Net Nanny Review

The Good: This software is at the top of most ratings and reviews I could find and after trying it out I can see why. Net Nanny monitors everything your kids do online as well as prevents them from going to sites they shouldn’t. At the end of the day you can read detailed reports on what your kids did and where they went online. Net Nanny is not as interested in filtering all harmful material as it is in creating a friendly environment for your kids to surf. For instance, if your kids type a search into google, Net Nanny will filter all inappropriate results so your kids never even know they are there. Net Nanny also bleeps cuss words right off the page so your kids can watch their favorite youtube video without getting the foul comments included. Net Nanny has a lot of features and can be modified in detail for multiple users. Where other softwares give you very general options for what type of filtering you want, Net Nanny allows you to modify almost every aspect of your kids’ protection. Net Nanny cannot be shut down without a password. I managed to disable it in the Windows taskbar, but upon doing so my web browsers would no longer function until I turned it back on.

The Bad: Net Nanny allows you to block torrent software and newsgroup downloads, however the feature did not work on my computer. I was able to download utorrent and, with difficulty, work around Net Nanny’s filters to download inappropriate content. Net Nanny told me I was not allowed to download torrents, but then went ahead and let me anyway. Also, although Net Nanny did record that I used utorrent, it did not record any of my downloads at all, regardless of whether I was using my browser or utorrent software. Also, Net Nanny did not block as much objectionable material as Kaspersky (I was able to view mature-themed youtube content that Kaspersky blocked, for instance) but this has its advantages as well – as you can see if you read the Kaspersky review.

All in all, I think Net Nanny will likely be the program I will choose when I have kids old enough to surf the web. It is smooth and detailed, giving me the reports I need, and won’t make my kids feel like I am trying to invade their privacy or inhibit their growth. Although the problem with torrent blocking is a concern, the fact that Net Nanny has this feature at all gives me hope that they will be getting those bugs worked out soon. Click the affiliate link below and give Net Nanny a try!