Short answer
OpenDNS FamilyShield is a free, preset filter: it blocks adult content and some proxies, with nothing to configure and no reports. Sheepdog Filter is also free to start, and adds per-child settings, one-switch app and category blocking, bedtimes, homework mode, SafeSearch and YouTube Restricted Mode, VPN blocking, protection away from home, and a weekly email.
FamilyShield in a nutshell
FamilyShield is a pair of DNS server addresses from Cisco's OpenDNS. Put them in your router and adult sites are blocked for everyone on the network. There's no account, no settings and no reporting, which is both its strength and its limit.
What Sheepdog Filter adds
- Different rules for each child, and none for grown-ups' devices.
- Apps and categories: social media, games, TikTok, Roblox, YouTube, AI chatbots, each with a switch.
- Time: an internet bedtime, school-night schedules and Homework mode.
- Away from home: set it on a child's phone and it works on mobile data too.
- Workarounds blocked: VPNs, proxies and "unblocked games" sites, updated hourly.
- Visibility: an Activity tab, new-app alerts and a weekly plain-English email.
Switching over
In your router, replace the two FamilyShield addresses with your Sheepdog Filter address (leave the second box empty) and turn IPv6 off. See home Wi‑Fi parental controls.
Sheepdog Filter
The internet, childproofed in five minutes.
One switch per worry, every device in the house, and a plain-English report each week. Free to start, no app to install.
Start free