Are kids' debit card apps like Greenlight and GoHenry safe?

Yes, with the usual caveats. The debit-card apps in this review are FDIC-insured through partner banks (Greenlight uses Community Federal Savings Bank, GoHenry uses Sutton Bank, Cash App uses Sutton/Wells Fargo). The bigger safety question is data: these apps track spending and behavior, so read each app's privacy policy before signing up and check what it shares with third parties.

At what age should a kid get their first debit card?

There's no legal minimum (parents sponsor the account), but around age 8 is a reasonable floor: that is when many kids can grasp that money on a card is real and finite. Before 8, kids benefit more from physical cash because they need to see and touch money to understand it. Cash App's new 2026 accounts open at 6, but that doesn't mean a 6-year-old needs one.

Is a free allowance calculator really enough, or am I missing something?

For ages 3-10, a free calculator plus a weekly conversation covers most of what a paid app would do. Apps add value for older kids (11+) who need real card-based experience, not for younger kids whose lessons are still concrete.

How does Cash App's new family account compare to Greenlight?

Cash App is free; Greenlight starts at $5.99 a month. Cash App has no chore tracker, no savings goals, no learning content; Greenlight has all three. If you want a payments rail and nothing else, Cash App wins. If you want a teaching platform with a card attached, Greenlight is worth the $72 a year.

Can I use multiple tools together?

Yes, and many families do. A common stack: a free allowance calculator for setting the weekly amount, a printable chore chart on the fridge, and one paid card app once the child turns 10 or 11. There's no rule that you have to pick one ecosystem. Start free, upgrade only when you hit a friction point an app actually solves.

What is the best free kids budgeting tool?

For setting and splitting an allowance, a free budget planner beats a paid app for most younger kids. Penny Time's Kids Budget Planner divides any amount into save, spend, and give with no signup, and the Savings Goal calculator shows how long until a child can afford a goal. Paid card apps add value once a child is 11 or older and spending digitally, but the budgeting math itself is free.

How do the top kids' allowance apps compare on features and cost?

The main options in 2026: Cash App (free, a debit card and parental controls, but no chore tracker or lessons), Greenlight ($5.99 to $19.98 a month, the most complete dashboard with chores, savings goals and investing), Acorns Early ($8 a month for up to 4 kids, strong value for larger families), Dinner Table Economy (a paid family subscription built around a money game), and Penny Time plus free calculators (free, best for teaching the math without a card). Cost tracks features: the free apps hand you a card and leave the teaching to you, the paid ones automate chores, savings and investing.

How much do allowance apps cost for a family with several kids?

Per-child pricing varies a lot, so compare the whole-family total, not the headline rate. Acorns Early is the flat-fee value pick at $8 a month for up to 4 kids. Greenlight covers up to 5 kids from $5.99 a month on its Core plan. Cash App is free per child, so three kids still cost nothing. Dinner Table Economy charges a single family subscription. For two or more kids, a flat-fee or free plan almost always beats a per-child charge.

Which kids' allowance apps have the best parental controls?

Greenlight and Acorns Early give parents the most control: both let you approve chores, set spend categories by store type, and see every transaction in real time. Cash App's family accounts add parent-set spending limits and full transaction visibility for free. For the tightest instant controls on a teen account, Current lets a parent lock or unlock the card and set alerts on the fly.

How much do kids' allowance apps cost in 2026?

They range from free to about $20 a month. Cash App family accounts and the teen accounts (Fidelity Youth, Step, Current) are free. Greenlight runs $5.99 to $19.98 a month by tier. Acorns Early is a flat $8 a month for up to 4 kids. Dinner Table Economy charges a single in-app family subscription. For most families a free calculator plus cash covers younger kids, and a paid app earns its fee only once a child is spending digitally.

Is there a free allowance app for kids?

Yes. Cash App's parent-managed accounts are free for ages 6 to 17, and Penny Time paired with the free calculators at /learn/ costs nothing. Among teen accounts, Fidelity Youth, Step and Current also have no monthly fee. Greenlight, Acorns Early and Dinner Table Economy each charge a monthly subscription with no permanently free plan.

What is the best money making app for kids?

No app pays a young child real money by itself. Allowance apps like Greenlight and Acorns Early let a parent pay for finished chores onto the child's card, which is the closest thing for kids under 13. Survey and reward apps that pay cash are made for adults and older teens, so check their minimum age first. For most kids, paid chores, jobs for neighbors and a small business like a lemonade stand are where the earning happens, and an app only holds the money.

Is an allowance app better than a piggy bank for kids?

For kids under 8, a piggy bank or a clear jar usually teaches more, because they can see and count the money. An app starts to help around age 10 or 11, once a child spends online or with a card, since a balance on a screen is how they will handle money later. Many families use both: a jar for coins and gift money, plus an app or a free allowance calculator to set the weekly amount.

By the Penny Time editorial team May 21, 2026

Reviewed by the Penny Time editorial team

Part of our Allowance hub.

7 Best Allowance Apps for Kids & Teens 2026: Pocket Money Apps Compared

The verdict

What is the best allowance app for kids and teens in 2026?

The best allowance app depends on your child's age and whether you want a debit card or just the money lessons. Best paid pick: Greenlight, from $5.99 a month, the most complete all-in-one dashboard for chores, savings goals and allowance across ages 6 to 17. Best free card: Cash App family accounts, $0 a month, opened to ages 6 and up in April 2026, for simple parent-controlled spending with no chore tracker.

Best for teens (13 to 17): the Fidelity Youth Account, $0, a real brokerage the teen owns with a debit card attached. Best no-card option: Penny Time plus the free calculators at /learn/, $0, which teach the save, spend and give math without a subscription. And for kids under 8, skip the apps altogether: cash, a clear jar and a free allowance calculator teach more than any screen can.

App	Price (2026)	Ages	Key feature	Free?
Penny Time	Free	8-14	Money Quests from the allowance you set	Yes
Cash App (family accounts)	Free	6-12	Debit card, no chore tracking	Yes
Greenlight	$5.99 to $19.98/mo	6-17	Chore-to-allowance automation plus investing	No
Acorns Early (formerly GoHenry)	$8/mo (up to 4 kids)	6-18	Custodial investing plus custom chores	No
Dinner Table Economy (was GravyStack)	Family subscription	7-17	Game-based money challenges	No

Most allowance app reviews are affiliate-driven. This one isn't. We compared seven third-party apps: four all-ages options (Cash App family accounts, Greenlight, Acorns Early, Dinner Table Economy) and three teen accounts (Fidelity Youth, Step, Current). Penny Time is our own free app, shown for transparency and not part of that count. We'll cover what each option actually does in 2026, what they cost, and the question most reviews skip: do you even need an app, or is a free calculator and a Sunday conversation enough? For families just starting out, the honest answer is often the second one.

The two-question test: do you need an app at all?

Before paying $5.99 to $15.98 a month for a kids' debit card, ask two things:

Is your child's allowance mostly cash, or mostly digital? A 6-year-old getting $5 in coins each Saturday gains almost nothing from a card. A 13-year-old splitting Roblox, lunch money and a savings goal benefits hugely.
Are you trying to teach the math, or automate the chore tracking? A free allowance calculator plus a printed chore chart teaches the same save/spend/give split that paid apps charge for. Apps win when life is too busy to track manually.

No app replaces the conversation. It just removes friction.

The main all-ages options compared

App	Best for ages	Monthly cost (2026)	Debit card	Chore tracking
Cash App (new family accounts)	6-12 (added April 2026)	Free	Yes, sponsored by parent	No built-in chores
Greenlight	6-17	$5.99 to $19.98	Yes	Yes
Acorns Early (formerly GoHenry)	6-18	$8 flat (up to 4 kids)	Yes	Yes, with custom tasks
Dinner Table Economy (was GravyStack)	7-17	Family subscription (in-app)	Yes	Game-based quests
Penny Time + free calculators	8-14 (calculators 3-17)	Free	No (pair with bank)	Printable chart only (none in the app)

Cash App family accounts (launched April 2026)

The newest entrant. Cash App opened sponsored accounts for ages 6-12 in April 2026, joining the 13-17 tier that has existed since 2021. Parents sponsor, control spending limits and see every transaction. The killer feature is price: $0 a month. The trade-off is that Cash App has no chore tracker, no savings buckets and no parent-facing learning content. It's a card with rails, not a curriculum. Good for older kids whose parents will teach the lessons themselves. If you are considering it, our guide on is Cash App safe for kids covers the five settings to lock down first.

Greenlight

The category leader, with over 6 million users as of late 2025. Four tiers ($5.99 Core, $10.98 Max, $15.98 Infinity, and a $19.98 Family Shield plan that adds whole-family credit and identity monitoring). You get debit cards, chore lists, savings goals with parent-paid interest, and an investing module on Max and above. Honest downside: the price stacks fast for multi-child families, and the in-app learning videos lean light. Worth it if you want one dashboard for chores, allowance, savings and a first stock purchase.

Acorns Early (formerly GoHenry in the US)

GoHenry's US service has been rebranded to Acorns Early since the 2023 Acorns acquisition (the UK brand stays GoHenry). It now costs a flat $8 per month for up to 4 kids on the Acorns Early Lite plan, or it is included with an Acorns Gold subscription at $12 per month. You get custom chore tasks, age-appropriate Money Missions lessons, and parent-controlled spend categories. The flat $8 fee covering up to 4 kids gives it strong unit economics for larger families, and the card design is among the strongest in the category for kids who care about that.

Dinner Table Economy (formerly GravyStack)

GravyStack rebranded to Dinner Table Economy in 2026, and its old site now redirects to dinnertable.com. It is a family subscription built around a game where kids earn real money by completing financial-literacy challenges, so the learning is the most game-driven of these options. Pricing is set inside the app, so check the current family rate on the App Store before you subscribe. The trade-off with any gamified app: once the novelty fades, some kids stop opening it, and most studies of gamified money lessons only track results for a few weeks or months.

Penny Time plus free calculators

The not-an-app option. Penny Time handles allowance tracking and turns the balance into money quests kids learn from. The free tools at /learn/ handle the math: allowance amounts by age, birthday money split planning, wants vs. needs sorting, a kids budgeting tool, and a playable grocery budget game with no app to download. Not sure which approach fits your child? A quick kids' money personality quiz shows whether they lean spender or saver before you commit to a card. Pair with any free bank account that issues a free debit card for kids (Capital One MONEY, Chase First) and total cost is $0.

Which of these allowance apps are actually free?

Only two of these cost nothing. Cash App's parent-managed accounts are free on both the new 6-12 tier and the older 13-17 tier, and Penny Time paired with the free calculators at /learn/ costs $0. Greenlight (from $5.99 a month), Acorns Early (from $8 a month) and Dinner Table Economy (a paid family subscription) all charge a monthly fee with no permanently free plan. So if "free" is the deciding factor, the real choice is a Cash App card or another free kids debit card for digital spending, or a free allowance calculator plus cash for younger kids. Everything else is a subscription worth starting only once it solves a problem cash cannot.

What is the best money app for kids?

There is no single best money app for kids: the right one depends on your child's age and whether you want a debit card or just the money lessons. For a free card, Cash App's parent-managed account (ages 6 to 17) is the simplest. For chores, savings goals and a first investment in one dashboard, Greenlight is the most complete from $5.99 a month. For the best value across several kids, Acorns Early is a flat $8 a month for up to 4 kids. For a teen ready to invest, the free Fidelity Youth Account is a real brokerage the teen owns. And for kids under 8, no money app beats cash, a clear jar and a free allowance calculator. The age-by-age picks are just below.

What is the best money app for a kid under 13?

For an under-13 kid who is ready for a card, Cash App's parent-managed account (opened to ages 6-12 in April 2026, free, fully parent-controlled) is the simplest pick, because most other kids' cards were built for the 13-plus tier. For kids under 8, skip the apps: cash, a clear jar and a free allowance calculator teach the save, spend and give split better than a screen can. Greenlight and Acorns Early open at age 6 as well, but they add a monthly fee for chore tracking and savings goals a younger child may not use yet. The full age-by-age picks are just below.

Can kids earn real money with an app?

Not from the app on its own. On allowance apps like Greenlight and Acorns Early, the money a child earns comes from you: you set the chores or the allowance, and the app moves your money onto their card. Apps that pay cash directly, such as survey and cash-back reward apps, are built for adults and older teens, so read the minimum age in the terms of service before a child signs up. For a kid under 13, the dependable way to earn is still paid jobs at home and small jobs for neighbors you know. Our list of real ways for 10-year-olds to earn money covers 15 of them with rough pay ranges, a first small business works at almost any age, and teens 14 and up can look for a first job.

How to choose in under five minutes

Child age 3-7: Skip the apps. Use cash, a clear jar and the allowance calculator. Apps don't teach a five-year-old anything physical money can't.
Age 8-12, one or two kids, light needs: Cash App family account. Free, simple, parents teach the lessons.
Age 8-12, want chores plus card plus savings goals automated: Acorns Early at a flat $8 for up to 4 kids, or Greenlight Core if you want investing later.
Age 10-15, child loves games: Dinner Table Economy (formerly GravyStack). The quest model holds attention longer than a transaction history.
Age 13-17, real spending plus first investing lesson: Greenlight Max.
Any age, parent wants to teach without monthly fees: Penny Time plus a free teen bank card.

Best money management apps for teens (13-17)

The apps above span ages 6 to 17, but a 15-year-old with a part-time job and a first savings goal has different needs than an 8-year-old: direct deposit for wages, a first taste of investing, and a card that starts building a credit history. If you searched for teen money management apps, or money management apps for teens, these three are built for the 13-17 tier and each does something the kid apps above cannot.

App	Monthly cost (2026)	Teen edge	Direct deposit
Fidelity Youth	$0	A real brokerage the teen owns	Yes
Step	$0 base	Builds credit history before 18	Yes
Current (teen)	$0	Strong parent controls, early pay	Yes

Fidelity Youth Account

The standout for a teen ready to invest. It is a real individual brokerage account the teen owns, not a custodial account a parent holds, with no monthly fee, no account fee, and no minimum to open. US stock and ETF trades are commission-free, and it comes with a debit card, for ages 13 to 17. If your teen wants to buy their first share instead of only spending, nothing else on this page comes close.

Step

Step is a free base account whose Visa card is built to grow a real credit history before your teen turns 18, the one thing an ordinary debit card cannot do. It takes direct deposit for job income and has over seven million users. One caveat: Step was acquired by MrBeast's Beast Industries in February 2026, so it is a company in transition, and you should check the current terms before signing up. Best for an older teen with a paycheck who could use an early credit head start.

Current (teen account)

Current's teen account has no monthly fee and no minimum, opened with a parent or guardian as co-owner for ages 13 to 17. Parents can track activity, set alerts, and lock or unlock the card, and paychecks can arrive early with direct deposit. There is no investing feature, so it is the everyday-spending pick rather than the wealth-building one. Good for a teen who mainly needs a safe card with a parent still in the loop.

Two names you may see ranked for teen searches do not belong beside these three: Copper shut down its banking, cards, and investing in 2024 and is now only a rewards app, and Mintable is a solo indie budgeting app with manual entry and no bank account. Whichever teen card you pick, the free Kids Budget Planner and allowance calculator handle the save, spend, and give math behind it.

What actually decides whether an app helps

Whether the tracking happens in an app or on paper matters less than whether it keeps happening. That is the strongest argument for picking whichever option your family will actually use for six months, rather than the one with the best feature list.

The fanciest app you abandon in week three is worse than the printable chore chart you stick with for a year.

The best free kids budgeting tool (no card required)

If you searched for a kids budgeting tool, you may not need a paid card at all. Penny Time's free Kids Budget Planner splits any allowance into save, spend, and give in seconds, and the Savings Goal calculator shows a child how many weeks until they can afford the thing they want. Both are free, need no signup, and pair with any of the cards above or with cash. For most families starting out, a budget planner plus a weekly conversation does the budgeting job a $6-a-month app charges for.

Skip the $6-a-month card while they're young

Penny Time is free, needs no card, and turns allowance into real money lessons your kid can practice today.

Greenlight starts at $5.99 a month for its Core plan and runs to $19.98 for Family Shield, with no permanently free tier (greenlight.com/plans, checked August 2026).

Frequently Asked Questions

: Yes, with the usual caveats. The debit-card apps in this review are FDIC-insured through partner banks (Greenlight uses Community Federal Savings Bank, GoHenry uses Sutton Bank, Cash App uses Sutton/Wells Fargo). The bigger safety question is data: these apps track spending and behavior, so read each app's privacy policy before signing up and check what it shares with third parties.
: There's no legal minimum (parents sponsor the account), but around age 8 is a reasonable floor: that is when many kids can grasp that money on a card is real and finite. Before 8, kids benefit more from physical cash because they need to see and touch money to understand it. Cash App's new 2026 accounts open at 6, but that doesn't mean a 6-year-old needs one.
: For ages 3-10, a free calculator plus a weekly conversation covers most of what a paid app would do. Apps add value for older kids (11+) who need real card-based experience, not for younger kids whose lessons are still concrete.
: Cash App is free; Greenlight starts at $5.99 a month. Cash App has no chore tracker, no savings goals, no learning content; Greenlight has all three. If you want a payments rail and nothing else, Cash App wins. If you want a teaching platform with a card attached, Greenlight is worth the $72 a year.
: Yes, and many families do. A common stack: a free allowance calculator for setting the weekly amount, a printable chore chart on the fridge, and one paid card app once the child turns 10 or 11. There's no rule that you have to pick one ecosystem. Start free, upgrade only when you hit a friction point an app actually solves.
: For setting and splitting an allowance, a free budget planner beats a paid app for most younger kids. Penny Time's Kids Budget Planner divides any amount into save, spend, and give with no signup, and the Savings Goal calculator shows how long until a child can afford a goal. Paid card apps add value once a child is 11 or older and spending digitally, but the budgeting math itself is free.
: The main options in 2026: Cash App (free, a debit card and parental controls, but no chore tracker or lessons), Greenlight ($5.99 to $19.98 a month, the most complete dashboard with chores, savings goals and investing), Acorns Early ($8 a month for up to 4 kids, strong value for larger families), Dinner Table Economy (a paid family subscription built around a money game), and Penny Time plus free calculators (free, best for teaching the math without a card). Cost tracks features: the free apps hand you a card and leave the teaching to you, the paid ones automate chores, savings and investing.
: Per-child pricing varies a lot, so compare the whole-family total, not the headline rate. Acorns Early is the flat-fee value pick at $8 a month for up to 4 kids. Greenlight covers up to 5 kids from $5.99 a month on its Core plan. Cash App is free per child, so three kids still cost nothing. Dinner Table Economy charges a single family subscription. For two or more kids, a flat-fee or free plan almost always beats a per-child charge.
: There is no single best allowance app for kids; the right pick depends on age and budget. For a free card, Cash App's parent-managed account (ages 6 to 17) is the simplest. For chores, savings goals and investing in one dashboard, Greenlight is the most complete. For the best value across several kids, Acorns Early is a flat $8 a month for up to 4 kids. For kids under 8, no app beats cash plus a free allowance calculator.
: Greenlight and Acorns Early give parents the most control: both let you approve chores, set spend categories by store type, and see every transaction in real time. Cash App's family accounts add parent-set spending limits and full transaction visibility for free. For the tightest instant controls on a teen account, Current lets a parent lock or unlock the card and set alerts on the fly.
: They range from free to about $20 a month. Cash App family accounts and the teen accounts (Fidelity Youth, Step, Current) are free. Greenlight runs $5.99 to $19.98 a month by tier. Acorns Early is a flat $8 a month for up to 4 kids. Dinner Table Economy charges a single in-app family subscription. For most families a free calculator plus cash covers younger kids, and a paid app earns its fee only once a child is spending digitally.
: Yes. Cash App's parent-managed accounts are free for ages 6 to 17, and Penny Time paired with the free calculators at /learn/ costs nothing. Among teen accounts, Fidelity Youth, Step and Current also have no monthly fee. Greenlight, Acorns Early and Dinner Table Economy each charge a monthly subscription with no permanently free plan.
: No app pays a young child real money by itself. Allowance apps like Greenlight and Acorns Early let a parent pay for finished chores onto the child's card, which is the closest thing for kids under 13. Survey and reward apps that pay cash are made for adults and older teens, so check their minimum age first. For most kids, paid chores, jobs for neighbors and a small business like a lemonade stand are where the earning happens, and an app only holds the money.
: For kids under 8, a piggy bank or a clear jar usually teaches more, because they can see and count the money. An app starts to help around age 10 or 11, once a child spends online or with a card, since a balance on a screen is how they will handle money later. Many families use both: a jar for coins and gift money, plus an app or a free allowance calculator to set the weekly amount.

Raise kids who understand how money works

Download the app, add your child, and connect their phone or tablet by scanning a code. About a minute, no email needed for kids.

How setup works for you and your child →

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Put this into practice this week

Add your child in Penny Time and, on their own phone or tablet, they can watch a real balance grow, take on quests, and ask for cash-outs you approve. Free for the whole family.