7 Best Cash Back Apps in 2024: Earn Cash on Spending

Looking to earn a few extra bucks? There are a variety of apps that can help you earn cash back for everything from scanning receipts to shopping online.

For example, I love using Rakuten to score cash back deals when I’m shopping at my most frequented sites, like Chewy or Target. Another favorite is Upside, which gives you in-person cash back deals at gas stations, restaurants, and grocery stores as long as you activate them before purchasing.

The best cash back apps I’ve curated here have different payout methods and ways to earn, so they can meet nearly every consumer’s needs. However, many require you to activate deals, shop using a specific portal, or scan receipts, so they’re best if you’re willing to put in a little work.

How we evaluate products

To develop our list of the best cash back apps, we looked at several important features, including how easy it is to earn cash back, the value of rewards you earn, and the different redemption options available. We chose apps and platforms offering more flexibility and options for consumers over more restrictive apps with limited choices for earning and redeeming cash back. We also favored platforms with better mobile app ratings, although we included some with lower ratings if the value of rewards and ease of use outweighed these.

We did not evaluate all products/services in the category. We used editorial judgment to determine which platforms are best for the widest range of users and situations.

Top cash back apps

• Fetch
• Ibotta
• Dosh
• Shopkick
• Receipt Hog
• Upside
• Rakuten

Best cash back apps: Quick comparison

App name	Great for	Google Play/App Store rating	Learn more
Fetch	Cash back as an afterthought	4.7/4.8	Fetch
Ibotta	Grocery cash back	4.5/4.8	Ibotta
Dosh	Dining cash back	4.5/4.7	Dosh
Shopkick	Cash back when window shopping	3.7/4.6	Shopkick
Receipt Hog	Cash back when scanning receipts	4.7/4.7	Receipt Hog
Upside	Gas cash back	4.6/4.8	Upside
Rakuten	Cash back when shopping online	3.6/4.8	Rakuten

Fetch

Although some money apps require you to pick out coupons ahead of your shopping trip, you can easily use Fetch as an afterthought when you return home from the store. Fetch works with over 600 popular brands to save you money on thousands of products. A few that stood out when I checked the grocery category are Sargento, Betty Crocker, Barilla, and General Mills. Tide, Revlon, and Starbucks are more household names on there from other categories.

This makes Fetch a great choice for frequent supermarket-goers who don’t want to deal with the hassle of selecting coupons or preparing a shopping list. The ability to earn rewards just for shopping your favorite brands is a huge perk, especially if you’re a brand loyalist and don’t want to buy cheaper knock-off products.

Once you’ve racked up at least 3,000 points, you can choose from hundreds of gift cards to restaurants and retailers, from Amazon to Airbnb, or select a prepaid Visa or MasterCard.

Read our Fetch review to learn more.

Ibotta

Ibotta is our go-to app for earning cash back at grocery stores. You can earn cash back for in-store purchases at over 2,000 retailers, including Target and Walmart. You’ll need to select the offers you want in the app before shopping and then submit your receipt. To get automatic savings, link Ibotta to your retailer’s loyalty account.

In the app, you can browse offers at a certain store or search for them directly. Personally, I'd rather be able to browse all available offers at once instead of narrowing it down to a specific grocery chain or item. Another drawback I noticed was that Ibotta doesn't partner with my preferred grocery chain. Also, while you can score good deals on specific items, I felt pressured to buy things I otherwise wouldn't have — a mindset that's not good for your budget.

Overall, Ibotta is great for shoppers who don't mind clipping coupons, as you can potentially save a ton of money with minimal effort, especially as you get to know what offers are available. But if you don't want to do the extra work, you might be better off with an app like Upside that offers general grocery store cash back.

Read our Ibotta review to learn more.

Dosh

Unlike the other cash back apps on this list, Dosh focuses primarily on dining. It partners with 10,000 restaurants, as well as many health and beauty, fitness, and clothing retailers and hospitality brands across the globe.

You’ll earn cash back automatically after you connect your cards, so you don't need to activate offers or clip virtual coupons. This is fairly unique among rewards apps and it definitely simplifies the process, making this a good option for someone who doesn't want to spend a lot of time researching and activating offers.

I also think it's great for travelers who might frequent restaurants a lot, as most in-person offers are at eateries. Using Dosh could be a good way to find a local favorite watering hole — or just get cash back without thinking about it. Homebodies who don't dine out much should choose another app.

Read our Dosh review to learn more.

Shopkick

Shopkick truly is a renaissance cash back app. It rewards you for everything from walking into a partner store to watching online videos. Because of that, it's one of the few options for earning rewards without actually making a purchase. If you're on a tight budget and don't want to overspend, Shopkick could be just what you're looking for.

Rewards vary, but purchases generally earn you the most points (called kicks). The value of these kicks varies, but you can redeem them for most rewards at a rate of 250 kicks per $1. How many kicks you can earn per activity varies, but some users report earning 10 kicks for a walk-in visit, and one kick per video watched. At that rate, you'd need to visit 25 stores just to earn $1 in cash back, which doesn't seem worth it.

With that in mind, I recommend Shopkick for people who do a hearty mix of window shopping and actual buying. Otherwise, you likely won't ever be able to earn enough kicks to redeem.

Read our Shopkick review to learn more.

Receipt Hog

As far as apps that pay cash back for scanning receipts, Receipt Hog is one of the best. You can upload a paper or digital receipt from any store to earn rewards. For digital purchases, if you connect your email, Receipt Hog automatically finds receipts from your inbox and adds them to your account. The same goes if you link your loyalty accounts from different retailers.

However, things get a little confusing when you look more into how Receipt Hog works. It divides your receipts into three categories: Coin-Receipts, Spin-Receipts, and Sweepstakes-Receipts (or Sweeps Only-Receipts). Coin-Receipts earn you coin rewards, while the other two earn you the chance to win coin rewards. Which category a receipt goes into depends on the category of the retailer you shopped at. For example, gas receipts are classified as Sweepstakes-Receipts.

Despite being tricky to manage, I think Receipt Hog is best for someone who does a lot of shopping at Coin-Receipt merchants weekly. If you can scan 60 receipts a week, this is probably worth it.

Upside

Unlike apps aimed at online shopping, Upside offers rewards to people who make purchases at their local grocery stores, gas stations, and restaurants. I've used Upside for a few years now, and it's my favorite app because of how easy it is to use. Not only can you earn cash back on gas, but it also shows you real-time pricing at the pump — so you can know which gas station near you is the cheapest.

Recently, Upside has also started adding in grocery store cash back offers — in fact, I just earned 8% cash back buying my groceries earlier today.

Some of the best cashback offers on gas come from Upside, so the app is perfect for frequent drivers. Upside is designed for local deals and rewards only, so you’ll need to choose another app or site for your online shopping.

Read our Upside review to learn more.

Rakuten

Rakuten is the app for shoppers who love saving when they shop online. It offers cash back deals at a number of retailers. The highest offer I've ever seen is 22% cash back, an incredible rebate just for shopping through a portal.

That said, one of my gripes with Rakuten is that it's sometimes finicky when giving me my cash back. I think this is because you have to click a link in the app to make your purchase, so if you browse around to other sites or come back later to check out, the tracking cookie it uses to refer you might have expired. I have a penchant for clicking around to other sites too often, so I think my Rakuten deals sometimes get lost in the shuffle.

Still, if you do a lot of shopping — especially with a credit card that earns cash back for online shopping — you stand to get a hefty deal on your purchases.

Read our Rakuten review to learn more.

How to maximize earnings from cash back apps

Looking to get the most out of cash back apps? Here are my suggestions:

• Use multiple apps. Most of these apps work great in tandem with one another. And because they’re free to use, you don’t have to choose or weigh whether they’re worth it.
• Activate offers before and after shopping. Always do a quick scan of your apps before hitting up a store to see what offers are available. Try to get into the habit of checking for offers after you’re done, too.
• Refer your friends. Plenty of these apps have referral credits if you get your friends to sign up. For example, Rakuten offers a $40 referral credit if you get a friend to sign up and spend $40 within 90 days of joining.
• Make purchases with a cash back credit card. This is an excellent way to double up your cash back. Look for a cash back card with no annual fee that complements your lifestyle and spending habits.

How to choose the best cash back app for you

1. Think about your spending habits. Do you do a ton of grocery shopping? Or do you mostly make online purchases?
2. Look at payout options and thresholds. Do you prefer getting a physical payout or an e-gift card? Can you wait until you accumulate a certain number of rewards, or do you want your cash back as soon as you earn it?
3. Consider how easy the app is to use. Many apps require you to log in and browse offers, which could be a deterrent, especially if the user interface is lackluster. Mobile app ratings are helpful for researching this.
4. Look at privacy policies. You should choose an app that protects your information. For example, Dosh outright states that it doesn't sell your data to businesses or third parties.

FAQs

Bottom line

To get the maximum savings with the least effort, choose the apps and sites that work best for your lifestyle and shopping habits. Although you can’t use more than one to get cash back on the same purchase, it might be wise to make use of a few different ones depending on where you shop.

For example, you could use Upside for your gas and groceries and Rakuten for your online shopping. This is great practice for learning how to manage your money better. Consider using a budgeting app as well to maximize savings every month.