Father's Ed vs DadPad: app and course for new fathers

Focus on dads

DadPad has been a quiet force in UK perinatal services for years. It is dad-first, it is endorsed and distributed by many NHS trusts, and it has a brand and tone that genuinely speaks to fathers — including specialist editions for neonatal stays and co-parenting families. That credibility with the NHS is one of its real strengths.

Father's Ed is also dad-first, but the experience is different in kind: instead of a pad you read, it is a course you watch. Both work on the same belief — that fathers are an under-served audience in maternity and early-years content — and both put that audience at the centre.

Price and value for money

The DadPad app is free, which makes it one of the most accessible dad-focused resources in the UK. The physical DadPad is paid, and you can buy a copy directly; in many areas it is also distributed free via the local NHS trust or perinatal partners, so it is worth checking whether your area runs that.

Father's Ed is free across the whole course library. There is no app store purchase, no premium tier, and no per-lesson fee. If your priority is "I want it tonight, on my phone, without paying", both have a no-cost route in.

Accessibility and flexibility

DadPad's format is its own argument. A printed pad lives on the kitchen counter or in the nappy bag and is in arm's reach the moment you need to remember how to wind a baby at 3am. The app brings that to your phone with structured chunks, push notifications and a search bar.

Father's Ed is video on-demand. The same "tonight on your phone" promise applies, with the added flexibility of watching, pausing, and re-watching lessons across pregnancy and the first year. The two formats actually pair well — a quick-reference pad for the moments you cannot scroll, and a course library for the moments you want to learn properly.

Comprehensiveness

DadPad's strength is the breadth of formats, not the depth of any single one. The flagship pad covers the practical essentials for the early weeks. The Quick Read DadPad is a faster summary. DadPad Neonatal is for families with babies on a neonatal unit. Co-ParentPad is for separated co-parents. That specialisation is rare and valuable.

Father's Ed is broader on time horizon — pregnancy right through the first year — and goes deeper on dad-specific themes like paternity leave, returning to work, sleep, the mental load, and partnership. It is a longer, structured curriculum rather than a quick-reference guide.

Who each is best for

Pick DadPad if you want a trusted, NHS-aligned printed or app-based reference you can dip into at the changing mat, or if a specialist edition (Neonatal, Co-Parent, Quick Read) matches your situation.

Pick Father's Ed if you want a structured, on-demand video course that takes you through pregnancy, birth and the first year as a father.

Use both. They are not competitors so much as complements: DadPad for "what do I do right now?" and Father's Ed for "how do I think about this as a dad?".

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Try Father's Ed for yourself

Father's Ed is free and self-paced. You can sign up at app.fathercraft.co.uk, work through the bits that matter to you tonight, and come back whenever the next stage hits — pregnancy, newborn, weaning, sleep regressions, the lot.

If you want to read more before you sign up, our Insights library is open, and the Five-Star Fathers Framework is a free PDF you can download.