Cozi Family Organizer 4+

The good: It successfully fulfills the purpose of having a ‘family management app’ and it’s nice that it has the ability to notify family members of events with multiple reminders. I LOVE the recipe tab and like that it is easy to transfer those ingredients to the shopping cart. I appreciate that my husband and I can keep track of what’s going on and what’s needed all in one place.

The bad: not entirely super user friendly, in that it’s easy to do things but not as easy to undo them. Like when you transfer the ingredients to the shopping cart, you have to individually delete each item as needed rather than selecting multiple (at least on the mobile app, it sure how that part is on the desktop). You can’t just select an entire recipe and delete if you accidentally add it twice. Also, I putting a ton of appointments was way easier on a desktop (at initial startup) than on the phone, but adding individual events is fine. Lastly, I added my kids as family members only to keep my husband and I in the loop of who is where, and it’s frustrating to have to uncheck their names in the “notify” section because they don’t have their own emails so I was getting five “notifications” since it was mine plus 4 of them until I started removing them. It could be a little smoother in that aspect.

Overall though, the price is good for what you get (I NEVER pay for apps, but was willing to for this one!!) it’s been a life saver but could use some improvements.

We started using the Cozi when our two oldest kids were in high school. Two varsity athletes and athletic club participants, a child in elementary school, and two parents who travel for work made for a daunting job of keeping track of all the commitments. Our bigs are now in college, youngest is just about to enter middle school and we both still travel for work. This app is perfect for any family with a ton of balls to juggle. Everyone (including the pets) are part of our group. We can keep track of every aspect we need to know for scheduling appointments, work trips, meals...literally everything. Before my husband or I agree to a meeting out of town, we can make sure no conflicts exist with our youngest child (someone is always home for her.) The notifications help keep everyone up to date on the latest changes immediately. Meal planning is simple as we can decide what kinds of meals will work best on any given day ( both of us out all day, crockpot meal; after school lessons, something quick ; just two for dinner, portion adjustment) Plus, having the meal plan allows whoever is home first to get dinner started since the recipe is also available in the app. Running to the store? Grocery list of needed items is available to confirm we have everything we need. Anything we do is in the Cozi, it is a great tool. It keeps us on track and running smoothly.

My family and I have been using Cozi for almost 10 years! I started with the free version and then began paying for the annual subscription about 5 years in. We have a large group family (3 generations - parents, kids, grandkids, siblings, & a family friend totaling 8 people & 1 “business”) that are all part of living life together. Many meals are shared, childcare as a village, business adventures together, etc. Cozi helps us ALL stay on the same page - especially when it comes to family events, kids extracurriculars, who is managing pickups, grocery shopping, party planning, and more! We use most of the features available and we don’t see an end in sight. You can use Cozi on any device (phone or tablet app, web browser, computer, etc.) and it will even pair with most calendars (apple, google, etc.). One of our favorite features is the shared shopping lists. I’ve tried other apps through the years and in one way or another, they just don’t add up. Currently all parties can see all things. My biggest “upgrade” hope is that you could make certain events and/or lists private (like planning a surprise party or Christmas gift shopping) where not all parties could see it. Overall I still love Cozi, recommend it to many people, and look forward to continuing to grow with it!