GoHenry is an online app and prepaid card that was founded by a group of parents in 2012. It aims to give financial independence to children but also lets parents maintain an element of control over their kids’ spending.
Similarly, nimbl is an app and prepaid card that gives parents the tools to teach their children about money.
So, how do you know which option is best for you and your child? This review compares both in detail to help you make the right choice.
Both GoHenry and nimbl are financial tools designed for kids. Both offer a parent’s account and a child’s account that can be managed via an app, and both come with a prepaid card. With GoHenry, you’ll get a prepaid Visa debit card that can be customised by choosing from more than 45 designs, while nimbl comes with a prepaid Mastercard debit card in the standard colours of black and purple. Because these are prepaid cards, it’s only possible to spend the amount that’s on them. This means your kids can’t get into debt with either provider.
With both GoHenry and nimbl, kids and parents can monitor their spending via the app. GoHenry’s app is tailored to your child’s age. Parents also have a companion app so that they can track their kids’ progress, set spending limits and get real-time spend notifications. Similarly, with nimbl, parents can top up their child’s card through the app and monitor how and where the money is being spent. They’ll also be able to set up daily or monthly spending limits and spending blocks.
Neither GoHenry nor nimbl are banks, which means your money will not be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. This covers up to £85,000 per person if a provider goes bust. Instead, as GoHenry and nimbl are e-money products, your cash will be held in segregated accounts, which means you should still get your money back if either company ceases trading.
In our independent 2023 Customer Satisfaction Awards, GoHenry won the kids’ category, scoring 4.5 out of 5 stars, with 79% of users saying they would recommend the service. In comparison, nimbl scored 3 out of 5 stars, with 63% of users saying they would recommend it.
GoHenry and nimbl both allow parents to make automatic regular pocket money contributions, and other family members can give money too. With GoHenry, relatives and friends can create their own GoHenry account to send money to the child’s account at any time, or they can send money to the child’s card via Giftlinks. Similarly, with nimbl, relatives and friends can transfer money straight onto a child’s card.
If you want to open more than one child’s account with either provider, both GoHenry and nimbl allow you to open up to 4 accounts per household.
ATM withdrawals are also permitted with both the GoHenry and nimbl cards. However, GoHenry restricts the withdrawal limit to £120 a day, while nimbl has a higher limit of £250 a day.
Winner: It’s ever so close, but we’ve given it to nimbl as withdrawal limits are higher.
There are some key similarities between the GoHenry and nimbl apps. Both offer spending controls and card notifications for parents and both enable you to freeze a card if it’s misplaced and unfreeze it again when found.
Both also encourage good savings habits. With GoHenry, parents and kids can set savings goals and the app will calculate the amount your child should save based on the amount of pocket money they get and their end goal date. Meanwhile, nimbl offers “micro-savings” where every time your child spends with their nimbl card, an amount chosen by them will be automatically moved into their savings account.
However, GoHenry’s app is a little more advanced than nimbl’s and offers a variety of features. Kids can take part in “Money Missions”, for instance, a combination of stories, quizzes and videos to help teach your kids about money. There are different levels depending on your child’s age and they’ll be able to earn badges as they conquer each skill. You’ll also be able to set tasks for your kids to carry out, which they then get paid for.
Winner: GoHenry as its app offers a wider range of features.
Round 3: Fees
Provider
Monthly fee
£3.99
£2.49
Card delivery fee
£0
£0
Loading fee
50p (one top-up free per month)
£0
UK card transaction fee
£0
£0
UK cash withdrawal fee
£0
£0
Fees abroad
£0
£1.50 per ATM withdrawal and 2.95% currency exchange fee
GoHenry charges a monthly fee of £3.99, although you can sign up for a 1-month free trial first. With nimbl, you’ll need to pay £2.49 a month, but you’ll get the first month free.
There are no card loading fees with nimbl, but GoHenry charges 50p a time, although you’ll get 1 free load per month. Should you lose your card, you’ll pay £5 for a replacement with nimbl. Standard GoHenry replacement cards are free, but you’ll pay an extra £4.99 for a customisable card or Eco Card.
There are no fees for using the GoHenry card abroad, whether you’re making purchases or withdrawing cash. However, nimbl charges £1.50 per ATM withdrawal and 2.95% currency exchange fee.
Winner: Tie. This is a tricky one – GoHenry charges a slightly higher monthly fee, but nimbl will be more expensive if you want to use the card overseas.
Round 4: Customer reviews
On reviews site Trustpilot, GoHenry scores 4.1 out of 5 from over 10,000 reviews. nimbl scores 4.2 from just over 1,000 reviews. We checked this in November 2024.
Customers like GoHenry’s financial education tools, though there were lots of reviews complaining about delays with having their money returned when they closed the account.
For nimbl, reviewers said they like the ease of use, but some people complained it was hard to withdraw money or close their account.
In our 2024 Customer Satisfaction Awards, GoHenry scored 4.5 out of 5, with 93% of people recommending it. By contrast, nimbl scored 4 out of 5, with 87% of respondents saying they would recommend the brand.
Winner: GoHenry. It is just behind on Truspilot reviews but has a bigger margin of victory in our awards to take this category.
Overall winner: Is GoHenry better than nimbl?
On the face of it, GoHenry and nimbl look very similar – they both offer a parent’s account, a child’s account and a prepaid card, and they both enable parents to pay regular pocket money, set spending limits and encourage good savings habits.
However, when you delve a little deeper, GoHenry’s app is more advanced and offers a wider range of features, including Money Missions and the ability to set chores for your kids to carry out. It’s also a great choice if you regularly travel abroad as there are no fees for spending or withdrawing cash on the card. It’s for these reasons that we’ve crowned GoHenry the winner in this comparison.
Of course, if you’re not too worried about fancy app features or you don’t tend to travel overseas often, nimbl does come with a slightly cheaper monthly fee, so you might feel this is the better choice for you.
Kids' cards scores
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
Finder scores, in blue, are based on our expert analysis. We also show reviews from users, where we've received more than 10, with a score in yellow. We gather more reviews from customers every year in Finder's customer satisfaction survey.
We show offers we can track - that's not every product on the market...yet. Unless we've said otherwise, products are in no particular order. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations of these) aren't ratings, though we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it. This is subject to our terms of use. When you make major financial decisions, consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables has the source: Moneyfacts Group PLC. In other cases, Finder has sourced data directly from providers.
Rachel Wait is a freelance journalist and has been writing about personal finance for more than a decade, covering everything from insurance to mortgages. She has written for a range of personal finance websites and national newspapers, including The Observer, The Mail on Sunday, The Sun and the Evening Standard. Rachel is a keen baker in her spare time. See full bio
Jason is a writer and editor. He worked as a senior subeditor for Finder for 5 years and in that time became familiar with a wide range of financial products and services. Before that, he worked for Australian Associated Press. He has a BA from Macquarie University in Australia. Jason loves to help other people find new ways to save money. See full bio
With nimbl, children as young as 6 can use a card and manage their money through an app. We cover how it works, the fees, and the pros and cons for parents.
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