Alternative to OurFamilyWizard: Custody X Change
The co-parenting apps OurFamilyWizard and Custody X Change have a lot in common. But Custody X Change has extra tools for collaboration, without some of the tools meant to rein in violent parents.
If a court hasn't ordered you to use OurFamilyWizard, you may be better off with our more flexible and affordable alternative. Let's compare these popular apps so you can decide if you need the oversight of OurFamilyWizard.
OurFamilyWizard versus Custody X Change
Custody X Change
- Primary use: Parent smoothly in separate households
- Target user: Co-parents with low to high conflict levels
- Install from: custodyxchange.com
Parents often start by using Custody X Change to make a parenting plan together (or to make individual proposals). Then, tools like a shared calendar, an expense tracker and messaging help them coordinate and minimize disputes in the years to come.
You can also use Custody X Change without the other parent to keep yourself organized.
Try this with Custody X Change.
OurFamilyWizard
- Primary use: Keep a record of co-parenting when a court orders you to
- Target user: Co-parents with extreme conflict
- Install from: App stores
OurFamilyWizard users are often ordered to use the app due to a history of violence. Features like location check-ins and recorded phone calls help parents stay safe and prove how their interactions go.
You can't use OurFamilyWizard alone — both parents must subscribe and link.
Features
Custody X Change
- Parenting time calculator: Know your percent of planned time so you get an accurate child support order
- Actual-time tracking: Privately mark missed or late visits and see the effect on your total time
- Live calendar exporting: Continuously send your custody and activity schedules to another calendar service
- Holiday templates: Schedule all your holidays in a few clicks
- Parenting plan: Choose from 140+ provisions to make a court-ready agreement or proposal
Try this with Custody X Change.
OurFamilyWizard
- Recorded calling: Have proof of what happens when you call each other, and keep your phone number secret
- Payments: Send money to the other parent
- Check-ins: Prove you were at a location at a certain time
Both apps
- Custody and activity calendars: Know where your child should be at any moment
- Child-info storage: Save details to check on the go, like clothing sizes
- Courteous messaging: Get alerted if your draft sounds antagonistic
- Journal: Document what happens
- Expense tracking: Keep track of which parent owes the other
- Linking with professionals and guests: Collaborate with your lawyer and your family
- Mobile and desktop views: Move between your phone, computer and tablet
If you like features from both apps, you can sign up for both. This is common — for example, parents may have been ordered by a court to use OurFamilyWizard but want the parenting time calculations in Custody X Change.
Weighing the pros and cons
Custody X Change pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Use it with or without the other parent | No calling through the app |
| Calculate parenting time for your child support order | No location check-ins |
| Track your actual parenting time | No parent-to-parent payment system |
| Keep some calendars private (e.g., drafts) | |
| Live export custody and activity schedules | |
| Save on legal fees by writing your own parenting plan | |
| Pay monthly or yearly |
OurFamilyWizard pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Record calls and hide your number | Must use with your co-parent |
| Pay each other without opening another app | Must pay for a year or two up front |
| Enter private calendar events (e.g., work meetings) | No parenting time calculator or tracker |
| More familiar to courts | No exporting custody schedules to external calendars |
| Discounts for military and low-income parents | Activities can only be exported in a static file |
| No templates for making holiday schedules quickly | |
| No parenting plan template |
Which app should you use?
Are you worried about your safety?
Use OurFamilyWizard (after you talk to the police). It's commonly ordered in domestic violence cases.
Are you more concerned about bickering with your co-parent?
Use Custody X Change. It cuts down on disagreements about your schedule, expenses and more.
Do you need to hide your phone number?
Use OFW. You can place internet-based calls in the app.
Can you handle normal phone calls?
Use CXC. You can message each other in the app, but you'll use regular phone calls or an app like Zoom when you need to.
Do you want AI to rewrite aggressive messages?
Use OFW. It will suggest a rewrite of any draft it detects as aggressive.
Would you rather parents do their own rewrites once they're alerted?
Use CXC. It will alert you if your wording seems hostile, and you'll make any changes in your own voice.
Do you need to pay your co-parent through the app?
Use OFW. Users in the U.S. can send each other payments after linking their bank accounts.
Do you already have a way to pay your co-parent?
Use CXC. You can track expenses and generate invoices, but you'll pay each other through your existing methods.
Do you want other family members to message you in the app?
Use OFW. Your family members will be able to message each other and journal.
Would you prefer they call or text you instead?
Use CXC. Your children and extended family members will just use Custody X Change to keep track of the family schedule.
Bottom line
Both Custody X Change and OurFamilyWizard are great apps.
If you need support for extreme circumstances — like recorded calling — go with OurFamilyWizard.
If you have a more typical co-parenting relationship, go with Custody X Change. You'll get tools to limit conflict and encourage collaboration — like a parenting plan template — without the superfluous safety protections. Plus, you'll save money.
Either way, you'll get a co-parenting app with more than 20 years of experience and passionate users worldwide.
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.