Best phone Spying apps for Android and iPhone 2026

We did a comprehensive review of Best Phone Spying Apps with features, comparisons and pricing. Select the best Spy Phone App from the list below.

Phone tracking spying applications have developed at a rapid pace, so it is not an easy task to make the right selection in the year 2026. It does not matter if you want to protect your child, monitor work phones, or track your lost mobile device; the correct app for the job is crucial.

The following report is the result of extensive research and testing done by our team, offering you a review of the best mobile phone monitoring and Spying applications for both Android and iOS devices.

However, as with everything, the use of phone spying apps can be both ethical and unethical, depending on an individual’s preferred use.

Why Use Spyware Apps?

Spyware or monitoring software has various significant features that it can offer if used correctly. It helps parents protect their children while they are online by monitoring their locations, social interactions on social media platforms, and protecting them from any inappropriate content. It also allows businesses to monitor their company-issued mobile devices so that they can make sure that employees use their work mobile phones correctly.

At the same time, it must be recognized that there are beneficial uses of spyware software, for example, to track a lost or stolen cell phone, to copy important data through data-backup software, or to track one’s own cell phone for any security breaches. Such software is of great value if it is used for positive purposes in accordance with the law.

What is the Phone Spy App?

Phone spying apps are basically smartphone surveillance applications that help you track the activity of a smartphone device that you wish to track. You can monitor a phone’s incoming and outgoing calls, SMS and track the phone’s location in real-time. These apps are undetectable and go unnoticed by the end-user.

Suggested reading =>> Most popular Spy Apps for WhatsApp

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Our Recommendations for Spy Apps

Best Phone Spy Apps for Android and iPhone: Ranked

Here is the list of the most popular Phone Spy Apps:

1. mSpy
2. SpyX
3. Spynger
4. Phonsee
5. SpyBubble
6. Cocospy
7. uMobix
8. Hoverwatch
9. eyeZy
10. Spyera
11. FlexiSPY
12. Spyic
13. Minspy
14. Spyier
15. MobiStealth
16. iSpyoo
17. XNSPY
18. pcTattletale
19. ClevGuard

Spyware Apps for Phones: Compared

This comparison table will give you a quick overview of the top Android spyware apps:

Let us review these spyware apps in detail:

#1) mSpy

Best phone spy app for Parental Monitoring.

mSpy is another one of the great lists of phone spying apps. What really separates it from others on the list is the fact that it is primarily used as a parental monitoring app.

It is a feature-rich platform and contains capabilities like cell phone monitoring, location tracking, multimedia file monitoring, online activity tracking, etc. It allows remotely controlling apps and programs on a planted device.

Features

• Social Media Monitoring including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.
• Recovery of deleted messages,
• Remote blocking of websites/apps/contacts, etc.
• It has a screen recorder.

What we like the most: mSpy is a great tool and offers all the features required for parental control. It lets you monitor every keystroke & tap and social media chat & shared pictures. It provides all these monitoring features without being detected.

Price:

• 1 Month – $48.99/month,
• 3 Months – $27.99/month,
• 12 Months – $11.66/month.
• Demo available.

Visit mSpy Website >>

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#2) SpyX

Best for: Complete cell-phone data tracking

SpyX is a spy application that can monitor data on almost all versions of an Android device. Once installed, you’ll be able to view everything that’s transpiring on that device remotely via your own personal computer or mobile phone. You’ll be able to view all received and sent messages, even the ones that have been deleted. 

Besides messages, you’ll also get a complete log of all incoming and outgoing calls. SpyX also excels at GPS tracking as well. You’ll be able to track a phone’s location in real-time on a live map from your SpyX dashboard. SpyX also helps you keep tabs on all social apps installed on the phone, thus letting you view all the conversations and media shared on these platforms with timestamps attached.

Features:

• View Messages
• Call log monitoring
• Track GPS Locations
• Track Social Apps
• Browser Monitoring

Why We Like It?

Easy to use and install, SpyX is a great cell-phone tracking app for both Android and iOS devices. It gives you remote access to a device you wish to spy on so you know almost everything that’s transpiring on that phone. SpyX works best as a parental control application. 

Price: SpyX offers the following subscription plans

• 1 Month: $49.98
• 3 Months: $28.32/month
• 12 Months: $11.66/month

Visit SpyX Website >>

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#3) Spynger

Best for Keylogging.

With Spynger, you get an easy-to-use and feature-rich application that can help you spy on an Android and iPhone device. The tool offers a ton of interesting features, each performing its function phenomenally well.

Further Reading => Top iPhone Spying Apps to Look For

Keylogging is perhaps one of its most prominent and invaluable features. The tool monitors every keystroke registered on the phone you are spying on. This tool is also great at finding the real-time location of the phone you are tracking. You get detailed calls and SMS logs, which can be helpful in finding who and when someone is called via the phone you are spying on.

Features:

• GPS Location Tracking
• Keylogger
• Screen Recording
• Social App Tracking
• Call and SMS monitoring

Why this is the best spy tool: East to set up and use, Spynger is a great phone spy app that you can use to keep tabs on your spouse or children without their knowledge. The tool is filled to the brim with features and offers multiple affordable pricing plans.

Price:

• Annual: $10.83/month,
• Quarterly: $26/month,
• Monthly: $45.49/month

Visit Spynger Website >>

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#4) Phonsee

Best for 24/7 Customer support and quick set-up.

Phonsee is yet another feature-rich phone spying app that works well on both iPhone and Android devices. The tool arms you with a neat and easy-to-navigate interface that lends you complete visibility over your target device’s activity.

You can use the tool to accurately pinpoint the real-time location of a GPS device. You can set up virtual boundaries with an alert sent to you as soon as the phone leaves or enters a set geographical zone on the map. The tool also helps you monitor detailed calls and SMS logs along with everything that’s transpiring on social media apps installed on an app.

Features:

• Geofencing
• Calls and SMS Monitoring
• Social App Tracking
• Keylogger
• Automated Screenshot capture

We we recommend this: Phonsee is undoubtedly one of the finest phone spying apps available today. From tracking real-time locations to monitoring calls and SMS logs, Phonsee covers all aspects of what it takes to track cell phone activity. The tool is perfect for parents who wish to keep an eye on their children.

Price:

• Annual: $8.85 per month,
• 3 Months: $24.79 per month,
• Monthly: $42.51

Visit Phonsee Website >>

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#5) SpyBubble

Best for Phone Tracking for Mac, Windows, and iOS.

SpyBubble is a very easy spying app to use and is an even easier spying application to install on the device you want to monitor. It is a cloud-based application that deploys all of the features that one has come to expect from cell phone spy apps of this nature.

The device works spectacularly well in stealth mode. This means that the user of the phone isn’t even aware as their calls, messages, location, and online activity are tracked and reported to you remotely. The app can also activate a smartphone’s camera and take pictures without the concerned person noticing.

All recorded information is sent and can be accessed from a secure web-based account.

Features

• Record Calls
• GPS Tracking
• Stealth Mode
• Screenshot Capture
• Remote Camera Access

Verdict about this tool: SpyBubble gives you full control of the device it is planted in, by silently operating on it without anyone noticing. As such, the application is extremely intuitive and is very easy to use.

Price: 3-day free trial, Personal plan – $24.95/month, Professional Plan – $ 49.95/month.

Visit SpyBubble Website >>

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#6) Cocospy

Best for Simple Remote Smartphone Monitoring.

Cocospy is a cross-compatible phone spying app that is easy to install and use. It can be set up and installed within 5 minutes and works in complete stealth mode, thus not allowing the phone user to be aware of its presence on the device. The app can be used to monitor almost everything happening on the target device in real time via a comprehensive dashboard.

You can check call logs, track sent and received SMSs, and monitor online browser history without any hassle. The app also allows you to track a person’s real-time location either via a SIM card or through GPS technology.

Features:

• Geofence Alerts
• Call Tracker
• Social Media Spy
• Track Browser History
• Stealth Mode

What we like the most: Cocospy’s simple installation and easy-to-navigate spying dashboard have earned it high praise from several users worldwide. No smartphone activity can remain hidden with this app installed and running discreetly in the background. The app works fine on both iOS and Android phones, without the need to jailbreak or root any devices.

Price:

Android: Premium – 9.99/month, Basic – 39.99/month, Family – 69.99 (when purchased annually)
iOS: Premium 10.83/month, Basic – 99.99/month, Family – 399.99 (when purchased annually)

Visit Cocospy Website >>

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#7) uMobix

uMobix is the only app that grants full access to a person’s Instagram and Facebook accounts. Users can enter anyone’s Facebook and Instagram, and click on any button there, which means managing accounts, adjusting settings, adding friends, or deleting followers.

uMobix is the only app that works perfectly well on both iOS and Android. This means you can install it without any hurdles along the way and monitor it without any bugs occurring.

uMobix doesn’t require you to jailbreak iOS devices, unlike many other competitors. You just provide iCloud iD and password and start monitoring as soon as the backup is performed.

The app provides absolutely innovative features, like online status indicator (track when the user is online), real-time reporting for Androids, Youtube monitoring, app activity tracking, etc.

All in all, uMobix offers the most value for its price, being among the most affordable spy apps on the market today.

Price: Starts from $29.99, Free trial.

Visit uMobix Website >>

#8) Hoverwatch

Best for mobile phone trackers with hidden tracking capabilities like recording location, SMS, call audio, internet activity, etc.

Hoverwatch is a mobile phone tracker and a hidden tracking application with capabilities for recording location, SMS, call audio, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc. It lets you monitor internet activities. It supports Android, Windows, and Mac OS X. It works in stealth mode and becomes invisible to the user of the target Android device.

Features:

• Hoverwatch can record incoming and outgoing calls on the target device.
• It tracks Facebook messages, SMS, etc., and let you view the phone’s internet history.
• It has tools such as WhatsApp Spy, Snapchat Spy, Viber spy, etc.
• It has many more capabilities like tracking phone location, android screenshots, detecting SIM Card changes, tracking to-do lists, tracking calls, etc.

Verdict: Hoverwatch mobile tracker remains completely invisible and has capabilities of SMS tracking, call recording, social media tracking, geolocation, etc.

Price: Hoverwatch offers a solution with three pricing plans: Personal (Starts at $24.95 per month), Professional (Starts at $9.99 per month per device), and Business (Starts at $6.00 per month per device). You can sign up for free.

Visit Hoverwatch Website >>

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#9) eyeZy

Best for AI-driven phone Monitoring.

eyeZy is an easy-to-use phone monitoring app that facilitates parental control on all phones, irrespective of what device you are using. eyeZy allows you to monitor your targeted phone without the use of the device noticing. The app allows you to spy on everything from text to browser history and all activities performed on your target device.

What really sets eyeZy apart is the Artificial Intelligence it comes equipped with. Thanks to its superior AI, you don’t have to constantly glue yourself to the app. In fact, the app will alert you when the targeted phone is being actively used. You can also rest assured as eyeZy features bank-grade encryption to protect data valuable to you and your loved ones.

Features

• Track every keystroke registered on a targeted device.
• Monitor text and social media activity. Even unearth deleted texts.
• Wi-Fi Network Analysis and Geo-Location Tracker.
• Find the multimedia files saved on the target device and view them remotely.
• See and block websites visited by users of your targeted device.

Verdict: eyeZy is a feature-rich phone monitoring app that will allow you to track every single activity transpiring on the device you wish to spy on. This is a great app to facilitate parental control. It’s remarkable AI is just the cherry on the top. This one is definitely worth trying as it is easy to set and run on both iOS as well as Android devices.

Price: $9.99 for 12 months, $27.99 for 3 months, $47.99

Visit eyeZy Website >>

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#10) Spyera

Best for PC and Phone Spying.

Spyera is an award-winning app that enables spying for both PCs and smartphones. It offers remarkable spying features that perform impeccably well. Features that it is best known for include monitoring the cell phone and computer activity of employees and children, location tracking, and much more.

It offers a plethora of features that can come in handy to both monitor and control the activity of your target. The tool is undetectable and can be used across multiple platforms irrespective of the operating system.

Features

• Cellphone and Computer Monitoring
• Track online activity in real time.
• Location tracking
• 10-day money-back guarantee

Verdict: The app is incredibly smart and performs all of its spying features impeccably well. It is very confident in its abilities, so much so that it offers users a 10-day money-back guarantee if they are unsatisfied with the tool. This alone makes the app worth a look.

Price: Smartphone – $89/month, Tablet – $69/month, Computer – $49/month, All-In-One – $479/month.

Visit Spyera Website >>

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#11) FlexiSPY

Best for Advanced and Expansive Spying Features.

FlexiSPY is another very popular phone spy app that finds itself frequently being counted among the best applications of its nature. Its expansive and intuitive list of features further aids in cementing its legacy as one of the best apps in circulation to monitor a device remotely.

The app can be used for something as basic as call and message monitoring, or something even more advanced such as camera hacking and keylogging. The app performs all the features it offers spectacularly well and requires no effort from the user in its impeccable functioning.

Features

• Call monitoring and recording
• Social media monitoring and recording
• Environment Recording
• Geo-Fencing
• Keylogger

Verdict: FlexiSPY boasts of packing more features than any other spying app on this list or in the market today. It works perfectly on Android and iOS devices and will satisfy users with the need for an expansive phone spying experience. However, it is extremely expensive to unlock its advanced features.

Price: Lite – $29.95/month, Premium – $68/month, Extreme – $199.

Visit FlexiSPY Website >>

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#12) Spyic

Best for Parental Monitoring of Smartphone.

Spyic sells itself as primarily being an app that allows parents to monitor their cell phone activity, both online and offline. Spyic performs this task with great efficiency thanks to the features it offers its users. The spying features, although basic, are everything you need to monitor your child and keep them safe.

You can monitor their incoming/outgoing calls and messages. The tool offers a location tracking feature to understand where your child is in real-time, as well as monitor their online activity and social media presence to learn of anything salacious happening on such platforms.

The tool is also very easy to use. Simply download the app on your Android and iOS device, select the target device you want the app running on, and click install. Once the app is installed, you can log in to the control panel and start monitoring the device remotely.

Features

• Call and SMS tracking
• Online monitoring
• Browser history
• GPS Location tracking
• Geo-Fencing

Verdict: Although Spyic doesn’t offer much in the features department, it is still a good app to have around if you have children. Whatever feature it does offer, it performs it with impeccable finesse. It can however be very expensive, especially if you are thinking of spying on multiple devices.

Price:

• Android: Premium – $9.99/month for 1 Device, Family – $69.99/month for 3 devices.
• iOS: Premium – $10.83/month for 1 device, Family -$399.99/month for 25 devices.

Visit Spyic Website >>

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#13) Minspy

Best for Phone and Tablet Activity Monitoring.

Minspy is a secure, intuitive, and above all easy-to-use spyware application that makes the task of monitoring a phone or tablet device 10 times more convenient. Minspy allows you to spy on any computer, smartphone, or tablet device via a web browser i.e. You don’t have to be near the device to track it.

Minspy does not require you to tinker or jailbreak a particular device to get the app installed in it. You need no technical knowledge at all to get the app to monitor the device you want.

Apart from that, it can perform all the necessary functions like tracking GPS locations, monitoring calls, online activity, and SMS that are expected from applications of its nature.

Further Reading => How to Know if Your Phone is Tapped

Features

• Call and Message Monitoring
• Stealth Mode
• GPS tracking
• Online Social Media Monitoring

Verdict: Minspy is a convenient phone spying app that deploys all of the spying features you will ever need to efficiently monitor a device. It is spectacular to use and affordable to purchase.

Price: Premium – $9.99/month for 1 Device, Family – $69.99/month for 3 devices.

Website: https://minspy.com/

Further Reading => Most Popular Spam Call Blocker Apps for Android.

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#14) Spyier

Best for Secure and Stealthy Phone Monitoring.

Spyier is a favorite app amongst parents to keep track of their children’s online activity. As such it has found praise amongst millions of its users all around the world. The tool is not only great for parents but also fantastic for employers and individuals in relationships.

The tool offers all the basic features you need from such an application. You get to monitor calls, messages, and online activity as well as track the location of your stolen phone or the phone of an individual you are spying on.

The tool operates on a secure stealth mode that offers 100% protection to the users using this app. The end-user will never notice anything suspicious when this app is running and sending information to a secure web-based account.

Features

• Call and message monitoring
• Browser history
• Stealth mode
• Location tracking
• Online Activity Monitoring

Verdict: Spyier offers users an easy and robust application that makes smartphone spying very convenient. It also boasts top-notch customer support that only adds to the user experience.

Price: Premium – $9.99/month for 1 Device, Family – $69.99/month for 3 devices.

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#15) MobiStealth

Best for 24/7 Phone Monitoring.

Here is another app that sells itself as being a major parental spying app; however it can be used for a variety of business and personal purposes. The tool provides the most basic spying features to offer the most basic benefits a spying application can provide. That department of austerity is great.

The tool allows you to monitor cell phone activity, track messages, snoop into your target user’s social media activity, and track their phone location. While the app can go undetectable, it relays information to your web-based secure account regularly 24 hours a day.

Features

• Call and SMS monitoring
• 24/7 monitoring
• Location tracking
• Stealth mode
• Browser history

Verdict: MobiStealth does not offer any advanced features that many modern spying applications offer. However, its basic features are just enough to offer a satisfying user experience to its users.

Price: Pro plan – $59.99, Pro X plan – $69.99

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#16) iSpyoo

Best for easy smartphone and video monitoring for Android and iOS.

iSpyoo is a great app for businessmen and parents who like to spy on their employees and children respectively. It is a powerful and easy-to-install software that makes smartphone spying spectacularly easy.

Perhaps the feature that really makes this app stand out is its ability to monitor video calls on popular platforms like Viber and Skype. This can have great business benefits for employers. You can use the app to track 3 different devices at a time in real-time.

Other features like message reading, call recording, location tracking, multimedia monitoring, etc. can also be easily done via this intuitive application.

Suggested reading =>> Best Phone Call Recording Apps For Android

Features

• Video Monitoring
• Call recording and monitoring
• Message reading
• Multimedia file monitoring
• Location tracking

Verdict: iSpyoo is a phenomenal tool, especially if you want to monitor and record your target’s Skype or Viber video calls. This alone makes the tool worth buying. Plus it is extremely affordable.

Price: 48-hour free trial, Basic – $19.99/month, Premium – $23.99/month, Gold – $25.99/month.

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#17) XNSPY

Best Spyware App for Online and Offline Phone Tracking.

XNSPY is perhaps one of the most popular phone spying apps on this list. In fact, it can be deemed as an industry leader when it comes to spyware apps. It can be a great surveillance tool to keep tabs on your children as well as your employees.

It comes jam-packed with over 30 advanced features that allow you to track incoming/outgoing phone calls and keep a tab on SMS in real-time. Plus, you also get to track the phone’s GPS location, which comes in handy while trying to track your child’s location or find a lost phone.

The app has introduced more advanced features in recent years like WiFi logs and WhatsApp monitoring. The app is constantly evolving and getting better with each passing day.

Features

• Monitor Phone Calls and Messages
• Access Messenger Chats
• Keylogger
• Track GPS
• Monitor Online Activities

Why we selected this spy app in our list: XNSPY combines advanced features, affordable prices, and robust customer support to deliver one of the best phone spy apps available today for both Android and iPhone users. Its consistently evolving nature alone makes it worth a buy.

Price: Basic: $4.99/month, Premium: $7.49/month.

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#18) pcTattletale

Best for running invisibly in the background and recording everything in movies and keystrokes.

pcTattletale is an employee and child monitoring application with functionalities for parents and employers to monitor.

It provides tools for the management of remote teams. It stores recorded data on a secure, online cloud along with AES encryption SSL techniques and technologies. It can keep the recorded data for a year. You just have to install the pcTattletale on the workstation and there is no need to maintain any server or infrastructure.

Features:

• pcTattletale has a powerful monitoring tool, Click-Count Chart, that you can scan to find the most active times of the day or night.
• Activity reports help you to understand your staff’s workday.
• It lets your team know about the websites and app usage.
• Its child monitoring solution will let you monitor where they are going, their social media, and many more activities on the phone.

Verdict: PCTattletale provides one central location to monitor your staff’s screens. You can record every click through the advanced keylogger. It provides a screen recording of everything that is done on the target device. It is compatible with Windows, Android, and Kindle.

Price: pcTattletale offers a free trial. There are three pricing plans, Family ($99), Family Plus ($147), and Business ($297). All of these prices are for annual billing and three devices.

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#19) ClevGuard

Best for phone spying apps catering to the needs of parents.

With Kids Guard Pro, ClevGuard brings to parents an app that lets them spy on their child’s cell phone activity. Once launched, Kids Guard Pro is safe and completely undetectable, operating discreetly in the background. You can rely on the software to monitor almost all prominent social media apps on your child’s phone. 

You can also use it to get call logs of your tracking phone. This includes all received, outgoing, and missed calls. Besides call-log tracking, ClevGuard’s Kids Guard Pro also helps you monitor SMSs and voice memos going in and out of your child’s smartphone. The app also does a good job of tracking a cell phone’s location in real-time. 

Features:

• SMS Monitoring
• Call Logs Tracking
• Social Apps Spying
• Wi-Fi and GPS Location tracking
• Browser History Monitoring. 

Verdict: Easy to set up, compatible with almost all iOS and Android devices, and advanced in spying functionality, ClevGuard’s Kids Guard Pro is an excellent phone spying app that could help parents remotely monitor and control their child’s cell phone activity. 

Further Reading => Can You Stop Someone From Accessing Your Phone Remotely

Price: ClevGuard Kids Guard Pro offers the following subscription plans:

• 1 Month Plan: $49.99
• 3 Month Plan: $25.33/month
• 1-Year Plan: $11.67/month

You can try the app for free in a limited capacity.

Website: https://www.clevguard.org/

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Conclusion: Which is the Best Phone Spy App We Recommend?

Cell Phone Spy Apps can become extremely useful when used by parents who want to protect their children from all the dark things the internet can unleash on them, as well as by businessmen who want to protect their interests. These are the only legitimate reasons to use such apps.

As for our recommendation, for an advanced and affordable spying experience, we recommend you try XNSPY or FlexiSPY. For an austere user experience, mainly for parental reasons, you can go for the basic mSpy instead.

Research Process

• Time taken to review and research this article: Approximately 100 hours were spent on comprehensive research, review, evaluation, verification, and final preparation to ensure accurate and reliable information.
• Total Phone Spy Apps researched: 40
• Top Phone Spy Apps shortlisted: 19