Ibotta is a free app that gives you discounts and cash-back when shopping — primarily at the grocery store, but also at select online retailers. I tested it for a month to see whether or not it’s worth the time and hassle, ultimately earning over $30 from a handful of transactions.
Summary: The Ibotta app is easy to use regardless of whether you shop online or in-person. Some offers are similar to digital coupon clipping and reduce the price of goods, while others give you cash-back on your spending. The participating retailers vary, but include supermarkets, liquor stores, big box stores, clothing companies and more.
My experience: After seven transactions, I earned $32.10 in cash-back and $6 from bonuses. Most of my cash-back came from saving between 20 cents and $5 on specific items, but I also successfully participated in four offers that paid me a percentage of my total spending on eligible items.
- Works at over 300 grocery store chains, including Kroger, Trader Joe's, Walmart and others.
- Has many offers for everyday items like bread and milk that can be used on any brand or at any store.
- The cash-out minimum of $20 is easy to hit, thanks largely to the number of bonuses available to new users.
- A few top grocery stores are not yet supported.
- Getting the most out of Ibotta takes commitment. You'll need to remember to review offers before you head to the store, and then take the time to upload your receipt when you get home.
Key Things to Know About Ibotta
You can read our guide on how Ibotta works for tips and tricks to get the most out of the app, but here are a few of the most important things to know based on my one month of testing:
- Ibotta has a browser extension. If you plan to use Ibotta on your desktop or laptop, consider downloading the browser extension to simplify the process. When shopping online, the extension will pop up to let you know whether the retailer has cash-back.
- You can use Ibotta with some grocery delivery services. Shipt, Instacart, Uber Eats as well as grocery delivery services offered directly by several major grocery chains, are Ibotta partners.
- The minimum cash-out is $20, and you can get paid via cash or gift cards. Your account needs to be at least seven days old to withdraw funds; however, the threshold is relatively small and users have a variety of cash-out options. Gift cards are instant and PayPal or a linked bank account could take up to three days.
- You can stack rewards. Although you still need to add your desired items inside the Ibotta app, you can do that while also participating in loyalty programs offered by major retailers like Sam’s Club or Walmart. Additionally, you can stack your Ibotta savings with paper coupons used in the store at the time of purchase.
How Much I Earned With Ibotta In 30 Days
Over a one-month period I earned a total of $38.10. My total earnings can be broken down into three main categories: bonuses, product purchases, and store-specific cash back.
Bonuses
Ibotta offers new users a handful of bonuses, which change from time to time. When I tested the app, I earned the following:
- $1 “Make It Rain” bonus for redeeming any two offers within 45 days of signing up.
- $2 “Foggy Funds” bonus for redeeming any two offers.
- $3 “Cloudy Cash” bonus for redeeming any three offers.
New offers are added from time to time and appear in the app’s “Bonus” section. After completing my one-month test, I now see two bonus offers that weren’t there a few weeks ago when I downloaded the app.
(For the first, Ibotta is offering me 11 days to claim 20 offers and earn $5. The second offers me only four days to participate in 10 offers to earn $1.)
There are also bonuses offered by various manufacturers. Although I haven’t successfully completed any of these yet, one more Cetaphil purchase will earn me 75 cents, while two more will earn me an additional $1.50.
Product Purchases
I was able to earn cash-back for particular products regardless of the retailer.
Store-Specific Offers
My primary “store-specific” product purchase was with Safeway. I had an option to shop in-store or online. Since I was sitting in the parking lot when I remembered I had Ibotta, I opted to shop in-store. There were only two items listed that I had already planned to purchase. I selected those items in the app, then hoofed it around the store to pick up the Ibotta items (among quite a few others that weren’t listed), paid for my purchases and headed home.
Once at home, I logged back into the app and had to submit my receipt (which involved scanning the grocery store receipt as well as the barcodes on my two purchased items). The $3 I earned was immediately displayed in the earnings section of the app.
My last transaction that fell into this category was at Dollar Tree. I didn’t purchase any of the products listed in Ibotta; however, the app gave me the opportunity to upload any receipt in exchange for a 20 cent payment.
Any Store Offers
Ibotta offers the ability to earn on specific products regardless of whether your local store participates or not. I was able to shop at my local liquor store. Similar to my Safeway experience, I made sure to add my three eligible products (similar to clicking an online coupon) before shopping, then scanned the receipt and barcode afterwards. Again, my $12.00 earnings were immediately added to my account.
Cash-Back
Some of Ibotta’s partners offer a straight cash-back percentage for everything purchased through the app. I used this method twice, ordering online for store pickup with Sams Club. The first time I only earned 1% back ($4.48); however, the second time around, the percentage was higher. (I earned 3%, which amounted to $8.44). These earnings showed up in my account within a day of picking up my purchases at the store.
Similarly, I booked a hotel room two different times through Priceline using the Ibotta app. I earned 3.5% ($3.73) on the first booking. The second one is still pending.
My final transaction in this category gave me a bit of trouble. I used Ibotta to purchase 12 bags of mulch at my local Home Depot store, thinking I was going to earn 8% cash-back. The online transaction went through as expected and I picked up the product at the store without any issues.
However, I waited, and waited, and never saw the transaction show up in the earnings section of the app. I checked the Home Depot offer and realized that the 8% cash-back was only for certain categories. My mulch fit into the “all other categories” designation, which would only earn me 0.5% cash-back.
After about four emails back and forth with customer care, Ibotta credited me with my 25 cents in earnings for the transaction.
If your primary goal is to earn cash-back from online shopping — and you’re never going to use Ibotta’s in-store shopping features — other cash-back apps might be a better choice.
Ibotta Review: Final Verdict
Ibotta is great for the mindful shopper and tops of our list of the best cash-back apps for groceries.
At the same time, while the app is certainly not difficult to use, remembering to review offers before heading to the store or shopping online can be tough.
You may also want to be prepared for a bit of work on the back end, since many offers require you to scan barcodes and upload receipts to earn cash-back.
All in all I am an Ibotta fan and I plan to keep using it (when I remember).
