Debs vs Cozi
It's Sunday night and you're typing next week into the family calendar: PE Tuesday, swimming Wednesday, the trip money due Friday. Then the school sends a letter on Monday that changes half of it.
Cozi is a tidy shared calendar with shopping lists and a recipe box, and everything goes in by hand. Debs fills the school side in for you: it reads the school's emails and letters and tells you the night before what each child needs. Lots of families would happily use Cozi for the food shop and Debs for school.
What Cozi is great at
Cozi is a shared family calendar with lists and meal planning.
- A simple colour-coded calendar the whole family can share
- Shopping lists and to-do lists that sync between phones
- Meal planning and a recipe box
- A daily agenda email
What Debs adds
- Reads your school emails and the letters attached to them, so the dates arrive on their own
- Knows your school: term dates, INSET days and the school day, from the school's own website
- A packing list for each child the night before: PE kit or uniform, what to take, which club is on
- Forms, payments and replies with a Done button, and a nudge before the deadline
Side by side
| What matters | Cozi | Debs |
|---|---|---|
| How school dates get in | You type them in | Automatically* |
| Night-before packing list per child | No | Yes |
| Shopping lists and meal planning | Yes | No |
| Shared family calendar | Yes | Yes, and it shows in Google or Apple Calendar |
| Chores for the children | To-do lists | Chores and routines with stars and rewards |
| Made for UK schools | No, it's a general family organiser | Yes, every UK school is in it |
| What it costs | Free with ads (the calendar shows 30 days ahead); Cozi Gold is US$39 a year | Free to try, then £5.49 a month to read your school emails, or £3.49 a month for Debs Diary, which doesn't (UK pricing) |
*After a few minutes’ setup: pick your school, add your children and connect your email inbox. Debs then checks the inbox for the senders you choose (the school, its apps and your clubs) and keeps your school’s term dates up to date. Don’t want to connect email? You can show Debs a screenshot or photo instead.
What we say about Cozi comes from cozi.com (plans and features pages), checked on 28 September 2026. Prices and features change, so check their website before you decide. Cozi is a trademark of its owner; Debs isn’t connected to it.
Using both
Keep Cozi for the shopping list and meal plan, and let Debs handle school. You can see Debs's calendar in Google or Apple Calendar too.
Which should you pick?
- Pick Cozi if you mainly want a shared shopping list and meal planner, and don't mind typing in school dates.
- Pick Debs if school is where things slip: the letters, the kit, the forms and the INSET days.
Questions parents ask
Does Debs do shopping lists?
No. Debs sticks to school, clubs and the family calendar. Cozi is good at lists, so plenty of families use both.
Can I see Debs's dates in the same place as Cozi?
Debs gives you a calendar link for Google or Apple Calendar. How Cozi shows outside calendars depends on your Cozi plan, so check Cozi's help pages.