For macOS 14 and later
Your child's Mac account reaches only the websites you choose.
WebFence is a Mac app for parents. You pick the allowed websites; everything else is blocked for the accounts you protect. It runs entirely on your Mac, with no account to create, no cloud service and no tracking.
14-day trial with every feature. One-time purchase, no subscription.
Who it is for
Families with a Mac that a child uses, whether it's the child's own Mac or a shared family Mac. You keep the administrator account; your child signs in to their own Standard account. WebFence restricts that account (we call it a protected user) to an allowlist: the school portal, a dictionary, the sites you've said yes to. Everyone else on the Mac browses as usual.
It's a strict, simple model: anything not on the list is blocked. If you would rather block a few bad sites and allow the rest, WebFence is not the right tool.
How it works, in three steps
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Install and approve
Drag WebFence to Applications and open it from there. macOS asks you, the administrator, to approve three things: a background service, a system extension and a network filter.
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Choose accounts and sites
Pick the Standard accounts to protect and add the websites they may visit. A site can be allowed exactly or together with its subdomains. You can also import a list.
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It stays on
macOS enforces the list through a network filter and a background service. Quitting the app, logging out or restarting doesn't switch it off. Every change asks for your macOS administrator password.
What you get
A real allowlist
Default deny. Allow a site exactly, or with its subdomains, by port, or by IP address. Bulk import and export of lists.
Three clear modes
Allowlist Active (only listed sites), Internet Locked (nothing at all, for homework time or bedtime) and Protection Off.
Your macOS password, nothing else
No separate WebFence password to forget or leak. Changes need a fresh macOS administrator authorization.
An honest status
The dashboard says Protected only when the filter has confirmed your current list and passed a self-test. Otherwise it tells you what needs attention.
Private by design
Blocked attempts record only the site, the app, the port and the reason, kept for 1, 7 or 30 days on the Mac. Allowed browsing isn't recorded. Nothing is uploaded.
No cloud, no account
No sign-up, no server between you and your child's Mac, no analytics. Your license key is checked on the Mac itself.
What it does not do
No filter stops every way around it. WebFence is built to stop a child with a Standard account from changing or bypassing your list. It does not stop:
- anyone who knows an administrator password,
- a second Mac, a phone or a tablet,
- another account on the same Mac that isn't protected (for example a sibling's account running a proxy),
- a determined, technically skilled user in a few specific ways.
There is also one known macOS behaviour that can switch the filter off until you next unlock WebFence. We'd rather you hear it from us: read the limitations.
Price
US$39 one time, per Mac
- 14-day free trial with every feature
- No subscription; all 1.x updates included
- If the trial ends, protection keeps running; only growing the list needs a key
Requirements
- macOS 14 Sonoma or later
- Apple silicon or Intel Mac
- An administrator account (yours) and a Standard account for each child