Alternative to Our Family Wizard: Custody X Change
The co-parenting apps Our Family Wizard 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 Our Family Wizard, 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 Our Family Wizard.
Our Family Wizard 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 use Custody X Change to make a parenting plan together (or to propose one to the court individually). Tools like a shared calendar and an expense tracker help them stick to their plan and minimize disputes.
You can also use Custody X Change without the other parent to keep yourself organized.
Try this with Custody X Change.
Our Family Wizard
- 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
Our Family Wizard 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 prove how their interactions go and stay safe.
You can't use Our Family Wizard 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
- 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.
Our Family Wizard
- 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 Our Family Wizard 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 |
| Save on legal fees by writing your own parenting plan | No location check-ins |
| Calculate parenting time for your child support order | No parent-to-parent payment system |
| Track your actual parenting time | |
| Keep some calendars private (e.g., drafts) | |
| Pay monthly or yearly |
Our Family Wizard pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| More familiar to courts | Must link accounts with your co-parent |
| Record calls and hide your number | Must pay for a year or two up front |
| Pay each other without opening another app | No parenting plan template |
| Enter private calendar events (e.g., work meetings) | No parenting time calculator or tracker |
| Discounts for military and low-income parents | No templates for making holiday schedules quickly |
Which app should you use?
Are you worried about your safety?
Use Our Family Wizard (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 need 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 need 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 Our Family Wizard are great apps.
If you need support for extreme circumstances — like recorded calling — go with Our Family Wizard.
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.