An honest comparison
A Cozi alternative for the parent who does the remembering
Most families don't leave a shared calendar because it's bad. They leave because it only holds what someone already typed in — and the typing was always the same person.
By the Fivey team, a parent-run company · Updated September 2026
What Cozi is genuinely good at
Cozi has been around a long time for a reason. It's free, everyone in the house can see the same week, and color-coding each person works. If your household's problem is simply that nobody can see the grid, it solves that — this afternoon, at no cost.
It has moved on, too. Cozi Max will turn an email into an event for you, and FamilyWall's Magic Import does the same. Both are real, and both start the same way: you have to send the email over first.
A calendar holds what someone already knew. The work is knowing it in the first place.
Cozi, FamilyWall and Fivey, side by side
| Cozi | FamilyWall | Fivey | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everyone sees the same week | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Turns a school email into an event | paid tier | paid tier | Yes |
| Reads the mail itself — nothing to send on | No | No | Yes |
| Tells each person only their part | daily agenda | daily agenda | Yes |
| Re-plans the day when something moves | No | No | Yes |
| Drafts the reply to school | No | No | Yes |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | yes, for now |
- Cozi
- Yes
- FamilyWall
- Yes
- Fivey
- Yes
- Cozi
- paid tier
- FamilyWall
- paid tier
- Fivey
- Yes
- Cozi
- No
- FamilyWall
- No
- Fivey
- Yes
- Cozi
- daily agenda
- FamilyWall
- daily agenda
- Fivey
- Yes
- Cozi
- No
- FamilyWall
- No
- Fivey
- Yes
- Cozi
- No
- FamilyWall
- No
- Fivey
- Yes
- Cozi
- Yes
- FamilyWall
- Yes
- Fivey
- yes, for now
Checked against Cozi’s and FamilyWall’s own feature pages, plan comparisons and help centers on 14 September 2026: Cozi Free / Gold / Max (AI Event Import), FamilyWall Magic Import and daily agenda. These products change often — if something here is out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it.
A real Tuesday
Inbox · 9:14am
4th grade — swimming starts Tuesday
Please send a named swim cap and a towel. Pickup moves to 4:15pm for the next six weeks. Reply by Friday if your child can't swim.
A shared calendar does nothing until someone reads this
Fivey · 9:15am
Swimming's on for Sophie, Tuesdays for six weeks.
Pickup moves to 4:15 — I've moved it on the calendar and told Nora.
Swim cap and towel go in Monday night. I'll remind you.
Reply's due Friday. I've written it — have a look?
Fivey — nobody typed a word
Which one suits you
Stay with Cozi
Everyone in your house already adds their own things, you mostly need one place to look, and free matters.
Try Fivey
You're the one reading the school emails, knowing which day is which kit, and you'd like the week to arrive already worked out — for you and the other adult.
One promise that doesn't change
Fivey drafts, and you decide. Nothing is emailed, messaged or booked until you've seen the whole thing and said yes. It holds the load; it doesn't take the wheel.