X3 Watch is another
organization that offers inexpensive Internet accountability and filtering for
computers and smartphones–essentially, all devices that have Internet access.
Their basic package is only $6.99 a month or $64.99 a year ($5.41/month),
and sometimes even lower prices come up if one explores their website a bit.
These prices make X3 cheaper than Covenant Eyes, discussed in part 1.
Furthermore, X3 Watch also offers a program that provides Internet
accountability (but no filtering) entirely free. I would recommend both
the filtering and accountability for everyone. If you really cannot
afford around $5 a month to protect yourself from the wickedness on the
Internet, I doubt you can afford to own a computer, a smartphone, or pay for
Internet access in the first place. (Note that one price protects all the
devices a particular person owns; you
don’t pay per device, but per person.) You can get your electronic
devices protected with X3 Watch for the price of going to a fast food place
once a month. It goes without saying that the protection is far more
important. For that matter, many people can save significantly more than
the cost of either X3 Watch and Covenant Eyes by simply changing
their cell phone carrier. (Find out how to get
totally free cell phone service, service for c. $10 a month,
or other low cost service by clicking here.)
organization that offers inexpensive Internet accountability and filtering for
computers and smartphones–essentially, all devices that have Internet access.
Their basic package is only $6.99 a month or $64.99 a year ($5.41/month),
and sometimes even lower prices come up if one explores their website a bit.
These prices make X3 cheaper than Covenant Eyes, discussed in part 1.
Furthermore, X3 Watch also offers a program that provides Internet
accountability (but no filtering) entirely free. I would recommend both
the filtering and accountability for everyone. If you really cannot
afford around $5 a month to protect yourself from the wickedness on the
Internet, I doubt you can afford to own a computer, a smartphone, or pay for
Internet access in the first place. (Note that one price protects all the
devices a particular person owns; you
don’t pay per device, but per person.) You can get your electronic
devices protected with X3 Watch for the price of going to a fast food place
once a month. It goes without saying that the protection is far more
important. For that matter, many people can save significantly more than
the cost of either X3 Watch and Covenant Eyes by simply changing
their cell phone carrier. (Find out how to get
totally free cell phone service, service for c. $10 a month,
or other low cost service by clicking here.)
However,
if you really want the free version of X3 that only has accountability but no
filtering, you can sign up using the link here.
It is very difficult to find the page to get the free version of X3 on
the organization’s website because X3 wants you to sign up for the version you
pay for that has filtering as well.
if you really want the free version of X3 that only has accountability but no
filtering, you can sign up using the link here.
It is very difficult to find the page to get the free version of X3 on
the organization’s website because X3 wants you to sign up for the version you
pay for that has filtering as well.
X3 Watch also claims it
is a Christian ministry dedicated to helping people with the danger of
pornography, not a profit-making business. The organization’s statement of faith is:
is a Christian ministry dedicated to helping people with the danger of
pornography, not a profit-making business. The organization’s statement of faith is:
- The Bible is the Inerrant Word of
God. The Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God and without mistakes
as originally written. It is the complete revelation of His will for
salvation and the only unfailing rule of faith and practice for the
Christian life. (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:21; John 17:17)
- The Trinity. There is one God,
Creator of all things, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, and that these three are co-eternal and of equal dignity
and power. (Matthew 28:19; II Corinthians 13:14)
- Jesus Christ. We believe in the
deity of Jesus Christ; His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit; His
virgin birth; His sinless life; His substitutionary death on a cross; His
bodily resurrection; His ascension to the right hand of the Father; and
His personal, imminent return. (John 1:1, 14, 18; Luke 1:35; Romans 3:24-26; 4:25; Hebrews 1:3; 3:1; 7:23-25;I John 2:1-2)
- God is Sovereign. We believe all
things in heaven and earth were created by God and exist by His power. (Genesis 1:1;Colossians 1:16-17)
- We believe that man is justified by
grace through faith apart from works. (Acts 13:38-39; Romans 6:23;Ephesians 2:8-10). We believe that all true believers,
once saved, are kept secure in Christ forever. (Romans 8:1, 38-39;John 10:27-30)
This is a good
statement, as far as it goes, although it is not very comprehensive and it is
not very prominent on the X3 websites. I have not found a clear and convicting
presentation of the gospel for the lost such as the one here or such
as is found in the resources
here on X3 Watch or its related websites, much less an exposure
of false teaching and false gospels following the pattern of Christ (Matthew 24) and His Apostles (Acts 8;Galatians 1:8-9; 1 John 2:22). The organization does not fit the model of
what Scripture
teaches about a faithful church (see also here).
Nor are careful
Biblical studies of the doctrine of sanctification and the supernatural work of
the Holy Spirit in progressively eradicating indwelling sin and renewing the
saints in holiness, because of the miraculous destruction of the dominion of
sin through the new birth, especially easy to find. However, for
Internet filtering and accountability, as well as material on dealing with pornography,
X3 is definitely useful.
statement, as far as it goes, although it is not very comprehensive and it is
not very prominent on the X3 websites. I have not found a clear and convicting
presentation of the gospel for the lost such as the one here or such
as is found in the resources
here on X3 Watch or its related websites, much less an exposure
of false teaching and false gospels following the pattern of Christ (Matthew 24) and His Apostles (Acts 8;Galatians 1:8-9; 1 John 2:22). The organization does not fit the model of
what Scripture
teaches about a faithful church (see also here).
Nor are careful
Biblical studies of the doctrine of sanctification and the supernatural work of
the Holy Spirit in progressively eradicating indwelling sin and renewing the
saints in holiness, because of the miraculous destruction of the dominion of
sin through the new birth, especially easy to find. However, for
Internet filtering and accountability, as well as material on dealing with pornography,
X3 is definitely useful.
While X3 Watch is
probably cheaper than Covenant Eyes for most people, there are certain losses
that come with the lower price tag. Prominent among these is the lack of
phone support. With X3, you cannot just pick up the phone and speak
to a human being if you have an issue setting up your filtering and
accountability software. They do have support and Frequently Asked
Questions pages with helpful videos and written material that users can
navigate, pages which are definitely helpful, and one can communicate with X3
via e-mail. You can download their quick reference guide by clicking here.
For significant numbers of users, paying a little more each month with
Covenant Eyes is worth it because of the phone support and more reliable
customer service. For a significant number of other users, these
negatives are outweighed by the bottom line that X3 Watch simply costs less.
To sign up for X3 filtering and accountability or to get more
information about X3 Watch, click on the banner below:
probably cheaper than Covenant Eyes for most people, there are certain losses
that come with the lower price tag. Prominent among these is the lack of
phone support. With X3, you cannot just pick up the phone and speak
to a human being if you have an issue setting up your filtering and
accountability software. They do have support and Frequently Asked
Questions pages with helpful videos and written material that users can
navigate, pages which are definitely helpful, and one can communicate with X3
via e-mail. You can download their quick reference guide by clicking here.
For significant numbers of users, paying a little more each month with
Covenant Eyes is worth it because of the phone support and more reliable
customer service. For a significant number of other users, these
negatives are outweighed by the bottom line that X3 Watch simply costs less.
To sign up for X3 filtering and accountability or to get more
information about X3 Watch, click on the banner below:
It should also be noted that there are ways to get a church or other organizational system with Covenant Eyes that will lead to their product being cheaper per person than X3 Watch; see here for more information.
I have the pay version of X3. Not very satisfied. Here are the reasons:
1. Filtering software is incompatible with work computers. This is not an X3 problem, but all filtering software. If you use your computer for work with any specialized programs, you most likely will not be able to use any filtering software.
Basically, if you transmit any information that is protected, medical, SSN, DL#, insurance, banking, credit card, the sites involved will not tolerate monitoring. In fact, you may be breaking the law if you allow traffic with that info to be routed through a filtering proxy.
2. The way they do accountability is through a proxy server. This means there are periods of slowdowns if their server is busy. Be ready for a lot of "page cannot be found" type errors. Also, some banks and other high security websites will balk at the proxy connection.
3. Tech support is not great. It is all by email, and some questions just go unanswered.
4. Some important extensions and addons do not play well with a proxy server for the same reason the banks do not. They think your internet connection has been hacked and rerouted and lock you out. Same for google drive. Continual problems. No fix for this yet by X3.
Pastor Kent,
My family also has the TV Guardian bad language filter and we have a Clearplay Blu-ray player which filters Blu-ray and DVD movies from sexual content, bad language, gore, violence and even disrespect to parents. Worth checking out, if anyone is interested.
Dear Farmer,
Thanks for the heads up. I have Covenant Eyes, partially because of some of the support issues you mentioned here. We actually got a church group together (see http://faithsaves.net/internet-filtering/ on that) so that we each pay c. $4 a month for a service with better support than X3. I have had no problems of any kind accessing my bank(s), etc.
With the job thing, at work none of the computers are filtered, but what you do on the web is monitored so you would get fired for looking at bad stuff. That may not be what you are talking about, though.