Cozi Family Organizer
Cozi Family Organizer is a highly-rated, long-standing family calendar and list app, but recent updates and changes to its free tier have led to significant user frustration with bugs, freezing, and paywall restrictions.
Cozi Family Organizer is a popular app for managing family schedules, grocery lists, and to-do items, with many long-term users praising its effectiveness for organization. However, recent reviews indicate a decline in performance, with frequent app freezes, syncing issues, and a perception that more features are being moved behind a paywall, leading to a recent negative sentiment trajectory.
What users like
- Effective for family organization and communication, especially for busy families with multiple schedules and activitiesR2R7R8R10
- Shared grocery and to-do lists are highly valued for real-time syncing and convenienceR2R11R13R15
- Calendar is easy to read and helps manage appointments and eventsR7R8R12R13
What users complain about
- App frequently freezes, crashes, or becomes unresponsive, especially when adding events or scrollingR5R9R96R97
- Shared lists (grocery, to-do) experience bugs like items disappearing, not syncing, or reappearing after being checked offR56R77R83R89
- Many essential features are now behind a paywall, making the free version feel limited or unusableR3R64R106R152
- Lack of integration with other services like Google Home, Siri, Google Calendar, Outlook, or clickable links for addresses/recipesR1R55R82R108
- Poor customer service and difficulty contacting support for issues like billing or account problemsR87R132R259R260
- User interface is clunky, dated, or lacks customization options like dark mode or alphabetical sorting for listsR79R121R145R183
- Notifications are unreliable or inconsistentR85R224R222R302
- Recipe adding feature is faulty or difficult to useR49R183R232
- Pricing for Cozi Gold is considered too high or inflexible (annual only)R4R17R75R140
- Security/privacy concerns, including account deletion by family members and data trackingR57R245R253
Latest update · v2026.04.17
What the developer says changed (the verdict above weighs this against what reviewers report):
Thank you for using Cozi! This update includes a few minor changes to improve your Cozi experience. If you have any questions, problems, or feedback, please contact us anytime at [email protected] so we can help you directly.
Recurring themes
Who it's for
Cozi Family Organizer is for busy families who need a centralized way to manage multiple schedules, share grocery lists, and coordinate tasks R13. It is particularly useful for those who value a dedicated family organization tool over general calendar apps R7. It is NOT for users who expect advanced integrations with smart home devices or other calendar services R55R143, or those who are unwilling to pay for a subscription to access core features R192R213. It is also not recommended for users experiencing frequent app freezes or list syncing issues R97R89.
Evidence note: The recent reviews skew significantly negative, with a 'recent-negative' signal of 0.228, contrasting sharply with the high lifetime rating of 4.8. This indicates a recent decline in user satisfaction, likely due to the reported bugs, paywall changes, and lack of feature development. While many positive reviews praise its long-term utility, the current user experience appears to be deteriorating.
Frequently asked
Is Cozi Family Organizer free to use?
What are the main issues with Cozi Family Organizer recently?
Can Cozi integrate with other smart home devices or calendars?
What reviewers actually said
Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.
- [R2] Cozi: I have been using this app for 13 years and it’s absolutely the best! I can add appointments, groceries, things to do. 10/10
- [R7] Great calendar!: I love this app. My whole family shares the calendar and it’s so easy to read it! Much better than a Google Calendar!
- [R8] Cozi rating: Cozi has been very helpful with organizing my days in a more solid schedule. The layout of the calendar makes me feel a lot more in control and the fact that it can give reminders about important events helps put my mind at ease. I love sharing this experience with my family!
- [R10] Family: This is a great product to keep in touch with your family and make list for groceries and such. I suggest this app as it was suggested to me.
- [R11] Cozi Family!: I love the ease with which we can add and remove from our wholesale and grocery list… Cozi makes life so much easier!
- [R13] Cozi Organizer: Our family loves the Cozi Organizer!!! It is a great way to keep everyone’s schedules in check, managing bills, routines, shopping list and even the daily to do list. Very easy to use and affordable! I would definitely recommend it <3
- [R15] Keeps us organized!: We’ve been using cozi for 7 or 8 years. It has become essential to keep our family organized and know where we’re at and where we’re going. We love the grocery list!
- [R12] Great for families: Our teen is in charge of putting all her items on the Cozi calendar and it sends all of us a daily & weeks to keep us organized
- [R5] Scrolling: Occasionally completely skips a few months when I’m scrolling
- [R9] my review: umm it is goodish but very laggy sometimes still recommend
- [R96] Is this a joke?: The app won’t even work whatsoever, I can’t type anything. Nothing opens up… once you reopen it. It’s a black screen. Garbage. It’s probably all fake reviews on here.
- [R97] Freezing: I just downloaded the app today, paying for the yearly subscription and I go to write in my 3rd date of events and the app keeps freezing. Why would I pay for something I can’t even put dates into? I’ve deleted the app, reinstalled it, fully updated my phone, turned it off and back on and it still freezes. It’s the only app giving me issues. Not worth being free, definitely not worth a s
- [R56] Lots of bugs lately: Items disappearing off lists, items checked off on one list but not checked off on the other person’s (all while on a good connection)
- [R77] Nice but lots of flawed bugs: I’ve had this app for about five years. Please listen to this if you plan to use this between your partner and you or your family as your new organization app. It’s certainly better than having nothing, my partner and I have used it to keep track of our grocery list in real time. Before I get into the mini issues, just know that there are better apps. I’m gonna be
- [R83] Deletes list items: The entire point of the app is shared lists, but sometimes it randomly deletes items after you add them. It also has a lot of ads and a clunky UX, but that would be okay if it worked to maintain shared lists. Unfortunately it doesn’t.
- [R89] Recent Bug Makes It Unusable: My husband and I downloaded Cozi in 2021 and it’s been our go-to grocery app for years, but in the past couple of months it has stopped being useful, I will add something and it will vanish when my husband refreshes his list, or I will delete items that will reappear when he opens his. The solution has been for him to be the only one updating the list, which defeats
- [R3] Used to be better: I signed up for a free account. I agreed to keep the rules. They shared to offer certain services/features. Over time they have eliminated one feature after another. I still use it, but I have to find work arounds for almost everything.
- [R64] I LOVE IT BUT….: I really do love this app! I’ve had it for many years w/o issue. The shared calendar & grocery list are at the top. I’ve always used the free version. A couple of years ago we had no choice. Pay $40 annually or delete the app. I really think my time here is limited.
- [R106] Total Garbage: Why should I have to pay to see a calendar? I will not pay I will find something better.
- [R152] Paying to see the entire month is insane: At this point you might as well use outlook or one of those and connect ur family to the email. Makes no sense to pay for simple things other apps give for free absolutely ridiculous
- [R1] My favorite with one exception: We have been using Cozi for many years, and it truly is the best calendar app in my opinion with one exception.. I wish Cozi would allow clickable links, specifically navigation addresses. I hate that I have to open the app, edit the event, copy the address and then paste into maps. It would be nice to just click the address (or recipe from outside web address) and
- [R55] Love Cozi but...: We love Cozi! Have had Cozi Gold a few years and we use it so much but am really disappointed they won’t provide integration with Google Home or Siri nor automation APIs. Am using Google Assistant’s shopping list more these days and sadly may not renew my Cozi subscription since it lacks API integrations.
- [R82] Okay but many flaws: It’s difficult to add things in this app. I was hoping I could click on things on emails or text to have them added but from what I’m gathering that’s an extra fee. It seemed like it would be a good thing that would have more features than my devices calendars system but it just overcompensated things. I can’t edit acting imported and if I want those things in Cozi I have t
- [R108] Used to be better: We live on a shared calendar. Cozi was great when it had an Alexa app skill. Now we use it just on our phones.
- [R87] No customer service: I’ve used this app since 2012, 14 years!!!! Has been amazing, but had an issue and the help link immediately sends you to a blank web site but won’t let you click the links within the help page on the app. I’ve been charged twice! $39. So if it doesn’t get resolved, they may have charged me $78, but it’ll be the end of our 14 year relationship and they won’t get any more refer
- [R132] Cozi: Been with Cozi a very long time. It’s made changes but so far not affecting me until now. Kept wanting me to sign on and when I did it said wrong password. It wasn’t. But I ended up having to sign up again and new password. Tried reaching out to anyone but there is no way to contact Cozi if you have issues. That’s my beef.
- [R259] How can I contact for help?: Purchased this app for £39 which is the Gold version, can’t access gold features. In the setting it states account type free when I select upgrade it states I already have it? The shared password doesn’t work for family members, how can I get help as this is turning out to be a waste of money and time. No email address to get help
- [R260] Can’t change to start weeks on a Monday: Everything else is nice but this is a major downfall and you cannot reach out to any support for help. A quick search show many others have the same issue. Minor thing but a major deal breaker. If they could allow changing weeks to start on Mondays I would use it but until then I am deleting and finding another app. I don’t want to have to use workarounds/g
- [R79] Lousy Layout: Layout sucks, too hard to find tasks and delete them. Mind you, I’m 27. Not some old boomer. The layout of this app is just absolutely horrendous and editing or deleting stuff is like going on a scavenger hunt with no list of items or clues to find the items.
- [R121] Pretty solid could be way better: It’s not always intuitive on how to update lists.
- [R145] Review: I wish the navigation was simpler. I also would love to be able to alphabetize things automatically.
- [R183] Missing ease of use from the past: The new version glitches so much more than in the past. The recipe section is terrible. Unfortunately, other apps don’t do what cozi used to do. So I’m stuck with an app where I’ve saved hundreds of pieces of information without the ease of use that it used to have.
- [R85] Excellent: Edit: we upgraded to the paid version for the additional features, but they don’t work. We can’t get the reminders or alerts to work, which is a particularly frustrating thing. As per the original review, we continue to have trouble with the app freezing on our phones. Cozy is awesome. Three adults and one child in our family all get where we need to be, which is amazing. The shoppin
- [R224] Great calendar; bad notifications: I’ve tried everything but my notifications are hit and miss. Love the calendar. Wish they could figure out the notifications. I’ve reinstalled, checked the settings on the app and phone, and yes, I have reminders set up. Nothing works! But at least everyone’s their schedule at a glance and it syncs with skylight
- [R222] So sad: Been using this app for years but lately it barely functions. The grocery list doesn’t show everything and won’t update. The calendar send reminders of appointments whenever it feels like it if at all. The app is just trash anymore. Update: deleted app. Found a much better one.
- [R302] Great tool for stopping marital rows!!!: This is great app for helping us organise ourselves as a couple/family and avoiding the inevitable rows as a result of diary clashes and double-booking. It would be even better if diary notifications could be sent to phones vs email and also the month could be clearer in “month view” mode.
- [R49] Recipe Adds Faulty: Have paid subscription. Cannot get recipe url to save.
- [R232] No development on this app for ages. Waste of money: I used this app a long time ago and switched to another for a couple of years, I came back to this recently (2026) and have been disappointed to find that despite paying for it it is actually worse than when I used to pay for it in 2023. Recipes don't work anymore and nothing has improved. I think the devs have all just moved on. Not worth payin
- [R4] $$: Great app but too much $$$
- [R17] Kat: I love Cozi but the Cozi gold is pricey and could be a lower price.
- [R75] Premium: You should have a monthly charge so not locked in for a year
- [R140] Too exspensive: I like Cozi , but they are charging way too much yearly for the features they offer.
- [R57] One bad “feature”: I used and played for Cozi for several years. This was set up for our large family for mostly birthdays and anniversaries. One day, I went to add a new birthday and Cozi couldn’t find my account. I sent in a support request to find out what was going on. Turned out, a vindictive niece changed the shared family password and then deleted the whole account!!! I paid for Cozi, n
- [R245] A few things I wish would change: First, this is overall a great app. I do not, however, like the concept it tracks my whereabouts from other apps I’m using on my phone ( was not aware of it till today), and the fact to have it fully functional I need to pay a rather high fee every year. I’ll look for another app.
- [R253] Data harvesting firm: Want to sell my data rather than make a decent, intuitive app.
- [R99] Constantly Freezing: This app would be revolutionary if it actually worked. Every time I click “add an event” the app completely freezes. I cannot click cancel or save. Just totally frozen. I completely close out of the app and go back in and the same exact thing happens again.
- [R127] Doesn’t work: I downloaded the app yesterday and it is not working. It will not let me add calendar events. It freezes up on that screen and needs to be forced close.
- [R192] Paywall: Everything is behind a paywall you can’t even plan to next month not suggested there are many better apps out there
- [R213] Not Free: Completely useless. Forces you to pay for a subscription to do literally anything on this app
- [R311] Full calendar appears to have been reinstated again for the free version: I’ve been using Cozi for several years now - just the free version. It’s been really handy, but now they have suddenly stopped allowing you to access more than 30 days ahead without paying to upgrade to Gold! Which means I can’t now access all my diary entries past mid-June. The free version only gives you 30 days! Who wants
- [R167] Freezing when Adding Event: I have downloaded this app twice in hopes for a working app. Every time I try to add an event, it freezes and I have to exit the app. I have tried multiple times with no luck. I will delete the app and find another option bc I don’t have time to continue to try.
- [R143] Auto populate locations: I love the app, but I would like it a lot better if it could auto populate addresses and link to them when I’m ready to go there. Other than that, I love it. However, I use both Google calendar and this right now because of that.
- [R284] Needs an outlook integration!: It mostly meets our needs but I do wish I could just forward an Outlook calendar request to it from my work calendar and add stuff easily to my work calendar from my home one too
Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store