AppClose Cost in 2026: Is It Still Free, and What to Use Instead
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Custody rules differ by state and country; check with a family-law professional for your situation.
No — AppClose is not free any more. Its free plan ended on 1 January 2026. It now costs $7.99 per parent per month if you subscribe on the web, $8.99 a month if you subscribe inside the app, or $83.88 for a year prepaid ($143.76 for two years), with a 60-day trial that needs no card. AppClose also says it has given away more than 25,000 accounts to parents in financial hardship and to survivors of domestic violence since that date (appclose.com/pricing, read 6 September 2026). If you came for a free co-parenting calendar, SplitDay still has one — supported by banner ads, and usable with only one parent signed up. Prices read from AppClose's own pricing page, verified 25 August 2026 and re-checked 6 September 2026.
What changed with AppClose's free plan, and when
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| Before 1 January 2026 | AppClose was free for both parents. This is why it is still recommended as "the free one" in forums and articles written before 2026. |
| 1 January 2026 | The free plan ended. AppClose became a paid subscription with a single tier. |
| Since then | AppClose says it has provided over 25,000 free accounts to parents experiencing financial hardship and to survivors of domestic violence (appclose.com/pricing, read 6 September 2026). |
| Checked 6 September 2026 | $7.99 a month on the web, $8.99 a month in the app, $83.88 for one year prepaid, $143.76 for two years prepaid. 60 days to try it with no card. |
The web-versus-app price gap is not a trick: subscribing through the App Store or Play adds the store's cut, and AppClose passes it on. If you are going to subscribe, subscribe on the web.
What the subscription includes
AppClose sells one plan rather than a ladder of tiers, so there is no feature maze to decode. From their own feature list, read 6 September 2026, the subscription covers:
- A shared calendar with custody scheduling templates
- Secure messaging with unalterable conversation logs
- Audio and video calling, with optional recording
- Expense tracking and reimbursement requests
- Payments through their iPayou system
- Call and text documentation with timestamps
- File storage for documents and receipts
An AppClose review, based on the public feature list
To be clear about what this is: a reading of AppClose's published feature list and pricing page on 6 September 2026, by a competitor. It is not a star rating, not a hands-on test, and not a verdict on how well any of it works.
| What looks strong | What to weigh up |
|---|---|
| One plan, one price — nothing important is locked behind a higher tier. | It is priced per parent, so a two-parent household pays twice: $167.76 a year if both prepay. |
| The whole co-parenting stack in one app: calendar, messages, calls, expenses, payments. | Most of that stack only does anything once both parents are in it. If your co-parent will not install an app, you are paying for a suite you are using a fifth of. |
| 60 days to try it, with no card up front — long enough to see a real month of handoffs. | The free plan people recommended it for is gone, and articles written before 2026 still describe it as free. |
| A stated hardship and domestic-violence waiver programme. | Recorded calls and unalterable logs are a heavier tool than many separated parents need day to day. |
If you came for the free plan
Then the honest question is what a free tier still has to include to be worth installing. Here is what SplitDay's free tier covers, with no time limit:
- The full custody calendar, every rotation pattern, and one-off day overrides
- The parenting-time scoreboard — a running balance of nights on each side
- Exchange logging, with the last 10 entries visible in the list
- All 12 country holiday preset packs, with assigned holidays overriding the regular pattern
- Unlimited helpers and caregivers
- A CSV export of your full custody history, not just the last 10
- A chat-transcript PDF
- 3 expenses and 3 AI receipt scans a month, and 5 AI tone checks a month
- It works offline
It shows banner ads — that is how the free tier is paid for, and it is worth saying plainly rather than burying. Pro ($8.99 a month, $44.99 a year, or $99.99 once) removes the banner ads and adds household sharing and cloud sync, the kid-friendly calendar PDF, the expense-report PDF, higher AI limits and unlimited exchange history.
The part that matters most if your co-parent is not on board: SplitDay works with only one parent signed up. You pick a pattern, get a year of calendar in about thirty seconds, print it for the fridge, and export the log when it matters — no invite required. More on that in the free co-parenting app guide and the shared custody tracker walkthrough.
AppClose and SplitDay, feature by feature
| SplitDay | AppClose | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free tier with banner ads; Pro $8.99/month, $44.99/year ($3.75 a month billed annually) or $99.99 once | $7.99/month on the web, $8.99/month in the app, $83.88/year prepaid, $143.76 for two years |
| Billing | One subscription runs your shared calendar. The co-parent you invite views it and messages you for free — editing needs their own plan. | Per parent |
| Free tier | Yes, ad-supported, no time limit | No — ended 1 January 2026; hardship waivers offered |
| Time-limited trial | Not needed — the free tier has no time limit | 60 days, no card required |
| Useful before the other parent joins | Yes — the calendar, scoreboard, log and export all work solo | Not described on the pages we checked; most features are two-party by design |
| Rotation patterns | Every pattern built in, free | Custody scheduling templates |
| Holidays | 12 country preset packs, free; assigned holidays override the pattern | Not described on the pages we checked |
| Parenting-time scoreboard | Free | Not described on the pages we checked |
| Custody-history export | CSV of the full history, free | Timestamped call and text documentation |
| Expenses | 3 a month free; unlimited on Pro, plus 50 AI receipt scans a month and an expense-report PDF | Expense tracking, reimbursement requests and in-app payments |
| Messaging | Pro opens the shared household chat; the invited co-parent messages free | Secure messaging with unalterable logs, plus audio and video calls |
| Tone feedback | AI tone meter labels a draft friendly, neutral, harsh or hostile | Not described on the pages we checked |
| App languages | 65 | Not stated on the pages we checked |
If the record half is what you are actually paying for, the alternatives worth pricing are OurFamilyWizard ($110 to $299.88 per parent per year) and TalkingParents (from $7 per parent per month), and the wider 2026 co-parenting app comparison lines five of them up side by side. If you are still writing the plan rather than running it, Custody X Change is a different shape of tool again. Our own prices are on the pricing page.
And if you are here because you need the count rather than the conversation: start with how to track custody days, check the arithmetic against the parenting time calculator, and print the result with the printable custody calendar guide. If records may matter later, read what courts actually do with app records first.
Frequently asked questions
Is AppClose free?
Not any more. AppClose's free plan ended on 1 January 2026 and it is now a paid subscription. It offers 60 days to try it with no card, and AppClose says it has given more than 25,000 free accounts to parents in financial hardship and to survivors of domestic violence since that date (appclose.com/pricing, read 6 September 2026).
How much is AppClose per month and per year?
$7.99 per parent per month if you subscribe on the web, $8.99 per month if you subscribe inside the app, $83.88 for one year prepaid, or $143.76 for two years prepaid. It is billed per parent, so two parents who both subscribe annually pay $167.76 a year between them. Verified 25 August 2026 and re-checked 6 September 2026.
Is AppClose court approved?
No consumer co-parenting app is "approved" by courts as a category — there is no such certification. What happens in practice is narrower: some courts order parents to use a named platform, and if yours has, use the one in the order. Otherwise whether a record is accepted is decided case by case on whether it is complete, timestamped and properly authenticated. SplitDay makes no admissibility claim about its own exports.
AppClose vs OurFamilyWizard: which is cheaper?
AppClose is cheaper. AppClose is $83.88 for a year prepaid per parent, or $7.99 a month on the web. OurFamilyWizard runs $110 to $299.88 per parent per year across four tiers — Basic $110, Essentials $149.99, Premium $216, Max $299.88. Both are billed per parent, so both double for a two-parent household. OurFamilyWizard's higher tiers add certified records and recorded, transcribed calls. Both sets of prices verified 25 August 2026 and re-checked 6 September 2026.
Is there a free alternative to AppClose?
SplitDay has a free tier with no time limit, supported by banner ads: the full custody calendar and every rotation pattern, the parenting-time scoreboard, exchange logging, all 12 country holiday preset packs, unlimited helpers, a CSV export of your full custody history, a chat-transcript PDF, and 3 expenses, 3 AI receipt scans and 5 AI tone checks a month. It also works with only one parent signed up, which matters if your co-parent will not install anything.
Still want a free co-parenting calendar
SplitDay's free tier covers the calendar, the scoreboard, the exchange log and a CSV export of your full custody history. It shows banner ads.
You do not need your co-parent's permission — or their phone — to set it up.
