2houses app review: pricing, features, and what its records actually prove
- 2houses is not free. Its pricing page lists $169.99 a year, presented as $14.17 a month, after a 14-day trial. The App Store listing also shows a monthly in-app plan at $27.99.
- One subscription covers the whole family. Only one parent pays, and both parents, the children, third parties and a mediator can be given access.
- Its strongest feature is the finance section: a running balance of who owes what, payment invitations, reports by category or period, and export to CSV or PDF.
- 2houses says its messages can be archived or printed but never deleted. Its own pages do not describe independent timestamping or sealing of what is stored.
- No app is court approved. A judge can order a named platform, which is a different thing from a court endorsing it.
Is the 2houses app free, and how much does it cost?
The download is free. Using it past the trial is not.
The 2houses pricing page lists one plan at $169.99 billed every 12 months, which it presents as $14.17 a month, after a 14-day free trial. Billing renews automatically unless the subscription is cancelled before the trial or the renewal date ends. The app’s App Store listing also shows a monthly in-app subscription at $27.99, alongside several older plan names at lower prices that appear to belong to earlier subscribers.
So the honest answer to “how much is 2houses” depends on how you pay: about $170 a year if you commit annually, or close to $28 a month if you buy month by month in the app. Figures verified on 6 October 2026; product pricing changes without notice, and the name is written both 2houses and 2 Houses.
Does each parent need their own 2houses subscription?
No, and this is the main thing that sets 2houses apart on price.
2houses sells one account for the whole family. Only one parent subscribes, and that subscription gives access to both parents, the children, third parties and a mediator. The cost of the subscription can itself be split through the finance section, and the other parent can ask to take over paying it.
There is no account administrator. 2houses says each parent has the same rights, with one parent managing the subscription. Each parent signs in with their own login.
What features does the 2houses app offer?
The full set is on every plan. It runs on the web, iPhone and Android, and covers:
- A shared calendar with a custody schedule wizard, change requests the other parent can accept or counter, recurring visits, school term import, and sync with iCal, Google and Outlook.
- Finance: a balance showing what needs to be paid and by whom, payment invitations, child support entries, categories, and reports you can export.
- Messages between the parents, with a child, or with the mediator.
- An information bank for contacts, clothing sizes, medical details such as allergies and vaccinations, and identity numbers.
- Document storage, photo albums, and a family journal it describes as a small family social network.
- Access settings that let parents decide what children, relatives and others can see.
One practical note on the information bank. It is built to hold sensitive identifiers, Social Security numbers among them, inside an account the other household also signs into. Whether a given detail belongs there is a decision worth making deliberately rather than by default.
Can messages on 2houses be deleted?
According to 2houses, no. Its features page says conversations can be archived or printed but can never be deleted.
That makes the message thread a permanent record of how each parent wrote, which cuts both ways. A calm, specific message reads well months later. A message sent in the middle of an argument also stays exactly as it was sent.
“Every message should be written with the understanding that a judge may read it.”
What 2houses does not describe is how the stored record is proved. Its pages talk about messages that cannot be deleted, and do not describe a certified export, a hash, or a timestamp from an outside authority. If your attorney expects to rely on the thread, ask how they would want it produced before you need it. Our guide to what holds up in family court covers the general authentication question.
How does expense tracking work on 2houses?
This is the part of 2houses most worth paying for.
Each expense goes in with a category. The app keeps a running balance of what has been paid and by whom, sends payment invitations to the other parent, records child support, and keeps a wish list for gifts. Reports can be viewed by period or by category, as figures or as a chart, and exported as CSV or PDF.
“As a family law attorney, I am often called in to resolve disputes over money that have gotten out of hand because of misunderstandings and escalating miscommunication.”
A shared balance that both parents can see removes most of the room for that kind of misunderstanding. What it still needs is the receipt behind each line. Our guides to documenting shared expenses and keeping receipts cover what to keep alongside the app.
Can a mediator or attorney see a 2houses account?
A mediator can, and the access is broad.
2houses runs a partner programme for mediators and other family professionals. A partner can create accounts for clients, is offered free professional access on request, and is paid a commission for each client who subscribes. 2houses states that the mediator has full read-only access to the whole account.
Read-only means the mediator cannot change anything, which is the right design. Whole account means everything both parents have put in, including the information bank. It is worth knowing that before a mediator is added, and worth knowing that the professional recommending the app may be in its partner programme.
Is 2houses court approved?
No app is court approved, 2houses included.
Courts do not certify or endorse software. What happens is that a judge orders both parents to use a named platform, which makes it mandatory in that case. If your order names a different app, 2houses does not replace it. If your order names none, which app you use is between the two households and their attorneys.
Nobody at a court is reading the account.
What are the pros and cons of 2houses?
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| One subscription for the whole family, paid by one parent | Monthly in-app price is close to $28, much higher than the annual rate |
| Strong finance section with a running balance and CSV or PDF export | Its pages do not describe a certified export or independent timestamps |
| Messages cannot be deleted, according to 2houses | A mediator sees the whole account, not a chosen part of it |
| Calendar sync with iCal, Google and Outlook | Information bank invites storing sensitive identifiers in a shared space |
| Web, iPhone and Android, in several languages | Records what passes between households, not your ordinary days |
How does 2houses compare with other parenting apps?
Better value for a family that pays annually and wants one shared account. Weaker on how its records are proved.
OurFamilyWizard and TalkingParents price per parent account, so two households pay twice. 2houses charges once for the family. AppClose is cheaper per month and has the strongest certified-records feature in the category, plus a Solo Mode for when the other parent will not join. Our AppClose review and OurFamilyWizard vs TalkingParents comparison cover those directly, and the full comparison of parenting apps puts them side by side.
What does no shared parenting app record?
The ordinary day inside one household.
Every feature above starts with an interaction: a message, an expense, a calendar change, a payment invitation. That is the design and it works. But an evening where you collect your son from practice, make dinner, and sit through a spelling list generates none of those things, because the other household was not involved.
Most of what a custody decision turns on is made of days like that one, and a shared account was never built to hold them.
Documented covers the other half. A short dated entry about your own day, sealed and independently timestamped by an outside authority under RFC 3161 rather than by us, so the proof of when it was written does not rest on our word or our continued existence. Use it alongside whichever app your order names.
Frequently asked questions
Is 2houses free?
No. The app is free to download and has a 14-day free trial. After that, its pricing page lists $169.99 a year, presented as $14.17 a month, and the App Store listing shows a monthly in-app plan at $27.99. One subscription covers the whole family.
Do both parents have to pay for 2houses?
No. Only one parent subscribes, and that gives access to both parents, the children, third parties and a mediator. The cost can be split through the app’s finance section, and the other parent can ask to take over paying.
Can you delete messages on 2houses?
According to 2houses, no. Conversations can be archived or printed but never deleted, so every message stays as it was sent.
Is 2houses court approved?
No app is. Courts do not certify software. A judge can order both parents to use a named platform, which makes it mandatory in that case, but that is an order in one case rather than an approval of the product.
References
This article puts publicly available product information in context and explains general concepts. It is not legal advice, and Documented is not a law firm and is not affiliated with 2houses. Pricing and features were verified against 2houses’ own site and App Store listing on 6 October 2026 and change without notice. Evidence rules vary by state and are applied by the court.
- 2houses pricing
- 2houses features
- 2houses for professionals
- 2houses on the App Store
- RFC 3161: Internet X.509 Time-Stamp Protocol
- Stange Law Firm, PC: Using Our Family Wizard (or Similar Apps) in Court: What Judges Look For
- Lisa Zeiderman, Miller Zeiderman LLP: Expense-Sharing Apps for Divorced Parents
Related articles
Documented is a private, tamper-evident record of how you show up for your kids. This article is general information, not legal advice, and Documented is not a law firm.