Plannie vs Cozi: worth switching?
Cozi is the app a lot of families started on, and it has changed since: a 30-day limit on the free calendar, a newer $79.99/year Max tier for AI features, and calendar connections that are read-only, not two-way. Plannie is the newer alternative, built around the household: member colours everywhere, chores that pay out rewards, a weekly meal grid, kiosk mode for the kitchen tablet, and two-way Google and Outlook sync, all for $99/year.
Feature by feature
| Plannie | Cozi | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No ads · no calendar limit · two-way sync | ● Ad-supported The free calendar can only show events for the next 30 days from the Agenda view, per Cozi's own FAQ. |
| Paid plan (whole household) | $99/yr Premium | $39/yr Gold · $79.99/yr Max |
| Two-way Google & Outlook sync | ✓ | ✗ Read-only import Cozi's FAQ calls its Google, Outlook and Apple Calendar connections read-only integrations, updated roughly hourly rather than synced instantly in both directions. |
| Member colours across every view | ✓ | ✓ |
| Family member limit | Unlimited | 12 people |
| Chores with rewards & family goals | ✓ | ● Chores, no rewards Cozi Chores tracks recurring per-member chores for free; there is no points or reward system, and Cozi's own guidance points parents to outside allowance apps instead. |
| Weekly meal grid + recipe library | ✓ | ● Gold/Max The recipe box is free; the drag-and-drop meal planner needs Gold ($39/yr) and AI recipe or meal suggestions need Max ($79.99/yr). |
| AI import (photos, PDFs, email inbox) | Premium | ● Max, app only AI Event Import turns emailed invites or photographed flyers into events, but only in Cozi's mobile app and only on the $79.99/yr Max tier. |
| Wall-display kiosk mode | ✓ | ✗ |
| Open API & MCP for your own agents | ✓ | ✗ |
Cozi plan details, including the free tier's 30-day calendar window and the Cozi Max tier, from cozi.com's own FAQ, compare-plans, Cozi Gold and Cozi Max pages, checked 21 September 2026.
Sources: cozi.com FAQ, cozi.com: compare plans, cozi.com: Cozi Gold, cozi.com: Cozi Max, cozi.com: Cozi Chores
Where the two part ways
Cozi has been a family calendar since before smartphones were universal, and its pricing shows the history: a free tier capped at a 30-day calendar window, Gold at $39/year for the ad-free basics, and a newer $79.99/year Max tier that adds three AI features to the mobile app only. The three tiers come from two decades of add-ons. No current cozi.com page mentions a smart display or a voice assistant for any of them, only a phone, a tablet screen or a browser tab. None of the tiers is wrong for a family that just wants a shared calendar and recipe box, but a household that later wants AI import has to pay for Cozi Max, after first working out which tier unlocks what. Plannie is one plan: $99/year covers the whole household on every device, and no feature is limited to the mobile app.
The bigger gap is sync direction. Cozi's FAQ calls its Google, Outlook and Apple Calendar connections read-only integrations: events flow in on a schedule rather than syncing both ways in real time. For a family syncing a shared calendar between a work Google account and a household Cozi account, that hourly lag can mean a hastily added dentist appointment doesn't show up on the family side until the next refresh. Plannie syncs two-way with Google and Outlook from the free plan up, so an event added on a Plannie tablet appears in the calendar a parent already uses at work, and the reverse, within moments.
Cozi Chores tracks who does what, but there is no reward system attached, and Cozi's guidance sends parents to third-party allowance apps for that. Plannie's chores pay out tickets a child spends on rewards you define, its meal grid turns a recipe link into a shopping list, and kiosk mode turns any tablet into a wall display, which Cozi has never offered. Plannie's household calendar has no 30-day window either. Cozi's limit of 12 family members sounds generous until you count grandparents, a nanny or a co-parent's household, and Plannie's unlimited membership covers all of them. Cozi's strengths are longevity and price: two decades of a working product, up to 12 people on a single account, and Gold is one of the cheapest ad-free family calendars around.
Stay with Cozi if…
Price is what matters most, and the 30-day calendar window and ad-supported free plan don't bother you, or Gold's $39/year covers what your household needs. Two decades of a stable product mean it isn't going anywhere, and the chores feature and recipe box alone cover a lot of ground for a family that isn't looking for rewards or a kiosk display.
Choose Plannie if…
You want the calendar to sync two-way with Google or Outlook instead of a one-way read-only feed, chores that pay out rewards instead of pointing you to another app, a weekly meal grid, and a kitchen tablet in kiosk mode. It all comes in one $99/year plan, so you don't have to work out which of three tiers includes the feature you were looking for.
Frequently asked
What is the main difference between Plannie and Cozi?+
Cozi is three plans stacked on top of each other: a free tier limited to a 30-day calendar window, Gold at $39/year for the ad-free basics, and Max at $79.99/year for AI features on mobile only. Plannie is one $99/year plan for the whole household, with member colours everywhere, chores that pay out tickets for rewards, a weekly meal grid and kiosk mode for a wall tablet. Two-way Google and Outlook sync is already part of Plannie's free plan. With three tiers, you have to work out which plan removes which limit before you can compare prices.
Is Cozi's free plan really free?+
It is free, but it is ad-supported and limited. Cozi's FAQ states the free calendar lets you enter events from the Agenda view only for the next 30 days; Gold removes that limit and the ads, for $39/year. The 30-day limit applies to the free Agenda view specifically, so a family on Cozi's free plan can't look a season ahead the way a Plannie household can. Plannie's free plan has no ads, no calendar-window limit, and includes two-way Google and Outlook sync, shared lists and starter meal planning.
What is Cozi Max, and does Plannie have something like it?+
Cozi Max is a newer $79.99/year tier, above Gold, that adds three AI features (AI Event Import, AI Recipe Creator and AI Meal Planner) to Cozi's mobile app only, not the website. None of the three is documented on the Cozi website, so a family that doesn't use Cozi's mobile app gets nothing from Max's AI features. Plannie's AI import is part of Premium, $99/year for the whole household, and works the same way on every device: photos, PDFs and forwarded email become calendar events or meal-plan entries.
Does Cozi sync two-way with Google or Outlook?+
No. Cozi's own FAQ describes its Google, Outlook and Apple Calendar connections as read-only integrations: events flow in on a schedule, roughly hourly, rather than syncing instantly in both directions. With a roughly hourly import, a change made in Google that day might not appear in Cozi's calendar until later, which is worth knowing if your plans often change at short notice. Plannie syncs two-way with Google and Outlook, so an event added on either side shows up in the other within moments, on every plan including free.
Does Cozi have chores and rewards?+
Cozi has a free Chores feature: recurring, per-member chore lists on iOS and Android. It has no points, stars or reward system built in; Cozi's guidance points parents toward outside allowance apps instead. That is deliberate on Cozi's side: its chores guidance treats motivation as a parenting decision the family makes outside the app. In Plannie, every completed chore pays out tickets a child spends on rewards you set, plus shared family goals everyone can contribute toward.
Can I move from Cozi to Plannie?+
If your Cozi calendar already connects to Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar, connect that same account to Plannie and your events carry over, this time synced two-way. For anything that only lives inside Cozi, export or screenshot the calendar and Plannie's Magic Import reads the dates in for you on Premium. Either way, you don't have to delete the Cozi account first, so you can run both side by side during the move.