Loading...
Loading...
A mental load app is an app that makes the invisible work of running a family visible and then moves it, to a partner, a service, or an AI. AlphaMa is the one built around the mother carrying it. We ranked seven on one question: does it actually move the load off your mind, or just give you another place to write it down?
AlphaMa is our app. We wrote this comparison and we rank AlphaMa first, for the reasons explained below. The other apps are described from their public information, and each one is the better choice for some families. Details about other apps were last checked in September 2026. Work at one of these companies and see something wrong? Email shivi@alphamothers.com and we will correct it.
The mental load is the noticing, remembering, planning, and coordinating behind every household task. In a study of 3,000 US parents, mothers reported managing 71% of household mental load tasks (Weeks and Ruppanner, Journal of Marriage and Family, 2024). So we judged every app on three things:
Side by side on the things that decide whether the load actually moves.
| Capability | AlphaMa | RemindHer | Ohai | Fair Play | Cozi | fiftyfifty | Todoist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic capture (no typing) | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Moves ownership to partner | — | ||||||
| Partner needs no app | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Email and calendar integration | — | — | — | ||||
| Emotional support layer | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Proactive reminders | — | — | |||||
| Free to fully use right now | — |
Voice-first AI that captures the load and moves it
Free right now
Best for: Anyone carrying the household in their head who wants the load captured and moved, with emotional support built in
AlphaMa is the mental load app built around the person carrying the load, most often the mother. You talk naturally and it extracts the tasks, appointments, worries, and ideas on its own, so capture costs you nothing. It reads your Gmail for school and family logistics, syncs Google Calendar, and hands tasks to your partner over WhatsApp, so your partner needs no new app. It is also an emotional companion with CBT techniques, because the mental load is a stress problem, and it detects crisis language with a 988 referral. Free right now.
Strengths
Limitations
Task ownership transfer for couples
Free tier, paid premium
Best for: Couples where the goal is moving full ownership of recurring tasks to a partner
RemindHer focuses on one specific move: transferring a task and its follow-ups to your partner so the remembering leaves your head, with reminders that go to them instead of you. That framing is right, ownership transfer beats task assignment. You can add tasks by voice and it syncs with Google Calendar (per RemindHer’s website, checked September 2026). It covers the logistics side only, with no email integration and no emotional layer.
Strengths
Limitations
AI household admin assistant
Free tier, paid plans from $9.99/mo on its website
Best for: Families that want household admin automated in a shared platform
Ohai processes emails, PDFs, and school newsletters into events and tasks, syncs calendars, automates grocery ordering, and takes voice requests for household admin. It is a strong logistics engine for the family as a unit. It is not built around the person carrying the load: no emotional layer, and sharing runs through its own Circles feature.
Strengths
Limitations
A system for renegotiating who owns what
Book and $25 card deck
Best for: Couples who need the conversation about dividing the load, before any tool will stick
Fair Play, based on Eve Rodsky’s book, turns household labor into 100 named cards that couples deal out, each with full ownership: conceive, plan, and execute. It is a book and a card deck rather than an app, a structured conversation, and often that conversation is the real blocker. Pair it with a daily tool, because a card system does not remind anyone about the permission slip due Friday.
Strengths
Limitations
Shared family calendar and lists
Free with ads, Gold $39/yr, Max $79/yr
Best for: Families that want a simple shared calendar everyone can see
Cozi is the veteran here: color coded family calendar, shopping lists, to-dos, and a meal planner. It is cheap, simple, and reliable. Entries are typed in by hand on the Free and Gold plans, with AI event import only on the Max plan at $79 per year (per Cozi’s plans page, checked September 2026), so it is a place to write the mental load down rather than something that carries it, and in practice one person usually ends up managing Cozi for everyone.
Strengths
Limitations
Splitting family work fairly
Subscription after a free trial, one covers both partners
Best for: Couples who want to see and rebalance the split of family work
fiftyfifty tracks who does what across the household, including the mental side, and helps couples split it more fairly. Visibility into the imbalance is its core value. Like the other couples tools, it depends on both partners entering data manually and staying engaged.
Strengths
Limitations
General purpose task manager
Free tier, paid Pro
Best for: People who already live in a task manager and want light family sharing
Todoist is an excellent general task app: fast entry, natural language dates, shared projects for the household. But it was never designed for the mental load. You do all the noticing, capturing, and assigning yourself, and a shared grocery project is not the same as moving the remembering to someone else.
Strengths
Limitations
Mother-specific ranking: Best apps for mom mental load. New to the concept? Start with what the mental load is.
AlphaMa captures your mental load from natural conversation and moves it where it belongs.
Try AlphaMa Free