Bark
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersAtlanta, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
Bark firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Bark
- Legal name
- Bark Technologies, Inc.
- Website
- https://bark.us
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Bark industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Parental Control Software
- akta.pro primary industry
- Child Safety & Exploitation Prevention Operations (CSAM detection workflows, escalation) (BPAAALAK)
Keywords
Where Bark is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Atlanta
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Bark business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Personnel
Revenue model
- Bark App Subscription: Monthly or annual subscription for AI-powered content monitoring and parental controls. Single subscription covers every child and device in a family. iOS plan includes Bark Sync hardware.
- Bark Phone hardware and service: Hardware sold on installment plan (24 months) plus required monthly wireless service plan. Includes built-in Bark Premium subscription for entire family.
- Bark Phone Pro hardware and service: Premium hardware with higher specs (more memory, faster processor, Gorilla Glass screen, IP67 water resistance) sold on installment plan plus monthly service.
- Bark Watch hardware and service: Smartwatch for kids with GPS tracking and messaging, sold with monthly service fee. Device paid via installment over 24 months plus $15/month cellular service.
- Bark for Schools+ premium tier: Premium tier for K-12 schools offering 24/7 emergency response, custom alert settings, image removal, and exportable student alerts, beyond the free Bark for Schools offering.
- Device protection plans: Optional $5/month device protection through AKKO covering cracked screens, water damage, loss, and more.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Bark App for Android |
| Subscription | Monthly | Bark App for iOS with Bark Sync |
| Subscription | Monthly | Bark Sync standalone |
| Subscription | Monthly | Bark Phone Starter Plan |
| Subscription | Monthly | Bark Phone Advanced Plans |
| Subscription | Monthly | Bark Phone Pro |
| Subscription | Monthly | Bark Watch |
| Subscription | Monthly | Bark Phone device protection |
| Freemium | Monthly | Bark for Schools (Free) |
| Subscription | Monthly | Bark for Schools+ (Premium) |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels7 records
Bark product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Bark is a software company that uses AI and machine learning to monitor children's online activity across 30+ apps and platforms, detecting issues such as cyberbullying, suicidal ideation, sexual content, and online predators. The company sells parental control software subscriptions (Bark App), kid-safe hardware devices (Bark Phone, Bark Phone Pro, Bark Watch), iOS monitoring accessories (Bark Sync), home network controls (Bark Home), and a free K-12 school safety platform (Bark for Schools with a premium Bark for Schools+ tier).
Product overview
Bark is a family safety platform offering a comprehensive suite of products designed to help parents monitor and protect their children's digital lives. The portfolio centers on hardware devices (Bark Phone, Bark Phone Pro, Bark Watch), software applications (Bark App for iOS and Android, Bark Sync), network-level controls (Bark Home), and school safety solutions (Bark for Schools, Bark for Schools+). All products share a common AI-powered content monitoring engine that scans texts, social media, images, videos, and audio across 30+ platforms to detect bullying, predators, sexual content, suicidal ideation, and other online dangers. The Bark Assistant provides AI-driven conversational management. The Connected Communities program offers in-person digital citizenship education. The platform serves over 7.3 million children and has been recognized by major media outlets including Bloomberg, CBS News, CNBC, CNN, Forbes, and The New York Times.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Bark Phone: A Samsung-based smartphone with built-in parental controls, content monitoring, and customizable access settings for children.
- Bark Phone Pro
- Bark Watch
- Bark App
- Bark Home
- Bark Sync
- Bark for Schools
- Connected Communities
Products and services
- Bark Phone A Samsung-based smartphone with built-in tamper-proof parental controls and AI-powered content monitoring. Parents can customize access levels from basic talk-and-text to full smartphone functionality. Includes contact approvals, app management, location tracking, and screen time controls.
- Bark Phone Pro A premium smartphone for active kids and teens featuring enhanced durability (IP67 water resistance, Gorilla Glass screen), faster processor, and more memory. Includes all Bark Phone parental controls and AI-powered monitoring capabilities.
- Bark Watch A kid-friendly smartwatch with GPS tracking, text monitoring, and contact management. Designed for children not yet ready for a smartphone. No games, browsers, or social media.
- Bark App A parental control application that adds AI-powered monitoring and management to existing devices (iOS, Android, laptops, Chromebooks, Amazon Fire tablets). Scans texts, social media, email, and web activity across 30+ platforms.
- Bark Sync A smart charger hardware accessory that scans iPhones and iPads for potential dangers every time they plug in, addressing Apple's privacy restrictions that block third-party apps from directly monitoring iOS devices.
- Bark Home A network-level device for in-home use that sets screen time limits and filters content on connected devices like TVs and gaming consoles.
- Bark for Schools A free student safety product for K-12 schools that monitors school-issued Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and Chrome accounts for potential problems including suicidal ideation, threats of violence, bullying, and sexual content. Includes web filtering and a parent portal.
- Bark for Schools+ A premium tier for Bark for Schools providing 24/7 emergency response via text and phone, custom alert settings, image removal, exportable student alerts, and customizable email notifications for faster school response times.
Quantifiable outcome
- 5.6 million severe self-harm situations detected
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Bark
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Bark technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
AI capability9 records
Feature7 records
Bark partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.
- AKKOsupportingAKKO provides optional device protection plans for Bark Phone users, covering accidental damage, water damage, loss, and more for $5/month. This partnership extends Bark's value proposition by offering comprehensive device protection to families.
- SamsungcoreBark Phone is built on Samsung hardware - the standard Bark Phone uses the Samsung A16 while the Bark Phone Pro uses the Samsung A37. Samsung provides the physical devices that Bark's software is built into, creating a kid-safe smartphone experience.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreAWS serves as Bark's main hosting provider for the production application and is the primary holder of application data. This is a critical infrastructure partnership supporting Bark's service delivery.
- GooglecoreGoogle provides electronic communications infrastructure and analyzes user behavior within the application. Also involved in YouTube API integration for monitoring content on that platform. Additionally, Google Workspace integration enables Bark for Schools monitoring capabilities.
- Anthropic PBCsupportingAnthropic provides AI technology that Bark uses for generating copy and summarizing behavior for product improvements. This supports Bark's AI capabilities for content analysis and parental alert generation.
- TwiliosupportingTwilio sends application texts/SMS for customer-configured alerts through its Sendgrid subsidiary for emails. Critical for delivering real-time safety notifications to parents.
- StripesupportingStripe processes payments for Bark's subscription services, enabling the company's recurring revenue model for app subscriptions and hardware purchases.
- ZendesksupportingZendesk manages customer support requests, enabling Bark to provide technical support and customer service across its product lineup.
- ImpactsupportingImpact processes data to manage and track affiliate marketing partnerships, including tracking referrals, managing commissions, and analyzing performance metrics for Bark's affiliate program.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Bark competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Qustodio: Qustodio is a leading cross-platform parental control app for families and schools, offering screen-time management, app/website filtering, and location tracking. It is repeatedly listed alongside Bark in best-parental-control-app rankings and targets the same family and K-12 customer segments.
- Gabb Wireless: Gabb Wireless sells kid-safe smartphones and watches with curated apps, no social media, and parental controls, closely paralleling Bark Phone and Bark Watch. It targets the same parent demographic seeking a locked-down device with built-in monitoring rather than a software overlay.
- Mobicip: Mobicip is a parental control app providing screen-time scheduling, app blocking, web filtering, and social media monitoring across multiple devices. It is consistently ranked alongside Bark in parental control buying guides and serves similar family and school use cases.
- Aura: Aura is a digital safety platform that bundles parental controls with identity theft, VPN, and antivirus protection for families. It competes directly with Bark in parental control reviews (Forbes, Cybernews, Security.com) and offers overlapping screen-time, content-monitoring, and location features.
- FamiSafe by Wondershare: FamiSafe is Wondershare's parental control app offering location tracking, screen time, app blocking, and content detection across iOS, Android, and ChromeOS. It is a direct competitor to Bark in family-monitoring reviews and overlaps heavily on Bark's core app subscription proposition.
- Pinwheel: Pinwheel offers kid-safe smartphones with built-in parental controls, curated apps, and GPS tracking, directly comparable to Bark Phone. It competes in the same niche of purpose-built, parent-managed phones for tweens and teens.
- Norton Family: Norton Family is Gen Digital's parental control offering within the broader Norton security suite, providing web filtering, time supervision, and location alerts. It is a direct competitor to Bark in family-facing parental control reviews and benefits from being bundled with antivirus software.
Broad incumbents
- Google Family Link: Google Family Link is a free, OS-level parental control tool from Google covering app approvals, screen time, and location for Android and Chromebook devices. It is a powerful free incumbent that competes directly with Bark App on Android and is integrated with the same Google Workspace accounts Bark for Schools monitors.
- Microsoft Family Safety: Microsoft Family Safety is a free screen-time, content-filtering, and location product bundled with Microsoft 365, overlapping with Bark App and Bark for Schools' Microsoft 365 monitoring. It benefits from Microsoft's enterprise distribution and OS-level hooks on Windows.
Others
- Apple Screen Time: Apple Screen Time is a free, OS-level parental control feature on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS that provides app limits, content restrictions, and downtime. While not a standalone product, it represents the free, built-in alternative that limits Bark's addressable market on Apple devices and is the primary reason Bark must sell Bark Sync.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Bark social profiles
Digital presenceBark compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
Bark financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Bark leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Bark funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Bark M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Bark
What does Bark do?
Bark is a software company that uses AI and machine learning to monitor children's online activity across 30+ apps and platforms, detecting issues such as cyberbullying, suicidal ideation, sexual content, and online predators. The company sells parental control software subscriptions (Bark App), kid-safe hardware devices (Bark Phone, Bark Phone Pro, Bark Watch), iOS monitoring accessories (Bark Sync), home network controls (Bark Home), and a free K-12 school safety platform (Bark for Schools with a premium Bark for Schools+ tier).
Is Bark a public or private company?
Bark is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Bark founded?
Bark was founded in 2015. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Bark based?
Bark is headquartered in Atlanta, United States, in the North America region.
How does Bark make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Bark App Subscription is the primary driver. The others are bark Phone hardware and service, bark Phone Pro hardware and service, bark Watch hardware and service, bark for Schools+ premium tier and device protection plans.
Who are Bark's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Qustodio, Gabb Wireless, Mobicip, Aura, FamiSafe by Wondershare, Pinwheel and Norton Family. Broad incumbents are Google Family Link and Microsoft Family Safety. Apple Screen Time is listed as an others.
Does Bark have an API?
No public API is recorded for Bark.
What industry is Bark in?
Bark's product category is Parental Control Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAAALAK, Child Safety & Exploitation Prevention Operations (CSAM detection workflows, escalation).