The kids' software directory
Is this app OK for my kid?
Here for your child to play now? Arcade · Library
Pick the app and your child's age. You get what the maker's own terms allow at that age, whether a parent has to agree, the ages it suits, and the account your child would have. An age rule is the least a maker asks, not a judgement that it suits a child of that age. What a child's first visit to 167 free sites set off (ad networks, data brokers, cookies) is on the ad check, and each checked app's page links its row.
We could not find that app. Try its plain name, or look it up on every app's age rule.
Asked most
- What social media apps can a 10-year-old use?
- By their own terms, 7 of the 13 social and messaging apps we checked are not open to a 10-year-old at all (Discord, Instagram, Lemon8, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat and Threads). 2 let one in only with a parent or guardian agreeing (Apple Messages and FaceTime and Zigazoo). 4 set no age we could read (BeReal, Kinzoo Messenger, Messenger Kids and WhatsApp); each one's row says what its account needs. An age rule is the least a maker asks, not a judgement that it suits a child of that age.
- And at 12?
- 7 of the 13 still say not yet, because most social apps start at 13: COPPA, the US law, needs a parent's consent before an app collects a child's personal information under 13. 2 take a 12-year-old with a parent's say-so.
- Where do these answers come from?
- From each app's own terms of service, read by a person and dated on the app's page. Three things are kept apart: the youngest age the terms allow, the age under which they want a parent to agree, and the ages Peabody says the app suits. Saying "under 18" is usually a consent rule, not a ban, so we never read it as one.
Social, gaming, chat and device apps at every age
Not yet: under the youngest age the terms allow. With a parent: allowed when a parent or guardian agrees or sets it up. Old enough: past the terms' minimum. No age rule: we found no age the terms set for using it. Each app's page has every age from 4 to 17, the terms quoted, and alternatives.
| App | Age 6 | Age 8 | Age 10 | Age 12 | Age 14 | Age 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Messages and FaceTimeany age with a parent-made child account; teens 13-17 | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule | No age rule |
| BeReal13+ | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Discord13+ | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Old enough | Old enough |
| Instagram13+ | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Old enough | Old enough |
| Kinzoo Messengeryoung kids to tweens, on a parent-made account | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Lemon813+ | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Old enough | Old enough |
| Messenger Kidsunder 13 (App Store rating 4+) | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Pinterest13+ | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | With a parent | With a parent |
| Reddit13+ (App Store rating 18+) | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | With a parent | With a parent |
| Snapchat13+ | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Old enough | Old enough |
| Threads13+ | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Old enough | Old enough |
| WhatsApp13+ on their own; under 13 through a parent-managed account where offered | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Zigazookids and teens (App Store rating 9+) | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule | No age rule |
| App | Age 6 | Age 8 | Age 10 | Age 12 | Age 14 | Age 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1001Games16+, or younger with a parent's permission | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Among Usabout 9-16 | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule | No age rule |
| Animal Crossing: New Horizonsabout 6-14 | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent |
| Armor Games13+ (US); 13 to 16 in the EU depending on country | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent |
| Brawl Starsabout 10-16 (App Store 13+) | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent |
| Clash Royaleabout 9-16 (App Store 9+) | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent |
| CrazyGames13+ (main site); a separate kids site exists for younger children | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Fortniteabout 10-18 | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent |
| Gacha Life and Gacha Clubabout 9-14 (App Store 9+) | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Genshin Impactabout 13-18 | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent |
| Meta Quest10+ (10-12 with a parent-managed account) | Not yet | Not yet | With a parent | With a parent | Old enough | Old enough |
| Minecraftabout 7+ (PEGI 7, ESRB Everyone 10+) | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule |
| Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch Onlineabout 5-16 | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent |
| PlayStationany age (child accounts) | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent |
| Pokémon GOabout 6-16 (with a parent for young kids) | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule | No age rule |
| Rec Roomwas about 10-18 | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Robloxabout 5-16 and up | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent |
| Steam13+ by the terms (younger only through a parent in practice) | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Toca Bocaabout 6-12 | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent |
| VRChat13+ (better for older teens) | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | With a parent | With a parent |
| Xboxany age (child accounts) | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule | No age rule |
| App | Age 6 | Age 8 | Age 10 | Age 12 | Age 14 | Age 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character.AI18+ for open chat; 13-17 limited to guided formats | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| ChatGPT13-17 in the teen experience; adults | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | With a parent | With a parent |
| Claude18+ (adults) | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Explore with Alexayoung kids with an Amazon Kids profile | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent |
| Google AI Edge Galleryabout 13+ | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Google Geminiunder 13 with Family Link; 13+ on own account | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule | No age rule |
| GPT4Allabout 16+ with a parent (no age in license) | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Grok13+ by its terms; not recommended for under 18 | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent |
| Janabout 16+ with a parent (no terms found) | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| LM Studioabout 16+ with a parent (no age in terms) | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Meta AI13+ | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Microsoft Copilot13+ | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Ollama18+ (per terms) | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet |
| Perplexity13+ | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | With a parent | With a parent |
| PinwheelAskabout 5-13 (App Store: made for ages 9-11) | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Snapchat My AI13+ | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Old enough | Old enough |
| App | Age 6 | Age 8 | Age 10 | Age 12 | Age 14 | Age 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adafruit Circuit Playground Expressabout 8+ with adult help | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Amazon Kids Tablets3+ and 6+ versions | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Apple Watch For Your Kidskids who don't have their own iPhone; no set age | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule | No age rule |
| Echo Dot Kids3-12 | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Fitbit Ace LTEschool-age kids without a phone | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| GabbWatch 5-12, Phone 9-14 | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Gizmo Watchabout 6-11 (Gizmo Watch 3 Adventure); Verizon says devices are for kids 3+ | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Google Nest / Gemini for Homesupervised children and teens | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule | No age rule |
| KidiZoom Smart Watch MAX4+ (maker) | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Makey Makey8+ (the box says ages 8 to infinity) | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Nanit Smart Baby Monitorbabies and toddlers (used by parents) | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet | Not yet |
| Owlet Dream Sockbabies about 1-18 months (used by parents) | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Pinwheel phonefirst phone through older teens | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Samsung Galaxy Watch for Kidskids without their own phone | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule | No age rule |
| Snorbleabout 2-7 | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule | No age rule |
| Spacetalk kids smartwatchesabout 4-12 | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule | No age rule |
| The Light Phoneabout 10+ (as a first phone) | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule | No age rule |
| TickTalk 6about 3-12 | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Toniebox 2about 1-12 | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule | No age rule |
| Troomiyounger kids to teens | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Xplora kids smartwatchesabout 4-10 | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Xplora X6Play7-11 (XGO3 for 4-7) | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent |
| Yoto Playertoddlers to about 10+ (cards sorted 0-2 up to 9+) | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | No age rule | No age rule |
| App | Age 6 | Age 8 | Age 10 | Age 12 | Age 14 | Age 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mealimewas a general-audience app for adults | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent | With a parent |
| Paprika Recipe Manageradults (a parent's planning tool) | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
| Yummlywas a general-audience app for adults | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule | No age rule |
Read from each maker's own terms; terms change, and where we and the maker disagree, the maker's own pages are the ones to trust. Nobody paid to be listed, and Peabody never rates itself.