The Best Text Spy Apps in 2024 – How to Read Someone’s Messages

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Concerned about your child’s online safety? Text spy apps could be a good option for your parental control needs. While monitoring their conversations without them knowing is a morally grey area, keeping tabs on their activity lets you know they’re safe.

By monitoring messages, you can safeguard your child from potential dangers and ensure they steer clear of risky behavior. Unfortunately, many mobile SMS spy apps and other parental control solutions can be expensive and difficult to use.

In this text spy app review, we go over ten accessible and reliable options to help you find the best text spy app for you.

The Top 8 Best Text Spy Apps in 2024

We conducted multiple text message spy app reviews to identify those solutions that provide the best bang for your buck. Overall, mSpy is a top pick thanks to its reliable features, versatility, and price.

However, any of these apps could make a good option, depending on your specific needs and budget.

1. mSpy – Overall, the best spy mobile app with text, call & social media monitoring
2. Spynger – Best text spy app with an automatic screen recorder
3. uMobix – Best text spy with remote app restrictions
4. xMobi – Best text spy app with real-time updates and internet history monitoring
5. SpyBubble Pro – Best text spy solution with extensive phone app monitoring
6. Phonsee – Best text & email spy app to see their contacts list
7. Eyezy – Best text & social media spy app with automatic alerts
8. ClevGuard – The most user-friendly text spy app available on all platforms

Reviews of the Top Best Text Spy Apps in 2024

Not all text spy apps are the same, though many good products provide similar features. To make the best choice, learning more about your options and how they compare is important. Let’s examine each product to see its specific features, best use cases, and pros and cons.

1. mSpy – Overall, the Best Spy Mobile App With Text, Call, & Social Media Monitoring

mSpy is a well-established spy app with over a decade in the industry and a proven track record of satisfying over 1 million users. Whether you’re a parent looking to monitor your child or a partner going through a rough patch, mSpy has got you covered.

With mSpy, you’ll never miss a single text – the software will show you all the texts on the target phone, timestamps, and information on who’s sending each text.

mSpy even lets you view images sent via text and look at any multimedia files on the target phone.

You can also set up trigger words and phrases, so you’ll receive alerts when someone searches or texts about certain topics. This way, you don’t have to constantly monitor their activity, but you’ll still know immediately if something’s going on.

Nowadays, a lot of texting, especially among teenagers, happens over social media.

mSpy has some of the most in-depth social media spying features out there, being able to spy even on disappearing media like Snaps on Snapchat or Stories on Instagram.

This lets you have a complete picture of what your child is up to on social media and is part of what makes mSpy the best parental spy app. And, if you’re still concerned with their activities after that, you can outright record their screen.

The app also gives you access to your loved ones’ location. Thanks to mSpy’s excellent GPS monitoring features, you’ll get real-time location updates so you always know their whereabouts.

You can also set up geofencing alerts so you’ll know when they leave a given location. This tracking feature is also great for securing devices against theft, as you can track a lost or stolen phone through GPS.

Pricing

You can choose between three mSpy pricing plans, the main difference being the length of the subscription. Each plan includes all the premium features.

For $69.99 (normal price), you can try the full mSpy package for one month. New users also typically get a hefty discount, so it could end up being much cheaper.

Though the three-month plan is the most popular, the 12-month subscription gives you the best bang for your buck – uninterrupted year-round access to all mSpy monitoring features for $16.67/month.

2. Spynger – Best Text Spy App With Automatic Screen Recorder

Spynger is another affordable, multi-purpose text spy app. Although it’s marketed as a cheating monitoring app, we think its versatile features make it suitable for various use cases, including parental control or employee monitoring.

This app lets you monitor someone’s texts and iMessages through various means. You can use a keylogger to catch anything they type, including deleted messages or searches.

Another standout feature of Spynger is the ability to view deleted messages, which is likely to come in handy if you have a partner acting suspiciously.

With this nifty feature, you can find any incoming or outgoing messages on the device that have previously been deleted, all without the need for a rooted or jailbroken device.

Thanks to the app’s automatic screen recorder, you’ll also get a direct glimpse into your teen’s online activity on any platform. This feature is great, especially if they are secretly using a dating app or IM platform with disappearing messages like Snapchat.

Beyond text monitoring, you can also see someone’s shared multimedia files and location history. This allows you to know where the target phone is and what files are being shared.

For other intended uses, know that monitoring an adult’s private conversations without their consent is illegal and could be classified as cyberstalking. Spynger’s disclaimer also states the software is for legal use only.

Pricing

Spynger has three subscription plans, with the quarterly plan being the most popular and costing $39.99/month (roughly $480/year).

The annual plan is the cheapest in the long run, costing $14.27/month or $171.24/year. However, all the plans contain the same features.

Ultimately, the best choice depends on how long you plan to use the app. Using Spynger for just one month will cost you $68.56/month.

New customers also benefit from a substantial discount in the first month of their subscription.

3. uMobix — Feature-Full Generalist Text Message Spy App

uMobix is a great choice for overall parental monitoring. The app lets you view text messages and all social media activity, including dating apps. It works with any social media platform, including Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Tinder.

The app also displays all the information with accompanying timestamps and contact names to help you identify who’s behind all received texts.

Beyond its monitoring features, uMobix lets you remotely restrict or block unauthorized apps. With this feature, you can keep your child safe from inappropriate content and protect their data from potentially shady apps.

This is an active concern for many parents, considering the growing number of minors on dating apps.

uMobix is also among the best geofencing apps, so you’ll benefit from its advanced GPS tracking features. These features give you real-time information about your child’s location and movements throughout the day.

Pricing

Like other apps on the list, uMobix has three subscription plans. If you want to try the app for one month, you’ll pay $49.99/month.

The 12-month plan is considerably cheaper at $12.49/month, so you’ll get the best value if you plan on using the app for a while.

4. xMobi – Best Text Spy App With Real-Time Updates and Internet History Monitoring

xMobi excels in text and social media monitoring thanks to its comprehensive monitoring tools and features. Moreover, you’ll get real-time activity updates every five minutes, so you’ll know what your child is up to at any time.

The app’s keylogger and screen monitoring features give you access to virtually all their phone activity – their SMS, chats, calls, contacts, social media, and online searches. You’ll also see deleted texts and queries, in case they’re trying to hide something from you.

The app reports their activity in neat, chronological order, complete with date and time labels, call duration, and total number of exchanged texts. It’s easy to go back and see past messages, call history, or web activity, even if you’ve been off xMobi for a while.

xMobi also shows you all the recorded or downloaded files on their phone. Some messaging apps like WhatsApp have auto media download enabled by default, so viewing your child’s gallery could show if they’ve ever been exposed to inappropriate content.

Finally, xMobi also has a GPS tracker. While not as powerful as other location trackers, this feature can still give you a general idea about your child’s location history.

You’ll get reports about their past locations and routes, together with addresses and timestamps. If they leave school early or visit an unapproved location, xMobi will keep you in the loop.

Pricing

This solution has three pricing plans. All include the full xMobi monitoring package, but the longer subscriptions offer more extensive data storage for Android devices.

If you plan to use xMobi year-round, the cheapest option is the 12-month subscription, which costs $12.49/month. The yearly subscription also includes 180 days of data storage for Android devices.

5. SpyBubble Pro – Best Text Spy Solution with Extensive Phone App Monitoring

SpyBubble Pro is very user-friendly, even for those with no prior experience. It takes just a few minutes to install and get running, plus the activity reports are neatly organized and easy to read at a glance.

Despite its simple and intuitive interface, this app doesn’t compromise on spy features. SpyBubble Pro lets you effortlessly monitor SMS, social media, and messaging apps like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Telegram in real-time.

You can see all their posts, stories, comments, and even private messages and shared photos. On Android, the app’s keylogger and screen recorder could also show if they’re secretly using or searching for dating apps or partaking in other unapproved activities.

SpyBubble also gives you access to their phone gallery, including deleted photos and videos. Combined with browser history monitoring, these features let you know exactly what they’re seeing, sharing, or downloading on their phone.

Beyond its in-depth text and messaging monitoring, SpyBubble offers an extensive array of additional features, including app use monitoring, GPS tracking, remote phone restrictions, hidden app detection, and remote mic and cam streaming.

Whether you want to ease a gnawing suspicion or get peace of mind about your loved one’s online safety, SpyBubble’s versatile features have you covered.

Pricing

6. Phonsee – Best Text & Email Spy App To See Their Contacts List

Phonsee is easy to use and has excellent monitoring features.

A combination of social media, messages, and location monitoring gives you valuable insight into your loved ones’ online and offline activity so you know they’re protected from danger at all times.

This text spy solution is compatible with all popular messaging apps and social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Kik, Facebook, Discord, and Viber.

Additional features like automated screenshots and keylogging ensure no activity goes untracked, even when it comes to incognito searches or more niche apps with disappearing messages.

Beyond that, Phonsee makes it easy to see your loved ones’ online circle of friends. The app delivers all the recorded data in a convenient chat format with timestamps, the contacts’ names, numbers, and avatars.

This way, you’ll know who’s behind incoming texts and shared files. If you notice any potentially harmful activity, you can also remotely block suspicious apps, inappropriate websites, or unwanted Wi-Fi connections.

Pricing

Phonsee has three pricing plans. A one-month subscription normally costs $68.56/month, but first-time buyers get a 38% discount on the first billing cycle.

The first month of a yearly plan costs $8.85, and the pricing increases to $14.27/month after that.

If you don’t plan to use Phonsee for a full year, the three-month plan gives you enough time to get an idea about your child’s online activity for $39.99/month.

7. Eyezy – Best Text & Social Media Spy App With Automatic Alerts

Eyezy monitors SMS and all popular social media and messaging platforms, including iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, Tinder, and Instagram. It’ll also show you any multimedia files, like pictures or videos featured in the texts.

Moreover, Eyezy’s magic alert feature automatically notifies you of suspicious texts, searches, or visited locations. This way, you’ll always be in the loop and you don’t have to spend all day worrying you’ll miss important details.

Eyezy’s clean and responsive user interface perfectly balances ease of use and functionality. This gives you a quick overview of all the target’s activities without navigating through multiple menus.

Like mSpy, Eyezy has an advanced keylogger that records everything typed on the target device. Thanks to this, you can even find out about deleted texts or searches. You can even set Eyezy to block inappropriate texts from being sent.

With such advanced remote control features, you could prevent potentially dangerous online interactions.

Outside of this, EyeZy has one of the most robust browser-use monitors on the market, giving you a detailed breakdown of their searching habits, including how many times and when they visited certain sites.

You’ll also get to see bookmarks, their most-visited sites, and other statistics. With this, you can rest easy knowing that you can always look at what kinds of sites your loved ones are visiting.

Pricing

Eyezy has three subscription plans. The three-month plan is the most popular and provides all the spy features you need for $39.99/month.

As all the plans come with a full feature package, the 12-month plan gives you the best value for just $14.27/month if you know you’ll be using the app for a while.

New customers may also get a discount on their first billing cycle, so you could potentially save 30% on your purchase.

7. ClevGuard – Most User-Friendly Text Spy App Available on All Platforms

ClevGuard specializes in parental control and other activity monitoring solutions. They currently provide multiple apps for various phone OSs and Windows desktop devices, but their KidsGuard Pro is their most popular solution for multi-purpose phone monitoring.

ClevGuard has a lot of useful features to help you keep tabs on someone’s online activity. For starters, this app gives you access to their SMS messages, plus all social media and messaging apps like WhatsApp, LINE, Tinder, Facebook, Kik, and many more.

ClevGuard records a phone’s activity through various means, including a keylogger, screen recorder, remote screenshots, remote mic and camera streaming, and even direct access to the device’s contacts, gallery, and other information.

Thanks to this well-rounded monitoring system, you can see anything that’s going on on their phone, even deleted messages, searches, and files.

The app displays everything in a simple text message format, together with names, timestamps, and shared media. You can also set automatic keyword alerts and be notified when they type certain words. This way, you’ll spot potentially harmful activity right away.

The best part is that ClevGuard is super easy to install and requires no rooting. And if you encounter any issues, the official website provides an extensive knowledge base and 24/7 assistance.

Pricing

ClevGuard’s KidsGuard Pro solution has three individual plans for monthly, quarterly, and yearly subscriptions. The 1-Year Plan is the most popular and the most affordable for long-term use at $9.16/month.

You also have the option to add two extra devices for a small additional fee. There’s also a Family plan that covers up to 20 devices.

Best Text Spy Apps Compared

With ample options, choosing a spy app that best suits your requirements can be hard without a head-to-head comparison.

Now that you’ve learned the ins and outs of each one, here’s a handy table to help you narrow down your options.

How We Test Spy Apps

Given the large number of text spy apps available, it’s understandably difficult to figure out which ones are worth your money. For this reason, we compiled a checklist of the must-haves that any good app should cover.

The apps that meet most or all of these requirements make it to our top picks list.

How to Set Up a Text Message Spy App

Now, let’s look at how to install and use the best spy app to see text messages: mSpy. We’ll be using Android here, although the process is similar on iOS as well.

1. Go to the mSpy Website

Click on the button below and press “Try Now” to begin the account creation process. Here, you’ll want to pick the monitored device’s OS and your desired subscription plan.

When you’re done with that, mSpy should send an email with your new Username, Password, Installation URL, and Control Panel link. Make sure to save it.

2. Turn Off Play Protect

Play Protect stops you from downloading apps like mSpy, so we’ll need to disable it on the target phone. Navigate to the Play Store settings and tick off “Improve harmful app detection,” like in the image below.

3. Download mSpy

Open Google Chrome or a different web browser, then paste in the Installation URL from the mSpy email. Next, accept all permissions and navigate through the installation wizard. In the end, simply click “Complete Installation.”

Finally, go to your device and paste in your Control Panel URL. Using your password and username to log in will take you to your dashboard, where you can start spying in real time.

The process is fairly similar on iOS. The only big difference is that you’ll need to download and install Cydia on the target phone and put in the installation link there.

Conclusion | The Best Text Spy App in 2024

There are countless text message spy apps out there claiming to be the best. Today, we’ve tested many such claims.

Whether you’re looking for robust text message spying features, the ability to control your child’s access to the internet or a full-blown remote spying solution, mSpy has you covered.

It’s an incredibly versatile tool that allows you to do all of this and more, ensuring your complete peace of mind. Test out mSpy risk-free now with its 14-day money-back guarantee, or just try its free demo below.

Text Spy Apps FAQs