

But Adobe is changing that. That $100 (or $150 for the bundle) only gives you a license for 3 years from the date of purchase. After that, the software becomes inoperable.

So, this is no longer a purchase, but a long-term rental, paid in advance. That’s a very underhand way of introducing subscriptions to their non-professional apps.

If you’re looking for a cheap video editor, there are alternatives. For instance, DaVinci Resolve may look intimidating from a newcomer’s perspective, but it’s free, has no registration issues, and is way more powerful than Premiere Elements - although you will be venturing away from the Adobe ecosystem. Even Adobe's quick-and-easy Premiere Rush is free (see our Adobe Premiere Rush review here).

• Score: 2/5

Adobe Premiere Elements: Interface

• A redesigned interface that still offers the same ease of use we’ve grown accustomed to, but with a sleeker finish, and more logical repositioning of tools

OK, enough ranting. Let’s take a look at the software. As before, the interface is split into three, depending on your skill level, from ‘Quick’, to ‘Guided’, to ‘Advanced’. ‘Quick’ is designed for both beginners and those wishing to edit fast. As such, it offers a reduced set of tools and options. ‘Guided’ provides a series of tutorials to help you learn more about the software and editing in general, while ‘Advanced’ offers the full range of what Premiere Elements has to offer, which is reflected by a more intricate interface.

You can also switch from light to dark mode, which granted is not new, but the fact you can do so without having to restart the program is a definite plus. So far so good. The main issue here though, is that compared to the last time we checked out the software, everything looks radically different. In fact, Premiere Elements now looks more like Premiere Pro, complete with a totally customisable interface including tearaway windows, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it may necessitate existing users having to reacquaint themselves with their software. It also does away with the simplified, less intimidating look, it had before.

Despite that, you should find Premiere Elements to be easy to use. For instance although ‘Quick’ offers fewer tools, they can be found in the same location in the ‘Advanced’ interface. This makes it easy to switch between the two. Editing in any interface is pretty much all about dragging and dropping, the sidebar on the right offers you many changeable parameters, which you can animate through the use of keyframes, even in ‘Quick’ mode.

All in all, Premiere Elements is an elegant and well designed video editor with more than enough tools to satisfy even the most demanding amateur.

• Score: 4.5/5

Adobe Premiere Elements: Updates

• Improvements to existing tools, and welcome new features. It might not look like a lot, but it’s all for the better, and we certainly can’t complain about that

Aside from the new coat of paint, Premiere Elements 2025 brings a few new tools to the table, while improving existing ones. One of these is the voice-over narration tool which is no longer in the sidebar, but can be triggered directly from the Timeline: you’ll find a microphone icon at the start of any audio layer. Click on it and the recording will start (after 3 seconds) wherever the playhead is located.

Premiere Elements 2025 hosts a load of new title templates in the left sidebar, including direct access to a hundred from Adobe Stock. All those we randomly checked were free to use.

The colour correction tool has been revamped, with a host of new changeable parameters, even allowing you to set the white balance by using an eye dropper to click anywhere on your footage. Simple and effective and actually used by many if not most of Premiere Elements’ competition, so it’s about time we’ve finally got it here. You’ll also find a bunch of new filters (referred to as Video Effects) which apply a colour style to your footage.

One new feature we particularly liked is the ‘Time Stretch’ tool. Retiming a clip is nothing new, but here Premiere Elements does it as effortlessly as possible. It comes as a new icon to the left of the Timeline, along with other editing tools. With it selected, when you drag the edge of a clip in the timeline, you no longer alter its in and out points, but you retime the clip.

You can tell (in ‘Advanced’, but puzzlingly not in ‘Quick’) what you’ve done thanks to a percentage value next to the clip’s name in the timeline. This is so incredibly easy to do. If you need to be more precise, right-click on the clip, and choose ‘Time Stretch’ from the menu to reveal a floating window from which you can type in a percentage, or specific duration.

And a very useful addition for those upgrading from an older version, is the fact projects created with a previous version can now be opened in this one. They will have to be updated, and some effects or filters won’t be preserved, but having to make a few fixes is a lot better than being denied access to the work you did previously.

• Score: 4/5

Should I buy Adobe Premiere Elements?

Buy it if...

You need a versatile video editor that isn’t too complex while allowing you to have simple to advanced tools, depending on my needs and skill.

Don't buy it if...

You don’t like the idea that your software will expire in 3 years despite having paid for it, and the interface looks too much like the Pro version for your liking.

For more creative essentials, we've tested and reviewed the best video editing software, the best free video editing software, and the best video editing apps for mobile devices.

Premiere Pro is Adobe’s high end video editor, so it’s not for everyone. Heck, even regular old Premiere Elements can feel too powerful to some.

Isn’t there something incredibly simple that can work on both computers and mobile devices? Enter Adobe Premiere Rush.

As the name implies, it's all about cutting content quickly. It's ranked among our best video editing apps, with its emphasis on ease-of-use and simplicity for creating social media or marketing content. I took a look at the latest version to see how it fares.

Adobe Premiere Rush: Pricing & plans

• An app that’s free to use, is multi-platform, and easy to download and install. Can’t get much better than that

Getting your hands on a simple video editor is one thing, but everyone will ask, “how much will this cost me?”

And there’s good news here too: Adobe Premiere Rush is actually free. You do need to set up an Adobe ID in order to use it (if you don’t already have one), but this is free too. It also comes bundled free with other Adobe apps if you're already a subscriber.

You can download Rush for your computer via the Creative Cloud app, and for your mobile device via its app store or by clicking here.

Clean, simple and effective.

• Score: 5/5

Adobe Premiere Rush: Interface

• Premiere Rush’s interface remains very similar on various devices, and although icons may be located in different areas, it will take you seconds to transfer your skills from one machine to another

We were pleasantly surprised to see that the interface is remarkably similar whether you’re working on a computer, phone or tablet. It’s not identical, mind, as the aim is to play to each platform’s strengths, but at least the tools are grouped together.

For instance, those to control and manipulate Graphics. Effects, Colour correction, Speed adjustments, Audio and Cropping can be found top right on a computer, but at the bottom of the screen on a phone. Icons to control expanding the audio layers, revealing control tracks, cutting, deleting and duplicating a selected clip, are all on a sidebar lower left of the interface on a computer. Those tools will also be at the bottom of a phone’s screen, separated from the others by a divider line.

This may feel like the interface is different, but such changes are actually minor, and as the icons are identical, it will take you seconds to recognise what you’re after and learn where they are positioned when moving from one device to another.

Perhaps the biggest difference between devices is how the playhead behaves. On a computer, it acts as you would expect a video editor’s playhead to: click and drag it to another location to skim through your footage, or click on another location on your timeline for it to jump to that point. On a mobile device, that playhead remains fixed at the centre: the project itself moves left or right as you place your finger on the screen and drag left or right.

This plays to each device’s strengths, as a limited screen real estate demands compromises. One thing to bear in mind: you can only edit in the portrait orientation for a phone.

• Score: 4.5/5

Adobe Premiere Rush: Editing

• Rush’s way of editing is similar to CapCut or Final Cut Pro, and if you’re used to that, you’ll feel right at home, otherwise it will take you a few minutes to get used to it. But this is undeniably a powerful way to edit precisely and with speed

The aim of Premiere Rush is to help you create a project very quickly and with that in mind, it uses what Final Cut Pro and CapCut users would recognise as a ‘magnetic timeline’, which means when you alter the length of a clip in your project, you don’t end up with a gap between it and any clip that you’d added further along the timeline. Instead, they all move to fill that gap. Extend a clip and they’re all pushed forward. You can easily swap the order of the clips and no gap is ever left in your timeline. This actually helps you build an edit incredibly quickly.

By default, it looks like you can only work with a single layer of audio and video, which also helps give a user the impression that this is a simple app. Although you can certainly work with it like that, Premiere Rush actually supports up to 4 layers of video and 3 of audio, allowing you to place clips over others, thereby creating much more complex projects.

Incidentally, this magnetic timeline we described above, only works on the first layer. When you add a clip above another, that upper clip will actually attach itself to a lower one. Delete the lower clip and that upper clip will be gone too. Move that lower clip to another location, and this will also move the upper clip(s) connected to it. This is something worth bearing in mind as it could easily confuse a novice editor or one not used to this way of working.

• Score: 4.5/5

Adobe Premiere Rush: Effects

• An acceptable range of effects, with some useful features, although some, like ‘Speed’ feel very primitive by today’s standards

Premiere Rush comes with a handful of effects, such as animated overlays, be they text layers, lower thirds, or animated transitions, and they are all applied on a second layer (meaning if you didn’t already know you could work with multiple layers in Rush, that would’ve been a big clue!) Each graphic is fully customisable with changeable parameters appearing when you select it (to the right on a computer, at the bottom on a phone).

Aside from those animated transitions, you’ll also find a handful of ‘standard’ ones in the Effects section, along with Pan and Zoom, and Reframe tools. We were somewhat disappointed the Pan and Zoom tool only worked on photos.

We quite liked that you can make colour adjustments, either based on filters or through manual alterations, and save those changes as new presets you can use and apply on other clips.

Sadly, we found the speed alteration tool to be very basic. We couldn’t detect any frame blending. Instead, the slower the clip became the more the video stuttered, as frames were simply copied to accommodate for the increased length.

• Score: 3.5/5

Adobe Premiere Rush: Sharing & syncing

• You can upload your project to various social media sites, as well as saving a copy to your hard drive, but the loss of syncing between devices is puzzling and sorely missed

When it comes to sharing, you can export your project to your local drive, or upload it to YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Behance. You even have access to some advanced format settings if you need them, which is great for pro users.

There is however a feature that is no longer present and feels like a great loss: you used to be able to sync your project between various devices, as long as they were all logged in to the same Adobe ID. This allowed you to work on your phone, and continue editing on your computer, and vice versa, giving you great flexibility. Sadly, Adobe nuked that functionality in 2024.

We could understand that this would’ve been seen as an advanced feature for a free app, but why not preserve it for those who pay for one of Adobe’s various subscription packages? Killing it for all was very disappointing.

• Score: 3/5

Should I try Adobe Premiere Rush?

Try it if...

You’re looking for a video editor that’s easy to use, which is compatible across multiple devices, and is free

Don't try it if...

You need more powerful effects tools, don’t like the concept of a ‘magnetic timeline’, and don’t like the loss of functionality.

Lots of the best parental control apps are packed with features but charge a high price for the privilege, but Kroha tries to be different by offering a wealth of features at a more palatable price.

On paper, then, that’s an attractive prospect, and it looks even better when you consider that Kroha offers some more innovative features on certain platforms.

There’s an option to protect young eyes from blue light spectrum colors and a mode where you can listen into your child’s device microphone, which is called Sound Around.

Kroha review: Plans and pricing

Before you get to the features, though, consider the pricing – because it’s very tempting. The one-year deal costs $22.99 and supports five devices, and if you pay $49.99 you get time-unlimited access to the app for five devices.

They’re both excellent prices that undercut virtually every rival, but that latter option is the best one if you’ve got a couple of kids and you want a parental control app you’ll use for a few years.

Alternatively, you can pay $5.99 for one month of access, but that’s poor value when compared to the other deals.

If you want to add thirty minutes or three hours of Sound Around access to your package, it costs $0.99 or $4.99 respectively. It also costs $4.49 if you want to add support for five more devices to your package. And while those extras do add cost, Kroha remains excellent value.

Kroha review: Features

That Sound Around feature, currently only available on Android, is one of the most interesting additions to the app, and it’s handy if you’re concerned for your child’s safety, if they’re not answering their phone or if you need to check their safety.

By pressing the Record button within the app, you’ll take a thirty-second recording of the sound around your child. By default, users get 20 recordings per month as part of their package.

That’s useful, and unique when it comes to parental control apps. It’s also not the only sound-related option available in Kroha. Parents can play a loud siren on the child’s phone – ideal if you’ve lost the device – and parents can remotely disable silent mode.

Kroha also allows parents to take screenshots of their child’s devices – and take photos using the front and back cameras on the device, too.

Elsewhere, Kroha allows parents to block or allow apps, create app categories and alter access for those blocks of apps, and set access and screen time limits for certain apps or categories. It’s an ideal way to allow access to safe, educational tools while limiting access to time-wasting games.

Similarly, websites can be blocked based on categories, and parents can also see children’s internet histories.

Kroha supports geofencing, real-time location tracking, and allows parents to see the photos stored on the child’s device, and parents can see children’s contacts, too.

Android users get YouTube histories and viewing statistics, and the intriguing Eye Protection mode, which warns children if the phone is too close to their eyes, switches to a soothing night mode to reduce blue light exposure and allows for app exclusions – so visual apps, like school video conferencing tools, aren’t affected.

Kroha monitors key messaging and social media apps, like WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, Discord and TikTok, as well as text messages. The feature set is completed by a comprehensive call history module and a “news feed” where parents can see how their child has used their app throughout the day, including time spent on particular apps.

There’s an awful lot available in Kroha, then, but we would warn parents whose children use iOS devices to check the feature lists before investing – because many more features are supported on Android than on iOS.

And if you want a parental control app that concentrates on social media, then a tool like Bark is even more comprehensive.

Thankfully, Kroha is available with a five-day trial, so you’ll at least have the opportunity to check if the features you need are available on Apple’s platform before you spend any money.

It’s also worth mentioning Kroha Advanced, which is an app that works on desktop PCs or Mac OS. It introduces many of Kroha’s monitoring features to your desktop or laptop system – ideal if you want the benefits of Kroha without being glued to your smartphone.

Kroha review: Interface and in-use

Kroha’s set-up procedure is fine – very similar to many of its rivals. Once you’ve downloaded the app and told it whether it needs to function as a parent or child tool, you’ll have to run through the permissions required.

It gets a bit in-depth, requiring parents to delve into settings for app usage, notifications and battery optimization, though – these steps aren’t required on many rival tools and may confuse parents who are not familiar with smartphone settings menus.

And when you get Kroha working, the interface is adequate – it’s straightforward and easy enough to navigate, but tools like Bark and Qustodio are much more visually appealing and use visual cues in a much more pleasing way.

Kroha review: Support

Kroha’s support feels a bit barebones, too. There are plenty of helpful articles on Kroha’s website covering FAQs, features, troubleshooting, setup and subscriptions, but that’s about it.

There’s a support email address at the bottom of the Kroha website for more specific queries, but no web form, no indication of how long support will take, and no option to use more immediate types of support, like live chats or phone lines.

When compared to other apps, it’s a weaker offering.

Kroha review: The competition

Indeed, Qustodio, Bark and Kidslox are all far more comprehensive when it comes to support, with more methods of help available and a broader array of online articles. Bark has live chat and a forum, too.

All of those three apps look better than Kroha, too, and some go further in terms of features: Bark is much better for social media, Kidslox is stronger on location-based abilities, and Qustodio has better cross-platform abilities and more in-depth reporting.

Kroha review: Final verdict

This situation leaves Kroha in a tough spot. It’s got good app-blocking abilities, it monitors core social media tools and has geofencing, and it also has innovative features like Sound Around and the ability to access your children’s cameras.

It’s affordable, too, which is a key consideration for many parents who want parental control without breaking the bank.

The low price means weaknesses in other key areas, though. So while Kroha is a competent, affordable tool, its pricier rivals do offer more in terms of support and functionality.

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Companies that make the best parental control apps need to make a philosophical choice when producing software: do you want to assume trust and give children some leeway about their behavior, or is it better to try and protect kids by tracking everything?

The developers behind mSpy have clearly opted for the latter approach, with a slate of features that monitors keystrokes, locations, chats, calls, pictures and more.

This parental control method won’t work for everyone, especially for parents who want to maintain trust in their familial relationships. But if you are keen to take a closer look at your kids’ online behavior, is this the app for you?

mSpy review: Plans and pricing

If you’re a parent who wants to figure out how much mSpy actually costs, good luck: the app’s website makes it quite difficult to actually find this information.

The most affordable option is mSpy Premium. At the time of writing, it costs $11.19/£8.75 per month on Android and iOS if you pay for an annual package.

That price gives you support for one child device and a broad array of features, although some of those only work on Android and some require users to root or jailbreak phones to get them working.

The Family Kit offers support for three devices and delivers all of the features available in mSpy Premium at a price of around $33.25/£26 per month, although the price isn’t actually listed on mSpy’s website at the time of writing.

If your family use Android, the mSpy Extreme tier costs $23.99/£18.76 per month if you pay for a year of access. At this level, you get the full suite of features without any need for jailbreaking – and you get some extra functionality, like remote camera and microphone access, the ability to record calls and an anonymous Instagram viewer.

There’s also an Ultimate option for iOS-based families that costs around $39.64/£31 per month for single device support. It provides most of the features of the other tiers, although it misses out on keyword alerts, app blocking and remote camera and microphone access.

The pricing available on mSpy feels deliberately obscured, then, and those prices are also extremely high. Other parental apps don’t offer the keylogging and sheer detail of mSpy, but they offer lots of conventional parental access features at a fraction of the price.

mSpy review: Features

So, what can you actually do with mSpy? Unsurprisingly, many of the app’s features revolve around information gleaned from keylogging.

Parents can see text messages, images sent and received over SMS, and Facebook Messenger activity – alongside chats from apps like WhatsApp, Snapchat, Kik, Telegram, Tinder, Viber, Instagram, iMessage and more.

You’ll be able to get information about who has texted your children and who they’re texting, including contact numbers and names. Unsurprisingly, mSpy’s logging and reporting is always comprehensive – access the parent app and you’ll be confronted with a fearsome amount of information.

Parents can rely on mSpy’s keylogger to see every stroke that’s typed on the phone – so you can check deleted messages, URLs and more. It’s also possible to get alerts if your children type specific words.

And because much of this functionality runs in the background, hidden on the target device, your children may not even know they’re being monitored – or, at least, they won’t find it so intrusive.

The app allows parents to monitor call logs and emails, including attachments and the ability to see emails they’ve sent and received. Parents can see browser histories, see data about how often sites are visited, filter based on categories and check their bookmarks – and even see what Wi-Fi networks children are using.

That’s not all: mSpy allows parents to block apps, see what apps are installed, and view photos and videos stored on the device. A screen-recording feature is also available so parents can get visual snapshots of child phone activity – even with disappearing message features that are now popular on many apps.

Parents can view their children’s current location using mSpy’s GPS-based functionality, and also use geofencing to get alerts when children enter or leave places where you want them to visit – or want them to avoid.

And if you pay for the Extreme version, you can also access their camera and microphone, record calls, and anonymously view Instagram.

It has a comprehensive set of keylogger-based features, but bear in mind that mSpy’s Android app is far more powerful than the iOS app – if you want to monitor an Apple device, you’ll need to do some jailbreaking.

Rooting and jailbreaking is particularly concerning because it can, potentially, void your device warranty, prevent access to other apps and make devices more vulnerable to cybercrime.

Parents also need to bear in mind that mSpy’s concentration on logging means this app is lacking elsewhere

Its screen time management is basic, without the detail or granularity found in many other apps, and there’s no category-based website blocking or filtering – this is another area where the functionality is underwhelming.

Other apps also offer more in terms of location-based features, including the option to track children’s driving habits.

mSpy review: Interface and in-use

Unsurprisingly, mSpy’s interface provides a comprehensive and in-depth look at your children’s device behavior. You can see everything, from message content and phone call logs to web histories and even the events in their calendar.

There are separate sections for browsing photos and videos, setting up keyword alerts, delving into the keylogger and viewing what apps your children have installed.

The interface is clean, well-organized and easy to use, with straightforward menus and good organization. Once you’re set up, it’s easy to get started.

It’s a great interface if you want to delve into the data, but other apps make things a little easier to see summaries of daily and weekly activity – mSpy keeps things granular and specific rather than providing top-level reports.

Suffice to say, though, that installation is not particularly easy. On an iOS without jailbreaking the feature set is restrictive, but jailbreaking is a fraught process that many parents may not want to attempt.

On Android, you’ll need to disable Google Play Protection to install the app and use most of its features, and parents need to root the phone to get access to every feature.

We’re pleased to see that mSpy provides installation guides for both platforms, but you get far more information if you pay extra for the Ultimate plan – a frustrating choice that feels particularly cynical.

There’s also an option to pay even more to get remote assistance with installation. But no matter what route you choose, mSpy setup is likely to be complicated, frustrating and potentially expensive.

mSpy review: Support

This is another area where mSpy seems to underperform. The FAQ section is underwhelming, with basic questions and short answers that don’t really answer questions. There’s a tiny chatbot that is hard to see.

On paper, mSpy offers phone and email support, but reports from users suggest that the help isn’t actually very helpful, with answers that are either out-of-date or incorrect.

It’s possible to pay extra for more in-depth support, but that option is expensive.

mSpy review: The competition

mSpy faces tough competition from parental control apps that concentrate on conventional features rather than surveillance and keylogging.

Bark, for instance, has better social media monitoring, Qustodio has superb scheduling and screen limiting options, and Mobicip excels in many of those areas, too. All of those tools also have better location-based functionality than mSpy.

They’re all cheaper, too – indeed, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a parental control app that’s as expensive as mSpy.

mSpy review: Final verdict

If you’re not concerned with ethical or moral questions around keylogging, then there’s no doubt that mSpy does a great job here – on Android, at least, it can monitor virtually everything that your child does using their device.

But for all of its keylogging prowess, it falls short in many of the more conventional areas of parental control and it’s very expensive.

If you want that extensive access and keylogging for your children, then mSpy may be worth the price to you – but we’d urge parents to look elsewhere for more affordable and well-rounded parental control.

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Lots of the best parental control apps try to layer features over the top of conventional software tools, but Boomerang takes a slightly different approach by including its own safe browser, called SPIN.

Beyond that, this app promises 24/7 location tracking, message monitoring and a more positive approach to app control, although there are vast differences between the experience you get on Android when compared to iOS.

Boomerang review: Plans and pricing

Boomerang gets off to a good start with attractive pricing. There’s a 14-day free trial and, if you want to invest, the Family Pack costs $40 per year and includes licences for ten devices. If you want a single licence, it costs $20 per year per device.

That Family Pack is the best option, then, and if you want to purchase the easiest way to get started is to conduct an in-app purchase via Google Play or the App Store. But bear in mind that you may hit that ten-device limit quickly if you’re a large family with lots of devices.

Boomerang review: Features

We’d certainly recommend Google Play, though, because Boomerang is far more powerful on Android than on iOS.

On Android, for instance, you can control your children’s screen time limits and schedules, always allow them to use preferred apps, and inform your children about how much time you’ve got left. Apple’s OS misses out on all of those features – on an iPhone you can only give your children a time-out from Boomerang.

The situation continues to be this one-sided. On Android you can automatically block unfiltered web browsers, set daily timers for individual apps, block apps and schedule app usage – and none of that is available on Apple’s devices.

Call and text messaging safety is far more robust on Android, too: on Google’s platform you can see call logs, restrict calls and block numbers, view text message logs and set filters for specific words. You’ll get notified when inappropriate words are used or when children are texting with unauthorized contacts.

On Android you’ll get notified if your child removes Boomerang protection, blocks access to device settings, tries to uninstall the app or change the date and time – and none of this is available on iOS.

On both platforms you’ll get to see your child’s web history and block certain websites, but Android’s reporting is much stronger thanks to detailed email summaries, daily reports, lists of installed apps and per-app usage reporting. Android is also the only platform where you can control installed apps and use a “find my device”-style feature on your children’s phones.

It’s not all bad for iOS users. The SPIN safe browser works on both platforms, and you can block specific websites on both, too.

Location tracking works across both platforms, you can access location histories and automatic location reporting, and parents can set up impressive geofenced radii on both, too. And no matter what platform you use, you’ll get access to a family messaging group, one-on-one chatting and activity reporting.

Dive into Android, then, and far more is available. You get bedtime routine scheduling, daily app time limits, “encouraged apps” that are exempt from those rules, and the option to give kids a time out to pause their device usage.

Boomerang’s text message monitoring is extensive, with detailed logs and the option to collect all text content, and you can control who your child calls – and who can call them. You can pair family devices with your email address, so you don’t have to create new email accounts for your children, and you can block new app installs or allow for parental approval.

Elsewhere, Boomerang monitors YouTube history and searches on Android, and it’s one of the only parental control apps to use Samsung Knox security if you’re using Samsung devices.

The SPIN browser impresses, too: searches in browsers like Bing, Google and Yahoo are automatically filtered and the browser has strict built-in filtering. It doesn’t have a private browsing mode, those content filters can be customized, and its filter watches out for 20 different categories of potentially inappropriate content.

Less impressive is Boomerang’s social media functionality. It doesn’t natively monitor social media apps or emails in the same way as Bark, for instance. The app will pick up certain things by tracking messaging and typing, and you can add social media sites to its web filters – but it’s not as good as Bark or Qustodio here.

At least, because you’ve got control over what apps are installed, you can prevent your children from installing social media tools in the first place.

Boomerang review: Interface and in-use

It’s not unusual for the installation and setup of parental control apps to be a bit fiddly, and that’s certainly the case with Boomerang.

To get call and SMS monitoring, you’ll have to install Android apps on your children’s devices via the Boomerang website, rather than the Google Play Store. You may also have to delve into the settings on the device to allow for non-store installations.

Thankfully, the parent apps can just be downloaded from Google Play or the App Store, and it’s far easier. And when everything is set up, the interface is a mixed bag: the phone app is relatively slick, but the web dashboard is archaic and harder to use when compared to the web interfaces offered by most rivals.

Boomerang review: Support

Boomerang’s support is rudimentary. Users can submit a support ticket, but the website hasn’t got any indication of how long it’ll take to get a response.

Elsewhere, there’s a knowledge base and FAQ section online, and a forum that wasn’t particularly active at the time of writing. There’s a podcast and a blog, but that’s it for support.

Boomerang review: The competition

We’ve already mentioned Bark and Qustodio, and both rival apps do a better job with email and social media monitoring – but, negatively, both are a little more expensive than Boomerang, too.

Boomerang is stronger than the competition when it comes to geofencing and screen time management thanks to its granular controls in both areas.

Qustodio is better for iOS, with a more robust offering on that platform, and OurPact is also a better alternative for Apple’s platform.

Boomerang review: Final verdict

Boomerang has its negatives, then, especially when it comes to iOS support and monitoring of email and social media apps, but it’s much stronger with geofencing, filtering, scheduling and web browsers – especially thanks to the proprietary SPIN app.

This means Boomerang is ideal for Android-based families with children who don’t currently use email or social media. The price is pleasingly affordable, too.

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All of the best parental control apps focus on different features and take their own approach to protecting children – and for Kidslox, that means a significant concentration on location services.

Using this app, you’ll be able to see your kids’ locations, track their location history, and even view the routes they’ve taken. And beyond that, Kidslox offers screen time schedules, web filtering and app blocking.

On paper, then, that’s a solid selection of features, but can Kidslox compete with big names like Qustodio, OurPact and other strong competitors?

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Plans and pricing

Kidslox is available in two pricing tiers: Basic and Family. The Basic package costs $3.09/£2.39 per month if paid annually, and the Family option is $4.64/£3.59 per month with the same year-long deal.

As the name suggests, the Basic package is more limited – it works with one device, while you get support for ten on the Family option.

And while you get web filtering, location tracking, screen time limits, and app blocking using both pricing models, if you opt for the Basic service, you miss out on more advanced location abilities, alongside more innovative settings like remote screen view.

Features

Kidslox has one of the best location-tracking modules we’ve seen on any parental control app. As well as providing real-time tracking so you can see your child’s location on your map, you can view their location history over the past seven days – so you can see routes, where they stopped, and for how long.

Geofencing is supported with instant alerting when your child arrives or leaves your designated zones. The geofencing radius of 1,000 metres is generous, and you can easily edit zones you’ve already created.

By default, Kidslox sets a two-hour device limit on weekdays and a three-hour limit on weekends. Users can customize these limits as needed, with scheduling available for every day of the week. The limits are easy to adjust, and children can request more screen time directly from within their version of the app.

Screen time is even lightly gamified in Kidslox: parents can assign children chores and reward them with more time if they’re completed.

Elsewhere, Kidslox offers bedtime lock scheduling, prevents notifications during nighttime hours, and the app supports up to five different screen time schedules.

The parent app offers easy options for locking apps immediately, and parents can also create a list of allowed apps for permanent access – a handy feature for educational software. Parents can also lock the device entirely if needed.

Web content is filtered through a blocklist with over four million URLs, and parents can easily add more sites to the list. Internet access can be locked entirely if needed, and children are not allowed to disable the safe search settings built into browsers like Bing and Google.

Kidslox also allows parents to see browsing histories and app usage – with the latter only available on Android. If the children’s device uses Android, parents can take a screenshot at any time and receive reports with periodic screenshots of the device.

This is a good range of features, but it’s worth taking a deeper dive into what features are only available in the Family version of the app.

You only get alerts for inappropriate searches, nudity, new app installations and locations in the more expensive package, for instance. You’ll need to pay for the Family package to get the gamified time rewards, location histories, and the option to view your child’s search, YouTube and TikTok activity. That handy remote screen view option is only included in the pricier version, too.

It’s also worth noting what features are not available in either of the Kidslox pricing tiers. You can’t block websites by category or type – unlike other apps, which offer dozens of options. Instead, you’re limited to using the full Kidslox block list and adding your own sites individually.

Other apps keep data for longer – some of Kidslox’s histories are only available for seven days – and this app does not monitor text messages, calls or social media apps.

It would have been useful if differing screen time limits could be set for different apps. Additionally, there is no keylogging functionality available with this app.

Interface and in-use

This is one area where Kidslox excels. Download the app from Google Play or the App Store, use a handy code to pair it with the child app on the kids’ phones, give the app the necessary permissions, and you’re good to go.

GIFs during the setup process show you precisely what to do, which makes installation even easier.

Once that’s done, the impressive design continues. As well as being visually attractive, it’s very easy to use, with features laid out sensibly in a straightforward and intuitive layout.

Statistics are displayed clearly, too, and it’s very easy to see what changes you’re making. The same goes for the child’s app, too – everything is simple to understand.

Support

This is another area where Kidslox performs well. Its knowledge base and FAQ section are comprehensive and an excellent starting point for solving most problems. There are also videos available for solving various common issues.

Support is accessed by emailing Kidslox, and it’s also possible to fill out a web form and attach files if you prefer that approach.

Customer feedback indicates that Kidslox email support is highly responsive, too, with responses within a matter of hours.

There’s no live chat or phone support, though, so you’ll need to explore apps like Qustodio if you’d like that level of access. That said, at the time of writing, a message within the app was asking parents if they’d prefer to use phone support as it’s an option that Kidslox is considering – so that feature may be added in the future.

The competition

Bark is better than Kidslox when it comes to social media monitoring – indeed, Bark is one of the best options on the market for monitoring those kinds of apps.

And if you want to see how long your children have spent on specific websites, then you should investigate Qustodio.

Kidslox, though, competes well with its location abilities, it’s reasonable in other areas, and it’s easy to use. And it’s also a little cheaper than both of its rivals: the Family package is over $40 cheaper than Bark’s annual Premium plan, and Qustodio is pricier as well.

Final verdict

Kidslox is very strong when it comes to location features, and its monitoring, reporting and screen time abilities are all impressive – we like the option to reward your children for completing chores.

When it comes to web filtering and monitoring social media, calls and texts, though, Kidslox is weaker. It would be better if web filtering had categories. Beyond its screenshot abilities, this app can’t monitor social apps, calls, or texts at all. And the Basic package is just that – it misses out on many of the features that justify buying Kidslox in the first place.

It’s easy to set up and use, though, it’s strong when it comes to location abilities, and it’s cheaper than the competition. Kidslox is not ideal if you need to monitor social media or if you want better filtering, but for affordable location-based tracking, it’s good.

Lots of the best parental control apps pair a full set of features on Android with a much more limited offering on iOS, but OurPact tries to provide a far more comprehensive set of features on Apple devices.

With geofencing, scheduling, screen time allowances, encrypted screenshots and more available across both platforms, there’s plenty to like here – and, in theory, plenty of reasons why OurPact should be able to compete with rivals from across the parental control sector.

Plans and pricing

OurPact’s two paid options, Premium and Premium+, cost $6.99/£5.45 or $9.99/£7.78 per month if you pay annually.

Both tiers allow you to manage up to twenty devices, which is ample for all but the largest families. The more affordable tier, Premium, includes the app’s core features, like scheduling, app rules, screen time management and family location ability.

In the Premium version of OurPact you also get the option to set rules for messaging apps and website visits.

Premium+ includes all of those features alongside the ability to view a gallery of your children’s screenshots, instantly take screenshots of your child’s device, and automate those screenshots – and the option to filter those screenshots by specific content categories.

That pricing is reasonable: Qustodio and Bark are a little more expensive and MMGuardian is slightly cheaper if you purchase the annual products rather than pay every month, but all four products offer similar pricing.

OurPact offers a 14-day free trial if you want to try out its Premium and Premium+ features. There’s also a free version of the product, although it’s very limited: it includes one automated schedule and management of one device alongside the ability to block web browsers.

Qustodio’s free product is better, and Microsoft Family Safety is also more impressive than the free version of OurPact.

Features

The Screenshot feature in Premium+ is one of OurPact’s key innovations. It offers three differing ways to see what your kids are doing: periodic screenshots, on-demand screenshots and a gallery.

The periodic view delivers automated screenshots of your child’s device at a schedule you set, although bear in mind that your children need to start the OurPact Jr app’s recording feature themselves for this to work. Bark takes a different approach here, only delivering screenshots when it detects suspicious content.

The on-demand option allows parents to look at their kid’s behavior whenever necessary. And when navigating the gallery, parents can browse by device, data or by categories like drugs, violence, romance and many more.

OurPact’s web filter allows parents to block inappropriate content, and parents can also create custom lists of blocked sites and websites that are always allowed – ideal if you want to allow your kids to always access educational resources, for instance.

As well as this conventional filtering, OurPact enables parents to prevent kids from making in-app purchases and uninstalling apps, and it can also disable iOS features like Siri and AirDrop – and limit the data that is collected for advertising usage. On Android, parents can also disable airplane mode.

That filter works in conjunction with a feature that allows parents to disable browsers like Chrome and Safari.

OurPact has mediocre scheduling abilities, with customizable daily scheduling available alongside easy app blocking during specific periods – but other apps offer far more granularity in terms of time periods that can be chosen when building a new schedule.

Parents can reward children with more screen time within the app. Individual apps can be allowed permanent or scheduled access – but children can’t send a request for more screen time, which is an increasingly popular feature elsewhere in the market.

Children can also use their version of the OurPact app to track their screen time, and this is a manual process that helps them stay mindful of their device usage and take responsibility for their behavior.

OurPact is one of the only parental control apps that allows parents to block iMessage on iOS devices, and it’s also possible to block text messaging apps, too.

And, finally, there’s the location tracker – which has real-time tracking, geofencing with a generous 1,000m radius, and location history for all of your children. You’ll also get push notifications when children arrive or depart your safe or forbidden zones.

There’s no doubt that OurPact has a good range of features, especially on iOS – indeed, it’s unusual to find a parental control app where core functionality is shared across Apple’s platform and Android, with the latter usually far more versatile.

That said, it’s clear that OurPact misses out on some basic features too.

It doesn’t have clear, easy activity reporting, so it can be difficult to get an overview of your child’s recent device behavior – and this is something that’s extremely common with rival tools. And while we’re always pleased to see web filtering, it just has one filter to use for all adult content, while Qustodio offers more than 25 filters and MMGuardian delivers over 100.

While OurPact’s web filter does block adult content, those rival apps do a better job of blocking anything else that you might consider inappropriate, so it does a better job of giving parents control over what children see.

OurPact doesn’t have in-depth social media monitoring like Bark, and it doesn’t monitor messages in the same way as Bark or MMGuardian. If you’re a parent who would like that level of control, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Interface and in-use

To get started with OurPact, parents need to create an account – but once that’s done, things get a little more complicated.

On iOS child devices, parents need to disable the Find My iPhone feature for OurPact to work properly. On Android, USB debugging needs to be enabled. This is a little more technical than many other apps but, thankfully, OurPact provides clear instructions on how to get the job done.

When you’ve got the apps set up, OurPact is easier to use. The interface is intuitive on all platforms, with easy navigation even for beginners, and the OurPact Jr app for children makes it easy for them to see their screen time allowances and other important information.

The only complaint we’ve got is that OurPact looks a little bland and dated – but that’s a purely aesthetic issue that has no bearing on how the app functions day-to-day.

Support

OurPact’s Support page offers straightforward guides to setting up and using the app alongside a troubleshooting section for fixing common problems.

If you need to get in touch, there’s a web form that promises responses every day of the week, with reports suggesting that responses are both fast and helpful. OurPact promises a Live Chat feature, too, but reports elsewhere suggest that agents are rarely available – so it’s best to stick with email.

There’s also a Family Resource Page that provides links to helplines for families or children who may be experiencing distress.

It’s a reasonable support offering that matches many other apps, but Bark and Qustodio are notably better: Bark provides loads of help videos and Qustodio has its superb Care Plus package that’s included with its Complete product.

The competition

Indeed, it’s easy to see where OurPact’s key rivals are much better. With Bark, you get improved social media, message and email monitoring for a slightly cheaper price.

Qustodio, meanwhile, costs a little more, but it has better filtering and scheduling abilities. And MMGuardian delivers the best filtering around alongside more comprehensive messaging monitoring.

It’s also worth noting that all three of those apps offer top-level reporting abilities that make it easier to stay on top of child behavior, which isn’t available with OurPact.

Final verdict

It leaves OurPact looking a little meagre, especially when the price and competition are considered.

It may have reasonable screenshotting, app control and screen time abilities, but rivals are better in most of those areas – and, as we’ve seen, other apps also go far further with web filtering, social media monitoring and reporting. If you want a free product, Qustodio’s no-cost version is better than the OurPact equivalent, too.

And while OurPact may be strongest on iOS, rivals like Bark and Qustodio still have reasonable Apple offerings – even if they’re stronger on Android.

OurPact, then, is only worth serious consideration if you’re an Apple-based family – and, even then, weigh up the features first. For everyone else, look elsewhere for stronger alternatives.

Screen Time is an app that gets right to the point, with a name that tells you exactly what this piece of software does, and its one of the best parental control apps.

When we’re all spending more time on our phones and children are easily distracted by inappropriate online content, it’s crucial to be able to restrict what they’re seeing and how often they’re able to use devices.

Despite the name, though, Screen Time doesn’t just concentrate on that feature – it’s actually got a full range of parental control abilities. And, as a bonus, there’s a free version.

Plans and Pricing

That free version includes daily reports on your children’s app usage and, on Android, it allows parents to view web and YouTube histories. The free product also includes some social media monitoring on Google’s platform.

The free version only includes support for one child device, though, which is a tight restriction. KidLogger’s free version includes support for five devices, and Qustodio’s free product also monitors just one device – but it has a better set of features.

Google Family Link and Microsoft Family Safety are both free, too, and both are more powerful.

Screen Time’s free product isn’t really representative, though, and its paid version is a far more compelling prospect – because it has the full range of features included. It’s affordable, too, at $6.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. That price is a little cheaper than the monthly cost of the full-fat versions of Qustodio, Bark, MMGuardian and KidLogger – four of our paid favorites.

Features

If you call your app Screen Time it has to impress in this category. And, thankfully, Screen Time doesn’t disappoint.

Parents can set daily screen time limits using the software, choose from preset options, alter timings for weekdays or weekends, and apply time limits to individual apps. It’s easy to build different schedules for different children, and one button allows parents to instantly pause their children's devices – handy if you need to get their attention.

There’s an innovative feature here, too, thanks to Free Play – an option to override all limits and schedules with just one tap. If you’re stuck with bored kids on a long journey, it could be a huge relief.

Screen Time also allows parents to maintain family harmony by rewarding kids with extra device time if they complete tasks, like chores or homework. Parents are able to set up the tasks and approve their completion to grant a custom amount of time as a reward.

Screen Time pairs its impressive device and app controls with solid reporting. Parents can see what apps children use most often, how much time they’ve spent on each app, and get daily summaries of all the important data – handy when things are hectic.

And if you want to prevent certain apps from being used entirely, Screen Time allows you to see what apps are installed, block specific apps, and only allow new apps to be installed with parental approval.

Screen Time also has conventional location-based features. Parents can see current child locations, monitor routes when children are travelling, and use geofencing to get alerts when kids enter or leave approved or restricted spaces. Trip and location records are kept for seven days – other apps provide longer histories.

Screen Time has some additional features that are only available on Android. Web filtering, for instance, is only available on Google’s platform, and there are 25 categories of content that parents can allow or restrict, and it’s possible to add or restrict individual websites too.

Android users can also monitor text messages, view photos on child devices, and monitor third-party messaging apps like WhatsApp, Viber and Kik.

This app is certainly weaker on iOS, then, and some features are not as comprehensive as those you’ll find elsewhere.

Its web filtering, for instance, is not as strong as those on rivals – apps like MMGuardian provide more categories for parents to use when filtering. Bark is notably better for social media monitoring, too.

Interface and in use

Screen Time has an effective, uncluttered interface with easy, color-coded buttons that let you see your schedules, app and web filter allowances and your children’s routes.

Other apps certainly pop with more color, but Screen Time looks good, and its effective design means it’s very easy for parents to use. This approach carries over to the monitoring interface available in web browsers, too.

Installation is similarly straightforward, at least on Android: sign up, download the app, follow easy instructions to pair with the app on your child’s device and you’re nearly there.

Once that’s done, you’ll have to set up a parental control PIN and allow the relevant permissions, then you’re good to go.

If you’re on iOS, it’s a little more complicated. Parents have to download and install profiles and change Remote Management settings on their devices.

Thankfully, both platforms are covered by comprehensive instruction articles and videos on the Screen Time website.

Support

This is one area where Screen Time didn’t impress – because clicking the Support link on the website led to a 404 error page.

That’s not a good start, but it is possible to use a web form elsewhere on the main Help Center page to request support from the Screen Time team, and the company assures parents of a response within 24 hours.

The FAQ and Help Center sections are also reasonable, with plenty of articles covering every aspect of the app.

Just don’t expect the phone support or live chat that you’ll sometimes find with rival products, like Qustodio or Norton Family.

The Competition

Screen Time lives up to its name – when it comes to scheduling and controlling how often your children use their devices and certain apps, this software matches every rival. Its location abilities compare well with other apps, too.

Go beyond this, though, and Screen Time begins to fall short. MMGuardian is stronger with web filtering, for instance, and Bark is better with social media, messaging and calls. If you’re on iOS, consider OurPact too.

Screen Time may undercut other paid options with slightly lower prices, but if you want a free parental control product then you’d potentially be better with Microsoft or Google’s in-built tools or with KidLogger.

Final Verdict

If you want an affordable app that provides comprehensive scheduling alongside device and app limitation and control, then Screen Time is one of the best choices around. In this regard it’s got good core functionality alongside a couple of innovative features.

Beyond that, though, it’s middling. Its location-based functionality is fine, it blocks apps, and provides reporting, but rivals do that, too – while also being stronger in other categories. And weaknesses on iOS mean Screen Time is only really suitable for families on Android.

Screen Time is not a bad parental control app – and if you do want to concentrate on restricting the amount of time your kids spend on their devices, it’s excellent. But for a more rounded experience or a better option on iOS, we’d rather spend a little more and shop elsewhere.