Built by a parent
who needed it.

Why this exists

When my co-parent and I separated, we tried OurFamilyWizard. Six months in, every screen still reminded us that the product was designed for conflict. Every push notification carried implicit subpoena energy. We were amicable. We didn’t need a litigation backbone. We needed a shared calendar that understood two households.

We tried the general-purpose family apps next. Cozi, FamCal, TimeTree. The opposite problem: built for one household, no concept of overnight handoffs, no reimbursement model, no two-parent approval workflow for anything. We were hacking shared Google Calendars and Venmo memos.

So I built what we actually needed: a calendar that knows two homes share kids, an expenses tab designed for reimbursement rather than ledger-keeping, and records that run quietly in the background unless you choose to look at them. One parent pays for the whole family. The other is always free.

What CoFam will never be

These are explicit constraints, not aspirations:

• A surveillance tool or litigation engine
• A per-parent paywall (one plan covers the whole family)
• A platform that sells family data
• An app that grades, scores, or records the tone of your messages
• Anything that makes one parent feel watched by the other

OurFamilyWizard and TalkingParents both started as general co-parenting tools and drifted into litigation infrastructure. That drift permanently anchored them to the high-conflict market and narrowed their product decisions for years. CoFam’s hard no-list is the strategic moat against the same outcome. Full positioning at Why CoFam.

Bootstrapped. No venture capital.

CoFam is self-funded and intends to stay that way. The consequence is straightforward: the product’s revenue comes from families paying for the app, from $7.99/mo per family, not from ad revenue, data resale, or enterprise contracts with court systems. That constraint shapes every feature decision. If two amicable parents wouldn’t pay for it, it doesn’t ship.

Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial, and the co-parent’s seat is always free, so trying CoFam never costs your family a second subscription.

Stack and principles

CoFam runs on React Native + Expo (iOS, iPadOS, Android), with a web app coming at app.getcofam.com. The backend is Convex: reactive reads, transactional mutations, real-time sync across all devices in a family without polling. Auth via Clerk. Push notifications via Expo. Receipts and attachments via Cloudflare R2. Error tracking via Sentry. Analytics via PostHog.

Three principles that aren’t negotiable: end-to-end- encrypted attachments, opt-in audit log visibility (Court mode is off by default and requires bilateral consent to activate), and bilateral approval for any policy change that shifts a cost or obligation onto the other parent.

Get in touch

Founder: josh@getcofam.com
Support: help@getcofam.com , a real person, one business day.
Press & partnerships: admin@getcofam.com

For mediators, parenting coordinators, therapists, and GALs/AMCs, see CoFam for Professionals.