My kids are getting older and I’m starting to think about setting up some kind of monitoring on their phones, but every review I find online feels like it was written by someone trying to sell me something. Has anyone here actually used one of these apps long-term and can tell me what it’s really like - does it actually work, is it easy to set up, and are there any major downsides I should know about before paying for a subscription?
Real talk on parental monitoring apps
Totally get the frustration - half those “reviews” are just affiliate links in disguise. 
Parentaler works okay for basic stuff (location, app blocking, screen time limits) but honestly most of these apps are pretty similar under the hood - they all need to be installed directly on the kid’s phone, they all have occasional sync delays, and they all require you to stay on top of updates or things quietly stop working.
Before dropping money on a subscription, I’d actually start with the free built-in stuff first - Google Family Link or Apple Screen Time are surprisingly solid and cost nothing, and if those cover what you need, you’re done.