2houses has been helping co-parents since around 2012 and is used by over 370,000 families worldwide. It does several things well - especially expense management. Here's an honest look at both apps, including where 2houses has the edge.
Written by the team at just parent. We're transparent about where 2houses wins.
A feature-by-feature comparison. We've tried to be accurate about both sides.
2houses has a genuinely strong expense management module. The running balance view - showing what each parent owes the other in aggregate - is one of the clearest ways to handle shared costs, and their alimony encoding and wish list features go beyond what most co-parenting apps offer. If day-to-day shared finances are your primary pain point, 2houses does that well.
They also have a more flexible third-party access model - grandparents, step-parents, and mediators can be added with configured rights, and iCal sync is included in their base subscription without a paid upgrade. If you need multilingual support (English, French, Dutch, Italian, German, or Spanish), 2houses is the only option here that provides it.
If you have alimony payments to track alongside child expenses, or want a running balance that shows what each parent owes in aggregate, 2houses' Finance module handles this more thoroughly than most apps - including just parent.
2houses supports six languages including French, Dutch, Italian, German, and Spanish. If your family communicates in any of those languages, 2houses is the more natural fit.
If you need grandparents, step-parents, and a mediator all on the same platform with granular access controls, 2houses handles multi-party family networks more flexibly than just parent's current setup.
2houses requires a credit card even for the 14-day trial. Just parent's Free plan starts immediately with no card required and no expiry. Messaging, journaling, expense management, Our Agreement, and the custody calendar are all included.
2houses has no AI features. Just parent's Calm Assist checks your message's tone before you send, flags inflammatory language with a specific reason, and lets you edit, send anyway, or formally disagree. AI Draft Helper writes messages and journal entries in your voice from a brief prompt. These tools are absent from 2houses entirely.
2houses has no equivalent to Our Agreement. Just parent lets both parents propose, review, and confirm shared policies - custody schedule, holiday arrangements, expense rules, and journal structure. Every change requires both parents to agree in writing.
The Cool-Off Button pauses all message exchanges for 24 hours when tensions are high - available on the Free plan. 2houses has no equivalent. For situations where communication breaks down, just parent gives you a built-in circuit breaker.
Both apps charge a single household subscription - one payment covers both parents. Just parent is $50/year less.
Both prices shown as annual household subscriptions. 2houses pricing based on their published $169.99/year rate. Just parent also offers a Free plan with no credit card required - 2houses does not.
Three steps. Takes about 10 minutes.
2houses lets you export expense data as CSV and print message history. Download everything before you leave - your records have value regardless of which app you use going forward. Don't cancel your subscription until you've confirmed all your exports are complete.
Free, no card required, takes under a minute. The onboarding wizard walks you through entering your custody schedule and key children's details. You'll be set up before your co-parent even joins.
We handle the invite. Your co-parent gets a link and a short onboarding flow - together takes about 5 minutes. The Our Agreement hub gives you a structured way to re-confirm your shared arrangements in the new app.
Real Free plan starts immediately. 14-day trial of paid features when you're ready.