11 Receipt-Scanning Apps That Let You Earn Money by Shopping

Before we launch into our list of the best receipt apps, a word of warning.

Using these apps can be a fun way to cut the costs of your everyday purchases. You can even use multiple apps to increase your savings. However, be aware that these apps are ultimately designed to make you spend money—not save it.

Receipt scanning apps and the like are paid by companies to incentivize you to shop at their stores. They offer deals and gamify the shopping process to entice you to spend more money, more often.

In most cases, the payouts you’ll receive (as you’ll see throughout this article) will also be very low.

Keep this in mind if you want to effectively use these apps to save money. While they’re a fun way to knock pennies off your purchases, avoid spending more than you normally would just because a cash-back deal or sweepstakes promise caught your eye.

If you’re ready to use these platforms to your advantage, here are the 11 best receipt apps that will pay you for shopping.

1. Fetch

One of the biggest names in this space, Fetch rewards you with gift cards in exchange for snapping pics of your paper receipts or scanning your digital receipts.

Receipts must be uploaded within 14 days of the purchase and cannot be returns receipts, experience receipts (e.g., for seeing a movie or going to a concert), bills receipts, or airline receipts.

What you can earn

You have to earn a minimum of 3,000 points before you can cash them out as a gift card. Then rewards can be redeemed as $10, $25, or $50 gift cards.

Point values vary based on the gift card you want, but their value tends to be around $0.0006 per point, which is less than $1 per 1,000 points earned.

Where to download Fetch

App Store Google Play

2. ReceiptPal

There are three ways to register receipts with ReceiptPal and earn rewards:

• Take pictures of paper receipts on your phone
• Link your Amazon account
• Connect your email

The receipts you submit will earn rewards that you can redeem as gift cards. You’ll also be entered in the weekly sweepstakes for cash prizes.

What you can earn

ReceiptPal has a tiered points system. The more receipts you upload, the more you’ll level up, which will get you access to higher rewards. You’ll also get “level rewards”—$5 gift cards to popular retailers.

Individual points are worth around $0.002 each, meaning 1,000 points equals roughly $2.

Where to download ReceiptPal

App Store Google Play

3. Trunow

Although it originally made a name for itself as a gas receipts app, Trunow offers rewards for a variety of purchases, including groceries, food, and gas. However, it still focuses on gas stations and even shows you the cheapest gas nearby in the app.

You can earn rewards by scanning receipts with your phone’s camera. Rewards can then be used for in-app purchases or redeemed through PayPal (though you’ll only get half the value if you do this).

What you can earn

Trunow offers 2% cash back at partner gas stations and 1% cash back at all other gas stations. The cash back you’ll receive for purchases at local stores and restaurants varies. You can cash out with a minimum of $5 in rewards.

Where to download Trunow

App Store Google Play

4. Makeena

Makeena is a receipt rewards app that encourages you to buy what they refer to as “the good stuff,” i.e., healthy food and environmentally friendly products. You earn rewards by shopping with affiliated brands and scanning your paper or digital receipts along with the barcodes of eligible items.

What you can earn

Point values vary, but most points are earned through brand rebates. You’ll find a rebate offer (e.g., 5% back) with a specific retailer, make a purchase, then upload the eligible receipt.

You can cash out rewards for brand products, discounts, gift cards, or even PayPal cash if you’ve earned at least $20.

Where to download Makeena

App Store Google Play

5. TopCashback

You won’t actually need to scan receipts to get rewarded for purchases through TopCashback. Instead, you’ll search for deals in the app, make a purchase through a link that it will provide to you, and earn cash back after you’ve completed it.

Unfortunately, rewards can take a while to process. The platform won’t award you your cash back until the retailer’s return window has expired on your purchase.

Rewards can be redeemed as PayPal cash or gift cards (which usually are worth 5% more than cash redemptions).

What you can earn

The site claims that members earn an average of “$450 cash back a year,” but it’s not clear where this number comes from, and we weren’t able to corroborate it. That said, the app’s cash-back offers are fairly transparent, so you can see how much you’ll earn while shopping through the app or site.

Where to download TopCashback

App Store Google Play

6. Drop

With the Drop app, you can shop for offers through the platform and earn a set cash-back amount for each purchase you make.

Shopping through the app makes it so you don’t need to scan a receipt. You can also link a credit or debit card to get automatically rewarded for select purchases.

Along with shopping, you can earn points on the app by playing games and get 1,000 extra points each month for having a linked credit or debit card.

What you can earn

Every 1,000 points is equivalent to $1. Points can be redeemed as gift cards or cryptocurrency when you’ve reached a minimum of $25 (i.e., 25,000 points).

Where to download Drop

App Store Google Play

7. Dosh

Like much of its competition, Dosh lets you shop directly on the app or link a debit or credit card and earn rewards on select purchases. What sets it apart is that you can easily redeem rewards for cash by transferring increments of $15 or more to your bank account, PayPal, or Venmo.

If you’re feeling generous, you can even donate your rewards to a charitable organization.

What you can earn

What you see is what you get with Dosh. You’ll see offers for certain amounts of cash back from partnered restaurants and retailers, then get awarded that cash-back amount when you make your purchase with your linked card. The app doesn’t feature points, and you don’t have to photograph your receipts.

Where to download Dosh

App Store Google Play

8. CoinOut

CoinOut takes rewards gamification to the next level. It offers a lot of ways to earn rewards for submitting your receipts, including multiple earning levels and a slot-machine style program called CoinFrenzy.

To earn “Coins” or Game Play credit (which you can use to earn more Coins), you can scan receipts, connect your email and retail accounts, or acquire badges in the app.

What you can earn

According to the platform, these are the tier levels and related point values for the first 25 receipts you submit each week (up to 125 monthly receipts): 1

• 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

Where to download CoinOut

App Store Google Play

9. Receipt Hog

Founded in 2011, Receipt Hog is a straightforward receipt-scanning app. Just shop, submit a paper or digital receipt, then earn rewards. You can earn additional coins by completing surveys.

Receipt Hog lets you cash out coins as gift cards or cash. One of the big perks of this app is that it rewards your spending on small local businesses, like bodegas or your neighborhood grocery store, along with the big-name brands that other apps favor.

What you can earn

In addition to coins, you can enter sweepstakes and earn wheel spins for more coins when you upload receipts.

On average, you’ll earn 3–5 coins per receipt. 1,000 coins are worth approximately $5.

Where to download Receipt Hog

App Store Google Play

10. Checkout 51

The Checkout 51 app lets you add offers for everyday purchases like gas, groceries, and goods to a list. Once you’ve added an offer, you can head to the store and buy the item, then take a picture of your receipt and upload it.

What you can earn

This is another app that scores points for transparency. You’ll know just what you’re getting with Checkout 51’s rewards. Each offer is for a (clearly indicated) amount of cash back on a particular purchase. Once you redeem the offer, your account will be credited with the cash-back amount.

You can cash out for gift cards, PayPal cash, or mailed checks when your account reaches $20.

Where to download Checkout 51

App Store Google Play

11. National Consumer Panel

Owned by the consumer intelligence company NielsenIQ, the National Consumer Panel app is more interested in your shopping data than in taking a commission on your purchases.

You can use the app to scan barcodes on products you purchase and fill out details about your buying experience. Then you’ll submit your shopping data once per week in exchange for rewards that can be redeemed for gift cards or merchandise.

What you can earn

You’ll have multiple ways to earn, including submitting shopping data, participating in consumer studies, entering sweepstakes, and taking advantage of member perks.

As for how much points are worth, it’s unclear. We know that rewards increase the longer you’ve been a member, but there are no available estimates on how much you can earn with this app, as reward values vary greatly.