Net Nanny review 2027

What problem does Net Nanny solve?

Net Nanny is built for one job: keeping web content away from your kids. Its filter reads the page in front of it rather than checking a list of known addresses, and in our testing that approach caught things category lists miss, including new sites and forum pages. It blocked 35 of 40 items on our checklist. It also masks profanity, blocks apps, and its Family Feed shows searches and blocked attempts as they happen, so you see the near-misses rather than only the aftermath.

That focus is also the limit. Net Nanny has no message monitoring and no Chromebook app, and it costs slightly more than Qustodio for fewer features. It is for parents whose main worry is web content.

How did we score Net Nanny?

We scored it across five criteria for a total of 7.4 out of 10.

• Filtering & limits: 26/30. This measures web and app filtering accuracy on our 40-item checklist, daily limits, schedules and app blocking. The 35/40 checklist result sits here.
• Monitoring: 12/20. Activity reports, location, and where offered alerts on messages and social media. Net Nanny offers no message or social alerts, which is where most of the lost points come from.
• Platform coverage: 14/20. How much of the feature set works on iOS, the hardest platform, plus Android, Windows, Mac and Chromebook. Net Nanny covers Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and Kindle, with mostly full iPhone support, but there is no Chromebook app.
• Ease of use: 9/10. Setup time per device and how understandable the parent dashboard is. This is its strongest showing.
• Value: 13/20. Annual price for a family of five devices. At $54.99/yr for 5 devices, it costs slightly more than Qustodio for fewer features.

Where Net Nanny stands out

The filter is the reason to choose it. Because it analyses page content live, it blocked 35 of 40 on our checklist, including new sites and forum pages that category-based tools can miss. Profanity masking and app blocking round out the controls, and the Family Feed turns searches and blocked attempts into a live view rather than a report you read later.

It also ships a Mac app, which Norton lacks. Ease of use scored 9/10, so setup and the parent dashboard are not a project.

How does real-time page analysis work?

A category-based filter keeps a list of addresses and blocks anything on it. A new site or a forum thread that has not been classified yet can slip through until the list is updated. Real-time page analysis works differently: when a page loads, the software examines the text and content on that page and decides whether it matches the categories you have blocked. The decision is made on what the page actually contains at that moment, not on whether someone has already labelled its address. That is why Net Nanny caught new sites and forum pages in our testing.

What you get: platforms, devices and price

Net Nanny costs $54.99/yr for 5 devices, or $89.99/yr for 20. It runs on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and Kindle, with mostly full iPhone support. There is no free tier. The web filter uses real-time page analysis, screen-time limits and location are included, and message and social alerts are not.

How Net Nanny compares with the rivals we tested

Qustodio scored 8.5 and costs $54.95/yr for 5 devices, with a free plan for 1 device and a Complete tier at $99.95/yr. It covers iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Chromebook and Kindle, offers category-based web filtering, daily limits and schedules, location, and calls and SMS alerts on Android with more on the Complete plan. Against Qustodio, Net Nanny wins on filtering approach and loses on monitoring, Chromebook coverage and overall feature count at the same price.

Norton Family scored 7.9 at $49.99/yr for unlimited devices, and is included with Norton 360 Deluxe and above. It covers Windows, Android and iOS but has no Mac and no Chromebook app, filters 47 categories, and adds School Time. It has no message or social alerts. Net Nanny is ahead on Mac support and filtering accuracy, behind on device count and price.

Kaspersky Safe Kids scored 7.8 at $14.99/yr for unlimited devices with a free tier, covering Windows, Mac, Android and iOS with partial iPhone support. It has a web filter, screen-time limits and location on Premium, and no message or social alerts. Net Nanny is ahead on iPhone support and filtering, behind on price and device count.

Where Net Nanny falls short

Monitoring is the weak spot, and it is why the product lost its category crown. There is no message monitoring and no message or social alerts, so texts and social apps are outside its reach. There is no Chromebook app, which rules it out for Chromebook households. And it costs slightly more than Qustodio for fewer features.

Is Net Nanny worth the price?

It is $54.99/yr for 5 devices, or $89.99/yr for 20. That is the same territory as Qustodio's $54.95/yr Basic plan, which covers 5 devices and includes a free tier and message alerts on Android. Our Value score of 13/20 reflects that: you are paying for the filter, and the rest of the package is thinner than the price suggests.

Who should buy Net Nanny?

Parents whose main worry is web content. If your concern is what your kids can reach in a browser, including sites that have not been categorised yet, Net Nanny's real-time page analysis is the strongest argument for it. If you need message monitoring, Chromebook coverage or the widest feature set for the money, look at Qustodio instead.