Best Cash-Back Apps of 2024

A cash-back app rewards you for making eligible purchases with participating merchants. They typically offer you a small percentage of your purchase amount, which you can often redeem as cash, gift cards, store credit, or credit card points.

Most of the items you can earn cash back on are everyday items from popular stores you probably 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 cash-back apps?

According to anecdotal online reports, many users earn $5–$20 per month with cash-back 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 cash-back 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 cash-back app

Pay attention to the following features when you’re choosing which cash-back 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.
• Other ways to earn rewards: Some cash-back apps offer other simple tasks users can complete to make money and boost their monthly earnings.

Read on for our full list of cash-back apps.

Leading the charge in cash-back apps is Rakuten. You can use this service through their website, browser extension, or mobile app.

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%–20%).

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.

Fetch is one of the most popular receipt-scanning apps in the market.

How it works

Fetch rewards you for purchases with a three-step process:

1. Find offers for rewards on the Fetch app.
2. Make your purchase and upload a pic of your receipt to the app.
3. 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 $10, $25, or $50 gift cards from popular brands like Amazon and Target.

Point values vary based on the gift card you want, but online estimates suggest that 1,000 points are worth a little under $1.

Another hugely popular cash-back app, Ibotta lets you 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, app, or a browser extension.

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 transfer the funds to PayPal 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.

Checkout 51 is another widely-used app that offers cash-back rewards on purchases like gas, groceries, food, and other everyday goods.

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 for gift cards, PayPal cash, or a mailed check.

Shop directly through the Dosh app or link your debit or credit card to earn cash back on select purchases.

How it works

Dosh looks a lot like the other apps on this list. What sets it apart is how easy it is to cash out rewards. Once your account reaches $15, you can transfer your earnings to your PayPal, Venmo, or bank account. You can even choose to donate your rewards to a charitable organization.

What you can earn

There are no gimmicks with the Dosh app. You earn the cash-back amount you see on each offer. You earn rewards by shopping with a linked card (rather than uploading receipts). Plus, you can get a $10 referral bonus when you refer a friend and they open an account.

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.

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 cash-back 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.

On average, a receipt will earn you 3–5 coins. 1,000 coins are worth approximately $5.

A cash-back app that incentivizes healthy choices, Makeena focuses on what they call “the good stuff”—healthy food and eco-friendly products.

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 cash-back 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 for brand products, discounts, gift cards, or even PayPal cash if you’ve earned at least $20.

Like many major credit card issuers, Capital One offers its own cash-back app, Capital One Shopping.

How it works

With Capital One Shopping, you don’t even need a Capital One credit card to take advantage of the tool. You can download the app or install the browser extension to find deals that reward you for shopping.

What you can earn

You’ll earn cash back at various rates for the deals you activate and complete. The catch is that rewards aren’t redeemed for actual cash. Instead, you’ll be given a selection of gift cards to choose from.

Upside is a popular app for drivers to earn cash back on gas. You can also use it to earn rewards for other everyday activities, such as grocery shopping and eating out.

How it works

Find cash-back offers you need at nearby participating stores in the Upside app. You must use a valid debit or credit card when you purchase the items.

What you can earn

Like most other cash-back apps, the rewards rates for Upside vary depending on the product. You can boost your earnings by inviting friends to sign up using a unique referral code.

You’ll earn a bonus the first time they purchase gas and an additional bonus each time they purchase a gallon of gas in the future.

Use Pogo to save money by making everyday purchases and doing other activities, such as scanning receipts and sharing your data.

How it works

Browse through the Pogo app for “Boost Offers” (shopping links) and make purchases through it. Once you click on the Boost Offer, make sure to complete your transaction first before visiting other sites, or else the offer may not be effective.

Explore other ways to make money with Pogo on its app. Two other options are to scan and upload receipts of qualifying purchases, and to share your data securely with Pogo and selected third parties for market research purposes.

What you can earn

Maximize your earnings by participating in multiple incentivized actions the Pogo app offers. Bear in mind that unused rewards will expire if your account has gone 180 days without earning or redeeming a reward.

Swagbucks is one of the most well-known cash-back and survey-taking apps in the market at the moment.

How it works

Swagbucks gives you points, called “Swagbucks” (SB), not only for making qualifying purchases and taking surveys but also for completing other microtasks; for instance, you can watch ads for money and get paid to play games.

You can then exchange your SB (1 SB = 1 cent) for your choice of reward. Occasionally, Swagbucks offers discounted rewards, including PayPal cash and gift cards. You can look for them on the platform’s rewards page.

What you can earn

The cashback rates on Swagbucks vary with each purchase. You can bump up your daily earnings by $1–$5 by micro-tasking on the app for around half an hour a day. If you have more time, you can earn even more, as there are no daily earning limits.

According to an article on Swagbucks’ website, you can redeem rewards with just 100 SB (worth around $1). However, when we tested the app for our in-depth Swagbucks review, we found that we needed 1,500 SB (worth around $15) to cash out for the first time, after which the required amount dropped to $1, as promised.

Use Shopkick to monetize your shopping trips. You can also complete other shopping-related tasks on the app to increase your earnings.

How it works

Shopkick offers points, referred to as “kicks” (1 kick = $0.004), to users who complete qualifying actions. You can redeem your kicks for gift cards at participating retailers.

In addition to making eligible purchases, you can earn rewards by completing tasks like scanning receipts, walking into select stores, and watching videos.

What you can earn

The number of kicks you can earn for each type of task changes frequently, so your best bet is to try the app out for yourself.

That said, we did some research and found that you could earn roughly 2–10 kicks (equivalent to $0.008–$0.04) per dollar spent shopping online.

CoinOut is another widely used app that lets you scan receipts—paper or digital—for rewards.

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 tier levels and assigns different 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.

Check out cash-back credit cards if you’re looking for other ways to save on your everyday purchases. You can often earn around 1%–5% cash back with these cards.

They often have different cash-back rates for different categories, such as groceries, dining, and travel. For instance, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express offers 6% cash back on groceries, a great option if you frequent grocery stores.

Compare the offers and reward rates of different cash-back credit cards to pick one that aligns best with your spending habits.