Bark vs Circle + Aura App
See how the Bark Premium app stacks up against the Aura app.
Looking to compare Bark Home vs. Circle Home? Click here.
Compare the Features
Block specific sites and apps or choose from 19 categories, including adult content, gaming, and streaming sites
Block specific apps and websites according to selected age range or by category
Check your child’s location in real time on a map
Receive location alerts when child arrives or leaves pre-set locations
Get your child’s exact location with check-ins
See the location of your child's device in real time
Set custom rules for school time, bedtime, and free time
Set rules for bedtime and focus time, set up different time limits for apps and categories of sites, and set an overall daily time limit
Create specific rules for each day of the week based on your family’s
Different schedules for weekdays and weekends only
Scans text messages, emails, photos, videos, and 30+ apps and social media platforms for issues in children’s phones, tablets, and Chromebooks
Circle does not offer true content monitoring — they don’t use advanced technology to look for keywords and context. However you can “monitor” or view internet usage or history by app, website, or category
Alerts are sent for worrisome content across 19 different categories
Circle does not offer alerts for potential dangers
A single subscription allows you to add as many kids and connect as many accounts and devices as your family needs
All features available under a single subscription
With Bark, you can:
Monitor content
Get alerts for issues like bullying, predators, sexual content, and more.
Manage screen time
Create custom daily screen time schedules for your child’s device.
Block websites
Block access to specific websites or even whole categories.
Track location
Stay on top of your child’s location with our real-time map, location alerts, and check-ins.
Our Products & Prices
Bark Premium
Our comprehensive parental intelligence solution.
- Manage screen time
- Filter which websites your kids can visit
- Keep up with kids with location alerts and check-ins
- Monitor texts, email, YouTube, and 30+ apps and platforms
- Get alerts for issues like cyberbullying, online predators, suicidal ideation, and more
Bark Jr
Our entry-level product is perfect for younger kids.
- Manage screen time
- Filter which websites your kids can visit
- Keep up with kids with location alerts and check-ins
- Monitor texts, email, YouTube, and 30+ apps and platforms
- Get alerts for issues like cyberbullying, online predators, suicidal ideation, and more
Ready to get started?
Bark was created by parents, for parents, to offer a better, easier, and more effective way to help families create healthy digital habits.
Bark vs Circle FAQs
Both Bark and Circle let parents block websites and manage screen time, but only Bark provides content monitoring. Bark scans your child’s texts and 30+ apps and social media platforms for possible dangers. If your child encounters bullying, online predators, sexual content, and more, you’ll get a timely alert. Basically, Bark vs Circle comes down to this crucial difference: Bark lets you proactively know when something may be wrong in your child’s digital world. This way, you can check in and make sure everything’s okay.
At Bark, we understand that not every day looks the same, and different times of day call for different screen time rules. That’s why our app lets you set custom screen time schedules for each independent day: rules for school time, bedtime, and free time.
Bark’s location sharing feature takes the guesswork out of wondering when your kid arrives at school. Instead of having to log in and zoom around a map, you’ll get a quick alert straight to your phone as soon as they step foot on campus. (You can check their location at any time, though, with our map).
With Circle, you have to manually log into the app every single time you want to check on your kid’s location. For this feature, when it comes to Bark vs Circle, we’re going to say that Bark is the clear winner because it provides you with peace of mind throughout the day as your kid goes from home to school to practice and back.