2houses vs ParenThing

2houses helps separated parents communicate and organize care and well-being for their children. Its shared calendar supports parenting schedules, change requests, recurring visits, events, and imported school terms and holidays, with synchronization to iCal, Google Calendar, Outlook, and other standard calendar apps. Finance tools track expenses, balances, payment invitations, alimony, and spending categories, with reports exportable as CSV or PDF. Parents can message each other, children, or a mediator; conversations may be archived or printed, but not deleted. A family information bank holds child-related contact, medical, and document details. The service also provides email and push notifications, shared photo albums, a family journal, and configurable access for children and other family members. It is available on Android, iOS, and the web. One subscription can cover both parents, children, third parties, and mediators, with read-only access available for mediators. The whole-family plan costs $8.25 a month, billed at 99.00 USD every 12 months. Its 14-day trial requires credit card details, and charges recur unless canceled before the trial or renewal period ends.

ParenThing gives separated and divorced parents a shared private space to coordinate messages, schedules, expenses, documents, and children’s wellbeing. Its calendar covers handovers, appointments, and activities, with GPS check-in at handovers. Messages are checked for unsafe content, and the app may suggest calmer wording while leaving the decision to send with the user. Wellbeing check-ins are off by default; parents can view mood patterns without seeing the child’s private words. Mediators and legal professionals may receive consent-based access to family records and use AI-assisted summaries that a professional reviews. The maker says it does not sell data or show ads, and children’s content is not used for profiling or training outside AI models. It lists encryption in transit and at rest, one-way password hashing, staff access controls, and regular security reviews. The free plan covers 50 messages monthly and storage for up to five files. Premium costs €12.99 a month for one family subscription covering both parents.