Braidly vs ParenThing

Braidly is a web-based co-parenting app for separated parents in the United States and Canada. It brings together a custody calendar, messaging, shared expenses, a kids’ schedule view, and records. The calendar supports 2-2-3, week-on/week-off, and custom rotations, with seeded holidays and school-break imports. Parents can submit expenses with receipt photos, set split ratios, approve or query costs, and track a running balance; Braidly records settlements but does not move money. The AI Tone Coach suggests calmer message rewrites, leaving the parent to choose what to send. For documentation, timestamped exports include a SHA-256 content digest, and legal hold prevents either parent from editing or deleting records through the app. Parents can grant invited viewers scoped, read-only access to selected records and revoke it. Braidly says it is in private beta, onboarding families in small batches, and free while in beta. Its listed plans are Free at free, Standard at $12.99 a month or $129.99 a year, and Premium at $24.99 a month.

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.