The Bark Phone Starter Plan
A safer starter phone for kids with no internet, apps, or browsers — just talk, text, camera, and location tracking.
$39/month. No contract required.
Everything you need for a safer first phone
Give your kid a phone you can feel good about.
Monitoring built in
Bark scans texts, photos, and videos and sends you alerts for potential issues.
Call & text only
No addictive apps or social media — just basic communication like a flip phone.
GPS location tracking
Stay on top of your kid’s location with our real-time map, alerts, & check-ins.
Contact approval
Decide exactly who your kid can talk and text with on their device.
Settings designed for peace of mind
Emergency contacts
Create a list of contacts your kid can call at any time.
No voicemail
Avoid scams and unwanted callers leaving questionable messages.
Manage camera
Decide when your child can use the built-in camera.
Prevent text deletion
Choose whether or not your child can delete texts on their phone.
And when you’re ready for more features, upgrading is easy
Add in apps and other platforms when it’s time — and keep your same phone.
Thousands of happy parents...
The Bark Phone is better
“10/10 would recommend the Bark Phone. Better than a Gabb because she can still group text – you just have to approve contacts. Literally not ONE of her friends would know it's a Bark unless she told them.”
–Maddie L.
The monitoring is fantastic
“Get the Bark Phone. My husband and I are so pleased with the Bark Phone. It is Android and we are iPhone people but it does not matter. The monitoring is fantastic. Best thing we have found.”
–Heather T.
A good balance
“It was my own son who asked for the Bark Phone, it has given us a good balance and he likes it. Gives him some privacy, but keeps me alerted to bad situations or conversations, this opens a good dialogue.”
–Kasey D.
What’s included?
- Unlimited talk and text
- Samsung A series device
- USB-C charging cable
- A Bark Premium subscription for the entire family
- Free transfer of your kid's phone number to the Bark Phone
- Month-to-month with no contract
- Free shipping
We’ve got you covered
Find out if Bark covers your service area.
Bark Phone Starter Plan FAQs
- Unlimited talk and text: Stay connected with your child through unlimited calls and text messages, ensuring seamless communication whenever they need it.
- No apps or games: The starter plan provides a streamlined digital landscape with no distractions or potentially inappropriate content.
- No social media: Say goodbye to social media concerns with a plan that keeps those platforms at bay, offering peace of mind for parents.
- No web browsers: Web browsing is completely off the table, ensuring a worry-free online experience for your child.
- Automatic text monitoring: Bark’s advanced technology will scan conversations and alert you to potential issues.
- Mandatory contact approvals: You’ll give the okay to every single person your child wants to message — no exceptions.
- No voicemail: Voicemail is permanently disabled to maintain a controlled and focused phone experience.
- Monitored photos and videos: You can choose whether to allow the device’s camera, and rest easy knowing that any problematic photos and videos will trigger alerts.
- 24/7 location tracking: Keep an eye on your child’s whereabouts no matter where they roam.
When you upgrade to an advanced plan, all of the above features will become available.
The Bark Phone is free! No hefty deposit or long contract is required, and after 90 days, the phone is yours to keep. We’re confident your family will love the Bark Phone, but if you need to cancel your subscription, just return your non-damaged phone to us and you’re all set.
Our monthly subscription plans range from $39/month to $89/month.
Plans include the device, our built-in parental controls, unlimited talk & text, data (if you need it), and a Bark Premium subscription for the entire family.
Choose the plan that fits your family's needs.
Starter plan:
- $39/month for unlimited talk, text, and no internet, app store, or games
Advanced plans:
- $49/month for unlimited talk, text, and Wi-Fi only (no data)
- $59/month for unlimited talk, text, and 4GB data
- $69/month for unlimited talk, text, and 8GB data
- $89/month for unlimited talk, text, and data1
1 After exceeding 35GB/month of data use, data speeds will be reduced for the remainder of the monthly billing cycle. After exceeding 50GB/month of data usage, data speeds may be reduced further and/or data connection may be turned off for the remainder of the monthly billing cycle.
Absolutely! You can update to one of 4 other plans that include internet access at any time from your parent dashboard whenever your kid is ready for more responsibility — all while keeping the same phone!
The Bark Phone starter plan comes with Bark’s advanced content monitoring so you can be sure your child is safer while texting and taking photos/videos. Our technology scans them for potential issues and sends you an alert if we find anything concerning.
Bark also allows you to upgrade to more functionality while keeping the same phone, which saves you money and puts you in charge of what your child can access and when.
It sure does! You’ll be able to track your child’s location in real-time, set location alerts, and request check-ins when they’re out and about.
If you want to designate specific periods where your child can’t access the texting app or the camera, you can do it remotely from your phone and turn them back whenever you want.
Yes, you can still block whatever you need whenever you want — and that could include all internet access, apps, and social media.
You’ll unlock a ton of new functionality, including:
- The ability to add any app on the Google Play Store
- Customizable screen time schedules
- Daily time limits
- Web browsers with the ability to block/allow any content or URL you choose
- Remote alarms
- Voicemail
- The option to turn off contact approvals
Yes! The Bark Phone is updated regularly and automatically to keep up with changes in technology and when we add new features — which happens frequently! We’re constantly in touch with actual Bark Phone parents and implement feedback that families would like to see.
Every Bark Phone comes with:
- Unlimited talk and text
- Bark Premium subscription for the entire family
- USB-C charging cord
- A data plan that fits your family’s needs (non-starter plans only)
- Quick start guide for easy setup
This is a common concern for families! Keep in mind that you’ll always be able to keep on your child’s data usage from your Bark parent app/dashboard.
If your child reaches their allotted data limit for the month, you won’t be charged anything. Their experience on the Bark Phone will simply be reduced speeds — this is called “throttling” and is standard practice for phone carriers.
If you’d like to upgrade your child’s data plan, you can add more GB at any time from your account, and it will go into effect quickly.
Rest assured that your account will never automatically upgrade. Your child just may experience slower speeds for streaming and surfing the web. To help reduce data usage, encourage your kid to connect to trusted Wi-Fi networks whenever possible.
Simply email our customer support team with your initial questions and they’ll get back to you promptly — many customers benefit from a one-on-one Zoom or phone call. Additionally, you can check out all of our support articles here.
Right now the Bark Phone is only available in the U.S., but we’re working on bringing it to other countries. The Bark app is currently available in the U.S., South Africa, Guam, and Australia.
If you cancel before 3 months, you’ll need to ship the Bark Phone back to us.
If you cancel after 3 months, the phone is yours to keep, but:
- Voice/text/data service will be deactivated.
- The phone number will be released if you haven’t already ported it to a new carrier.
- Monitoring and parental controls will no longer work on the device.
- To remove the Bark software and use it as a regular Samsung phone, you’ll need to reach out to customer support, who will guide you through how to manually remove it.
If you have further questions you can contact us for help.
Nope! You keep the same phone and simply upgrade (or downgrade!) straight from the parent app. Changes will go into effect in just a few minutes.
FCC Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) Regulations for Wireless Devices
The FCC established requirements for devices to be compatible with hearing aids and other hearing devices. For more information, visit the FCC website.
The wireless phone devices sold by Bark have been shown to be HAC compatible for GSM, LTE, and UMTS.
HAC for Newer Technologies:
The wireless phone devices sold by Bark have been tested and rated for use with hearing aids for some of the wireless technologies used. However, there may be some newer wireless technologies used in this device that have not been tested yet for use with hearing aids. It is important to try the different features of this device thoroughly and in different locations, using your hearing aid or cochlear implant, to determine if you hear any interfering noise. Consult your service provider or the manufacturer of this device for information on hearing aid compatibility.
The Specs
- What's Included
-
Device
Data cable
Quick start guide - Product Name
- A15
- Brand
- Samsung
- Phone Style
- Smartphone
- Operating System
- Android 14
- Internal Memory
- 128 GB
- Screen Size
- 6.5 inches
- Water Resistant
- No
- Phone Memory (RAM)
- 4 GB
- Front-Facing Camera
- 13 MP
- Rear-Facing Camera
- 50 MP
- Processor Model
- Octa core (2.2Ghz + 2.0Ghz)
- Internet Connectable
- Yes, but not with Starter Plan
- Voice Assistant Built-in
- Google Assistant
- Wireless Technology
- 5G
- Color
- Blue Black
- Bluetooth Enabled
- Yes
- Charging Interface
- USB Type-C
- Carrier
- Data and coverage provided by Bark
- Email Capable
- Yes, but not with Starter Plan
- Built-In GPS
- Yes
- Sensors
- Accelerometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Light Sensor, Virtual Proximity Sensing
- Voice Activated
- Yes
- Wireless Charging
- No
- Headphone Jack
- Yes
- Display Type
- Super AMOLED
- Screen Resolution
- 1080 x 2340 (FHD+)
- Touch Screen
- Yes
- Integrated Camera
- Yes, Front and Back
- Battery Capacity
- 5000 milliampere hours
- Camera Resolution (Front)
- 13.0 MP
- Camera Resolution (Rear)
- 50.0 MP + 5.0 MP + 2.0 MP
- Video Recording Resolution
- FHD (1920 x 1080) @30fps
- Main Camera - Flash
- Yes
- Main Camera - Auto Focus
- Yes
- Front Camera - F Number
- F2.0
- Front Camera - Auto Focus
- No
- Main Camera - F Number (Multiple)
- F1.8, F2.4, F2.4