Education · head to head
GoGuardian vs Securly
GoGuardian
Education
Web filtering, classroom screen monitoring and self-harm alerting for school-issued devices
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Securly
Education
Web filtering, student safety monitoring and device management for K-12 schools
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: GoGuardian beacon generates alerts that a human must act on, often outside school hours, and districts that buy it without agreeing who responds at 11pm have created a liability rather than resolved one.; 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: GoGuardian covers Admin, Securly covers Filter.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which GoGuardian and Securly actually diverge.
| Attribute | GoGuardian | Securly |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | quote | Per student per year by module |
| Platforms | Chrome OS, Windows, macOS, iOS, Web | Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows |
Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), 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 GoGuardian
- Admin
- Teacher
- Beacon
- Beacon 24/7
- Scenes and sessions
- Smart Alerts
- Off-campus filtering
- Reporting
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.
GoGuardian
- A US district that must demonstrate CIPA-compliant filtering on federally subsidised broadband and wants the activity logs to survive an audit.not Securly
- A one-to-one Chromebook programme where devices go home and the district needs the filtering policy to travel with the device rather than stop at the school gate.not Securly
- A school with a documented safeguarding concern about self-harm that needs flagged language escalated to a named counsellor with a timestamped record.not Securly
- A teacher running an online assessment who needs pupil browsers locked to a single site for the duration without provisioning a separate lockdown browser.not Securly
Securly
- A district that must show CIPA compliance for take-home Chromebooks used on home broadband, where network-level filtering does nothingnot GoGuardian
- A district whose safeguarding policy requires that a human being reads a self-harm alert within minutes at any hour, including school holidaysnot GoGuardian
- A one-to-one iPad programme needing Apple device enrolment, filtering and classroom control from a single agent rather than threenot GoGuardian
- 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 GoGuardian
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
GoGuardian
- Beacon generates alerts that a human must act on, often outside school hours, and districts that buy it without agreeing who responds at 11pm have created a liability rather than resolved one.
- Detection is language-pattern based, so it produces false positives on coursework about difficult subjects and misses coded or oblique expressions, meaning it should never be presented to parents as a safety net.
- Filtering on school-issued devices follows pupils home, which surveils domestic internet use on a household's own connection, and districts have faced public objections when this was not disclosed clearly in advance.
- No pricing is published, and the multi-year reseller bundles make it hard to compare against a filtering-only competitor without running a full procurement.
- Coverage is strongest on Chrome OS and thinner on Windows, macOS and iOS, so mixed-device districts get uneven enforcement and end up running a second filtering product for the non-Chromebook estate.
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
GoGuardian
On request- GoGuardian Suite$undefined/year
- Priced per student or per device, quoted by district
- Admin, Teacher and Beacon licensed individually or as a bundle
- Sold heavily through education resellers as three, four and five year terms
Securly
On request- Filter$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 GoGuardian if
- You need admin.
- You work on Chrome OS, Windows, macOS, iOS, Web.
- You also want teacher.
Choose Securly if
- You need filter.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows.
- You also want aware.
Questions people ask
- Is GoGuardian or Securly better?
- Neither clearly leads. GoGuardian starts at On request and Securly at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, GoGuardian or Securly?
- GoGuardian starts at On request and Securly at On request.
- Does GoGuardian or Securly run on more platforms?
- GoGuardian runs on Chrome OS, Windows, macOS, iOS, Web. Securly runs on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows.
- What is GoGuardian best used for?
- GoGuardian is most often used for a us district that must demonstrate cipa-compliant filtering on federally subsidised broadband and wants the activity logs to survive an audit., a one-to-one chromebook programme where devices go home and the district needs the filtering policy to travel with the device rather than stop at the school gate., a school with a documented safeguarding concern about self-harm that needs flagged language escalated to a named counsellor with a timestamped record., a teacher running an online assessment who needs pupil browsers locked to a single site for the duration without provisioning a separate lockdown browser.. Of those, a us district that must demonstrate cipa-compliant filtering on federally subsidised broadband and wants the activity logs to survive an audit. and a one-to-one chromebook programme where devices go home and the district needs the filtering policy to travel with the device rather than stop at the school gate. are not what Securly is typically brought in for.
- What can GoGuardian do that Securly cannot?
- GoGuardian covers Admin, Teacher, Beacon, Beacon 24/7. Securly covers Filter, Aware, On-Call, Classroom.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
GoGuardian: Is GoGuardian required for CIPA compliance?
No. CIPA requires a filtering policy and technology, not a specific vendor. GoGuardian is one of several products that satisfy it.
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.
GoGuardian: Does Beacon monitor pupils at home?
On a school-issued managed device, yes, including outside school hours, unless the district explicitly limits the policy. This should be disclosed to families.
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.
GoGuardian: Is Beacon included with Admin?
A starter level of Beacon is included with an Admin subscription. The 24/7 human triage service is a separate paid tier.
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.
GoGuardian: Is Pear Deck part of the same licence?
No. Pear Deck Learning products are sold separately from the Admin, Teacher and Beacon suite even though the same company owns both.
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.
GoGuardian: Can teachers view screens outside lesson time?
That depends on how the district configures sessions. Leaving screen viewing available at all hours is a configuration choice, not a product limitation, and it is the setting most worth reviewing.
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