As mobile device usage continues to grow, especially among children, more parents and employers are turning to spy apps to monitor device activity. Spy apps allow you to secretly track GPS locations, messages, calls, apps, photos, and more on a smartphone or tablet.

Choosing the right monitoring software depends on your needs and budget. To help, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 best spy apps for Android and iPhone in 2024 based on features, reliability, price, and user reviews.

What are Spy Apps?

Spy apps, also known as stalkerware or monitoring software, allow you to secretly track everything happening on a smartphone or tablet. Once installed on a target device, the spy app lets you monitor calls, texts, GPS locations, social media activity, installed apps, browsing history and more – without the user knowing.

Parents install these stealthy tracking apps on their children’s phones to keep tabs on their kids’ communications, ensure their safety and limit screen time. Employers monitor work-issued devices to track employee productivity and prevent data leaks.

The Importance of Responsible Spy App Use

While spy apps provide a valuable means to monitor your kids or employees, they also introduce privacy concerns. It’s critical to disclose you are monitoring company-owned devices issued to employees. For parents, inform any children old enough to understand that software is tracking their phone’s data to keep them safe. Transparency about monitoring is key from an ethical perspective.

And some situations like spying on a partner or friend risk crossing legal boundaries. It’s essential to research legality for consent and notification requirements in your state or country before tracking others without their knowledge using spyware apps. Responsible and informed use remains vital.

Comparison Table

Here is a comparison table for the top 10 spy apps:

App	Platforms	Price	Call & Text Monitoring	Location Tracking	App & Web Monitoring	Media Monitoring	Extra Features
mSpy	Android, iOS	$48.99/month	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Keylogger, ambient listening
EyeZy	Android, iOS	$38.39/month	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Social media monitoring
Clevguard	Android, iOS, Windows, macOS	$39.99/month	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Screenshots, keyword alerts
FlexiSPY	Android, iOS, Windows, macOS	$79/month	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Call recording, spy cam access
uMobix	Android, iOS	$49.99/month	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Distracted driving alerts
CocoSpy	Android, iOS	$49.99/month	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Keylogger, social media access
Spyic	Android, iOS	$39.99/month	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Pricing based on features
Qustodio	Android, iOS, Windows, macOS	$54.95/year	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Parental controls focus
SpyBubble	Android, iOS	$49.99/week	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Real-time alerts
HoverWatch	Android, macOS, Windows	$49.95/month	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Lowest cost full monitoring

1. mSpy

mSpy is our top pick for Android and iOS devices, offering a robust set of monitoring features geared towards parents and employers. We previously reviewed mSpy in detail as the best iPhone spy app, highlighting its excellent remote monitoring capabilities through the secure online dashboard.

Key features we noted include monitoring of messages, calls, GPS locations, installed apps, photos/videos, contacts, calendar, emails, browsing history, keystrokes, WiFi networks, and more. Unique features include Geo-Fencing alerts when a target device enters or leaves specified locations and ambient recording to secretly activate the microphone for live eavesdropping.

2. EyeZy

EyeZy is an affordable iPhone & Android spy app providing the essential monitoring features most parents want for keeping tabs on kids. As covered in our EyeZy review, it can discretely track text messages, phone call logs, browser history, GPS locations, social media activity, photos/videos and more.

3. Clevguard

Parents and employers seeking a premium level spy app for iPhone and iPad devices should check out Clevguard. Our hands-on Clevguard review found it to be a robust Apple spyware solution, especially considering its competitive price point.

Clevguard can wirelessly monitor messages in social media apps, phone call logs, internet browsing history, locations, photos, keystrokes, apps, calendars, and more. We found the Clevguard iPhone spy app to work as advertised in our testing for remotely keeping tabs on teens and employees out in the field.

4. FlexiSPY

FlexiSPY is a leading spy app for iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry devices. As covered in our detailed FlexiSPY evaluation, it packs an incredible array of monitoring capabilities including recording phone calls, ambient listening, viewing instant messages, tracking GPS locations in real-time, keyword alerts, spying on social media activity, monitoring email, and so much more.

Despite the higher cost, the sheer depth of spying functionality makes it a top contender for those requiring total access to a target mobile device’s data and communications.

5. uMobix

Next up is uMobix, an affordably priced monitoring solution offering robust capabilities for Android and iPhone devices. In testing uMobix for our spy app review roundup, we found its varied feature set, ease of use and competitive subscription pricing make an excellent package.

With uMobix you can monitor calls, texts, instant messaging in social media apps, locations, browsing history, photos & videos, plus view calendars, contacts, notes, and mobile app activity. We also like that uMobix offers family safety features including Distracted Driving alerts to limit device use while driving.

6. CocoSpy

CocoSpy markets itself as a leading spy app for both Android monitoring along with iPhone and iPad spying that aims to provide complete data access affordably. After evaluating CocoSpy hands-on for our review, we can attest it covers the major areas parents and employers need, including monitoring of messages in social media apps, contacts list, location tracking, internet browsing history, keystrokes, apps installed, photos, videos and more.

7. Spyic

Spyic is a reputable spy app for Android devices and iPhones that offers a variety of monitoring capabilities at a very reasonable price point. After putting Spyic through extensive testing, we found that it reliably captures activity across some of the areas people care about most – text & call logs, GPS locations, social media messages, internet browsing history, apps installed, photos/videos.

8. Qustodio

Qustodio is a leading screen time parental control app providing monitoring capabilities tailored specifically for parents. It made our list given its combination of reliability, ease of use and family-focused features.

In testing for our Qustodio parental control software review, we found location tracking, text message and call log monitoring, website and app blocking, time usage limits and alerts for suspicious phrases all worked reliably.

9. SpyBubble

SpyBubble offers smartphone and tablet monitoring for iOS and Android devices with a range of tracking capabilities plus real-time alerts. Our review found SpyBubble to be a scalable spyware solution for employers, families and individual use cases.

Monitoring coverage focuses on areas like texts, calls, GPS locations, social media messaging, apps installed, browsing history and contacts/calendar. Alert word notifications, location-based triggers and device usage blocking help keep usage policies enforced.

10. HoverWatch

Last up is HoverWatch, an Android monitoring solution and iPhone spyware app providing essential data access. It made our best cell phone spy apps list for continuously adding features since launch back in 2002 while keeping rates affordable.

Our Hands-on review found HoverWatch to reliably monitor texts, calls, chat apps, GPS locations, calendars, browser histories, photos and app usage on Android and iPhone devices. While the dashboard isn’t as polished as higher priced competitors, the core cell phone spy app features work well.

Key Spy App Features

Here are the most important capabilities to look for in monitoring software:

• Text message monitoring – Spy on SMS texts, iMessages plus messages in social media apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat and more
• Phone call logging – Call logs provide names/numbers for all incoming/outgoing calls
• GPS location tracking – Pinpoint location data provides real-time tracking on a map
• Web and app activity monitoring – View browsing histories across web browsers and apps installed
• Keyword alerts – Get notifications when specific words or phrases are detected
• Media monitoring – Spy on photos and videos saved on the target device
• Ambient listening – Secretly enable microphone to listen into phone’s surroundings
• Screenshots – Remotely take screenshots to view active screen contents
• Spy cam activation – Front/rear cameras can be activated discreetly

Also consider multi-platform support (Android, iPhone, etc), ease of installation, data export options, user-friendliness and price.

How to Choose the Best Spy App

Here are key factors to weigh when picking spy software for your needs:

• Compatible OS and devices – Verify compatibility for iPhone, Android or the specific device models you need to monitor.
• Features needed – Determine must-have capabilities based on your monitoring goals like tracking texts, locations, apps, etc.
• Budget – How much are you comfortable spending monthly or yearly? Pricing can range from $10 to over $200 monthly.
• Ease of use – Monitoring dashboards differ widely. Evaluate the admin UI and overall complexity to determine learning curve.
• Customer support – Many offer setup help or troubleshooting assistance via live chat or phone if you get stuck.

Take some time to evaluate these aspects of spy apps based on your particular use case. Prioritizing these key considerations will help zero in on the ideal monitoring software for your needs while staying within budget.

Conclusion

In conclusion, spy apps allow you to secretly monitor a smartphone or tablet’s calls, messages, locations and app activity. Leading solutions like mSpy and FlexiSPY offer robust feature sets encompassing all key tracking capabilities. More affordable options such as EyeZy, Spyic and HoverWatch provide budget-friendly monitoring focused on core features like texting, GPS tracking and call logging. And parental control apps like Qustodio offer specialized supervision and time management tools specifically for parents.

When choosing spy app software, identify your core monitoring goals, then compare options to match desired features, price and device compatibility needs. Responsibly inform any children or employees you intend to track, while verifying consent regulations in your state or country. Finally, pay close attention to installation procedures and dashboard use. Following best practices helps ensure your spy app works reliably for keeping tabs on mobile devices.