UserAuthGuard vs Securly
Securly answers "what are students doing on their devices?" UserAuthGuard answers "who is allowed to sign in to this Chromebook, and who has it?" Different questions, answered at different layers.
The Short Version
Securly describes itself, on its own site as of November 1, 2026, as a K-12 student safety platform: safetyOS spanning digital safety, AI governance, student wellness, classroom management and campus movement, with Apple device management listed alongside. Most of that works on the student's session: what a signed-in student can reach, what a teacher sees during a lesson, what gets flagged. For current detail, read securly.com.
UserAuthGuard works one layer earlier, at the Chromebook sign-in screen. Each device gets its own organizational unit in Google Workspace, with a sign-in restriction naming the one student allowed to use it. Google refuses anyone else before the desktop loads. Behind that sits the record a safety platform is not built to keep: who has which Chromebook, its assignment history, check-in and check-out, repairs, and end-of-year collection.
You will not find a list of what Securly cannot do on this page. Vendors ship features, and a checklist of someone else's gaps is wrong the day after it is published. This page describes what a safety platform is for and what device assignment enforcement is for, so you can place any product, Securly included, yourself.
Two Different Questions
One layer watches the session after sign-in. The other decides who gets to sign in at all.
Filtering, Wellness, Classroom View
"What are students doing on their devices?"
- Blocks or allows sites by category and list
- Flags searches and content that suggest a student is at risk
- Shows a teacher the screens in the room during a lesson
- Applies rules to whoever is signed in, by user or group
- Runs through an extension or a network layer that has to be present and running
Device Assignment Enforcement
"Who is allowed to sign in to this Chromebook, and who has it?"
- One organizational unit per device, with a sign-in restriction naming one student
- Google refuses anyone else at the sign-in screen; nothing is installed on the device for this
- Assignment record with history: who has it, who had it, when
- Check-in and check-out, loaners, end-of-year collection by scan
- Repair queue with parts and technician assignment, in the same device record
- Optional classroom and safety extension, if you want one vendor for both layers
Side By Side, By Question
The questions a technology office actually asks, and which layer answers each one. Place Securly in the right-hand column yourself.
| The question | UserAuthGuard | A safety platform |
|---|---|---|
| Access | ||
| Who can sign in to this Chromebook? | The one student named on the device's unit.Google refuses everyone else at the sign-in screen | Not its job.A filter starts work after sign-in, on whoever signed in |
| A student picks up a classmate's device. What happens? | Sign-in is refused.The device stays tied to its assigned student | The session gets that student's rules.Whether the swap is noticed depends on your records |
| The record | ||
| Who has this serial number, and who had it before? | The assignment record, with history and timestamps. | Not what a safety platform is for. |
| Is this device checked in, out on loan, or in repair? | Check-in, check-out, loaners and a repair queue.Parts, warranty and technician on the same record | Not what a safety platform is for. |
| How many came back in June, and from whom? | Scan-in collection, reconciled by student. | Not what a safety platform is for. |
| The session | ||
| What can the student reach, what is on the screen, who is at risk? | Optional.A classroom and safety extension is included if you want it; the sign-in lock does not depend on it | This is the job.Filtering, wellness alerts, classroom screen view |
| What enforcement depends on | ||
| What has to be on the device for it to hold? | Nothing.The lock is a Google Workspace policy on the device's unit | The filter itself.An extension or network layer that must be present and running |
How the Two Layers Divide the Work
What a district's Chromebook program looks like with a safety platform on the session and UserAuthGuard at the sign-in screen
Decide who signs in
Each Chromebook accepts the one student named on its unit. Google refuses anyone else at the sign-in screen.
UserAuthGuardFilter the session
Once the right student is signed in, the safety platform decides what that session can reach.
Safety platformKeep the record
Who has which Chromebook, who had it before, and what condition it was in at check-in.
UserAuthGuardWatch for risk
Wellness and safety alerts on what students search for and write belong to the session layer.
Safety platformRun repairs
Intake, parts, technician and return, on the same record as the assignment, so damage traces to a student.
UserAuthGuardSee the room
Classroom screen view during a lesson is a session-layer job. UserAuthGuard offers it as an optional extension too; either layer can carry it.
EitherHow the Lock Works
Four steps, all of them inside Google Workspace. This is what OU-Lock is.
One unit per device
Each Chromebook is moved into its own organizational unit in Google Workspace. The unit becomes the device's identity in your domain, and any unit-level policy you apply stays with that device.
One name on the unit
A sign-in restriction on that unit names the one student allowed to sign in. Reassign the device in UserAuthGuard and the name on the unit changes with it.
Google does the refusing
Anyone else who tries is turned away at the sign-in screen by Google itself. There is nothing on the device to uninstall for this to hold.
The record rides along
Assignment history, check-in and check-out, repairs and collection all hang off the same device record, so "who has this?" is a lookup, not an investigation through sign-in logs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I run UserAuthGuard alongside Securly?
Yes. UserAuthGuard enforces at the Google sign-in screen. A safety platform works on the session after sign-in. The two layers do not conflict, and neither needs to know the other is there. A device that stays in its own unit also keeps whatever unit-level policies you have applied there.
Does UserAuthGuard replace Securly?
That depends on what you bought Securly for. If you want to know who has which Chromebook and keep students on their own device, that is UserAuthGuard's core job and not what a safety platform is built for. If you use Securly for filtering, wellness alerts and classroom screen view, UserAuthGuard includes an optional classroom and safety extension, and whether it covers what you use today is for your own evaluation. We will not make that call for you with a checklist of Securly's gaps.
What is OU-Lock?
Each Chromebook gets its own organizational unit in Google Workspace, and that unit carries a sign-in restriction naming the one student allowed to use the device. Google enforces it at the sign-in screen, so anyone else is refused before the desktop loads. Reassigning the device updates the restriction. Nothing is installed on the device to make this work.
What does Securly do?
As of November 1, 2026, Securly's own site describes a K-12 student safety platform, safetyOS, spanning digital safety, AI governance, student wellness, classroom management and campus movement, with Apple device management listed alongside. For anything current, go to securly.com. We describe Securly only by what it says about itself.
Why doesn't this page list what Securly can't do?
Because we cannot keep such a list true. Vendors ship features without telling competitors, and a comparison table full of crosses is a snapshot that ages badly. We would rather tell you what a safety platform is for, what device assignment enforcement is for, and let you place the products. If you want to know what Securly does, ask Securly. If you want to know what UserAuthGuard does, start the free plan and look at your own fleet.
Is UserAuthGuard free?
Yes. The free plan is read-only visibility of your whole fleet: every device, user and organizational unit, assignment gaps, and fleet reporting. No device cap, no credit card, no trial clock. Enforcement (OU-Lock, bulk operations, and the classroom and safety extension) is paid, with published pricing and no multi-year commitment required.
Know who has every Chromebook
Keep your safety platform. Add the layer underneath it. Free to find every gap, paid to enforce assignment, with published pricing.