Learn How Cashback Apps Can Change Your Financial Life
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The economy it’s a great time to give your budget a fresh start. You don’t necessarily need to cut back on your favorite things to save more; sometimes, the best strategy is simply making your routine spending work harder for you.
Cashback apps are a seamless way to turn your everyday purchases into a series of small financial wins. Whether you’re restocking the pantry or picking up new gear for the changing season, these tools return a percentage of your total directly to your pocket.
We’ve rounded up the best options available now to help you reclaim your cash throughout the year. Some even offer signup bonuses, giving you an immediate boost just for getting started. You can find our current top three recommendations in the first rows of the table below.
| Gig App | Rewards Rate | Withdraw Minimum | Start Earning |
|---|---|---|---|
 Fetch | 2.5¢+ / receipt | $10 (then $3) | Sign Up |
 Ibotta | Varies | $20 | Sign Up |
 Rakuten | 1%–40% | $5.01 | Sign Up |
| View More | |||
How We Chose These Apps
To select the best cashback apps, we not only reviewed their features, reward types, and earning potential, we also did a deep search on the internet to find out how much real users actually like using these apps.
01.What is a cashback app?
A cashback app rewards you for making eligible purchases with participating merchants. The apps we chose pay a referral bonus when you tell your friends about the app and they sign up. Our sole intention in creating the ably already shop at, such as Target, Walmart, Best Buy, and more. This means you can save money simply by living your life without changing your spending habits.
How much can you earn with cashback apps?
According to anecdotal online reports, many users earn $5–$20 per month with cashback apps.
That amount is variable, of course, and depends on each person’s habits and the time of year. Notably, spending—and by extension, cash back on apps like this—often skyrockets during the holidays.
All in all, using cashback apps won’t make you rich, but it’s a great way to earn some extra pocket money here and there.
What to consider when picking a cashback app
Pay attention to the following features when you’re choosing which cashback apps to use:
- Rewards options: This is especially worth checking if you exclusively want to earn cash and want to steer clear of apps that only offer other types of rewards, such as gift cards.
- Participating merchants: Check if the app offers cash back at stores you often shop at to earn the most from your shopping trips.
- Minimum redemption amount: You typically need to accumulate a certain amount of money or number of points before you can cash out your rewards.
- Additional fees: All of the apps listed here are free to download and use, but a select few may charge a maintenance fee on inactive accounts or a withdrawal fee.
- Signup bonuses: As we’ve already mentioned, some cashback apps come with an instant bonus for new signups (although you may have to meet a spending requirement to get the bonus), so this is something to watch out for when you’re looking for apps.
- Other ways to earn rewards: Some cashback apps offer other simple tasks users can complete to make money and boost their monthly earnings.
Read on for our full list of cashback apps.
02.Fetch
Fetch is currently one of the most popular receipt-scanning apps on the market. That’s a main reason we picked it as our top contender—people on online side hustle communities rate it highly, with many saying it’s their favorite app for earning cash back. Plus, it offers new members a signup bonus, which is always welcome.
Fetch
for FetchTerms of Use
Rewards TypeCash or gift cards
Rewards Rate2.5¢+ / receipt
The Verdict
Fetch is a decent receipt-scanning app, although even if you’re an avid shopper, your earnings from it will probably be fairly modest.
Read our full Fetch review.
More information
- Signup Bonus$3 gift card
- Earning MethodSubmit a receipt for an eligible purchase through the app, and play games.
- Payment OptionsWithdraw earnings via gift cards or Visa.
- View More
How it works
Fetch rewards you for purchases with a three-step process:
- Find offers for rewards on the Fetch app.
- Make your purchase and upload a pic of your receipt to the app.
- Cash out your rewards for gift cards or other offers.
Receipts must be uploaded within 14 days of the purchase and cannot be:
- Return receipts
- “Experience” receipts (e.g., for seeing a movie or going to a concert)
- Bill receipts
- Airline purchase receipts
What you can earn
You can cash out your rewards once you’ve earned at least 3,000 points. Rewards can be redeemed as gift cards from popular brands like Amazon and Target (in denominations of $3, $5, $10, $25, $50, and possibly other denominations).
Point values vary based on the gift card you want, but online estimates suggest that 1,000 points are worth a little under $1.
03.Ibotta
Next to Fetch, Ibotta is the most recommended app in online side hustle communities when we checked. What stood out to us is that it lets you shop both online and in-store (we’ll elaborate more on how that works below), which isn’t always the case with these apps.
To use Ibotta, simply shop for offers, add them to your “shopping list,” then cash in rebates on what you spend. Like several other apps on this list, you can use it through the site, the app, or a browser extension.
Ibotta
for IbottaTerms of Use
Rewards TypeCash or gift cards
Rewards RateVaries
The Verdict
Ibotta is generally a good app if you want to get cash back on frequent purchases like groceries, though the $20 withdrawal threshold and issues cashing out large amounts can be a pain at times.
Read our full Ibotta review.
More information
- Signup BonusEarn a small amount of cash
- Earning MethodSubmit receipts for eligible purchases online; shop through the Ibotta website, app, or browser extension; or shop in eligible stores with loyalty cards linked to Ibotta.
- Payment OptionsWithdraw earnings via deposit to your bank account, PayPal, or gift cards.
- View More
How it works
What sets Ibotta apart is that you can use it for in-store shopping, while many competitors only work when you shop through the app (i.e., when you shop online). To validate in-store purchases, you can upload a picture of your receipt or link a credit or debit card to your account.
What you can earn
Like most of the other apps on this list, Ibotta pays out real cash. You can cash out once your account balance reaches $20. You’ll earn the amount listed on each offer (e.g., 5% back), so you know what you’re getting from the start.
Online sources say the average Ibotta user earns $10–$20 per month by using the app.
04.Rakuten
Another highly popular app, Rakuten lets you earn cash back from thousands of stores. Its redemption process is very straightforward with no gimmicks, attracting shoppers all around the world.
You can use Rakuten through their website, browser extension, or mobile app.
Rakuten
for RakutenTerms of Use
Rewards TypeCash, Amex rewards, or check
Rewards Rate1%–40%
More information
- Signup BonusEarn $10
- Earning MethodMake qualifying in-store purchases (with a linked credit card) and online purchases through Rakuten.
- Payment OptionsWithdraw earnings via check, PayPal, or American Express Membership Rewards points.
- View More
How it works
Just shop through the platform, find offers on brands you regularly buy, then make your purchase. The app will register it and issue cash to your account.
What you can earn
You’ll get exactly what you expect when shopping with the Rakuten app. There are no complicated redemption programs (which, on some apps, can make it hard to predict what you’ll actually earn).
Once you make a purchase through the app (only some offers are valid for in-store purchases), you’ll be credited the amount of cash back offered (anywhere from 1%–15%, although this may vary).
If you prefer, you can earn American Express Membership Rewards® points instead of cash back. To do so, simply connect your American Express account to your Rakuten account.
05.CoinOut
CoinOut is another app that lets you scan receipts—paper or digital—for rewards. While not as widely discussed as some of the other apps on this list, CoinOut still has many loyal users with good things to say about it. Additionally, its redemption threshold is on the lower side, at just $3.
CoinOut
for CoinOutTerms of Use
Rewards TypeCash or gift cards
Rewards Rate$0.01–$0.05 / receipt
The Verdict
While the payouts on CoinApp are pretty low, it’s a legit app that will pay you to scan receipts and complete other small online tasks.
Read our full CoinOut review.
More information
- Signup BonusEarn about $0.20
- Earning MethodSubmit valid receipts for qualifying purchases to the CoinOut app.
- Payment OptionsWithdraw earnings via Amazon gift card, PayPal, or Zelle.
- View More
How it works
Use the scan feature in the CoinOut app to scan your paper receipts and instantly see how much each receipt is worth. You can submit up to 5 paper receipts from the same store in a 24-hour period.
For digital receipts, you can now automatically forward them to the app by syncing your email address with CoinOut’s email connect service.
What you can earn
CoinOut categorizes users into the following tiers and corresponding point values:
- Bronze Level: 10 coins per receipt
- Silver Level: 20 coins per receipt
- Gold Level: 30 coins per receipt
- Platinum Level: 40 coins per receipt
- Diamond Level: 50 coins per receipt
All users earn the standard incentive amount in their tier for the first 25 valid receipts each week (up to 125 receipts monthly). Beyond that, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond level users can earn 10 coins per additional valid receipt they submit.
06.Checkout 51
Checkout 51 is another widely-used app that offers cashback rewards on purchases like gas, groceries, food, and other everyday goods.
Checkout 51
for Checkout 51Terms of Use
Rewards TypeCash
Rewards RateVaries
More information
- Signup BonusEarn $5
- Earning MethodUpload pictures of receipts from eligible purchases to the app.
- Payment OptionsWithdraw earnings via check, PayPal, or Venmo.
- View More
How it works
Shop for offers and add the ones you want, then head to the store and pick up your haul. Once you’ve completed your purchase, send a pic of the receipt to the app to get your cash back.
What you can earn
One of Checkout 51’s selling points is its transparent earning system. You receive direct cash back on each purchase (rather than points). Once your account has a balance of $20, you can cash out with Venmo or PayPal cash or by requesting a mailed check.
They may also sometimes have gift card redemption offers but these aren’t guaranteed.
07.Receipt Hog
You’ll notice that most other apps on this list are limited to offers with select brands. Because of this, you’ll see the same big-name stores and franchises crop up on a lot of different apps.
Receipt Hog does it differently. You can earn coins or slot spins for any receipt—paper or digital—that you submit proof of.
Receipt Hog
for Receipt HogTerms of Use
Rewards TypeCash or gift cards
Rewards Rate2.5¢–12.3¢ / receipt
More information
- Signup BonusEarn <$1
- Earning MethodSubmit a receipt for an eligible purchase through the app, and complete in-app surveys.
- Payment OptionsWithdraw earnings via PayPal, Amazon gift cards, or Visa.
- View More
How it works
The amount you earn with Receipt Hog will vary based on where you shop, but you can use this app to get cash back on every single purchase, even ones from your neighborhood bodega.
What you can earn
Unfortunately, Receipt Hog isn’t as straightforward as some of the other cashback apps on this list. You’ll earn coins, slot spins, or entries into sweepstakes for each receipt you upload, but you won’t earn straight-up cash.
Receipts for less than $10 will earn you 5 coins, where 1,000 coins are worth approximately $5. Receipts for larger amounts will earn you more coins.
08.Makeena
A cashback app that incentivizes healthy choices, Makeena focuses on what they call “the good stuff”—healthy food and eco-friendly products.
Makeena
for MakeenaTerms of Use
Rewards TypeCash or freebies
Rewards RateVaries
More information
- Signup BonusNo signup bonus
- Earning MethodScan the barcode of every eligible product you purchase and submit a picture of the receipt to the app.
- Payment OptionsWithdraw earnings via PayPal or Venmo.
- View More
How it works
Shop with Makeena’s affiliate brands, then scan receipts and product bar codes to earn money back on your purchases.
This app can be a little more cumbersome than the others, as you have to scan individual products. However, we appreciate a cashback app that aims to help people lead healthier lives.
What you can earn
Point values vary, but most points are earned through brand rebates (e.g., 5% back on certain products).
You can cash out rewards in the form of free brand products, discounts, or even PayPal or Venmo cash if you’ve earned at least $20.
09.Capital One Shopping
Like many major credit card issuers, Capital One offers its own cashback app, Capital One Shopping.
Capital One Shopping
for Capital One ShoppingTerms of Use
Rewards TypeGift cards
Rewards RateUp to 30%
More information
- Signup BonusNo signup bonus
- Earning MethodAdd Capital One Shopping’s extension to your desktop browser, sign up with the platform, and make el
