| App | Channel whitelisting | How it works | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| WhitelistVideo | Yes — approve-only model | All content blocked by default. Only approved channels play. | Free+ |
| YouTube Kids | Yes — Approved content only | Select channels/collections. Limited catalog. | Free |
| Google Family Link | No | Uses broad content levels, not channel selection. | — |
| Bark | No | Monitors activity but cannot restrict to specific channels. | — |
| Qustodio | No | Web filtering only, no YouTube channel control. | — |
| Net Nanny | No | Content category filtering, not channel selection. | — |
| Mobicip | No | Category filtering only. | — |
| Apple Screen Time | No | Cannot control content within YouTube app. | — |
Key takeaways
- WhitelistVideo is the only third-party tool that offers dedicated YouTube Shorts blocking, comment hiding, and channel-level whitelisting on regular YouTube.
- YouTube Kids and Google Family Link offer free native controls but with less granular YouTube-specific options.
- General parental controls (Bark, Qustodio, Net Nanny) are strong for device management but lack YouTube-specific features like Shorts blocking or channel approval.