Devices that grow step by step with your childMost families feel stuck between two options: shut technology out entirely, or hand over a smartphone and hope for the best. We built Pinwheel for the parents in the middle. You know your kid better than any app, brand, or platform ever could, and we're here to back up your instincts with real tools and guidance.Technology, one stage at a timePinwheel Home: A screen-free, landline-style phone that starts the tech journey before a child needs a mobile device.Pinwheel Watch: Calling, contact, and location without a screen's worth of risk. It's also a first step on the readiness checklist that leads to a smartphone.Pinwheel Phone: A first phone that grows into full access exactly as fast as your kid is ready for it. Never faster, never slower.Every device starts safe and curated, then opens up as your child grows, building real responsibility along the way. Social media exposure is designed out from the start, and you stay in control throughout. Settings and controls stay visible and adjustable at every stage, and you choose the timeline, hardware, and carrier that fit your family's lifestyle and budget.Why parents trust us Full-visibility parental controlsCurated apps Live customer support from people who care A 30-day free returns policyWe believe trust is earned in the details behind the big promises. We also share the "why" behind every stage of access, so you can have better conversations with your kid and make each decision with confidence.And when your kid outgrows Pinwheel we'll help you figure out what comes next, even if it's a different phone.We'd love to hear about your experience. Thank you for being part of the Pinwheel family.
Pinwheel Kids Phones (pinwheel.com) has 771 customer reviews on Five Star Index, with an average rating of 4.4 out of 5.
Also known as
pinwheel.com
Website
pinwheel.com
Category
Computers & Phones
Location
Austin, Texas
Listed on Five Star Index
2026
About these reviews
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The company replied to 16% of reviews.
Latest
Most recent review: October 2026.
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Reviews are shown as their authors wrote them. The company can reply, but cannot edit them.
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The pinwheel old fashioned wired home phone doesn't work. We got a shipment mid July (it shipped out later than they had said when we purchased) and the device doesn't' connect to the internet. Customer service has been dragging their feet on getting us a return/refund. We keep hearing from them that they have too many service tickets. Our kids friends are in the same boat. DO NOT BUY THE OLD FASHIONED WIRED PHONE FROM PINWHEEL!!!!!!
Update: Interesting that I get a reply on the review within hours, but still no word back from customer service on the return/refund. No this email does not match, and it shouldn’t have to. Pinwheel should take care of customers. Not chase down online reviews.
Response from Pinwheel Kids PhonesJul 28, 2026
We're sorry to hear about the experience with your Pinwheel Home and for the delay in getting your return sorted out. You're right that we've seen a significant influx of new users recently, and we sincerely apologize that your case hasn't gotten the attention it deserved.
Since I'm unable to locate your case with the name on this review, could you please send us a new email referencing your previous ticket number so we can track it down quickly? And just to put your mind at ease, our return window is 30 days from receipt, so you are still well within the window to get this resolved; of course we don't want the delay on our end to eat into that time. We want to get this resolved for you well before then!
LL
Lisa L.
Great Customer Service
Great Customer Service. Rizza was very helpful and knowledgeable. She was able to answer my question quickly and efficiently and provided additional information that I hadn't thought to ask. Excited to continue with Pinwheel as a first phone for my second child.
HM
Hugh M.
pinwheel phone
pinwheel renewed annual subscription without any renewal warning email. We stopped using the phone after 3 months as it was so restrictive.
Response from Pinwheel Kids PhonesJul 28, 2026
Hi Hugh, we're sorry to hear this caught you off guard. Annual subscriptions do renew automatically at the end of each billing cycle, the renewal date and cancel button are always visible in your Caregiver Portal. We'd encourage you to reach out to our support team directly so we can look into this and work toward the best resolution for you
RN
Richard N.
Chen very good all the way
Chen very good all the way, solved the problem
MI
MissR
Don’t waste your time or money
The software is glitchy and slow, the location tracker is particularly slow and doesn’t always load, thousands of manager/ permission notifications going off every day on the phone which is very distracting for my child - I reported this to pinwheel a few months ago and it never got resolved. We also had numerous issues when trying to set the phone up with our desired apps. Certain features within apps (such as features within child Spotify account or parent managed account for WhatsApp) did not work properly (or at all) and we were unable to resolve these issues via pinwheel support. Finally, sometimes text messages just never arrive at the phone - numerous occasions where we’ve text our child and they never get through to the phone.
Eventually, after about 4-5 months, we have decided to cancel our pinwheel subscription. My emails and texts to support received no response so I tried the live chat. I spent over 2 hours on live chat trying to cancel our subscription with no confirmed cancellation at the end and no confirmation of when I can expect a response from my cancellation request which has had to be escalated. The escalation was due to being unable to log into the browser portal to delete our child’s account (our login details would work for the app but not the browser which is where you need to go to delete the account) - apparently this is a pre-requisite to cancelling your subscription. I now have to just wait to see if they contact me to confirm the cancellation (not holding my breath) or if they take another payment which I have explicitly said is not acceptable.
I do not recommend pinwheel. It does not work effectively and the cancellation process, at this point, has been a shambles.
Response from Pinwheel Kids PhonesJul 24, 2026
Hello there! We're sorry to hear about your experience, and we completely understand the frustration, especially with the cancellation process taking longer than it should.
What you've described is not how our system normally operates, and we're sorry that wasn't resolved when you first brought it up. On the cancellation, we can close your account without requiring you to log in as long as we're able to verify your account fully. Since we aren't able to pull your details from this platform, please do follow up with our support team directly if you haven't heard back yet and we'll get this wrapped up for you.
SD
Silas de los S.
Pinwheel Sucks
I don't know what is going on with my Pinwheel phone; this is to put it lightly, but it sucks. It was fine for the first couple of months, but then it started acting up. It would take a solid minute to send messages. I don't know if that had to do with the data plan I have; it might be, but there are other problems with it. Such as the notifications going off every second. ON average, I will get around 2,000 notifications a day just from the Permission Controller. I have tried multiple times to turn off the notifications, but I can't. I have tried to get my parents to turn them off, but they can't do it either. I don't know why my phone needs to constantly remind me that "Contacts has location access" or "Messenger has location access" literally two times in the same minute. Another one of the many problems with this phone is when it kicks me out of apps that are approved by the Pinwheel Manager. I have been kicked out of Amazon Music, the Messenger app, Gmail, Pinwheel settings, Duolingo, the Camera app, Google Drive, and all of the other apps I have so many times that I can not tell you how many times. To clarify, when I was kicked out, I did not click on any unsupported links, ads, locked pages, or restricted places on the app. The reason I bring this up is that I rely heavily on Google Maps for work to get around. I do not have time to pull over every five minutes to re-enter the address because it keeps kicking me out of the app. Another thing, I don't always receive messages, nor do my messages always send. I will usually have to resend that message three times to get it to finally send. The key board glithches almosth all the time. It will double-print letters if it is plugged in and charging. I know it is not the sensitivity, because I have messed with it trying to get it to work. It will glitch when someone is calling me and won't let me answer the call. It has activated the emergency SOS button and called 911 before I could hang up.
I have tried to do just about everything to make my phone run more smoothly. I have restarted it, over and over again. Made sure all the software was up to date. made extra space for RAM in my storage. Turned on the XtraRAM button in the settings. I have cleared the Cache on all the apps that would allow me to do it. My phone is a G64 model, I don't know if all the other Modles are the same, but this one is just a piece of crap. It has more problems; I have only listed the big ones.
So... yeah, the Pinwheel G64 Model is a terrible phone, don't waste your money.
Response from Pinwheel Kids PhonesJul 24, 2026
Hi Silas, thank you for taking the time to detail everything you're experiencing. We can see how disruptive this has been, especially relying on the phone for work.
A few things worth knowing that may help:
The Permission Controller notifications are tied to the GPS monitoring function of the device. Our support team can help get those turned off if they're becoming overwhelming.
The G64 is one of our more basic models, designed primarily for everyday kids' use. For heavier use cases like navigation, messaging apps, and multiple active apps running simultaneously, it may be worth looking into an upgrade.
On the performance side, occasional restarts help the device clear out memory, and making sure there's enough storage space is important for running apps and installing updates smoothly. Staying connected to WiFi regularly also ensures the device stays up to date, which can clear up a number of the issues you're describing.
We'd encourage your parents to reach out to our support team directly. There may be some troubleshooting steps we haven't tried yet, and if the phone genuinely isn't the right fit for your needs, we'd love to help find a better option.
PA
Patrick
Phone doesn’t work and worst customer service
I purchased the spark home phone for my kids. It is supposed to work off my home WiFi. I spent two days trying to get the phone to connect and work. I called, sent texts and emailed customer service and was never able to get ahold of anyone. After two days of trying to get it working I decided to try and get a refund. I have called and emailed and have still been unable to get ahold of their customer service. The phone doesn’t work and the customer service is useless and doesn’t answer. I wouldn’t waste your money
Response from Pinwheel Kids PhonesJul 24, 2026
Hi, Patrick! We're sorry to hear you've had trouble getting through to us. We've been experiencing a higher than usual volume of inquiries following our recent product launch, which has impacted our response times. We completely understand how frustrating that must be, especially when you're trying to get a new device up and running.
If you haven't already, please try reaching us through our live chat on the website, as that may be the fastest way to get connected with our team. We'd love the chance to help get your Pinwheel Home set up before moving forward with a refund.
AG
andy G.
This phone is trash
This phone is trash you can't use airplane mode unless your parents unlock it you can't edit the accessibilities it kicks you out you can't get an AI they give you "pinwheel gpt" but a complete rip half the questions you ask it doesn't answer and there are limited responses with a premium option I ask a greenlight ai and a pinwheel AI the same question and the greenlight AI did better and answered it right and it isn't even made for it, they also have to accept every contact and track everything.
Response from Pinwheel Kids PhonesJul 24, 2026
Hello Andy, we hear you, and we get that these restrictions can feel limiting. Pinwheel is designed with parental oversight in mind, so a lot of what you're describing is intentional to keep the experience safe and focused. As for Pinwheel GPT, we appreciate the honest feedback and will make sure it gets to the right team. We'd encourage chatting with your parents about adjusting settings as you get older!
