OurFamilyWizard vs TalkingParents: shared calendars, records and family costs
Guides · By the ScheduleShare team ·
OurFamilyWizard and TalkingParents are both co-parenting apps that combine a shared calendar with messages, records and payments. They differ most in how you pay: OurFamilyWizard sells one- and two-year subscriptions with a 30-day refund window, while TalkingParents bills monthly or yearly and starts with a 30-day free trial. With both, each parent has their own subscription.
The short version
- OurFamilyWizard suits parents who want one broad toolkit, including schedule-change requests, expense tracking and downloadable records, and are comfortable paying for a year at a time.
- TalkingParents suits parents who want a lower monthly starting price, the option to pay month by month, and a free trial before paying.
- ScheduleShare is a narrower option if the main need is a shared custody calendar that relatives can view, without messaging, payments or records.
If a mediator, lawyer or anyone else involved in your arrangements has asked you to use a particular app, use that one. This page doesn't judge which records a court or professional will accept.
Shared calendars
Both apps include a shared calendar. OurFamilyWizard's Essentials plan lists tools for requesting changes to parenting time, so a swap can be proposed and answered inside the app. Its Premium plan adds an event import: you forward event details and it drafts the calendar entry. OurFamilyWizard plans and pricing.
TalkingParents includes a shared calendar on every plan, alongside secure messaging, an info library and a personal journal. The plans differ in calling minutes, file storage, records and payment fees rather than in calendar access. TalkingParents pricing.
OurFamilyWizard also offers free child and third-party accounts, so children, extended family and caregivers can be kept informed. If relatives need to see the calendar, check what those accounts show before you rely on them.
Messages and records
The records each app keeps are the main reason many families choose one of them over a plain calendar.
- OurFamilyWizard Essentials lists messages with first-viewed timestamps, expense tracking, GPS-verified check-ins at exchanges, unlimited PDF record downloads, 45 minutes of calls a month and 5 GB of storage. Premium adds unlimited calls and certified records.
- TalkingParents includes secure messaging on every plan. Unlimited PDF records start with Enhanced. Essentials includes 30 calling minutes and 1 GB of storage; Enhanced has 60 minutes and 15 GB; Ultimate has unlimited calling, 50 GB and one printed records package.
If you need records of a particular kind, compare the exact plan you would buy rather than the product name: in both apps the records, calls and storage depend on the plan.
What it costs a family
Both apps charge each parent separately. OurFamilyWizard says co-parents each need their own subscription, though one parent can pay for the other. TalkingParents has had no free plan since March 30, 2026, and co-parents can be on different plans. The table shows each app's lowest-priced plan, plus OurFamilyWizard's Essentials plan, which is the one the feature lists in this article describe. Prices are as listed on October 16, 2026.
| App and plan | Listed price | Two parents |
|---|---|---|
| OurFamilyWizard “Choose your own” | $110 per parent a year | $220 a year |
| OurFamilyWizard Essentials | $149.99 per parent a year | $299.98 a year |
| TalkingParents Essentials | $7 USD per parent a month | $14 USD a month |
| ScheduleShare Plus | $3 CAD a month or $27 CAD a year | One subscription covers both editors |
OurFamilyWizard's pricing page shows dollar amounts without naming a currency. “Choose your own” is its cheapest plan: $110 a year or $220 for two years per parent, with 1 GB of storage, receive-only calls and optional expense payments as an add-on. Essentials works out to about $12.50 a month billed yearly, or $276 per parent for two years, and includes the calling minutes, timestamps, check-ins and PDF records described above. TalkingParents lists prices in US dollars, with Enhanced at $16 USD and Ultimate at $32 USD a month; paying yearly saves 8%. ScheduleShare charges in Canadian dollars. Both OurFamilyWizard and TalkingParents mention fee waivers for parents who qualify.
Trials, refunds and cancelling
OurFamilyWizard's plans don't list a free trial. Instead, it offers a full refund within 30 days of your first subscription purchase, with no partial refunds after that. You turn off auto-renewal from Billing in your account. Its pricing page notes that refund policies vary by platform, which matters if you subscribe through an app store. OurFamilyWizard billing help.
TalkingParents shows a 30-day free trial on each plan. You manage your plan where you started it, whether that is the Apple App Store, Google Play or its website, and its support team cannot change app-store subscriptions. TalkingParents pricing and FAQ.
A narrower third option: ScheduleShare
ScheduleShare is a shared custody calendar and nothing more. Parents enter the regular pattern, alternating weekends and holiday or swap changes, and get a link that grandparents, babysitters and other helpers can open in a browser without an account. People with a link can only look, and the same schedule is available as a calendar feed for Apple Calendar or Google Calendar.
Both parents can edit. Your co-parent edits on your plan, so they never need Plus. New accounts get 30 days free with no credit card. After that, editing needs Plus at $3 CAD a month or $27 CAD a year; without it, the schedule becomes read-only for both parents, while links and calendar feeds keep working. Plus renews until it is cancelled from Settings, and it lasts until the end of the period already paid for. ScheduleShare pricing and terms.
ScheduleShare has no messaging, expense tracking, calls or check-ins, and it doesn't keep communication, call or documentation records. It can export the schedule itself: the shared page offers a one-time calendar (.ics) download, and the schedule's Settings has a JSON backup of its details, pattern and changes. Neither is a record of what anyone said or agreed. ScheduleShare is not a replacement for an app you use to keep documentation, and it doesn't replace one that you have been asked to use. Families can use it alongside another tool, to show relatives a clear day-by-day calendar.
How to decide
- Do you need messages, payments or records, or only a shared calendar?
- Would both parents pay, and would you rather pay yearly or month by month?
- Would you rather try an app free first, or buy it knowing there is a refund window?
- Who else needs to see the schedule, and what should they see?
Whichever app you try, start with made-up details and enter real family information only once you have settled on one.
Sources
All pages were read on October 16, 2026.