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Family Link is free. Your child's data pays the bill.
If you want to limit your kid's Android without giving Google a front-row seat to a nine-year-old's search history, here is the realistic landscape, and where Quiles fits in it.
WHY FAMILY LINK ISN'T FREE
The bill is paid in data.
Google Family Link costs nothing in euros, and a lot in profile. Every search your nine-year-old types, every app he opens, every minute spent inside it: all of that lands on Google's servers under the child's nascent profile. By the time he turns 13, Family Link disengages and the profile carries on into a normal Google account that arrives pre-trained.
If that trade reads as wrong, there are paid alternatives. There is also one that doesn't trade anything.
THE LANDSCAPE
The four real choices in 2026.
Google Family Link, free, opaque
The default. Pre-integrated into Android. Logs activity to Google's servers. Stops at 13. No per-app fine control. No rewards system.
When to pick it: child under 9 and you don't mind Google's data ingestion.
Qustodio, $55/year, cloud, web dashboard
The feature-completest option. Strong web filtering, deep reports, multi-device. Everything syncs to US servers. Reviews flag false-positive blocks and disconnects.
When to pick it: you need deep web filtering and accept the cloud model.
Bark, $99/year, AI reading messages
An LLM in the US reads your child's messages on WhatsApp, Instagram, etc. and pings you on concerning content. Effective. Also: an LLM in the US reading your child's DMs.
When to pick it: teen, moral-panic threshold high, US-based, money no object.
Quiles Familia: Free, zero cloud
Launcher on the child's phone. You choose which apps open, when, for how long. Data stays on the device. The app is free: no purchase, no subscription, no per-child fee, updates included.
Versus Family Link: more control, no Google. Versus Qustodio (~$55/year): simpler, no web filter (we explain why on our anti-features page), and free instead of a paid subscription. Versus Bark: we don't read messages. That's the line we don't cross. (Quiles Mayor, our optional elder plan, is separate: €59/year.)
When to pick it: you want a household tool, not surveillance. Android child phone. Up to 3 kids on Familia, expandable.
SETUP
5 minutes from buy to enforced.
- Download Quiles (Parent) free from Google Play on your phone. No payment, no license.
- Your phone shows a QR. Install Quiles (Tutor) on the kid's phone; scan it.
- Set schedules, allowed apps, school mode. Done.
The child's phone runs Quiles as its launcher. Trying to swap it back prompts for your password.
FAQ
The honest questions.
iPhone child?
Apple doesn't allow third-party launchers on iOS. Screen Time is your only on-device option. We're shipping an iOS parent companion for the parent-iPhone-child-Android case.
Can my child uninstall it?
Not without your password. Quiles activates Android's Device Admin so uninstall is gated.
What if they're at school or on a trip and you're not there?
Rules already configured stay in force (no server required). New changes you make sync next time you're on the same Wi-Fi or in Bluetooth range. That's the honest trade-off of going cloudless.
Is this legal?
Yes, in the EU and US. Parents are legally responsible for a minor's phone. Quiles is GDPR-compliant by virtue of not processing child data on servers, and is on Google Play under the stalkerware policy carve-out for parental control (which is why the persistent "Quiles is running" notification is mandatory).
DONE
Try it.
Also read: Zero-cloud parental control or Qustodio vs Quiles.