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6 Best (and Free) Cash Back Apps in 2023
- Rakuten – best for online shopping
- Swagbucks – best for easy tasks
- Fetch – best for scanning receipts
- Ibotta – best for grocery stores
- Upside – best for gas stations
- Honey – best for coupons
- Rakuten
Rakuten is a cash back shopping app that is great for online shopping. All you need to do is shop using the app or web browser extension, and participating companies will offer anywhere from 1% to 10% or more in cash back when you make a qualifying purchase. You can also receive cash back in person by linking your credit or debit card to your Rakuten account. Payments are sent out every three months, and you can receive them with either PayPal or as a check in the mail. Rakuten also currently offers $5 signup and $30 referral bonuses.
- Swagbucks
Swagbucks is a very versatile app for earning money and gift cards. You can earn money by receiving cash back on purchases, along with Swagbucks points toward more cash and gift cards by taking surveys, watching videos, and playing games. Swagbucks also offers rewards for browsing the internet and for referring friends and family using a unique referral link. There’s even a $5+ bonus cash reward just for signing up. This isn’t the most lucrative app on our list, but it may still be able to play an effective role in offsetting smaller purchases and bills if you are looking for easy tasks to complete from your phone, and from any location.
- Fetch
Fetch allows you to earn points towards gift cards simply by scanning your grocery, shopping, and dining receipts. You automatically earn 25 points per receipt scanned. If you purchased certain items that are currently highlighted on the discover page, you will earn additional points. Prior to shopping, it can be helpful to check out your Fetch app to see what items you can earn points on this week. For example, if you typically buy Kraft cheese, check the app to see if Kraft is offering any points this week or change your cheese brand to earn additional points. Each receipt you scan earns you an opportunity to “spin the wheel” to win additional points. You can also earn points towards rewards by referring friends. You can opt to use your points towards redeeming gift cards, entering various sweepstakes, or even donating to charity.
- Ibotta
Ibotta is a cash back app that allows you to earn rewards for scanning receipts. You can earn anywhere from $0.25 to over $1.00 per offer that you activate based on your purchases. You can cash out or redeem a gift card once your account reaches $20. This app is very popular for cash back on grocery purchases, has offers for over 300 popular retailers, and is highly rated by users. Ibotta also offers a $20 welcome bonus for new users and a $10 referral bonus. If you are looking for an easy way to earn some extra money, try scanning grocery receipts using ibotta.
- Upside
Upside is a very popular cash back app for gas stations that can also be used at grocery stores and restaurants. Upside is partnered with several gas stations, which makes it easy to find opportunities for cash back. This app also includes a cheap gas finder, which can help you save more money on top of your cash back earnings. With Upside, you can redeem your cash back after reaching the $10 minimum as cash or gift cards. While this app may not be the best choice for cash back on food, and gas station choices may be limited depending on the gasoline providers in your area, we still think this app could play a role in maximizing cash back on everyday orchards.
- Honey
Honey is a great app for finding coupon and promo codes. This app finds and tests discount codes for over 30,000 retailers and displays them in the app so you can easily apply them during checkout. You can earn PayPal Rewards points for spending money and using certain coupons, which can be redeemed for cash, PayPal shopping credits, and gift cards. Honey also offers this free service as a web browser extension. Download Honey now to enjoy the average user savings of $126 per year at an average discount over 17%. You can also receive a referral bonus of $5 for everyone who signs up using your unique referral code.