GoHenry Review: The Best Pocket Money App?

Looking for a kids pocket money app and card? This honest GoHenry review will explain why it’s a great way to teach your kids about budgeting!

If you’ve landed on this review then you’re probably already aware that GoHenry is one of the most expensive options in the kids pocket money apps market.

Is it actually worth the money? This review will help you make your decision!

This article contains affiliate links.

What is GoHenry?

GoHenry is a paid-for kids pocket money app and prepaid card that is aimed at teaching kids about money management, savings and earning money.

Parents hold ultimate control over the money in the GoHenry account.

Kids access their own version of the app to see their balance, savings goals, chores, and check out Money Missions to learn about managing their cash.

You can get 3 months totally free to try it out! Just click here to sign up.

GoHenry quick verdict

GoHenry is a fantastic way for parents to manage their children’s pocket money and to teach kids about budgeting. My daughter loved the design of the app and there’s tons going on in there.

There are lots more features than other competitors on the market – and the learning resources for kids are fantastic.

The biggest downside is the monthly price (£3.99/month) and additional fees if you want to add money to the card more than once a month.

I just can’t justify the cost for us at the moment when there are free options like HyperJar – but it’s worth taking advantage of the discounts and free trial GoHenry offers to see if it is for you!

You may also like: GoHenry alternatives

Sign up for GoHenry here + get 3 months free!

Key features of GoHenry

These are the main things to know about the GoHenry app.

Aimed at ages 6-18
30-day free trial then £3.99 a month
One free top-up per month then 50p loading fee
ATM withdrawals allowed
You can use the GoHenry card abroad
Set savings goals
Parents set tasks and kids can tick them off as they’re completed, or parents can set it so they have to approve a task as being completed
Parents can set auto top-ups
Parent-paid interest feature helps kids learn about the concept of bank interest
Add other relatives and a co-parent so they can send your child money too

Pros of GoHenry

Every feature you could want from a kids pocket money app – definitely the best app of its kind in terms of what it can do
Create task/chores lists for your kids with deadlines and set how much they can earn from each one
Money learning resources in the app with options to incentivise your kids to check them out so they gain financial education
ATM withdrawals allowed
The app won’t pay interest – it’s not a bank – but parents can teach kids the concept of interest thanks to the parent-paid interest feature (they get interest, but it’s your money funding it, not a bank). This helps motivate them to save.
Set up an auto top-up from your bank to your GoHenry account when it hits a certain level of funds

Cons of GoHenry

The cost and extra fees – I think the £3.99 is what will ultimately stop me from continuing with the app, especially as there are multiple alternatives that are cheaper or free
Fees for going over the allowed number of top-ups – you only get one monthly free transfer then it’s 50p per month. Means you need to plan ahead for what your child needs that month.
£4.99 fee for a custom card – the custom cards are very visually appealing so of course your kid is going to want it instead of the boring standard card!
Your child needs access to a device to make full use of the app – not practical with younger children who don’t have phones or a tablet
It’s not a bank and your money won’t earn interest
Need money you’ve transferred into GoHenry back? It’s a faff. You’ll need to withdraw the cash on your child’s GoHenry card from an ATM – the daily withdrawal limit is £120.

Is GoHenry any good?

Online reviews of GoHenry are positive. The app has a 4.2 Star review on Trustpilot and a 4.6 Star rating on the Apple app store.

The biggest complaints from online reviewers seem to be with the difficulties they have had in getting through to customer services.

Several of my followers are also big fans and happy to pay the monthly fee for the cool features the app offers.

In my view the features on the GoHenry app are very impressive – they’re clearly trying to earn their money here by standing out from other pocket money apps on the market.

I really love the tasks list – which is so easy to use and add to. The only trouble is

GoHenry fees

£4.99 for a custom card – you can get a simple free one
One free top-up every month – then 50p fee for each subsequent top-up
No ATM fees
No internatonal fees

GoHenry vs HyperJar

In a nutshell, HyperJar will not allow you to set tasks and chores or savings goals, rather it helps kids budget money into jars. GoHenry has way more features and extras. But HyperJar is free so if all parents are looking for is a kids prepaid card, then HyperJar is the way to go. The big downside is HyperJar does not allow cash withdrawals at ATMs – GoHenry does.

HyperJar is GoHenry’s big free competitor – I would say NatWest Rooster is the closest equivalent app to GoHenry but it’s not totally free even if you’re a NatWest customer.

Rooster Money charges 99p a month, even to its NatWest customers, to unlock all the features of the Rooster Card – the big ones being the task/chores list and savings goals.

So how do GoHenry and HyperJar compare – what are you losing out on my opting to go with the totally free HyperJar?

Choose GoHenry if you want all the app features such as setting pocket money chores and savings goals and need your child to be able to withdraw cash from an ATM.

Pick HyperJar if you don’t like the idea of fees and simply want your kid to get a good idea of what it’s like to have their own debit card.

It’s also worth noting your kid needs a mobile phone to use HyperJar – they can download GoHenry to an iPad or Android tablet (although I couldn’t get it to work on an Amazon Kids tablet).

So if you want your kid to have access to an app at all times, with HyperJar they will need to borrow another parent’s phone so they can log into the kid version of the app. This is a big issue for younger primary age kids, who likely do not have a mobile just yet.

With HyperJar can divide your child’s money between “jars” to help them budget their pocket money. For example your kid may have a jar for “toys”, one for “sweets”, one for “savings” and one for “days out”.

GoHenry does not allow kids to do this “cash envelope” style budgeting but ultimately it does have far more features.

Kids can set savings goals – towards whatever they want from a new game to clothes or a holiday.

They can view their transactions in the app and see what tasks they have been set to earn pocket money.

Need more info? Here’s a full GoHenry vs HyperJar comparison.

GoHenry vs Rooster Money

NatWest’s Rooster is GoHenry’s biggest paid-for competitor. It works out cheaper than GoHenry IF you have a bank account with NatWest or RBS.

If you don’t then fees for Rooster Money start at £1.99 a month for the basic app and card, and it’s an additional 99p a month to unlock the extra features such as setting tasks and savings goals.

Based on this it’s still cheaper than GoHenry, but you can see it’s creeping up to a similar price.

BUT there is a free version of Rooster Money! This does not include a prepaid card however, nor does it manage real money.

What it does do is allow you to add how much money your kid has available to them in pocket money, so it’s a visual way of explaining to them how much money they have to spend. They just won’t have a prepaid card to use in the shops with this version of Rooster.

Is GoHenry safe?

The money you put into GoHenry is held as e-money. It isn’t a bank so your money won’t be protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

But GoHenry is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is a legit company that has partnered with Visa to hold customer funds. If GoHenry went bust, your money would be returned in full.

Our honest thoughts on GoHenry

I really love the idea behind GoHenry and think it’s perfect for kids of primary school age.

The layout of the app took my 8-year-old daughter a little getting used to – she had to spend time switching between the home screen showing her balance, the tasks list and her savings goals. There’s a lot going on on this app!

However once she had the hang of it she really loved watching as she earned money for doing jobs like feeding her fish and making her bed.

It’s also really encouraged her with her savings goals – as she wants a trip to the toy shop over the summer holidays.

I had to set the app up on my iPad – as I could not get it working on my daughter’s Amazon Fire Kids tablet – so she could check out the kid version of the GoHenry app.

This was fine, but I do think it’s a bit of a flaw for parents of primary school kids who are trying not to let their kids stay glued to a phone or device. They need access to a device to make regular use of all the features of the app, so this is something to consider I think.

There are several other options on the market – including the totally free HyperJar and cheaper Rooster (so long as you’re a NatWest customer). You may not want to pay a fee just to send your kids their £5 pocket money every week.

The app can be used up to age 18 – however I suspect most kids aged 11 will be getting a bank account which is cheaper and actually pays interest.

My ultimate advice on GoHenry is – go for it if setting tasks and savings goals to incentivise your kid’s earning pocket money is really important to you. If all you want is a prepaid card to teach them about spending pocket money on a card, go for HyperJar which is fee-free.

Learn more about this free option in my full HyperJar review.

GoHenry generally offers one month free to new customers, so you can always give it a go and then opt out if you decide it’s not for you.

I don’t love the monthly fee to be honest and can’t see myself paying it for two kids. Once my kids are old enough to open their own bank account at age 11 I’ll be doing that.

But I love the concept of GoHenry and I think it’s great for kids aged 6 to 10. Your kids will really enjoy it, and they’ll learn valuable money lessons.