Expat family: run your household abroad without losing touch back home
The multi-tribe Android and iOS app for families living between two countries. Multilingual, one currency per tribe.
A household in Zurich or Montreal, parents in Manchester, a brother in Berlin. Two currencies, six hours of time difference, a grandmother who wants to know when you are coming, and a school sending its news in a language your partner cannot read yet. Zoku gives each circle its own tribe, in its own currency, in its own language, and you switch between them with one tap.
The real friction of a family across two countries
The household budget runs in francs or dollars, the spending back home in pounds. A single-currency budget app forces you to convert in your head.
Trips home are negotiated months ahead, with grandparents, siblings, flights. The information lives in ten messages.
The partner who does not speak the local language yet is shut out of half the organising.
The family back home organises without you, or calls you about everything. There is no middle ground.
How Zoku is built for life abroad
« Zurich household » in francs, « Manchester family » in pounds. Each tribe's cashbox in its own money, with no conversion.
The app displays in each person's language. Your English-speaking partner and you see the same tribe, each in your own language.
An event « Home 20–28 Dec » in the family tribe: the grandparents see it without asking. Reminders and attachments (tickets ⭐).
Photos of the children, news, questions: asynchronous, in one tribe rather than three messaging apps.
A check-in on landing, a notification to the tribe ⭐. No tracker.
Your parents are getting older back home: a tribe with the siblings who stayed, for appointments and shared costs.
→ La Caisse, one currency per tribe · → Outdoors, the check-in with no tracker · → A household spread across several homes
A setup that works
Sarah and Tom, two children, settled in Montreal:
- Tribe « Montreal home »: Sarah, Tom, their eldest. Weekly calendar, groceries, meals, stock, La Caisse in Canadian dollars, chat. Tom uses it in English, Sarah in French.
- Tribe « Sarah's family - Manchester »: Sarah, her parents, her sister. Trips home, birthdays, photo chat. La Caisse in pounds for joint presents.
- Tribe « Tom's parents »: Tom and the brother who stayed in England, for their father's medical appointments. In pounds.
On Wednesday Sarah plans the meals and Tom does the shopping, ticking off the list in English. On Friday Sarah puts « Home for Christmas » in the family tribe: her mother sees it on Saturday morning as she gets up. On Sunday Tom adds a cardiology appointment for his father in the tribe with his brother, without touching the Montreal household at all.
Keeping the circles apart
- Every tribe is kept apart: your family back home does not see your household budget, and the other way round.
- One currency per tribe: no conversion, no rough estimate.
- No continuous location: a check-in is an act, not a state.
- Data encrypted in transit (TLS), hosted in Europe, exportable and deletable (GDPR), whatever country you live in.
FAQ - Expat families with Zoku
Does Zoku work outside Europe?
Yes, anywhere Google Play and the App Store are available. Data is hosted in Europe, and the app works from any country.
Can we have tribes in different currencies?
Yes. Currency is chosen per tribe: pounds for the family back home, francs, dollars or euros for the household abroad. Nothing is converted between them.
My partner doesn't speak English: can they use the app?
Yes. Each user picks their display language. The tribe is the same, the interface is in each person's language.
Does the calendar handle time zones?
An event is stored with the time zone it was created in. For a local appointment that is invisible. For a call between two countries, the safest thing is to write both times in the title (« Call Nan 6pm Manchester / 12pm Montreal ») so nobody has to convert.
Can we organise help for a parent back home?
Yes, in a dedicated tribe with the siblings who are there: appointments, medication, shared costs. You follow from a distance without it touching your household.
Is it free?
Yes. Multi-tribe, currency per tribe, multilingual, calendar, groceries, La Caisse, chat and check-in are free. Premium « all my tribes » covers your tribes in every country.
A household here, a family there, one app
Free on Android and iOS. No credit card.