Is a digital family wall calendar with a voice assistant worth it — and what should you check before you buy one?

Wired covered the Greenlight Family Hub, a digital wall calendar with a voice assistant ($199–$299, plus $9.99/month for full features). Here is what these hubs do well, the hidden costs to check, and the free tablet alternative.

The paper calendar on the fridge has one job, and somehow everyone still misses soccer practice. Short answer: A digital family wall calendar like the Greenlight Family Hub — covered by Wired this year — can be worth it if your household will actually live by one shared screen. The Hub comes in a 10.1-inch battery model at $199 and a 15.6-inch plug-in model at $299, merges Google, Outlook, iCloud and Webcal calendars into one color-coded view, tracks chores with star rewards, and answers to a “Hey Greenlight” voice assistant.

The catch: the assistant and several headline features need the Family Hub+ plan at $9.99 a month. What these hubs do well is real: one shared view of the day, kids without phones can check it themselves, and you can add an event by voice with your hands in the dishwater. What to check is everything around the screen — which features sit behind the subscription, whether your calendar service syncs two-way, how bright the screen glows at night, where the microphone can be muted (the Hub has no camera, a point in its favor), and what happens to your family’s data if the company ever shuts down.

The free alternative deserves respect: a cheap tablet running a shared Google or Apple calendar does the core job for $0 a month.1. List who must see and edit it. If half the family will never look at the wall, no hub fixes that.2.

Confirm two-way sync. Your calendar service must both send events to the hub and accept changes made on it.3. Price three years, not the sticker.

Family Hub+ at $9.99 a month adds about $360 over three years — more than the small Hub itself.4. Place it where the mic can be muted. Kitchens are ideal; bedrooms are not.5.

Give each person a color. Color-coding is the feature families actually use every day — set it up on day one.Pro tip: The 3-year total cost including subscription is the real price. Compare that number with the free tablet setup, not the box price.Ad’s take: I love the idea of one screen the whole family trusts.

Just go in with your eyes open about the monthly fee — the calendar is the cheap part.