Cash App vs. Greenlight: Which is better for your teen?

There are a lot of financial apps out there that are designed with teens in mind, and choosing the best one can set your teen up for a lifetime of smart money decisions. Two popular choices, Cash App and Greenlight, offer features designed specifically for families and teens. But how do they stack up? Here's a detailed comparison to help you make the right choice for your family.

Features comparison

While both apps offer teens a way to manage money, Greenlight focuses on education, enhanced parental controls, and building good long-term financial habits. Cash App is better for simple, no-frills spending and transfers. Here’s a side-by-side breakdown of their key features to help you compare what each platform offers for teens and families.

Cash App at a glance

Cash App is designed to give teens (ages 13 to 17) access to digital money management with some parental oversight. Teens can send and receive money, make purchases online and in stores, use a Cash App debit card, and explore investing with their sponsor’s approval (typically, this means a parent or guardian). While it lacks advanced parental controls, savings incentives, or educational tools, Cash App offers a simple and fee-free way for families to transfer money instantly. 

Pros

• Debit card for teens

• Investing options

• Parental controls

• Recurring allowance payments

• Quickly send money

• No monthly fees 

Cons

• No financial education tools 

• No chore or allowance tracking 

• No family safety features 

Greenlight at a glance

Greenlight is a comprehensive money management app that helps kids and teens develop smart financial habits. It offers three subscription tiers — Core, Max, and Infinity — each including essential features like a debit card for kids, chore and allowance tracking, and customizable parental spending controls. Families can upgrade to unlock additional benefits such as investment options for kids and teens, up to 5% on savings¹, and up to 1% cash back² on purchases. Beyond financial tools, Greenlight’s premium plans provide a suite of family safety features, including real-time location sharing, crash detection, and SOS alerts⁴ that offer extra peace of mind as teens gain more independence, especially on the road. Greenlight also includes Level Up™,  an in-app financial literacy game that teaches kids key money concepts through interactive lessons and challenges.

Pros

• Debit card for kids and teens

• Chore and allowance management

• Investing and saving options designed specifically for young users

• Robust parental controls with category-level control

• Up to 5% on savings¹

• Up to 1% cash back²

• Educational tools and games focused on financial literacy

• Family safety features like location sharing, crash detection, SOS alerts, and driving reports⁴

• Quickly send money

• Identity theft, phone⁵, and purchase protection

Cons

• Monthly subscription fees (varies by plan, starting at $5.99)

• May have more features than some families initially need

Pricing

Cash App does not have a monthly fee, although there may be some fees associated with certain transactions, such as a fee to send money from a linked credit card, and an instant deposit fee for expedited transfers.

Greenlight offers three subscription tiers, each providing different levels of financial tools and family safety features. Plans start at $5.99 per month, with higher tiers unlocking additional perks like investing options, higher savings rewards, and enhanced security features. Here is a breakdown of Greenlight’s plans:

Parental control features

Both Cash App and Greenlight allow parents to monitor transactions, but Greenlight offers more customizable parental control features like store-level and category-specific controls. Here’s how they compare. 

Cash App parental controls

• Transaction activity monitoring 

• Enable or disable specific features, including Cash App Card, Cash App Pay, direct deposit, Boost, bitcoin, and stocks

• Block specific accounts from requesting or sending money

• Set spending limits

Greenlight parental controls

• Store-level parental controls that allow you to choose where your kids can spend by approving or blocking specific retailers

• Category-specific parental controls that allow you to block entire spending categories, like gaming or online shopping, to help guide smarter choices

• Flexible spending limits and real-time notifications so you can set custom spending limits and get instant alerts every time your child makes a purchase

• Parental approval for money sent via Greenlight Pay Link

Safety features

Cash App offers basic security measures to protect teens' accounts, ensuring safe transactions within the app. While it doesn’t have advanced parental safety tools (like store- or category-level spend controls and the ability to freeze or set spending limits on the debit card), it does include fraud prevention and the ability for parents to monitor transactions.

Cash App safety features

• Transaction monitoring

• Account privacy (teen accounts default to private)

• Instant card locking to prevent unauthorized spending

Greenlight prioritizes not only financial security but also physical safety for families, offering a range of tools for both money management and everyday life. 

Greenlight safety features

• Fraud protection through Mastercard®’s Zero Liability Protection Policy

• 24/7 customer support for any security concerns

• Debit card locking in case of loss or theft

• Parental spending controls, including category-based restrictions

• Identity theft, purchase, and phone protection ⁵

• Crash detection with 911 dispatch ⁴

• SOS alerts⁴

• Family location sharing⁴

• Driving reports and real-time trip alerts⁴

Investing features

Both Cash App and Greenlight let teens dip their toes into investing, but the way each app approaches it is very different, especially when it comes to control, guidance, and learning.

Cash App gives teens the ability to invest in both stocks and Bitcoin through a sponsored account (managed by a parent or guardian). The adult sponsor is the legal owner of the account and can turn investing features on or off, track activity, and manage permissions. Teens can buy fractional shares and explore investing on their own, but there’s not much in terms of built-in guidance or education. 

Greenlight offers a more hands-on, educational investing experience through its Max and Infinity plans. Teens can browse stocks and ETFs, build a portfolio with as little as $1, and learn the basics of investing through in-app lessons and tips. Parental approval is required for every trade. The platform is designed to teach kids how investing works in a safe, supervised environment.

Learn to earn, save, and invest together.

With a debit card of their own, kids and teens learn to spend wisely, keep an eye on balances, and track their spending. Big money dreams? Set savings goals and start investing with as little as $1 — with your approval on every trade.

Learn more

Greenlight vs. Cash App: Which is better for your teen? 

Greenlight is an all-in-one money management platform built specifically for families. It goes beyond simple spending by helping kids and teens learn how to save, earn money through chores and allowance, and even invest — all within a single app. With advanced parental controls and safety features like location sharing and SOS alerts⁴, Greenlight keeps families connected while giving parents peace of mind. It's a great choice for those who want a more hands-on, educational approach to teaching money skills, and are comfortable with a small monthly fee in exchange for a more complete feature set.

Cash App may be a better fit for families looking for a free, straightforward solution to digitally transfer money with their teens without needing extensive educational tools or granular parental controls.

Ultimately, your choice depends on your family's financial goals and what specific features align best with your teen's needs.