Jointly: a powerful co-parenting app designed for South African families
Why Jointly was built specifically for South African co-parents - from the team behind it, to the features that set it apart, to a side-by-side comparison with WhatsApp and email.
By The Jointly Team · 5 October 2026 · 6 min read
Navigating co-parenting after a divorce or separation is rarely easy. From managing conflicting schedules and tracking shared expenses to maintaining clear, conflict-free communication, parents are often left juggling fragmented tools that add friction rather than ease.
Jointly was built specifically to solve this challenge. Designed in South Africa, Jointly brings order, accountability, and calm to shared parenting arrangements by giving families a unified digital workspace built around local needs.
Born from expertise: why Jointly is different
Many co-parenting apps feel like re-skinned calendar tools or bloated platforms designed for foreign legal systems, carrying hefty USD or EUR subscription price tags.
Jointly was founded by a South African family mediator alongside local experts in process design and technology, ensuring the platform is grounded in real-world family resolution and seamless digital systems.
Before launching Jointly, the founding team extensively analysed both local and international co-parenting applications. They evaluated where existing software fell short, identifying common issues like unintuitive interfaces, missing local features (such as Rand-denominated expense ledgers and POPIA compliance), hidden costs, and overly complicated or insufficient workflows.
By combining expertise in family dispute resolution, user experience, and enterprise-grade technology, the team built a powerful yet simple-to-use platform tailored directly to the real-world dynamics of South African families.
Key features built for seamless co-parenting
Jointly brings all the essential tools co-parenting needs into a single, intuitive platform:
- Tamper-free messaging: Keep communication transparent and focused on the children. Messages are date-and-time stamped and cannot be edited or deleted by either party, establishing a clear, objective record that reduces misunderstandings and keeps conversations respectful.
- Shared custody (contact) & event calendar: Manage custody (also known as contact in SA) schedules, school terms, holiday rotations, doctor appointments, and extra-murals in one shared view. Colour-coded entries and notifications eliminate confusion over pickup and drop-off responsibilities.
- ZAR maintenance & expense tracking: Log shared child-related expenses such as school fees, uniforms, medical aid gaps, and extramural costs directly in South African Rand (ZAR). Attach digital receipts, track payment approvals, and eliminate disputes over who paid for what.
- Court-ready PDF reports: Export detailed, unalterable logs of communication threads, contact schedules, and financial ledgers. These clean reports can be shared directly with mediators, parental co-ordinators, or legal representatives during maintenance or contact discussions.
- Secure document vault: Store crucial family documents safely in the cloud, including birth certificates, immunisation records, medical aid details, school reports, and court-approved parenting plans.
- Professional access & collaboration: Seamlessly invite mediators, family law practitioners, or child psychologists into your co-parent space. Having professional oversight directly in the platform helps de-escalate disputes before they escalate to court battles.
How Jointly compares to WhatsApp and email
While many parents turn to instant messaging or email out of habit, informal platforms were not built for co-parenting management. The comparison below illustrates how Jointly addresses the shortcomings of standard communication tools:
| Feature / capability | Jointly App | Email threads | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record integrity | Tamper-proof: messages cannot be edited, deleted, or altered once sent. | Vulnerable: messages can be deleted, edited, or missing context. | Fragmented: hard to verify context or prove missing attachments. |
| Expense tracking | Dedicated ZAR ledger: categorised expenses with attached receipts and built-in approval tracking. | Disorganised: receipts get lost in message feeds or buried in image galleries. | Cluttered: receipts scatter across multiple reply threads with no automated totals. |
| Schedule management | Interactive shared calendar: clear colour-coding for custody, holidays, and extracurriculars. | None: relies on manual text reminders, leading to missed pickups or disputes. | Static: requires separate external calendar invites that are easy to overlook. |
| Court & mediator readiness | One-click PDF export: clean, legal-grade logs of communication and financial history. | Tedious: requires endless screenshots that are hard to present legally. | Difficult: incomplete chains, printed threads, and missing attachments. |
| Document storage | Secure vault: centralised space for medical aid, birth certificates, and parenting plans. | Temporary: files expire, get lost, or clutter phone storage. | Dispersed: attachments are scattered across years of separate emails. |
| Professional support | Direct access: invite mediators or attorneys into the app for de-escalation oversight. | None: involving third parties requires awkward group chats or manual forwards. | Indirect: involves forwarding lengthy threads back and forth. |
Why Jointly is the right choice for South African families
1. Localised for South Africa
Unlike international apps, Jointly is designed around local realities, from tracking maintenance claims in ZAR to aligning with South Africa’s Children’s Act and legal standards. It fully complies with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), ensuring your family’s sensitive personal, financial, and legal records are encrypted and protected under local privacy laws.
2. Built for affordability
High monthly subscription fees shouldn’t be a barrier to healthy co-parenting. International alternatives often charge premium foreign-currency rates that put them out of reach for many South African households. Jointly prioritises affordability, offering a feature-rich, high-value solution accessible to everyday families.
3. User experience that reduces friction
When co-parenting relationships are strained, complex or ineffective software only adds stress. Jointly’s intuitive, user-friendly layout focuses on clarity, speed, and ease of use, ensuring both parents can quickly log events, approve expenses, or check schedules without frustration.
4. A de-escalation-first approach
By centralising all co-parenting interactions in a transparent, tamper-proof environment, Jointly shifts the focus away from personal conflict and back toward what matters most: the well-being and best interests of your children.