Ibotta Review [2024]: Can you Really Get Paid to Shop?

What is Ibotta?

Ibotta is a cash back app that pays users to shop. I like it because a good portion of its offers are on groceries, which is a hard category to save in today with the higher prices and fewer sales. But groceries aren’t the only way to save using Ibotta. You can also earn cash back when shopping online as long as you shop through the Ibotta portal or use their free browser extension.

Today, they deliver promotions to over 200 million members. It’s free to join, and you can earn cash back on items you would have bought anyway. It’s a win-win for only a few extra minutes of your time.

How does Ibotta work?

Ibotta is an affiliate partner for over 2,000 retail stores, restaurants, convenience stores, movie theaters, pet stores, and drug stores. If you either shop through the Ibotta portal or upload recipes from grocery shopping in-person, you can earn cash back.

If you shop for groceries, be sure to pay attention to how you can shop. For example, I can shop at Jewel-Osco either in person or online and earn cash back which is great because when I’m in a crunch for time, I love my online grocery shopping and curbside pickup.

Grocery shopping isn’t the only way to earn cash back from Ibotta. Here are the three primary ways.

Shop using your phone

When I use Ibotta to shop for groceries, I grab my list and sit down with the Ibotta app on my phone for a few minutes. To get offers, I click on the store where I plan to shop and then click on the items on my list. It’s imperative that you activate each offer by clicking the plus sign next to the item before shopping, or you won’t get credit for the purchase.

To make things easier, you can add your favorite stores to your app so you can more easily find available offers.

After activating your offers, you are free to go shopping. After you checkout, upload the receipt from the retailer and confirm which offer you want to redeem.

Link store loyalty accounts

If you shop at a participating grocery store such as Kroger or Whole Foods, you can link your store's loyalty card and automatically get credit for purchases that correspond to Ibotta offers.

To start earning cash back on purchases at your grocery store, sign in to your Ibotta account in the app, choose which store you plan to stop at, and look for the “Link Account” button. All stores that allow you to link your loyalty account will show at the top of their retailer page.

You can either connect an existing loyalty card to your Ibotta account or create a new one. The final step is to enter your loyalty card information.

Now when you shop at these participating grocery stores, you only need to swipe your loyalty card when you make purchases.

Shop online

You can also shop online with Ibotta’s 2,000+ retailers. The nice thing about this is you automatically get credit for the purchase as long as you go through the online portal or app.

Just click “Activate and Shop” and you’ll be brought directly to the retailer’s site, but through Ibotta so you automatically get credit for your purchases.

You can also download the free Ibotta browser extension. When you visit partner retailers, you’ll automatically receive notifications about cash back opportunities. If you find an offer you like, click “Activate” in the extension window, and you’ll get credit for your purchase.

Who can use Ibotta?

You must be at least 18 years old and have access to a computer or smartphone to take advantage of Ibotta cash back offers.

To make the most of the opportunity, you must be willing to activate offers before shopping, especially grocery shopping, or shop through the Ibotta portal when shopping online. It takes only a few minutes to download the app or sign up for an account, and you can earn cash back immediately.

How much can you make on Ibotta?

The amount you can earn on Ibotta depends on how often you shop with participating retailers and take advantage of partner offers. You can track both your lifetime and current earnings under the “Account” section of the app — and a progress bar will show how close you are to hitting the $20 threshold required to cash out.

Keep in mind that I’ve used Ibotta for several years, but my earnings to date are $1,645.37 total. You can withdraw your earnings as soon as you've scored $20 worth of cashback rewards — but you aren't required to do so. You can let the earnings keep building until you're ready to redeem for payment via PayPal, Venmo, or gift card.

You can also use Ibotta in tandem with other cashback apps such as Dosh to maximize your earnings across shopping and partner offers. By comparing Dosh vs. Ibotta side-by-side, you can see how they work well together and determine whether one or both better fits your needs.

Maximizing your earnings with Ibotta

If you're serious about earning as much as possible with Ibotta, here’s how to maximize your cash back:

• Link loyalty accounts with participating retailers: This will enable you to earn effortlessly, and you'll never miss an opportunity.
• Take advantage of bonuses: Find ways to supercharge your rewards by clicking "Bonuses" on the app’s main navigation bar. This will reveal bonus opportunities for specific products.
• Click Hot Deals: See the hottest deals near you and online for the highest amount of cash back. These deals change often so check back frequently and don’t forget to add them to your list to get credit.
• Refer your friends: In the Ibotta app, click “Refer and earn $7” to get your unique referral code to send to friends and family. You’ll earn $7 for every referral after they submit their first receipt.
• Scan barcodes: If you aren’t sure if a product qualifies for an offer, click “check product barcode” while shopping to be sure you don’t miss any deals.
• Use “any brand” rebates: Any brand rebates allow you to purchase a product in the named category from any brand. For example, they offer $0.10 on any brand of sports drink. While $0.10 isn’t a ton, it’s better than nothing, especially if you aren’t purchasing a brand they offer a bonus on.

FAQs

Ibotta alternatives

If you don't think Ibotta is one of the best side hustles for you, there are many other options to consider. Try saving money with a budgeting app, or consider these other ways to make money:

• Taking surveys using Survey Junkie: You can earn money answering surveys, which takes some time, but doesn’t require you to spend money. You can earn PayPal cash or gift cards for your time, which you can then use to save money on your purchases.
• Sign up for InboxDollars: With InboxDollars, you can earn rewards simply for doing simple tasks like taking a survey, shopping, and playing games. Unlike Ibotta, you can’t earn cash back on in-person grocery shopping, but they partner with major retailers to help you earn cash back.

Bottom line

Ibotta is a simple way to earn extra cash and a good way to practice managing your money. I don’t think you’ll get rich using the app, but even a dollar or two each time you shop adds up, especially if you grocery shop weekly.

I highly recommend linking your loyalty accounts to the Ibotta app so you don’t have to worry about missing cash back opportunities and before you shop online, always check the Ibotta app for the hottest deals.