The complete money app for families — debit cards, chores, savings rewards, and $1 investing for kids with a parent approving every trade.
Updated August 26, 2026
Greenlight's investing feature puts parents in full control. Kids research stocks, request trades, and submit them for approval. Nothing executes without a parent saying yes.
This supervised approach lets children learn real investing with real consequences while maintaining guardrails. Kids make decisions; parents have final say.
The approval flow happens entirely in the app—kids request, parents get notified, and approve or deny with context for the decision.
Kids can invest in 4,000+ real stocks and ETFs starting with just $1. Fractional shares make it possible to own pieces of expensive companies like Amazon or Apple.
Trades are executed by Alpaca Securities LLC, an SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA/SIPC member (Greenlight moved from DriveWealth to Alpaca in November 2025). Greenlight Investment Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor, provides the advisory layer.
There are no trading commissions on stock and ETF purchases, so kids can invest small amounts without fees eating their returns. One gap for dividend investors: payouts land as cash and aren't automatically reinvested, so reinvesting means placing a new $1+ trade.
Unlike true custodial accounts (UTMA/UGMA), Greenlight investments are registered to the parent, not the child. Kids don't legally own the stocks.
This means the account doesn't automatically transfer to the child when they reach age of majority. The parent retains control indefinitely.
For true ownership that transfers to children, consider Fidelity's custodial accounts or Stockpile's UTMA accounts instead.
Core ($5.99/month): Debit cards for up to 5 kids, chores, savings goals, 2% savings reward, and financial education. No investing.
Max ($10.98/month): Everything in Core plus investing with parental approval, 1% cash back on spending, 3% savings reward, and credit and dark-web monitoring.
Infinity ($15.98/month): Everything in Max plus 5% savings reward, family location sharing with place alerts, crash detection and SOS alerts, and driving reports.
Family Shield ($19.98/month): Everything in Infinity plus 6% savings reward, up to $100,000 of deceptive transfer fraud coverage, and up to $1 million of identity theft coverage.
Savings rewards on every plan are capped at a $5,000 family average daily balance. Prices are as of August 2026 — Greenlight has repriced its tiers several times, so check greenlight.com/plans before signing up.
Greenlight is more than investing—it's a complete financial education platform. The debit card teaches spending. Chores teach earning. Savings goals teach delayed gratification.
Financial literacy modules cover budgeting, saving, investing, and more through articles, videos, and quizzes. Learning is gamified to keep kids engaged.
The holistic approach means kids learn the full picture of money management, not just stock picking.
Since investments are in the parent's name, any earnings (dividends, capital gains) are taxed under the parent's Social Security number.
With true custodial accounts, earnings are taxed under the child's SSN, which often results in lower taxes due to the 'kiddie tax' rules.
This tax treatment is a trade-off for the parental control and simplicity Greenlight provides.
Transparent breakdown of all fees you might encounter.
| Fee Type | Cost |
|---|---|
| Core (no investing) | $5.99/month |
| Max (adds investing) | $10.98/month |
| Infinity | $15.98/month |
| Family Shield | $19.98/month |
| Kids Covered | Up to 5 |
| Trading Commissions | $0 |
| Minimum Investment | $1 |
| Cash Back (Max and up) | 1% |
| Savings Reward | 2%–6% by plan (on $5K max) |
Complete financial education from earning (chores) to spending (debit card) to investing.
Approve every trade and spending decision—nothing happens without parental permission.
One subscription covers up to 5 children with individual accounts.
Greenlight is the most comprehensive family money app available, combining debit cards, chores, savings rewards, and investing with full parental control. Kids learn real investing with real money while parents approve every trade, and the financial education content is excellent. Two things to weigh: investing requires the $10.98 Max plan or higher, and the investments aren't truly owned by children (they're in the parent's name), which is a significant difference from custodial accounts. For pure investing education with parental oversight, Greenlight excels. For true ownership that transfers to kids, consider Fidelity's Youth Account or a UTMA at Stockpile.
Compare All PlatformsSee how Greenlight stacks up against the competition
True custodial accounts with stock gift cards, less robust debit features.
Read Review →Free Youth Account for teens 13-17 with full brokerage features.
Read Review →Acorns Early offers custodial accounts but less parental control.
Read Review →Yes. The Greenlight debit card is issued by Community Federal Savings Bank, member FDIC, so card balances are insured up to $250,000 through the partner bank. Investments are held at Alpaca Securities LLC, an SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA/SIPC member — they're not FDIC-insured and can lose value, like any brokerage account. See our full guide, Is Greenlight Safe?, for the details.
Four plans: Core $5.99/month (no investing), Max $10.98/month (adds investing, 1% cash back, 3% savings reward), Infinity $15.98/month (adds location sharing and safety features, 5% savings), and Family Shield $19.98/month (adds fraud and identity theft coverage, 6% savings). Every plan covers up to 5 kids.
Yes — any of the 4,000+ stocks and ETFs available, including Dividend Aristocrats and dividend ETFs, from $1 via fractional shares with a parent approving the trade. Dividends are paid into the investing balance as cash but are not automatically reinvested, so there's no DRIP; you reinvest by placing a new trade.
No. Greenlight investing accounts are standard brokerage accounts in the parent's name, not UTMA/UGMA custodial accounts. The parent owns the shares, gains and dividends are taxed on the parent's return, and nothing transfers automatically when the child turns 18 or 21. Stockpile and Fidelity's Youth Account are the alternatives if legal ownership matters.
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