In the digital age, information has become accessible right at our fingertips. With smartphones and internet connectivity, we can easily check out almost anything we’re curious about. However, this kind of freedom of information comes at a cost. Underaged kids who may not know how to filter or process the information they encounter are at risk. While smartphones can guarantee safety via easy contact, they can’t guarantee safety from online threats. Online predators, risky apps and websites, and inappropriate content are everywhere. Don’t get me wrong, though. Letting them have a phone for easy communication is still a good choice safety-wise. However, it’s not always wise to leave them without some sort of parental management or control. Regardless of your reasons to need a spy app, here are the best to get the job done.
10 Best Free Spy Apps for Android & iOS
It’s no secret that free spy apps exist. However, finding the right mobile tracker can be tricky, especially if you don’t know where to look. That’s why we hope this list can help you narrow down your search for the best free spy apps.
1. Cocospy
Cocospy is one of the apps that are great for surveillance and tracking. With its stealth technology-based undetectable nature and its lightweight usage, it’s the perfect spy phone app. It’s easy to install since it only uses 2 MB and can be installed within five minutes. Plus, it doesn’t use much battery, which makes its presence virtually undetectable.
Cocospy is best used by user who wants to track their partners, kids, or family member’s whereabouts. By using this app, you can track their social media messages, location data, contacts, call logs, and even browsing history. Even Snapchat’s deleted messages can be monitored via the app. Additionally, you can log email and social accounts using keyloggers.
Using Cocospy is easy to use since you can monitor with any browser and all data are stored in the cloud. Moreover, unlike some other apps, Cocospy is less of a hassle because it doesn’t require you to root the target phone. Its user-friendliness is perfect for beginners getting into spy apps.
Cocospy already has hundreds of thousands of downloads with regular users all around the globe. It’s available for both Android and iOS, which is perfect for tracking both ecosystems.
2. FlexiSPY
FlexiSPY is another powerful spy app with unique features that aren’t offered in other free spy apps. It’s been around since 2005 so you can be sure that the app knows what it’s doing. The app is undetectable with its stealth mode so target phone users won’t be able to feel it.
FlexiSPY is considered one of the most feature-rich spy apps. For instance, this app allows you to listen in on actual phone calls at the time of calling. You can also record those calls and view their logs. The listening-in function that FlexiSPY offers isn’t offered by any other spy app out there. Thus, if you want the most thorough option available, you should strongly consider FlexiSPY.
FlexiSPY also offers you access to the target phone from the very first day. This is possible if you order a device with the app pre-installed. The target user won’t even suspect a single thing.
FlexiSPY is easy to use on both Android and iOS. However, the iOS version does require a jailbreak, which might be complicated for new and inexperienced users. Keep in mind that it’s only compatible with Android 4.0.4 to 10 and iOS 9.1 and up. Moreover, FlexiSPY isn’t fully free. It does come with a free trial, but a subscription is required to maximize its features.
3. GuestSpy
GuestSpy is one of the decent phone tracker options among free spy apps. It’s a great tool to help you track a person’s activity undetectable.
With GuestSpy, you can access different things on the target phone. If your child has problems with directions or getting lost, you can use the location tracker to find them. Perhaps you’re concerned about them hanging out or getting involved with bad people. No worries, you can use the social media app or SMS tracking function to monitor them. Maybe you think your child visits sketchy websites or views inappropriate things. To properly monitor these activities, you can also use the browsing history and gallery surveillance functions. As the cherry on top, the app also provides live call recording for maximum surveillance.
Of course, these functions aren’t limited to tracking your kids. Business owners can also make use of this app for tracking employee phones that might be misused. Whatever the usage, this app is great to help you monitor phone activity. Unfortunately, GuestSpy is only available for Android, so iOS users should keep reading for alternative free spy apps.
4. iKeyMonitor
If you’re looking for something basic but does the job well, check out iKeyMonitor. It’s user-friendly enough for beginners with lots of features to cover all your basic spy needs.
With iKeyMonitor, you have most of the basic features of other free spy apps. That includes monitoring internet connection and activity and messages. Moreover, it has some unique features like capturing screenshots and limiting screen-time on the target phone.
It does have more powerful features but the target phone needs jailbreaking or rooting for them to work. That’s minus points since it’s a bit more of a hassle. If you do opt to jailbreak your phone, you’ll get access to iKeyMonitor’s keylogger feature. This feature will allow you to monitor chat apps.
The problem with iKeyMonitor is that its free plan isn’t fully featured. For all features, you’ll be required to subscribe to continue using the app. It’s $5.99/month or $29.16/month for a full year subscription. The app is compatible with iOS 9.x to 12.4.x and Android 2.3 and above.
5. Kiddie Parental Control
As the name suggests, Kiddie Parental Control is one of the best kids trackers to help you monitor your kids. It was formerly known as Heimdall Parental Control, and it’s one of the newer spy apps on this list.
Kiddie Parental Control offers many wonderful features for monitoring and control. It can limit call durations so your kids won’t be on the phone for too long. The app also allows for filtering when it comes to sensitive and inappropriate content on the phone. When you want to limit what your child can install, it can also block app installations to help you. To top it off, you can also monitor internet and network activities carried out on the target phone. It’s truly perfect for any parent who is concerned about their children’s wellbeing.
Unfortunately, Kiddie Parental Control is only on Android. However, it is one of the good free spy apps out there. It’s free with some features being under a paywall. These paid features include things like alerts for when your child leaves a certain region or blocking certain websites. However, the free version is pretty good for basic needs.
6. Prey Anti Theft
Sometimes we search for free spy apps not for monitoring and surveillance but as a guardrail for theft. Phones can contain some sensitive and important information since they’ve become extensions of ourselves. One of the ways to safeguard your data is through these free spy apps.
Prey Anti Theft is an app that’s similar to find-my-device. It offers features such as phone locking, location tracking, and making the phone send off alarms. It’s a great spy and security app that will help you catch thieves if your phone ever gets stolen.
Apart from the aforementioned features, this app can also take photos with the camera. This will come in handy especially when tracking the whereabouts of your phone. Additionally, the ability to check for nearby WiFi hotspots will help you identify the MAC address.
Prey Anti Theft’s only flaw is that it’s only available on Android devices. Sorry for iOS users who might have been looking for these sets of features. However, if you do have an Android device and want the app, it’s free. No added cost or in-app purchases required.
7. SpyHuman
Another one of the good options for free spy apps is SpyHuman. This app has all the basics that you would need from a spying app. It can track location, messages, web browsing, and more. It’s best for monitoring your child’s phone usage or if an employee or other person is misusing the phone.
SpyHuman comes with many features. It has a text message tracker that monitors all the logs of the device’s SMS. With the location tracker, you can track not only the user’s current location but locations they’ve been to as well. That’s a big plus for security if the target phone ever gets stolen.
Additionally, SpyHuman has a browser and web monitoring feature to make sure restricted and sketchy sites won’t be accessed. You can even restrict access and certain actions on the browser. Social media is also a possible tracking source for SpyHuman. However, do note that target devices need to be rooted for you to access chats from WhatsApp, WeChat, and Facebook.
SpyHuman is available on both Android and iOS so most smartphone users can access it. However, it’s not fully free like other free spy apps. It comes with a seven-day free trial with ads. After that, you’ll have to subscribe to the Premium plan to continue using it.
8. Spyera
Basics aren’t always going to cut it when it comes to spying apps. Some use cases require more advanced features that basic free spy apps just don’t offer. Plus, not all free spy apps are available on all platforms (as is the case with some on this list).
If you want a multi-platform spying app, Spyera might be your best pick. It’s available on most major platforms like iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows.
Spyera covers all the basics and also gives a few more advanced features other free spy apps don’t offer. One such feature is the ability to record incoming and outgoing phone calls on the target device. Another notable feature is the ability to notify you when the target phone changes its sim card.
Additionally, Spyera also gives you the advanced feature of using the target device’s camera. However, the problem that this app has is its compatibility with iOS. It is only compatible with iOS 10.2 or earlier. Later versions of iOS are not yet supported. Plus, you need to jailbreak the phone to get it on there and it’s a little expensive.
9. Spyic
“My spy app is so complicated to install!” If you’ve encountered complicated installations with free spy apps, try out Spyic.
Spyic is one of the top free spy apps and it’s also customizable on Android. It requires no jailbreak or rooting to install on iOS or Android devices which is a plus.
With Spyic, you can track browser activity on Safari, Chrome, Edge, and others. Spyic also allows for tracking of incoming and outgoing calls without the user knowing anything about it. If you want further surveillance, it can track chat on apps like Snapchat and WhatsApp. Plus, it can track the target device’s SMS activity.
If you’re worried about its stealthy abilities, Spyic uses advanced stealth technology to hide its tracks. It’s lightweight and only takes up 2 MB of space so it won’t get noticed. The app deletes itself after installation and doesn’t consume lots of battery as well so it will go undetected.
10. XNSPY
With XNSPY, you get a free spy app for Android undetectable to the target device’s users. Its user-friendly and simple nature allows even new users to employ its services with ease. Furthermore, it’s available on both Android and iOS so almost anyone can use it.
XNSPY has multiple features including social media, messenger, gallery, and call log tracking. Whether it’s surfing the net on a browser or tracking the location, XNSPY will do it all. It has an expansive list of features. XNSPY has a call recorder, contact tracker, chat logger and capture, email tracker, multimedia file captures, instant alerts, and more. You can even track WiFi networks, log keystrokes, get access to analytics, and remote control.
XNSPY has a free one-month plan. However, it does have more full plans that will cost you a monthly or yearly subscription.
Final Word
All of these free spy apps are great for many different scenarios. It’s good for parents wanting to monitor their kids or to track a person’s whereabouts. Either way, these free spy apps take a load off your chest and helps you sigh in relief.
