Raising Is Pinterest safe for kids? What parents should know
Is Pinterest safe for kids? Apple's App Store rates Pinterest 13+, with infrequent violence, horror, drug references, and sexual content, and messaging. Since 2023, accounts for users under 16 are private by default and can only message mutual followers, and a parent can lock a teen's settings with a passcode. The changes came months after a March 2023 NBC News investigation reporting that men were using Pinterest to build sexualized boards of young girls.
Pinterest at a glance
- ✓Official rating above age 7
App Store: 13+ - ✓Contact with other players or strangers
Messaging; under-16s limited to mutual followers - –Purchases with real money
No purchases for users (only ad funds) - –Paid random items
None - ✓Violence or scary content in rating descriptors
App Store: infrequent violence, horror, sexual content - –Government lawsuits, fines, or safety warnings
None found
Each flag is a yes-or-no fact from the sources on this page. The number is a count of flags, not a safety score. How we count.
| Type | Visual discovery app by Pinterest, Inc.: saving and browsing images on boards |
|---|---|
| App Store (iOS) | 13+ — infrequent violence, horror, drugs, sexual content; contains messaging, chat, social media source |
| Teens | Since 2023: under-16 accounts private by default; messaging only with mutual followers, according to Pinterest's announcements |
| Parental controls | A parental passcode can lock a teen's settings |
Checked October 2026. Ratings and settings change; check the official source before you decide. What do these ratings mean?
Facts for parents, not medical or legal advice. If you're worried about your child, talk to your pediatrician.
What is Pinterest?
Short answer: An app for saving and browsing pictures on themed boards.
People use it for crafts, recipes, home ideas, and inspiration. It's made by Pinterest, Inc.
Is Pinterest safe for kids? The facts
Short answer: It's rated 13+; teen accounts have extra privacy settings.
- Rating: App Store 13+, with infrequent violence, horror, alcohol and drug references, and sexual content or nudity.
- Teen accounts: since 2023, according to Pinterest's announcements, under-16 accounts are private and not discoverable, and teens can only message mutual followers they've connected with through a link.
- Parental controls: a parental passcode lets a parent lock a teen's settings.
- Background: the 2023 changes followed an NBC News investigation reporting that men were using Pinterest to build sexualized image boards of young girls.
The habit kids may copy: endless scrolling for ideas
Pinterest feeds keep offering one more idea.
Try tonight: make one pin real
Pick one idea from a board and actually make it together tonight. "One idea, made." In our program, this is the lesson "Enough": noticing what's already here.
What the research says
A 2022 meta-analysis of 87 studies with about 159,000 children ages 12 and under found that more screen time was linked to slightly more behavior problems; the link was small and doesn't show cause and effect. More in screen time and child development.
Why you can trust this page: the main facts link to their sources, a separate reviewer checks each page before it goes live, and the date shows when we last checked. How we review · Report an error
FAQ
What age is Pinterest for?
Apple's App Store rates it 13+.
Does Pinterest have parental controls?
A parental passcode can lock a teen's settings; under-16 accounts are private by default.
Can strangers message kids on Pinterest?
Under-16s can only message mutual followers they've connected with, according to Pinterest's 2023 changes.
Is Pinterest free?
Yes. Purchases in the app are only for advertisers.
More from “Is it good for kids?”
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Read next →Raising Stoics is a 12-week program for ages 5–6, built on Stoic philosophy and developmental psychology. One lesson is "Enough": noticing what's already here.