Greenlight vs Acorns Early vs BusyKid

Greenlight, Acorns Early, and BusyKid all put a card in a child's name under a parent's plan. They do not cost the same, they do not all include investing, and they do not all name the same bank. This page copies the prices and issuer sentences from each company's own page on November 13, 2026. It is not advice about custody, gifts, or UTMA accounts. It is not a ranking of who is the better parent.

On this site, Greenlight is the editor's choice on the Families, Teens, and Kids page only. That is a category pick for a new account in that situation. It is not a claim that the other two products are wrong, and it is not the personal editor's choice used on the rest of the site.

Side by side

| What we checked | Greenlight | Acorns Early | BusyKid | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | A family plan with debit cards for kids, plus savings and, on higher plans, investing | A kids money app and debit card. The page says Acorns Early (formerly GoHenry) is for kids ages 6 to 18. Early Invest is a separate investing feature | A child's card for allowance and spending. The page prices it as a prepaid card | | Price copied November 13, 2026 | Core $5.99 a month. Max $10.98 a month. Infinity $15.98 a month. Family Shield $19.98 a month. Debit cards for up to 5 kids are included on the plans page | Early Lite $8 monthly, with a smart money app and up to 4 debit cards. Acorns Gold $12 monthly, which also lists parent tools | $4 a month, billed annually. We are not multiplying that into a yearly total the page did not print | | Annual price | Not printed on the plans page we copied | Not printed as an annual total on the Early page | Billed annually, at the $4 monthly price | | Earned on savings or APY | Core 2%, Max 3%, Infinity 5%, Family Shield 6% per annum on an average daily savings balance of up to $5,000 per family. Primary Account in Good Standing and a verified ACH funding account. Subject to change | The 3.59% APY on the page is Emergency Savings for parents, as of September 22, 2026, at nbkc bank. It is not an APY we are assigning to the child's card | No savings APY was listed on the card page we copied | | Who issues the card | Community Federal Savings Bank, member FDIC, Mastercard | nbkc Bank, Member FDIC, Visa, and Community Federal Savings Bank, member FDIC, Mastercard | Pathward, National Association, FDIC-insured, Visa | | Investing | Not FDIC insured. Starts as a listed feature on higher plans. Loss of capital is possible | Early Invest is investing. The page's compounding illustration is not a promised return | Not described as an investment account on the card page we copied | | Other fees | 1% cash back on spending for Max, Infinity, and Family Shield, with conditions. Other card fees were not given as dollar amounts on the plans page | Parent banking fees are a different product. Early cardholder terms and limits apply | Other card fees can apply. Amounts were not listed on the page |

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Official pages: Greenlight plans, Acorns Early, and BusyKid. Application links already on this site: Greenlight, Acorns Early, and BusyKid.

Price, and what you are actually buying

Greenlight's plans page lists four monthly prices: Core $5.99, Max $10.98, Infinity $15.98, and Family Shield $19.98. Debit cards for up to 5 kids are included at each of those levels on the comparison table. Chores, jobs, allowance, and direct deposit are listed from Core up. We did not find annual billing totals such as a yearly dollar figure on the plans page itself, so those totals are not in this article.

The earned-on-savings line is not a normal bank APY with no cap. Greenlight says Core families can earn 2% per annum, Max 3%, Infinity 5%, and Family Shield 6% per annum on an average daily savings balance of up to $5,000 per family. The Primary Account must be in Good Standing and have a verified ACH funding account. Greenlight says the rate is subject to change. Max, Infinity, and Family Shield families can earn 1% cash back on spending monthly, with the same good-standing and ACH conditions. Core's cash-back line was a different footnote, and we are not assigning the 1% cash back to Core.

Investing is listed on higher plans. The footer says Greenlight Investment Advisors, LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor, provides investment advisory services. Investing involves risk and may include the loss of capital. Investments are not FDIC-insured. A parent who wants only a card and a capped savings rate should not read the investing line as deposit insurance.

Acorns Early Lite is $8 monthly. The page lists a smart money app and up to 4 debit cards, automatic allowance and tasks, educational Money Missions, and real-time spending notifications. Acorns Gold is $12 monthly and adds parent items the page marks as "for parents, only with Gold": Round-Ups, 3.59% APY on Emergency Savings, an IRA match, and investing for kids with a 1% match. Those parent rates are not the child's card. The page dates Mighty Oak Checking at 2.33% APY and Emergency Savings at 3.59% APY as of September 22, 2026, and says Acorns is not a bank. Mighty Oak and Emergency Savings banking services are provided by nbkc bank. We are quoting those figures so they are not mistaken for the Early card. A calculator on the page says an illustration does not include monthly subscription fees (minimum $4 a month). That minimum is in the illustration disclaimer. The Early Lite price on the same page is $8 monthly.

The page says Acorns Early (formerly GoHenry) is for kids ages 6 to 18. It also says when a child is ready is up to the parent. We are not adding an age the page does not use.

BusyKid's card page says a child can earn allowance and spend it on a card for $4 a month, billed annually. We are not turning that into $48, because BusyKid did not print the annual total on the page we copied. The product is a Visa prepaid card. Other card fees can apply. The amounts were not listed, so we are not inventing them. No savings APY was on that page.

Who issues the card, and what insurance means

Greenlight: "The Greenlight card is issued by Community Federal Savings Bank, member FDIC, pursuant to a license by Mastercard International." FDIC BankFind, November 13, 2026, lists Community Federal Savings Bank, certificate 57129, as active in Woodhaven, New York.

Acorns Early: "The Acorns Early card is issued by nbkc Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to license by Visa, and Community Federal Savings Bank, member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard International. Cardholder Terms and limits apply." A separate paragraph on the same site says Acorns Visa debit cards and banking services are issued by Lincoln Savings Bank or nbkc bank. That sentence is about Acorns debit cards and banking services, and it mentions Acorns Checking. We are not folding Lincoln Savings Bank into the Early card sentence, because the Early card sentence names nbkc Bank and Community Federal Savings Bank. FDIC BankFind lists nbkc bank, certificate 35014, as active in Leawood, Kansas.

BusyKid: "The BusyKid Visa Prepaid Card is issued by Pathward, National Association, an FDIC-insured depository institution, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc." All cardholder funds are eligible for FDIC pass-through insurance to the extent they are held by Pathward, under the FDIC's terms. BusyKid says neither Cliq nor BusyKid are banks. FDIC BankFind lists Pathward, National Association, certificate 30776, as active in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Pass-through insurance depends on how the funds are held. The issuer sentence is the start of that check, not the end. The FDIC's own explanation of categories is in how FDIC insurance works.

What we are not deciding

We are not ranking these for chores, allowance style, or family rules. We are not giving gift-tax or custodial-account advice. A joint account in two adults' names is a different product, covered in how joint bank accounts work. A teen who is old enough for a standard bank account can also read a bank account for your teen.

Greenlight's button on this site can earn a referral fee. That fee does not change the plan price on Greenlight's page, and it does not change the category pick. We are not publishing a referral payout as a customer bonus, because that payout was not a customer offer on the plans page.

A parent checklist that stays on the page

Write down four lines from the site you are about to use, on the day you use it. The monthly price. Whether the charge is per family or per child. The name of the bank that issues the card. Whether any balance is an investment. Greenlight's plans page answered the first, third, and fourth on November 13, 2026, and it priced the plans as family plans with cards for up to five kids. Acorns Early answered price, age 6 to 18, and two issuers on the Early card sentence. BusyKid answered $4 a month billed annually and Pathward as the issuer. If a later page drops one of those lines, do not fill it from this article.

Then read the savings or investing line a second time. Greenlight's 2%, 3%, 5%, and 6% figures apply to an average daily savings balance of up to $5,000 per family, with the account in good standing and a verified ACH funding account. That cap is on Greenlight's page. It is not a bank account that pays those rates on an unlimited balance. Acorns' 3.59% line is Emergency Savings for the parent, dated September 22, 2026, at nbkc bank. BusyKid's card page did not list a savings APY. Treating all three as "kids' high-yield accounts" mixes a capped family savings rate, a parent emergency-savings rate, and a prepaid card.

Card locks, chore lists, and allowance schedules are product features. They are not insurance, and they are not a reason to skip the issuer sentence. If the child will also have an investment sleeve, read the risk sentence on that company's page before you turn the sleeve on. Greenlight already prints that investments are not FDIC-insured and that you can lose capital.

How we update this page

Prices and issuer names change. This comparison uses the three pages linked above, dated November 13, 2026, and the methodology. If a fee amount was not on the page, it is omitted.