Do both parents have to pay for a co-parenting app?

Three of the best-known specialist apps charge per parent or per account:

• OurFamilyWizard charges per parent. Essentials is £9 a month or £107.99 a year.
• TalkingParents charges per parent and has had no free tier since 30 March 2026. The UK App Store lists Essentials at £9 a month.
• AppClose charges per account, and each parent subscribes. It moved to a paid subscription from 1 January 2026. The UK App Store lists £8.99 a month or £98.99 a year.

Two charge once per family:

• 2Houses is per family, and one parent subscribes. The UK App Store shows several prices, including £24.99 a month and £149.00 a year, so check the price in the app.
• Haevn is one subscription per family group. £6.99 a month or £69.99 a year covers both parents.

AppClose and TalkingParents used to have free options and no longer do. At least one newer app available in the UK still has a free tier with messaging and a shared calendar, with limits, and prices its paid plan per family (checked 19 October 2026). A free tier can suit parents who mainly need to message and share dates. Haevn has no free tier. It costs £69.99 a year for both parents, with 14 days free and no card needed.

That is a practical question for the two of you, not something the app decides. You could take it in turns each year, split it like any other shared cost, or agree that one of you pays. If you split it, you can log it in Haevn as a shared expense with whatever split you agree.

If you are writing a parenting plan, it is a small item worth adding. Cafcass's Our Child's Plan is a written agreement that covers everyday arrangements, from how you communicate to childcare. GOV.UK explains the wider options for making child arrangements, including mediation.

One subscription covers Co-Parenting for both parents, and the rest of family life for up to 8 members, including meal plans, lists, chores and house admin. For co-parenting:

• a shared calendar for two homes, with one-click add to Google or Outlook. Two-way sync coming soon.
• shared expenses with any split
• messages that cannot be edited or deleted
• a verified export of the record
• a custody handover log
• a tone check before a message is sent
• Child View, a read-only calendar for children

Each home keeps its own household, and you choose what the other home can see.

Both parents need to be on the same app for a shared message record to work. If your co-parent already pays for an app that meets your needs, joining it may be the simplest choice. If they are open to switching, share our comparison of UK co-parenting apps so you can weigh the options together. Our free custody time calculator and co-parenting schedule planner can help you plan the rota first.