The best shared list apps for families in 2026
It depends on what you are sharing. For groceries only, AnyList and OurGroceries are the two apps built around the shopping list, and Bring! is worth a look if you shop in Europe. For a family calendar with lists attached, Cozi. For work tasks or personal projects, Todoist or Any.do. If you want nobody in the family to install anything, Mato.do takes items by WhatsApp message and keeps the list on a shared web page.
Microsoft To Do and Google Keep are the free default when the whole household already has a Microsoft or Google account.
Mato.do is our product. The other entries rely on each app's official documentation and its App Store and Google Play listings, checked on 25 September 2026. We have not tested every app in real use.
How we compared
A family list only works if everyone opens it. So we looked first at what each app asks of the least motivated person in the house, then at the rest:
- Does every member need the app and an account, or is a link enough?
- How items get in: typing, voice, photos, a messaging app.
- Whether groceries sort by aisle or category, which saves time in the store.
- What sharing costs for a household, which is often not the single-user price.
- Ads in the free version.
App Store prices come from the French store, in euros, where Apple often shows several prices for one plan (promotions, older tiers). Dollar prices come from each vendor's pricing page and may vary by country. When no official source covered a point, we wrote "not documented" instead of guessing. The order follows needs, from groceries to family planning to tasks. It is not a ranking.
The comparison at a glance
| App | Best for | Free version | Paid price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AnyList | Meal planning feeding the grocery list | Create and share lists | Complete: $9.99/year, $14.99/year household | Not documented |
| OurGroceries | Every feature free, one shared login | All features, with ads | Ad removal about $1/month, $6/year or $20 lifetime | Not documented |
| Bring! | Aisle-sorted lists, recipes, European store offers | Lists and sharing, with ads | €1.99/month or €9.99/year (French App Store) | Not documented |
| Mato.do | No install, items added from WhatsApp | Solo, no time limit | Family: €1.50/month or €10/year | Add by text, voice note or photo |
| Cozi | Family calendar with lists attached | Calendar, lists, meal planner, with ads | Cozi Gold: $39/year for the whole account | Not documented |
| Any.do | Tasks, calendar and groceries in one app | Personal use, no sharing | Premium $4.99/month billed yearly; Family $8.33/month billed yearly | Bot on Premium and Family plans |
| Todoist | Work tasks and projects | Starter: 5 personal projects | Pro: €5/user/month billed yearly | Not documented |
| Microsoft To Do | Households already on Microsoft and Outlook | Free | None, the app is free | Invite link through any messaging app |
| Google Keep | Families on Google, simple checklists | Free | None, the app is free | Not documented |
Checked on 25 September 2026. "French App Store": price on the French store listing, which can show several tiers. Not documented: the official sources we checked do not mention it, which does not prove the feature is missing.
AnyList
Best for: households that cook from recipes and want the meal plan to fill the grocery list.
The free AnyList app covers the basics: create lists, share any of them by email, and see changes show up for everyone instantly. The paid tier, AnyList Complete, lists a meal-planning calendar, recipe import from websites and a grocery list built from the meal plan. Complete also unlocks the web app, the Mac app, Apple Watch, item photos, store aisles, and Alexa or Siri. The free version caps recipe imports at five. Everyone you share with needs an AnyList account: the invitee registers with the email address the invite went to, and household members must already have an account.
Strengths: Recipes and the meal plan feed the shopping list directly.
Limits: Aisle sorting, the web app and voice assistants all sit behind the paid plan. Every member needs an account.
Price: Free core app. AnyList Complete: $9.99 a year for one person or $14.99 a year for a household, on AnyList's site.
Source: AnyList Complete
OurGroceries
Best for: families who want every feature for free and can live with a small ad banner.
OurGroceries puts every feature in the free version and pays for it with small ads at the bottom of the screen. Items group by aisle or category, can carry photos and notes, and can be added by scanning a barcode; recipes can go straight onto the list. The app runs on Android, iPhone, iPad, the web, Apple Watch and Wear OS, and works with Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant. Sharing works differently from most apps here: the household signs in to one shared OurGroceries account with a single email address. If one person pays to remove ads, the ads also go away for everyone they share lists with.
Strengths: Nothing is held back in the free version, and one upgrade removes ads for the whole household.
Limits: Everyone shares one login instead of having their own account. The free version shows ads.
Price: Free with ads. Ad removal costs about US$1 a month, US$6 a year or US$20 for life, and varies by country.
Source: OurGroceries user guide
Bring!
Best for: households in Europe who want the list sorted in the order of their store.
Bring! is free for creating and sharing lists, browsing recipes and checking offers. Items sort into categories on their own, and you can reorder the categories to match the store you use. Ingredients from a web recipe go onto the list in one click, and loyalty cards live in Bring! Wallet. The retailer offers tab only exists in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and France, so readers in the US or the UK won't see it. You can add items by voice, including through Alexa and Siri. Bring! runs on iOS, Android, tablets, watches and the web, and shared lists update in real time with push notifications.
Strengths: Category order you can match to your own store, and one-click recipe import.
Limits: Every member needs a Bring! account, invited through the email they already use there. The free version shows ads, and the help centre says a family Premium account is not available at the moment.
Price: Free. Bring! Premium is €1.99 a month or €9.99 a year on the French App Store. The pages we checked do not spell out what Premium adds.
Mato.do
Best for: families where everyone already has WhatsApp and nobody wants another app.
Mato.do is our product, and we held it to the same criteria as the rest. You text Mato on WhatsApp, send a voice note, or snap the handwritten list on the fridge, and Google's Gemini AI sorts the items into a shared list you open as a web page. There is nothing to install. Adding and viewing items needs no account; you only need one to manage family members. The Solo plan is free with no time limit. Sharing the list with others takes the Family plan, for 2 to 4 members, after a free trial. Data is hosted in the European Union. More on the family to-do list.
Strengths: Nobody installs anything, and a photo of a paper list is enough to fill it.
Limits: Mato has no native app, no offline mode, no calendar and no recipes. The Family plan stops at four people, and adding by message needs WhatsApp; without it, people use the list link.
Price: Solo is free. Family is €1.50 a month or €10 a year, after a free trial.
Source: how Mato.do works
Cozi
Best for: a shared family calendar with shopping and to-do lists in the same place.
Cozi is a family organiser first. The free version, supported by ads and sponsors, includes the calendar, shopping lists, to-do lists, recipes and a meal planner. Its account model is unusual: the family shares one Cozi account, and each person signs in with their own email plus the shared family password. Up to 12 people fit in one account, and a single Cozi Gold subscription covers all of them. Gold removes the ads and adds a month view on mobile, calendar search, up to three reminders per event, a birthday tracker and a shopping mode. Cozi runs on iOS, Android and the web.
Strengths: Built around the family calendar, with room for 12 people on one subscription.
Limits: The free calendar limits how far ahead you can add events from the Agenda view; unlimited future access needs Gold.
Price: Free with ads. Cozi Gold is $39 a year for everyone on the account.
Source: Cozi FAQ
Any.do
Best for: people who want tasks, a calendar and grocery lists in one app, with a WhatsApp bot on top.
Any.do combines tasks, reminders, a calendar and smart grocery lists that sort items into aisle categories such as Dairy or Produce, with voice input on mobile. The free Personal plan is for one person. Sharing a grocery list takes the Family plan: up to four members invited by email, each with a private space alongside the shared one. Any.do also runs a WhatsApp bot for Premium and Family subscribers. You can add tasks by chat, get your reminders there and forward a WhatsApp message to turn it into a task. The bot accepts 16 languages but always replies in English. Apps cover phones, desktop, the web and watches.
Strengths: The WhatsApp bot, and a calendar included even in the free plan.
Limits: No collaboration on the free plan. The help centre says voice notes sent to the bot do not create tasks. Each Family member has to activate the bot from their own account.
Price: Premium: $4.99 a month billed yearly, or $7.99 month to month. Family: $8.33 a month billed yearly, or $9.99 month to month, for up to four members.
Source: Any.do help centre, WhatsApp
Read more: Any.do alternative
Todoist
Best for: work tasks and personal projects, shared now and then with a partner.
The free Starter plan gives you five personal projects, reminders, three filter views, a week of activity history and limited voice add. A personal project can be shared with up to five people, on Starter and Pro alike. Someone without an account gets an email inviting them to sign up for a free one. Todoist runs on nearly everything: Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple Watch, Wear OS, browser extensions and email add-ons. Google Play shows no ads label for it.
Strengths: Apps for almost every platform, and projects that scale well beyond a shopping list.
Limits: Todoist presents itself first as a tool for personal and team tasks. Every invitee needs an account, and sharing stops at five people per personal project.
Price: Pro is €5 per user per month billed yearly (€60 a year) on Todoist's French pricing page, which can display 13 currencies, USD among them. Business is €8 per user per month plus local tax.
Source: Todoist pricing
Microsoft To Do
Best for: households that already have Microsoft accounts and want a free list tied to Outlook.
Microsoft To Do is free. It has the My Day planner, steps inside each task, due dates, reminders and integration with Outlook Tasks. To share a list, you send an invitation link through any messaging app, WhatsApp included, and the owner can later limit access or stop sharing. It runs on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and the web at to-do.office.com, and Google Play shows no ads label for it.
Strengths: Completely free, and tied into Outlook.
Limits: Sharing works between personal Microsoft accounts, or inside a single work or school organisation, so every member needs one.
Price: Free.
Google Keep
Best for: families already organised around Google who want a plain shared checklist.
Google Keep is a free notes app that syncs across phones, computers and smartwatches. It handles checklists, photos, reminders, labels and voice recordings with transcription, and it syncs changes made offline. You add collaborators by name, email or Google Group, or share a note with your whole Google family group at once. The AI voice feature, "Talk to Keep", is Android only and needs a Google AI Pro or Ultra plan or Workspace Experiments. Google Play shows no ads label for Keep.
Strengths: Free, and wired into the Google family group.
Limits: A shared note opens with the recipient's Google Account, so everyone needs one. The AI voice feature needs Android and a Google AI Pro or Ultra plan, or Workspace Experiments.
Price: Free.
Source: Google Keep help, share notes
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free shared grocery list app?
Is there a shared list app that nobody has to install?
Can I add to a shared list from WhatsApp?
Which app is best for a family calendar plus lists?
How much does a shared family list cost per year?
Sources
Official pages checked on 25 September 2026.
- https://www.anylist.com/complete
- https://www.anylist.com/features
- https://help.anylist.com/articles/web-app/
- https://help.anylist.com/articles/add-household-user/
- https://help.anylist.com/articles/share-list/
- https://www.ourgroceries.com/user-guide
- https://www.ourgroceries.com/faq
- https://www.ourgroceries.com/overview
- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.headcode.ourgroceries&hl=fr&gl=FR
- https://www.getbring.com/en/home
- https://www.getbring.com/help-center-main-categories/items-lists
- https://www.getbring.com/help-center-main-categories/profile-settings
- https://www.getbring.com/en/features/anywhere-anytime
- https://apps.apple.com/fr/app/bring-liste-de-courses/id580669177
- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.publisheria.bring&hl=fr&gl=FR
- https://www.cozi.com/faq/
- https://www.cozi.com/cozi-gold/
- https://www.any.do/pricing
- https://support.any.do/en/articles/8635977-any-do-subscription-plans-explained
- https://support.any.do/en/articles/8761243-getting-started-with-family
- https://support.any.do/en/articles/8635928-using-smart-grocery-lists-in-any-do
- https://support.any.do/en/articles/8616832-any-do-whatsapp-reminders-tasks
- https://www.todoist.com/fr/pricing
- https://www.todoist.com/downloads
- https://www.todoist.com/help/articles/collaborate-with-friends-or-family-in-todoist-tzkGUy
- https://www.todoist.com/help/articles/usage-limits-in-todoist-e5rcSY
- https://www.microsoft.com/fr-fr/microsoft-365/microsoft-to-do-list-app
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/welcome-to-microsoft-to-do-762cbbf9-7fc1-48e5-b619-005622da89d0
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/todo/create-and-share-lists
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/todo/share-a-task-list
- https://workspace.google.com/products/keep/
- https://support.google.com/keep/answer/7313121?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop
- https://support.google.com/keep/answer/6102239?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid
- https://support.google.com/keep/answer/17499364?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid