Have a Device and Need a Filter? Our Comprehensive Guide

It’s a bit confusing deciding how to filter your device. Here’s the rundown of all the options out there…one of them is right for you.

With so many filter companies out there, it’s quite difficult to navigate, so here’s our guide on what to know.

Free Filters
As the saying goes, you get what you pay for, and with the free filters you really don’t get much. Here’s why:

Being free, the companies don’t work on the software, and they are;
● Extremely easy to bypass.
● Will not be very customizable.
● Offer zero to minimum support for any issue you have.

Non-Jewish Paid Filters
There are some companies out there that actually do a great job, but in the non-Jewish market the filter might not be for you, and here’s why;

● The filters are built for kids, that’s good, right? Actually not really, since most of them work by creating a filter profile on your child’s device, and you manage it from yours. When you do that, your own device will not be filtered, and there are many innocent links that are inappropriate as well as many ads that you may want blocked on your own device.
● None of these filters will offer image filtering, which is not essential in the non-frum world. In addition, image filtering gives you the flexibility to have certain sites you need open which will still be filtered.
● Unfortunately, with the popularity of the major companies, it has become very easy to find documentation on how to remove the filter, and even kids can do it.

Jewish Filters
In the past 20 years, Jewish filters have become extremely efficient and professional. Best off all? They were built for frum people in mind.

● Almost all of them offer image filtering, and customization varies between applying it on/off per site or category, or removing the image, or covering the skin color.
● They offer customer access control as well as only changes through the company or specific resellers. Why is it important? When you have access to the controls, so do your kids. Yes, it’s password protected, but chances are they know your code. Also, many people rather not have changes made so easily by themselves, so they know that the filter is secured, and can’t be changed on a whim.
● They get you. When you call their support, most times you’re speaking to someone like yourself that understands your needs and wants.

What’s important in a filter
When getting a filter make sure the company offers some or all of these features:

● Support is king. When setting up a filter you can choose your settings, but changes need to be made, and programs may clash with your filter. So, make sure that the company offers email and phone support many hours of the day. A nine-to-five support hours won’t cut it. Most important of all, how fast do they answer requests from blocked pages?
● Customization. There is no one-size fits all plan, so look out for their customization options, like, category-based filtering, option to exclude/allow certain sites, YouTube filtering, image filtering and different users so you can set individual settings for family members.

Here are the top 5 Jewish filter companies, and our review:

Techloq for Windows only.

Pros:
● Cheap: From £69.99/$99.99 per year they offer the most for the best price, with the option to pay monthly/quarterly.
● Extremely customizable
● Customer portal
● Accurate image filtering that colors skin color.
● YouTube filtering by categories
● Great support.
● Set different settings to apply at certain times (premium feature)
● Create additional user settings (premium feature)
● Email only plan for £39.49/$49.99

Cons:
● US support closes at 5:00 pm EST (it opens at 4:00 am).

NetSpark for all platforms

Pros:
● Cheap: For $99 per year it’s a great price (Monthly is $9.50/$114 yearly)
● Extremely customizable.
● Accurate Image filtering that removes certain images based on the level you choose.
● Lock all internet for certain hours.
● Customer portal
● YouTube filter by level

GenTech for all platforms

Pros:
● Extremely customizable.
● Lock all internet for certain hours.
● YouTube filter by level.
● Support hours are incredible, from 4:00 am till 11:30 pm EST.
● Email only plan for $69.99/year.
● Apps only plan on mobile for $84.99.

Cons:
● No customer portal
● Expensive, the filter is $140/year
● Image filtering isn’t always accurate.

NativUSA for Windows only.

Pro:
● Extremely customizable.
● Lock all internet for certain hours.
● Accurate Image filtering that colors skin color.
● Email only plan for $50/year, includes Google Maps, Docs, etc.
● Email only plan through a program for $18/year

Cons:
● No Customer portal
● Expensive, the filter is $140/year
● Every YouTube link must be requested.
● Cannot lock all internet for certain hours

NetFree for Windows only.

With NetFree there really aren’t pros and cons. The filter is only meant for extremely high standards, and not customizable if you don’t have those standards. All images of women are removed, and many other features make it perfect or terrible depending on what you want.

Have an iPhone and don’t need a browser? Take advantage of Apple’s incredible built-in Screen Time. Check out our post on it here.