Pricing
What Smarkle costs
For a founding family, a guided engagement with Smarkle costs between $2,000 and $10,000 a month.
That's a lot of money, and we'd rather you hear it from us now than at the end of a long conversation. Below is what it pays for, what moves a family from one end of the range to the other, what isn't included, and who we think shouldn't spend it.
The assessment, your report and the seven-day practice cost nothing. You never pay to see your own family's results.
The short answer
$2,000 to $10,000 a month.
One price for your whole family, across every household taking part, agreed in writing before anything begins.
Most of it pays for a person.
Your guide is one of the people who founded Smarkle, and walks closely with your family for as long as the engagement lasts.
Your family's private space comes with it.
There's no separate software fee.
Six months to begin.
Family rhythms take a few seasons to settle. After that, month to month.
Why it costs this much
If Smarkle were only an app, it would cost about what an app costs. What founding families pay for is time: a founder's time, given to one family, month after month. Conversations with each couple and each household. Help writing your family's vision. Someone who notices when a rhythm has slipped, and helps you find your way back.
A guide can only walk that closely with a few families at a time, so we take a few families at a time. That's the honest reason for small groups, not a sales tactic.
We're also early. Founding families are guided by the people who built the method, and they help us learn whether it works in families other than our own. We won't promise results we haven't shown yet.
What moves the price
Time with your guide.
The biggest factor. A session each month sits near the low end; a session each week, with time between, sits near the top.
How many households.
One home is simpler than three generations across four homes. Each household adds conversations, setup and care.
How many people take part.
Time with each couple, one-on-ones with a parent or a teenager, a grandparent's stories: each person who takes part adds guide time.
Time together in person.
Your guide can lead one of your family's gatherings in your home, whether you're planning, working or celebrating together. In-person time costs more than a video call, and travel is extra.
Setting up and bringing things over.
Moving calendars, photos, traditions and family history into your family's space, and writing your vision together, is heavy work in the first months.
What you're working on.
Steadier weekly rhythms take less than a blended home, a family that works together in a business, or a hard season of repair.
How long you commit.
A twelve-month commitment costs less each month than six.
Three families, three prices
These are examples, not quotes. Your price is agreed with you after the first conversation, and it's written down.
About $2,000 a month.
One household: two parents and young children. A ninety-minute session with your guide each month, messages in between, your family's space set up for you, and a reflection together each season.
About $5,000 a month.
Three households: parents, a grown child's home and the grandparents. A session every other week, time with each couple, help bringing your traditions and history into one place, and one gathering a year led by your guide in person.
About $10,000 a month.
Four or more households across three generations. A session each week, one-on-ones across the family, in-person gatherings through the year, a family history project with the oldest generation, and a guide who knows every household well.
What's included
- One founding guide for the whole engagement, the same person throughout.
- Sessions by video or in person, at the rhythm you agree.
- Messages with your guide between sessions, with a reply within two working days.
- Your family's private space in Smarkle, set up by hand for every household taking part, as each part of it is ready.
- Help writing your family's vision and setting its first rhythms.
- A reflection together each season: what's working, what isn't, and what's next.
- No ads and no trackers, ever.
What isn't included
- Therapy, counselling or crisis care. Guides aren't licensed therapists. If your family needs that care, we'll say so plainly and help you find it.
- Legal, financial or estate advice.
- Travel for in-person time. We agree it with you in advance and charge what it actually costs.
- Venues, food or supplies for gatherings.
- A promise of results. We'll tell you honestly how it's going, including when it isn't.
Founding families and later families
Founding families are the first families we guide, a few at a time. Here is what's different for them:
- Your price holds for as long as your engagement continues without a break.
- Your guide is a founder. Later families will be guided by people we've trained.
- You help shape it. We ask what's working, and we change what isn't.
We haven't set prices for later families. When we do, they'll be on this page before they're anywhere else. We'd also like to offer lighter ways to use Smarkle, with less guide time. We haven't built or priced them yet, so we won't guess at them here.
Paying and committing
- A conversation first. A short call, at no charge, to see whether we're a good fit for each other.
- A written agreement with your monthly price, what's included, and how either of us can end it. No surprise fees.
- Paid monthly, in advance.
- Six months to begin, then month to month with thirty days' notice.
- If the first month isn't right, tell us and we'll part as friends, without the rest of the six months.
- Hard seasons happen. If your family needs to pause, we'll pause.
Who this isn't for
We'd rather lose a family than take money we shouldn't. It probably isn't for you if:
- The cost would strain your family. Please don't stretch for this. Take the assessment, try the seven-day practice and read the method. There's a lot here you can do on your own.
- You want an app, not a guide. Today Smarkle comes with a guide. If a shared calendar is all you need, a calendar app will serve you well.
- Your family is in crisis. Abuse, addiction or danger at home needs licensed help first, and quickly.
- You want someone to run your family for you. A guide helps the adults who lead your home lead it themselves.
- You need results guaranteed. We're early, and we're honest about that.
- You live outside the United States. For now we only guide families in the US.
Compared with other help
- A family therapist treats hurt and illness. We don't. If your family needs both, therapy comes first.
- A parenting course teaches one person new skills. A guide works with the whole family, across households, over many months.
- A family app keeps the calendar. Smarkle's space serves your family's own rhythms, with a person beside you.
- A family-business or wealth adviser helps a family hold on to what it owns. We work on what sits underneath: the relationships, rhythms and culture that hold a family together.
Questions families ask
What does Smarkle cost?
For founding families, between $2,000 and $10,000 a month for a guided engagement. Where your family lands depends mostly on how much time you spend with your guide, how many households take part, and how much happens in person.
Is that per person or per family?
Per family. One price covers every household and every person taking part.
Why a range instead of one price?
Because families differ more than almost anything else we could price. One household meeting once a month and four households meeting every week aren't the same work. We'd rather show you the whole range than hide it behind a call.
Does the assessment cost anything?
No. The assessment, your full report and the seven-day practice cost nothing, and you don't need to give us an email to see them.
Can we start small and add more later?
Yes. Many families will start with less guide time and add more as they find their rhythm. Your guide can change the plan with you from one month to the next.
Will our price go up?
Not while your engagement continues. A founding family's price holds for as long as you stay without a break.
Is there a lower-cost way in?
Not yet. Today Smarkle is offered with a guide. If we build lighter options, we'll put them on this page first.
Who are the guides?
The people who founded Smarkle and built its method with their own large family. Read how it began.
What if it isn't working?
Say so. Your guide will ask each season anyway. If the first month isn't right, you can stop without paying for the rest of the six. After the first six months, you can stop with thirty days' notice.
When are we asked to pay?
Only after the call, and only once you've agreed in writing. Joining the waiting list costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Join the waiting list for founding families
Start with the assessment. It takes a few minutes, and you'll see your family's strengths whatever you decide. If Smarkle feels right afterwards, ask to join the founding families from your results. We'll write when there's a place for your family and set up a short call. Nothing is charged until you've agreed in writing.