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Top Apps Like Ibotta: The 15 Best Money-Saving Alternatives

Apps Like Ibotta
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Ibotta is one of the most well-known money-making apps, but there are many other apps like Ibotta that you may not have heard of.

This post will introduce you to some of the best free rebate apps, and will show you just how easy they are to use — from saving money on Amazon to saving money on every grocery shopping trip.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Ibotta app, read my full Ibotta review here (and get a $5 sign-up bonus with the link provided).

Our research and testing found 15 different cash-back and coupon apps like Ibotta worth your time. Our top five among the various categories are: 

  • Fetch Rewards. Earn points for scanning any type of receipt while getting bonuses for partner products. Best for those who want to earn rewards for all their shopping, not just at specific stores.
  • Shopkick. Earn points for completing small shopping-related tasks, like checking in to stores and uploading copies of your receipts. Best for those looking to gamify their shopping experience.
  • Drop. Earn points simply by linking your credit card and shopping at participating stores. Best for those who shop at Target and Sam’s Club, two popular retailers in the app. 
  • Swagbucks. Earn cash-back and rewards for online shopping, taking surveys, watching videos, and more. Best for those looking to earn rewards through a variety of activities.
  • Rakuten. Best overall cash-back app with offers at over 3,500 partner stores and excellent cash-back rates. Best for those looking to earn cash-back on various purchases.

Top Picks Comparison

AppSummaryOur RatingOur Review
Fetch RewardsRewards for all shopping.4.5/5Read our review
ShopkickGamify your shopping.2.5/5Read our review
DropRewards for shopping at popular retailers.4.0/5Read our review
SwagbucksRewards for various activities.4.8/5Read our review
RakutenExcellent cash-back rates.4.6/5Read our review

Best Receipt Scanning Apps Like Ibotta

Saving money with receipt scanning apps could hardly be easier. Just take a picture of your receipt, upload it, and earn rewards. Most of the time, you can upload the same receipt to multiple services in order to double or triple your rewards.

#1. Fetch Rewards

Quick summary: Earn points when you buy a participating brand (the particular product doesn’t matter). Plus, there’s no need to select the brands inside the app — simply upload a copy of a receipt showing that you purchased an eligible item.

Best for: Those who are loyal to particular brands.

Pro tip: You can upload the same receipts you upload to Fetch Rewards to Ibotta.

Learn more: Read our in-depth Fetch Rewards Review, which goes over exactly how much you can expect to earn.

#2. Shopkick

Quick summary: Shopkick is a mobile app that rewards users with points called “Kicks” for completing shopping-related tasks, which can be redeemed for gift cards, PayPal cash and other incentives. Users can earn Kicks through various methods, such as walk-ins, scanning barcodes, uploading receipts and more.

Best for: Those who have some time on their shopping trips and like to gamify their experience by completing various tasks while in-store. You can save on your grocery purchases and then earn extra points just by walking into participating nearby shops.

Pro tip: Earn Shopkick points simply by walking into partnered stores and scanning the barcodes of select items. Points can be redeemed for gift cards from dozens of retailers.

Read our Shopkick review to learn more.

#3. Checkout 51

Quick summary: Browse the app or website to see what items are currently offering cash-back. Buy the eligible items, upload a photo of your receipt, and earn your cash-back reward.

Best for: Those who buy typical grocery store items at other types of stores, such as drug and convenience stores. That’s because the cash-back is based on the items you buy, not the store you buy them from.

Pro tip: Checkout 51 sometimes runs promotions with similar sites like Swagbucks and InboxDollars where you can earn points or cash for downloading Checkout 51 from links on those sites.

#4. SavingStar

Quick summary: Look through the coupons available on the app and select the ones you want to use. After making the relevant purchases, upload your receipt to receive your cash-back savings.  

Best for: Those who prefer to shop at small regional chain stores rather than big nationwide box stores. That’s because SavingStar features offers from smaller retailers as well as large widely available ones.

Pro tip: SavingStar offers “one or many” deals. If you’re required to buy X number of an item in order to receive the discount, you can buy them on multiple trips rather than all at once (as long as you buy the required number before the offer expires).

#5. Receipt Hog (iOS|Android)

Quick summary: It doesn’t matter where you shop or what you buy when you use Receipt Hog. Every receipt you upload will earn “Coins” that can be redeemed for either cash via a direct deposit into your PayPal account or Amazon gift cards.

Best for: Those who aren’t particularly loyal to a particular store or brand when it comes to their shopping habits.

Pro tip: Take advantage of the cash-back offers from sites like Rakuten and Swagbucks, and then upload your receipts to Receipt Hog for additional earnings.

#6. Receipt Pal

Quick summary: Upload a receipt from nearly any store — it doesn’t matter what you bought or how much you spent — and earn points for every four receipts you submit (up to a limit of 20 per week). Points can be redeemed for gift cards.

Best for: Those who are “just running in for” shoppers. In other words, if you just run in for one or two things several times a week, you can make a few cents for your plethora of receipts without having to worry about buying specifics items.

Pro tip: Check out the offers on the apps that give you cash-back for buying a particular brand or item. Then, see if you bought any qualifying products so that you can submit the receipt to those apps as well as to Receipt Pal.

#7. Krazy Coupon Lady

Quick summary: If you don’t have time to browse through the other apps on this list looking for deals, you’re in luck: Krazy Coupon Lady has done the work for you. You can find coupons from several different sources all in one place, and the free app sends offers right to your smartphone.

Best for: Those who don’t have the time or patience to comb through apps and circulars, but who still like saving money.

Pro tip: You can often find a manufacturer’s coupon, a store coupon, and an online coupon for the same item — and many stores will allow you to use all three. If you score that trifecta, you’ll be hard pressed to find a lower price.

#8. Shopmium

Quick summary: Browse through the app for cash-back offers, buy the corresponding items, upload the receipt, and receive cash-back.

Best for: Those in Europe. The app is currently available in the UK, France, and Belgium. So, if you’re keen on saving a few pounds or euros at Tesco, this could be a great option.

Pro tip: There are many free offers on the site from brands promoting new products, so you can try something new without the risk of wasting money.

Related reading: Check out our in-depth guide to eating healthy on a budget, which features 15 tips plus a sample meal plan and shopping list.

Best Loyalty Card Apps Like Ibotta

With these loyalty card apps, you’ll earn cash-back or other rewards just by using a linked credit or debit card to pay for purchases at participating retailers.

#9. Drop

Quick summary: Earn points for shopping at partnered merchants, taking surveys and playing a limited number of games. Redeem your points for gift cards, crypto, contest entries or “collectibles.”

Best for: Those who already shop at big-name retailers, such as Target and Sam’s Club, and are willing to activate offers every week 

Pro tip: Drop has the most extensive list of passive (card-linked) cash-back offers available on any platform, but these offers rotate weekly and require activation.

Learn more: Check out our in-depth Drop App review for all the details on how it works and how much you can earn.

#10. Venmo

Quick summary: The popular peer-to-peer payment platform has recently introduced passive, card-linked cash-back offers. All you have to do is request a free Venmo debit card, then use that card to pay for purchases at participating retailers (including select grocery stores).

Best for: Those who already have and use Venmo, as the free debit card uses the funds in your Venmo balance (not your bank account) for transactions.

Pro tip: You can set up auto-reloads, which add funds to your Venmo balance whenever it dips below a certain number.

#11. Stocard

Quick summary: Stocard allows users to scan and store their loyalty cards on their phones, rather than carrying around the physical cards themselves. So, you can finally say goodbye to that collection of barcodes on your keyring.

Best for: Android users who frequent stores with good loyalty programs. While Apple’s iOS has this function built-in (Apple Wallet), Stocard is beloved by users of Android devices like the Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel.

Pro tip: The same loyalty card can be shared between family members’ phones, so any time anyone in the family makes a purchase and scans the barcode, that account will earn points. This is an especially great strategy if your family shops at CVS, which pays 2% cash-back per quarter in the form of ExtraBucks.

Mobile In-App Purchases Like Ibotta

With the shopping apps on this list, you can earn cash-back and other great perks when you buy items through a particular shopping portal. If you ever shop online (and who doesn’t?), failing to utilize these services is like walking away from a stack of money.

#12. Swagbucks

Quick summary: Swagbucks is a cash-back online shopping portal. Find the store you want to shop at in the app or on the Swagbucks website, see the percentage of cash-back being offered, and then click on the store’s link to shop and earn.

Best for: Frequent online shoppers.

Pro tip: Swagbucks is one of the easiest ways to earn free gift cards by doing other tasks on the site, including answering surveys and watching videos. Then, you can use those same gift cards at the stores offering good cash-back deals.

Swagbucks ($10 Bonus)
Put cash back in your wallet

Put cash back in your wallet

Get paid to shop online, watch videos, take surveys and play games with this all-in-one rewards site. Redeem your points for gift cards and PayPal cash starting at just $3.

#13. Rakuten

Quick summary: With Rakuten, users can search for cash-back offers from thousands of online retailers. The site also has a low minimum payout at just $5.

Best for: Frequent online shoppers, as Rakuten has thousands of partners.

Pro tip: You can often find coupons for particular stores that can be used to save money on top of Rakuten’s cash-back offer.

Read our Rakuten review to learn more.

#14. Acorns

Quick summary: Acorns is a micro saving and investing app that also has a valuable cash-back shopping portal (called Acorns Earn). When you shop with retailers that have partnered with Acorns, the cash-back you earn will be invested into mutual funds (you can withdraw your money for free at any time).

Did you know: Acorns’ has partnered with sites like Expedia, Airbnb and Uber to offer a cash-back shopping portal (called Acorns Earn), so you can save on your travel expenses in addition to your online purchases.

Best for: Those who are nervous about dipping their toes into investing.

Pro tip: If you really want to grow your wealth, investing is the way to do it. So don’t just invest the cash-back you save through Acorns Earn — set up Acorns’ popular Round Ups feature, which will automatically invest your spare change.

#15. InboxDollars

Quick summary: An online cash-back shopping portal similar to Swagbucks.

Best for: Those who do a lot of online shopping and are willing to sign up for multiple sites. Many of the sites on InboxDollars are similar to those found on the other apps listed, but the rates can vary widely depending on when you look. It’s a good idea to sign up for more than one site and check which one offers the best deal before making a purchase.

You can also use Cashback Monitor, a free website that’s designed to help you get the absolute best cash-back offer every time.

Pro tip: Earn money watching videos and answering surveys on the site, in addition to the cash-back shopping portal.  

Read our InboxDollars Review.

Are You Above or Below Average?

If you had to guess how much you spend on food per year, what would the number be? A quick look through your budget can show you the actual figure. The average American household spends $7,729 per year on food, which is 12.8% of the average annual after-tax income.

That’s a big chunk of our earnings… but we have to eat. Food isn’t a category we can cut out of our budgets (like cable television or subscription boxes). So, we have to save money on groceries any way we can. These top cash-back apps for groceries can help you and your family do just that.

With the right cash-back apps and some clever stacking, you can cut your grocery spending significantly and wind up with a surprising amount of extra money in your bank account at the end of the month.

To see how much you can save by stacking multiple cash-back deals, use our free online cash-back calculator.

R.J. Weiss
R.J. Weiss, founder of The Ways To Wealth, has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ since 2010. Holding a B.A. in finance and having completed the CFP® certification curriculum at The American College, R.J. combines formal education with a deep commitment to providing unbiased financial insights. Recognized as a trusted authority in the financial realm, his expertise is highlighted in major publications like Business Insider, New York Times, and Forbes.

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