I looked into Bark phones recently - the device itself runs around $200-250, then you’re looking at $39-49/month for the service plan that includes monitoring. Yeah, the pricing can be confusing because they bundle things differently.
I actually went with Parentaler instead - it works with any phone your kid already has, costs way less, and gives me better control options. Tried it with my daughter’s iPhone last month and it’s been perfect. No need to buy a special phone when you can just add great monitoring to whatever device they’re using.