8 Best Money Apps for Kids: In-Depth Reviews

1) GoHenry

GoHenry is a popular prepaid kids' debit card and pocket money app with over a million users worldwide, designed for children as young as 6 to 18 years of age. With GoHenry, you, as the parent, have a lot of control over your child’s allowance.

GoHenry’s companion app for parents allows you to monitor your child’s account, including tracking their spending habits, setting spending limits, and it even has the ability to restrict access for specific transactions on the card. Paying allowances is also much more convenient as the app lets you pay directly into your child’s debit card.

Another feature worth mentioning is that you can set savings goals and tasks/chores to motivate them. There’s also a “Money Missions” section filled with fun quizzes and videos to teach your children about managing their money better.

Once you open a GoHenry account, you’ll get a free personalized debit card for your child. You can open up to 4 accounts, and you’ll be able to monitor and track all of your children’s spending habits.

Price: 30-day free trial then $4.99/mo

Check out the GoHenry website to get your kids registered today.

2) Rooster Money

Rooster Money by NatWest is a fantastic pocket money app to encourage your kids to learn about financial independence while maintaining control over their spending.

This app comes with some fantastic standout features, which include:

• Budgeting tools, 

• Chore trackers, 

• Recurrent payments, and 

• An advanced transaction entry process that allows you to deduct from your child’s monthly or weekly allowance for expenses they choose to pay for such as a video game subscription or streaming service. 

Many of the above are premium features, but you still get some basic features with the free version. This includes star charts, money pots, automated payments, tracking tools, and educational resources for your kids.

Opening an account with Rooster Money is a less expensive option than GoHenry and gives you many features to cultivate positive financial habits in your children. With a paid account, you get flexible parental controls on your kid’s prepaid Visa debit card, including the ability to list chores, set spending limits, and create goals.

One drawback of this type of account is that there are daily and weekly spending limits that apply to the card. Your child is allowed 15 spends a day, and 25 spends a week.

Price: 30-day free trial; after that it is $2.54/mo 

Get started with a Rooster Money child account.

3) HyperJar Kids

HyperJar Kids is a great way to categorize your kid's accounts and spending while managing complex account transfers. You start by registering for your own adult HyperJar account and then opening a HyperJar account for your child.

The app gives you multiple jars to budget and manage your money for different purposes. For example, your kids may split their money into different jars named parties, video games, or clothing to categorize their spending.

All the kids’ jars are shared with the parent or guardian, so you can monitor where the money is being spent. You can also set spending limits on certain jars or even block some of them.

Price: Free

Create a HyperJar account today!

4) Starling Kite

Starling Kite is a kid-friendly extension within your own Starling bank account that provides a space for your children to practice good financial habits and proper saving and budgeting skills. It works by registering your child as a regular account holder but placing restrictions on them so they can only access the Starling Kite section of the app.

This app works like the others on the list. You, as the parent, have a separate app to keep track of your child’s spending and can monitor their debit card while also having full control over how, where, and when they’re able to spend that money.

It’s primarily designed for children aged from 6 to 16 years of age. There is a separate account for teenagers.

Price: $2.56/mo per card with a maximum of six cards

Interested in opening an account? Try Starling Kite today for free.

5) iAllowance

iAllowance is a digital piggy bank app for your kids’ pocket money available only on Apple devices. It has a kid-friendly design as its chalkboard-style interface would definitely resonate with your young ones.

The app is primarily suited to parents who want to track chores for their children. It gives you the ability to set up reminders and alerts and receive notifications regarding the chores you assign your children.

You can also segment their pocket money across separate bank accounts. Allowances can be paid automatically, and you can also set up rewards that your child can redeem after completing a certain savings goal.

Alongside these features, you also control where they can and cannot spend the money and the ability to assign each kid their own personalized dashboard for tracking their earnings and spending.

Price: Free for Lite; $3.82, one-time fee for all features

You can get the iAllowance app from the Apple or Mac app store.

6) Revolut <18

Revolut <18 is a pocket money app and prepaid debit card specifically made for teens. It gives a level of control to your kids by letting them transfer money between friends, customize their cards, and set savings goals.

Teens can’t open a free account with Revolut without a parent or guardian’s approval.  There is a separate account for adults.

If your child is 12 years or under the child will not be able to register their own account. However, once a parent or guardian has done it for them, you will have access to all the same features.

With Revolut, you open the first account for free, which will give your child a separate app and bank account. The parent’s app then allows them to receive instant spend notifications, the ability to block and unblock cards, and free top-ups.

Price: how much you pay depends on the plan you opt for. Their prices range from free for their basic account to $57.51/mo.

Check out Revolut <18 here.

7) Nimbl

Built on the mission to help thousands of children form good money habits, Nimbl is an app and prepaid debit card designed to help your children learn the importance of savings.

It is similar to other pocket money and prepaid debit card apps listed here and offers the features and functionality needed to get your kids started on their journey toward financial independence. 

You’ll get spending alerts, online bank statements to automatically download transactions, instant top-ups, and the ability to deposit monthly or weekly pocket money automatically into your kid’s account.

Nimbl also includes additional features such as microsavings, which saves your kid money whenever they use their Nimbl card for transactions. It also allows gifting, so your relatives can each contribute a monetary gift for your child. 

Price: 30-day free trial; after that it is $3.18/mo

Grab your free 1-month trial with Nimbl.

8) Hire and Fire Your Kids

Hire and Fire Your Kids (HFK) is a fun chore-tracking app that teaches children responsibility for earning and spending their money. With HFK, you’re able to gamify the financial experience by setting up an environment where kids earn their allowance.

It works similarly to a job board. The parent lists chores, known as jobs, on the app and your kids apply to these to earn an amount of money. If they do a good job, the parent can reward the child with bonuses or gifts, like an extra allowance or that video game they’ve been insisting on.

Consequently, you can also fire your kids if they misbehave or break the house rules and use the app to remove rewards or cut their allowance. You can even take photos of unmet expectations or mischievous acts and send them as a warning to your kids. Once they receive a certain number of warnings, you can issue a consequence.

Price: Free

Learn more about Hire and Fire Your Kids by visiting the official website and downloading the app.

What Features Should You Look for When Choosing a Pocket Money App for Your Kid?

We’ve discussed 8 different pocket money apps for your kids, and narrowing it down can be difficult. Primarily, look for the features you need, such as chore tracking, prepaid debit cards, and/or automated allowance payments.

User-Friendliness

For kids as young as 5 years of age, navigating an app can be pretty difficult. As adults, we may be able to make sense of the interface of most apps in a second, but for kids, the app’s interface must be intuitive and beginner-friendly.

Before downloading an app, check out its screenshots online or a simple walkthrough of the interface. This will give you an idea of what the app is like to use and navigate.

Monitor and Tracking Capabilities

As parents, you need to keep an eye on where, when, and how your kids are spending and saving their money. Since your kids are still immature, they would be making more emotional decisions than rational ones. Keeping their finances in check can help you help them make better financial decisions.

For this, many pocket money apps offer monitoring and tracking capabilities. This includes viewing your kid’s transactions and progress, the ability to block certain transactions or accounts, and approving and disapproving certain transactions.

Account Facilities

Account facilities, such as the ability to create separate accounts, can be an effective way to categorize your payments and specify the purpose of your accounts. Apps like HypeJar Kids let you split your kids’ accounts into different purposes. This can be helpful for budgeting for various expenditures.

Conclusion

Teaching your kids about financial management can lead them to achieve a financially independent life by giving them a headstart on how to save and spend their money. The pocket money apps discussed in this article give you an idea of all the different ways you can manage and monitor your child’s spending.

Want to take it a step further? Check out my list of the eight best kids investing apps.

When it comes to finances, Invested Mom is a great place to start. With my vast expertise in growing your wealth and having your money work for you, I can help you achieve your own financial dreams. Contact me today!