Acorns Early (formerly GoHenry) review: Is the kids' banking app worth it?

Acorns Early, formerly known as GoHenry, is a money app designed to teach kids smart financial habits through investing and spending. It’s now part of the larger Acorns platform, best known for rounding up your spare change to grow your savings. With Acorns Early, parents can open a custodial investment account for their child and start building wealth for the future. But is it the right choice for families looking to teach real-life money skills?

Let’s take a closer look.

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Pros and cons of Acorns Early

Here’s a quick snapshot of where Acorns Early shines and where it might fall short. 

Pros

Acorns Early has features like round-ups, recurring contributions, and custom parent-paid interest to help encourage long-term habits. The Allowance and Chores feature allows parents to assign tasks and automate payouts, giving kids a sense of responsibility and ownership. Parents also get smart spending controls through the Acorns debit card, making it easier to guide kids’ financial choices. Acorns also has short, age-appropriate money lessons in the app to reinforce financial basics. For families already using Acorns, everything lives in one place.

Acorns Early Pros

• Includes a custodial investment account (UGMA/UTMA)

• Offers automated round-ups and recurring contributions

• Allowance and Chores tool helps kids earn and track money

• Debit card available for spending with smart controls

• Includes goal-setting tools for saving

• Option to set custom parent-paid interest on kids’ savings

• Offers financial literacy content

• Integration with parent Acorns accounts

Cons

Acorns Early is not available for children under six, and kids can’t create their own custom debit card (though they can choose from over 35 designs). Parental controls lack advanced features such as purchase pre-approvals or task verification. While Acorns Early includes custodial investing, kids don’t get hands-on experience with choosing stocks or building their own portfolio. And because funds are held in custodial investment accounts, they’re not FDIC-insured like traditional savings accounts, and they carry market risk. 

Acorns Early doesn’t include safety features like location tracking, crash detection, or driving reports, all things that can matter more as kids get older and more independent. It also doesn’t offer any savings bonuses or cash back, which other apps use to reward good money habits. And while the pricing is straightforward, it’s on the higher side compared to other options that offer more flexibility or cover more kids for less.

Acorns Early Cons

• Must be at least 6 years old to use

• Does not offer custom debit cards for kids

• Investment funds are held in custodial investment accounts, not FDIC-insured savings

• Kids can't choose individual stocks to invest in (investing is fully managed by Acorns)

• Parental controls lack purchase pre-approvals or task verification

• No savings bonuses or cash back rewards like other apps offer

• No built-in safety features like location tracking, crash detection, or driving reports

• Monthly fee is higher than some alternatives

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How does Acorns Early work?

Acorns Early gives kids their own debit card to spend in stores or online, with parental oversight. Parents can set spending limits, lock or unlock the card instantly, and receive notifications for each transaction. The Allowance and Chores feature allows families to assign tasks and automate payouts, giving kids a way to earn money tied to real effort.

Kids can also set custom savings goals, track their balances, and make choices about how to use their money, whether that’s spending, saving, or gifting. Parents can set a custom interest rate that rewards their child for saving, paid monthly from the parent’s own balance. 

Parents can also open a UGMA/UTMA custodial investment account for each child under 18. These accounts are managed by Acorns and invested in a diversified portfolio based on the family’s selected risk preferences. 

You can fund your child’s account through:

• Round-ups. Spare change from linked debit card purchases is automatically invested.

• Recurring deposits. Set weekly or monthly contributions to build savings over time.

• One-time transfers. Contribute manually whenever you'd like.

Acorns Early also includes financial literacy content within the app to give kids a real-life money experience.

Acorns Early features

Here’s a closer look at the features families can use in Acorns Early.

Debit card for kids

With Acorns Early, kids have their own debit card to use in stores or online. Parents can set limits, lock or unlock the card, and get alerts when the card is used. 

Parental controls

Acorns Early gives parents several tools to monitor and guide their child’s money use. You can lock or unlock the debit card instantly, set spending limits, and get real-time notifications for each purchase. 

Allowance and chores

Parents can assign household tasks using the built-in Allowance and Chores feature. Once completed, payments can be automated, giving kids a direct way to earn money. This helps reinforce the connection between work and reward.

Spend, save, and gift buckets

Acorns Early lets kids divide their money into three core buckets: Spend, Save, and Gift. They can set custom savings goals, track progress, and decide how to use their funds with guidance. This basic structure encourages goal-setting and intentional money choices.

Custodial investing (UGMA/UTMA)

Parents can open a custodial investment account for each child under 18. These UGMA/UTMA accounts are invested in diversified portfolios managed by Acorns and legally owned by the child. The money can grow over time and be used for major future expenses like education or a first car.

Round-ups

Parents can link their own spending accounts and activate round-ups. Every purchase is rounded up to the nearest dollar, and the difference is automatically invested into their child’s account. 

Parent-paid interest

Acorns Early gives parents the option to set a custom interest rate on their child’s savings. This interest is not paid by Acorns, but instead comes from the parent’s own balance. You can choose the rate yourself and update it anytime in the app. Interest is paid out monthly, which means the more your child saves, the more they can earn.

Financial literacy content

Acorns Early includes bite-sized money lessons designed for kids and teens. These short, in-app content pieces introduce essential financial concepts like saving, earning, and investing. 

How much does Acorns Early cost?

Acorns Early costs $5 per month for one child, or $10 per month for families with up to four kids. While not the lowest cost kids’ money app, Acorns Early’s pricing is competitive for families looking to combine investing and everyday money tools.

Who is Acorns Early right for?

Acorns Early is good for families who want an easy, all-in-one way to introduce their kids to money management. It’s ideal for parents who prefer automation, with features like round-ups, recurring transfers, and parent-paid interest that help savings grow without constant oversight. It’s a good option for families already using Acorns for their own investing or banking.

Who isn’t Acorns Early right for?

Acorns Early may not be the best fit for families who want a highly customizable or hands-on approach to financial education. While the app includes spending, saving, chores, and goal-setting tools, it lacks advanced parental controls like purchase pre-approvals or task verification. It also doesn’t offer built-in safety features like location tracking, crash detection, or driving reports, which can be especially important for families with teens. And because Acorns Early is tied to the broader Acorns platform, it’s not ideal for families who don’t already use (or don’t want to use) Acorns themselves.

Best alternatives to Acorns Early

If Acorns Early doesn’t quite fit your family’s needs, there are other kids’ money apps that offer more hands-on learning, customizable controls, or budget-friendly pricing. Here are two of the best options, each with its own strengths depending on how your family approaches money education.

Greenlight

Greenlight, the #1 family finance and safety app, is built specifically for families to help kids of all ages, from early savers to teens, develop real-world money skills. It includes a customizable debit card, smart saving tools, chores and allowance management, and the option to learn to invest in real stocks and ETFs with parental approval. Greenlight also weaves in interactive financial education through Level Up™, which provides in-app videos and games to give kids both the tools and knowledge to make smarter decisions.

What really sets Greenlight apart are its family safety features. Select plans include real-time location tracking, crash detection, and driving reports⁴ for added peace of mind. Parents also get advanced controls, including category-specific spending limits and fast money transfers. Higher-tier plans offer up to 5% on savings¹, 1% cash back², and protections like identity theft coverage, phone protection⁵, and purchase protection.

See how Greenlight compares to Acorns Early.

Greenlight’s plans start at just $5.99/month for up to five kids, making it one of the most affordable all-in-one options for larger families.

BusyKid

BusyKid keeps things simple and affordable by focusing on the core money behaviors: earning, saving, and spending. Parents can assign chores, automate weekly paydays, and give kids the freedom to decide what to do with their money. It also offers investing and charitable giving options. If you're looking for a lower-cost app that ties allowance directly to effort, BusyKid is a solid option.

BusyKid doesn’t offer the same level of in-app education, safety features, or customization that you’ll find in apps like Greenlight. There’s no crash detection, identity theft protection, or location tracking. And, parents don’t get as much control over spending categories or card settings. 

Is Acorns Early worth it?

Acorns Early can be worth it for families who want a simple, automated way to start saving and investing for their kids, especially those who already use Acorns themselves. It’s great for parents who prefer passive financial tools, appreciate the convenience of round-ups and recurring deposits, and want to give their child a debit card with basic controls. The ability to set parent-paid interest and automate allowance adds flexibility, and the flat monthly pricing works well for households with multiple children.

However, it may not be the best fit for families who want their kids to take a more active role in managing money. There’s no option for kids to pick their own investments, and while the app includes chore tracking and savings goals, it doesn’t offer features like purchase approvals, detailed budget categories, or built-in safety tools like location tracking or crash detection. Acorns Early also doesn’t include savings bonuses or cash back rewards like some competitors. For families who want a more interactive, hands-on money education platform, or who don’t want to use the broader Acorns ecosystem, other apps like Greenlight may offer a better value.

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