FamZoo vs. Greenlight: Which Kids’ Card Is Worth it?

Greenlight and FamZoo both offer prepaid debit cards for kids with no age requirements. Starting prices are the same, with Greenlight starting at $5.99 per month for the Core plan, and FamZoo at $5.99 per month. Both options are full of features — almost too many to list — so the winner may ultimately come down to which features you want for your family.

FamZoo vs. Greenlight: A quick comparison

How features of FamZoo and Greenlight compare

	FamZoo	Greenlight
Free trial	Yes, 30-day free trial	Yes, 30-day free trial
Free reloads	Yes	Yes
Custom spending limits	No	Yes
Educational content	No	Yes
Chore assignment and allowance tracking	Yes	Yes
Investing features	No	Yes
Mock loans	Yes	No
Credit building opportunities	No	Coming Soon
Savings rewards	Yes, paid by parent	Yes
Cashback rewards	No	Yes

FamZoo vs. Greenlight: Account options

FamZoo and Greenlight are both mobile kids’ banking options that offer prepaid debit cards with no age requirements.

Greenlight has four plan options, which each offering up to five kids’ debit cards per plan:

• Greenlight Core: $5.99 per month
• Greenlight Max: $10.98 per month
• Greenlight Infinity: $15.98 per month
• Family Shield: $24.98 per month

FamZoo has only one plan option, with up to four cards per plan and the option to buy more additional cards with no limit:

• Famzoo plan: Month-to-month $5.99

In terms of features, Greenlight and FamZoo lead the pack, each offering perks you aren’t likely to find with free kids’ cards. And since both come with prepaid debit cards, there are no overdraft fees to worry about. Both options let parents try it for free before committing, turn their kids’ cards on and off, set up chores and allowances and let kids donate to charities.

FamZoo vs. Greenlight cost comparison

Greenlight and FamZoo’s starting prices are very similar. Greenlight has four plans to choose from, and its most affordable plan is Greenlight Core for $5.99 per month.

FamZoo has a single plan of $5.99/month, and you technically get more a few more features with FamZoo’s single plan than Greenlight’s Core plan.

Parental controls

As two kids’ debit card options, both have parental control options.

All Greenlight’s plans allow parents to set custom spending limits by store and category, such as $100 per month on gaming, groceries and so on. Parents can turn the cards on or off, set up automated or manual allowances, quickly transfer funds from external accounts, create chore charts and more.

FamZoo offers similar parental controls to Greenlight and a few extras, including chore and allowance tracking, parent-paid interest on savings, “payroll” options, expense sharing and matching savings contributions.

Is FamZoo or Greenlight safer?

Both FamZoo and Greenlight are FDIC-insured, meaning funds in the accounts are protected up to $250,000. But when you look at the security features and parental controls, Greenlight is the clear winner over FamZoo.

Greenlight’s more expensive plans, Max, Infinity and Family Shield also offer a breadth of safety perks, such as cell phone coverage for up to five phones, identity theft protection and priority customer service. Greenlight Infinity also offers car detection and family location sharing, an SOS feature that dispatches 911.

Final verdict: Which one’s better?

Greenlight destroys the competition with its breadth of features, including financial literacy games that teach your kid about money, safety features, granular parental controls, cash back, savings rewards and an investing platform.

However, all of FamZoo’s features are included with its one and only plan. Parents can create mock loans, set up automatic bill payments for the kids and even award kids with parent-paid interest weekly, monthly or yearly. FamZoo’s chore system may also be the most in-depth system we’ve seen: Parents can split chore payments between kids, kids can claim “dibs” on chores, parents can withhold payment until after parental review and much more.

All in all, Greenlight is better if you want granular parental controls and more features overall.

But FamZoo is best if you want to add more than five kids and a robust chore chart.

FamZoo is best for:

• Chore and allowance features
• Mock loans
• Families with more than five children

Greenlight is best for:

• Granular parental controls
• Safety features
• Investing platform

Alternatives to FamZoo and Greenlight

Greenlight and FamZoo each have an unavoidable monthly fee. If you want to teach your kids about money without having to spend money yourself, consider these alternatives.

• Current teen banking. A fintech, Current teen banking is a mobile-only app with no monthly fees. It comes with automated chore and allowance tracking, strong parental controls, savings round-ups and more. Parents need a regular Current account to manage the teen one, but that one is also free to open and maintain.
• Step. This secured card works like a debit card. Parents can create a parent-managed Step account for their kids with no age requirements, monthly fees, overdraft fees or interest charges. It also helps teens build credit history before they turn 18.
• Chase First Banking. This one is powered by Greenlight and is offered by the trusted bank Chase. Chase First Banking has no monthly fees or opening deposit requirements and also comes with chore and allowance features. It’s for kids aged 6 to 17 and requires a parent to have a Chase checking account.

See how even more cards stack up:

• Greenlight vs. Current
• Step vs. Current
• Acorns Early (formerly GoHenry) vs. Greenlight

Frequently asked questions

• How much does FamZoo cost?

  FamZoo starts at $5.99 per month, with some savings for paying in bulk.

• Does Greenlight offer interest or cash back?

  Yes. Greenlight offers savings rewards that vary depending on your plan, from 2% to 6% on savings. The Greenlight Max, Infinity and Family Shield plans offer up to 1% cashback on debit card purchases.

• Is FamZoo safe for kids?

  FamZoo's accounts are FDIC insured, and FamZoo states that it will never store user private bank account information for reloading purposes. And as a MasterCard, cards are protected under MasterCard's Zero Liability policy for unauthorized purchases.

• Do you need a bank account for Greenlight or FamZoo?

  To load the Greenlight Parent Wallet, you do need a valid bank account or debit card. FamZoo accounts can be loaded via linked bank account or card, but it doesn't require a bank account. FamZoo also accepts cash reloads at a participating retailer or via direct deposit from a government agency.