Bark vs Slate Educational Scheduling
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bark
This service helps families manage their children's digital lives by monitoring online content, managing screen time, and filtering websites. It alerts parents to potential issues like cyberbullying or adult content, offering peace of mind.
- Content monitoring for texts, email, YouTube, and social media
- Alerts for cyberbullying, adult content, and threats
- Screen time limits and scheduling
- Website filtering by category or specific sites
- Monitors 30+ apps and social media platforms
Read full descriptionHide full description
Bark provides families with all the tools they need to raise kids in the digital age. Our comprehensive service lets you monitor content, manage screen time, and filter websites so you can get peace of mind while your child is online. CONTENT MONITORING Bark monitors your child’s texts, email, YouTube, and 30+ apps and social media platforms for issues like cyberbullying, adult content, sexual predators, profanity, suicidal ideation, threats of violence, and more. Parents receive alerts only when something potentially problematic occurs online. You won’t have full access to everything on your child’s phone — just the things you might need to know about. SCREEN TIME MANAGEMENT Families can set healthy time limits and create schedules for when their children’s devices can connect to the internet (through both cell service and Wi-Fi). WEB FILTERING Our web filter lets you select which websites your child can access on their devices. You can allow or block specific sites — or even whole categories like streaming services, online gaming, sexual content, and more. BARK TESTIMONIALS • "My wife and I LOVE Bark. We've had some tough but productive conversations with our 13-year-old son. It's proving to be extremely valuable." — Josh L. • “It’s just another set of protections we as parents give our kids for the digital environment (or as my 10-year-old calls it, a “cell phone seat belt”). My oldest is a 9th grader, and while I trust her, I’ve come to realize through the alerts that some of her friends aren’t truly her friends. It’s led to some amazing conversations about choosing friends wisely and recognizing toxic people. While she wasn’t for Bark at first, she’s since said she’s grateful that I saw those messages because it reaffirmed what she was feeling but didn’t know how to verbalize without sounding sensitive.” — Bark Parent • "Bark notified me that my young daughter had unknowingly revealed her phone number to strangers on Twitter. The fact that Bark notified me was impressive and led to an informative discussion with her the same day." — Jon B. • “Since Bark alerted us to the suicidal language used in the Google doc that was being used in a chat document with a friend, we have seen both a pediatrician and a licensed counselor. We are hopeful for a positive outcome. Thanks to Bark for letting us peek into our child’s mind!” — Bark Parent • “This app is a lifesaver! It has allowed us to catch so many “red flags” in the content my kids have accessed on their devices and in their interactions with friends and other people online that I wouldn’t have ever known about otherwise. The big difference between Bark and other “Parental Control” software is that Bark allows your kids to have so much more privacy. It doesn’t show you everything they do, but sends an instant alert regarding any activity that might be concerning. Highly recommended!” — Bark Parent With Bark, you can help keep your kids safe both online and in real life. Try it out for seven days absolutely free! Our Family Online Safety Specialists are standing by to help answer any questions you may have. Email help@bark.us or visit help.bark.us to get answers and advice from the Bark Team. Terms of Use https://www.bark.us/terms
Slate Educational Scheduling
This app streamlines the process of managing classroom absences and substitute teacher assignments for school districts. It provides real-time staffing information and detailed reports.
- Enter absences quickly
- Accept substitute assignments
- Real-time staffing information
- Robust reporting
- Streamlined communication
Read full descriptionHide full description
Slate Scheduling enables classroom teachers to enter absences and substitute teachers to accept teaching assignments quickly and easily. Slate offers school districts real-time information and robust reporting about staffing needs.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Bark at 4.3 against Slate Educational Scheduling's 2.0. Bark also leads on ratings volume (36K vs 5) and chart position (#77 vs unranked). Slate Educational Scheduling's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Bark sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Slate Educational Scheduling asks for nothing beyond the download.
Bark holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bark has 36K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 13% of Bark's written reviews are positive against 33% of Slate Educational Scheduling's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Bark ships an update every 2 months, Slate Educational Scheduling weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bark | Slate Educational Scheduling |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (36K ratings) — better | 2.0 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 12.8% of reviews | 33.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 36K — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #77 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 53 MB | 123 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Bark Technologies, Inc. | Penmac |
Customer experience
Bark
Slate Educational Scheduling
Bugs and requests
Bark
Reported bugs
4 issues- Frequent disconnections and reconnections required
- Inability to monitor certain popular apps like TikTok and Snapchat
- Delayed alerts and notifications
- Unexpected phone performance issues like slower speeds and battery drain
Requested features
4 requests- Improve compatibility with iOS devices
- Provide cloud-based backups instead of manual device backups
- Add password protection to prevent app uninstallation
- Improve sensitivity settings and notification management
Slate Educational Scheduling
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Bark
- Bark Jr Monthly7 Days trial$5.991 Month
- Bark Monthly7 Days trial$14.991 Month
- Bark Jr Annual7 Days trial$49.991 Year
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Bark Annual7 Days trial$99.991 Year
Slate Educational Scheduling
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Bark free?
Is Slate Educational Scheduling free?
Which has better reviews, Bark or Slate Educational Scheduling?
Do Bark or Slate Educational Scheduling have ads?
Which is updated more often, Bark or Slate Educational Scheduling?
Other comparisons















