Cozi vs Google Calendar: which one fits your family?

Most families arrive at this question the same way. Something got missed - a dentist appointment, a non-uniform day, a birthday party with an address nobody wrote down - and it becomes obvious that the plan lives in one person's head rather than anywhere the rest of the household can see it.

Cozi and Google Calendar both solve that, but they start from opposite assumptions. It is worth understanding the difference before you pick, because it is the thing that decides whether the calendar survives past February.

The difference that actually matters

Google Calendar is built around a person. You have your calendar, your partner has theirs, and a family plan is assembled by sharing those calendars with each other and layering them on one screen. It works, and for a lot of households it is enough.

Cozi is built around a household. There is one family calendar, everyone is a colour on it, and the question it answers first is "whose thing is this?" rather than "what is on my day?". Lists and meals sit in the same place because those are household jobs too.

Neither is better in the abstract. They are answers to different questions, and the right one depends on how your family already works rather than on a feature count.

When Google Calendar is the better choice

• Your calendars already live in Google. If work, school and personal accounts are all Google accounts, sharing between them costs nothing and adds no new app for anyone to learn.
• The adults coordinate; the children do not. Two adults overlaying each other's calendars is exactly the case it was designed for, and it does it very well.
• You want one calendar, not a household system. If lists and meal planning already live somewhere you are happy with, a calendar that only does calendars is a feature rather than a limitation.

When Cozi is the better choice

• You need ownership on the calendar itself. When the useful question is who is taking Ellie to swimming, a household calendar that colours events by person answers it at a glance.
• The shopping list keeps getting lost. Keeping lists beside the calendar means the same people are already in the same app when something needs adding.
• Not everyone in the family has a Google account. A shared household account is a lower barrier than asking every member to run their own calendar and share it correctly.

Two things worth checking before you commit

Check the price you are actually offered. Cozi's own page quotes one figure for Cozi Gold, but its App Store listing lists several different Cozi Gold prices alongside a more expensive Cozi Max. Whatever is on the screen in front of you is the real number.

Check what the free tier looks like day to day rather than on a feature list. Cozi sells its paid tier as an ad-free experience, which tells you something about the free one. That may be a fair trade for a product you use every day and pay nothing for - but it is easier to decide before the calendar is full than after.

Where we fit, since you are on our site

We built Quok because we wanted the household shape without the advertising. It is a shared family calendar with lists and tasks beside it, every member is included on the free plan, and there are no ads on any tier.

The honest caveat is reach: Quok runs on iPhone and any browser today, and iPad and Android are coming soon. Both products on this page ship on more devices than we do right now. If your household is mostly Android, one of them is the better answer today, and we would rather say so than have you find out after setting everything up. If you want to see how we think about the household shape, our guide to setting up a shared family calendar covers it without requiring you to sign up for anything.