What does PARE Media actually make?
PARE Media is one company with two jobs. It publishes practical guidance on children, games, movies, books, devices, and family routines. It also makes two apps that work together: PARE Parent, which a parent uses to curate video, and PARE Kids, which the child uses to watch.
The guides and the apps are separate things. An article on this site does not change what a paired device can play, and a setting in the parent app doesn’t make an article true. Each guide carries its own date and is attributed to PARE Media as an organization.
Reading the guides does not require an account. You can learn how the publication works, check its editorial limits, and decide whether the apps fit before you create anything.
How do PARE Parent and PARE Kids work together?
A parent creates a child profile in PARE Parent, then enters the eight-character pairing code on the device running PARE Kids. Once the two are paired, the parent’s approvals decide what that child can watch.
When a child reaches a video outside the approved space, they can send a request. The parent sees the title and creator, then approves or denies it. The parent can also set schedules and keyword controls, pause viewing for one child, and review activity, as the PARE approval guide describes.
| Person | What they do | Where it happens |
|---|---|---|
| Parent or caregiver | Approves or denies videos and channels, and reviews requests | PARE Parent and the parent web portal |
| Child | Watches approved videos and sends a request when something is missing | PARE Kids, a free download |
| Other adult in the home | Reads the guides and checks the limits before changing a rule | PARE Media guides |
What else does the parent side show?
Approvals and requests are the center of the product, but the parent side also keeps a record. Watch history shows what played, search history shows what a child searched for, and a weekly activity email can be turned on or off. A maximum volume setting covers the last piece of playback.
Each of these answers a different question. Watch history tells you what happened, search history tells you what was looked for, and the weekly email tells you what changed without opening the app. None of them replaces the approval decision, so review the list before you read the logs.
Who is PARE Media for?
The site is written for adults who make screen decisions for children. Common Sense Media’s 2025 census of children ages 0 to 8 found that average screen time has held steady at about 2.5 hours a day, according to Common Sense Media. That is more viewing than most adults can keep track of from memory, so a written approval list helps.
Here is an illustrative case, not a customer story. A grandparent looks after a seven-year-old on Tuesday afternoons and gets asked for the same cartoon every week. A short written list of approved videos lets that caregiver answer without guessing, and it gives the parent one place to change the answer later.
Children are secondary users. PARE Kids is their app, but the parent sets up the household and makes the calls. The PARE Family plan covers the parent side for the whole household, so one adult can manage several children from one place.
Who should not expect PARE to do the parenting?
If you expect one switch to make a feed safe, you’ll be disappointed. PARE gives you per-video and per-channel approval. It is not a safety certificate, and it does not review its own product the way an independent critic would. Read the editorial policy before you rely on any guide.
The editorial policy says the library includes AI-assisted writing, and that family examples are illustrative rather than customer stories. A guide date marks its latest editorial update, not an expert sign-off.
The editorial policy puts the limit plainly: parents remain responsible for reviewing content and deciding what fits their family. Controls support that judgment, but they cannot certify every creator or prevent every difficult online experience.
If your main concern is what a device can install, buy, or message, video approval is one layer among several. Device and account settings still do that work, and PARE does not replace them.
What does a family pay to get started?
PARE Family is $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year, with a 7-day free trial for eligible new subscribers, according to the PARE Family pricing page. One household plan covers PARE Parent, the parent web portal, and every paired PARE Kids device.
The subscription is bought and managed in PARE Parent through Apple, and PARE Kids has no purchase controls. The next guide works through the numbers for a real household.
Common questions
Is PARE Media a parental control app?
Partly. PARE combines a parent-controlled video app with a publication of family technology guides, and the guides cover far more than video.
Which platforms does PARE cover?
The product evidence supports YouTube video curation. Check the support page before assuming any other service is covered.
Does a PARE approval mean the video is safe?
No. Approval is a family judgment, not a PARE safety certification, and the parent remains responsible for reviewing what fits the family.
Who writes the guides?
PARE Media as an organization. The guides are AI-assisted, dated at their latest editorial update, and do not imply an independent expert review.
Sources and further reading
- The 2025 Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Zero to Eight
Source of the average of about 2.5 hours of screen time per day for children ages 0 to 8.
- PARE Family pricing
Source of the plan prices, trial terms, and what the household plan covers.