Cozi App Review 2026: Is It Still Worth It After the Pricing Changes?

Cozi has been the go-to family calendar app for over 20 million families since 2005. For years, it earned that reputation — a genuinely free, simple family organizer that just worked.

But 2024 changed things. Cozi added a 30-day calendar limit to free accounts, launched premium tiers, and fundamentally shifted from a free app with optional upgrades to a freemium app with an aggressive paywall. Now it's 2026, and the question isn't whether Cozi was good — it's whether it's still worth it in a market that's moved on.

Here's our honest assessment.

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Cozi in 2026: Two Tiers Only

Feature	Cozi Free	Cozi Gold ($39/yr)
Calendar	30-day limit	✅ Unlimited
Ads	Yes	❌ Removed
Month view (mobile)	❌ No	✅ Yes
Event search	❌ No	✅ Yes
Multiple reminders	❌ 1 per event	✅ Up to 3
Change notifications	❌ No	✅ Yes
Birthday tracker	❌ No	✅ Yes
AI event extraction	❌ No	❌ No
AI recipe creator	❌ No	❌ No
AI meal planner	❌ No	❌ No
Google Calendar sync	One-way	One-way
Parental controls	❌ No	❌ No
Data export	❌ No	❌ No

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What Cozi Still Does Well

Credit where it's due — Cozi isn't bad at everything.

Shared Shopping Lists

Cozi's shopping lists are genuinely useful. Multiple family members can add items, check them off in the store, and the list persists until you clear it. It's simple and it works. This has been Cozi's strongest feature for years, and it still holds up.

Recipe Box

If meal planning is central to your family workflow, Cozi's recipe box is decent. You can save recipes from the web, organize them, and plan meals on the calendar. It's manual — no AI assistance — but it gets the job done.

Simplicity

Cozi's interface is straightforward. There's almost no learning curve. For families who just need a shared calendar and a shopping list, the app delivers on that basic promise (assuming you pay for Gold at $39/year to unlock full calendar access).

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Where Cozi Falls Short in 2026

1. The 30-Day Free Limit

This is the elephant in the room. Since May 2024, free Cozi users can only view events within a 30-day window. For a family calendar app, this is crippling. You can't plan summer camp, holiday trips, or next month's sports schedule without upgrading.

The community reaction was severe. Trustpilot reviews average 2.1 stars, with long-time users calling the change a "bait and switch." Families who had used Cozi for 8–10 years suddenly couldn't access their own data without paying.

2. One-Way Google Calendar Sync

In 2026, every serious calendar app offers two-way sync. Cozi still only supports one-way — you can push Cozi events to Google Calendar, but changes made in Google don't come back to Cozi.

This creates a fragmented experience. If your partner adds something to Google Calendar, it won't show in Cozi. If you edit an event in Google, Cozi still shows the old version. For families who use both, it's a constant source of confusion.

3. No Parental Controls

Anyone on a Cozi family account can delete any event. There's no admin role, no locked events, no permission levels. Cozi's own support has confirmed this is by design — their system allows anyone to "freely or mistakenly delete events."

For families with kids who have access to the app, this is a real risk. One accidental swipe can delete a month of carefully entered events.

4. No Data Export

If you decide to leave Cozi, you can't take your data with you. There's no CSV export, no calendar file download, no bulk data option. You can email individual lists and print your calendar, but that's it. For an app that may hold years of your family's scheduling history, this is a significant lock-in concern.

5. Privacy Concerns

Cozi's free tier is ad-supported, and Common Sense Privacy has given Cozi a "Warning" rating for its data practices. User data is used for targeted advertising, and the privacy policy allows data sharing with third parties. For a family app that contains your children's schedules and activities, this deserves consideration.

6. The Interface Hasn't Changed

Cozi's design looks and feels like it was built in 2015 — because it was. The app is functional but dated. Navigation is clunky, the color palette feels stale, and there's been no meaningful UI refresh in years. When your family members resist using the calendar app, design matters.

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Cozi vs. the 2026 Competition

The family calendar market has evolved significantly. Here's how Cozi stacks up against modern alternatives:

Feature	Cozi Gold ($39/yr)	Calendara ($4.99/mo)	Google Calendar (Free)
Calendar limit	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Google sync	One-way	✅ Two-way	N/A (native)
AI extraction	❌ No	✅ Photo-to-calendar, lists, tasks	❌ No
Shared lists	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No
Parental controls	❌ No	View/edit permissions	❌ No
Data export	❌ No	✅ iCal, Google sync	✅ Full export
Ads	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None
Privacy	Warning rating	Privacy-first	Google data policies
Design	Dated	Modern	Functional

The gap is especially clear on AI features. Cozi Gold has no AI capabilities whatsoever. Calendara's AI extraction lets you point your phone camera at any schedule, flyer, or paper and have events created instantly — Cozi can't do this at any price point.

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Who Should Still Use Cozi?

Cozi Gold ($39/year) makes sense if:

• You're a long-time Cozi user with years of data in the app
• You primarily need a shared calendar + shopping lists and nothing more
• You don't use Google Calendar alongside Cozi
• You're comfortable with the current interface
• You don't need AI features (since there's no higher tier)

Who Should Switch?

Consider switching to Calendara if:

• You're frustrated by the 30-day limit and don't want to pay for what used to be free
• You need two-way Google Calendar sync
• You want AI that actually works from your camera, not email forwarding
• You're a co-parent or blended family needing flexible sharing
• Privacy matters to your family
• You want an app that's actively being developed and improved

Consider Google Calendar if:

• You just need a free shared calendar with no frills
• Your family already lives in the Google ecosystem
• You don't need shopping lists, to-do lists, or AI features

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The Bottom Line

Cozi was a great family calendar app — in 2018. In 2026, it's a dated app with an aggressive paywall, one-way sync, no parental controls, no data portability, and privacy concerns. The free tier is barely functional, and Cozi Gold charges $39/year for a non-premium experience with no AI capabilities.

If you're already paying for Cozi Gold and it works for your family, there's no urgent reason to switch. But if you're a free user hitting the 30-day wall, or you're evaluating family calendar apps for the first time, there are better options available at a similar price point with significantly more capability — especially AI photo extraction that Cozi can't offer.

Related Guides

• Cozi Pricing 2026: Is Cozi Gold Worth It?
• Calendara vs Cozi: Full Comparison
• How to Switch from Cozi to Calendara
• Cozi's 30-Day Limit Explained
• 7 Best Family Calendar Apps in 2026