Best App for Au Pair Families
An honest comparison of the apps most host families use — including their strengths, limitations, and who each one suits best.
What Matters in an Au Pair App
Most families coordinate with an au pair differently than with their own children. It is not just about school events and household chores — it is about working hours tracking, secure document storage (visas, insurance, contracts), task-linked communication, and an interface accessible to au pairs from non-English-speaking countries. General family apps often fall short on these points.
Our Evaluation Criteria
- •Au pair-specific features (working hours, onboarding)
- •Child profiles with medical info
- •Document storage
- •Multilingual support
- •Task and communication management
- •Value for money
The Apps at a Glance
AuPairSync
✅ Pros
- •Built specifically for au pair households
- •Working hours tracking built in
- •Secure document storage for visas, passports
- •Task-linked messaging with photo instructions
- •Child profiles with medical info and routines
- •English + German interface
- •Free for 30 days, then €4.99 a month for the whole family
❌ Cons
- •Smaller user base than general family apps
Best for: Host families who want a single, purpose-built app for au pair coordination.
Cozi
✅ Pros
- •Strong family calendar and chore lists
- •Meal planning included
- •Large user base with proven reliability
- •Available on iOS and Android
❌ Cons
- •No working hours tracking for au pairs
- •No secure document storage
- •No au pair-specific onboarding
- •Premium version costs ~$30/year
Best for: Families who primarily need shared calendars and chore lists, and do not require au pair-specific features.
OurHome
✅ Pros
- •Gamified chore management for kids and families
- •Shopping lists included
- •Clean and easy-to-use interface
- •Available on iOS and Android
❌ Cons
- •Not designed for au pair coordination
- •No working hours tracking
- •No document storage
- •No au pair onboarding workflow
Best for: Families with children who want gamified chore management — not specifically au pair coordination.
WhatsApp + Google Calendar
✅ Pros
- •Universally familiar, no new app to install
- •Free
- •Works cross-platform
❌ Cons
- •Important messages get buried quickly
- •No working hours tracking
- •No child profiles or medical info
- •No task-linked messaging
- •No secure document storage
- •No au pair-specific features at all
Best for: Families just starting out who want zero setup cost — but likely to outgrow this quickly.
Verdict
For host families coordinating with an au pair, AuPairSync is the only app genuinely built for this use case. Cozi and OurHome are solid general family apps but lack au pair-specific capabilities. WhatsApp + Google Calendar is a workable starting point, but most families find the coordination overhead grows quickly.
