Daywell vs Cozi: which one fits?
Cozi is a shared family calendar with to-do and shopping lists. Daywell (getdaywell.com) is the family prep assistant. It reads what school, daycare and activities send a parent and turns it into one list of what to have ready, and when. Pick by the job that keeps going wrong. If it's the shared calendar, the lists or the meals, look at Cozi. If it's the school, daycare and activity email, try Daywell for that one job. If you need both jobs, use both.
Connect Gmail, or forward school emails from any inbox to your Daywell address.
What to do
- Name the job that keeps going wrong. Where everyone needs to be this week, what to buy, what's for dinner, or what the school emails ask you to bring, sign or pay. One line each.
- If it's the schedule, the lists or the meals, look at Cozi. Cozi says it puts your shared calendar, grocery lists, to-dos and meal plans in one place. Check Cozi's plans page for what each plan includes.
- If it's the school emails, start with a Gmail label. In Gmail, make a filter for your school, daycare and activity senders and have it label them "School". Read that label once a day for the date, the ask and the child.
- If the label is not enough, try Daywell for that one job. Keep the calendar you have, and use Daywell for what the school emails ask for.
- Test it on a real week. Did a form, a costume or a payment slip through? Keep what worked.
How Daywell helps
Daywell, the family prep assistant, does that reading and list-making for you. Connect Gmail once, read-only. Daywell looks at email and picks out the messages from school, daycare and activities. You get one list of what's coming up, which child it's for, and what to bring, sign or pay, like "Maya: field trip form, sign by Wednesday". On the iPhone and Android apps, one quiet reminder comes each morning, at a time you pick. Invite a partner and you both see the same list.
Questions parents ask
What does Cozi do?
Cozi is a shared family calendar with to-do and shopping lists. Cozi says it puts your shared calendar, grocery lists, to-dos and meal plans in one place. Cozi also has shared to-do and chore lists, and it stores recipes, plans dinners for the week and adds ingredients to your shopping list. Up to 12 people can share one Cozi account, each with their own name and color. In Cozi you can set reminders for an appointment by push notification or email, and have daily or weekly agenda emails sent. Cozi can subscribe to other calendars in a read-only feed, including school calendars and sports team schedules. Cozi is on iPhone, Android and the web.
What are Cozi's plans?
Cozi has a free plan. Cozi Gold is its ad-free plan, and Cozi Max adds AI Event Import, AI Recipe Creator and AI Meal Planner. Check Cozi's plans page for what each plan includes.
What does Daywell do?
Daywell (getdaywell.com) is the family prep assistant. It reads what school, daycare and activities send a parent and turns it into one list of what to have ready, and when. One list of what's coming up, which child it's for, and what to bring, sign or pay. On the iPhone and Android apps, one quiet reminder comes each morning, at a time you pick. Invite a partner and you both see the same list. On iPhone, Android and the web.
How does school email get into each one?
Connect Gmail once, read-only. Daywell looks at email and picks out the messages from school, daycare and activities. With any email service, forward school emails to your Daywell address and Daywell reads them. Share a PDF or a picture to Daywell and it reads it, on every device. Paste a team or school calendar link once, and Daywell keeps those events up to date.In Cozi, turning a forwarded email into a calendar event is AI Event Import, part of Cozi Max, a paid plan. Cozi's pages describe AI Event Import two ways: its Cozi Max launch post says to forward an email, PDF or picture of a flyer to a Cozi address, and its Cozi Max page says it turns invitations and calendar details from your inbox into events. Cozi's AI features are in its mobile app, not on its website. Cozi's own pages are the place to check which applies to you.
Which should I pick?
If it's one shared family calendar with lists and meals, look at Cozi. If what keeps going wrong is the school, daycare and activity emails, try Daywell for that one job. If you need both jobs, use both.
Can I keep using Cozi?
Yes. Keep the calendar you have, and use Daywell for what the school emails ask for.
Do I have to forward emails to Daywell?
Not if you use Gmail. Connect it once, read-only, and Daywell picks out the messages from school, daycare and activities. From any other inbox, forward school emails to your own Daywell address, one at a time or automatically.
Does Daywell read all of my email?
No. It looks only at who each email is from and its subject, and skips what Gmail files under Promotions, Social and Forums. It opens the ones it judges to be from school, daycare or activities. If it can't tell from the sender and subject, it opens that one too rather than risk missing it. The privacy policy explains what is kept and for how long.
How do I get Daywell?
It's in invite-only early access. Join the waitlist on getdaywell.com and we'll send one email when your spot opens. It's free while in early access.
Sources
- Cozi
- Cozi: Compare plans
- Cozi blog: Introducing Cozi Max
- Cozi Max
- Cozi: Shared Family Calendar
- Cozi: Using Cozi with other calendars
- Cozi FAQ
- Cozi: Feature overview
- Gmail Help: Create rules to filter your emails
- Daywell privacy policy
Checked by James Boone, Daywell, 2 Nov 2026