Alternative to AppClose: Custody X Change
AppClose and Custody X Change are apps to help you guide and document your co-parenting. AppClose can work well for parents who want to record their calls and mark when they arrive at a pickup or drop-off. Custody X Change is amazing for scheduling and calculating parenting time.
These apps offer many similar features, including co-parent messaging — but the attention to detail and excellent customer service at Custody X Change set it apart.
AppClose versus Custody X Change
Custody X Change
- Primary uses: Calculating parenting time, scheduling activities and parenting time
- Target user: Co-parents looking for help with day-to-day parenting or a custody case
- Install from: custodyxchange.com
Try this with Custody X Change.
AppClose
- Primary uses: Recording calls, checking in at exchanges
- Target user: Co-parents who need to prove when they arrive at exchanges and what happens on calls
- Install from: App stores
Features compared
Only Custody X Change has...
- Parenting plan with over 140 common provisions to choose from
- Live calendar exporting to send your custody and activity schedules to any calendar
- Live calendar importing to bring in events from any calendar
- Holiday templates to quickly schedule all your holidays years in advance
- Private schedule tracking to calculate how late or missed visits affect parenting time
Try this with Custody X Change.
Only AppClose has...
- Audio/video calling, with the option to record the call
- Payment system to request and send money
- GPS to log your own arrival and departure times (The app doesn't share one parent's location with the other).
- Pet-related features, like tracking a pet's feeding routine
Both apps have...
- Calendar for scheduled parenting time and activities
- Parenting time calculation (necessary for most child support formulas)
- Co-parent messaging that warns you when your draft sounds hostile
- Expense and reimbursement tracking
- Child-info storage
- Parenting journal for documenting what happens
Try this with Custody X Change.
And in both, you can...
- Log in from your phone or laptop
- Use it on your own or link with your co-parent
- Link accounts with your legal pros
- Share your schedule with grandparents, nannies, etc.
- Create documents for court
If you like features from both apps, you can sign up for both. For example, you might use AppClose for video calls and Custody X Change for detailed parenting time reports.
Weighing the pros and cons
Custody X Change pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Get detailed parenting time reports | Message your co-parent but no one else |
| Privately track cancelled visits and late arrivals | No calling through the app |
| Quickly schedule holidays with templates | Need another way to pay your co-parent |
| Import any other calendar live, e.g. sports schedules | No location check-ins |
| Export to any other calendar live | |
| Make a court-ready parenting plan | |
| Excellent customer service |
AppClose pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Message your legal professionals and others | Know your parenting time percentage, but no graphs or advanced options |
| Make and record calls | No private parenting time tracking |
| Send payments to your co-parent | Manually schedule each holiday |
| Check in at locations | Import from your phone's calendar only |
| Export to your phone's calendar only | |
| Need another way to make a parenting plan | |
| Bad customer service reviews |
Becoming a subscriber
Both apps work through paid subscriptions.
For Custody X Change, you can try out the features for free forever. You'll need to subscribe to print your schedule and parenting plan, as well as to link accounts with your co-parent.
AppClose similarly lets you try it out for free, but your access will expire after 60 days. Parents who can't afford a subscription (and prove their need) can get one year free.
Which app should I choose?
Do you want detailed parenting time calculations?
Use Custody X Change. You'll get multipage reports with graphs for any time period. You'll be able to exclude time, like school hours. And you'll get side-by-side comparisons of actual parenting time versus scheduled parenting time.
Do you just want to know your overall percentage of parenting time?
Use Custody X Change or AppClose. Both give you this information.
Do you want to send your schedule to your child's preferred calendar app?
Use Custody X Change. You can send your schedule, with live updates, to any calendar service. Send your custody schedule, activity schedule, or both.
Do you want to send your schedule to your own phone's calendar?
Use Custody X Change or AppClose. Your phone's calendar is the only place AppClose lets you sync your schedule; Custody X Change lets you sync there and with any other calendar.
Do you need to write a parenting plan?
Use Custody X Change. You can customize your parenting plan in the app, then download or print it.
Do you need help managing shared custody of a pet?
Use AppClose. It lets you track a feeding schedule, log pet expenses and more.
Do you value a reliable app with high-quality customer service?
Use Custody X Change. We have 4.5 stars. We respond to help requests promptly, and we love to implement suggestions from our users. On the other hand, AppClose is often criticized for lack of response.
Bottom line
Which app you should use depends on your situation.
If you need to record your calls and prove when you arrive at exchanges, use AppClose.
If calculating parenting time and writing a parenting plan are more important, try Custody X Change. You'll also be able to see your custody schedule years into the future, message your co-parent, track expenses and more.
Please note: We update this article regularly and strive for accuracy. Nonetheless, it could have out-of-date or incomplete information about our competitor. Please visit their website for full details.