Internetmatters
Worth it
Confidence: Medium
A free, credible UK not-for-profit advice hub for keeping children safe online . worth using if you're a parent, carer, or school.
Comparison
Internetmatters vs Common Sense Media
Internetmatters and Common Sense Media both land on Worth it.
Common Sense Media
Worth it
Confidence: Medium
Parents should use the free Common Sense Media website for age-based movie, game, and app reviews.
| Compare | Internetmatters | Common Sense Media |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Worth it | Worth it |
| Best for | UK parents setting up kids' first devices | Parents vetting movies, games, and apps |
| Who it's not for | Anyone wanting software that actually monitors or filters | Anyone needing parental controls or screen-time monitoring . reviews only |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. |
| Support quality | No support evidence found | No support evidence in sources |
| Public sentiment | Feedback in the sources is institutional endorsement from schools, charities, and police rather than consumer reviews.⁶ | Parents often call it a gold mine for age ratings, while film communities criticize the reviews as moralistic and less detailed than IMDb's guides. |
| Biggest gotcha | Everything is free . no pricing traps, but no support desk either¹ | App is $3.99/month . the website's core reviews are free, so don't double-pay13 |
Pick Internetmatters when
- UK parents setting up kids' first devices
- Schools and safeguarding leads
- Parents of children with SEND
- Free parental-control walkthroughs
When Internetmatters is not a fit
- Anyone wanting software that actually monitors or filters
- Non-UK families needing localised law and service guidance
- Buyers comparing paid parental-control suites . nothing to buy here
- Teams needing supported, SLA-backed tooling
Pick Common Sense Media when
- Parents vetting movies, games, and apps
- Families wanting fast age labels
- Schools needing free digital-citizenship curriculum
- Plex households wanting built-in ratings
When Common Sense Media is not a fit
- Anyone needing parental controls or screen-time monitoring . reviews only
- Film buffs wanting exhaustive scene-by-scene content detail
- Buyers wanting a neutral, critic-style voice . Reddit calls reviews moral-panicky
- Teams shopping B2B software . this is consumer content, not a tool
Sources
- Internet Matters (official site)internetmatters.orgofficial
- Internet Matters - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgofficial
- Parental controls and privacy settings guidesinternetmatters.orgofficial
- Get online safety advice by age, apps and activityinternetmatters.orgofficial
- Ask Internet Matters AI assistantinternetmatters.orgofficial
- Internet Matters - Educate Against Hate listingeducateagainsthate.comreview
- Internet Matters - Prospero Teaching resource reviewprosperoteaching.comreview
- Internet Matters Response Form - Ofcomofcom.org.uknews
- Internet Matters and Sky partnershipskygroup.skynews
- Internet Matters partner pageinternetmatters.orgofficial
- Common Sense Media homepagecommonsensemedia.orgofficial
- Common Sense Media - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgnews
- Subscription fee FAQcommonsense.my.site.comofficial
- Common Sense Educationcommonsense.orgofficial
- Reddit, r/YMS review criticismreddit.comreview
- Reddit, r/PleX Plex integrationreddit.comreview