If your child uses an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, BrightCanary is the better choice for monitoring their safety.
BrightCanary monitors everything they type across all apps and sends you real-time alerts about anything concerning. You also get AI-powered summaries, access to full transcripts, and a 24/7 parent coach through Ask the Canary.
Aura only shows app usage and allows parents to block and filter websites and content. It provides no content monitoring or alerts for Apple devices.
| Feature | BrightCanary | Aura |
| Monitors all apps (Snapchat, TikTok, etc.) | Yes | No — only shows app usage & allows content filtering |
| Text message monitoring | Yes — includes explicit images & deleted texts | No |
| AI monitoring (ChatGPT, Character.ai, etc.) | Yes | No |
| Provides emotional well-being insights | Yes | Yes |
| Real-time alerts for concerning content | Yes | Limited |
| Social media monitoring | Yes | No |
| Conversation monitoring | Yes — all text & messaging platforms | Limited — only during PC gaming |
| Price | Starts at $39.99/year | Starts at $120/year |
BrightCanary uses a secure, on-device keyboard to monitor everything your child types across all apps, including text, social media, messaging, AI chatbots, and more.
You receive real-time alerts when a concern is detected, no matter what app or website your child is on. BrightCanary monitors for a wide variety of issues such as cyberbullying, predators, self-harm, drug content, explicit messages, and more.
You also get AI-powered summaries, emotional insights, and access to full transcripts.
Aura, on the other hand, is primarily useful for blocking and filtering websites and apps, and setting screen time limits — all features you get for free with Apple’s parental controls.
Aura’s only monitoring and alert features occur when your child is gaming on a PC, and the only categories of concern are cyberbullying and predators.
BrightCanary was designed to complement Apple’s built-in parental controls, which already allow you to block and filter apps and websites. Adding BrightCanary to your child’s iOS device gives you additional insight and monitoring capabilities without charging you for features that Apple provides for free.
Meanwhile, Aura is primarily designed for data privacy, fraud and identity theft protection, and virus detection. Its parental control features are secondary and mostly replicate what comes for free on iOS devices.
According to a review by Wirecutter: “We liked how [Aura] notified us about the child’s activity, such as when they reached their daily limit. Like Bright Canary, it uses the keyboard as a window into your child’s ‘online wellbeing,’ but its ability to flag or analyze text conversations was ineffective in our tests.”
Choose BrightCanary if you want to:
Choose Aura if you want to:
If you want robust monitoring for your child’s iOS device that complements Apple’s built-in parental controls, BrightCanary is your best choice.
While Aura mostly replicates Apple’s free parental controls and has no monitoring or alerts for iOS devices, BrightCanary scans everything your child types across all apps and sends you real-time alerts when they encounter something concerning. Download BrightCanary today and start your free trial.
Want to learn more about how BrightCanary stacks up against other parental monitoring apps? Check out our BrightCanary vs. Bark comparison.
BrightCanary offers the most robust parental monitoring available for iPhones. It scans everything your child types across all apps and websites and alerts you in real time when they encounter anything concerning.
Aura, on the other hand, only allows you to block and filter apps and websites and see general screen time use reports.
No. BrightCanary focuses on message visibility and emotional safety, not app blocking. Screen time controls are freely available on Apple Screen Time.
Yes. BrightCanary doesn’t read passwords or private documents. It monitors only what your child types and stores data securely with encryption.
