moss vs Bark
Monitors a child's messages and activity for risks and alerts the parent. $14 a month.
Checked 11 November 2026 against Bark Technologies Inc.'s own pages. We make moss, so we have linked every source below.
What Bark is
Bark is a child safety service. It scans a child's texts, email, social media and web activity for signs of trouble and alerts the parent, and it also offers screen time rules, site and app blocking and location. The Bark app is $14 a month or $99 a year for unlimited children and devices. Bark's own site says full content monitoring on an iPhone needs an add-on called Bark Sync or its desktop app. Bark also sells its own phone and watch for children.
What moss is
moss is an iPhone app that comes with a small physical stone. You choose the apps that distract you, tap your phone on the stone, and those apps stay locked until you tap the stone again. People who live together can link their phones to share schedules and put their phones down at the same time, while each person keeps control of their own phone. Locking is free in the app, the stone is a one-time purchase, and the household features are a paid add-on.
Side by side
| Feature | moss | Bark |
|---|---|---|
| Price | US$49 stone, free app | $14 a month or $99 a year |
| Subscription | None to lock your own phone. Household features are a paid add-on | Yes |
| Works on | iPhone only, iOS 17 or later | iPhone and Android, with limits on iPhone |
| How you lock | Tap the stone, or start from the app, a Shortcut, the lock screen or the Action Button. Schedules by day of week | The parent sets screen time rules and blocks |
| How you unlock | Tap the stone, in the app | The parent |
| If you need back in | 3 emergency unlocks a month, refilled automatically | Up to the parent |
| Locking together as a household | Yes, as a paid add-on. Shared schedules, sessions others join in one tap, a view of whose phone is down, a streak. Nobody controls anyone else | One-way: the parent receives alerts about the child |
| Whose key opens your phone | Only your household's own stone, card and sprigs unlock your phones | The parent's account |
Where Bark is better
- It looks for danger: bullying, predators, self-harm. A lock does none of that.
- Covers unlimited children and devices on one plan.
- Location and web filtering.
Where moss is better
- moss reads nothing. Not messages, not browsing, not app names.
- It is for everyone in the home, adults included.
- Locking is free. Household features are a paid add-on.
Who should pick which
Pick Bark if
Your worry is what a child might run into online.
Pick moss if
Your worry is how much time everyone, you included, spends looking down.
Sources
Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
moss is a stone that locks the apps you choose.
Tap to lock, tap to unlock. One price, and locking needs no subscription.
