Comparison

Scout Champ vs Bark

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Scout Champ

This app simplifies tracking scout advancement, merit badges, and requirements. It provides visual progress reports and generates printable PDF blue cards, saving time on paperwork and helping scouts see what to work on next.

Highlights
  • Scout advancement tracking
  • Merit badge progress
  • Requirement status
  • Digital signatures
  • PDF blue card generation
  • Visual progress charts
Features
Read full description

Award-winning, super simple and intuitive scout advancement tracking. Designed and built by a scoutmaster specifically to help scouts advance without bogging them down with paperwork. It will quickly give you a view into the status of your troop broken down by scout, rank, merit badge, and even by each requirement. (It can be really handy for parents too) It helps answer the constant questions: "What should we work on?" "What is his status?" It can also be used by individuals to track their own progress. I have been using this for my own troop for quite some time and it was a big hit with the boys at scout camp. They earned several extra merit badges just because it was so easy to see what needed to be done and get it signed off. It also saved me hours of filling out blue cards because you can generate a double-sided pdf from within the app and then print it out. Features: - Digital signatures - Pie chart showing each boy for each rank/badge/requirement - PDF blue cards. (Huge time saver!) - Made and tested by real scoutmaster and troop

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read 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

Screenshots

Scout Champ4 screens
Bark3 screens

Verdict

The call

Scout Champ and Bark both sit at 4.3 stars, but that hides the real split: 85% of Scout Champ's written reviews are positive against 13% of Bark's. Scout Champ also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.1). Bark's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 19 months) and ratings volume (36K vs 53). On price, rating, ads and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Bark sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Scout Champ asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Scout Champ against 4.3 for Bark. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bark has 36K ratings behind it against 53, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 85% of Scout Champ's written reviews are positive against 13% of Bark's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scout Champ ships an update every 19 months, Bark every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Scout Champ versus Bark: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScout ChampBark
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (53 ratings) — better4.3 (36K ratings)
Positive reviews85.5% of reviews — better12.6% of reviews
Number of ratings5336K — better
Update frequencyEvery 19 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#81 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB53 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperMana PassBark Technologies, Inc.

Customer experience

Scout Champ

All ratings53 ratings
Positive84.9%
Neutral7.5%
Negative7.5%
Written reviews55 reviews
Positive85.5%
Neutral10.9%
Negative3.6%

Bark

All ratings36,182 ratings
Positive80.8%
Neutral3.3%
Negative15.9%
Written reviews597 reviews
Positive12.6%
Neutral7.5%
Negative79.9%

User reviews

Scout Champ

From 53 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use interface
  • ✅ Tracks rank progress well
  • 📚 Contains merit badge requirements
  • 🎯 Helps scouts get organized
  • 📱 Great for on-the-go tracking

Room to improve

  • ⚠️ Missing recent badge updates
  • ❌ Outdated requirements
  • 🔄 Migration issues
  • 🗄️ Scoutbook is a joke
  • 🚫 Lacks Android support

Bark

From 36K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💯 Solid recommendation
  • 🔒 Helps keep watch over family
  • 🔒 Necessary for child safety
  • 🚀 Disturbingly good app so far
  • 🚀 Unique helpful tracker

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Very hard to navigate
  • 🐛 Can't install
  • 🐛 Annoying features
  • 🐛 Useless, don't waste money
  • 🐛 Confusion during setup

Bugs and requests

Scout Champ

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Migration to new requirements doesn't work
  • Migration took forever and didn't load
  • Troop number, council, and district not populating on PDF for blue card
  • Notes field does not save
  • Cannot add unit or personal info for scouts
Show 1 more
  • Cannot delete scouts

Requested features

36 requests
  • Update to include new badges (Citizenship in Society)
  • Allow sub-points to have their own checks
  • Change 'Boys' to 'Scouts' for inclusivity
  • Add support for Cub Scouts
  • Add yearly updates for new badges/requirements
Show 31 more
  • Update to reflect new Eagle required badges
  • Add support for signing off individual skills/tasks within a requirement
  • Add an organizing tool for scouts (alphabetical, rank, age)
  • Add logging for camping nights, service hours, hiking miles
  • Add Order of the Arrow feature
  • Add a 'report' function
  • Add a sync function
  • Allow data transfer to another leader
  • Add cloud data development
  • Ability to hide or delete scouts
  • Ability to organize boys into patrols
  • Link databases amongst leaders
  • Communicate with Scoutbook
  • Make a separate group of boys for tracking
  • Include a 'parent' role
  • Allow checking off partial progress on a requirement
  • Add Eagle Palms
  • Add a sash feature
  • Allow choosing the date earned
  • Print a summary for each boy
  • Cloud upload
  • Export report function
  • Share data between devices/users
  • Link accounts for syncing
  • Make signature box larger
  • Store database in the cloud (Dropbox)
  • Add a 'settings' screen
  • Tie into unit and council data for updates
  • Add missing merit badges (Automotive Maintenance, Woodwork, Architecture, Animation, Exploration, Sustainability)
  • Update requirements to 2016/2019 standards
  • Add Android version

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

In-app purchases

None

Scout Champ

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Bark

Subscriptions4
  • 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 more
  • Bark Annual7 Days trial$99.991 Year

Questions

Is Scout Champ free?
Scout Champ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bark free?
Bark is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Scout Champ or Bark?
Scout Champ is rated higher. Scout Champ averages 4.3 out of 5 from 53 ratings, while Bark averages 4.3 from 36K ratings.
Do Scout Champ or Bark have ads?
Neither Scout Champ nor Bark shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scout Champ or Bark?
Scout Champ ships an update every 19 months, and Bark every 2 months. Most recently, Scout Champ was updated on October 26, 2026 and Bark on October 29, 2026.

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