6 Awesome GoHenry Alternatives for Kids Pocket Money
If you’re searching for a pocket money app for your child then you’ve probably come across GoHenry.
Maybe you’re almost sold on giving it a go, but the fees have put you off or you’re wondering what GoHenry alternatives, with prepaid debit card, there might be out there.
This article is going to give you six alternatives – including two free apps that come with prepaid debit cards – that are suitable for kids aged six and up.
Pocket money apps are a fantastic way to teach kids about budgeting and saving.
It also gets them ready for the world of cashless payment and online banking in a way that’s more effective than a jar of pennies on their bedroom shelf.
A child under 11 cannot get a current account with debit card, but kids aged six and up CAN have a prepaid debit card. Great news for parents want to give pocket money, but who don’t keep loose change in their pockets.
GoHenry is one of the biggest apps on the market – providing extra features such as setting chores to earn more pocket money, financial education and savings goals. If you want to know more about it, check out my GoHenry review.
Let’s take a look at what alternatives to GoHenry are out there.
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Best GoHenry alternative
The best GoHenry alternative is Rooster Card from NatWest’s Rooster Money.
Cost-wise it’s fairly similar to GoHenry if you want all the features including the ability to set a chores or task list for your child. It will cost you £1.99 per month per child to use the app and debit card, then an extra 99p a month for Rooster Plus to unlock all features in the Rooster app.
That 99p is a family subscription, so you won’t have to pay more for additional kids.
If you are a NatWest or RBS customer however you can avoid that £1.99 charge altogether and get the Rooster Card free. Rooster Plus is not included in this deal, so you’ll still need to pay 99p per month.
However that makes it a lot cheaper than GoHenry. We started an account with NatWest just to take advantage of the free Rooster app and debit card – you can start a current account within a few days.
And with the same features as GoHenry, the two are pretty comparable in terms of allowing you to set your child tasks to earn their pocket money, view their transactions, budget and giving you ultimate control over their spending.
Rooster summary
Fee: £1.99 per month (free for eligible NatWest customers)
Extras: Rooster Plus fee is 99p a month for the whole family (this allows you unlock all features in the app such as the chore tracker and a parent-paid interest rate in their savings pots)
Ages: 6-18 years
Features
- Three free transfers per day and up to 10 per month, then charged at 50p per transfer
- You can use virtual money or real money – teaching your kids with virtual money divided into different pots to teach them about budgeting. So you don’t have to actually add money to the app if you want to use it as a visual learning tool.
- No ATM fees
- Up to 3 free Rooster Cards for NatWest customers.
- Choose a Rooster Card design from a range of options – this may incur an extra fee of £4.99.
- Anyone can contribute to the Rooster account – so grandparents can give cash for Christmases and birthdays
- You can add money for free up to three times per day and 10 times per month
- 15 maximum daily transactions
- 25 maximum weekly transactions
- £1000 maximum daily spend
- £200 daily withdrawal limit
- £45 contactless spending limit
- 3% fee on transactions abroad over £50 a month
Pros
- Cheaper IF you are a NatWest or RBS customer – around the same price for the Rooster Card and Rooster Plus to unlock all the chores tracking features
- More free transfers allowed per month
Cons
- Fee is pretty much the same if you aren’t an RBS and NatWest customer
- A little annoying there isn’t an all-in fee and you have to pay extra to unlock certain features with Rooster Plus.
- Transaction limit of 25 weekly transactions could be annoying for older kids who like to shop or make lots of little purchases
Best free GoHenry alternative
The best free GoHenry alternative is HyperJar. No fees and no costs to get started.
Read my full HyperJar review.
It’s understandable that you may not want to pay for a pocket money app. These are not bank accounts, so you won’t be earning any interest on the pocket money you place into the app to load up the debit card.
If you’re only going to putting in a couple of pounds a week, then the GoHenry fee can be hard to justify, especially for kids at the younger end of the spectrum just getting started with pocket money.
And if your child doesn’t have a smartphone – as most kids under 10 probably don’t – then they won’t be accessing the app constantly anyway. They’ll likely have to take a look on your phone or a smart tablet they may have access to.
So if all you want is a prepaid debit card for your child, with an app that lets them view their balance, then HyperJar is the one I would recommend.
You cannot set tasks or savings goals – but your child can organise their money into separate jars.
If you’re happy with a very basic app then this one is a great place to start.
HyperJar summary
The HyperJar app and card for kids is totally free to use, but like Revolut <18 requires an adult account for it to be set up.
HyperJar is an over 18s budgeting app that lets you create jars for expenses – basically it’s like a cash envelope budgeting system on your phone.
The app will also allow you to order a debit card for your child that’s linked to your HyperJar account. Your child can then download the HyperJar kids app to their phone or device and manage their pocket money.
This app and debit card is totally free, with no option to pay extra to unlock extra features. .
Fee: Free
Ages: 6-17 years
Features
- Helps kids manage their money with digital jars – budgeting for things like toys, sweets and gifts
- Set spending limits
- Set tasks via messaging in the app
- Schedule payments for pocket money
- Receive notifications of your child’s spending
- No withdrawals from ATMs
- Minimum £10 top up
- No charges for transfers
- Block specific retailers
- Create a shared jar and invite up to 100 members to join it – allowing family and friends to pay birthday or Christmas money to your child’s account
Pros
- No fees or hidden fees
- There is a way to set tasks
- Kids can organise their budget using the “jars” in the app
Cons
- Not as many features as GoHenry
What this means is if the business goes bust, it’s possible your money is at risk. It’s worth researching each individual company carefully to see what checks and balances they have in place to keep your money safe should anything go wrong.
Other GoHenry alternatives
The kids pocket money apps world is becoming a competitive market, which is good news for parents as it means there are a few more options out there!
Here are some other apps that work very similarly to HyperJar and Rooster Money.
Remember that with most of these apps any money you put in isn’t covered in the same way as money in your bank is under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Revolut <18
Fee: Free (charges kick in, from £2.99 a month, if you want Revolut for more than one child and to unlock additional features such as tasks and chores)
Extras: One-time fee to deliver the card
Ages: 6-17 years
Features
- Kids can request money from parents or receive a regular allowance
- Spend online or in store
- Card can be linked to Google or Apple Pay (if you’re old enough to use them)
- Basic kids app on free version that allows them to view balance and transactions.
- No fee for topping up
- Kids can choose from a selection of card designs.
- Set savings goals – if you are on a paid Revolut account only (from £2.99 a month).
- Set challenges (such as chores) if you are a Plus, Premium and Metal or Ultra users (which all cost additional fees) and choose the amount they are rewarded for completing the challenge.
- Free for one child, if you want to add an additional child to an adult Revolut account it’s £2.99 a month.
Pros
- Free for one child
- Simple app
Cons
- You have to pay to unlock use of challenges and savings goals – the £2.99 a month cost means it’s the same as GoHenry. You may be able to justify this if you want the app for two kids.
- Doesn’t contain the financial education content that GoHenry does.
- You need another device to access the Revolut <18 app as the Revolut adult version won’t switch between the grown-up and child profile – this is simple if there’s two of you with phones in the house but may be an issue for some families.
Starling Kite
Starling Kite for kids exists as a pot within your own adult Starling account. This is the only one that comes with FSCS protection.
Although you can set spending limits and savings goals, there is no chore tracker. This may be a consideration if you’re particularly keen for that pocket money app feature.
The £2 a month fee makes it one of the cheaper paid-for apps.
Fee: £2 a month (first month free)
Ages: 6-16 years
Features
- No option to set tasks or chores in the app.
- Automate payments
- Set daily spending limits
- Set where the card can be used – shops, online or at cash machines
- Easy to top up
- No charges for loading money
- Set savings goals
- Notifications when your child spends
- No overseas spending fees
- The only one on this list that has FSCS protection
- Share a Kite Link with friends and family so they can add money on birthdays and Christmas
Pros
- Cheaper than GoHenry
- FSCS protection
- Free transfers – as many as you want
Cons
- No extra features such as setting tasks or financial education like with GoHenry
- Other pocket money apps to consider:
Osper
Osper operates in much the same way as GoHenry does and is a very similar price.
You can access the app in either parent or child mode on just one device – which can be very useful if your child doesn’t have their own smartphone (unlikely if they’re under 10) or tablet.
The biggest disadvantage of this option is the 50p fee to instantly load money to the account. Many of the options outlined above have no fees, or at least some free instant loads.
Fee: £2.50 per child per month (first month free)
Extras: 50p charge to instantly load extra money to the account
Ages: 8-18 years
Features
- Set personal budget
- Savings goals
- Lots of fun card designs
- Set an automatic allowance
- Option to limit cash withdrawals
- Lock card if it’s lost or stolen
- Vendors such as pubs and other potentially non-child appropriate places blocked
- Charge of £2 per ATM withdrawal overseas and 3% on purchases
Nimbl
Another app that works very similarly to GoHenry. This one has some great features, such as a micro saving option where they can set an amount to go into a savings pot every time they spend.
Fee: £2.49 per month
Ages: 6-18 years
Features
- Savings goals
- Cannot set tasks or chores in the app
- Micro saving features lets your child save between 5p and £5 whenever they spend
- Set spending limits
- No fee for topping up the card
- Charge of £1.50 per ATM withdrawal when travelling abroad
So how do these stack up against GoHenry?
With over 1.5million users in the UK, GoHenry is a popular option among parents.
The monthly fee may be hard to stomach – especially if you are only transferring small amounts of pocket money and have more than one child (the fees can soon add up).
But everything about it is geared up to be very engaging for kids – from the option to get a customised debit card to the app itself which has tons of features.
Parents set the day they want money to be added to their child’s GoHenry card and kids then learn to budget their money in the app.
Kids can earn pocket money by doing paid tasks set in the app – such as making their bed and tidying up their toys. Kids can tick them off themselves once completed, or you can set it up so you the parent says when a task is done.
Fee: £2.99 a month (per child, first month free)
Extras: £4.99 for a custom GoHenry card (free for non-custom card)
One free transfer per month – top ups cost 50p a go
Ages: 6-18 years
Features
- Set spending limits
- Set chores and kids get paid once completed
- Savings goals with progress tracker
- Set money missions that teach kids about money management and let them earn points
- Certain merchants are blocked automatically, such as gambling businesses and off-licences, and parents can also enable a stricter merchant block that includes restaurants.
- Card can be used online
- Parents can set up a monthly direct debit to top up the account
- Block and unblock card in the app
- Giftlinks allow friends and family to send money to the GoHenry account
Final thoughts
As you can see there are several great alternatives to GoHenry – including some that have pretty much identical features and some that are totally free.
GoHenry and Rooster remain the ones that you’ll find the most features on.
If you aren’t fussed about all the features – for example you can come up with your own chore chart to stick on the fridge – then a simple free app like Revolut <18 or HyperJar is perfect.
