I Tested The Best Shared Calendar Apps For Families. Here Are My Favorites | Motion

Juggling modern life with kids isn't easy for me (or anyone). School, basketball practice, swimming lessons, doctor's appointments—it can all get overwhelming!

If my family members and I know our way around a smartphone (and who doesn't these days?), a shared calendar app can drastically change our family life for the better.

So, read on to learn about the best shared calendar apps for families.

A quick look at the best shared calendar apps for families

Family Calendars Key Features Pricing
Motion - AI-driven calendar

What is a family calendar app?

A family calendar app is a digital tool designed to help families like mine organize, manage, and share our schedules in one accessible location. It makes it easy for us to coordinate appointments, morning routines, activities, events, and tasks.

Family calendar apps include shared calendar functionality, reminders, task assignments and chores, and sometimes even shopping lists and meal planning functions.

By centralizing my family's commitments in one place, an app reduces scheduling conflicts and helps all of us stay on the same page regarding activities and responsibilities.

Why use a shared calendar app for the entire family?

There are lots of benefits of using shared calendar apps for the whole family. Here are just a few of them:

  1. You experience smoother and potentially more harmonious family dynamics since everyone’s schedules and tasks are much easier to organize and keep track of.
  2. Knowing who needs to be where and when minimizes last-minute scrambles and stress.
  3. Everyone stays updated on family events and appointments, helping to avoid misunderstandings and double bookings.
  4. Because everyone’s time is used more efficiently, each family member can experience more balance in their personal, work, and family commitments.
  5. Assigning specific tasks and chores to each family member improves everyone’s sense of responsibility, fairness, and order.
  6. More visibility into everyone’s availability makes planning family events, vacations, and activities simpler to arrange.

In short, these handy apps can make your family life run a whole lot smoother!

What makes the best digital calendar app for families?

When evaluating the various shared calendar apps for families, I considered the following key criteria:

Shared access

In my family with growing children, keeping everyone on the same page regarding events and appointments can be a logistical nightmare. After all, who's not familiar with missed activities and double bookings?

Shared access to family calendar apps takes care of this problem. It allows all my family members to view and update the calendar from their own devices so that everyone, regardless of where they are or what device they're using, has real-time access to the family schedule.

Color coding

With multiple schedules to manage, it can be challenging for me to quickly see who has what coming up in a busy family calendar.

Color coding solves this problem by assigning a unique color to each family member. That way, it's easy for me to see everyone's commitments at a glance.

Reminders and alerts

Forgetting important dates such as doctors' appointments, school events or family gatherings can lead to stress and disappointment. Calendar apps take care of this issue by automatically sending me notifications and alerts for upcoming events, appointments and tasks.

Syncing capabilities

I often use multiple apps and platforms to manage my personal and professional lives - but a lack of integration between these tools can lead to scheduling frustrations.

Syncing capabilities in a family calendar app make it easy for the family calendar to integrate with other calendar apps and digital platforms that my individual family members may be using. As a result, everyone can manage their schedules without having to switch between multiple apps.

Task and chore scheduling

Whose turn is it to do the dishes or put out the garbage?

Daily chores and responsibilities often act as bones of contention in families.

To help combat this problem, shared family calendars usually include the ability for me to assign tasks and chores - and even track their completion. With these features, I can distribute chores more fairly among my family members.

Privacy and security

With increasing concerns over digital privacy and security, sharing sensitive information like schedules and appointments online can be worrying.

Privacy and security features in family calendar apps tackle this issue through controls that dictate who can view and edit calendar entries.

6 best shared calendar apps for families

Here are my six handpicked calendar apps for families. I've included the pros, cons, and pricing of each to show the range of options available today.

1. Cozi Family Organizer

Cozi is designed to keep your family's schedule and everyday life organized. It's a robust app that includes a family calendar, grocery lists, to-do lists, meal plans, and even a family journal where you can share photos and notes.

Cozi has won the Mom’s Choice Award, the Best Parenting App Award, and other accolades.

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Cozi pricing

2. FamilyWall

FamilyWall acts as a private social network for your family. It offers a shared calendar, lists, a locator service, and a messaging system to keep everyone connected and organized.

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FamilyWall pricing:

3. OurCal

OurCal is a shared family calendar app that distinguishes itself by its strong emphasis on privacy and security.

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OurCal pricing

4. Calroo Family Calendar

Calroo is designed to make family scheduling effortless, with features that allow parents to assign tasks, set reminders, and share schedules and lists to reduce communication mishaps and lower stress.

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Calroo Pricing

5. FabFam

FabFam is an all-in-one family organizer app that serves as a central hub for family activities and tasks. It includes a shared family calendar with reminders, shopping and other lists, events, and a meal-planning tool.

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FabFam pricing

6. FamCal (Family Shared Calendar)

FamCal is a popular calendar app designed specifically for family use, with features that facilitate shared schedules, to-do lists, notes, and reminders to keep family members completely synchronized. There’s no website, but you’ll find it in app stores.

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FamCal pricing

Each of these apps has unique features and capabilities. So, consider the specific needs of your family, such as the importance of task planning versus calendar sharing and the suitability for younger versus older children, to find the best fit.

Bonus: 4 effective work + family calendar combos

In addition to calendar apps specifically designed for families, there are tools that you can use as both a work and family calendar app.

With this kind of app performing double duty, you won’t have to juggle one calendar for managing family affairs and another for productivity at work.

Here are some suggestions for multi-purpose calendar apps:

1. Motion

Motion’s versatile productivity tool includes a sophisticated, AI-driven calendar app that intelligently and proactively combines all of your tasks, to-do lists, and events and activities into one smart calendar that moves with you and adjusts as needed.

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Motion Pricing

2. Google Calendar

Google Calendar offers a simple way to manage both personal and family schedules. By creating a separate calendar for family events and sharing it with all family members, everyone can add and view appointments, events, and reminders.

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Google Calendar pricing

3. Any.do

Any.do is a task and calendar app that's adaptable for personal or family use. It integrates tasks, events, and reminders in one place for a seamless way to plan your family’s day, week, and beyond.

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Any.do pricing

4. TimeTree

TimeTree keeps everyone in the loop regarding shared and personal schedules. This makes it useful for not just families but also groups of friends and work teams. Its interface encourages collaboration and sharing.

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TimeTree pricing

These work and family calendar combo apps may just be the thing to keep everyone and everything on track.

Still looking for the best shared calendar app for families?

Shared calendar apps can transform how your family functions amid the busyness of life. They improve organization, save time, and keep tasks and chores running smoothly.

But managing two calendars — one for your family and one for work — can be counterproductive.

If you’re looking for calendar and planning software that can seamlessly integrate both tasks, take a look at Motion’s intelligent, AI-driven calendar that can function as the family’s own digital assistant — always on call whether your family members are at home, at school, or at work.