10 Best Money Apps for Teens Under 18 [Invest, Pay + More]

They say that cash “burns a hole in your pocket.” That’s because the money is just sitting right there, making it easy to spend. Many people find it extremely difficult to save cash.

Then there are credit cards. Credit cards, while great if you use them responsibly, can make new cardholders feel like they have unlimited spending power … and that can lead to overspending. (Also, credit cards are just about spending; they teach you nothing about saving.)

That’s why in many ways, the money apps for teens below are better than cash or credit cards.

Money apps can address multiple financial needs and accomplish several goals. For instance, a budgeting app might only help you budget—but a money app might help you budget, spend responsibly, manage a bank account, and even allow you to invest.

So … what’s the best app for you? Today, we’re going to help you answer that question by examining some of the best money apps for teens. We’ll explain what each app can do, discuss any of its outstanding features (and any noteworthy drawbacks). And after that, we’ll tackle some of the most common questions people ask when it comes to deciding on what teen-focused financial app to download.

Related: 13 Best Money Apps for Kids [Banking, Investing + More]

Best Money Apps for Teens—Our Top Picks

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Best Money Apps for Teens: Bank Accounts + Debit Cards

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We’ll start with core money apps that tackle the basics: namely spending and saving.

1. Acorns Early (Best for Customer Service)

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• Available: Acorns Early Lite | Acorns Gold
• Price: Acorns Early Lite: Free 30-day trial, then $8/mo. Acorns Early: $12/mo.

Acorns Early is a complete financial solution for minors—a debit card, yes, but also an app-based ecosphere that provides education and experience for the child, as well as ways for parents to keep their kids safe and teach them responsibility.

An Acorns Early account includes a smart money app, as well as Visa debit cards for up to four children. These debit cards can be used to spend anywhere Visa is accepted (so, millions of vendors online and in stores), as well as withdraw cash from ATMs. An Acorns Early account also allows kids to set savings goals, which they can fund manually or via autosave. And the app also hosts educational materials to help children and teens alike develop good money habits.

This FDIC-insured account also enjoys a variety of safety features, including chip and PIN protection, secure PIN recovery, and fraud protection. It also has parental controls such as spending notifications, card lock/unlock, and adjustable spending limits.

Acorns Early offers some of the best customer service in this product class, including seven-day-a-week phone service (9 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Saturday-Sunday), as well as 24/7 live chat support. It’s one of several reasons why we rate Acorns Early among the best prepaid debit cards for kids.

You can get all of the above features by signing up for Acorns Early Lite. However, if you sign up for Acorns Gold, you’ll get everything in Acorns Early Lite, plus unlock access to Acorns Early Invest (a UGMA/UTMA custodial account you can use to invest for your kids’ future). And because Acorns Gold is an adult account, you’ll enjoy features such as banking, investing (including IRAs), Round-Ups, and more.

Acorns frequently offers small bonuses for anyone who signs up with our links. You can check out current offers in the box below, or read more about this app in our Acorns Early review.

Related: Acorns Early vs. Greenlight

2. Chase First Banking (Best Kids’ Debit Card From a Major Bank)

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• Available: Sign up here
• Price: Free (no monthly fees)

Ready to teach your little ones about earning, saving, and spending money, but not quite sure if you have the time, patience, and/or expertise? Chase First Banking^SM offers simple banking for both of you in one location—the Chase Mobile^® App—for free. 

Chase First Banking^SM helps parents teach teens and kids about money by giving parents the control they want and kids the freedom they need to learn. Among the account’s many features?

• One of the best free debit cards for kids and teens—it works anywhere Visa is accepted, and can be used to withdraw money fee-free* from more than 14,000 Chase ATMs nationwide
• Savings goals that you can track via the Chase Mobile^® App
• Parental controls, such as setting limits on where and how much they can spend and withdraw from ATMs
• Account alerts that let you know where your child is spending
• Recurring chores and allowance

The account is designed with kids 6-12 in mind, and available for ages 6-17. To get started, you’ll first need to be a Chase customer with a qualifying Chase checking account. If you don’t already have one, consider opening a Chase Total Checking^® or Chase Secure Banking^SM account to qualify.

• Chase Total Checking^® also grants access to thousands of branches and ATMs. You can pay $0 in monthly fees, subject to meeting certain conditions.** And you can collect a $400 new-customer bonus when you make total direct deposits of $1,000 or more within 90 days of coupon enrollment. 
• Chase Secure Banking^SM offers the same Chase ATMs and branch locations as well as a $125 sign-up bonus when you make stated qualifying activities and meet certain conditions.

Once you open a qualifying Chase Checking account, you may use our link to apply for a Chase First Banking^SM account for your child. 

Related: 8 Best Free Debit Cards for Kids & Teens

3. Revolut <18 (Best for Parent-Paid Bonuses)

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• Available: Sign up here
• Price: No monthly fees

Revolut <18 is a prepaid debit card for kids designed to teach them money skills for life. Aimed at building healthy money habits from an early age, the unique, customizable card¹ empowers parents to have full insight into their kids’ card activity through providing instant spending alerts and parental controls.

You can choose to freeze the card, as well as set controls on how they use the cards online and with contactless payments through your Revolut app. You can also set spending limits on how much your child can use with the prepaid card.

Parents use the card and accompanying app to teach kids about earning, budgeting, saving and even investing money (depending on the plan chosen). You can also use the card to manage chores and allowance, set savings goals as a family, and help your children manage their money.

And if your child did something deserving of a reward? You can send parent-paid bonuses when they complete specific tasks. Simply add money to their digitized piggy bank through the app. You can send and receive money in seconds through Revolut’s payments feature, which allows fast  transfers between account holders and also global transfers at transparent rates.

You must have a personal Revolut account before you can open a Revolut <18 account for your children. You can add up to five Revolut <18 accounts per parent account.

To learn more about Revolut <18, visit their site and open an account for yourself and your child.

Related: 10 Best Banking Apps for Kids & Teens [Kid + Teen Banking]

4. FamZoo (Best for Financial Education)

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• Available: Sign up here
• Price: Monthly: 1-month free trial, then $5.99/mo. Annually: 2-month free trial, then $59.90/yr. (16% discount)

FamZoo is another service for parents interested in opening a prepaid debit card to manage their children’s spending.

FamZoo rates as our top education choice because of both its robust financial education library, and functions that have financial literacy in mind. For instance, its chore features include payment checklists that teach kids the value of a dollar by tying chores and odd jobs to rewards and even penalties. You can also teach younger children the basics of money through the automated allowance feature, which lets you set a fixed amount or even automatically raise it as they age.

Spending, Saving, and Giving accounts separate funds into different purposes. With “Parent-Paid Interest,” you can teach your kids the power of compound interest over time. Other features include direct deposit, savings goal tracking, and FDIC insurance.

Parents can fund a FamZoo account through numerous routes, including bank transfers, Direct Deposit, even cash. Typically, parents will load their primary funding card, then they will transfer those funds onto their kids’ cards. But you do have the option of directly funding kids’ cards.

There are plenty of safety features, too. And there’s no risk of having your bank account information stolen from FamZoo—because FamZoo never asks for it. Adults can monitor transactions, you can temporarily lock and unlock cards, and you can set up real-time alerts for card activity and remaining balances.

Related: Greenlight vs. FamZoo

5. Chase High School Checking (Teen Checking from a Mega-Bank)

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• Available: Get your code here, then sign up in a branch
• Price: No monthly fees
• Special offer: $125 when you open an account¹

Chase High School Checking℠ is an account tailor-made for parents who want their teen to build money independence and enjoy the benefits of banking with a large national bank, but also want to keep an eye on their teen’s finances as they learn the ropes.

This checking account for teens (ages 13-17 at account opening) lets your teen enjoy the convenience of mobile banking through the Chase Mobile® App, as well as a debit card that can be stashed in a virtual wallet, or used to withdraw cash from Chase’s massive nationwide network of 16,000 ATMs.

With Chase High School Checking℠, your teen can …

• Use direct deposit to get paid from their summer job, or use Chase QuickDeposit℠ on their phone to remotely (and securely!) deposit physical checks from odd jobs or birthdays. 
• Build their savings hassle-free with Autosave, which automatically transfers money from checking to savings. 
• Use Zelle® (through the Chase Mobile® app) to send and receive money from friends and family—even if they don’t bank with Chase.
• Have their Chase High School Checking℠ convert into a Chase Total Checking® account when they turn 19.

Meanwhile, parents can stay in the know through account alerts.

Chase High School Checking℠ accounts must be opened in a physical branch, using a coupon code you can receive from Chase here. A parent or guardian must be present, and will be the account co-owner. Students should bring at least one primary ID and one secondary ID.

The parent must have an existing qualifying Chase checking account, which will be linked to the High School Checking account. Among the accounts that qualify is Chase Total Checking®:

• Chase Total Checking® also grants access to 16,000 Chase ATMs and more than 4,700 branches as well as a $300 sign-up bonus when you set up direct deposit within 90 days of coupon enrollment. You can pay $0 in monthly fees, subject to meeting certain conditions².

Learn more and get your code for Chase High School Checking℠ here.

Related: Best Credit Cards for Kids [Build Credit & Money Habits Early]

6. Capital One MONEY (Best Free Teen Checking Account)

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• Available: Read our review and sign up
• Price: Free (no monthly fees)

Capital One MONEY Teen Checking is one of Young and the Invested’s top choices for parents who want to financially empower their kids at an early age. Yes, this free checking account is predominantly aimed at teenagers, but it’s actually available to kids as young as 8 years old.

This joint checking account offers flexibility for kids and a touch of tranquility for parents. Kids get a Mastercard debit card that they can use at millions of merchants across the U.S., as well as in roughly 210 countries and territories worldwide. Your teen also enjoys access to one of the largest fee-free ATM networks among kids debit cards—more than 70,000+ Capital One, MoneyPass, and AllPoint machines. They can also send and receive money via Zelle, receive direct deposits from employers, and even cash paper checks by snapping a couple photos within the highly rated Capital One app.

Parents, meanwhile, can also pay their kids a regular allowance, or make one-time payments as gifts or rewards. They also can monitor their teens’ transactions, lock and unlock their child’s card, and control their kid’s access to (and transfer limits within) Zelle.

To learn more about the account, read our Capital One MONEY Teen Checking review. Or you can sign up today by clicking “Get Started” above.

 

Best Money Apps for Under 18: Investing Apps

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Now, let’s look at apps that also allow kids to learn the ins and outs of investing.

7. Greenlight App (Best Premium Money App for Teens)

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• Available: Sign up here
• Price: Max: $10.98/mo. Infinity: $15.98/mo. Family Shield: $19.98/mo. (All plans include cards for up to 5 children)

Greenlight is a premier kids’ financial app and debit card that teaches minors the ins and outs of saving, spending, and financial responsibility—and with a Greenlight Max, Infinity, or Family Shield plan, they can start to invest, too!

It’s easy to use and can double as a savings account and banking apps for teens. The investing app will teach the basics of investing, how to invest in stocks and ETFs, and more.

It works best if parents and/or grandparents are involved in the process because it requires linked accounts from the adults’ banks or brokerages. Plus, parents and guardians will need to approve trades made in the investment account.

The all-in-one plan teaches them important financial skills like money management and investing fundamentals—with real money, real stocks and real-life lessons.

You can use the investing feature to:

• Start investing with as little as $1 in your account
• Buy fractional shares of companies you admire (say, kid-friendly stocks)
• No trading commissions beyond the monthly subscription fee
• Teens can only invest in U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs that have either a market capitalization over $1 billion or a three-month average daily dollar volume of more than $500,000
• Parents must approve every trade directly in the app.

Read more in our Greenlight Card review, check out plan pricing below, or sign up for Greenlight Max, Infinity, or Family Shield today.

Related: 8 Best Allowance and Chore Apps for Kids [Easier Family Life]

8. Cash App Families (Cash App’s Debit Card for Teens)

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• Available: Sign up here
• Price: Free* (no subscription fees)

Does your teen need to start learning smart saving, spending, and even investing habits? Cash App Families can accomplish all three—with no subscription fees—putting the power of Cash App into your teen’s hands while keeping their financial safety firmly in yours.

Teens get an account with a designable Cash App Visa^® Card, which they can use to spend money where Visa is accepted. Meanwhile, access to Cash App allows them to save money toward specific goals, send money to friends, accept offers for instant discounts at their favorite places, earn high interest on savings³, and check out securely in stores and online by using a QR code.

If your teen direct-deposits $300 or more each month, they’ll also unlock a bevy of other features, including getting paid two days earlier, no ATM fees¹ when withdrawing from more than 40,000 in-network ATMs, and one waived out-of-network ATM withdrawal per month.

Cash App Families even has an investing feature with fractional shares, allowing kids to purchase as little as $1’s worth of stocks and Bitcoin (parent permission is required).²

Meanwhile, parents/guardians who sponsor the teen** enjoy some of the best oversight features among teen debit cards. You can monitor your teen’s activity from your own Cash App or receive real-time transaction alerts for their payments and purchases. You control which features—stocks, Bitcoin², sending money, the Cash App Visa^® Card—your teen can access, and certain spending categories are auto-blocked for teens. Parents can also send money for allowance whenever they want, and built-in tools allow parents and teens to budget and save together.

Parents/guardians must download Cash App (also free), then invite their teen to create a sponsored account. Cash App Families can be used by teens ages 13-17. Use our link to learn more about or sign up with Cash App today.

Related: How to Start a College Fund [529s + More]

Best Money Apps for Teens: Peer-to-Peer Payments

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And lastly, let’s look at a couple of apps that support peer-to-peer payments.

9. Apple Cash Family (Apple Wallet/Apple Pay)

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• Available: Sign up here
• Price: Free (no monthly fees)

Apple Cash Family is a powerful family sharing feature of the Apple Pay and Apple Wallet system. Parents can set up an Apple Cash account for their children as part of their Apple Cash Family account. We’ll note, however, by adding your children to your Apple Cash Family account, security checks might require more time to make funds available to your children. However, you can send or receive a significant amount of money should you have the need: up to $2,000 per transaction or within a seven-day period.

Apple Cash Family gives parents robust monitoring and oversight of their kids’ money within the account. Further, since Apple has a robust brand presence and acceptance from a huge number of retailers, an Apple Cash Family account is arguably one of the closest options to physical cash on the market.

Related: 26 Best Online Jobs for Teens [Make Money at Home]

10. Google Pay

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• Available: Sign up here
• Price: Free (no monthly fees)

For parents interested in equipping their kids with a financial solution within the Google universe, you might want to consider enrolling in Google Pay for your kids. Teens as young as 13 can use the service by having their parents add them as a payment method to their account. From there, they can set limits and safeguards to use on specified apps or in-app purchases within the Google Play store. In other words, it can only be used digitally on the Google Play store platform—not at physical locations.

Teens can only make certain purchases with Google Pay, such as apps, books, movies, games, TV shows, and magazine issues. But they can’t use it to buy subscriptions, physical devices, outside Google Pay purchases, funding a Google Play balance. Nor can it be used to send money from parent to teen, nor the teen to other people.

Related: 5 Best Credit Cards for Teens [Build Credit in 2026]

Do Money Apps for Teens Provide Money Management Resources?

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What distinguishes a generic money app from a money app for teens is the focus toward building financial literacy and providing approachable money management resources.

Whether it’s to help teenagers save money, learn about budgeting, or better understand the basics of finance, many money apps for teens come loaded with useful resources that can help them better manage their finances. These resources can include items such as educational articles, videos and tutorials, gamified experiences, or informational activities, all of which explain financial concepts like credit cards and debit cards, investing, spending or saving—even taxes.

And to make parents feel comfortable knowing these resources are helpful for guiding teens on the prudent financial path, some money apps also offer features that enable parents to monitor their child’s spending or allow teens to set saving goals and track their progress.

Ultimately, money apps for teens can be incredibly useful tools for teaching young people about sound money management in a way that is both engaging and accessible.

Should Teens Use Budgeting Apps to Learn How to Spend Money Wisely?

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Absolutely! Using budgeting apps are one of the best ways for teens to learn how to spend money wisely. With a variety of features that help track expenses and income, budgeting apps can be useful to monitor spending and provide valuable insight into where money is being spent and how to make better financial decisions.

While not a substitute for developing your own personal finance skills, budgeting apps can be an effective way to manage money.

Can Teens Open an Investment Account by Themselves?

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In the world of investing, teenagers aren’t allowed to open investment accounts by themselves due to legal restrictions, even through investing apps targeted specifically toward teens. Instead, they’ll need the assistance of an adult to open an investment account. (The law prohibits minors from entering into legally binding contracts, including investment accounts.)

Despite the legal condition, this doesn’t mean teenagers are completely barred from investing in the stock market. In fact, they have several options available to them, all of which require the help of an adult. The three primary means for a teen to invest money through an investment account include:

• Joint brokerage accounts enable teens to invest alongside their parents or guardians, sharing ownership of the account.
• Custodial brokerage accounts are managed by an adult custodian who acts as a legal guardian and oversees the minor’s investments until they reach the age of majority.
• Custodial individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are geared toward teens who want to save for retirement. Like custodial brokerage accounts, these accounts are also managed by an adult custodian who oversees the contributions made into the account. Once the minor reaches adulthood, they can take over management of the account and continue making contributions towards their retirement. Teens will need earned income to contribute to an IRA.

Related: Best Trading Accounts for Minors [Stock Investing Under 18]

Disclosures

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Chase High School Checking℠

¹ Your teen gets $125 when you open a new Chase High School Checking℠ account together with qualifying activities within 60 days of coupon enrollment. Your child can receive only one new checking account opening related bonus every two years from the last coupon enrollment date and only one bonus per account. To receive the bonus: 1) Open a new Chase High School Checking account, which is subject to approval; AND 2) Complete at least 5 qualifying transactions within 60 days of coupon enrollment. Qualifying transactions include: debit card purchases, online bill payments, Chase QuickDeposit℠, Zelle®, or ACH credits. After your child has completed all the above requirements and the 5 qualifying transactions have posted to their account, we’ll deposit the bonus into their new account within 15 days. To receive this bonus, the enrolled account must not be closed or restricted at the time of payout. Eligibility may be limited based on account ownership. Bonus is considered interest and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT (or Form 1042-S, if applicable).

² Account subject to approval. Monthly fee waived for any month in which you have electronic deposits of $500 or more made to this account, or a balance at the beginning of each day of $1,500 or more in this account, or an average beginning day balance of $5,000 or more in any combination of this account and linked qualifying Chase checking, savings, and other balances.

Revolut <18

¹ Customized cards may require fees.

Cash App Families

Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Cash App Visa® Debit Flex Cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, and The Bancorp Bank, N.A., pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. See terms and conditions for the Sutton prepaid card, Sutton debit flex card, and Bancorp debit flex card.  Direct deposit, Savings, Instant Discounts, Direct Deposit and Offers provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Offers may not be affiliated with third party merchants

* Card use fees apply. Free Cash App Cards come in black, white, pink, or glow-in-the-dark.

** Teens 13 to 17 can use Cash App with sponsorship by an eligible parent or guardian. To view the eligibility requirements for sponsoring a teen, please visit the Sponsored Accounts section of the Cash App Terms of Service.

*** With a Cash App Card, your money is eligible for FDIC pass-through insurance through Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Sutton Bank, and/or The Bancorp Bank, N.A., Members FDIC, for up to $250,000 per customer when aggregated with all other deposits held in the same legal capacity at each bank, if certain conditions are met. See the Cash App Terms of Service.

Cash App is a financial services platform, and not an FDIC-insured bank. Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Cash App Visa® Debit Flex Cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, and The Bancorp Bank, N.A., pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc..

¹ Cash App reimburses ATM fees for all in-network withdrawals when you deposit at least $300 monthly of Qualifying Deposits into Cash App, or spend $500 or more in Qualifying Purchases using your Cash App Card or Cash App Pay in a calendar month. Service fees may apply. See terms for more details.

² Brokerage services provided by Cash App Investing LLC, member FINRA/SIPC, subsidiary of Block, Inc. Bitcoin services provided by Block, Inc. Bitcoin services are not licensable activity in all U.S. states and territories. Block, Inc. operates in New York as Block of Delaware and is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Investing and bitcoin are non-deposit, non-bank products that are not FDIC insured and involve risk, including monetary loss. Cash App Investing does not trade bitcoin and Block, Inc. is not a member of FINRA or SIPC. For additional information, see the Bitcoin and Cash App Investing disclosures. Additional fees for securities may apply such as regulatory fees and fees to transfer securities externally. Please see our House Rules for more information.

Fractional shares investing may involve additional risks such as non-transferability. For additional information regarding the unique risks and limitations of fractional shares, please see your Investing Customer Account Agreement.

³ Cash App will pass through a portion of the interest paid on your savings balance held in an account for the benefit of Cash App customers at Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Member FDIC. To earn interest on your Cash App savings balance, you need to have sponsor approval. Exceptions may apply. Savings yield rate is subject to change.