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Education · head to head

Securly vs Seek by iNaturalist

Securly logo

Securly

Education

Web filtering, student safety monitoring and device management for K-12 schools

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Seek by iNaturalist logo

Seek by iNaturalist

Education

Free nonprofit wildlife and plant identification app built to be safe for children

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Seek by iNaturalist has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Seek by iNaturalist identification quality depends on how well iNaturalist community data covers a given region, so obscure or under-photographed species can be misidentified.
  • They diverge on capability: Securly covers Filter, Seek by iNaturalist covers Offline identification.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Securly and Seek by iNaturalist actually diverge.

Attributes where Securly and Seek by iNaturalist differ
AttributeSecurlySeek by iNaturalist
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelPer student per year by moduleFree, no ads and no in-app purchases
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, WindowsiOS, Android

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 Securly

  • Filter
  • Aware
  • On-Call
  • Classroom
  • MDM
  • Pass
  • Home
  • Delegated admin

Only in Seek by iNaturalist

  • Offline identification
  • No account required
  • Child-safe design
  • Species badges
  • Broad coverage
  • Community-trained model

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Securly

  • A district that must show CIPA compliance for take-home Chromebooks used on home broadband, where network-level filtering does nothingnot Seek by iNaturalist
  • A district whose safeguarding policy requires that a human being reads a self-harm alert within minutes at any hour, including school holidaysnot Seek by iNaturalist
  • A one-to-one iPad programme needing Apple device enrolment, filtering and classroom control from a single agent rather than threenot Seek by iNaturalist
  • 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 Seek by iNaturalist

Seek by iNaturalist

  • A parent wanting a nature app for a child without accounts, chat or data collection concernsnot Securly
  • A hiker in an area with no signal who needs offline plant or insect identificationnot Securly
  • A teacher running an outdoor nature scavenger hunt with a classnot Securly
  • Anyone who wants broad wildlife identification without paying a subscriptionnot Securly

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

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.

Seek by iNaturalist

  • Identification quality depends on how well iNaturalist community data covers a given region, so obscure or under-photographed species can be misidentified.
  • It lacks the deep plant care guidance that commercial apps like PictureThis provide, since it is an identification tool, not a gardening assistant.
  • Observations made in Seek are not automatically added to the iNaturalist research database unless separately uploaded, which surprises some users expecting automatic contribution.
  • The offline model download is a meaningful app size, which matters on devices with limited storage.
  • Because there are no accounts, there is no cross-device sync of identification history.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Seek by iNaturalist

Free
  • SeekFree
    • Full identification for plants, insects and animals
    • Offline identification once models are downloaded
    • No account required

Which should you pick?

Choose Securly if

  • You need filter.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows.
  • You also want aware.
Securly review

Choose Seek by iNaturalist if

  • You need offline identification.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android.
  • You also want no account required.
Seek by iNaturalist review

Questions people ask

Is Securly or Seek by iNaturalist better?
Neither clearly leads. Securly starts at On request and Seek by iNaturalist at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Securly or Seek by iNaturalist?
Seek by iNaturalist has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Securly and Free for Seek by iNaturalist.
Does Securly or Seek by iNaturalist run on more platforms?
Securly runs on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows. Seek by iNaturalist runs on iOS, Android.
Can I use Seek by iNaturalist for free?
Yes. Seek by iNaturalist has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Securly starts at On request.
What is Securly best used for?
Securly is most often used for a district that must show cipa compliance for take-home chromebooks used on home broadband, where network-level filtering does nothing, a district whose safeguarding policy requires that a human being reads a self-harm alert within minutes at any hour, including school holidays, a one-to-one ipad programme needing apple device enrolment, filtering and classroom control from a single agent rather than three, 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 hand. Of those, a district that must show cipa compliance for take-home chromebooks used on home broadband, where network-level filtering does nothing and a district whose safeguarding policy requires that a human being reads a self-harm alert within minutes at any hour, including school holidays are not what Seek by iNaturalist is typically brought in for.
What can Securly do that Seek by iNaturalist cannot?
Securly covers Filter, Aware, On-Call, Classroom. Seek by iNaturalist covers Offline identification, No account required, Child-safe design, Species badges.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Seek by iNaturalist: Is Seek really free?

Yes, entirely, with no ads or in-app purchases, run by the nonprofit iNaturalist.

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.

Seek by iNaturalist: Do I need an account?

No, Seek works fully without an account, which is a deliberate choice to make it safe for children.

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.

Seek by iNaturalist: Does Seek feed the iNaturalist research database?

Not automatically. You have to choose to upload an observation to iNaturalist.org for it to become part of the research record.

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.

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