LittleBrother
The facts below are what the maker publishes about LittleBrother, checked and dated. Our editors have not written about it yet.
Plans and prices
From LittleBrother's own pricing page, checked 12 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| LittleBrother | Free | GPL-3.0 licensed open-source application |
The facts
Each one read from LittleBrother's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Activity reports
- Yeschecked 22 Sep 2026
- Client communication
- Clients communicate with the master using HTTP and a shared access token; the documentation says this connection is always simple HTTP.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The project documents optional LDAP authentication and authorization, SQLite by default, and MySQL, MariaDB, or PostgreSQL for the master database.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- The project describes itself as a parental-control application for monitoring and limiting children’s play time on Linux computers.checked 12 Oct 2026
- License
- The public repository identifies the software as GPL-3.0 licensed.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Limitations
- The maker notes that processes may occasionally fail to terminate correctly, leaving users recorded as still logged in.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Multi-host monitoring
- It can combine activity from any number of Linux client hosts through a master host, and can also run on one standalone host.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Play-time rules
- Rules can set time windows, daily limits, session limits, required breaks, and exceptions based on day of week or vacation schedules; vacation schedules currently support Germany only.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- LittleBrother monitors and limits children’s play time on Linux hosts by tracking configured processes.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Screen-time schedules
- Yeschecked 22 Sep 2026
- Security caveat
- The maker says the web server only responds to HTTP and recommends putting an internet-accessible master behind a reverse proxy that handles HTTPS termination.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Taskbar helper
- The LittleBrotherTaskbar helper shows remaining play time and can speak notifications before a forced logout.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Tested distributions
- The README lists tested distributions including Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, Arch Linux, and Alpine, with test dates and versions varying by distribution.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Web administration
- The master provides a web interface for activity history and administration, and can be placed behind a reverse proxy for remote administration.checked 12 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- App blocking
- Yeschecked 22 Sep 2026
- Other-device monitoring
- It can estimate activity on other devices such as smartphones and tablets by pinging them, but cannot terminate activity on those devices.checked 12 Oct 2026
- Platforms and installation
- The software is released as a Debian package, has a client snap, and offers Docker setup; the maker describes basic generic installation support for non-Debian distributions.checked 12 Oct 2026
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