Famzoo vs Greenlight

Financial freedom, safety, and responsibility are some of useful skills for kids to learn from an early age. There are many offerings for kids developed by banks to teach these skills. Today we will review two of the most popular ones: Greenlight and Famzoo. We will explicitly describe the features of each system and check which is more suitable for the different purposes.
If you need a quick answer, here is the verdict of our Famzoo vs Greenlight comparison: Greenlight offers more features and its app is very user-friendly with a lot of financial tools and educational content. Greenlight also offers great parental controls and features like investing–which is not offered by Famzoo. Famzoo is on the cheaper side but offers fewer features and its app is a little bit dated.
7 main differences between Greenlight and Famzoo
The differences between these two systems are the most important factor we shall consider before making a choice.
- Greenlight has an investing feature, whereas Famzoo doesn’t have such an option.
- Greenlight has a better and more modern educational program that includes podcasts, Kahoots and gamified elements, while Famzoo relies on more old-fashioned Q&A lists and Community forums. Greenlight educational program may be more easily understandable by modern teenagers, while Famzoo is more family-oriented and might require some attention and assistance from parents
- Famzoo’s interest is paid by the parents, while Greenlight pays up to 5% for savings. It makes sense with substantial saving sums because Greenlight charges a bigger monthly payment to allow this feature
- Greenlight has a feature of paying allowance for the chores, but Famzoo has another feature to take penalties for poorly done or forgotten chores. It may be used for stricter control and more invoked responsibility
- Famzoo has a feature for catching up on kids’ missed payments and informing parents about them. This may be useful if teenagers tend to hide overdue payments until the fees become serious and they realize they really need help
- Famzoo allows access to unlimited members per account, while Greenlight allows up to 5 children
- Famzoo allows SMS access to banking, while Greenlight doesn’t. This difference may be important for the areas with poor Internet coverage or for the kids who don’t have smartphones
Greenlight vs Famzoo detailed comparison
Interest is paid by the system
Easier to understand the educational program
Less restrictive control (pros for teenagers, cons for parents)
Provides less control
More restriction variants
Allows to see if the kids have missed some regular payments
Better security
Doesn’t require a bank account
Old-fashioned guides and community forum
The interface is more suitable for older children
Here is a breakdown of Famzoo and Greenlight debit cards. Keep in mind that we reviewed only the main features and differences, for the best-informed opinion please visit the respective sites.
Greenlight | Famzoo | |
Price | $4.99-$14.98 per month | $2.50-$5.99 per month |
Number of users | Up to 5 kids | Unlimited |
Referral bonus | $30 | $15 |
Platforms | Android, iOS, desktop | Android, iOS, desktop,SMS |
Education features | Q&A,Support, practical education in the app, Kahoot, podcasts, classroom programs | Q&A, Support, practical education in the app, community |
Cashback | 1% | None |
Savings | up to 5% on the system | any, on parents |
Setting goals | yes | yes |
Long-term savings (i.e. for college) | yes | yes |
Killer feature | amazing educational program | catching up on missed payments |
Primary clients | more for the kids | more for the family |
Features for parents (savings, investment, financial planning, etc) | yes | yes |
Interface | more friendly | more strict and informative |
Best starting age | 10+ | 14+ |
Security | strong | very strong |
Allowance for chores | yes | yes, with both benefits and penalties |
Famzoo vs Greenlight pricing comparison
The pricing is, probably, one of the most important differences between Greenlight and Famzoo. The monthly payment for Famzoo is fixed: $5.99 which is more expensive than the basic Greenlight plan. But there are two factors we need to take into consideration: Famzoo allows an unlimited number of family members to use the app, while Greenlight allows only parents and up to 5 kids. Also, Famzoo has pay-in-advance plans, from six months to two years, that effectively reduces the price to $2.50 per month.
Greenlight has three plans: Core, Max, and Infinity – $4.99, $9.98, and $14.98 respectively. The Core plan includes all the basic features and is completely usable. Max plan though gives access to such features as better saving interest, cashback, better plastic cards, safety and support features. The feature of Infinity plan is 5% interest while saving and also some safety features such as location tracking and road accident control. Not very necessary, especially if the family has other tracking apps, but if the kids prefer to save more, it can probably be more beneficial.
Similarities between Famzoo and Greenlight
Despite the obvious one: both are financial control apps that allow teenagers to make their accounts, there are some important similarities in the basic features, such as:
- Both Greenlight and Famzoo allow savings and investment for the whole family
- They have finance tracking features that allow families to control their savings
- Both systems allow to configure allowance and connect it to the chores list, allowing children to earn their money
- Famzoo and Greenlight have apps for access and desktop versions
- The systems support long-term savings, such as for college loans
- Both of them have educational programs for teenagers to learn financial basics
Comparison summary
Famzoo is more “adult”, it doesn’t require a smartphone, has more strictly educational features, and more parental control. It will suit best the more conservative families or determined teenagers that mean business and don’t need visual approval from the app: just facts and figures. Famzoo is secure and effective and is easily converted into a full-fledged family financial tracking. The killer feature of this system is missing app tracking. It allows parents to support the teen and pay the missed regular payment for them… or the teen can get scolded for forgetfulness, so choose carefully! Also, Famzoo is cheaper.
Greenlight is a more fancy and lighthearted system that might appeal to teenagers, who are not so eager to learn financial literacy. It also has fewer control features and penalties, allowing kids to learn more on their own. The modern learning system with podcasts, Kahoots, challenges, and other teenagers-oriented methods encourages them to learn more about the system. Greenlight (despite being substantially more expensive) allows kids and parents receive interest while saving money and get cashback for the money spent. It is less of a financial control system and more like actual banking.
Greenlight offers more features with the app being more user-friendly but FamZoo is more budget-friendly.
FamZoo is cheaper but Greenlight offers more features for learning financial literacy and managing personal finance.
The price depends on the billing period ranging from $2.50 (if you pay for two years in advance) to $5.99 (billed monthly).
FamZoo is generally cheaper than Greenlight with a basic price of $3.33/mo compared to 4.99/mo (both billed annually).
There is a number of companies that offer quite similar solutions in terms of prepaid cards for kids. These are Busykid, Gohenry, and Current.