patchio vs. App collection
The combination many families start with: Google Calendar for events, WhatsApp for arrangements and a shopping list app for the shop. Free and familiar, but each app only knows its own part.
What App collection does well
- Free and ready to go: most people already have Google Calendar and WhatsApp
- Nobody has to learn or install anything new – everyone already knows the apps
- Every job gets the right specialist app, and you can swap out single parts without moving everything
patchio
€4.99/month or €39/year per household (VAT included) – every module, every member, babysitter access included. No free tier, but never any ads. Try free for 30 days.
App collection
Free tier: Google Calendar and WhatsApp cost nothing; with shopping apps, the free scope and the advertising differ by provider. Premium: unknown (varies by shopping app).
Features compared
| Feature | patchio | App collection |
|---|---|---|
| Shared calendar | Yes month/week/agenda, visibility per entry, subscribing to other calendars, ICS import/export, attachments, checklists, printing | Yes Google Calendar: shared calendars with invitations; export of all calendars as an ICS file |
| Tasks & lists | Yes rotation, first come first served, points & rewards, advance reminder, declining a task | Partial tasks and lists depend on the app; no shared rotation and no points in Google Calendar or WhatsApp |
| Shopping list | Yes automatic categories, tile view, offline | Yes in the shopping app; scope and price depend on the provider |
| Loyalty cards for everyone | Yes scan barcode/QR, shared across the whole household, works at the till offline too | unknown not in Google Calendar or WhatsApp; with shopping apps it depends on the provider |
| Meal plan & recipes | Yes a week plan with who's home, recipes, ingredients onto the list | unknown depends on the shopping app |
| Finances & cost splitting | Yes splitting & balances, budgets, savings goals, contracts with a cancellation radar, insurance folder, bank statement import | No not part of Google Calendar or WhatsApp; splitting costs happens in messages or another app |
| Health & medication | Yes medication with reminders, routines, sport, readings, private journal | No not part of Google Calendar or WhatsApp |
| Vehicle management | Yes deadlines, fuel consumption, costs/TCO, service-book PDF | No not part of Google Calendar or WhatsApp |
| Polls & votes | Yes anonymous too, with a share link for people outside | Yes polls in WhatsApp groups |
| Parenting schedule (blended families) | Yes a parenting schedule per person with exceptions, who's home visible everywhere | No no parenting schedule feature; can only be improvised with recurring events |
| Several households, one account | Yes one account, several households, visibility per entry | Yes calendar sharing and chat groups work across households |
| Ad-free | Yes always – no ad-supported tier, no selling data | unknown depends on the shopping app |
| EU servers & privacy | Yes hosted in the EU in Ireland, no third-party trackers | unknown Google and Meta are US companies; shopping app depends on the maker |
| Data export | Yes a complete export any time; import from TimeTree, Google, Apple & Outlook; account deletion in the app | Partial Google Calendar exports all calendars as ICS; WhatsApp chats can be exported one by one; shopping app depends on the provider |
| Subscribe to other calendars | Yes subscribe to calendars from Google, Apple, Outlook or your school, checked every 30 minutes; the family calendar with due tasks as a feed for other calendars | Yes Google Calendar: add a calendar by its address |
| School (timetable, school letters, grades) | Yes timetable, events, grades, school letter scanner, study tasks for tests, school bag reminder | No not part of Google Calendar or WhatsApp |
| Document vault | Yes IDs and certificates per person, set to “Only me” by default, reminder before expiry; no end-to-end encryption | No not part of Google Calendar or WhatsApp |
| Bank statement import | Yes read a bank statement as CSV, XML or Excel; Sparkasse, N26 and Revolut are recognised; no bank connection, the file stays in your browser | No not part of Google Calendar or WhatsApp |
| English & other currencies | Yes interface in German and English; currency per household, e.g. Swiss francs or pounds, without conversion; public holidays for Germany, Austria and Switzerland | Yes Google Calendar and WhatsApp are available in many languages |
| Mac/PC as an installable app | Yes as an installable web app on Mac and PC with its own window; also in the Mac App Store | Yes Google Calendar in the browser, WhatsApp as a desktop app |
| Push notifications in the browser | Yes notifications in the browser and in the installed app, switched on once in your profile | Yes Google Calendar in the browser shows desktop notifications while the calendar is open; WhatsApp Web offers desktop notifications in the browser; shopping app unknown |
| Cancelling without signing in | Yes at patchio.de/kuendigen without signing in, confirmation of receipt straight away; withdrawal at patchio.de/widerruf | unknown not needed: Google Calendar and WhatsApp are free |
patchio details as of: 18/10/2026. Details on App collection as of: 18/10/2026. All details on App collection come from publicly available official sources (website, pricing page, App Store listing, privacy policy) and were checked to the best of our knowledge – without claiming to be complete; “unknown” means not clearly verifiable. Product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Something out of date or wrong? Let us know.
The best way is to compare for yourself.
No card needed · cancel monthly · then €4.99/month per household (VAT included)