A family calendar app has one job: everyone sees the same week. Practice on Tuesday, the dentist on Thursday, who picks up on Friday. Most families already have a calendar that could do it, and the question is whether the one on your phone is enough or whether an app built for families earns its place.
This page compares six. EpiHem is our own app, so it comes first: a shared family calendar that is free for up to four people, with the shopping list and the week's dinners in the same app. After it come Cozi, FamilyWall and TimeTree, which are built for households too, and Google Calendar and Apple Calendar, which you already have. For each one you get what it does, what is free and what it costs.
The short version
Which one fits depends on what the family wants from it:
EpiHem: the family calendar with the rest of the week in it
Most family calendars stop at the schedule. EpiHem starts there and keeps going: the shopping list, the week's dinners and the receipts are in the same app, on the same days, for the same people. It runs on iPhone, on Android and in any web browser, so nobody in the house is left out, and a change shows on everyone's screen as it is made.
Free for up to four people
The shared calendar is whole in the free version:
- Recurring events and reminders, in a week, a month and an agenda view.
- A face on every event, so you see at a glance who it is for.
- The school's, the club's and your Google calendar, added with a link or imported from an .ics file. Our guide to calendar links shows how.
- Your calendar out again, exported to Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar.
- Roles, for who can edit and who can only look.
- Shared shopping and to-do lists in the same app, the lists everyone ticks off together.
- No ads, on any plan.
Premium puts dinner and the receipts on the calendar
With Premium the calendar shows the whole week and not only the appointments. Plan the week's dinners and they sit on their days, under the events. The meal plan writes the shopping list, and when the shopping is done you scan the receipt: EpiHem reads the items, puts the receipt on its day and works out who owes whom.
Premium costs EUR 6.99 a month or EUR 49.99 a year, and one subscription covers the whole household, up to 8 people. Try it free for 14 days, with no card. EpiHem is made in Sweden, and your household's data is stored in the EU.
What to look for in a family calendar app
Four things decide whether a family keeps using a shared calendar:
- It runs on every phone in the house. One parent on an iPhone and one on Android is common, and a teenager's phone is a third case. An app that leaves one person out does not get used. Apple Calendar has no Android app.
- The free version is a whole calendar. A family calendar is mostly about what is further ahead: the school holiday, the tournament, the trip. Cozi says its free version takes events for the next 30 days.
- It takes the calendars you already get. School, the football club and work all publish calendars. With a calendar link they show up next to the family's own events, and nobody types the fixture list in by hand. In FamilyWall that is part of the paid version.
- You can tell who an event is for. A colour or a face per person is what makes a full week readable at a glance.
EpiHem does all four in its free version.
Family calendar apps compared
We read each vendor's own site and its US App Store listing in October 2026. A check means the feature is there, a half mark that it comes with a condition, and a dash that it is missing. Where a vendor does not say, the table says "Not stated". On a phone the table scrolls sideways.
| Feature | EpiHem Our app | Cozi | FamilyWall | TimeTree | Google Calendar | Apple Calendar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone, Android and web | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial no Android app |
| The whole calendar free | Yes up to 4 people | Partial events 30 days ahead, Cozi says | Partial sync and calendar links are paid | Yes with ads | Yes | Yes |
| A school or club calendar from a link | Yes free | Yes from TeamSnap, SportsEngine and more | Yes paid | Not stated | Yes | Yes |
| Shared shopping and to-do lists | Yes free | Yes | Yes | Partial memos and to-dos | Partial tasks only | Partial in Reminders, a separate app |
| The week's dinners on the calendar | Yes Premium | Yes | Yes paid | No | No | No |
| Receipt scanning and who owes whom | Yes Premium | No | No budget only | No | No | No |
Price and what is free
All six can be used without paying. What differs is how much of the calendar the free version holds, whether it shows ads, and what the paid subscription costs.
| Feature | EpiHem Our app | Cozi | FamilyWall | TimeTree | Google Calendar | Apple Calendar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free version | Calendar and lists for up to 4 people, no ads | With ads, events 30 days ahead | Calendar, lists and messaging | With ads | The whole calendar | The whole calendar, on Apple devices |
| Paid subscription, per year | EUR 49.99 (EUR 6.99 a month) for the whole household | Gold about USD 40, Max about USD 80 | About USD 45 (about USD 8 a month) | About USD 45 (about USD 4.50 a month) | None | None |
The other apps' prices are rounded from what each vendor published in US dollars in October 2026. Prices change, so check the vendor's page before you pay. EpiHem's price is our own, in euros, and the app stores show it in your currency.
Cozi
What you get: The long-established family organizer. Cozi has a colour-coded calendar that works with Google, Outlook and Apple calendars and brings in school calendars and sports team schedules, plus shopping lists, to-do and chore lists and a recipe box. It runs on iPhone, on Android and on the web, and one account holds up to 12 people.
Where it stops: The free version shows ads and, Cozi says, takes events for the next 30 days only. To plan further ahead you pay for Cozi Gold, a subscription at about USD 40 a year, which also removes the ads. Cozi Max, at about USD 80 a year, adds AI features. Cozi does not scan receipts or split costs. There is more in our guide to Cozi alternatives.
FamilyWall
What you get: A family organizer whose free version has a colour-coded calendar, shopping lists, to-dos you can assign, family messaging and a photo gallery, on iPhone, on Android and on the web. It has the same owner as Cozi, the company In Tandem.
Where it stops: Much of what families come for is paid. Syncing with Google and Outlook calendars, adding a school calendar by link, the meal planner, the budget and location sharing all belong to Premium, a subscription at about USD 8 a month or USD 45 a year. There is no receipt scanning, and no splitting of costs between family members.
TimeTree
What you get: A calendar app through and through. You can keep as many shared calendars as you need, for the family, a hobby or school, and talk about an event inside the event. It runs on iPhone, on Android and on the web, and the free version is a whole calendar.
Where it stops: At the calendar. Lists exist only as memos and to-dos, and there is no meal planning and nothing for shared costs. The free version shows ads, and removing them is a paid subscription, Premium, at about USD 4.50 a month or USD 45 a year.
Google Calendar
What you get: The free calendar most families already have. When you set up a Google family group, a calendar called Family is created for it. It runs on iPhone, on Android and in any browser, shows Google, Exchange and iCloud calendars together, and takes a school or club calendar from its link.
Where it stops: At the schedule. The shopping list is in another app, and dinner is nowhere. Google also notes that family members are not notified when someone adds or changes an event on the family calendar, so a change can pass unseen.
Apple Calendar
What you get: A shared iCloud calendar that is free with the devices and already on every iPhone, iPad and Mac in the house. It can subscribe to a calendar link, and there is nothing to install.
Where it stops: At Apple's devices. There is no Android app, so a family member on Android reaches the calendar through a browser at iCloud.com. Lists live in Reminders, a separate app, and there is no meal planning.
Maple is closing
Maple's own site says it will sunset on December 31, 2026, and that accounts are closed after that date. If your family uses Maple, export what you want to keep before then. In EpiHem the shared calendar is free for up to 4 people.
Which one should you choose?
- You want the family's week in one place, with the calendar, the lists, dinner and the receipts: EpiHem. Start free with the calendar and the lists, and add Premium when the meals and the money should be in it too.
- You only need a schedule, and everyone has a Google account: Google Calendar, free.
- Everyone has an iPhone, and a schedule is enough: a shared calendar in Apple Calendar, free.
- You want the long-established organizer: Cozi, and count on paying about USD 40 a year for Gold if you plan more than a month ahead.
- Family chat matters most: FamilyWall, and count on its paid Premium if the school calendar should be in it.
- You want a calendar and nothing else: TimeTree, free with ads.
If the calendar is only one of several things the family wants in one place, our comparison of family organizer apps covers lists, meals and shared costs as well. And if you want the week on a screen in the kitchen, our guide to Skylight Calendar alternatives sets out what that costs.
