12 Best Spy Apps 2023 | Top Phone Spy Apps Compared

With one of the best spy apps, you can track a lost employee’s work device — or monitor your child’s online activity, including their social media activity, call logs, internet searches, and messages — all discreetly for complete peace of mind. However, with a boatload of subpar (and scams) around, finding the best spy app can be challenging.

Here, we’ve ranked and reviewed 12 of the market’s best spy apps to help you find a reliable phone spy app that meets your needs and budget. From the almighty mSpy to EyeZy and uMobix — and even the best free spy apps — read on to discover what these tools can do for you.

The Top Phone Spy Apps in 2023 Reviewed

To help you better understand what each of our top 12 best phone spy apps can do for you, we review them in more depth below. Read on to discover the one that ticks all the right boxes for you.

1. mSpy — Overall Best Spy App in 2023

mSpy is our pick for the best phone spy app for Android and iPhone devices. It includes an enormous range of advanced monitoring features, allowing users to peer into almost any app on a target phone.

That includes social messaging apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram, photo and video-centric apps like Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and much more.

One thing we especially like about the mSpy app is its Screen Recorder feature. This offers frequent screenshots of the target phone, essentially giving users a live feed of what the end user is doing on their phone.

The Screen Recorder even works on apps that aren’t directly supported for monitoring by mSpy. Besides all this, mSpy understands the importance of protecting sensitive data even in a monitoring situation, which is why all data is transmitted to the end-user with bank-grade encryption.

Plus, you’ll automatically get updates every 5 minutes. With all that said, mSpy’s capabilities are unparalleled — it gives you full insight into what the end user is doing on their device for complete peace of mind.

This includes what they’re searching for, their communications, and even deleted messages, amongst others. Discreet, powerful, and budget-friendly.

Try mSpy now risk-free with the solid 14-day guarantee and see for yourself why mSpy is the go-to spy app for mobile monitoring needs.

2. EyeZy — Popular Spy App with Low Fees

EyeZy is another widely-used spy app to consider using. This phone monitoring app launched in 2021, yet it’s already grown to become one of the leaders in the space.

The app works with iOS and Android devices and features bank-grade encryption to ensure that all personal data is kept as safe as possible.

EyeZy is perfect for parents looking to keep tabs on their child’s online activities, as it provides unfiltered access to text messages, Facebook messages, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, and more.

This app also includes a keystroke capture feature and a ‘pinpoint’ service, allowing accurate location tracking using GPS technology.

The keystroke monitor is incredibly sought after as it’ll allow you to see what’s being typed across apps — in search bars, on Google, plus the communications they’re having online — everything is logged.

With that said, EyeZy’s biggest USP is its alerts. You can set up custom keyword (and location) alerts and get notified if the target user is saying or searching for anything concerning or if they’re not physically where they say they are.

This, paired with everything else that EyeZy offers users, allows you to keep your loved ones safe, both online and offline, for $47.99/month or a mere $9.99/month on the annual subscription.

Finally, EyeZy even includes a 14-day money-back guarantee in the unlikely instance that the technology fails or an issue is experienced.

3. uMobix — A Great Contender With Lots of Functionality

uMobix is another top phone spy app in 2023. With this app, you can monitor everything happening on a target phone. Remote users can access the call log, text messages, and social media messaging apps.

What’s especially great about uMobix is that remote users can even find deleted files, like call logs and text messages, so there’s no hidden data that this app doesn’t provide access to.

Another thing we like about uMobix is that it enables you to take remote control of some aspects of the target phone. That includes turning on the camera and microphone, so a user can see where the phone is or listen in on conversations.

It also allows you to block specific apps, restrict time spent on the internet, turn off messaging, and more. Of course, uMobix makes it easy to determine where in the world a phone is at any time, as the GPS tracking functionality is available for both iOS and Android devices.

However, uMobix’s iPhone spying capabilities aren’t as renowned as the Android. With that said, uMobix remains a top-tier phone spy app for 360-degree insight into what’s happening on the target phone.

Unsure? Try it risk-free for a full 2 weeks before committing. Monthly subscriptions cost $29.99, and annual plans are $11.66/month.

4. Cocospy — Best Phone Spy App for Ease of Use

Although Cocospy doesn’t include extra nice-to-have capabilities that are on offer with other leading phone spy apps, they’ve nailed the features they do provide — which is ample for most monitoring needs.

Plus, it’s also worth noting that Cocospy lacks some functionality for a good reason. With Cocospy, you don’t need to root or jailbreak the device for full functionality. This is a huge bonus.

From monitoring social media and group chats to GPS location tracking, Cocospy has all the core capabilities you’d need to know what’s happening in real-time — both online and offline.

What we particularly love about Cocospy is that it allows parents to not only manage app usage and control screen time, but you’ll also be able to set up contact alerts on Android.

This means that if you’re concerned about your loved one chatting to a specific person, you can get notified if contact is made, plus get details of what was said thanks to the keylogger.

On the whole, we’re confident that paired with the hassle-free installation and ease of use, Cocospy is a worthy competitor on our list of the best phone spy apps.

5. XNSpy — Popular for Remote Control of a Target Phone

XNSpy is a phenomenal phone spy app for remote control for both iOS and Android devices. With XNSpy, you can track everything on the target phone.

That includes monitoring incoming and outgoing calls and SMS messages and social messaging apps, Instagram, calendar entries, contacts, emails, and more.

One thing we especially like about XNSpy is that it enables a remote user to send commands to the phone on which the app is installed. The app can:

• Activate the phone’s microphone to record ambient sound
• Send screenshots from the phone
• Lock or wipe the device remotely

The latter functions are especially useful if a phone gets lost or stolen. On top of this, XNSpy also offers location-tracking features, including a handy geofencing function.

With geofencing, you’ll get alerts whenever the target phone moves into or out of a specific area. This is very useful for parents who want to know where their children are or to keep them away from certain places.

XNSpy costs $49.99/month or $12.49 on an annual subscription. You can try out the app for free before purchasing.

6. Spyic — Best Phone Spy App for Comprehensive Monitoring

Spyic is a comprehensive phone spy app that monitors everything on a target phone. This phone spy app can track phone calls, SMS messages, social media apps, calendars, location, photos and videos, browser activity, and more.

Spyic also offers a stealth mode, which hides the app’s activity on the target phone so the target doesn’t know they’re being monitored.

Spyic doesn’t require root access on the target phone, and it’s straightforward to set up. You simply need to sign up for a Spyic subscription, download the app onto the target phone, and turn on stealth mode to remove the Spyic app from view.

While Spyic can monitor virtually any app on a target device, it lacks one feature that top spy apps offer: Spyic doesn’t enable you to control the target phone remotely.

That means it cannot lock or wipe a target phone or activate the microphone or camera on demand. It can, however, track a phone’s location and set up geofence-based alerts.

Spyic starts at $49.99/month for both Android and iOS, or $9.99/month (Android) and $10.83/month (iOS) on a yearly subscription.

To install Spyic on an iPhone, you must have the iCloud login credentials used on the target phone. And on a final note, Spyic doesn’t offer a free trial, but it has a whopping 60-day money-back guarantee.

7. Mobile Tracker — The Best Free Spy App

Mobile Tracker is a phone spy app for iOS and one of the best spy apps for Android that provides many of the same features as paid competitors.

With this app, you can monitor calls, SMS messages, Facebook and WhatsApp messages, and more. However, Mobile Tracker doesn’t offer quite the same range of support for apps like Instagram and Snapchat.

Mobile Tracker also provides a remote control function, allowing a remote user to take a photo, turn on the microphone, or capture a screenshot.

The app also tracks a phone’s location at all times, making it very useful for parents who want to know where their children are or employers who want to see where their employees are during the workday.

Another nice feature for parents is the scheduled restriction. This enables parents to lock a child’s phone during certain times, such as bedtime or school hours.

Mobile Tracker’s user dashboard is straightforward to navigate, although it doesn’t provide a mobile app for end-users. To access data from Mobile Tracker, you’ll need to log onto the company’s website and log in.

8. Hoverwatch — Best Spy App for Businesses

Hoverwatch is a capable phone spy app that allows you to monitor phone calls, SMS messages, social messages, calendars, and more. The app also offers location tracking, which is an essential feature for most parents and employers.

Hoverwatch operates in stealth mode, meaning that the app isn’t visible on targeted phones.

We especially like Hoverwatch because it can automatically record all incoming and outgoing calls on the target phone.

This means that you don’t have to set up alerts and listen to calls in real-time, but you can listen to them later or save them for archival purposes. This is a fantastic feature for businesses where recording all calls between employees, and customers may make sense.

Hoverwatch is our pick as the best phone spy app for businesses because it has plans that support multiple devices — up to 25. In fact, you’re looking at $8.33/month to monitor a single device.

However, for $6/device/month, employers can install Hoverwatch on 25 iPhone and Android devices and get access to all the app’s monitoring features. The Business plan also includes access to Hoverwatch’s Android app for monitors.

9. GeoFinder — A Leading Option for Remote GPS Tracking

GeoFinder is a simple spy app that allows users to instantly enter any phone number and find out where the phone with that number is located.

It works on all carriers and for any number. The only limitation is that the target smartphone must be turned on at the time to provide location information.

GeoFinder relies on location data provided by cellular networks, WiFi networks, and GPS. It can be very accurate depending on what location permissions the target phone has unlocked.

Location information is delivered as an SMS rather than through an app, so tracking a phone over time isn’t as simple as just following it around on a map. However, clicking on the link in the SMS opens up a map display, so it’s easy to get oriented quickly.

GeoFinder charges a flat fee of $29.99 for a 10-year membership. With a membership, you can track an unlimited number of phones. However, note that there’s no refund policy.

10. Spyera — Best Cell Phone Spy App for Monitoring Web Browsing

Spyera is a feature-rich phone spy app that stands out for its ability to monitor web browser activity. With this app, you can monitor the entire browsing history of a target phone, plus take screenshots of every page a target user visits — even if they’re using the best VPN app.

The app also has a keystroke logger, making it easy to see what a user was searching for or what information they entered on a website.

Another thing we like about Spyera is that it’s not limited to monitoring phones. This app also works on tablets and Windows and Mac computers.

So, it’s a comprehensive solution for anyone who wants to monitor multiple devices. Spyera even has a special pricing plan that includes 1 smartphone, 1 tablet, and 1 computer.

The drawback to Spyera is that it’s one of the more expensive phone spy apps on the market today. Monitoring a single iPhone or Android smartphone costs $32/month, which is 2-3 times the cost of comparable spy apps.

Monitoring a single computer is less pricey, at $16.50/month, and there’s a 10-day money-back guarantee.

11. iKeyMonitor — Best Spy App for iPhone

iKeyMonitor is the best free spy app for iPhone in 2023. With iKeyMonitor’s free plan, you can track everything from call history and SMS messages to a phone’s location and calendar entries.

Of course, the free version doesn’t offer access to all of iKeyMonitor’s features.

For users who want to track Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp messages, Snapchat interactions, email, and more, a premium plan costs $199.92 per year. Notably, this plan also includes monitoring dating apps like Bumble and Tinder, which most spy apps don’t offer.

Another thing we like about iKeyMonitor is that it offers an app for monitors. This makes it easier to get updates about a target phone’s calls and messages on the go without having to log into an online web portal.

iKeyMonitor offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for its premium plan, and the company provides online tutorials, but customer support is only available by email.

12. Mobilespy.at — The Best Spy App for Parental Controls

Mobilespy.at is one of our favorite spy apps for parents who want to keep an eye on their kids.

With this app, parents can monitor their children’s incoming and outgoing calls and messages across various apps, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Instagram.

Plus, the app also offers location tracking and alerts a phone moves anytime into or out of a geofenced area.

Another feature that may appeal to parents is the app usage tracker, which shows which apps a child uses most on their device. Mobilespy.at can also be used to set usage restrictions during certain times, which is handy for making sure children aren’t up late on their phones.

Besides all this, parents can also choose to block specific apps that they don’t want their children to use. It doesn’t end there, either. Mobilespy.at is also one of only a few spy apps that offers a live feed of a target phone’s screen as opposed to screenshots.

Mobilespy.at costs $19/month or $158/year for 1 device. There’s no money-back guarantee, but the app includes 24/7 customer support.

Best Phone Spy Apps Compared

Deciding on the best phone spy app can be easier if you have a shoulder-to-shoulder overview of factors like pricing and money-back guarantees. We’ve compiled the table below so you can easily compare the market’s leading options:

What is a Phone Spy App?

A phone spy app is a mobile app designed to provide remote monitoring of the phone on which it is installed. The best phone spy apps offer access to call logs, SMS messages, app data, browser histories, photos and videos on the device, and much more.

Some phone spy apps even offer remote control of a target device, allowing remote users to lock the phone or take control of the camera or microphone.

Cell phone monitoring apps are often used by parents to monitor their children’s app usage and online interactions. They can also be used by employers to monitor company phones and track employees’ locations during the workday.

Of course, there are also unethical ways to use a phone spy app, such as collecting data without the knowledge of a phone’s owner. However, these unethical uses aren’t encouraged by phone spy app providers and may not be legal in some states.

How Do Phone Spy Apps Work?

The best spy apps are installed on a target iPhone or Android device and provide access to all the data on the device. Since they’re installed on the phone, they have access to everything happening on the device. They can monitor:

• Call history
• Record calls
• View SMS messages
• Messages from social media apps
• Browser history

All this data is relayed remotely to a control software available online or through another mobile app. The user who’s doing the monitoring can use this control software to access data from the target phone.

Importantly, many of the best phone spy apps offer a stealth mode. When operating in stealth mode, the app icon is removed from the target phone’s home screen, and there are no obvious signs that the app is running in the background.

So, the target phone’s owner won’t know that their phone is being monitored. Spy apps usually aren’t detected by antivirus software, either.

Why Use a Phone Spy App?

Phone spy apps have many uses — some of them ethical and some of them more questionable. Here are some of the main reasons people use phone spy apps:

Parental Monitoring

One of the most common — and good-intentioned — reasons to use a phone spy app is to keep an eye on children.

Spy phone apps are among the best parental control app solutions for seeing if your child is bullying others or being bullied on social media platforms. They can also track a child’s location, so parents can always know where their kids are.

Mobile phone spy apps can even be used simply to monitor app usage. These spyware apps provide information about which apps a child is using, how much time they spend on their phones, and whether they’re engaging in inappropriate content.

Certain apps also offer scheduled restrictions, which can be used to lock a child’s phone during school hours or at night.

Tracking Employee Activity

Many employers who provide company phones to their employees pre-install phone spy apps onto those phones.

That enables employers to ensure that employees only use their work phones for approved or work-related activities or during work hours.

A phone spying app can also be used to automatically record conversations between employees and customers or to save a record of all employee SMS messages.

Snooping on a Spouse

One of the less ethical ways to use a phone spy app is to spy on a partner or spouse who may be cheating. A cell phone spying app can be used to monitor their phone calls or messages, including any conversations they may have with their suspected lover.

The location tracking features of phone spy apps can also be used to check whether a partner is actually where they say they are.

Can You Use Spy Apps Without Touching the Target Phone?

Most spy phone apps must be installed directly on the target phone, meaning that users must have physical access to the target device for several minutes.

This is always the case for Android phones: there’s no best spy app for Android without access to the target phone because physical access to Android phones is always required for installation.

However, some spy apps can be installed on iPhones without physical access. That’s thanks to iCloud backup, which offers a two-way sync between the cloud and an iPhone.

In order to install a spy app without target phone access, you’ll need the login credentials used for iCloud backup on the target phone.

Importantly, you must also be able to enter the two-factor authentication code typically sent to the target phone itself, so physical access to the target phone may be required, anyway.

Once a spy app is installed on the target phone, that phone doesn’t need to be physically accessed again.

Are Phone Spy Apps Safe?

Cell phone tracking apps are safe to use. Only the person who purchases a spy app and has login credentials to use the app can view data from the target mobile.

This data is often transmitted in an encrypted format and cannot be accessed by anyone else. Even the target cell phone owner cannot see what data — like screenshots or audio recordings — are being transmitted to the monitor.

Free Phone Spy Apps Vs. Paid Phone Spy Apps

There are many free phone spy apps in addition to paid apps. The best free phone spy app options offer the basic features of phone spy apps, such as access to call logs and SMS messages. Many also offer location tracking features at no cost.

However, free phone spy apps do have limitations. Most free spy apps don’t offer access to social media messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, which is where many people do most of their communication by text.

These apps also may not offer automatic call recording or the ability to control a phone’s camera or microphone remotely.

So, whether the best free phone spy app will work depends on a user’s needs. Free apps could be enough for loose monitoring, but they certainly don’t provide the same breadth of monitoring features as paid spy applications.

For users who want to design a spy app with more custom functionality, it’s possible to create one using the best app builders.

Are Phone Spy Apps Legal?

Phone spy apps are legal. However, they can be used in illegal ways.

In the US, using phone spy apps with someone’s permission is legal. However, it’s illegal in most cases to install a phone spy app on someone’s phone without their knowledge.

The laws around illegal spying haven’t been thoroughly tested, and there may be some exceptions. For example, if an employer provides employees with phones paid for by the company, then using a phone spy app on those phones may be legal even without employees’ consent since the company owns the phones.

The same applies if one person purchases their spouse’s phone and pays their phone bill. In these cases, using a phone spy app without the target’s express consent may be legal, but the law isn’t clear on this.

Parents can legally use a phone spy app on their children’s phones with or without consent. However, this only applies until the child turns 18 and legally becomes an adult.

Once someone is 18 or older, they must consent to be monitored, even if the monitoring is done by a parent.

How to Use a Phone Spy App

Getting started with one of the best phone spy app tools is easier than you may think — in fact, with most — if not all — you’re looking at just 3 simple steps. 

We’ll be using XNSPY for this example, but all follow a similar process to getting started.

Step 1 — Sign Up for XNSpy

To get started with XNSpy, users have to sign up for a paid plan. Head to XNSpy’s website, and click Try Now.

Enter an email and choose whether an Android device or iPhone will be targeted. Then choose a monthly, quarterly, or annual plan and check out. The XNSpy software is delivered to the registered email after payment.

Step 2 — Install XNSpy on the Target Phone

Next, users need to install XNSpy on the target phone. The process is slightly different for Android and iPhone devices.

For Android devices, users must have physical access to the target device. They must download the XNSpy software onto the phone, then log in using their XNSpy credentials to activate the app.

Make sure to give XNSpy all the permissions it prompts for, or else the app will not work correctly.

For iPhones, users don’t need physical access to the target device, but they do need the login credentials used for iCloud backup on the target iPhone.

They must also have access to the two-factor authentication code if two-factor authentication is enabled in iCloud. Once in iCloud, users can install the XNSpy app, which will be synced to the phone.

Step 3 — Monitor

Once XNSpy is installed, users can start monitoring the target device. The monitoring dashboard is available online through XNSpy’s website. Users must log in with their email and select the device they are monitoring.

Spy App FAQs