Shared Steps

About Shared Steps

We build for the part that comes after the agreement.

Most separated families leave with an agreement of some kind: from mediation, through solicitors, by court order or worked out between the two of them. Then everyday life starts, and almost nobody hands them a plan for it. Shared Steps exists to help those arrangements keep working, for years, for the children at the heart of them.

  • A UK company
  • Made in the UK
  • UK data protection law
  • Priced in pounds
Illustration of two cottages on either side of a stream, joined by a small wooden bridge, with a child's kite flying overhead.
Shared StepsHow it started

Built by people who needed it

Josh, part of the Shared Steps team, is a co-parent. Getting to an agreement was hard enough. Living it was harder: the handover that runs late, the school trip that needs paying for, the message you rewrite five times before you dare to send it.

The co-parenting tools out there felt built for conflict, all logs and evidence. What was needed was one calm place to keep the plan you'd agreed, so the practical things stayed practical and the children never had to feel the gap between two homes. So the team built the app they wished they'd had.

JoshCo-parent, and part of the Shared Steps team

A UK company

Made in the UK, for UK families

Shared Steps is run by Shared Steps Technologies Ltd, a UK company (number 17514245), with its registered office at 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ. It's built for family life here, not adapted from somewhere else.

  • Made for how separation works here

    Built around agreements made in UK mediation, through solicitors, by court order or between yourselves, and around school terms and holidays.

  • Protected by UK data law

    Your family's information is handled under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and kept in the UK and Europe wherever we can.

  • One price, in pounds

    One subscription in pounds covers the whole family, so neither parent pays twice.

  • UK support when it matters

    Our help points to UK services, from Childline to the domestic abuse helplines, and to 999 in an emergency.

What we believe

Every feature has to answer one question: will this help two parents keep working together on what they agreed?

  • Children first

    Every decision is judged by whether it helps children, not by engagement, revenue or time spent in the app.

  • Calm over conflict

    The app should lower the temperature. It never makes parents compete, keep score or see more than they need to.

  • Neutral by design

    There is no account holder and no primary parent. The plan belongs to both homes and favours neither.

  • The agreement continues

    What you worked hard to agree should stay alive, not sit in a forgotten PDF. Changes happen only when you both say yes.

Promises built into the app

Not settings you have to find. These are how Shared Steps works for every family.

  • No primary parentEach parent has their own account. The plan belongs to neither of them.
  • Agreed means agreedA change goes into the plan only when both parents say yes.
  • No location trackingHandover check-ins share a time the parent chose to send, never where they are.
  • Calls without sharing numbersParents can talk in the app without handing over a personal number.
  • Calm checkBefore a message goes, it can suggest a calmer way to say it. The parent decides.
  • Built around the childA read-only view lets a child see where they'll be and when. No messages, costs or decisions.

Who it's for

  • Any separated family who wants one calm, shared plan, whether you agreed things in mediation, through solicitors, in court or between yourselves.
  • Families leaving mediation, who get a version of the app shaped around carrying their agreement into everyday life.
  • Mediation practices who want their families to keep going once the sessions end.

Shared Steps is built for parents who can communicate safely. It isn't a tool for gathering evidence, and like mediation itself it isn't the right fit where there are safety concerns between parents. If you or your children are in danger, call 999. Our help page lists helplines that can support you.

Where we are now

Coming soon to iPhone and Android. We're also talking to mediation practices about how they can offer it to the families they support.

Talk to us

Parents and anyone else can write to hello@sharedsteps.app; mediation practices to partners@sharedsteps.app. A person will reply.