Tap Guardian vs OurPact: Which Is Right for Your Family?
OurPact helped invent the scheduled screen time block — recurring windows when apps simply disappear from a child's device. Tap Guardian shares the belief that schedules beat nagging, then goes a step further: outside the scheduled windows, kids can earn extra screen time by completing tasks their parents approve, so the system motivates as well as restricts.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | Tap Guardian | OurPact |
|---|---|---|
| Screen Time Management | ||
| Daily time limits | ||
| Per-day scheduling (weekday vs weekend) | ||
| App-level blocking | ||
| Website filtering | ||
| Per-app usage stats | ||
| Rewards & Motivation | ||
| Points system for tasks | ||
| Custom parent reward store | ||
| Brain Boost daily quizzes | ||
| Achievements & badges | ||
| Earn screen time through tasks | ||
| Location & Alerts | ||
| Real-time location tracking | ||
| Safety zones (geofencing) | ||
| SOS alerts to parents | ||
| Family Communication | ||
| Task assignment & tracking | ||
| Usage reports & insights | ||
| Platform & Pricing | ||
| iOS + Android in one account | ||
| Phone-only setup (no computer pairing) | ||
Based on publicly available product information as of June 2026. Features and pricing may change. Some app-level controls behave differently on iOS due to Apple Screen Time platform limits.
Where OurPact Shines
OurPact's scheduling is its signature — recurring block windows with a clean interface, plus app rules and a family locator on its higher tiers. If your entire need is 'apps vanish during school and bedtime on a schedule,' OurPact was built around exactly that idea.
Where Tap Guardian Is Different
The differences show up in how each app is enforced and what happens outside the blocks. On iPhone, OurPact's management has historically relied on a device profile installed via a computer-based pairing process — a setup step many parents find fiddly, and a profile-based approach differs from the Screen Time framework Apple now provides for this. Tap Guardian uses Apple's Screen Time framework directly, sets up from the phones themselves in minutes, and needs no Family Sharing or child Apple Account. And when a limit is reached, OurPact offers nothing to do about it but wait or ask — Tap Guardian lets kids earn more time through homework, chores, reading, or a Brain Boost quiz, with minutes added automatically when a parent approves the task.
Pricing
OurPact's paid tiers run roughly $7 to $10/month depending on features, with a limited free tier. Tap Guardian is $6.99/month or $49.99/year with the reward system, schedules, and location included, after a 14-day trial with no credit card. Pricing as of August 2026, per each provider's public pricing page — verify current pricing with the provider.
The Bottom Line
Choose OurPact if scheduled block windows are the whole job and you are comfortable with its setup process. Choose Tap Guardian if you want schedules AND a reason for kids to cooperate — earned time — with a phone-only setup that works the way Apple's current parental control framework intends, covering iPhone and Android from one dashboard.
Still researching? Read our guide to choosing the best parental control app or see the full multi-app comparison.
The screen time app kids actually want to use
Try Tap Guardian First
Available now on iPhone & iPad — free 14-day trial, no credit card.