One board for the whole family
Notes, plans, shopping and expenses — all in one place.
Family things, kept where everyone can find them.
The first person signs up with an email. Everyone else just types a 6-digit code.
📱 Better on your phone
The web and the phone app share one account — everything syncs instantly.
Want to start now? Tap “Get started” above — the web version has everything.
Board
Write a line and the whole family sees it. Who's read it, who liked it, who said thanks — all at a glance. One note can go to several boards at once — one board for you and your partner, another for you and your parents, and neither can see the other.
Calendar
See who's busy when, at a glance. Ask “Are you coming?” and family answer with one tap. Important days remind you ahead of time, so nothing slips your mind.
Pantry
A shopping list anyone can add to. Check it before you head out, tick things off when you're back. Expenses are totaled by category, so you can see where this month's money went.
Chats
One-on-one private messages. Some things are meant for just one person.
How it works
About two minutes from creating the board to everyone being in.
1. Create the board
Sign up with an email and give your family a name. You are the only one who has to do this, and it takes about a minute.
2. Invite the family
Family Magnet gives you a six-digit code for each family member. Drop it in the family chat — it is valid for seven days. They don't sign up and don't install anything.
3. Use it together
Write a note, add an event, put soy sauce on the shopping list. You can see who has read it and who replied.
🌏 Across time zones, on the same board
Kids abroad, parents back home — one board still works: parents don't install anything or sign up, the web version opens right in the browser. Everyone sees it in their own language, with expenses in their own currency. You set it up, drop the six-digit code in the family chat, and they're in.
👵 Made for family who aren't great with phones
- · Big icons, big text, few menus — grandparents can use it too
- · No sign-up to join: a family member reads you a 6-digit code, you type it in, and you're in
- · Share how you feel with an emoji — no typing needed to say “I'm fine”
🔒 About privacy
No ads, no profiling, no selling your data. Boards are strictly separated from each other, and that separation is enforced in the database — not just hidden in the interface. You can delete your account from inside the app at any time.
Read the full privacy policy →Core features are free
Notes, calendar, lists and expenses are free, with no limit on family members.
No ads, ever
No ads, no profiling, no selling data. If we ever charge, it will be an optional subscription with a clear price.
Your family's data is yours
Export all your notes, events and expenses anytime, right from the app.
Detailed answers
Full answers to a few specific questions.
- My parents won't create another account. How do they join our family board?Only the person who creates the family needs an email. Everyone else joins as a full member with a six-digit code — no signup, no app. Valid seven days.
- Our family lives in three time zones. How do we share one calendar?One event, and everyone sees it in their own time zone — no mental arithmetic, no “(Beijing time)” in the title. Language and currency follow each device.
- Can one app handle both a shared shopping list and family expenses?No more juggling a list app and a budget app. A shared shopping list and category-totalled expenses live on one board. Free, with no member limit.
Guides: comparing shared calendar apps
Free plans, prices and sign-up rules, each read off the vendor’s own page and dated.
- Best shared calendar apps in 2026: which one fits who you are sharing withThe best shared calendar depends on who is on it: a partner, a whole family, or relatives who will not sign up. What each app gives free, sourced.
- Best shared family calendar apps in 2026: what each free plan actually gives youPrices and free-plan limits for five shared family apps, each one taken from the vendor's own page and dated.
- Cozi alternatives in 2026: what the free plans give youWhat Cozi's free plan restricts, and which four apps give that part away — with the price of each paid tier.
- How to share a calendar on iPhoneApple's own steps, plus the requirement that stops most families: everyone you share with needs an iCloud account.
- How to share a Google Calendar with your familyGoogle's own steps, its five permission levels spelled out, and which one a family actually wants.
- TimeTree alternatives in 2026: when a shared calendar is not enoughTimeTree's free calendar is hard to beat; the alternatives are about what it does not do — lists, expenses, and relatives without accounts.
Common questions
What is Family Magnet?
Family Magnet is a shared board for one family: notes, a calendar, a shopping list and expenses in one place. Everyone in the family sees the same board, in a phone or desktop browser.
Do my parents need to sign up?
No. The first person creates the family with an email address. Everyone else joins by typing a six-digit invite code — no email, no password, no app store.
Does Family Magnet cost anything?
The core features are free. Notes, the calendar, shopping lists and expenses are free, with no limit on how many family members join.
Does it work when the family lives in different countries?
Yes. Children abroad and parents back home share one board: each person sees the interface in their own device's language and expenses in their own currency. The interface is available in fifteen languages, including right-to-left Arabic.
Do I need to download or install anything?
No. The web version opens in any browser, which is also the easiest way to get a relative who isn't comfortable with phones onto the board.
Can I keep some things visible to only part of the family?
Yes. One family can have several boards — one for you and your partner, another for you and your parents — and a note goes only to the boards you pick. Boards are strictly separated from each other, and that separation is enforced in the database, not just hidden in the interface. There are also one-to-one private chats.
Can grandparents actually use it?
Family Magnet is built to be elder-friendly: big icons, big text, few menus, plus a large-text mode. Joining needs no signup — a family member reads out the six-digit code and they type it in. Someone who doesn't like typing can check in with a single emoji.
Are there ads? Do you sell my data?
No ads, no profiling, no selling your data, and no sharing it with third parties for marketing.
Can I get my family's data out?
Yes. You can export all of the family's notes, events and expenses at any time from the Me page.
How do I delete everything?
You can delete your account from inside the app at any time. Deleting the account also clears the data tied to it; the privacy policy spells out the exact scope.
How long is the six-digit invite code valid?
Seven days. If it expires, generate a new one and send that instead.
What do families actually use it for?
Who's cooking tonight, whether you're out of soy sauce, what time you're visiting Grandpa on Saturday, whether the electric bill got paid — the things that aren't worth a phone call but get lost two screens up in a group chat.
Can other families see our content?
No. Every board belongs to one specific family; someone from a different family is never a member of any of your boards. That separation is enforced in the database, not just hidden in the interface — the same mechanism that keeps your board with your partner separate from your board with your parents.