Greenlight is a bank account. Nido is a chore board.
These two get compared constantly and they are not really the same product. Worth being clear about which problem you are actually trying to solve before you pay for either.
Last checked September 2026.
Different categories wearing the same label
Greenlight is a debit card for children with parental controls, savings, investing and a chore tracker that pays allowance into the card automatically. The chores exist to justify the transfers. Take the card away and there is not much product left.
Nido is the opposite shape. The board is the product: a shared calendar and a per-child chore list on a screen in the kitchen, plus phone apps. There is no money in it anywhere — no card, no balance, no transfers, nothing to underwrite.
So the question is not which is better. It is whether you want your children learning to manage a spending account, or you want the household to stop arguing about whose turn it is to empty the dishwasher. Those are separate problems and they have separate answers.
Side by side
| Greenlight | Nido | |
|---|---|---|
| What it fundamentally is | A kids' debit card and money app. | A family chore board and calendar. |
| Price | Core $5.99 a month, Max $10.98, Infinity $15.98, Family Shield $19.98. Up to five children on every plan. | Free for 2 kids and 10 chores; $4.99 / month or $49 / year for Premium. |
| Free tier | None. The chore tracker stops when the subscription does. | Yes, including the rewards and the kitchen screen. |
| Chores pay | Real money, transferred to the child's card. | Eggs, spent on privileges you stock — screen time, film choice, later bedtime. |
| Money features | Card, allowance, savings with interest, investing on the higher plans. | None at all, by design. |
| Wall display | No. Phone app. | A kiosk link that opens on an old tablet and never logs out. |
| Family calendar | Not a calendar product. | Its own calendar, with Google Calendar merged in and colour-coded if you want it. Neither is required to use the other. |
| Meals and shopping | No. | A recipe book, weekly meal plan, shopping lists, and a cooking mode on the kitchen screen — scaled ingredients, timers, screen stays awake. |
| Age range | Best from about eight, when a card starts to make sense. | From about four, since the reward is a privilege rather than a balance. |
Greenlight prices read from their own plans page in September 2026. Card replacements, custom cards and expedited shipping are charged separately — check theirs before deciding.
When Greenlight is the right purchase
If your child is old enough to be handed money and you would rather that money were visible and controllable, Greenlight is a good product and Nido is not competing with it. Spending alerts, category limits, savings that actually pay interest and supervised investing are not things a chore app can bolt on.
It is also the better answer if allowance is the motivator that works in your house. Some children are moved by cash and by nothing else, and pretending otherwise wastes everyone's evening.
When Nido is the right one
If your problem is visibility rather than motivation — nobody knows what is on today, the chore chart on the fridge died in March — then a card does not help. A screen on the kitchen counter showing today's agenda and each child's chores does, and it works for a four-year-old who has no use for a debit card.
It is also the cheaper experiment by a wide margin. Greenlight costs $71.88 a year at its lowest tier before you have decided whether the family will use it. Nido's free plan covers 2 kids and 10 chores permanently, so you find out first and pay later, if at all.
And privileges are a currency you already control. Screen time, choosing the film, staying up later — they cost nothing, they can be adjusted, and they do not quietly turn housework into paid labour.
Still deciding?
We reviewed eight family chore apps, ours included — including the card-based ones, with what each costs and who each actually suits.
Questions people ask
- Is Nido a Greenlight alternative?
- Only for the chore half. Greenlight is a kids' banking product with a chore tracker attached; Nido is a family chore board and calendar with no money in it. If you want the debit card, Nido does not replace it.
- Does Nido pay allowance?
- No. Nido never touches money — there is no card, no balance, no transfers. Chores pay eggs, and eggs buy privileges you stock yourself, like screen time or picking Friday's film.
- What does Greenlight cost?
- Checked in September 2026 on Greenlight's own plans page: Core $5.99 a month, Max $10.98, Infinity $15.98, and Family Shield $19.98, each covering up to five children. There is no free plan, so the chore tracker is only available while you are subscribed.
- Can we use both?
- Plenty of families do, and it is a reasonable setup: Greenlight for the card and the money lessons, Nido for the board in the kitchen that shows the week and who owes what. They do not conflict.
- Does Nido need a subscription to track chores?
- No. The free plan covers 2 kids and 10 active chores with the rewards, calendar, meal planning and kitchen screen included. Premium is $4.99 / month and lifts the limits rather than unlocking features.
Try it on the tablet in your drawer.
Free for 2 kids and 10 chores, no credit card, nothing to deliver.
Build your nest — free