Overview
Content Barrier X9 is a piece of parental control software designed for Macs. It seeks to help keep children away from dangerous and harmful content while providing easy-to-use monitoring services to make sure that your children are using their devices for approved reasons, not sneaking in extra game time under the guise of homework.
Pros
The primary advantage Content Barrier X9 offers is the sheer number of features. Content Barrier X9 lets you set time limits on internet use, monitor what websites your children visit, restrict access to certain sites, prevent predatory chat behavior, and control the settings remotely. Moreover, Content Barrier X9 also lets you set up different profiles for different members of your family. That means your 20 year old who’s home from college won’t be held to the same restrictions as their 12 year old sibling.
Content Barrier X9 really does do a great job of identifying and providing all of the core features that you want from an internet accountability and monitoring program. Whether it’s keeping your children safe from predators, gambling, and pornography, or just making sure that your children really are using the internet for homework and not for recreaction, Content Barrier does it all.
Additionally, while we take issue with the pricing model that Content Barrier uses, we do like the price point it’s sold at. Two years of service will cost $39.99, which makes it affordable for most families on a budget.
Cons
While Content Barrier X9 has a host of services and features, it’s not without its faults. One example of a drawback for this software is the pricing model. They offer one or two year subscriptions, which means that you’ll have to pay more than once if you want to keep using the service. While this isn’t uncommon in the industry, we prefer services that only charge a one-time fee. Content Barrier X9 also only works on Macs, so if you have a mixed group of devices at home or use PC’s then you’ll have to look elsewhere for your internet monitoring and accountability needs.
Verdict
Content Barrier X9 is a great choice for internet filtering, monitoring, and accountability if your family uses Macs. There aren’t as many programs of this type for Macs, and Content Barrier does a wonderful job of providing all of the most important features you need to protect your children and family from dangerous content and other internet users. The price is reasonable and, although we don’t like the subscription service model, the one or two-year subscription cycles are certainly better than the month-to-month payments other services require.