Education · head to head
Bark for Schools vs Securly
Bark for Schools
Education
Free content monitoring of school Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 accounts
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Securly
Education
Web filtering, student safety monitoring and device management for K-12 schools
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Bark for Schools has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Bark for Schools it is free, which means the school has no commercial leverage: support response, feature requests and continued availability all depend on a consumer business the school does not pay into.; Securly pricing stacks by module and only Filter has rates that surface publicly, so the quoted total for Filter plus Aware plus On-Call is routinely several times the number a district budgeted from the filtering line alone.
- They diverge on capability: Bark for Schools covers Google Workspace monitoring, Securly covers Filter.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Bark for Schools and Securly actually diverge.
| Attribute | Bark for Schools | Securly |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | On request |
| Pricing model | Free to US K-12 schools, funded by the consumer product | Per student per year by module |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Web, Chrome OS, Windows, macOS | Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Education).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Bark for Schools
- Google Workspace monitoring
- Microsoft 365 monitoring
- Alerting with context
- Chrome and Edge web filtering
- DNS filtering
- Severity categories
- Bark for Schools+
- No seat cap
Only in Securly
- Filter
- Aware
- On-Call
- Classroom
- MDM
- Pass
- Home
- Delegated admin
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Bark for Schools
- A district with no safeguarding budget at all that needs content-level alerting on pupil email and documents without a purchase order.not Securly
- A school that already runs a CIPA filter and wants to add detection of what pupils write, which a URL filter cannot see, at no additional cost.not Securly
- A small independent school whose entire technology function is one part-time member of staff and which cannot run a procurement for a paid alerting platform.not Securly
- A district piloting content monitoring before committing budget, wanting real alert volumes from its own pupil population before comparing paid alternatives.not Securly
Securly
- A district that must show CIPA compliance for take-home Chromebooks used on home broadband, where network-level filtering does nothingnot Bark for Schools
- A district whose safeguarding policy requires that a human being reads a self-harm alert within minutes at any hour, including school holidaysnot Bark for Schools
- A one-to-one iPad programme needing Apple device enrolment, filtering and classroom control from a single agent rather than threenot Bark for Schools
- A district under pressure from parents who want visibility of what their child does on the school device at home, without the school having to field each request by handnot Bark for Schools
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Bark for Schools
- It is free, which means the school has no commercial leverage: support response, feature requests and continued availability all depend on a consumer business the school does not pay into.
- It monitors content inside the school Google or Microsoft tenant, not general web browsing, so it does not meet a CIPA filtering requirement on its own and a district still needs a filter.
- Alert volume in a large district is substantial and the free tier gives you no triage, so schools without a rostered safeguarding responder accumulate unread alerts that are worse than no alerts in an incident review.
- Detection works on language patterns and produces false positives on legitimate coursework about difficult topics while missing coded or image-based content entirely.
- The offer is scoped to US K-12 schools, so schools elsewhere cannot rely on it, and any school outside that scope should assume the terms could change with the consumer business that funds it.
Securly
- Pricing stacks by module and only Filter has rates that surface publicly, so the quoted total for Filter plus Aware plus On-Call is routinely several times the number a district budgeted from the filtering line alone.
- The safety scanning generates false positives at volume, including song lyrics, creative writing and health-class assignments, and each one consumes counsellor or administrator time that the vendor does not pay for.
- Alerting on student writing is a surveillance decision with real community consequences, and districts that deploy it without an explicit board policy and parent notification have faced local objections after the fact.
- Coverage is strongest on managed Chromebooks; personal devices, non-Chrome browsers and encrypted apps outside the agent leave gaps that the compliance story quietly depends on nobody testing.
- Per-student pricing is charged on enrolment rather than on devices, so a district that issues devices to only some year groups still pays for every student on the roll.
Pricing, plan by plan
Bark for Schools
Free- Bark for SchoolsFree
- No cost to K-12 schools in the United States
- No per-pupil charge and no seat cap
- Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 content monitoring
- Bark for Schools+$undefined/year
- Trained specialists triage urgent alerts
- Escalation by phone, text and email 24/7
- Quoted per school or district
Securly
On request- Filter$undefined/year
- Web filtering on and off network
- Tiered per-student rates that fall as enrolment rises
- Published in some purchasing co-operative catalogues, not on the vendor site
- Aware$undefined/year
- Automated scanning of email, documents and search for safety risk
- Quoted per student, no public rate
- On-Call$undefined/year
- 24/7 human review and escalation of serious alerts
- Quoted per student, priced on top of Aware
- Classroom, MDM and Pass$undefined/year
- Sold as separate per-student modules
- Quoted
Which should you pick?
Choose Bark for Schools if
- You need google workspace monitoring.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Chrome OS, Windows, macOS.
- You also want microsoft 365 monitoring.
Choose Securly if
- You need filter.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows.
- You also want aware.
Questions people ask
- Is Bark for Schools or Securly better?
- Neither clearly leads. Bark for Schools starts at Free and Securly at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Bark for Schools or Securly?
- Bark for Schools has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Bark for Schools and On request for Securly.
- Does Bark for Schools or Securly run on more platforms?
- Bark for Schools runs on Web, Chrome OS, Windows, macOS. Securly runs on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows.
- Can I use Bark for Schools for free?
- Yes. Bark for Schools has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Securly starts at On request.
- What is Bark for Schools best used for?
- Bark for Schools is most often used for a district with no safeguarding budget at all that needs content-level alerting on pupil email and documents without a purchase order., a school that already runs a cipa filter and wants to add detection of what pupils write, which a url filter cannot see, at no additional cost., a small independent school whose entire technology function is one part-time member of staff and which cannot run a procurement for a paid alerting platform., a district piloting content monitoring before committing budget, wanting real alert volumes from its own pupil population before comparing paid alternatives.. Of those, a district with no safeguarding budget at all that needs content-level alerting on pupil email and documents without a purchase order. and a school that already runs a cipa filter and wants to add detection of what pupils write, which a url filter cannot see, at no additional cost. are not what Securly is typically brought in for.
- What can Bark for Schools do that Securly cannot?
- Bark for Schools covers Google Workspace monitoring, Microsoft 365 monitoring, Alerting with context, Chrome and Edge web filtering. Securly covers Filter, Aware, On-Call, Classroom.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Bark for Schools: Is Bark for Schools genuinely free?
Yes, the core monitoring is free to K-12 schools in the United States with no seat cap. It is funded by the paid consumer Bark subscription and Bark Phone.
Securly: Does Securly publish pricing?
Not on its own site. Tiered per-student rates for Filter appear in some US purchasing co-operative catalogues, falling as enrolment rises, but Aware, On-Call, Classroom, MDM and Pass are quoted.
Bark for Schools: Does it satisfy CIPA on its own?
No. It monitors content in your Google or Microsoft tenant. You still need a web filter, though Bark offers a filtering component alongside it.
Securly: What is the difference between Aware and On-Call?
Aware is the automated detection that produces alerts. On-Call is the staffed service that reads the serious ones out of hours and phones your escalation contacts. Buying Aware alone leaves the triage with your own staff.
Bark for Schools: What is Bark for Schools+?
A paid tier where trained specialists triage urgent alerts and contact the school by phone, text and email around the clock.
Securly: Does it filter on home internet?
Yes, filtering follows the managed device rather than the network, which is the point for take-home Chromebook programmes.
Bark for Schools: Does it monitor personal accounts?
No. It sees content in the school-owned tenant. A pupil using a personal Gmail account on the same device is not covered.
Securly: Is student data used for anything else?
Securly signs the US Student Privacy Pledge and district data processing agreements; check the specific DPA rather than the marketing page, since scanning scope and retention are negotiated terms.
Bark for Schools: What happens if the consumer business changes strategy?
The school offer depends on that business. Any school treating Bark as its only safeguarding alerting should have a documented alternative.
Related pages
More on Bark for Schools
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