When the hectic pace of life gets us all down, one respite is in technology: the best tools can make our lives easier, more streamlined, and more fun. And while it’s true that we must all embrace technology to some degree if we hope to survive in today’s society, that doesn’t mean you can’t also reap hilarious benefits from it as well.
In your household, wouldn’t it be really helpful to have a single calendar that everyone could access and keep track of everyone’s schedules? For example, if you’re planning dinner for Sunday night at 6:30 p.m., but your husband has an interview at that time, a family calendar would be a great way for him to see when you’ve made plans without having to check every single one of your personal calendars.
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Even if this isn’t something you’re dealing with currently, it will save you from having to remember every single appointment, event, and commitment anyone in your family has—and reduce the likelihood that they’ll forget yours.
With many different apps to choose from (each with its own pros and cons), you can find one that fits your needs and makes family scheduling a breeze. Just look for features like notifications on events or reminders about upcoming commitments.
How we test?
Keeping your family organized with so many great apps on the market has always been challenging. But which one will work best for your busy life? We put 12 of the most popular family calendar apps to the test.
For our review, we used three phones (an iPhone 12 and Samsung Galaxy S20 phone) and tested each app on both phones. We tested the app’s design, ease of use, and syncing capabilities. We also reviewed how easy it was to share information (such as calendars, contacts, or tasks) between people who are part of a family or group that uses the app. Finally, we checked out any additional features that might be useful for families—good reminders, photo-sharing capabilities, etc.
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How did we test? We created an account for each app and set up basic information about ourselves and other members of our family (children and parents). Then we started using each app to create calendars for our various schedules—work schedules, school schedules, shopping lists, vacation plans—and updating them with events (shopping dates, doctor appointments) and adding photos or other content. Lastly, we checked out syncing capabilities between devices to ensure all changes made on one device were quickly transferred.
Here’s what we looked for when we were testing:
- Ease-of-use:how easy is it to add or modify events and tasks? Can the whole family use it? Can it do more than one thing?
- Customization: how much can you customize it to suit your family?
- Extra features: does it have any extra features that might be especially useful for families?
- Integration with other apps: how well does it integrate with other apps?
Once we’d settled on our contenders, we used them to keep track of everything from errands to doctor’s appointments—we even logged in events like birthdays and holidays that have no set date each year. Finally, since many of these apps are designed as family-friendly platforms, we wanted to see if they included features like geolocation reminders that would come in handy when taking kids from place to place.
Below are the Top 10 Best Family Calendar and Organizer Apps:
Between work, kids, dog walking, chores, and date nights there’s not much time left for planning. Enter family calendars! There are dozens of options for keeping track of everyone’s activities. The best option is the one that fits your family and lets you feel less overwhelmed.
That’s why we’ve put together this list of the best family calendar apps.
1. OurHome – chores and rewards
For families with multiple busy schedules, a calendar app is an essential tool for communicating effectively and ensuring that everyone has the information they need to get from point A to point B. In the digital age, there are plenty of options out there for this kind of thing, but some really stand out as being the best.
OurHome is the family organizer app that helps you plan, schedule, assign and complete chores, repairs and more! With OurHome, all family members can share lists and calendars, create goals, tasks and activities and stay in sync with each other.
For example, your kids can start with a simple assignment like “Complete homework before 7 p.m.” Then they’ll receive reminders that encourage them to follow through with their responsibilities. Or they can earn points for doing chores and tasks around the house; as they earn level-ups they can unlock fun rewards. You can also assign tasks to each other, so the whole family knows who’s doing what—and when. It’s the perfect solution for busy families who want to make sure everyone is on the same page.
When it comes to chores, no two families are the same. Some people make their kids do every little thing around the house, while others may let their kids get off with cleaning up after dinner or doing the dishes. Still others might even give their kids money for doing chores or expect them to pay rent. No matter how you handle things, one thing is constant: the chore list on your fridge is probably a mess.
With OurHome, you can keep track of your tasks and be confident that your family is on the same page about what everyone’s responsibilities are. It’s simple to get started—just use an email address for each member of your family and add them all as members (or have them sign in as guests). Create a family group for you so everyone can see what everyone else has going on. Once you’ve added everyone, you’ll be able to assign and schedule tasks with due dates.
Chores will automatically move from ‘To Do’ to ‘Done’ when they’re completed, so your whole family will always know what they should be working on next. You can even set specific times when certain people are allowed to use this app—making it a great way for parents to control screen time for their kids!
WHY WE RECOMMEND OurHome Family calendar app?
This app is great for setting up tasks and chores for each member of the family (or just for yourself).
OurHome can help you with this in multiple ways:
- Set daily tasks and chores to be done around the house.
- Assign weekly tasks and chores so they get done either every week or on specific days of the week.
- Set up bonus points that are awarded when tasks are completed (bonus points can also be used to set goals).
- Create a calendar to keep track of all your family’s activities. You can include doctor appointments, school events, and other important events so that everyone is informed ahead of time. The best part is that everyone in the family can see what is going on. That way you don’t have any last minute surprises! But wait there’s more! You can also set reminders on the calendar to make sure everything gets done when it needs to get done. Finally, if someone needs to be reminded about something, you can send them a reminder message through the app!
- Download it from the Apple App Store.
- Download it from Google Play.
2. Google Calendar
Google Calendar has been a great addition to my family’s lives. Before I was introduced to it, our lives were filled with paper calendars hanging on the wall. While this calendar served its purpose, it wasn’t very flexible. Plus, the paper calendar always seemed to be at the wrong place at the wrong time; for example, I would always see it when I walked into the kitchen, not when I needed something.
Google Calendar is simple and flexible. It lets me add multiple calendars and share them with individual family members so that we can all make plans together.
For example, my wife uses her calendar to schedule her classes at school and our daughter uses her calendar to keep track of upcoming events like dance classes and doctor appointments. We also use Google Calendar to plan family activities like movie nights and camping trips with friends.
Why we recommend google Family calendar app?
- Easy to create events – You can quickly create events with friends, family members, and coworkers.
- Color-coding – You can color code each of your calendars to help identify them quickly.
- Customizable calendar views – Calendar displays your schedule the way you want it.
- Can be your GPS – Google Maps integration makes sure you’re on time, every time.
- Sync it with any device & access it from anywhere!
- Send timed invitations to all your appointments and sync their replies.
- Great for recurring events and cancelations.
- Download it from the Apple App Store.
- Download it from Google Play.
3. Cozi Family Organizer
Cozi is a free family organizer that helps families stay on track by keeping everyone informed and connected. With a shared calendar, reminders, grocery list, recipe box, and more, you’ll have everything you need to manage your family life—all in one place.
‘Mom’s Choice Awards’
Cozi has won three ‘Mom’s Choice Awards’ for best Organizer App, Best Kids App and Best App for Families.
“”It’s great to be able to see what my husband is doing if we’re not together.” – Cozi User”
“I really love the Cozi app. It’s easy to use and makes meal planning so much easier.” – Cozi User
For example, Cozi’s grocery list makes it easy to shop for everyone on your list—and remember what you need—because it’s all in one place. Add items to the list on the fly, without stopping to write them down, and find items on the store shelf as you shop.
With Cozi’s shared calendar, you can see what’s coming up for everyone in your family, from holidays and travel plans to school events and dentist appointments. With Cozi’s reminders feature, you can keep track of birthdays and anniversaries, upcoming bills, changes in your daily routine or anything else that might slip your mind.
And because Cozi is a free online family organizer that lets you share information with everyone in your household—your spouse, children, parents or anyone else it’s a great way to stay on top of everyday life without feeling like you’re trying to manage the day-to-day details alone.
Why we recommend Cozi Family Organizer?
- Cozi is a shared family calendar and organizing app.
- There are so many features to help you organize your life (shared calendar, shopping lists, recipes, etc.)!
- Cozi has a free Family Calendar feature that’s accessible anywhere.
- It even sends grocery lists to your email or phone so you don’t have to carry around a paper list!
- Sharing a calendar with your spouse or partner makes scheduling easy!
- You can also use Cozi as your family command center!
- Download it from the Apple App Store.
- Download it from Google Play.
4. Any.do Family Planner
Any.do Family Planner is the latest app from Any.do, a company that has been dedicated to making task management and organization simpler throughout the years. The company started with Any.do task list, which focused on adding an intuitive organizational system to your life. The app is now available in more than 20 languages and is extremely popular, claiming more than 5 million downloads and 4.5 stars on Google Play, as well as a 4.6 star rating on the iTunes store with over 46,000 reviews.
The interface is simple to use and understand: the calendar view allows you to set any number of events or appointments and a repeating schedule of things like daily habits or chores to ensure they never get skipped. You can also set reminders for yourself to alert you before or after any scheduled event or appointment so that you always stay on top of what needs to be done. The task list view lets you create and organize tasks within their categories and subcategories, making it easy to track what needs to be completed and when.
Why we recommend Any.do Family Planner?
- It’s not just a to-do list — Any.do Family Planner can help your family stay on top of all your tasks and schedules.
- The app syncs everything in your family calendar instantly; even if you’re offline, anything you add or do automatically syncs when you get back online.
- You can assign tasks to everyone, share shopping lists, set reminders and appointments, and create notes together from anywhere.
- It’s one of the most popular apps for staying organized among families.
- And at $4.99 for five months of access for up to 40 people, it’s an incredible deal!
- The Any.do Family Planner app is a great way to organize your family’s activities and tasks without being too complicated or annoying.
5. Evernote Family Organizer
Evernote Family Organizer is an excellent option for families who want to stay organized and communicate better. You can connect unlimited devices and organize everything from family tasks to grocery lists to travel plans in one place. Plus, you can upload up to 10 GB of content each month, which should be plenty for the average family.
Using Evernote Family Organizer is easy, whether you’re using it with mobile devices, desktops, or even your TV. Using the mobile app, you can add reminders for your tasks, create grocery lists, and even take pictures of important documents and store them securely in Evernote. If you’re using a desktop computer, you can sync your Evernote calendar with Google Calendar so your whole family can access the same calendar. And if you have an Evernote Smart Notebook, it’s super easy to share notes with other family members.
As far as features go, quite a few things are going for Evernote Family Organizer:
1) Sync unlimited devices
2) Customize the Home dashboard
3) Customize extra widgets on the dashboard
4) Add due dates and notifications to tasks
5) Manage tasks in one place
6) Get offline access on mobile and desktop
Why we recommend Evernote Family Planner?
- Evernote turns your phone and computer into an extension of your brain.
- Flexible organization, Set reminders, Share resources, Handwritten notes.
- It allows you to put down anything you want to remember for future reference so that it is accessible from anywhere and on any device.
- You can also share notes in various formats with others including family members.
- Each person can take their own notes and add pictures, voice recordings, documents etc.
- This is a great way to organize family activities, share ideas and instructions, delegate jobs to each other, discuss plans, create agendas and schedules, checklists or to just communicate in general with each other.
- Evernote is available on many platforms including mobile devices and computers. You can share a notebook with your family members.
- Download it from the Apple App Store.
- Download it from Google Play.
At the end of the day, all of these calendar apps are viable choices, and thanks to the nature of the Apple App Store and android store, you can get them all without paying a dime. Whether you use one, some or all of them is up to you. What works for your family will be an individual choice, and hopefully this article has shown that there is a lot more out there than just the default Calendar app.