Cozi vs DAKboard (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Cozi grades higher than DAKboard: 2.8 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Cozi grades higher on value for money, features and ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Cozi
Shared family calendar with shopping lists, to-dos and recipes
DAKboard
Wall display for calendars, photos and weather on any screen
Which one is for you
Pick Cozi if
- Fits if you want one calendar the whole family can see, color-coded by person
- Works for families of up to 12, since one $39 a year Gold subscription covers everyone
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want two-way sync with Google or Apple Calendar, since the feeds are read-only and can lag a day
- Tight if you're staying free: ads, events only 30 days ahead, one reminder per person and no month view on phones
- Not for you if the kids shouldn't be able to change everything, as everyone shares one password with full access
- Too light for work teams, with no file or photo attachments, no desktop app and no API
- Watch out: the Gold trial only exists on the website, and the AI tools cost $79 a year on Max
Pick DAKboard if
- Fits if you want the family schedule on a wall screen
- Works for an office that wants meeting rooms and photos on a display
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want to plan or book anything, since it only displays
- Tight if you stay on Free: 1 predefined screen, 2 calendars and DAKboard branding
- Watch out: calendars refresh every 60 minutes on Free and every 30 on Essential
- Watch out: extra screens cost $4 to $6 a month, and screens and hardware are sold separately
How we grade them
| 2.8GPACoziGood | 2.0GPADAKboardFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BGold is $39 a year for the whole family, up to 12 people, so $3.25 a month in total against a $6 middle per person in this category. Part of what it unlocks, though, like month view on your phone, is stuff free calendars give you anyway. | CEssential is $5 a month billed annually and Plus $8, around the category's $4.99 to $6.99 range. Hardware is sold separately. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe calendar, lists and recipes are free for everyone in the family, but you can only add events for the next 30 days. The dentist in six weeks won't go in. Add ads and one reminder per person and you'll hit the wall quickly. | CFree plan: 1 predefined screen, up to 2 calendars and DAKboard branding. A 30-day Essential trial is for new users only. |
| Features | CColor-coded calendar, shopping and to-do lists, chores, recipes and a meal planner, all shared. The gaps are ones the site owns up to: other calendars connect as read-only feeds only, access is all or nothing, and you can't attach a photo or file to an event. | DIt displays calendars, photos and weather but needs a calendar elsewhere to show anything useful. It is not a calendar you plan in. |
| Ease of use | A4.8 from about 400,000 App Store ratings. One reviewer's teenage daughter suggested it, and another family's babysitter entered the whole summer. Undoing things, like clearing a recipe off the list, is fiddlier. | CNo store rating on record. You lay out screens and connect each calendar account. |
| Platforms and integrations | BiPhone, Android and any browser, with links to Google, Outlook and Apple calendars. There's no desktop app and no API, though, and those three links are read-only feeds that can lag by hours. | BWeb and an Android app, on any display, with Google Calendar, iCloud, Microsoft 365, Home Assistant, SmartThings and Todoist. |
| Best for | busy families sharing one calendar | a calendar and photo screen for a wall |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Cozi and DAKboard. How we grade
Price against what you get
Cozi starts at $3.25 a month when paid by the year and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. DAKboard starts at $5 a month and scores 2.0.
Cozi scores higher and starts $1.75 a month lower. Of the other calendar and scheduling apps on the chart, 1 scores higher than Cozi for less, and 31 score higher than DAKboard for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Cozi also covers tasks.
- DAKboard also covers templates and dashboards.
At a glance
| Cozi | DAKboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $39 per year for the whole family (Cozi Gold) | $5 per month, billed annually ($6 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Free with ads: shared calendar, to-do and shopping lists and recipes for the whole family. Events can be entered for the next 30 days, with one reminder per attendee. | 1 predefined screen, up to 2 calendars, photos, weather, news and RSS, with DAKboard branding. |
| Free trial | Two-week free trial of Cozi Gold, only for subscriptions started on the Cozi website | 30-day free trial of Essential for users who have not tried Essential or Plus. |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Cozi Inc. | DAKboard |
| Price read from | cozi.com | dakboard.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Cozi
- The free version shows ads and only lets you enter events for the next 30 days; Cozi Gold gives unlimited future calendar access.
- Month view on mobile, calendar search, change notifications and the birthday tracker need Cozi Gold.
- Everyone on an account signs in with one shared password and has full access to its data; Cozi offers no restricted-access option.
- Connections to Google Calendar, Outlook and Apple Calendar are read-only feeds, not two-way sync.
DAKboard
- The free plan is limited to 1 predefined screen and 2 calendars, and keeps DAKboard branding.
- Calendars refresh only every 60 minutes on Free and every 30 on Essential.
- Extra screens cost $4 to $6 a month depending on plan and billing, and the trial is only for users who have not tried Essential or Plus.
- DAKboard also sells its own displays and hardware separately, which these plans do not include.
Key features
Cozi
- Color-coded family calendar
- Each of up to 12 family members gets a name and a color. The calendar shows everyone at once or filters to one person, on a computer or a phone.
- Reminders and agenda emails
- Reminders arrive as push notifications or email, and each person can receive a daily or weekly agenda email. Free accounts get one reminder per attendee; Gold allows three.
- Shopping and to-do lists
- Shared grocery lists, chore lists and as many other lists as you want. The shopping list can be emailed to whoever is at the store.
- Recipes and meal planning
- Store recipes, plan dinners for the week and add a recipe's ingredients to the shopping list.
- Cozi Today
- A single daily view of upcoming appointments, current to-dos and recently added shopping list items.
- AI tools in Cozi Max
- AI Event Import reads invitations and calendar details from email and adds them to the calendar. Max also generates recipes and builds meal plans around your preferences.
DAKboard
- Drag-and-drop screens
- Arrange blocks for calendars, photos, weather, news and more on a custom screen. The free plan offers predefined layouts only.
- Calendar sources
- Add Google, Apple iCloud and Microsoft Office 365 calendars, Facebook Events, or any ICS feed, and show them as monthly, weekly, agenda or up-next views.
- Any display
- Runs in a browser on smart TVs, tablets and monitors, as a native app on Fire TV and Android, or on a Raspberry Pi with DAKboard's downloadable OS.
- Screen loops and scheduling
- Plus can chain screens into a loop and schedule when blocks or whole screens show or hide. Both are listed against the Plus plan.
- Refresh speed by plan
- Calendars refresh every 60 minutes on Free, 30 on Essential and 15 on Plus; Plus also has an instant display refresh.
- Integrations
- Essential and Plus open every integration, including Home Assistant, SmartThings, Todoist, stock quotes and external JSON data.
Plans
Cozi
Cozi (Free)$0
Shared calendar, automatic notifications, shared grocery and to-do lists, and recipes, supported by ads.
Cozi Gold$39
per year, one subscription for the whole family
No ads, month view on mobile, calendar search, up to three reminders per event, change notifications, birthday tracker and Shopping Mode.
Cozi Max$79
per year, one subscription for the whole family
Everything in Gold, plus AI Event Import, AI Recipe Creator and AI Meal Planner.
DAKboard
Free$0
1 predefined screen layout, up to 2 calendars, TouchHub, photos, weather and news.
Essential$5
per month, billed annually ($6 billed monthly)
2 custom screens (extra $4 a month), up to 5 calendars, all integrations, templates and custom CSS.
Plus$8
per month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)
3 custom screens (extra $5 a month), unlimited calendars, 500 MB media library, screen loops and scheduling.
Ways to pay less
Cozi
No public discounts listed.
DAKboard
- Annual discount
Cheaper per month on yearly billing
DAKboard's pricing page lists Essential at $5 a month and Plus at $8 when billed annually, against $6 and $10 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Cozi or DAKboard?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Cozi is cheaper to start with: $3.25 a month when paid by the year, against $5 a month for DAKboard. Cozi starts at $39 per year for the whole family (Cozi Gold), and DAKboard starts at $5 per month, billed annually ($6 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Cozi or DAKboard?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Cozi and DAKboard have a free plan.
Which platforms do Cozi and DAKboard run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Cozi lists an iOS app. Both list a web app and an Android app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.