OurFamilyWizard is the best-known co-parenting app in the world. In the United States, courts even order parents who can't agree to use it. Parents in the Netherlands come across it too, and then run into three things.
Why OurFamilyWizard often doesn't suit the Netherlands
English only. The interface, the help pages and customer support are all in English. You may well manage. For the other parent it's an extra hurdle, and that hurdle decides whether the app gets used at all.
US servers. This is where you record the most sensitive information about your child: custody schedules, medical details, photos, conflicts. That data falls under US law and not under the GDPR. For many Dutch parents that alone is enough to put them off.
The price, per parent. Around €100 a year, per parent. So €200 for the family. In the US a judge often splits that cost. In the Netherlands it is simply a double bill.
Against that there is one strong point, and it's the reason the app exists: it holds up legally. Messages are timestamped and can't be edited or deleted afterwards. If a conflict is heading to court, that is valuable in a way WhatsApp can never be.
First decide what you're looking for
Before comparing alternatives, this is the question that matters. Broadly, co-parents in the Netherlands are in one of three situations:
- There is an ongoing conflict and communication needs to be recorded. Then you want a messaging app with a log.
- Things are fine, but the planning is messy. Then you want a shared calendar.
- Things are fine, but the memories are getting scattered. Half the photos are with you, half with your ex, and your child will end up with two half albums. Then you're looking for something quite different.
The third situation is by far the most common, and OurFamilyWizard was never built for it.
The alternatives
2houses: the all-rounder in Dutch
A Belgian app with a fully Dutch interface, European servers and the same building blocks: calendar, messaging, expenses, photo album. After a 14-day trial it costs from around €8.99 a month. For most Dutch co-parents who want to sort out the logistics, this is the direct replacement. Also read our comparison of 2houses alternatives.
AppClose: free to start
A free basic version with a calendar, messaging and cost-splitting. English-language and on US servers, so you swap one objection for another. The price is zero, which makes it more likely the other parent will join in.
Ouderliefde: for the memories
A Dutch app that picks up exactly the part the logistics apps neglect: your child's shared timeline. Photos, videos, milestones, drawings and school reports, added by both parents, in date order, on European servers.
In practice, for co-parents:
- Both parents have full access to the same timeline
- One subscription covers the whole family, without OurFamilyWizard's double bill
- Grandparents on both sides follow along through their own secure link
- Available in English and Dutch, no adverts, GDPR-compliant
The comparison in brief
- Need communication that holds up legally? OurFamilyWizard is still the strongest, because that's what it was made for. Talk to your mediator or lawyer.
- Planning in Dutch? 2houses.
- As cheap as possible? A shared calendar or AppClose.
- Keeping photos and memories together? Ouderliefde.
The trap: one app that has to do everything
It's tempting to look for one app that handles the whole separation. That rarely works. An app that both logs your conflicts and stores the baby photos gets avoided by one of the parents, precisely because the unpleasant things are in there too.
Two separate places work better: one for business, one for your child. That second place will still mean something in fifteen years. The first one you hope you'll have stopped needing long before then.
Try Ouderliefde free for 7 days
On European servers, with one subscription for both parents. All your child's memories on one timeline.
Create a free account →