Co-parenting apps in the US: a fair comparison for 2026

The main co-parenting apps in the US are OurFamilyWizard, TalkingParents, AppClose, BestInterest and 2houses, with Custody X Change for schedules. Most need both parents to join. Prices run from free to about $300 a year per parent. If a court has ordered one, use that app.

This guide compares what each company publishes on its own website. It covers who has to sign up, free options, tone tools, calls and records. It also explains court-ordered apps and what to do when an app is not enough. It is general information, not legal advice.

Co-parenting apps compared at a glance

Here is the short version. “Who must sign up” is the question that matters most in a high-conflict separation, so it comes first.

Prices are in US dollars before tax, as published on each company’s site in October 2026. 2houses shows its price in dollars without naming the currency.

The main US co-parenting apps, one by one

OurFamilyWizard

OurFamilyWizard, often called OFW, sells plans by the year or by two years, not month to month. Its US pricing page lists four plans.

• Price: Base is $110 a year, Essentials $149.99, Premium $216 and Max $299.88. Two-year terms cost less per month on Essentials, Premium and Max; Base costs the same either way ($220 for two years).
• Who signs up: OFW says “You will each need to have your own subscriptions.” One parent can choose to pay for the other.
• Tone tools: ToneMeter analyses a message or journal entry while you draft it. Essentials and above add a Writing Assistant to help you rewrite messages.
• Calls and records: Essentials adds 45 minutes of calls a month and unlimited PDF records. Premium adds unlimited calls and certified records that are notarised, printed and mailed. Max adds call recordings and transcriptions.
• Help with cost: OFW lists fee waivers for parents in financial need, a reduced military rate and a full refund within the first 30 days. Child and third-party accounts are free.

See OurFamilyWizard’s pricing page. Our guide to what OurFamilyWizard costs goes into more detail.

TalkingParents

• Price: Essentials is $7 a month, Enhanced $16 and Ultimate $32. You can pay monthly or annually, and annual billing saves 8%.
• Free option: None. TalkingParents says that from 30 March 2026 you need a paid subscription to use the app. Each plan has a 30-day free trial.
• Who signs up: Co-parents match their accounts with a Match ID before using the app. They can be on different plans.
• Tone tools: Sentiment Scanner and Writing Assist scan your own message before you send it. Both are on the Ultimate plan only.
• Calls and records: Messages are timestamped and cannot be edited or deleted by either parent. Calls are recorded and transcribed, with 30 minutes on Essentials, 60 on Enhanced and unlimited on Ultimate.
• Help with cost: A fee waiver may be available for financial hardship or for survivors of domestic violence.

See TalkingParents’ pricing page.

AppClose

• Price: One plan with every feature, at $7.99 a month on the web or $8.99 in the app. Prepaying on the web brings it to $6.99 a month for a year, or $5.99 for two years.
• Free option: A 60-day free trial with no credit card. AppClose also offers fee waivers for financial hardship and domestic violence survivors.
• Who signs up: Messages are shared with co-parents who have an active account. Solo Mode can send requests, events or expenses to someone without an account, as a link by text or email.
• Tone tools: Co-Parent Assist reviews your draft and offers optional suggestions for a clearer, more neutral tone.
• Calls and records: Audio and video calls do not reveal your phone number. Calls can be recorded and transcribed with both people’s consent, and records can be exported as PDFs.

See AppClose’s pricing page.

BestInterest

• Price: Free, then Connect at $9.99 a month, Protect at $14.99 and Protect Plus at $29.99. Each is cheaper paid yearly, and paid plans have a two-week free trial.
• Free option: The Free plan says “100% free” with “no expiration”. It includes messaging, Solo Mode, a shared calendar, expense tracking, a private journal and data exports.
• Who signs up: Solo Mode lets you use BestInterest without your co-parent joining. Each parent chooses their own plan.
• Filtering: Boundary Line, from Connect up, is a separate number the other parent texts instead of yours. Message Shield, from Protect up, filters hostile language before it reaches you and keeps the original.
• Calls: Outbound calls are 45 minutes a month on Connect, 200 on Protect and unlimited on Protect Plus, which adds recording and transcription.

See BestInterest’s pricing page.

2houses

• Price: One plan “for the whole family”, at $169.99 billed every 12 months, shown as $14.17 a month.
• Who signs up: 2houses says only one parent must subscribe to give access to all family members, including children, third parties and mediators.
• Free option: A 14-day free trial. No free plan is listed.
• Features: A shared calendar, a finance section for expenses, messages and a family journal. Its pricing page does not mention a tone tool.

See 2houses’ pricing page.

Custody X Change

Custody X Change is mainly scheduling and parenting plan software, rather than a messaging app.

• Price: Its site says plans start at $6 a month, billed annually. The full price list sits behind its sign-up portal.
• Who signs up: You can use it alone. If the other parent joins, you can share schedules, expenses and updates.
• Features: Custody calendars, parenting-time calculations, a parenting plan template, a private journal, expense tracking and messaging.

See the Custody X Change website.

Court-ordered co-parenting apps

In some custody cases, a judge orders both parents to communicate through a specific app. The requirement can also appear in a parenting plan you both agreed to.

If a court order names an app, the order comes first. Not following a court order can cause real problems, so it is worth reading your order closely and checking:

• which app it names, or whether it lets you choose one;
• what communication must go through it, such as all messages or only schedule changes;
• who pays for each subscription;
• any exceptions, such as emergencies or calls with the children.

There is no single national list of approved apps. Practice varies by state, by county and by judge. If your order is unclear, ask your attorney or the court before you change anything.

People often search for apps “accepted by family courts”. Whether app records are accepted as evidence is up to the court and your state’s rules, not the app. Several apps offer PDF or certified records, but none can promise how a judge will treat them.

Free co-parenting apps

Truly free plans are rare. Here is what each company publishes as of October 2026:

• Free plan: BestInterest is the only app in this guide with a free plan that does not expire.
• Free trials: AppClose offers 60 days with no card, TalkingParents 30 days, 2houses 14 days and BestInterest’s paid plans two weeks.
• Refund instead of a trial: OurFamilyWizard offers a full refund within the first 30 days.
• Fee waivers: OurFamilyWizard, TalkingParents and AppClose list waivers for financial hardship, and the last two also mention domestic violence survivors. BestInterest offers waivers for qualifying parents who need Protect features.

Remember that a free shared app still needs the other parent to use it. If they will not, the price does not matter much.

What to look for in a co-parenting app

1. Who has to sign up. If the app needs both parents, ask yourself honestly whether the other parent will join and keep using it.
2. The real household cost. Some apps charge each parent. Two subscriptions can double what you expected to pay.
3. Whose messages the tone tool checks. Most coach the writer. Few do anything about hostile messages sent to you.
4. Records you can rely on. Look for timestamps, messages that cannot be edited or deleted, and exports you can share with your attorney.
5. Calls. Check whether calls are included, how many minutes you get, and whether recording needs consent.
6. Privacy. Some apps let you call or text without sharing your own phone number.
7. Your order. If an order names an app, that decides it.

When an app isn’t enough

The other parent refuses to join. A shared app only works when both parents use it. If they never sign up, your messages go nowhere and they keep texting and emailing you instead. If an order requires the app, raise this with your attorney rather than quietly dropping it. Our guide to co-parenting when the other parent won’t use an app covers the options.

The messages are hostile. Most tone tools help the person writing. They cannot change what someone else chooses to send you. If the hostility is coming at you, look for a tool that filters incoming messages, and keep a record of every original.

You do not feel safe. An app is a communication tool, not a safety plan.

Where FenceChat fits

FenceChat is not a co-parenting app in the usual sense. It has no shared calendar or expense tracker, by design. It does one job: filtering hostile language out of the messages you receive.

Only you sign up. You give the other parent a FenceChat email address, or a FenceChat number for texts, instead of your own. They keep using ordinary email or text and install nothing. The first time they message, they get a one-time notice that messages are processed by AI and stored. More on what they see.

Before you read a message, hostile language is filtered out, and the practical details such as times, dates and requests come through. The untouched original is kept in your encrypted Archive. See how email and SMS filtering works.

Two honest limits. First, FenceChat is not yet open in the US, and there is no US price yet. It will open to US customers, with all three plans, once it is ready to launch. Second, it does not replace a court-ordered app. If your order names an app, use it for everything the order covers.