Choose $0.99 USD per month, $7.99 USD per year, or $12.99 USD once for lifetime. All three unlock the same features: unlimited children and buckets, savings goals, child device locking, overspending and Family Sharing invites. Annual saves approximately 33% compared with 12 monthly payments. Local prices may vary; check the price shown in the app before purchasing. The free tier remains available for one child and up to three buckets.
I already bought lifetime. Do I need to subscribe?
No. Your existing lifetime purchase keeps Premium unlocked with no subscription or additional purchase. If it is missing after reinstalling or changing devices, use Settings > Restore Purchases with the Apple Account that made the purchase.
How do I change or cancel my subscription?
Open Settings > Manage Subscriptions in AllowanceKit, or manage subscriptions with Apple. You can switch monthly/annual plans or cancel renewal there. Monthly and annual plans renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the current period ends. Cancelling keeps Premium available until the paid period ends. Apple shows when a plan change takes effect.
What happens when my subscription expires?
Without another valid Premium purchase, your first-created child stays editable. Additional children become read-only: you can view their balances, goals and history, but cannot add money, log spending, move money, edit their details or change transactions and goals. Their automatic allowances pause too. You can still create backups, export data and delete a child you own after confirmation. Renewing Premium or buying lifetime restores access, but allowances from paused periods are not added later. Existing lifetime owners keep Premium when a subscription expires.
Can I buy lifetime while subscribed?
Yes. In Settings, open View Premium Plans and choose Lifetime. Buying lifetime does not cancel your subscription. Cancel renewal separately through Manage Subscriptions to avoid further subscription charges.
How do I restore a purchase or request a refund?
Use Settings > Restore Purchases while signed into the Apple Account used to buy Premium. This restores purchase access, not your allowance data. For refund requests, use Apple's Report a Problem service; Apple handles eligibility and processing. See our Terms of Use and billing information.
Getting started
How do I set up my first child?
When you open AllowanceKit for the first time, the onboarding wizard guides you through it. Enter your child's name, pick a colour, set the allowance amount and schedule, then configure the bucket split. The whole process takes under 60 seconds. You can add more children later from the parent dashboard.
How do I add another child?
Tap "+ Add child" on the parent dashboard (top right on iPhone, bottom of the sidebar on iPad). You'll go through the same quick setup flow: name, colour, allowance, buckets. Note: The free tier supports 1 child. Adding more children requires Premium, available monthly, annually or as a lifetime purchase.
Can I change the allowance amount or schedule later?
Yes. Tap on a child's card to open their detail view, then tap the edit button to change their allowance amount, frequency, or deposit day. Changes take effect from the next scheduled deposit.
Buckets
What are buckets?
Buckets divide your child's allowance into separate categories. The defaults are Save, Spend, and Give, but you can rename them, add new ones, or remove them. Each bucket has its own balance, and every allowance deposit is automatically split across buckets according to the percentages you set.
Is there a limit on the number of buckets?
The free tier supports up to 3 buckets per child. Premium users can create unlimited buckets. Some families use just Save and Spend. Others add Holiday, College, Charity, or anything else. The percentages must add up to 100%.
What happens to existing balances if I change the bucket percentages?
Existing balances stay as they are. The new percentages only apply to future allowance deposits. We don't retroactively redistribute money between buckets.
Kid mode
How does kid mode work?
Kid mode is a simplified, read-only view where children can see their balances and transaction history but can't edit anything. There are two ways to use it:
On a shared device: Tap "Kid Mode" on the parent dashboard. A picker shows all children's names (without balances). Each child taps their name, enters their passcode if one is set, and sees their own view.
On the child's own device: Go to Settings > Child Codes > [Child's name] > Generate invite code. Give this code to your child. When they enter it on their device, the app locks to their view permanently. No picker, no passcode needed.
Can siblings see each other's balances?
On shared devices, balances are hidden on the picker screen. If you set a 4-digit passcode for each child (in Settings), they'll need to enter it to see their own balance. On separate devices, each child only has access to their own data. Siblings can't see each other's information at all.
My child forgot their passcode. How do I reset it?
On the passcode screen, tap "Forgot code? Ask a parent." This prompts for the parent PIN, which bypasses the child's code. Return to parent mode, then change or remove their code in Settings > Child Codes. Follow the step-by-step guide.
How do I get back to parent mode?
Kid mode on your phone or family tablet: tap the lock button (or Parent mode (requires PIN) on the child picker) and enter your parent PIN. If you forgot it, follow the PIN recovery guide.
A device configured as your child’s own: tap the version number five times on that device and share its unlock request with your parent device. On the parent device, open Settings > Approve Child Device Unlock, paste the request, tap Approve Unlock and authenticate. Tap Check Approval on the child’s device within five minutes.
Syncing and sharing
How does syncing work between my devices?
If you're signed into the same iCloud account on multiple devices (e.g. your iPhone and iPad), AllowanceKit syncs automatically via iCloud. Changes you make on one device appear on the other within seconds. No setup needed.
How do I set up my child's device?
There are two ways, depending on whose Apple ID the child's device is signed into.
The device has its own Apple ID (your child's own account): use Family Sharing. Go to Settings > Family Sharing, tap your child, choose View only, and enter the email or phone number of your child's iCloud account — a QR code appears. Your child scans it with their Camera app, taps "This is [name]'s device", and their device locks to their own view — they can see their money and history, but iCloud itself stops them changing anything.
The device shares your Apple ID (a family iPad, or a hand-me-down phone on your account): the data is already synced there, so use an invite code instead. Go to Settings > Child Codes > [Child's name] > Generate invite code and enter it on their device.
Both paths end in the same kid view. Setting up a child's device is a Premium feature either way.
What's the difference between Family Sharing and an invite code?
It comes down to one question: whose iCloud account is the other device signed into?
Same account as you → the data is already on the device, so an invite code just locks it into your child's view.
Their own account → nothing is on the device yet, so a Family Sharing invite (QR code or link) securely shares it there. This works for a child's own Apple ID (view only) and for the other parent (full access). Whatever you share stays in your iCloud and can be un-shared by you at any time.
Rule of thumb: same Apple ID → invite code. Their own Apple ID → Family Sharing.
Can both parents manage allowances?
Yes — each parent uses their own iCloud account. Go to Settings > Family Sharing, tap a child, choose Full access, enter their iCloud email or phone number, and have them scan the QR code (or send them an invite link). They can add money, log spending and edit eligible children, with changes syncing both ways. Invite them once per child. The inviting parent needs Premium; accepting is free. Shared editing follows the owning parent's plan and first-created child, not the invited parent's purchase or child order. When the owner's Premium expires, additional children become read-only for both parents. Automatic allowances are processed only on the owner's devices. (Two parents sharing one iCloud account also still works — that's just ordinary sync.)
I switched phones. Where's my data?
As long as you're signed into the same iCloud account, your data will sync to your new device automatically when you install AllowanceKit. Nothing is lost.
Allowance and transactions
I didn't open the app for a few weeks. Did my child miss their allowance?
No. When the owning parent opens AllowanceKit, smart catch-up adds eligible missed deposits with their scheduled dates. On the free plan, only the first-created owned child receives automatic allowances. Deposits paused for additional children during a Premium lapse are skipped, even after renewal or a lifetime purchase. Opening the app on an invited parent's device does not process automatic allowances.
How do I log a purchase my child made?
Tap the + button on the child's detail view, switch to "Log spend," enter the amount, choose which bucket to deduct from, and optionally add a note (e.g. "Lego set"). The balance updates instantly.
Can my child's balance go negative?
By default, no. The app will prevent a spend that exceeds the bucket balance. If your family wants to allow borrowing against future allowances, you can enable negative balances in Settings. Note: Negative balances is a Premium feature.
Does AllowanceKit handle real money or connect to a bank?
No. AllowanceKit is a tracking tool, not a bank or payment service. It keeps a virtual ledger of how much your child has earned and spent. The actual money stays with you (in cash, a bank account, or however your family handles it).
Can I export our transaction history?
Yes. Go to Settings > Export Transactions (CSV) to save your family's full history as a spreadsheet that opens in Numbers or Excel, or Settings > Export Data Backup for a complete backup file. You choose where each file is saved using the standard Files sheet. Exports are created entirely on your device and are free for everyone. Note: exports never include your parent PIN or child passcodes.
Why is a shared child read-only?
Editing needs both Full access sharing permission and eligibility under the owning parent's plan. If the child's access status has not arrived yet, ask that parent to open the latest AllowanceKit and let iCloud sync on both devices. After the owner's Premium expires, additional children stay read-only until they renew or buy lifetime and the update syncs. A received subscription expiry also applies offline. You do not need a separate subscription to edit an eligible shared child. Everyone who edits the family should update the app.
Can I restore a manual or automatic backup?
Yes. Use Settings > Import Data Backup for a manual file, or choose a saved backup under Settings > Automatic Backups. Restoring replaces your owned family's current data with the saved snapshot, including children, buckets, transactions, goals and earned stickers. Incoming shared children are left untouched. Review the confirmation before continuing. Restoring a backup with more than one owned child requires Premium; a single-child backup can be restored on the free plan. Backup creation and export remain free.
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