Each year, Dr. Rob Weiss, Seeking Integrity’s Chief Clinical Officer, and Scott Brassart, Seeking Integrity’s Director of Content Development, look at “parental control” software products to determine which offerings are likely to work best for recovering sex and porn addicts. Their 2020 review was completed a few weeks ago and published in full at this link. Here, we offer a brief synopsis.

Protective Features to Look For

The primary features that recovering sex and addicts should look for in a protective software are high-level filtering/blocking and monitoring/reporting/accountability. That said, as digital technologies have advanced, secondary features have become increasingly important. At the very least, recovering sex and porn addicts should look for a product that offers the following:

1. Customizable Filtering and Blocking: Nearly all protective software products offer some degree of filtering and blocking. Usually, there are preset levels ranging from settings appropriate for young children to settings meant for teens and adults. The better products allow for customization, with whitelisting and blacklisting of specific sites. The best products analyze web pages in real time. What this means is that an addict could access a fan fiction site but would be blocked from any eroticized stories on the site.
2. Monitoring and Reporting (Accountability): Accountability is vital for recovering sex and porn addicts. Generally, an accountability partner will get reports at regular intervals showing how much time the addict spent online, where the addict went online, and who the addict interacted with. The better products offer real-time notifications if the addict attempts to use his/her digital device in a non-sober way.
3. Time Management: Time management features let users set an amount of time or certain times of day when the user can (and can’t) use his/her devices. The best products can be customized to allow or prohibit the use of certain programs and apps at various times of day.
4. Location Tracking: Sex and porn addicts carry their phones with them everywhere they go. Recognizing this, most protective software products now come with location tracking. Betrayed partners love this feature, as it helps them know where the addict is at all times.
5. App Limits: There’s an app for everything these days, including apps for viewing porn, sexting, flirting, hooking up, etc. There are even apps that are designed to hide other apps. Recovering sex and porn addicts will absolutely want a protective software that blocks access to apps they use as part of your addiction.
6. Easy to Install and Use: The best protective software products are easy to install, easy to customize, and easy to modify. Addicts also want to be able to globally configure the software, meaning they put the settings in one device and the settings automatically transfer to their other devices.
7. Compatibility/Licensing: Not all protective software products work on every digital device. In fact, many are quite limited (and therefore not recommended, as sex and porn addicts usually have a wide array of devices). It is important to make sure the chosen product works on all of the addict’s devices. It is also important to see how many devices the license covers. Ideally, addicts want to cover all of their equipment with only one license.

There are numerous products designed to protect people, including sex and porn addicts, in the online universe. As stated above, these products are not created equally. In 2020, Dr. Rob and Scott rate the top options as Net Nanny and Qustodio. (There are plenty of other products that are nearly as good, and nearly as affordable, so please don’t feel constrained by this brief list. Other products are reviewed in the full article on Dr. Rob’s website.

• Net Nanny. Net Nanny Family Protection Pack costs $54.99 per year for up to five devices, and $89.99 per year for up to twenty devices. The software is usable on Windows, Android, Mac, iOS, and Kindle devices. Net Nanny offers all the features recovering sex and porn addicts look for, including social media monitoring, and it is easily customizable.
• Qustodio Parental Control. Qustodio costs $54.95 per year for up to five devices, $96.95 per year for up to ten devices, and $137.95 per year for up to fifteen devices. The software is usable on Windows, Android, Mac, iOS, and Kindle devices. Like Net Nanny, Qustodio offers all the features that recovering sex and porn addicts look for. It is also easy to use.

For more information about sex and porn addiction and how to recover and heal from these disorders, visit our free resource website, SexandRelationshipHealing.com, or contact Seeking Integrity about online workgroups and inpatient treatment.