Overview

Custody X Change is a custody-planning and co-parenting record tool for families managing shared care. It is best for parents who need a detailed schedule alongside records of parenting time, expenses, and communication. Its breadth is useful, but the free version’s narrow scheduling and printing limits make it a trial-sized option rather than a complete substitute for a subscription.

Key features

Schedules and parenting plans

Calendars accommodate regular routines, seasonal changes, holidays, and one-time adjustments, with parenting time calculated by hours or overnights. That flexibility suits families whose routines shift through the year or who need to measure time in more than one way. Calendar syncing with services such as Google Calendar or Outlook can keep custody arrangements visible alongside other commitments.

The plan template includes 144 provisions, with the option to create custom ones. That is a substantial starting point for documenting an arrangement, while custom provisions leave room for terms that do not fit the template. But the app is not a legal guarantee: the company says it cannot ensure that a schedule or plan will be accepted by a court.

Records and communication

A private journal, actual parenting-time tracker, expense tracking, child information, activities, and document storage bring routine records together. This is more useful to parents who want to document what actually happened as well as what was planned than to those seeking only a shared calendar.

Co-parent messages can be printed with read receipts, and the messaging system detects hostile language. Printing and receipts can help preserve a record of exchanges, though the app’s detection does not replace parents’ judgment about how to communicate. The service can also send children’s names, birth dates, and parenting-time totals to the cloud version of Family Law Software for child-support calculations.

Privacy and support

The company says data is encrypted in its database and in transit, and that access requests are validated to restrict account access to the account holder. Its privacy policy also says personal information may be stored on company or third-party cloud servers and identifies Stripe and PostHog as US-based subprocessors. Parents weighing sensitive family records should consider that alongside the stated safeguards.

The help center offers tutorials, and users can contact the company if those do not answer a question. The FAQ offers a 30-day full refund. Users can cancel in account settings and retain paid features until the license expires.

Pricing

Custody X Change is freemium, with no free trial. The Free version costs 0.00 USD per free and is limited: scheduling is capped at five holidays, and printing is unavailable. That can be enough to explore basic planning, but the holiday cap and lack of printing matter for families who rely on a complete annual calendar or need printable records.

The Parent plan starts at 6.00 USD per month, billed annually. The free plan is the no-cost choice for a narrow preview; parents needing the fuller workflow should compare the annual commitment against the records and communication tools they expect to use.

Platforms

Custody X Change runs on Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows. That spread can accommodate parents using different device types, including desktop users. The service was founded in 2005.

Who it's for

Parents who need scheduling, parenting-time calculations, documentation, and co-parent messaging in one service are the strongest fit. The maker also describes a professional product for attorneys, mediators, and judges; professional groups support shared client records and collaboration. Parents who need only a basic calendar, or who require certainty that a generated plan will be court-approved, should look elsewhere.

Pros and cons

Pros: Calendars cover regular, seasonal, holiday, and one-time changes, and calculate time by hours or overnights, offering more than a simple recurring schedule.
Pros: The 144-provision template, custom provisions, journal, actual-time tracking, expense tools, and messaging support both planning and recordkeeping.
Pros: A 30-day full refund and cancellation through account settings reduce the commitment risk of trying a paid license.
Cons: The free version allows only five holidays and no printing, limiting its usefulness for full-year planning and printable documentation.
Cons: Court acceptance is not guaranteed, so the app should not be treated as a substitute for legal review when that assurance matters.

Alternatives

For a wider set of options, browse Co-Parenting Apps.

AppClose is worth considering for readers who want a free account option for financial hardship or domestic-violence survivors, or prefer its monthly web plan at 7.99 USD per month billed monthly.
BestInterest may suit readers seeking a free, no-expiration plan with secure messaging, Solo Mode, coaching sessions, inbound calls, a shared calendar, tasks, and expenses.
CoreParent may fit professionals looking for attorney and mediator tools, or parents whose needs fit its free caps on expenses and court documents.
Peaceful CoParenting Messenger is a more focused choice for free messaging, attachments, timestamps, and a bad-words filter, with communication limits and PDF repository access requiring a subscription.
Braidly may suit families wanting a free web plan for up to two children, with a shared calendar, basic messaging, handoff log, limited expense tracking, and kids’ schedule view.
Kidtime offers a free plan with no time limit, a rolling calendar view, schedule templates, messaging, and notes; it may fit parents who need those basics rather than a detailed plan and recordkeeping suite.
Beacon Co-Parenting App is an option for readers seeking a free everyday co-parenting plan for both parents with no subscription or credit card required.
Truece may appeal to readers whose priority is a free lifetime plan with 1 GB of secure file storage, one photo per Notes or Expenses submission, and two annual reports with 60-day history.

Verdict

Choose Custody X Change if you need a detailed custody schedule and want to keep plans, actual parenting time, expenses, and co-parent messages together. Its strongest case is the combination of flexible scheduling and substantial documentation; the clearest reasons to look elsewhere are the free version’s practical caps, the annual billing attached to the starting paid price, and the absence of any guarantee of court acceptance.

	Custody X Change	ParenThing
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Free trial	No	Yes
Paid from	$6/mo	€10.83/mo
Platforms	Android, iOS, macOS, Web, Windows	Android, iOS, Web
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Paid from	6 /mo
Expense tracking	Yes	Yes
Document storage	Yes	Yes
Court reports	advanced	advanced
Payment processing	Yes	Yes
Calendar sync	Yes

Custody X Change vs ParenThing

Custody X Change

ParenThing