Every app on this page can hold a family's schedule, and most of them can now read a flyer too. The real differences are quieter: what the free version leaves out, who has to pay, and whether everyone in the house needs the same kind of phone.
Looped In is our app, so weigh this page with that in mind. Everything below about the other apps is stated the way each company states it on its own website and App Store listing, read on September 25, 2026, with US prices. Where a company does not say something plainly, this page does not say it either.
The short version
| App | Free version | Paid plan (US prices) | Phones |
|---|---|---|---|
| Looped In | Anyone you invite uses the Loops you share with them free. Smart Capture three times a day to see what it finds. No ads. | Looped In Plus, $5.99 a month or $39.99 a year, 7 days free | iPhone only |
| Cozi | Shared calendar and lists, with ads. Events can be entered up to 30 days ahead from the Agenda view. | Gold $39 a year. Max $79.99 a year, which adds AI event import | iPhone, Android, web |
| TimeTree | Shared calendars, with ads | Premium $4.49 a month or $44.99 a year, which removes ads | iPhone, Android, web |
| FamilyWall | Calendar, shopping lists and to-do lists | Premium $7.99 a month or $44.99 a year on the App Store | iPhone, Android, web |
| Google Calendar | Free, including a shared Family calendar for a Google family group of up to 6 people | None needed for the calendar | iPhone, Android, web |
| Apple Calendar | Free and built in, including a Family calendar for up to 6 people in Family Sharing | None | iPhone, iPad, Mac, iCloud.com |
If anyone in the house uses Android
Start here, because it rules apps in or out before anything else does. Looped In is an iPhone app with no Android or web version, and Apple Calendar has no Android app either. Cozi, TimeTree, FamilyWall and Google Calendar all work on Android and on the web. If one parent carries an Android phone, pick from those four.
Reading a flyer is no longer rare
A year ago, turning a photo of a school notice into calendar events was unusual. Now most of these apps do some version of it, so compare where it happens and what it costs.
- Looped In reads a photo, a screenshot, a paste or something you say out loud, and hands back the events, tasks and notes it found for you to confirm. Without a subscription you can run it three times a day to see what it finds; saving what it finds is Looped In Plus.
- Cozi offers AI Event Import in its Max plan: you forward an email, a PDF or a photo of a flyer to your Cozi address. Cozi says the AI features are in its mobile app.
- TimeTree has Event Scan, which reads posters, flyers and newsletters from an image. TimeTree does not list it among its Premium features.
- FamilyWall has Magic Import, which reads forwarded emails and their PDF or image attachments. FamilyWall says it requires Premium.
- Apple and Google can both do it from a photo: Apple with Visual Intelligence on newer iPhones, Google through its Gemini app.
What the free versions leave out
Cozi's free version shows ads, and its FAQ says free users can enter events from the Agenda view for the next 30 days. Gold removes the ads and the limit. The whole family shares one Cozi account: everyone signs in with their own email and a shared password, up to 12 people.
TimeTree's free version shows ads, and removing them is the main thing Premium buys. Premium is per account, and TimeTree says there is no shared plan.
FamilyWall keeps its import, budget, meal planning and location features in Premium, and one Premium subscription covers everyone in the family's Circle.
Google Calendar and Apple Calendar cost nothing and do the calendar part well.
Leaving Cozi: what changes
People usually go looking for a Cozi alternative for one of three reasons: the ads in the free version, the 30-day window for entering events, or the one shared family password. Here is what Cozi's plans include today and what changes in Looped In.
Cozi's free plan has a shared calendar, to-do and shopping lists, and a recipe library. Gold, at $39 a year, removes the ads and the 30-day window and adds a month view on mobile, calendar search, change notifications and a birthday tracker. Max, at $79.99 a year, adds AI Event Import along with recipe and meal planning features.
In Looped In, the schedule goes in the way it arrived, and saving what a capture finds is part of Looped In Plus at $39.99 a year in the US. Each person has their own account, so nobody shares a password. The family, the soccer team and the PTA committee each get their own Loop with their own members, so the team's schedule never lands in the middle of the family's list. One Looped In Plus subscription covers your whole Apple Family through Family Sharing, and there are no ads on any plan.
Stay with Cozi if anyone needs Android or the web, if you want shopping lists, a recipe box and meal planning in the same app, or if a free calendar with ads and a 30-day window is all you need. Looped In does not import a Cozi account directly; the quickest start is whatever is still arriving, like the next flyer, the next text from the coach or the screenshot you took last week.
Leaving TimeTree: what changes
TimeTree is a well-liked shared calendar, free with ads. Its Premium plan also adds an hour-by-hour view of up to three days, file attachments on events, pinned events and dedicated support, and the first month is free for first-time Premium users.
Looped In starts from a different place, the messy way a schedule arrives, and it keeps tasks and notes next to the events. A coach's text with practices, a dues deadline and the field address comes back as events, a task and a note. The waiver that is due before the first game sits beside the game, with a name on it.
Stay with TimeTree if anyone in the group uses Android or the web, or if you want a shared calendar at no cost and the ads do not bother you.
If you organize more than a family
A team, a class, a committee and the family are different groups of people with different end dates. Apps built around one family account put them all in one place.
Looped In gives each of them its own Loop, with its own members, events, tasks and notes. Anyone you invite uses the Loops you share with them free, with no cap on how many, and each person has their own account. TimeTree also handles several groups well: it allows up to 20 calendars per account, each shared with its own members.
Where Looped In fits, and where it does not
Looped In fits an iPhone family, or an iPhone-heavy team, that gets its schedule in awkward forms: a text from the coach, a flyer in a backpack, a screenshot someone sent. You drop it in, check what comes back, and share the Loop.
It is not the pick if anyone needs Android, if you want a shopping list and recipe box in the same app, which Cozi and FamilyWall both have, or if a plain shared calendar with no subscription is all you need, which Google and Apple already give you.
