A busy family runs on appointments: school, sport, work, birthdays and shopping. Scattered chats, a paper calendar and everyone's own diary quickly lead to double-bookings and missed events. A good family calendar app brings it all together in one place everyone can see. But which one fits your family, or team? Here are the best-known options of 2026 side by side.
What to look for in a family calendar app
- Shared calendar does everyone see the same events in real time, with a colour per family member?
- Privacy & data where is your data stored, and is it used for advertising or sold on?
- More than a calendar shared tasks, shopping lists and recipes too?
- Price free with ads, or a fair flat fee?
- Platform does it work on every phone, tablet and desktop?
- Also for teams can you use it for a sports team, club or small business?
The apps at a glance
Google Calendar
Free and familiar to almost everyone. Fine for sharing calendars, but it's a general-purpose calendar: there are no built-in family features like shared shopping or to-do lists, and your data lives inside the Google ecosystem. Great as a base, less so as a complete family overview.
Cozi
A long-time popular family app with a calendar, lists and recipes. The free version shows ads; Cozi Gold is the paid tier. It's a US product, so your data sits outside the EU. Functionally strong, but less suitable on privacy and ads if those matter to you.
TimeTree
A nice shared calendar with a chat per event, free with ads. Strong on the calendar itself, but less of a complete family platform with shopping and tasks.
Skylight
A physical wall-mounted touchscreen with a companion app. Lovely in the kitchen, but you buy hardware and often pay a subscription for the extras, a pricier option tied to one location.
Klender
A Dutch shared family calendar, popular in the Netherlands and privacy-friendly (it makes no commercial use of your data). Everyone gets their own colour and you share appointments, shopping and to-do lists, a birthday calendar and an address book, syncing across phone, tablet and browser. Strong as a Dutch calendar app; Planninn adds recipes, sport calendars and use for teams and clubs on top, with your data encrypted in the EU. Read the full Planninn vs Klender comparison.
FamilyWall
A complete family platform with a shared calendar, lists, meal planner and document storage, free with a premium subscription for extras. Broad on features, but it is an international (non-EU) product, so if EU data residency matters to you that is a consideration. See the Planninn vs FamilyWall comparison.
Qudoo
A Dutch digital family planner on a 24-inch wall-mounted touchscreen, a physical command centre in the kitchen. Nice as a central spot at home, but you buy hardware and are tied to one place, whereas Planninn travels with you on every device.
Planninn
Planninn is the privacy-first family and team planner from the Netherlands. One shared calendar with a colour per member, plus tasks, shopping lists, recipes and sports schedules, all in one app. Your data is stored encrypted in the EU, there are no ads and your data is never sold. One flat price (€19.99 per year for the whole family or team, 30-day free trial), and it installs as an app (PWA) on any device without an app store. Beyond families, Planninn also works for sports teams, clubs and small businesses.
Comparison at a glance
| App | Privacy / EU data | Ads | Tasks & shopping | Also for teams | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Calendar | Google ecosystem | No (in calendar) | Limited | Partly | Free |
| Cozi | US | Yes (free tier) | Yes | Partly | Free / Gold |
| TimeTree | Outside EU | Yes | Limited | Partly | Free |
| Skylight | US | No | Yes | No | Hardware + subscription |
| Klender | Netherlands | No | Yes | Limited | Free |
| FamilyWall | Outside EU | Freemium | Yes | Partly | Free / Premium |
| Qudoo | Netherlands | No | Yes | No | Hardware |
| Planninn | EU / Netherlands | No | Yes | Yes | €19.99 / year (whole family/team) |
Which should you choose?
Want purely a shared calendar and already use Google? Then Google Calendar is enough. Looking for a Dutch alternative that is mainly a shared calendar? Klender is popular. Want a complete family platform and not bothered by ads or non-EU data storage? Cozi and FamilyWall are well-known picks. Want a screen on the wall? Look at Skylight or the Dutch Qudoo.
But if you care about privacy, want everything (calendar, tasks, shopping, recipes and sport) in one place, prefer one fair flat fee, and want the option to use it for a team or club too, then Planninn is the strongest choice in 2026 for families and teams in the Netherlands and beyond.
Written by Jos Vervoorn, Planninn (IT-Consolidated B.V.). Prices and features of the apps mentioned may change; reviewed September 2026. This comparison is written with care but from our own perspective.