Review Insights · App Store
Qustodio Parental Control App
Qustodio · 8,564 ratings · ★ 4.2
4.2
★★★★★
8,564 ratings
🎯 Build a better version
Top complaints - extracted from 85 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"work"
25 negative reviews mention this · 29% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Doesn’t works. The app doesn’t works correct!" - drumxan
2
"doesn"
19 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Doesn’t works. The app doesn’t works correct!" - drumxan
3
"phone"
18 negative reviews mention this · 21% of all complaints
★★★★★ "WARNING!!!. Parents for the sake of your relationship with your child do not i repeat do not get this app it only made things between me and my daughter worse.If download this app your child may become sneaky and make some wrong choices (my daughter st…" - Korean smoker government
4
"kids"
17 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Do not waste your money: Easy to get around. Not useful as an application, it’s very easy for kids to get around on their iPhones and iPads. Reports incorrect app usage. Even when using the MacBook app which supposedly makes it so kids can’t disable the vpn/app. With Chromebooks kids…" - Cool-nickname325
5
"child"
13 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "WARNING!!!. Parents for the sake of your relationship with your child do not i repeat do not get this app it only made things between me and my daughter worse.If download this app your child may become sneaky and make some wrong choices (my daughter st…" - Korean smoker government
6
"iphone"
11 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Phone started malfunctioning. I installed it on my iPhone as a patten. But my daughters phone started to malfunction with flickering screen the day after it was installled and a lot of apps was affected. Not good!" - P65pp4
7
"money"
11 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Do not waste your money: Easy to get around. Not useful as an application, it’s very easy for kids to get around on their iPhones and iPads. Reports incorrect app usage. Even when using the MacBook app which supposedly makes it so kids can’t disable the vpn/app. With Chromebooks kids…" - Cool-nickname325
8
"support"
11 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "iPhone Issues. Easy for the child to disable. Worked well until they tampered with the app and vpn. A little more difficult to setup than I expected and the time is wasted when the child can change a few settings, delete the app and go about their busines…" - gtrgrtthttgrtrtg
9
"does"
10 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Doesn’t works. The app doesn’t works correct!" - drumxan
10
"doesn work"
9 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
11
"year"
9 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Meh. It took my eight year old about one week to figure out that if she disables wi-fi, she can play games until she pukes. This needs to be fixed." - Jen OBGYN
📋 All 85 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Phone started malfunctioning
I installed it on my iPhone as a patten. But my daughters phone started to malfunction with flickering screen the day after it was installled and a lot of apps was affected. Not good!
Doesn’t works
The app doesn’t works correct!
Terrible
Locks in phone when it’s not supposed to. The screen time of the iPhone and this app don’t align. Glitches also.
Taking your data
This app takes my sons data and goes through his messages all the time. Please do not buy this app unless you want a shorter battery life and all your data not being private.
Not Good
Not intuitive and another app that fails to effectively limit the amount of time children can access apps. And the bad part is that it’s set up in a way that makes you think you are blocking app with time limits, but that’s not how it works. It’s just for tracking. So if you limited an app to 30 mins a day it won’t stop the child from using the app.
Doesn’t work on newer phones
First off, I consider myself pretty tech literate, but the process to set this up was a pain in the butt. Then no matter what I did I couldn’t get it to monitor my child’s texts and phone calls. I had to dig through their website and tried a laundry list of fixes they recommend (which involved disabling so many phone features it made it not worth it anyway) before finally coming to an article on their site that explains the feature will not work with my sons phone (a Galaxy s26 Ultra).
Do not waste your money: Easy to get around
Not useful as an application, it’s very easy for kids to get around on their iPhones and iPads. Reports incorrect app usage. Even when using the MacBook app which supposedly makes it so kids can’t disable the vpn/app. With Chromebooks kids can just disable the extension, so not helpful at all.
WORST APP EVER
I’m 11 and I’m in 7th grade. I can’t use AppStore when my mom is with me and knows what I’m doing but it won’t let me do anything like deleting it and it’s annoying. Pls delete this app from the App Store devs :) .
It does not work
It does not work properly. I blocked YouTube and it still works and when YouTube opens by itself it never closed. Even the time does not work.
iPhone Issues
Easy for the child to disable. Worked well until they tampered with the app and vpn. A little more difficult to setup than I expected and the time is wasted when the child can change a few settings, delete the app and go about their business as usual. Not an IT guy, but very ‘techie’ and when it says ‘do this steps to require a password to delete the app’, I did the steps, and the child deleted it anyway, it is very frustrating. Support is a chatbot or an endless loop to try to use their 3rd party and logging in. After my third try to make this work I am throwing in the towel and trying Bark.
Can’t log into parent dashboard!!!
Paid for app. Can’t login to parent dashboard. Got in for about 1 minute. Password is correct. Tried multiple browsers (safari and chrome). Downloaded software onto son’s PC which requires password. I cannot access parent dashboard via web or app. Receive “Oops” messages or the pages just has the swirling circle. The app does NOTHING if you can’t access the parent page. Extremely disappointed. Want a refund.
Falla mucho
Tiene muchas fallas
Not all the features in regular subscription, no upgrade
So I purchased a subscription for 59.99, I tested it out for two days, it didnt have all the features, even simple features where not included. I decided to upgrade, but the only option to upgrade is to buy a new subscription for 99.99. I assumed if I cancel I would receive the refund and I can buy the better subscription, I was denied twice to receive the money back. Not happy because I canceled the subscription which I can’t use, and don’t have the money returned.
GET ANOTHER APP, STAY AWAY FROM THIS ONE!
Qustodio sounded like the best option for my family and I… until I downloaded it.
Not only does it not register/tell you WHEN your child has been on the internet/safari… it doesn’t work with over half of the apps it claims it does. It worked for the first couple of hours, showing me that my child searched up a tutorial on safari… but after hour 4, it suddenly stopped.
I even tested it out myself, taking my child’s phone for an hour and going to different apps and spending time on them. But NOPE, over HALF of them did not register.
So please, get another app to protect your child. I will be trying out Bark next, so if it works, I will try and update this review (I’m not even sure if I can).
But please.. save your money, save your time, save the stress, and just PAY FOR ANOTHER APP!!!
Not only does it not register/tell you WHEN your child has been on the internet/safari… it doesn’t work with over half of the apps it claims it does. It worked for the first couple of hours, showing me that my child searched up a tutorial on safari… but after hour 4, it suddenly stopped.
I even tested it out myself, taking my child’s phone for an hour and going to different apps and spending time on them. But NOPE, over HALF of them did not register.
So please, get another app to protect your child. I will be trying out Bark next, so if it works, I will try and update this review (I’m not even sure if I can).
But please.. save your money, save your time, save the stress, and just PAY FOR ANOTHER APP!!!
Spend your money somewhere
This app is a horrible. My kids bypass it all the time, the rules and rutines are confuse and not intuitive at all. I spend a lot of time checking the app to see if it is working, horrible app. Do not buy it
So not user friendly :(
Reached out to CS and still waiting to hear back. I even filled out their survey and nothing. We signed up for premium and the frustration on the inaccurate notifications and lack of ease in adjusting settings and understanding what’s accurate defeats the whole reasoning of the app. Extremely disappointed.
Unable to report usage accurately
If you need accurate usage this app is not for you. With a social media block in place it will still incorrectly report hours of usage to those sites. How can you have a conversation with a child about usage when the app lies and says they accessed blocked sites. Further, the app is unable to deal with the pixel advertising sites like FB which any other product can handle as its a static url! Support has shifted to AI only, returning a link and it has no human escalation. I can’t get help from them. Caveat Emptor.
Expired MDM
This app looked super promising for my daughters IPhone 16. After going through the entire setup process, it would appear that the developer has let a certificate that is essential to the app expire. I’ve reached out to them via email, but unless it’s resolved this app will be useless to anyone who downloads it.
Easy for teens to delete
I paid the annual suscription, because the app promises that a minor can not
Delete the it. However, my son was able to delete Qustodio app after watching a tik tok video explaining how to remove it. This means the app doesn't work as advertised, I lost parental control
And the money was wasted. The service fail to deliver its core
Promise and it's not
Worth the money
Delete the it. However, my son was able to delete Qustodio app after watching a tik tok video explaining how to remove it. This means the app doesn't work as advertised, I lost parental control
And the money was wasted. The service fail to deliver its core
Promise and it's not
Worth the money
Malo
Esto es muy malo es una cárcel para tu celular no recomiendo bajarlo
Don’t waste your money!
Got Quostodio last year $60 down the drain. Doesn’t work, no support. Deleted it from our phones. What a waste of money!
Can be uninstalled by child
Doesn’t do any good if your child can simply uninstall the app even when you selected that it can’t be.
Difficult
Difficult to get the software setup to monitor messages and calls. Customer support consists of exchanging emails with someone who may respond in the next day. If you want to speak with some directly you have to schedule a time that is at least 2-3 weeks out. For the $ this is not worth it. I regret purchasing this program, I demoed a couple of other ones since this purchase and found the other companies to be more user friendly and responsive. I am extremely dissatisfied. This program is nothing that I was hoping for.
This app lies
This app will say that things are going on on a phone that are not. I am an adult who had this app on my phone as a teenager. One instance of this was if an add popped up for an app on my phone QStudio would say I was on that app. Once I was accused of having Tinder on my phone because an ad popped up for it on one of my mobile games. Additionally, stuff like this has happened to my sister. It told my mom she was on a yaoi site when she wasn’t and it prompted my mom to barge into her room at 5 am and yell and start going through her phone. This app does nothing but cause problems. There are parental control apps that actually work and I recommend using one of those this one lies and tries to sew family discourse.
Don’t get this you’ll regret it
If I could give zero stars I would. I signed up for a trial and it wouldn’t even install on a device, took HOURS to install on another device and didn’t even do what it claims. Then when I cancelled the trial and tried to delete the software, it uninstalled but wouldn’t let me delete the app. Tried numerous things to no avail because I cancelled the subscription and removed protection as I followed the instructions. It uninstalled and then logged out so I didn’t have option to remove app. Then I tried to contact support but was told I can’t get help if I’m not a premium subscriber. Wow. So I had to reset the device with Apple’s help to factory settings just to finally be rid of the app. DO NOT BOTHER WASTING YOUR TIME!
Cancel
It’s extremely difficult to cancel. The app never worked well, my kid found ways around it on day one. Just took me 30 minutes to cancel, after conversing with AI on the website.
Lot of Glitches and completely destroys phone
It takes the entire internet connection from your device. The entire time it is on you have no access to emergency websites. Also, when it turns off automatically, it causes glitches like losing connection for apps at random times. This app is not good.
Not effective and automatically renewal without notice and not refundable
Very bad experience
Don’t do it!
Customer service is horrible! I’ve had a question for three weeks and no assistance!
This app suck
ITS NEVER GOING TO WORK IT SERIOUSLY IT REALLY SUCKS OML… also the review that’s like temptations and kids and stuff is a complete lie.. IT MAKES YOUR KIDS DO THINGS BEHIND YOUR BACK INSTEAD OF HAVING FREE WILL.. they feel like they have to hide everything
Not worth the mony
It does not do what it promises to do and has many limitations. it causes issues that has no solution except disabling the feature. I am not happy at all with the value i am getting for my money.
Waste of money & no customer support
I have tried using this for 2 years and my children easily get around it with sophistication. There are lots of online resources for kids to defeat it. If you have a kid who isn't tech savvy it might work but once they get old enough it's useless. Apples free Screen Time is much better now. Don't waste your money & time. I paid for premium but never got replies from customer service.
Terrible app doesn’t work!
The app keeps asking for sign in information that I’ve already provided, then says the information is incorrect. The kids app does the same thing. You can’t even get started because it is impossible to even get signed in.
Missing data
Many things don’t show up or show inconsistently. Texts, calls, site visits, and even apps used - do not always show up in the log of activity. This has happened across multiple devices and operating systems, therefore it’s definitely a fault from within the Qustodio app or its storage.
Not good for iOS
Too many steps and doesn’t fully work for messages with iPhones. You can get the same tools with your iPhone family settings and not have to pay $99/year on this app.
Terrible
They will prey on you as a parent that you need this app. Then they will charge you without warning to renew. I suggest finding a different parental control app for your kids. They will coax you into a subscription then give no warning before charging your card. DO NOT DOWNLOAD THIS APP!!
Games
Blocks games certain games on my kids phone only .
Its awful - if you want to ruin your kids life install this
I’ve installed the kids version of this application on 2 Android devices one
With Android 14 and one with Android 10 and that happened was
Calls crashed
Apps crashed
It interferes with so many apps it’s crazy
It blocks google.com which literally doesn’t help at all
Its poorly made you can fake anything you want with some simple code if you care that much
It’s easy to bypass you can take away perms it’s so easy it’s stupid
It’s basically just malware but the parent is the person that gets most control
They likely give away the data you get
If you are so worried get a dns literally just use NextDNS
With Android 14 and one with Android 10 and that happened was
Calls crashed
Apps crashed
It interferes with so many apps it’s crazy
It blocks google.com which literally doesn’t help at all
Its poorly made you can fake anything you want with some simple code if you care that much
It’s easy to bypass you can take away perms it’s so easy it’s stupid
It’s basically just malware but the parent is the person that gets most control
They likely give away the data you get
If you are so worried get a dns literally just use NextDNS
No
My kids are so much more annoying Mom can I have some more screen time
Review
The app is horrible
Why!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
My IPad, computer, and Iphone, LOCKED until 4:00 PM WHEN ITS MENT TO BE 7:00 AM WORSE SHOULD NOT BE RECOMMENDED SO TRASHYYY
Awful app
I’ve giving it a try for 2 years and it’s more of a burden than the app that it should be. Half the apps on my child’s phone never work and when I reach out to support, it’s like pulling teeth and they make an excuse for eveything. There are better apps out there, stay away from Qustodio!
Scam
Once you sign up there is an impossible runaround to uninstall this app and gives you no out to cancel it. I will have to get a new credit card due to this app. Awful!
Buy if you want you’re kids phone destroyed
This product completely locked my daughter’s phone. ‘Locked until 5pm’, well after 5pm, it’s still locked. No tech support. No way to fix This is a horrible, completely irresponsible company. Stay away from
Sends false reports
I had my kids phone locked up and while he was at school I got a report saying that he was on a bad website. I checked the safe and it was still there.
RUINED MY LIFE
why.
Wonky
Calls and messages requires a Windows or Mac app ?
Ludicrous.
On iPhone all icons get rearranged out of groups because that is what IOS does of an app is blocked - eg if a bedtime routine is setup.
Ludicrous.
On iPhone all icons get rearranged out of groups because that is what IOS does of an app is blocked - eg if a bedtime routine is setup.
Can no longer edit app use time
Since updating I can no longer update my child’s app time. Please fix.
Also would love the ability to add extra time just for that day (temporary time) that wouldn’t permanently set a day time limit increase.
Also would love the ability to add extra time just for that day (temporary time) that wouldn’t permanently set a day time limit increase.
Does not work
Wish I could give zero stars. I have SnapChat and Instagram blocked and yet my daughter can access them. There is a work around that allows them to download their apps even when they are blocked. Unfortunately I paid for a year in advance so I’m stuck with an app that doesn’t block what it should but sends me a million pointless “warning” emails a day. Oh! And somehow didn’t manage to block Pornhub. So don’t waste your money!
Not worth the money
Set up was easy and o was super excited about using this app. My son figured out all he had to do was delete it and all restrictions immediately were ineffective. What’s the point if it’s this simple to break through. Very disappointed I spent $99 on this.
+ 35 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
80%
Positive (4-5★)
4%
Neutral (3★)
16%
Negative (1-2★)