Internet Safety for Families, Parental Control, Technology

July 16, 2024

11 Best Covenant Eyes Alternatives in 2024

Written by: Ben Goodey

Written by: Ben Goodey

Published July 16, 2024

Many online users report Covenant Eyes is:

Inaccurate: Covenant Eyes’ software is notorious for flagging false positives of inappropriate content and reporting these to accountability partners. This causes unnecessary panic and can lead to strained relationships.
Buggy: Several users on Google Play Store report that Covenant Eyes can be buggy and it can quickly drain battery life or slow down your device.
Expensive: At $17 a month, Covenant Eyes is one of the more expensive accountability software in the market. For instance, Canopy is $10/month (billed monthly) for individuals and $12/month for duo—meaning you and your accountability partner.

If you’re facing similar issues with Covenant Eyes or you want a more comprehensive internet filter and accountability software, I’ve got you covered.

In this article, I’ll review the 11 best Covenant Eyes alternatives for different use cases and devices, so you can find one that best fits your needs.

11 Best Covenant Eyes Alternatives – Summary

The App Name	Why we like it
Canopy	Complete parental control and accountability partner app. Uses AI to remove all adult content without stopping you using the website (great for Twitter or shopping online safely!).
Trustablee	Monitoring screens, texts, and links
Truple	Taking random screenshots at different times of the day
Relay	Staying accountable with group-based support
Fortify	Getting one-on-one consultants with addiction experts
Accountable2You	Monitoring web browsing, app usage, and device activity even on Incognito mode
NetNanny	Getting detailed reports of which inappropriate websites or apps were viewed
FamiSafe	Monitoring kids’ activity on social media platforms
Qustodio	Automatically blocking harmful sites
OurPact	Taking automatic screenshots of your child’s device

11 Best Covenant Eyes Alternatives in 2024 | Features & Pricing

Here’s a full deep dive of each app and how they work.

1. Canopy | Filters All Adult Content Without Blocking the Website

Canopy’s technology is both a porn blocker for adults and parental control app for families.

Built with AI, Canopy detects and removes all adult content on every website you use. You’ll still be able to browse the internet freely if you want, for example you can still shop online but lingerie models will be blocked out.

Canopy also has a whole host of smart features to keep you and your family safe online.

Website blocking: Set up which sites and apps to block access to or limit, and Canopy’s removal prevention will make sure they’re really blocked.
Sexting prevention: Receiving nude images is often unwanted, and sending them often leads to cyberbullying. Canopy will block sexts and notify parents immediately.
Location tracking: Know where your family is at all times and track them live.

Pricing:

Pricing starts at $7.99/mo for three devices. Grab a 7-day free trial here to get started.

Reviews:

This review sums up how Canopy excels over Covenant Eyes:

What’s more, Canopy works like a parental control app to keep kids safe—and in this case, to keep adults accountable.

The accountability partner, whether it’s a Sponsor, a guidance counselor, or a trusted friend, will be able to see which apps and websites their partner is using, block explicit websites and apps, and even restrict access to the Internet.

It also works cross-functionally, which means even if you have an Android and your accountability partner has an iPhone, they can still set and manage controls on their device.

Sarah from Family Tech also reviewed Canopy in this YouTube video:

And here’s what our users are saying:

So, how does Canopy compare to Covenant Eyes exactly?

Canopy vs. Covenant Eyes – Feature Comparison

Before we go into the details, here’s a quick feature comparison:

	Canopy	Covenant Eyes
Real-time Content Filtering	✅	❌
Website and App Blocking	✅	✅
Sexting Prevention	✅	❌
Removal Prevention	✅	❌
Screen Time Limits	✅	✅
Location Tracking	✅	✅

We deep dive this topic on our Canopy vs. Covenant Eyes page here. But let’s look at some highlights below:

Feature 1: Real-time Content Filtering to Stay 100% Pure

Covenant Eyes is more of a screen monitoring app where it takes screenshots of your device and sends reports to your accountability partner.

It does offer a filtering system but it leaves much to be desired.

“Screenshots are not the end all be all. Filtering is crucial, and screenshots won’t matter if people have access to those sites in the first place,” says one frustrated Covenant Eyes user.

Covenant Eyes’ filtering system works in two ways:

Blocking level: It blocks access to adult, pornographic, and explicit websites, and some mixed-content sites like Reddit.
Custom websites: You can add custom URLs to block.

You can do both of these on Canopy, too. But just these blocks are not enough if you want to stay pure 100% of the time on the Internet.

You need to be able to shield against any unforeseen threats that might come your way as you’re browsing the web.

This is what we built Canopy for.

Canopy uses a Smart AI filter to scan and understand what kind of content is on every webpage you’re visiting. It then blocks out any explicit content that might be on that page before you can see it, while still allowing you to view other pieces of content on the page that are safe.

Canopy’s filter can detect and block partial nudity (e.g. a bikini image) all the way to full nudity, and everything in between.

This means:

✅ Users can still browse websites like Instagram and YouTube, but they won’t be able to see anything inappropriate.

✅ The AI filter scans content in real-time, not against databases or blacklists, so it’s more accurate and comprehensive.

✅ Even if a user hunts down secret websites or intentionally searches for something inappropriate, they won’t be able to see anything. Canopy automatically filters it out before it reaches their device. This also protects users from accidentally stumbling across explicit content while browsing the internet.

See how the Smart Filter works in real-life in this review from Family Tech.

Let’s look at an example.

Say you want to use Instagram for entertainment purposes or to stay in touch with friends. But you also want to make sure you don’t see anything explicit on there that would trigger a relapse.

With Canopy, you can block out all the explicit content before you see it, while still being able to use Instagram for other safe and clean reasons.

To prove how powerful Canopy’s filtering technology is, our team tried to “hack” it and search for explicit content, but it didn’t work. You can watch the full video below:

Want to see for yourself? Try out Canopy for 7 days free by yourself or with an accountability partner.

Feature 2: Website and App Blocking

Covenant Eyes allows you to block websites and custom URLs.

But Canopy goes a step further and allows you to block websites, custom URLs, installed apps on your device, and entire categories of content like:

Pornography
Social Media
Gambling

Blocking these categories means all the websites and installed apps under them will be blocked.

You can block any of your installed apps or all websites, and these are visible on the main dashboard of your Canopy app. You’ll just need to click on “Allowed” and then choose “Blocked”.

If you’d like to block custom URLs on Canopy, you can add the URL into the app and choose “Blocked”.

Feature 3: Easy Usage Monitoring

You can use Canopy in two main ways:

With an accountability partner to help you on your journey to safer internet usage.
On your own, where the app itself becomes your accountability partner.

Whichever option you choose, Canopy monitors all Internet browsing (including images, text, videos, and URLs), all photos taken on or downloaded on your Android, and most photos taken on or downloaded on your iPhone.

Canopy also tracks the apps you use and how long you used it for. You or your accountability partner can see this Screen Time Report right on the main dashboard.

This is not only great for keeping you accountable, but also for tracking where your screen time is going and how you can reduce it.

If you’re using Canopy for a child, make sure to closely track which app they’re spending the most time on.

For instance, if they’re spending a lot of time on a “calculator” or a “note” app, you might want to dig a little deeper into what exactly they’re doing in there. It might be a front for something malicious underneath.

Feature 4: Sexting Prevention

Sexting can lead to disastrous consequences like sextortion, legal penalties, and even being placed on the sex offender register. (Learn more about the dangers of sexting.)

Canopy prevents sexting by sending immediate alerts when the protected device receives a risky photo or when it tries to send one to another party.

Then, the accountability partner or the parent will need to approve that image before the protected person can see it or send it to someone else.

This is the ultimate approach to staying accountable as you won’t be able to receive any triggering images from anyone.

Try Canopy for free here.

This Sexting Prevention feature works differently on Android and iOS.

On Android, Canopy detects when an inappropriate image is taken. Then, a pop-up appears asking if the kid wants to send this picture to their parents to approve it or just delete it. Canopy doesn’t wait until the picture is sent to somebody else; it takes action at the root before it’s too late.
On iPhone, the image will only be detected when the image is saved to the phone, although Canopy offers a workaround that parents can set up. This is because Apple has stricter restrictions on what third-party apps can do on the device.

Feature 5: Removal Prevention

Covenant Eyes scans websites and filters out inappropriate content, but you can easily disable this feature on browsers like Safari or Chrome.

But Canopy comes with built-in settings on Android and iPhone that prevent users from disabling or uninstalling it.

On Android, you can’t remove Canopy without your accountability partner’s approval.
On an iPhone, you can remove the app, but your accountability partner will be notified whenever this happens. But, Canopy offers a workaround for this that you can set up.

Feature 6: Screen Time Limits

Canopy isn’t just for blocking porn but also for managing your screen time.

You or your accountability partner can set Internet Down Times at specific time periods, such as during dinner or 1 hour before bed.

During this Down Time, you won’t be able to access the internet on your protected devices. But calls and texts will still work like normal.

You can name these downtimes anything you want, select the days of the week it will take place and set whatever start and end time you want.

These Down Times help you spend quality time with your family and stick to your recovery journey.

If you’re looking for specific strategies or apps to limit screen time, check out our guides:

How to Install Canopy

If you’re ready to try out Canopy, here’s how the installation process works:

Create an account and start a 7-day free trial.
Download the Canopy App on your accountability partner’s device where they’ll set controls. This is fairly easy and they can do it in a minute.
Install the Canopy Shield App on the device you want to protect. This is where it can get a bit complicated depending on what kind of device you have and how many devices you want to install it on. Here are some instruction guidelines to help:

Sarah from Family Tech also talks about the installation process in depth here.

Device Compatibility

Canopy is compatible with all modern devices, including:

Android devices (smartphones and tablets) running Android 5.0 or higher
iPhones and iPads running iOS 12 or higher
Apple computers running a recent version of MacOS
Any computer running a recent version of Windows OS
Chromebooks running Chrome OS

You can use any combination of devices with Canopy as long as they both meet those specifications.

For example, if you have an Android but your child has an iPhone, that’s totally fine!

Pros and Cons

Probably the best thing about Canopy is that users can keep themselves safe online while also protecting their independence and privacy.

Privacy is particularly important for adults and your accountability partner doesn’t need to know every single thing you Google when they know for a fact that no inappropriate content (not even partial nudity) will come up, no matter what.

According to Play Store reviews, users love how Canopy blocks inappropriate content before getting to their devices, compared to other apps which just alerts whenever inappropriate content comes up.

Users also praise Canopy’s customer service team for their responsiveness and speed at resolving issues.

Canopy also works well with other additional layers of protection, like the Google Family Link app.

But because of the granular level of protection Canopy offers, it can take a while to properly set it up, especially if you want to protect multiple devices and device types. Our customer service reps are always a call or an email away to help you through it!

Pricing

7-day free trial
$9.99/month for 3 devices (billed monthly)
$11.9/month for 5 devices (billed monthly)
$15.99/month for 10 devices (billed monthly)

Annual plans with over 38% savings available.

This is a more flexible pricing structure than Covenant Eyes which only offers one plan that costs $17/month.

Try Canopy for 7 days free here. Or download from Google Play or App Store.

2. Trustablee

Play Store Rating: 4.7 out of 5

App Store Rating: Not available

If you’re looking for a screen accountability software alternative to Covenant Eyes, Trustablee is a good choice.

It monitors your online activities, takes random screenshots during the day, and sends reports to your trusted “buddy. This includes:

Links monitoring: Trustable monitors all the website links that you visit and reports them to your buddy.
On-screen text monitoring: Keywords that appear on your screen is scanned for suspicious content
Screenshot monitoring: The app takes screenshots of conversations or anything that you’re looking at on your screen.

The buddy will be able to view these activity reports on Trustablee’s Buddy Dashboard.

I like that these reports are so simple and the dashboard is easy to navigate. Being an accountability partner can be a big challenge and getting concise information in an easy-to-read format is invaluable. The buddy will also be notified whenever something suspicious is detected.

For privacy reasons, Trustable only shares these reports on their dashboard, rather than through emails.

Another cool thing Trustablee does is remind users of why they are changing their behavior and what they can do to crush urges when they arise.

However, Trustablee is merely a monitoring tool—it doesn’t allow you to block explicit websites or apps or filter out inappropriate content in real-time, like Canopy does.