The short answer
Which one does your family actually need?
It depends on the job. To keep a wide circle informed, CaringBridge is the standard. To organize meals, rides, and visits, Lotsa Helping Hands does that one thing well. To keep a shared, permissioned care record that family and professionals both work from, that's Mallowa. Plenty of families use two of the three.
CaringBridge
Telling the circle how things are going
A free, donor-supported 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating since 1997, built around private health-update journal pages for friends and family. Privacy is set for the whole page — Public, Semi-Private, or Private with an approved-visitor list — and co-authors can help write updates with the same access as the primary author. It also carries help-request posts. Its group-calendar Planner was retired in December 2023, and it isn't built to hold medications, care notes, or structured care data.
Lotsa Helping Hands
Turning "let me know how I can help" into a schedule
Free since 2004 and built around a Care Calendar where helpers sign up for meals, rides, and visits, with announcements, well wishes, and coordinator and site-admin roles. Posts and tasks can be scoped to specific member groups, and groups can be private. Like CaringBridge, it's built for a different job than a care record — there's no medication list, care notes, or goals data.
Mallowa
The shared record the whole team works from
One HIPAA-compliant place for care notes, goals, medications, appointments, crisis plans, and files on a single timeline — with visibility set per note (team, clinical-only, family-only, or private) and permissions per team member. Professionals work in the same record as the family, and the record belongs to the family: it stays with them when providers change. Free forever on the Roots plan for one individual and up to ten team members.
Common questions
Choosing between them
Can we use CaringBridge and Mallowa at the same time?
Yes, and many families should. CaringBridge is where you tell the wider circle how things are going; Mallowa is where the working care team keeps the shared record — medications, notes, appointments, plans. They don't overlap much, which is exactly why they pair well.
How is privacy different between them?
CaringBridge privacy is set at the page level — Public, Semi-Private, or Private with an approved-visitor list — and co-authors have the same access as the primary author. Lotsa scopes posts and tasks to member groups. Mallowa controls visibility per note (team, clinical-only, family-only, or private) and per team member, on HIPAA-compliant infrastructure.
Are CaringBridge and Lotsa Helping Hands free?
Yes. CaringBridge is a donor-supported 501(c)(3) nonprofit with no paid tiers, and Lotsa Helping Hands is free with no paid tier. Mallowa's Roots plan is also free forever for one individual with up to ten team members.
Which one should we start with?
Start with the job you have. Broadcasting updates to a wide circle: CaringBridge. Organizing meals, rides, and visits: Lotsa Helping Hands. Keeping one shared, permissioned care record that professionals and family both work from: Mallowa.
Last reviewed July 17, 2026. CaringBridge and Lotsa Helping Hands details are drawn from their own published sites, policies, and help documentation as of that date.