Today’s children are growing up in an online world, so it could make sense to take their pocket money online too. In the battle of the pocket money apps, this guide will help you choose between rivals Rooster Money and GoHenry.
This review takes a closer look at how these apps compare to help you decide which is best for you and your child.
GoHenry has been around since 2012 when a group of parents came up with a new way to help kids manage their money. The result was a financial tool consisting of a child account, a parent account to top it up, and a prepaid card.
Pocket money app Rooster Money was established in 2016 with the aim of helping kids become more confident with their finances. It was bought by NatWest in 2021.
To see how they compare, let’s start by taking a look at their target market: GoHenry is designed for children between the ages of 6 and 18. While elements of the Rooster Money app can be used from as young as 3, to use the prepaid card, your child will need to be aged between 6-18.
Both companies offer prepaid cards: GoHenry comes with a Visa debit card that can be customised by choosing from more than 45 different designs, while Rooster Money offers a Visa debit card in a standard purple shade. Because these are prepaid cards, your kids can only spend the amount that’s on them – they can’t go overdrawn or get into debt with either provider.
With both GoHenry and Rooster Money, parents and kids can monitor their spending via the respective apps. GoHenry’s app is tailored to your kid’s age and parents have a companion app that lets them set flexible boundaries and goals for their kids and get real-time spend notifications. With Rooster Money, children can have their own login, whether on their own device or yours, so that they see how much money they have saved. Parents can also keep track of their kids’ spending and decide where they can and cannot spend on their card.
Both GoHenry and Rooster Money are e-money products, which means your money will not be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. This covers up to £85,000 per person if a provider goes bust. However, your money will be held in ring-fenced accounts that neither GoHenry nor Rooster Money can access. In both cases, the money is held in accounts with NatWest and this means you should get your money back if either GoHenry or Rooster Money went bust.
NatWest Rooster Money was highly commended in the kids’ category in Finder’s independent 2024 Customer Satisfaction Awards, scoring 4.7 out of 5 stars, with 94% of users saying they would recommend the service. In comparison, GoHeny scored 4.5 out of 5 stars and 93% of users said they would recommend it.
Both GoHenry and Rooster Money allow parents to make regular pocket money contributions, though with Rooster Money, this will depend on the plan you have.
Rooster Money has different options to choose from, with the most basic Virtual Tracker plan allowing parents and children to track money and spending habits without real money – this is suitable for younger children and includes star charts. The Rooster Card subscription is designed for older children and gives access to smarter features on the app.
You’ll be able to add one additional parent or guardian to the Tracker version of the Rooster Money app, but you can add as many secondary users as you like to the Rooster Card account. These secondary users will need to download the app first. By contrast, any other relatives or friends who want to pay into a GoHenry child account can create their own account to do so, or they can send money straight to a child’s card using Giftlinks.
Should you wish to open more than 1 account with either provider, GoHenry allows you to have 4 accounts per household, whereas Rooster Money sets no such limit.
Both the GoHenry card and the Rooster Money card allow you to withdraw cash from an ATM – GoHenry restricts this to £120 a day, but Rooster Money has a higher limit of £200 a day.
Winner: It’s close, but we’re giving it to Rooster Money as there are no restrictions on the number of accounts you can have, and withdrawal limits are higher too.
There are a lot of similarities between the GoHenry and Rooster Money apps. Both offer a range of features that can be adapted as your child gets older and both have a firm focus on pocket money and chores. With both apps, you can set tasks for your kids to carry out, which they then get paid for via the app. Rooster Money even enables kids to send a photo to their parents as proof of a job well done.
Both apps also let parents set spending limits and decide where their kids’ cards can be used as well as get real-time notifications on where and when the card has been used. Plus, you can also set up savings goals. GoHenry will calculate the amount your child should save based on the amount of pocket money they get and their end goal date, while Rooster Money lets you set savings goals for your kids with different savings pots to help them track their progress. With the Rooster Plus plan, parents can even set an interest rate to encourage their kids to save.
Additionally, GoHenry offers a “Money Missions” feature, which includes stories, videos and quizzes to help teach your kids about money – different levels are geared towards different age groups. Rooster Money also offers a range of educational resources.
Winner: Tie. Both apps offer a wide range of innovative features making it difficult to choose between them.
Despite having similar features, Rooster Money is the clear winner for being that bit cheaper than GoHenry.”
Round 3: Fees
Provider
Monthly fee
£3.99
£1.99
Card delivery fee
£0
£0
Loading fee
50p (one top-up free per month)
3/day or 10/month free, then £0.50
UK card transaction fee
£0
£0
UK cash withdrawal fee
£0
£0
Fees abroad
£0
Free ATM withdrawals, 3% of transaction value on purchases over £50/month
Replacement card fee
Free, or £4.99 if changing design
Free for the first replacement (per household), £5 thereafter
GoHenry charges a monthly fee of £3.99, although you can sign up for a 1-month free trial first. Rooster Money also offers a free trial for its card subscription and after that the amount you pay will depend on the plan you have. The Virtual Tracker is free to use each month, but its features are limited. The Rooster Card plan costs £1.99 a month or £19.99 a year.
There’s no fee to have your card delivered with either GoHenry or Rooster Money, but you may have to pay a fee for loading money onto the card. GoHenry offers 1 fee-free load per month and then charges 50p a time. Rooster Money offers 3 free loads per day up to a total of 10 per month.
Should you want to use your card abroad, GoHenry does not charge for cash withdrawals or purchases. With Rooster Money, cash withdrawals abroad are free, but any spending of more than £50 a month will incur a 3% fee.
If you’re a NatWest or RBS customer, you can get a Rooster Money subscription for free.
Winner: Rooster Money for charging a lower monthly fee, or free for NatWest customers.
Overall winner: Is GoHenry better than Rooster Money?
Choosing between GoHenry and NatWest’s Rooster Money is not an easy decision to make. Both are competitive financial tools for helping your kids to manage their money and their apps work in a similar way. They both allow parents to reward kids for carrying out chores and aim to encourage good savings habits. These apps are also designed to grow with your child, giving them access to a greater range of features as they get older.
Ultimately, what it’s likely to boil down to is the cost, and in this case, the clear winner is Rooster Money. As well as offering a free option for younger children and NatWest customers, even its most expensive plan is still cheaper than GoHenry.
But what works for one person might not work for another, so you’ll need to consider what’s most important to you and go from there.
Kids' cards scores
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
Finder scores, in blue, are based on our expert analysis. We also show reviews from users, where we've received more than 10, with a score in yellow. We gather more reviews from customers every year in Finder's customer satisfaction survey.
We show offers we can track - that's not every product on the market...yet. Unless we've said otherwise, products are in no particular order. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations of these) aren't ratings, though we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it. This is subject to our terms of use. When you make major financial decisions, consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables has the source: Moneyfacts Group PLC. In other cases, Finder has sourced data directly from providers.
Rachel Wait is a freelance journalist and has been writing about personal finance for more than a decade, covering everything from insurance to mortgages. She has written for a range of personal finance websites and national newspapers, including The Observer, The Mail on Sunday, The Sun and the Evening Standard. Rachel is a keen baker in her spare time. See full bio
GoHenry gives financial independence to children and full control to parents. We look at how it works and what features it has to see if it’s worth the fee.
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