Family Command Central vs TimeTree: an honest comparison

TimeTree is a popular shared calendar app: free with ads, with up to 20 calendars for family, friends or work. Family Command Central (Fam Central) is a family organizer app built for one household: the calendar plus shopping lists, tasks, chat, saved places and paperwork, with one subscription for the whole family, a free plan with small ads for parents only, and no ads on Pro. Here’s an honest comparison, including where TimeTree is the better pick.

At a glance

	Fam Central	TimeTree
Price	Free, or Pro at $9.99 a month or $89.99 a year. One subscription covers the family.	Free with ads. TimeTree Premium is $4.49 a month or $44.99 a year, for each person.
Free version	Yes. Free has up to 5 people and a 7-day calendar, with one small ad for parents. Pro starts with a 7-day free trial.	Yes, with ads, including several shared calendars.
Ads	One small banner for parents on Free, never for children. None on Pro.	In the free version, from outside ad networks.
Phones, tablets, computers	iPhone, iPad, and Android phones and tablets.	iPhone, Apple Watch, Android and the web. No iPad app: on an iPad it points you to the web.
TV or wall screen	Family Screens on Apple TV, Android TV, Google TV or a tablet (Pro).	None found.
Google, Outlook or iCloud calendars	Brings a parent’s in from their phone, as Busy for everyone else, and anyone can add the family’s to their own. Each direction is one-way.	Shows the phone’s calendars in your own view, and copies them into a shared calendar once. No export.
Calendars	One family calendar, with several people on an event.	Up to 20 calendars, for family, friends or work.
How far ahead	The next 7 days on Free, 13 months on Pro. Upcoming events only.	No limit stated.
Reminders	An event can remind the people going, or the whole family.	Each person sets their own.
Lists	Named shopping lists, with an optional store for each item.	To-do checklists and memos; no dedicated shopping list.
Family chat	A family chat on every plan; custom chats on Pro. A message can become a task, an event or a list item.	Comments, with photos, on each event.
Who can do what	Everyone signs in with their own Google or Apple account. Parents manage the family; children add things and tick them off; young children can be profiles.	Everyone has the same rights; the calendar’s creator can remove members. Children without an account can be “virtual members”.
Documents	A parents-only Vault for paperwork, with document scans (Pro).	File attachments on events with Premium.

Where TimeTree is the better pick

It has a free version. Free TimeTree, with ads, includes several shared calendars. Fam Central’s Free is one family calendar for up to 5 people, 7 days ahead.
Calendars beyond the family. Up to 20 calendars, each shared with up to 500 people, for friends, clubs or work. Fam Central is for one household.
More places to use it. TimeTree has an Apple Watch app and a website. Fam Central has neither.
Event Scan. TimeTree turns a photo of a flyer into events.
No limit stated on how far ahead you can plan. Fam Central shows upcoming events only: 7 days ahead on Free and up to 13 months on Pro.

Where Fam Central is the better pick

More than a calendar. Real shopping lists, with a store for each item, tasks with a name on them, saved places and projects. TimeTree has to-do checklists and memos, and suggests a memo for shopping.
One subscription for everyone. TimeTree Premium is per person, with no family plan, so four people going ad-free pay $4.49 a month each. Fam Central Pro covers up to 20 people for $9.99 a month.
Reminders that reach the right people. In Fam Central an event can remind everyone going, or the whole family. In TimeTree each person sets their own reminders.
Parents and children, not just members. TimeTree members all have the same rights. In Fam Central parents manage the family, children add and tick things off, and the Vault and member settings stay with the parents. Both let a young child appear without an account.
A chat that becomes the plan. TimeTree has comments on each event. Fam Central has a family chat where a message becomes a task, an event or a shopping item.
Your other calendars, for the family to see. A parent’s Google, iCloud or Outlook calendars show in the family’s, as Busy for everyone else, and anyone can add the family’s calendar to their own. TimeTree shows the phone’s calendars to you only.
The family’s day on the TV. On Pro, the TV or a kitchen tablet, including an iPad, can be a Family Screen.
No ads on Pro, and none for children on any plan. Fam Central’s Free shows one small banner to parents, never personalised, and we don’t sell personal data. TimeTree’s free version shows ads from outside networks, which may be targeted on behavior, and its privacy policy describes building profiles for personalized ads.

Which one to choose

Choose TimeTree if what you mostly need is shared calendars, for the family but also friends, clubs or work, and you’d like them free, or on an Apple Watch.

Choose Fam Central if you want the family’s whole week in one place: the calendar with lists, tasks, chat, places and paperwork, parents and children with the right permissions, the day on the TV, and one subscription for everyone, with no ads on Pro and none for children on any plan.

You don’t have to guess: both have a free version, and Pro starts with a 7-day free trial.

Try Fam Central with your family

Free costs nothing, and Pro starts with a 7-day free trial. One subscription covers the whole family.

Sources

TimeTree’s details come from its own website, help pages and app store listings, checked on 8 October 2026. Prices and features change, so check theirs before you decide. Spotted something out of date? Email support@familyccapp.com and we’ll fix it. Also see Fam Central vs Cozi.