The shared cabin app. Who’s up, who paid, what’s low.
One calendar for every stay, every cost split evenly with who paid, the list of what’s low before the drive up, and the report from whoever checks the place while it sits empty. On every phone that holds a key.
Who has the cabin, and when it’s open.
Mom and Dad take the week of the Fourth. Maya books the last week of July from her phone, and it’s on everyone’s calendar the minute she does. Nobody finds out at the dock that two families planned the same weekend.
Who paid for what, without the spreadsheet.
Dad pays to put the dock in. Maya fills the propane. Each cost goes in once with who paid, and it splits evenly: one share for the home’s owners, and one for each other person who holds a key. The app keeps the tab of who owes whom, and when it’s paid back, by Venmo, a check or cash at the dock, you mark it settled and the tab clears.
Know what’s low before the drive up.
Mark the coffee filters out on your way out the door, and whoever’s up next sees the list before they leave town. A torn screen gets a photo and stays on the list until someone fixes it. And if someone checks the cabin while it sits empty, their report and photos land on the cabin’s record, and what you ask them to look at is on their list for the next visit.
Free to run the cabin.
$10 a month to invite family and track bills and costs.
Free: the calendar, the open-up and close-down lists, what’s low, the upkeep, and your caretaker’s reports.
$10 a month for the household: keys for everyone beyond your spouse or partner, the bills, and every cost with who paid and who owes. It covers every key and every home, with no trial, and no card until you add a family key, a bill or a cost.
Ten of them, compared, every price dated.
If your family runs July by rotation or needs every stay approved, OurSharedPlace or The Vacation Calendar will run it. House Matters does not. If someone looks after the cabin between stays, House Matters is the one built for that: the caretaker and the family on the same record.
Plain answers about sharing a cabin.
What families ask before they set up the cabin.
What does a shared cabin app do?
It keeps the four things families argue about in one place: who has which week, who paid for what, what’s low, and what needs fixing. House Matters does all four on one record for everyone who holds a key, and adds the person who checks on the cabin while it sits empty.
Is it free?
Running the cabin is free. Running the home is free: your stays, what’s in it, the upkeep, and everything your caretaker does. Keys for the family beyond your spouse or partner, the bills and the home’s ledger are $10 a month. Logging a cost, splitting it and settling up are part of the ledger. The $10 covers everyone who holds a key and every home the family shares.
Is there an app for iPhone and Android?
Free on the App Store and Google Play. Works in your browser too. Everyone in the family signs in with their email or mobile number, with no password to remember.
Can everyone book their own stays?
Yes. Anyone who holds a key books a stay, and it goes straight onto the calendar for everyone to see. Each stay says how many are coming and carries the open-up and close-down lists.
Can it run a rotation, or approve requests for July?
No. A stay goes straight onto the calendar: there is no request to approve and no rotation, draft or nights quota. Families who need a rotation write it into their cabin agreement and book what they agreed; the fair scheduling guide has three that work.
How are costs split?
Evenly: one share for the home’s owners, and one for each other person who holds a key. Log a cost with who paid, and the app keeps a running tab of who owes whom. House Matters never moves money: pay it back by Venmo, check or cash, then mark it settled.
Does it sync with Google Calendar?
No. The stays live in House Matters, on every phone that holds a key. There is no feed to Google, Apple or Outlook calendars.
Someone checks on the cabin for the family. Are they in it too?
Yes, on their own side of the app. A home watcher or cleaner you invite files each visit with photos, and the report lands on the cabin’s record as they file it. What you ask them to look at goes on their list for the next visit. A cleaner who comes after each stay gets the turnover clean when the stay ends. One caretaker per cabin at a time.
A cabin to share? Start with the calendar.
Free to run the cabin.
$10 a month to invite family and track bills and costs.
Free on the App Store and Google Play. Works in your browser too. Sign in with your email or mobile, no password to remember.
Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play
More for a shared cabin: fair scheduling, the expense split calculator, the family cabin agreement, a free calendar to print and a page for the family lake house. Everything else for the home is on the homeowners page.