Gabb’s answer to YouTube is "no YouTube." Watchly’s answer is "yes — but only the good stuff, ad-free."
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Gabb makes deliberately minimal kids’ phones and watches: no open app store, no web browser, and a curated library of safe apps. It is a strong choice for a child’s first device when the goal is to avoid the open internet entirely.
But Gabb’s approach to YouTube is elimination, not curation — YouTube simply is not available. That works until your child wants the genuinely great educational and entertainment content YouTube offers, and there is no safe way to provide it. Watchly fills that exact gap: the good parts of YouTube, hand-picked, ad-free, on the devices you already own.
Gabb phones have no web browser and no open app store, so YouTube is not available at all. Safety comes from omission rather than curation — there is no mechanism to watch specific YouTube videos safely.
| Feature | Watchly | Gabb |
|---|---|---|
| Parent-picked video allow-list | No YouTube at all | |
| Fully ad-free playback | N/A (no YouTube) | |
| No recommendations, autoplay, or Shorts | N/A (no YouTube) | |
| No comments or live chat | N/A (no YouTube) | |
| Safe, bounded kid search | Approved-only | N/A |
| Time limits, breaks & instant pause | Device-level | |
| PIN-protected per-child profiles | One device per child | |
| Watch history & per-child safety rules | Limited (no YouTube) |
Competitor details researched 2026 from public sources; features and pricing change — verify on the vendor's site. Watchly gives you more control while still giving your kids the YouTube they love.
A close look at each control that matters for filtering and limiting YouTube — and why Watchly gives you more of it.
Watchly
Yes
You hand-pick every video, playlist, or channel. If you did not add it, your child cannot watch it.
Gabb
No YouTube at all
Gabb removes YouTube entirely, so there is nothing to curate. Watchly gives your child the YouTube content you approve, hand-picked at the video and channel level, on devices you already own.
Watchly
Yes
No pre-roll, mid-roll, banner, or sponsored-overlay ads — playback is completely ad-free.
Gabb
N/A (no YouTube)
There are no YouTube ads because there is no YouTube. Watchly gives your child real, ad-free YouTube content instead of none.
Watchly
Yes
The player has no related-video sidebar, no autoplay-to-random, and no Shorts feed to fall into.
Gabb
N/A (no YouTube)
No recommendations because there is no feed. Watchly delivers a recommendation-free feed that still contains the videos kids love.
Watchly
Yes
Comment sections and live chat are removed from the viewing experience entirely.
Gabb
N/A (no YouTube)
No comments because there is no YouTube. Watchly keeps the videos and removes the comments.
Watchly
Approved-only
Optional kid search returns only approved content; anything new routes to you for a yes/no, screened by AI plus your own written rules.
Gabb
N/A
There is no YouTube search to bound. Watchly offers optional, approved-only kid search with parent approval for anything new.
Watchly
Yes
Daily limits, intermission breaks, day-by-day schedules, and a one-tap remote pause that works inside the player.
Gabb
Device-level
Gabb offers device-level screen-time controls. Watchly adds intermission breaks and an in-player remote pause specific to the watching experience — for the YouTube content Gabb does not provide.
Watchly
Yes
Netflix-style profiles — each child gets their own PIN, age settings, avatar, and curated library.
Gabb
One device per child
Gabb is one locked device per child. Watchly gives each child a PIN-protected profile with its own curated library on shared family devices.
Watchly
Yes
A full watch-history dashboard plus AI content classification and your own plain-English safety notes per child.
Gabb
Limited (no YouTube)
With no YouTube, there is nothing to monitor there. Watchly provides a full watch-history dashboard with AI classification and per-child rules for the content your child does watch.
Gabb is a great "no YouTube" device, but that is also its limitation: it cannot give your child the worthwhile parts of YouTube in any form. Watchly is the complement or the answer for families who want curated, ad-free YouTube without buying a locked-down phone.
No. Gabb phones have no browser and no open app store, so YouTube is unavailable by design. That keeps the open internet out, but it also means no safe access to YouTube’s genuinely good content. Watchly gives kids curated, ad-free YouTube on devices you already own.
No. Unlike Gabb, Watchly is not a device — it runs in a browser on the phones, tablets, and computers you already have. You get curated YouTube without buying locked-down hardware.
Watchly. It is built for exactly the case Gabb does not cover: giving kids the YouTube they love, but only the videos you approved, ad-free and recommendation-free.
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