The Best Type of Investing App for Teens (and Where to Start)
Your 15-year-old just asked whether they can put their summer-job money into a company they keep seeing on TikTok. You want to say yes to the curiosity and no to the risk, so you go looking for an investing app for teens. Here is the short answer: the best first app is almost always a simulator, not a real-money account. A simulator lets your teen buy and sell real stocks with virtual money, so they learn how investing works and make their beginner mistakes for free. Real money can come later, once they have some practice behind them and you both feel ready.
That answer surprises a lot of parents, because the app stores are full of teen investing apps that put real dollars into real markets on day one. Those apps have a place. But handing a curious teenager a live brokerage account is a bit like handing over the car keys before a single driving lesson. This guide walks through the three kinds of investing apps for teens, what each one is for, and how to sequence them so your teen learns without an expensive first lesson.
What kinds of investing apps are there for teens?
There are three kinds, and they do different jobs. Knowing which is which saves you from opening a real-money account when what your teen needs is practice.
| Type of investing app for teens | Real money? | Who controls it | Typical age | Best for | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simulated / practice app (e.g. Rapunzl) | No, a virtual portfolio | The teen, with nothing at stake | Middle and high school (Rapunzl is built for grades 6–12) | Learning the concepts and building habits before any real dollars | None financially; the risk is picking one with no teaching in it |
| Real-money teen account (a custodial account, or a parent-supervised teen brokerage account like Fidelity Youth) | Yes, real dollars | An adult manages a custodial account; a teen brokerage account lets the teen trade with a parent attached | Fidelity Youth: ages 13–17; custodial accounts: any age | A teen who has already practiced and is ready for small real stakes | Real losses, and real emotions attached to them |
| Allowance / chore app with an investing feature (e.g. Greenlight) | Yes, usually small amounts | Parent-managed | Younger kids through teens | Chores, saving, and a first taste of what a share is | Light on real investing depth |
There is no villain here. A real-money teen account is a good tool for the right moment. The mistake is reaching for it as the first step instead of the second.
Should a teen start with real money or practice first?
Practice first. That is the bluntest line in this guide, and it holds up.
A teenager's first experience of watching an investment fall is going to be emotional no matter what. That is normal. The question is whether that first gut-punch costs them real money they earned mowing lawns, or costs them nothing but a few points on a practice leaderboard.
There is a name for why that first drop stings so much. Psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky called it loss aversion, and in Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman notes that losses loom larger than gains, by a factor of roughly two in most experiments. That lopsided feeling is a big part of why new investors panic-sell at the worst possible moment. You want your teen to meet it, learn to sit with it, and watch a good position recover, all while nothing real is on the line. Once they have done that a few times, real money is a much smaller leap.
You get something out of this, too. Practicing together with virtual money is fun and low-stakes. You can talk through why a stock moved or disagree about a company, and nobody loses their summer earnings over it. If you want more ways to make those conversations stick, start with how to teach your kids about investing at any age.
What to look for in an investing app for teens
Whichever type you land on, four questions tell you whether an app will teach your teen anything or just look slick. Ask them before you download a single one.
Was it built for their age, or shrunk down from an adult app? An app made for middle and high schoolers speaks to a teenager and teaches at the right level. An adult brokerage app with a "teen" label often hides the complexity instead of explaining it.
Does it need real money to start? The best first app lets your teen make every decision and every mistake for free. Keep real dollars for the step after they have practiced.
Are the prices real and live? Practice only teaches if it mirrors reality. When a stock your teen owns moves on real news, the lesson lands. A simulator running on made-up or badly delayed prices teaches very little about how markets behave.
Is the learning built in? Look for an app that teaches the concepts in a sequence a beginner can follow. Then plan to sit beside them for the first few trades. The app can teach the concept, but you are the one who gets to ask, "So why did you pick that one?"
If the app you are weighing is a simulator specifically, our parent's guide to choosing a safe stock market simulator for teens goes deeper on the safety checks, like making sure it never asks for bank details.
Where Rapunzl fits
Rapunzl is the practice-first option, and it is free to start. Your teen creates an account, gets a simulated $10,000 portfolio, and invests it in real stocks and crypto at live Nasdaq prices. None of your family's real money moves. When the market reacts to news, it reacts in their portfolio, so the lessons are real even though the dollars are not.
What makes it more than a practice account is the teaching around the trading. Rapunzl was built as a financial literacy program for grades 6 through 12, so the simulator sits inside lessons that introduce the concepts in order instead of dropping your teen onto a trading screen. That structure shows in the classroom outcomes: students who go through the Rapunzl program improve from an average of 34% to 93% on financial literacy assessments, against a national average of 64%. Rapunzl has reached 150,000+ students since 2018, and the same program fits a middle schooler who is just getting curious and a high school senior about to leave for college.
Rapunzl also runs a free national scholarship competition (January to late April), and a recent season drew 50,000+ students from 500+ high schools. That gives your teen a reason to keep showing up, something a plain practice account never offers.
When is your teen ready for real money?
When they have practiced, sat through a downturn without panicking, and can explain why they own what they own. Outgrowing the simulator is the goal. A small real-money account is a reasonable next step once you see signs like these:
- They can tell you what each company in their portfolio does and why they bought it.
- They have held through at least one drop instead of selling the day it fell.
- They talk about years, not weeks, when they describe what they expect the money to do.
- They ask about fees, diversification, or what an index fund is, without being prompted.
Real money for a minor runs through an adult. A custodial account is one an adult manages on the child's behalf until the child reaches the age of majority, which is 18 in some states and 21 in many others, according to Chase's guide to custodial accounts. Teen brokerage accounts such as Fidelity Youth take a different route: the teen places the trades, a parent stays attached, and the account is open to ages 13 to 17. Both are legitimate. Age rules and features change, so confirm the current details on the provider's site before you open anything.
Keep it small, keep the conversation going, and do not stop practicing. Plenty of experienced investors test ideas in a simulator before committing real money, and it is worth teaching your teen to run through a short checklist before every real trade. The simulator does not become useless when the real account opens. It becomes the place your teen tries things out first.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best investing app for teens? For a first app, the best choice is a simulator that teaches as your teen trades with virtual money, so there is no financial risk while they learn. Rapunzl is built for exactly this and covers grades 6 through 12. A real-money teen account is a good second step once they have practiced.
Can a 13-year-old use an investing app? Yes. Simulators do not involve real money, so the age rules for brokerage accounts do not apply, and many simulators, including Rapunzl, are built for middle and high schoolers. Real-money teen accounts typically start at 13 (Fidelity Youth, for example, is for ages 13 to 17) and require a parent to be involved. Younger children can invest only through a custodial account an adult manages.
Do investing apps for teens use real money? It depends on the type. Simulated or practice apps use virtual money, so there is nothing to lose. Custodial and teen brokerage accounts use real money with a parent attached. Allowance apps use real money in small amounts under a parent's control. Match the type to where your teen is in their learning, not to which app looks the most exciting.
How much money does a teen need to start investing? None, at first. A simulator like Rapunzl hands your teen a virtual $10,000 to practice with. When you do move to real money, keep the first deposit small enough that losing all of it would sting but not hurt. The point of the first real account is the habit, not the return.
Do parents need to be involved? For real-money accounts, yes. A minor generally cannot open a brokerage account alone, so the account is either managed by an adult or tied to a parent. For a simulator, a teen can learn independently, but investing alongside them opens up one of the best low-stakes money conversations you will get, so it is worth staying involved either way.
Want your teen's first loss to cost points instead of dollars? Get Started For Free and set them up with a virtual $10,000 portfolio at real market prices, so they learn how investing works before any real money is on the line.
By Maria Rodriguez, Curriculum Designer at Rapunzl, where she builds digital financial literacy lessons for grades 6–12.