KoalaSafe has shutdown

**adam** · February 13, 2021, 6:31am

KoalaSafe has shut down.

To all our valued KoalaSafe customers – we regret to inform you we’ve come to the end of the road together. As of the 12th of February 2021 KoalaSafe Pty Ltd. has shut down, is no longer trading, and the devices will stop functioning in the coming days. We wish we could keep them running forever for you, but that’s not possible unfortunately.

Alternatives

A lot of solutions have come and gone over the years and we haven’t been able to keep up-to-date with evaluating them, so can’t recommend an alternative device with equivalent functionality. However, there are some free services like Cloudflare for Families or OpenDNS, which if you update your router, will offer some protections (but tech-savvy kids will be able to work around)

Thanks

Thanks to everyone who supported us, from Kickstarter to the repeat buyers and those who spread the word. It was a privilege to work on a product that helped improve the lives of families and help strike a better balance of screen time and play/family time.

**adam** · February 13, 2021, 6:31am

**SteveO** · February 19, 2021, 3:15am

This is sad, while I understand you had to make a business decision, I almost wish you would have tried going to a subscription based service rather than just ending it.

**kwacky1** · February 19, 2021, 1:02pm

Thanks for protecting my family for a good 5ish years of their lives and giving me great peace of mind. My kids are now 11 and 13, quite possible the time I need KoalaSafe the most, but also at an age where they have devices they can use outside of the home.

Luckily I think they have a good understanding of online safety and I have KoalaSafe to thank for a lot of that.

Thanks again and good luck with wherever the road takes you next.

**whitemiata** · February 19, 2021, 4:36pm

We love Koalasafe. We are sad to see you go. I wish you had shared your financial situation with your customers - and offer us the option to Pay $10 or $20 a month to keep the service going. that would be different than the terms of service on the website, but it may have allowed your company to continue.

**lesliearnott** · February 21, 2021, 1:12am

KoalaSafe, please don shut down! I see comments by other KoalSafe users that they are more than happy to pay a monthly subscription fee to keep the company going. This is something I would gladly do as well. Is it too late to consider this? Come on KoalaSafe, we’re all in this together and we would be happy to keep you going with a monthly fee. You’ve looked after our household - let us look after your business!!

**SteveO** · February 24, 2021, 5:13pm

Now, I thought there were instructions on how to re-program, not finding those now that it is disconnected from the servers. Any help out there?

**SteveO** · February 24, 2021, 5:25pm

NM, I found it:
https://docs.gl-inet.com/en/3/setup/convexa_b/first-time_setup/

**Minecraftboys** · February 24, 2021, 6:03pm

We have had Koalasafe for a long time - the original and the Dome. Love your product. I would have paid for a monthly or annual membership. I still would. I’m surprised it hasn’t become even more successful now with remote learning. Your product works!!! I haven’t had to look into anything further for years because it works! I’ve learned to use Koalasafe and modify the settings and block certain domains every time my kids would try to find a way around it, but it’s so easy. I think it’s just a matter of advertising and getting the word out there about Koalasafe. Is there even another product like yours? I haven’t looked at Circle. Wish you would reconsider and just work on the advertising.

**SteveO** · February 25, 2021, 1:25am

I’m with you. I really wish they would have come forward sooner before it was too late. I think they would have found most users would gladly pay a subscription rather than have to start over. There are a few other providers I have found, but most are ~$100 / year subscription - Gryphon looks the most like Koala, then there is Disney Circle, or Netgear Orbi. Netgear has an annual subcription product that is $80/ year and has what looks like the useage including site history I would like to monitor. The routers are crazy expensive though. What I have works, not as well now that I had to move to OpenDNS, but I will manage until I can move to another solution. Just don’t let the kids know (I always let them think Koala gave me more info than it did!)