Cozi vs TimeTree vs FamilyWall: which family app fits your family?

What's the difference between Cozi, TimeTree and FamilyWall?

They solve different problems. Cozi is a family organizer built around lists and meals. TimeTree is a pure shared calendar that lets you keep several calendars, say family plus a school group, side by side. FamilyWall is the all-in-one: calendar, lists, meals, messaging, location and a budget tracker. Prices checked October 2026; confirm on each official page.

Yes, we put ourselves in the fourth column. We wrote this, so you should see where we fit. We win one row (the last one) and lose the list and meal rows outright.

What is Cozi good at, and where does it fall short?

Cozi is good at the household side of family life. Its core app gives you a shared calendar, shopping lists, family to-do lists and a recipe box with a meal planner, on iPhone, Android and a mobile browser. Where it falls short is that some calendar basics, like month view on mobile and calendar search, sit behind Cozi Gold.

Gold, per Cozi's own page, adds:

• no ads
• month view on mobile, and calendar search
• up to three reminders per event
• notifications when the calendar changes
• a birthday tracker and shopping mode

The page lists Gold at $39 and doesn't spell out the billing period, so check before you buy. Our opinion: Cozi is the best of the three for a family whose arguments start in aisle five. It's also the one we'd be most annoyed to pay for just to get month view. If you've outgrown it, see our list of Cozi alternatives.

What is TimeTree good at, and where does it fall short?

TimeTree does one thing: shared calendars. You can keep several of them, one for the family and another for a school group, and view them together or one at a time on iPhone or Android. If you wanted shopping lists or a meal planner, look elsewhere, because they aren't part of it. That narrowness is the appeal, and for some families it's the whole point.

Premium is $4.49 a month or $44.99 a year and removes ads, adds file attachments, a vertical calendar view and pinned events, and gets you dedicated support. When TimeTree launched Premium in April 2022, it said existing features would stay usable without paying. Prices may have changed since then, though the current site still shows the same numbers.

(If you're wondering, Kidbud sits closer to TimeTree than to Cozi. Calendar first. Ours just happens to be built around kids' classes and who drives to them.)

What is FamilyWall good at, and where does it fall short?

FamilyWall wants to be the only app your household opens. The calendar syncs with Google and Outlook.com, and around it sit lists, a meal planner that builds a grocery list, a family messenger, real-time location with place alerts and, on Premium, a budget tracker. If you only wanted a calendar, it's a lot of app to wade through to find Tuesday.

Premium is $4.99 a month or $44.99 billed annually, and it runs on iPhone, Android and desktop. Its Multi Groups feature lets you keep separate private spaces, for example one for your household and one for grandparents. That's genuinely useful when the grandparents want the calendar but not the grocery list.

How do they compare with Google Calendar and Apple Calendar?

Before paying for any of the three, look at what you already have. Google creates a Family calendar automatically when you set up a family group, and anyone in it can change events. Apple creates a Family calendar on everyone's devices when you set up Family Sharing, for you and up to five others. Neither adds lists or meal plans to the calendar.

Honestly, Google or Apple is enough for plenty of families. We wrote up the broader field in the best family calendar apps.

What if your pain is the driving, not lists?

Then, frankly, none of these three is aimed at your problem. Cozi, TimeTree and FamilyWall all show you that soccer is at 4:15. None of them, from what their own pages list, puts one parent's name on the drop-off and the pickup, or tells that parent when to leave based on traffic. That's a narrower job, and it's the one Kidbud does.

A made-up Tuesday to show what we mean. Leo's soccer runs 4:15 to 5:15 at Riverside Fields. You take the drop-off, your partner takes the pickup. At 3:51 your phone says leave in ten minutes, because it's a 14-minute drive. Your partner's phone stays quiet until it's their turn. (We don't know of good data on how often families double up or miss a pickup. We just know it's the text nobody wants to get.)

How is Kidbud different?

Kidbud is a family calendar for kids' classes, with the driving built in. Every drop-off and pickup is assigned to one parent, and that parent gets a traffic-aware Leave Now reminder. You choose the timing separately for drop-offs and pickups. It runs on iPhone and Android, so a mixed couple can share one family.

What else it does: day, week and month views with a filter by child; invites for a spouse, caregivers or grandparents, all on one subscription ($59.99 a year or $12.99 a month); birthday invites shared by link with RSVPs counted; and Discover, which suggests local classes for each child.

What it doesn't do, so you can decide fairly: no lists, chores or meal planning, no wall display, no sync with Google or Apple calendars, and no carpools between families. Plenty of families will keep Cozi for groceries and use us for the driving, and we think that's a perfectly sensible split. Our guide to splitting drop-offs and pickups works with or without any app.

Lists in Cozi, driving in Kidbud

Put one parent's name on every drop-off and pickup, and let the driver's phone say when to leave.

Frequently asked questions

Cozi vs FamilyWall: which is better?

Cozi is the simpler of the two and its core app already covers a calendar, lists and meal planning. FamilyWall does more, adding a family messenger, location sharing and a budget tracker. Pick Cozi for focus and FamilyWall if you want one app for everything.

FamilyWall vs TimeTree: which should I choose?

Choose TimeTree if you only want a shared calendar, and FamilyWall if you also want lists, meals and location in the same app. Their annual Premium prices are the same, $44.99, as of October 2026.

Is TimeTree better than Google Calendar?

TimeTree is friendlier for keeping several group calendars, like family and a school group, side by side. Google Calendar is included with a Google account, has a built-in Family calendar and runs on computers too. If Google already works for you, there's little reason to switch.

Cozi vs Apple Calendar: what's the difference?

Apple's Family calendar is built into Apple devices and costs nothing extra, but it's only a calendar and suits all-iPhone families. Cozi adds shopping lists, to-dos and meal planning and runs on Android too.

Sources

1. Cozi, Cozi Gold features and price
2. TimeTree, home page and Premium features
3. TimeTree, Premium announcement, April 2022
4. FamilyWall, Premium pricing
5. FamilyWall, features and platforms
6. Google, family calendar help
7. Google Calendar help, supported devices
8. Apple, what is Family Sharing
9. Apple iPhone User Guide, share a family calendar