Getting started with PARE Media: a worked example with real numbers

What should a parent set up before the first day?

Start with the parent account and the household plan, not the child’s device. Creating a parent account does not grant app access or start a subscription, according to the PARE Family pricing page, so the plan still has to be chosen in PARE Parent.

Count the children first. Each child needs a profile and a pairing code entered on the device they use. The plan is priced per household, so each extra child lowers the cost per child without raising the bill. While the native apps are in invited TestFlight testing, the pricing page shows a notice, so check it before you plan a start date.

• Parent account created
• Plan chosen in PARE Parent through Apple
• One child profile for each child
• Pairing code entered on each child’s device
• Trial end date written on the calendar

How much does PARE Family cost per month and per year?

PARE Family costs $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year in U.S. pricing, per the PARE Family pricing page. The table divides each option across the days in a year and across three children so the two plans can be compared on the same scale.

Twelve monthly payments come to $59.88. The annual plan saves $19.89 against that, or about 33 percent, which matches the pricing page’s rounded figure. Apple shows the price for your storefront before you subscribe, so use these as the list prices at the time of writing.

The monthly plan is cheaper only for a short stay. Eight monthly payments come to $39.92, just under the $39.99 annual price, so the annual plan wins once you expect to stay subscribed for nine months or more. A family that tries PARE briefly and cancels would pay less on the monthly plan.

How do you check the numbers before you subscribe?

Open PARE Parent and compare the price it shows with the table above. Apple displays the price for your storefront, so the figure on your screen can differ from the U.S. list prices used here. Use the on-screen price in your own comparison, and treat the table as the U.S. reference.

Confirm that the trial is offered to you before you start, because it applies only to eligible new subscribers. A quick check at this stage costs nothing, and it is much easier than correcting a charge after the first week.

What does a three-child household actually spend?

Picture a family with three children, ages 6, 9, and 12, each with a PARE Kids device. On the monthly plan they pay $4.99 each month, which is $59.88 over a year. On the annual plan they pay $39.99 once, or $13.33 for each child. The difference is the $19.89 saved by paying once.

The same arithmetic works for a two-child household. The annual plan comes to about $20.00 per child, and the monthly plan to about $2.50 per child each month. The saving stays at roughly a third of the bill, because the household is the unit of pricing, not the child.

The trial only changes the first charge, and only for eligible new subscribers. Put the trial end date on the calendar and check the renewal setting in Apple Account before it arrives. The pricing page says the plan renews automatically unless it is canceled at least 24 hours before the current period ends.

What should the first two weeks look like?

In the first two weeks, aim for a small approved list rather than a full library. Approve one or two videos the child already wants, and watch them yourself before you press approve. The guide on approving one video or a whole channel explains when a narrow yes is the better call.

Keep a simple tally of requests for the first week. A few repeat creators point to a list that should grow slowly. A long run of one-off requests points to a list that needs a few broader decisions. Either result tells you something you did not know on day one.

Decide in advance who answers requests. If a parent is at work when a request arrives, it waits in the queue, and that is fine. Agree on a time for a short review, such as after dinner, so the child knows when an answer will come rather than guessing.

What do you do if the tools show as locked?

The household tools work only while the PARE Family plan is active, according to the pricing page. If the portal says they are locked after a trial, check the plan in PARE Parent first, then contact PARE support with the parent account email address and nothing about the child.

Check early, not at the first request. A locked tool is easy to fix on a quiet afternoon and much harder to explain while a child is waiting.