How to choose a family calendar for busy parents

One school week: test the jobs your calendar needs to handle

Here is a fictional week for Ella, Max and Leo at fictional Oakfield Primary, 2–8 November 2026. The adults are examples, not real family members. Use it to test any app on your shortlist.

Swipe the table sideways to see deadlines and adult access.

Try each input, correct a mistake and ask the second adult to find the updated plan without help. Check a read-only option for a grandparent or carer if that is the access you need.

1. Decide who needs to see and change plans

Write down who actually helps: a partner, co-parent, grandparent or childminder. Decide who needs the whole week, who needs just one child's activities, and who should be able to change a plan. A shared login and a calendar shared with separate accounts give you different control.

Check whether the second adult can edit, whether you can remove access later, and whether personal appointments can stay separate. In two households, test the exact visibility you need rather than assuming that a family account provides it.

Google Calendar documents different viewing and editing permissions. If everyone uses iCloud, Apple lets you share an iCloud calendar and control editing. A public calendar link is a different kind of sharing; use private invitations for your family schedule.

2. Match it to how your school sends information

Look at the last few things your school sent. Are dates in a subscription calendar, a newsletter, a PDF, an app notice or a photograph of a letter? These need different routes into a calendar.

• Calendar subscription: check that the school publishes a usable link, which children or clubs it covers, and how changes reach your calendar. A file imported once is different from a subscription.
• Email or PDF: try an example containing both a trip date and a payment deadline. Does it keep the two separate? Can you correct the result before saving?
• Portal notice or invitation image: check whether you can bring in the text or screenshot. A link to a signed-in school portal alone may not contain the details an app needs.

Our school calendar guide explains subscription options. For emails, see the illustrated Gmail and Outlook/Hotmail guides. In Tandlo, you can also bring text, a photo or a calendar link into Ask Tandlo and check the suggested details.

Saving a date does not pay for a trip, give consent or RSVP to a party. Keep those actions visible as separate tasks, whichever app you choose.

3. Test reminders on the other adult's phone

Seeing a shared event and receiving a reminder are separate checks. Try a reminder the evening before for packing a kit bag, and another early enough to leave for pickup. Check who receives each one and whether that timing is available on the plan you are considering.

For example, Google says event reminders are not shared with Google Calendar guests; guests use their own settings. Do not assume a reminder that works on your phone will also alert your partner.

Test a changed time and a cancellation too. Check notification permission and Focus or Do Not Disturb settings on each phone. Keep your usual reminder in place until the new arrangement has worked for both adults.

4. Compare the price for your whole family

Check the cost of the features you will use, including the second adult. A free download does not tell you whether sharing, extra reminders, email reading or invitation designs are included.

• Is the subscription per person or per household?
• Is the price monthly, annual, or an introductory offer?
• Are AI reads, uploads or generated designs limited?
• What remains available if you cancel, and can you export your plans?

At a monthly price of £7.99, twelve payments would total £95.88. That is a useful comparison with an annual subscription, but it is not an advertised annual plan. Check the checkout currency and renewal terms before paying.

Tandlo Free is for one adult in your home. It includes family plans, tasks, standard invitation designs, editable wording and guest reply pages. You can link a separate home and share chosen plans on Free. Receiving and keeping approved forwarded mail is also free; AI uses apply when Tandlo reads it for you. Free has a one-time starter allowance of 20 AI uses per family. Family includes 250 AI uses per family each billing month. You can also invite adults into your home to see shared plans and notes read-only, and customise invitations with Family, including 3 new AI illustrations per billing period. The Family price is £7.99 a month for the household, including VAT. Eligible subscriptions have a two-week trial. A £2.99 pack adds 150 AI uses. The first 150 families who join early access before Tandlo is on the App Store receive six months of Family free, subject to the current offer; intake closes at release or when the places are full. See the current plans, usage allowances and early-access offer.

Which Tandlo plan covers this example?

Checked against Tandlo's published plans on 18 October 2026. These are current plan facts, not a promise of public App Store availability.

5. Check every phone your family uses

List the actual devices, including a grandparent's phone. Confirm iPhone, Android and browser support now, along with the minimum system versions. A web version can help at a computer, but check whether its notifications and sharing work the way you need on a phone.

Have the less confident adult try opening the week, finding the pickup address and changing a plan. If one person has to explain every step, keep looking. If an Android app is essential today, a promise of one later should not decide the purchase.

Tandlo is currently in early access on iPhone. No Android or public web app is available.

A few options to put on your shortlist

We make Tandlo, so this is a guide from one of the providers. The examples below use official product and help pages checked on 18 October 2026, not a hands-on ranking or a claim that one app is best for every family. Prices and features can change.

Swipe the table sideways to see devices, prices and what to test.