coParenter app review: pricing, mediation, and what its records actually prove
- coParenter is not free. After a 30-day trial, its App Store listing shows $12.99 a month or $119.99 a year for one user, and a shared plan for two users at $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year.
- Its distinguishing feature is mediation on demand: a live coParenter mediator that both parents can bring a disagreement to inside the app.
- An agreement reached that way is an agreement between the parents. Until a judge approves it and enters it, it is generally not a court order.
- coParenter says its messages are time-stamped and cannot be edited or deleted, and that exchange check-ins log location only at the planned exchange. Its pages do not describe independent timestamping 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 coParenter app free, and how much does it cost?
The download is free, and so is the first month. After that it is a subscription.
coParenter’s own site does not carry a pricing page. The prices are in its App Store description, which lists four auto-renewing plans for US customers after a 30-day trial:
- Monthly: $12.99 a month.
- Annual: $119.99 billed once a year, presented as $9.99 a month.
- Shared monthly: $19.99 a month for two users.
- Shared annual: $199.99 billed once a year for two users, presented as $16.67 a month.
The listing’s in-app purchase section also shows several other plan names at lower prices, which the description does not explain. Figures verified on 7 October 2026. The app is made by Hyphenus, Inc., and its listing showed an update in early October 2026, so it is still maintained. Prices outside the US vary.
Does each parent need their own coParenter subscription?
Each user needs a plan, but two users can share one.
The single plans cover one person. The shared plans cover two, and cost less than two single plans bought separately: $19.99 a month against $25.98, or $199.99 a year against $239.98. That is a different model from 2houses, where one parent pays for the whole family, and from OurFamilyWizard, where each parent generally holds their own subscription.
A shared plan means one of you pays for both. Whether that suits your situation is worth settling before the trial ends rather than after the first renewal.
What features does the coParenter app offer?
The App Store listing groups them into six areas:
- Parenting plans and calendars: a plan built by answering a set of questions, a shared color-coded calendar, and same-day visits.
- Requests: asking the other parent to agree to day-to-day decisions such as haircuts, diet, media and allowance, to add calendar items, or to modify the plan.
- Mediation and counseling: on-demand sessions with a live coParenter mediator, and one-on-one counseling.
- Messages: in-app messaging that cannot be edited or deleted, with AI filters meant to catch hostile language before it is sent.
- Expenses and agreements: spending decisions, expense tracking and reimbursement requests.
- Exchange check-ins: geo-tagged, time-stamped records of pick-ups and drop-offs.
It runs on iPhone, iPad and Android. On the US App Store it held a 3.5 rating from 166 ratings on the date we checked.
How does coParenter mediation work, and is the agreement binding?
This is what coParenter is built around, and the reason to choose it over the others.
The listing describes unlimited on-demand mediation with a live, qualified coParenter mediator who helps both parents reach an agreement. The coParenter site says mediators document the resolutions, and that these can be referenced later or even used in court. The listing does not say which credentials its mediators hold or in which states.
What matters more is the result.
“Mediation produces an agreement, not a court order.”
That holds for an agreement reached in an app as much as one reached in an office. A resolution written down by a coParenter mediator is a record of what two parents agreed. As a general rule it carries the force of a court order only once a judge has approved it and entered it, and the steps for that vary by state. If mediation produces an arrangement you both intend to rely on, ask your attorney how to get it in front of the court. Our guide to preparing for custody mediation covers what to bring to any mediation, in an app or not.
Can messages on coParenter be edited or deleted?
According to coParenter, no. Its listing says messages cannot be edited or deleted, and its site describes them as time-stamped, non-editable and undeletable, with a history of conversations, requests, agreements and check-ins that can be exported.
The AI filter sits in front of that. It is meant to flag hostile wording before a message goes out, so the permanent thread holds less of it.
“Regardless of what the other parent says or does, you are in control of your own actions.”
A filter can catch a word. It cannot write the message, and a thread that nobody can edit will show months later how you wrote, calm or otherwise. The useful habit is the same with or without the filter: short, specific, about the child.
What coParenter does not describe is how an export is proved. Its site calls the exported history admissible; its pages do not describe a hash, a seal, or a timestamp from an outside authority. Whether any record is admitted is decided by the judge under the evidence rules in your state, not by the app. Our guide to what holds up in family court covers the general authentication question.
How do coParenter exchange check-ins work?
A check-in records where your phone was and when, at a planned pick-up or drop-off.
coParenter says the app retrieves location data only for the check-in, logging your location during the planned exchange and not tracking it in between. Each check-in is geo-tagged and time-stamped, and both parents can see the record and receive notifications.
Used that way, a check-in is your own record of your own arrival, which is the useful part. It shows you were at the agreed place at the agreed time. It does not show what happened at the exchange, which is why a short note of your own, written the same day, is still worth keeping. Our guides to custody exchange rules and documenting missed handoffs and late pickups cover what that note should hold.
Is coParenter court approved?
No app is court approved, coParenter 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, coParenter does not replace it. If your order names none, which app you use is between the two households and their attorneys.
The same goes for its mediation. A coParenter mediator is not a court, and an agreement reached there does not change an existing order until a judge changes it.
What are the pros and cons of coParenter?
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Mediation on demand, inside the app | A mediated agreement is not a court order until a judge enters it |
| A shared plan for two costs less than two single plans | No free tier after the 30-day trial |
| Messages cannot be edited or deleted, according to coParenter | Its pages do not describe a certified export or independent timestamps |
| Check-ins log location only at the planned exchange, per its site | Pricing is in the App Store listing, not on its own site |
| Requests for everyday decisions, with a record of the answer | Records what passes between households, not your ordinary days |
How does coParenter compare with other parenting apps?
Stronger than the rest on resolving disagreements. About the same as the rest on how its records are proved.
No other app in the category builds a mediator into the subscription. On OurFamilyWizard each parent generally holds their own subscription. 2houses charges once for the whole family. AppClose costs less a month and offers certified business-record exports. Our 2houses review, 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, a request, a check-in, a mediation session. That is the design and it works. But an evening where you collect your daughter from swim practice, make dinner, and go through her reading log 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 coParenter free?
No. The app is free to download and has a 30-day trial. After that, its App Store listing shows $12.99 a month or $119.99 a year for one user, and $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year for two users on a shared plan.
Do both parents have to pay for coParenter?
Each user needs a plan, but a shared plan covers two users for less than two single plans. On a shared plan, one payment covers both parents.
Can you delete messages on coParenter?
According to coParenter, no. Messages are time-stamped and cannot be edited or deleted, and the history can be exported.
Is an agreement made through coParenter mediation legally binding?
It is an agreement between the two parents. As a general rule, it does not carry the force of a court order until a judge approves it and enters it, and the process varies by state. Ask your attorney before relying on one. This is general information, not legal advice.
Is coParenter 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 coParenter or Hyphenus, Inc. Pricing and features were verified against coParenter’s own site and App Store listing on 7 October 2026 and change without notice. Evidence rules and the process for entering an agreed parenting plan vary by state and are applied by the court.
- coParenter
- coParenter on the App Store
- RFC 3161: Internet X.509 Time-Stamp Protocol
- San Diego Divorce Mediation & Family Law: Can a Parenting Plan Made Through Mediation Be Enforced?
- Damien McKinney, The McKinney Law Group: How to Handle Custody Exchanges Without Conflict
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.