mSpy
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy only if you're a parent who needs deep text, social media, and GPS monitoring of a minor's device you control, at $28-48/month.
New check
Comparison
mSpy vs Qustodio
mSpy and Qustodio both land on Depends.
Qustodio
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you need serious cross-platform monitoring for young kids and will test it within the 30-day refund window.
| Compare | mSpy | Qustodio |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Parents of minors needing deep app monitoring | Parents of young kids needing cross-device controls |
| Who it's not for | Anyone tracking a partner or spouse . consent and legal risk | Teens . Reddit threads full of workaround complaints |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.⁴ | One 2015 CVE via the Komodia SSL SDK on Windows; academic studies flag privacy risks across the parental-control category. |
| Support quality | No reliable user evidence found | Trustpilot 2.5/5 across 680 reviews |
| Public sentiment | Forum users describe mSpy as a simple, well-known pick for basic phone tracking, though Reddit debates its legitimacy.⁶ | Professional reviewers rate it well, but actual users skew negative . Trustpilot 2.5/5 with recurring Reddit complaints about reliability, design, and privacy.12 |
| Biggest gotcha | Advertised monthly rate is steep; ~$28/mo requires committing to 3 months upfront³ | Trustpilot 2.5/5 (680 reviews) hints at billing and support complaints12 |
Pick mSpy when
- Parents of minors needing deep app monitoring
- Monitoring a child's device you own
- Social media plus GPS oversight of teens
When mSpy is not a fit
- Anyone tracking a partner or spouse . consent and legal risk
- Casual location check-ins . free tools suffice
- Employers monitoring staff . use MDM instead
- Budget buyers . $48/month dwarfs rivals
Pick Qustodio when
- Parents of young kids needing cross-device controls
- Mixed device households (iOS, Android, Windows)
- Screen-time scheduling and app blocking
- Schools deploying family monitoring programs
When Qustodio is not a fit
- Teens . Reddit threads full of workaround complaints
- Privacy-sensitive families . users call it a privacy violation
- Parents wanting real-time alerts . 'nothing works in real time'
- Anyone wanting fire-and-forget setup without fiddling
Sources
- mSpy official sitemspy.comofficial
- mSpy security page (not found)mspy.comsecurity
- mSpy pricing 2025 . LinkedIn postlinkedin.comnews
- Gridinsoft scan of mspy.com (79/100)gridinsoft.comsecurity
- Gridinsoft scan of mspyonline.com (low trust)gridinsoft.comsecurity
- mSpy vs uMobix . Pumpic forumcommunity.pumpic.comreview
- Life360 vs Find My Phone . Pumpic forumcommunity.pumpic.comreview
- Is mSpy legit on Reddit . Jeremy Frimer forumjeremyfrimer.comreview
- mSpy without target phone access . Jeremy Frimer forumjeremyfrimer.comreview
- Bark, Qustodio, and mSpy comparison . Pumpic forumcommunity.pumpic.comreview
official
- Qustodio Reviews - Trustpilottrustpilot.comreview
- Qustodio parental control review - TechRadartechradar.comreview
review
- Qustodio Review - SecurityHerosecurityhero.ioreview
- r/Qustodio - Redditreddit.comreview