Best Phone Spy Apps in 2023 – Top 10 Reviewed + Compared

The best phone spy apps are an excellent way to keep your loved ones safe and stay informed about their activities in and out of the house. Many parents use these apps to ensure their children’s online and physical safety, while others use them to spy on their spouses to ensure the safety and security of their family members.

We’ve analyzed and reviewed the best phone spy apps in 2023, looking into their features and pros and cons to provide you with all the information you need to find the one that’s right for you. Read on to learn how providers like mSpy, EyeZy, and uMobix can help you track and monitor calls, internet activity, social media activity, and more.

The Best Cell Phone Spy Apps – Top 10 Ranked

There are a lot of phone spy apps available on the market today, but many of them will likely fall well below your expectations – and some seem like outright scams. Based on our research of the best monitoring apps available, mSpy is the best phone spy app you can buy. That said, there are some extremely powerful alternatives also available, which have their own strengths and weaknesses and may be suitable for you depending on your needs and requirements. Here’s a quick breakdown of the market’s best phone spy apps:

1. mSpy — We rank this popular tracking app as the best phone spy app overall based on its superb service and wide range of features, including the ability to remote control the device, block sites and implement geo-fenced tracking.
2. EyeZy — A great option for budget-conscious customers and comes with detailed internet activity analytics and a powerful keylogger.
3. uMobix — A consistent and reliable phone spy with a comprehensive set of features, including the ability to view deleted messages and to remotely control the device.
4. Cocospy — Quick to set up and easy to use and comes with great tools for monitoring the use of social media and dating apps.
5. Spyic — An affordable choice that lets you set blacklists for specific words and apps, and to limit time on social media apps, making it great for parents.
6. Hoverwatch — By providing regular screenshots, this app allows you to track the use of up to 25 devices, making it ideal for businesses.
7. XNSpy — Comes with a set of powerful features, including the ability to remotely lock or wipe the device, control the camera and microphone, and monitor the use of social media and email.
8. KidsGuard — An app that has been optimized for parents, with comprehensive GPS tracking and social media monitoring tools.
9. iKeyMonitor — One of the best free picks on the market, offering GPS tracking and call logs, with more advanced options available on paid plans.
10. TheOneSpy — A reasonably priced, robust solution for monitoring devices across media files, social media, and GPS location data. Comes with great tools for remote control and accessing deleted messages.

Top 10 Cell Phone Tracking Apps – Compared

The comparison table below provides all the information you need to quickly compare the best phone spy apps and their features, functionality, and pricing and find the ideal tracking tool. What’s the best phone spy package for you?

The Best Phone Spy Apps for Peace of Mind – Top 10 Reviewed

Many of the best hidden spy apps have a number of features in common. However, there are also significant differences between them in regard to installation, ease of use, features, and pricing. To decide on the one that’s ideal for the use case you have in mind, take a look at our in-depth reviews below.

1. mSpy — Best Phone Spy App Overall

mSpy is a leading parental control app, and it’s a great place to start for ensuring your child’s safety both online and in the real world. It offers an ideal balance of having a wide range of powerful features while still being easy to use. What’s more, it has a fairly staggering user base of more than 1.5 million households.

If phone spy apps seem daunting to use, fear not, for mSpy takes just a couple of minutes to fully set up. Afterward, the tool will inform you of your loved one’s activities every 5 minutes, ensuring you don’t miss a beat.

The mSpy app easily monitors activity on target phones from the browser history to social media and SMS messages with ease. You can even look at deleted messages due to the app’s powerful screen recording and keylogging capabilities.

On top of this, the tool excels at giving you in-depth control over your monitoring experience. You can even access remote control features to record your loved one’s surroundings or phone calls.

This can help protect your child from real-world threats like bullying or help you find a cheating spouse. To top it off, mSpy does all of this in secret, staying completely undetectable on the target device.

Naturally, as the best hidden spy app, mSpy has much more to offer — a whopping 36 features, to be exact. If you’re still wondering, “Does mSpy really work?” Our answer is a resounding, “Yes.” It does everything you need, and more.

Pricing

Much like most cell phone spy apps, mSpy lets you pick between multiple pricing options:

1. Monthly — $48.99/month
2. Quarterly — $27.99/month
3. Yearly — $11.66/month

Not only is $11.66/month a low price to access mSpy’s powerful spying features but there’s even a 10-day money-back guarantee letting you put the app to the test risk-free.

2. EyeZy — Best Cheap Phone Spy App

EyeZy is perfect for you if you’re looking for a budget spy app to start you off on your phone spying journey. The tool will help ensure your loved ones are well-guarded against online threats and even give you some interesting analytics to keep you informed.

This is the perfect tool for parents worried about their child’s social media activity or concerned spouses trying to help their partner overcome social media addiction.

Not only do the social media monitoring features allow you to look at all messages — even if they’re deleted — but you can restrict your loved one’s time on social media remotely.

Besides this, EyeZy will immediately alert you if your loved one installs a dating app like Tinder, which is perfect for parents worried their child is going to jump into the dating game too early.

On top of this, you can set up a list of phrases for EyeZy to notify you if they’re sent or received on the target device.

To top it all off, if you’re looking to monitor your loved one’s internet activity, there’s no better tool than EyeZy.

It’ll give you detailed analytics on your loved one’s browsing habits, what they’re saying in chats, the Wi-Fi networks they connect to, and the time they spend on certain sites.

Pricing

Much like mSpy, you can purchase EyeZy with one of three billing options:

1. 1 Month — $47.99/month
2. 3 Months — $9.33/month
3. Yearly — $9.99/month

At just $9.99/month with the yearly plan, EyeZy is one of the best bargains you can get, given its vast set of powerful features.

If you’re unsure, you can use EyeZy’s 14-day money-back guarantee to test the tool without risking a dime.

3. uMobix — Feature-Packed Spyware for iPhone and Android

uMobix provides top-of-the-line real-time monitoring capabilities for Android and iOS devices. If you’re looking for a comprehensive, feature-rich hidden phone spy app to monitor your loved ones, uMobix might be a perfect choice.

One of the app’s biggest benefits is its host of remote control features. Most apps won’t allow you to take control of the target device and access their microphone and camera to look or listen in on their surroundings in real time as uMobix does.

Alongside this functionality, uMobix allows you to record all calls to and from the target device- perfect for catching misbehaving teens.

If you’re concerned about what they’re doing when you’re not monitoring them, uMobix will show you all messages, even if they’ve been deleted.

Finally, uMobix lets you restrict or block access to certain apps or sites. This can stop your children from going on dating apps or visiting inappropriate sites. Alternatively, you can use it to ensure your child isn’t spending too much time on social media.

Pricing

Much like the 2 entries before it, uMobix has three pricing plans:

1. 1 Month — $49.99/month
2. 3 Months — $27.99/month
3. Yearly — $11.66/month

The yearly plan is a great deal given the value of uMobix’s features, however, as with most, its subscription covers just 1 device.

No matter what option you select, you’ll gain access to a plethora of advanced features. If you’d like to try it for free, you can do this with its 14-day refund policy.

4. Cocospy — Best Spyware for Android and iOS for Ease-of-Use

Cocospy is one of the best spy apps for phones due to it being incredibly easy to use. The app can be set up in just 1-3 minutes, and its user interface is second to none.

However, that’s not to say that Cocospy is weak; in fact, the app provides comprehensive surveillance and can help you look at all internet activity on the target device.

With its social media tracking, you can look at all posts and messages on the target phone, even deleted ones.

What we love most is that Cocospy also allows parents to view and mark any suspicious contacts and receive a notification whenever they’re contacted.

Furthermore, you can set up alerts so that if a specific phrase appears in your child’s texts, social media messages, or internet searches, you’re immediately alerted.

Pricing

Cocospy provides 3 different plans, each of which will provide you with the tool’s full power:

1. Monthly — $49.99/month
2. 3 Months — $29.99/month
3. Annual — $12.49/month

If you’d like to try Cocospy for free before committing to a purchase, you can do so with their 14-day money-back guarantee.

5. Spyic — Top Phone Spy App for Complete Monitoring

Spyic is one of the best cell phone spy apps for parents looking for a tool to give them holistic monitoring of their child’s phone.

First off, Spyic allows you to monitor all of your child’s social media and browser activity. Even if a message is deleted, you’ll still be able to see it on Spyic — even for SMS messages. This way, you’ll know if your child is doing anything inappropriate.

Spyic has a full suite of GPS monitoring capabilities. Not only will you be able to track your child’s device no matter where they go, but you can even set up special settings.

The most useful of these is geo-fencing, allowing you to be instantly alerted if your child goes out of a predetermined area.

Spyic is also perfect for restricting your child’s online activities. Not only can you block specific apps, but you can also restrict their time on social media as you like.

Furthermore, you’ll be able to block certain apps and even be alerted if your child uses a specific word.

Pricing

There are different plans the spyware for Android and iOS, each of which is the cheapest with a 12-month license.

Android:

1. Basic — $8.33/month — Essential features
2. Premium — $9.99/month — Social media added
3. Family — $16.66/month — Full feature set, up to 3 devices

iOS:

1. Premium — $10.83/month — Full suite for individual monitoring
2. Family — $33.33 — Full feature set, up to 5 devices
3. Business — $83.33 — Full Feature set, up to 25 devices

In the off chance that Spyic isn’t able to impress you, you can take advantage of its 60-day money-back guarantee to try it for free.

6. Hoverwatch — Screenshot-Based App That’s Great for Businesses

Hoverwatch takes an innovative approach to monitor mobile devices, relying mainly on screenshots of the target device’s screen to give you an idea of their activities.

On top of this, Hoverwatch also lets you cover up to 25 devices, making it an excellent choice for both families and businesses.

It’s also one of the best free spy apps with its fully free edition. Plus, another key benefit of this phone spy app is that it works in stealth mode on all popular operating systems, so it isn’t distracting or intrusive for the user of the target device.

This means that Android devices, as well as Windows, Mac, and iOS, can all be monitored without the target user knowing.

Hoverwatch also packs some remote control features, such as front-camera snapshots every time the device is unlocked.

This can help you identify who’s using the device if it’s stolen, or it’ll give you peace of mind if you feel that your spouse is being unfaithful.

Pricing

Hoverwatch has 3 plans on top of its free plan, which makes it one of the best free hidden spy apps. The paid plans are as follows:

1. Personal — $8.33/month — 1 device
2. Professional — $3.33/device/month — Up to 5 devices
3. Business — $1.67/device/month — Up to 25 devices

The business plan is perfect for small business’ worried about theft or just lack of productivity, as it allows you to track 25 devices at just $41.75/month.

Hoverwatch also provides a 3-day free trial, so you can try it risk-free on up to 5 devices, but there’s no refund policy or money-back guarantee.

7. XNSpy — Perfect Spy App For Remote Control Features

XNSpy is a feature-packed option perfect for parents and employers alike with a plethora of features, including some of the most effective remote control features on the market today.

These remote control features can be incredibly useful when restricting your child or employee’s time on their phone.

Remotely, you’ll be able to lock or wipe the target device. Furthermore, if you’re worried about their surroundings, you can use the phone’s camera and microphone to record them at a moment’s notice.

If you’re more worried about your employees discussing business secrets, or your children calling suspicious people, XNSpy has a solution for that as well.

The call monitoring feature allows you to spy on their phone calls and never be in the dark again. Finally, XNSpy lets you monitor everything from WhatsApp to Facebook, emails, or even website visits and multimedia files.

With all of this combined, you’ll have a complete picture of your child’s or employee’s phone use.

Pricing

XNSpy’s pricing model has 3 different subscriptions options:

1. Monthly — $44.99/month
2. Quarterly — $24.99/month
3. Annually — $9.99/month

At $9.99/month on its cheapest subscription, XNSpy is quite reasonably priced. However, if the tool doesn’t meet your needs in the first 10 days, you can refund it with ease.

8. KidsGuard — First-Class Spy App for Android and iOS for Worried Parents

KidsGuard is one of the most popular hidden spy apps for parental control. It’s optimized for parents and gives you access to a vast array of features in an easy-to-use interface and with competitive pricing.

The tool packs advanced remote control features. You can record your child’s screen with the press of a button and see what they’re up to. If you’re concerned about their physical well-being, you can record using their camera or microphone with ease.

Besides this, KidsGuard packs one of the best dating app monitoring software, so if your child or spouse is acting suspiciously, you can check if they’re using them. On top of this, you can record all the calls your loved one makes with their phone.

Finally, no spy app is complete without GPS tracking and social media monitoring. KidsGuard allows you to see your child’s location, be alerted if they cross a threshold, and you can spy on all their social media activity.

Together, all these features combine to give you complete peace of mind.

Pricing

Monthly — $29.95/month
Quarterly — $16.65/month
Annual — $8.32/month

Notably, while KidsGuard offers some rather impressive features at these prices, they’re liable to change when it’s time to renew your subscription.

You can put KidsGuard Pro to the test risk-free using its 30-day money-back guarantee.

9. iKeyMonitor — Best Free Phone Spy App

iKeyMonitor is by far one of the best free phone spy apps, packing useful features and an all-in-one surveillance approach to keep your children safe online.

While you should be wary of any company that tries to give you a spy app for free, iKeyMonitor has been in the market long enough, and the quality of the premium version is enough for us to recommend it.

As the best free spy app, it’ll give you all the essential spying features, such as SMS and call log monitoring, for free. However, if you’re looking to get more bang for your buck, you’ll need to get paid addons or other plans.

The free plan allows for GPS mobile phone tracking, letting you always know where your children are. On top of this, with the paid plan, you’ll gain access to high-quality geo-fencing that’ll alert you if they cross a boundary.

With the paid version, you get many more features, including social media monitoring, internet activity alerts, real-time screenshots, and screen time limits.

Put together, these features make for the perfect all-in-one package.

Pricing

iKeyMonitor has a fully free plan allowing you to look at calls, SMS logs, GPS locations, and more.

However, if you want to get more features, you can do so for $9.99 for the first 3 days and $16.66/month thereafter. You can try the premium plan for free by taking advantage of the 30-day guarantee.

The company also has a business plan, but that requires you to contact their support team for a quote.

10. TheOneSpy — Advanced Phone Monitoring App with Powerful Features

TheOneSpy is among the best spyware for iPhone and Android if you’re looking for a vast breadth of monitoring activities to engage in.

The app is capable of taking remote screenshots of the target device’s screen, letting you always know what they’re up to. This is especially useful for tracking media like Snapchat snaps or Instagram stories.

The app will further allow you to record all calls on the device, even those made on VoIP apps like WhatsApp, meaning that nothing slips through the cracks.

If you’d like to exercise more control, you can also take advantage of web filters to control and monitor children’s internet activities.

On top of all this, TheOneSpy can monitor social media, deleted messages, multimedia files, GPS location history, and more – giving you a lot of insights and a great deal of control.

All in all, it’s one of the best apps if you’re looking for a truly all-in-one solution.

Pricing

TheOneSpy has a multitude of plans available, with there being a Lite and Premium version of the service. The Lite version offers most of the functions outlined above and is priced as:

1. Monthly — $25/month
2. Quarterly — $15/month
3. Annual — $6.25/month

As for the Premium version that has everything listed above and more, with the annual subscription, you can get it for just $10/month.

If you’d like to try TheOneSpy for free, you can do so using its 14-day money-back guarantee.

Why Do I Need a Spy Phone App?

There are a number of good reasons why you might want to make use of a spy phone app to track or monitor the usage and location of a smartphone. Some of the most common of these include:

Keeping Your Child Safe

The internet is a dangerous place. Not only can children run into inappropriate content and bullies, but they can even run into child predators. With online risks to children increasing, it’s more important than ever to make sure your kids are staying safe online.

A spy phone app ensures you’re always up to date with your child’s internet activities. You can also monitor their outgoing calls to make sure they aren’t communicating with strangers.

The best cell phone spy apps can even help you manage the time your child spends online. With teenagers addicted to social media, it’s important for parents to have the means to limit their time spent online and ensure nothing inappropriate is going on.

Many monitoring apps also allow you to track the physical location of the device, so you can rest assured that you know precisely where your child is.

Of course, many make the case that it’s best to use monitoring transparently so your child knows that you are looking out for their welfare and best interests – though negotiating with teenagers can often be difficult. For more details, check our complete guide to the best parental control apps.

Protecting Your Employees And Onsite Devices

Information security should be at the heart of how you handle technology. Your staff members have access to a huge amount of confidential information, such as logins, client details, and company processes, among other things.

If your user data is compromised, you could face some very significant fines, as well as losing the trust of your customers. And if you’re the victim of a ransomware attack, you might need to pay over huge sums to get control back over your systems and databases.

Phone spy apps ensure you can keep tabs on how your employees are using the internet on company devices. You can check if they’re spending their time productively, and you can monitor how they’re handling confidential data. You can also block inappropriate websites and can stop devices from downloading unauthorized apps.

In addition, apps that can track device location help to safeguard you against theft. Many spy apps will allow you to geo-track devices and set geo-fencing so you can track and locate them in the event that they are lost or stolen – which could save your business a lot of money.

Monitoring Your Spouse

Some people use monitoring apps to track their spouses and other adult family members. It’s important to note that it is illegal to do this in many countries without getting their informed consent – whether or not you’re using the best phone spy apps or picking from less reputable services.

A phone monitoring app can help you track your spouse’s messages, inbound calls, outbound calls, social media content, and more – giving you a full picture of all information being exchanged on the device.

You can also track their location and apply geofencing, so you’ll be alerted if they enter or leave a particular designated area. If you’re worried about the individual’s safety or about other parties making illicit use of the device, then a monitoring service can track everything you need in real time to put all your concerns to rest.

How Do Phone Spy Apps Work?

Once a phone spy app is installed on the target device, it will begin collecting data while silently running in the background. You won’t have to physically interact with the device again or enter any passwords.

Most good spy apps will then begin to send you activity logs so you can monitor the use of the device as it is used in real-time, and depending on the capabilities of the app, you can potentially track the device’s location or even remotely control it.

Do I Need Physical Access to the Target Phone?

Most phone spy apps require you to have access to the target device in order to set up the app. That said, the setup process typically only takes a couple of minutes with the best phone spy apps for iPhone and Android.

And if you are planning to monitor an adult, then you should, of course, have their permission to track their usage of the device – so the installation process is fairly quick and easy.

Of course, employees using business hardware can be contractually bound to accept tracking, and people in trusting relationships should have few issues with letting their partner use their smartphone.

With iOS monitoring, you also have the option of remotely accessing the device’s data if you have the user’s iCloud credentials. However, even with this method, you’ll generally need to complete the Two-Factor Authentication test, which will require device access.

Are Spy Apps Legal?

Whether a spy app is legal or not depends on when you’re based, the app you’re using, and what you’re using it for. Laws in places like the US, the UK, and Canada, are often stricter when it comes to using spy apps to monitor spouses and other adults than using them to help keep your children safe online.

The spy apps we’ve reviewed are all legitimate and safe, but we advise reading up on the laws in your specific country and/or state, such as the US spyware legislation, to ensure that you’re safe when it comes to using spy software on target phones.

Generally speaking, if you are the parent or guardian of a child, you are allowed to track them, and you can monitor adults as long as you have their informed consent.

Free Spy Apps vs. Premium Tools

Free spy apps present a tempting yet problematic offer. In fact, most free spy apps on the market either don’t work at all or are outright scams.

Some of these apps from disreputable vendors will sell your data, while others might mine cryptocurrency in the background. Remember, if a service is free, it’s likely that you’re the product – and with a phone tracking tool, you may be handing over enormously sensitive and valuable information.

With that said, freemium versions with premium offerings are a reliable alternative, and these are the best free phone spy apps to opt for. However, as you might expect, these apps tend to use the free version to encourage you to sign up for a paid plan.

The other issue with these apps, such as iKeyMonitor and Hoverwatch, is that the free versions are lacking in comparison to premium tools.

You’ll get fewer features, and they’ll likely be far less reliable. This is especially apparent when compared to the best phone spy apps overall, like mSpy.

Because of this, the best way to get a free Android or iOS spy app is by taking advantage of paid tools’ free trials or money-back guarantees. This way, you get all the functionality of paid apps while not having to risk a dime if they don’t work out for you.

Alternatively, if you’re simply budget-conscious, you can opt for an annual plan and get phenomenal value for your money.

How to Use a Spy App – Step-by-Step Guide

If you’re wondering about how to go about setting up a spy app, it’s generally pretty simple. We consider mSpy to be the best hidden phone spy app. Here’s how to install the app on a device once you have it unlocked and in hand:

Step 1: Create An mSpy Account

Go to the mSpy website using the button below, where you’ll need to select a billing option. Once your mSpy.com account is set up, you’ll need to go through these steps:

1. Choose Android or iOS when asked for the operating system of the target phone
2. Pick a subscription level and process the payment
3. Open up your email and save all of the info inside

Here are the additional steps for installing the Android version. To make full use of the app on iOS, you will need to jailbreak the device, though.

Step 2: Disable Play Protect

For mSpy to work properly, you’ll need to disable Play Protect, which usually stops spyware like mSpy. To do this, go to the Google Play Store settings on the target phone and make sure the option shown below is turned off.

Step 3: Open Google Chrome Browser and Download mSpy

1. Open a web browser on the target phone
2. Insert the link from the mSpy email into their address bar
3. Finish the captcha and press “Download”
4. Press “OK”

Step 4: Open mSpy and Begin Spying

1. If a prompt opens up, press “Open” then “Settings”
2. Finally, click “Allow from this source”
3. From here, press “Next” and “Open”
4. Agree to the mSpy License Agreement
5. In case a prompt opens, press “Accept all permissions”
6. Put in your Registration Code
7. Click “Complete Installation”

More Resources and Phone Spy Guides

Our expert team have put together a range of guides and resources for the best spy tools and cell phone tracking apps on the market. You can find them here:

• The best iPhone spy apps
• The best girlfriend spy apps
• The best WhatsApp spy apps
• The best Facebook spy apps
• The best Instagram spy apps
• The best no-jailbreak iPhone spy apps
• The best GPS trackers
• The best keylogger software
• The best Android keylogger
• The best employee monitoring software
• The best web browsing history tracker
• How to track your boyfriend’s phone
• How to spy on devices connected to my WiFi
• How to track a phone
• iKeyMonitor review – features, pricing, pros & cons
• MSpy review: everything you need to know
• UMobix review: is it the best phone spyware tool?

Conclusion – What’s the Best Phone Spy App in 2023? mSpy

After looking at all of the many options on the market, we’re confident that mSpy is the best spy app for 2023.

It’s an extremely reliable product with an enormous amount of functionality. It’s also a great fit across a range of different use cases, whether you’re a parent, spouse, or employer looking to track your family members or staff.

mSpy’s feature set offers you extensive visibility and control when tracking and monitoring devices – and it comes at a great price for cell phone spy software.

What’s more, it comes with a 10-day money-back guarantee, so you can test and check out everything it does before you’re committed. Follow the link below to take mSpy for a test drive.

Spy App FAQs