A free co-parenting app that works even if your ex won't use one
SplitDay's free plan is ad-supported and gives you the full custody calendar with every common pattern, exchange logging, a running scoreboard of who has had the children, and a CSV export of your whole custody history. One parent can run all of that alone. The other parent never has to install anything, create an account or agree to a tool, and there is no time limit and no card to enter.
Pro costs $8.99 a month, $44.99 a year — $3.75 a month, billed annually — or $99.99 once. It removes the banner ads and adds household sharing, co-parent messaging, cloud sync and the printable PDFs. Everything on this page describes what you get without paying.
SplitDay is a custody calendar app for iPhone (iOS 15.6+) and Android (7+), published in 65 in-app languages, that tracks who has the children, logs each exchange and splits child-related costs between two households.
- Free plan price
- $0, ad-supported, no time limit, no account or card needed
- Needs the other parent?
- No — one parent can run the whole calendar alone
- Pro price
- $8.99/month, $44.99/year ($3.75/month billed annually) or $99.99 once
Prices in US dollars, verified against the shipped app on . Local store prices vary by country.
What's free, exactly
Everything you need to run and record a custody schedule on your own is on the free plan: the calendar, every pattern, the scoreboard, exchange logging and the CSV export. What is not free is sharing the calendar with the other parent, cloud sync, the printable PDFs and the higher AI limits. Here is the whole gate, line by line.
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Custody calendar — all views, every custody pattern | Yes | Yes |
| Custody scoreboard (running time balance) | Yes | Yes |
| Exchange logging | Yes | Yes |
| On-screen exchange history list | Last 10 entries | Unlimited |
| CSV export of your full custody history | Yes — the export is not capped at 10 | Yes |
| Holiday presets (12 countries: AU, BR, CA, DE, ES, FR, GB, IL, IT, MX, NL, US) | Yes — all of them | Yes — all of them |
| Helpers and caregivers | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Expenses logged | 3 per month | Unlimited |
| AI receipt scans | 3 per month | 50 per month |
| AI tone checks | 5 per month | 100 per month |
| Chat-transcript PDF | Yes, once you are in a shared household | Yes |
| Expense-report PDF | — | Yes |
| Printable kid-friendly calendar PDF | — | Yes |
| Household sharing and co-parent messaging | — | Yes — the co-parent you invite views the calendar and messages you free; editing needs their own plan |
| Cloud backup and sync | — | Yes |
| Works offline | Yes | Yes |
| Banner ads | Yes — ads are what pay for the free plan | None |
| Price | $0 | $8.99/mo · $44.99/yr ($3.75/mo billed annually) · $99.99 lifetime |
Two lines in that table matter more than the rest. The on-screen history list stops at 10 entries on the free plan, but the CSV export does not — it contains every exchange you have ever logged. And all twelve country holiday presets are free, so you are not paying to put Thanksgiving or the summer half-term on the calendar. Full details are on the pricing page.
Why free co-parenting apps disappeared in 2026
Two of the best-known free co-parenting plans closed in the first quarter of 2026: AppClose ended its free plan on 1 January 2026 and TalkingParents retired its free tier on 30 March 2026. That is why a search that used to return several free options now mostly returns paid ones.
- AppClose ended its free plan on 1 January 2026. It now charges $7.99 per parent per month on the web, $8.99 in-app, or $83.88 a year.
- TalkingParents retired its free tier on 30 March 2026. Its plans run $7, $16 and $32 per parent per month.
- OurFamilyWizard never had a free plan. It runs $110 to $299.88 per parent per year across four tiers, so a two-parent household pays twice.
Both AppClose and TalkingParents now point parents who cannot afford a plan at a hardship or fee-waiver programme rather than at a free tier. Competitor prices verified on the vendors' own pricing pages on and re-checked on ; our full breakdown is in the 2026 comparison of co-parenting apps.
It is worth being clear about what those products are for. OurFamilyWizard and TalkingParents are built around tamper-evident message records for contested and high-conflict cases — that is a real job, and it is not the job SplitDay does. If a court has ordered you onto a specific platform, use the one named in the order. SplitDay is the calendar-first option for the much larger group of parents who mainly need to know whose day it is and to keep a record of what actually happened.
It works without the other parent
You do not need the other parent's cooperation, consent or phone to use SplitDay. Most co-parenting tools assume two accounts, and that assumption is why so many of them are never used: one parent signs up, the other refuses, and the subscription lapses.
SplitDay is built the other way round. The calendar lives on your phone. You set the pattern, you log the exchanges, you read the scoreboard, you export the CSV — and none of it depends on the other parent installing anything or even knowing the app exists. Everything in the Free column of the table above works this way.
The invite is optional. If you do want a shared household later, that is what Pro opens: one subscription runs your shared calendar. The co-parent you invite views it and messages you for free — editing needs their own plan. The invited parent is not paywalled out of seeing their children's schedule; they see the calendar, the budget, the scoreboard and every notification, for as long as your subscription is active.
If a lawyer or mediator asks for records
No app can promise a court will accept its output, and SplitDay does not make that promise — our own terms disclaim it. What the free plan gives you is a record you kept as you went along, in formats other people can open: timestamped PDF & CSV exports you can share with your lawyer or mediator. Your custody history exports as a CSV file, which opens in any spreadsheet and covers every exchange you logged, not just the last ten.
The practical value is in the habit, not the file format. A log written the same week beats a reconstruction written six months later, and it costs you about fifteen seconds per exchange. If you are building a record for a specific reason, read what a co-parenting app can and cannot document and our guide to documenting custody before you start — they cover what is worth logging and what is noise.
Set it up in five minutes
Pick your pattern
Alternating weeks, 2-2-3, extended weekend, 4-3, every third week, the 1st, 3rd and 5th weekends — or build your own week. No account, no card.
Add the exceptions
Load your country's holiday preset, then override the days that differ: a swapped weekend, a school break, a birthday. An assigned holiday takes precedence over the regular pattern that day.
Log exchanges as they happen
Tap when the children move. The scoreboard updates, deviations stop being a matter of memory, and the CSV export is ready whenever you need it.
Not sure which schedule you need?
Every pattern below is available on the free plan. In our own custody-split study of 804 separated families (April–July 2026), 42% chose a 50/50 split, and across the 665 schedule choices in the 2026 data 46% were a fully custom week rather than any named template — so if none of the standard rotations fits you, that is the common case, not the odd one. These guides show the week-by-week grid before you commit.
- 50/50 custody schedules — the options that split time evenly, and how families choose between them.
- The 2-2-3 schedule — short blocks, popular with younger children.
- Alternating weeks — one full week each, the simplest 50/50 to run.
- 60/40 custody schedules — when even time is not workable and one home is the weekday base.
- Custody schedule examples — a side-by-side of the common rotations.
- The most common custody schedule — what 804 separated families actually chose, from our own 2026 study.
Frequently asked questions
Is SplitDay really free?
Yes. The free plan is ad-supported, has no time limit and needs no credit card or account to start. It includes the full custody calendar, every custody pattern, the scoreboard, exchange logging, unlimited helpers, all twelve country holiday presets, 3 expenses and 3 AI receipt scans a month, and CSV export of your full custody history. Banner ads are what pay for it.
Do both parents need the app?
No. One parent can set up and run the whole calendar alone, and the other parent does not need to install anything or know the app exists. If you later want a shared household, that is what Pro opens: one subscription runs your shared calendar, the co-parent you invite views it and messages you for free, and editing needs their own plan.
Is there a free co-parenting app that is court approved?
No app is court approved — courts admit evidence, not software, and the rules differ by state and country. What does happen is that a judge sometimes orders a specific platform, usually OurFamilyWizard or TalkingParents, in a particular case; if your order names one, use it. SplitDay makes no admissibility claim. It gives you timestamped PDF & CSV exports you can share with your lawyer or mediator, with your custody history in CSV.
What's the catch with free co-parenting apps?
With SplitDay the catch is stated plainly: the free plan shows banner ads, and some things sit behind Pro — household sharing and co-parent messaging, cloud backup and sync, the printable kid calendar and expense-report PDFs, higher AI limits, and unlimited on-screen exchange history. Everything a solo parent needs to run a schedule and keep a record of it is in the free plan.
Can I export my records for free?
Yes. CSV export of your full custody history is on the free plan, and unlike the on-screen list it is not capped at ten entries. The chat-transcript PDF export is also free, once you are in a shared household. The expense-report PDF and the printable kid-friendly calendar PDF are Pro.
Does the free plan expire?
No. There is no countdown and no expiry date — the free plan is a plan, not a preview. You can keep using it indefinitely without paying, and nothing you have logged is taken away from you if you never upgrade.
Start on the free plan today.
Set up your custody calendar in five minutes — no account, no card, and nothing to cancel if it isn't for you.
Comparing tools first? Our 2026 comparison of co-parenting apps says plainly when OurFamilyWizard or TalkingParents is the better fit, and this page covers what changes once a divorce is final.
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