Since its inception, Ibotta has become one of the most popular shopping apps in the United States, paying more than $1.6 billion to members.
In terms of saving money on groceries and household products, Ibotta is a must-have app for any savvy shopper.
But it’s not the only game in town. Plenty of other apps like Ibotta that make it even easier to cut down on monthly expenses. Plus, some of them are also available outside the United States
If you want to easily earn PayPal rewards and free gift cards just by shopping, the following apps are worth downloading.
How Apps Like Ibotta Work
Ibotta has more than 50 million downloads between its Android and IOS apps. However, its model isn’t revolutionary. Many other apps follow the same process:
- Browse for Offers. Apps like Ibotta work with various retailers and brands, offering cash-back rewards for buying products from their partners.
- Select Offers and Shop. Add sponsored offers to your shopping list before heading to the store.
- Verify Purchases. Most apps require you to upload receipts to provide proof of purchase. Some apps also link to your credit or debit card to track when you spend money at partner retailers. Either way, you must upload a receipt or wait for your purchases to get reported to the app to earn cash back.
- Redeem Rewards. Once you reach a certain threshold, you can redeem your balance for free gift cards, PayPal cash, charitable donations, or even direct deposit, depending on the app.
These reward apps won’t save the average shopper thousands of dollars per year. However, they’re all free, easy to use, and a nifty way to score more free gift cards or cash for your spending.
11 Apps Like Ibotta
Here are the top apps like Ibotta that you can download today.
1. Fetch Rewards
- iOS rating: 4.8 stars
- Google Play rating: 4.6 stars
Out of all the apps like Ibotta, Fetch Rewards is probably the simplest way to earn rewards and cash out. Fetch Rewards is brand-dependent instead of retailer-dependent, like most other reward apps.
With Fetch Rewards, you earn points for uploading a receipt, including a product from a partner brand.
There are dozens of partners, including plenty of well-known brands like:
- Pepsi
- Heinz
- Kraft
- Philadelphia
- Breyers
- Knorr
Additionally, Fetch Rewards goes beyond the grocery store. Other brand partners include medications, magazines, baby supplies, alcohol, and household products. Fetch Rewards accepts receipts from various retailers as long as they include a partner brand.
You can also shop for sponsored offers in the Fetch Rewards app to earn bonus points.
Once you reach 3,000 points ($3) in your account, you can redeem dozens of free gift cards or donate to over 10 charities. Apps like Ibotta typically have a $20 redemption threshold, so Fetch Rewards’ $3 requirement makes this one of the best rewards apps.
Download Fetch Rewards for Android or IOS and start earning free gift cards by shopping for your favorite brands.
2. Dosh
- iOS rating: 4.7 stars
- Google Play rating: 4.5 stars
If you don’t like the idea of manually activating offers, Dosh is the right reward app for you.
Dosh is a relatively newer player in the world of reward apps, hitting the scene in 2016. However, it’s one of the easiest ways to earn passive income from shopping because it’s almost entirely hands-off.
Here’s how Dosh helps users save money:
- Connect a Card. Link your credit and debit cards to Dosh to let the app monitor when you shop. Dosh uses SSL encryption, two-factor authentication, and other security measures that match the standard of other reward apps that require card linking.
- Shop and Earn. Shop with a linked card and earn up to 10% cash back in your Dosh wallet. Note that debit card transactions don’t qualify if you require your PIN to complete a purchase.
- Redeem Cash. Withdraw your cash back through PayPal, Venmo, direct deposit, or donate to charity. You must have at least $15 in your wallet to withdraw, but you can redeem amounts as low as $5.
Dosh works with thousands of retailers, restaurants, and hotel chains. This coverage makes it easy to steadily earn cash back with Dosh as long as you shop with a linked card. Some popular partners include Sephora, Dunkin` Donuts, Macy’s, Dominos, and Instacart.
Plus, you can book hotels through Dosh Travel to receive up to 40% cash back. You must book through the Dosh app, but this feature works with more than 600,000 hotels.
Dosh isn’t the most similar platform to Ibotta, but it does a lot of things right. It’s almost completely passive, and there’s no harm in installing the app, linking a card, and effortlessly earning cash-back rewards.
3. Freecash
- Google Play rating: 4.0 stars
Freecash operates a little differently than the other apps on the list. Rather than uploading receipts or shopping through an app to earn cashback, you can access surveys, games, and apps to test out for cash.
For example, you might get cashback for creating an Uber Eats account and making your first order, signing up for a credit monitoring service, or using an app like Upside.
With each purchase, game, or survey, you can see the payout amount and popularity score for the offer before signing up.
Once you meet the minimum requirements, you can access your rewards via bank transfer, a PayPal cashout, gift card, or crypto.
Signing up is free and easy. All you need to provide is your name and email address to get started. When you register, you’ll also be awarded a signup bonus of $0.05-$250.
4. Coupons.com App
Coupons.com is an online database of printable coupons and online coupon codes. The Coupons.com app saves you the hassle of printing coupons and even lets you upload receipts to earn rebates.
This app makes it easy to access paperless coupons for dozens of retailers.
To boost your monthly savings, make an effort to maximize coupon usage alongside rebate offers from apps like Ibotta. A few simple apps can turn your smartphone into quite the money-saving resource without requiring much extra effort when shopping.
5. Shopkick
- iOS rating: 4.6 stars
- Google Play rating: 3.8 stars
Unlike Ibotta, which largely focuses on grocery rebates, Shopkick is more versatile. It’s a cross between a rewards app and mystery shopping platform.
Shopkick lets you earn free gift cards in several ways. Popular options include walking into specific stores, scanning product barcodes for select products, shopping online through Shopkick’s Android or IOS app, and watching sponsored videos.
Another way to earn kicks, the in-app currency, is by shopping at Shopkick partners for rebate offers and uploading receipts, similar to Ibotta.
Like Ibotta, Shopkick has a rotating list of offers. Popular partners include Amazon, Kroger, TJ Maxx, Sephora, and Walmart, so it’s easy to find offers from retailers you frequent.
Offers typically include grocery items, household products, magazines, and health and wellness supplies. You can also link your credit card to Shopkick to earn additional kicks for shopping at partners. If you already use a cash-back credit card, this is a simple way to further your savings.
Shopkick has plenty of free gift cards to choose from, including gift cards to Amazon, Best Buy, JCPenney, Lowe’s, and Target.
The variety of earning options on Shopkick makes it more than your average grocery rebate app. Plus, you can always use Shopkick with apps like Ibotta or Fetch Rewards to make sure your savings go beyond the supermarket.
6. Receipt Hog
- iOS rating: 4.7 stars
- Google Play rating: 4.5 stars
Receipt Hog is one of the most popular receipt scanning apps around, with several million Android and iOS downloads. Receipt Hog is for you if you want to make even more money with your shopping receipts and potentially win cash prizes.
Unlike most grocery rebate apps, Receipt Hog has three categories of earnings:
- Coins. Earn coins for paper and digital receipts and answering surveys. You can redeem coins for gift cards or PayPal cash.
- Spin Receipts. Some receipts make you eligible for spins, which are just another way to earn more coins.
- Sweepstakes. Occasionally, they run sweepstakes, which are another opportunity to earn coins.
The transaction total on your receipt influences how many coins you earn. You can upload up to 60 weekly receipts, and you have 14 days from initial purchase to upload a receipt. Receipts must clearly show the date, transaction total, list of products, and retailer to qualify.
You can redeem your coins once you reach 1,000 coins in your account, which is equal to $10. This realistically takes many large shopping trips and diligent receipt uploads, but if you do most of the shopping for your household, Receipt Hog is worth trying.
Unlike Ibotta, Receipt Hog doesn’t offer specific rebates for buying a certain brand or product. However, it’s still an easy way to earn money for shopping at grocery stores or other retailers. Besides, you can always download a variety of apps like Ibotta to maximize rewards and find your favorite app.
7. Checkout 51
- iOS rating: 4.0 stars
- Google Play rating: 4.2 stars
Checkout 51 is the most similar app to Ibotta. In fact, the process of picking rebate offers and earning cash is nearly identical.
Checkout 51 releases new rebates every Thursday. You browse the app to add products to your Checkout 51 shopping list. Once you make an eligible purchase, you simply upload a receipt for proof and earn cash back.
Like with Ibotta, you can cash out at $20, but only via check. Checkout 51 is testing PayPal rewards, but the app is currently less robust than Ibotta in terms of rewards. However, Checkout 51 is slightly more versatile in terms of earning options.
Unlike Ibotta, which is more retailer-specific, Checkout 51 has many generic rebate offers that work across multiple retailers. Additionally, several offers are for common grocery essentials like eggs, bread, milk, and fruit.
Plus, you also earn cash back for shopping online as long as your purchase qualifies and you upload a picture of a packing slip for proof of purchase. However, Ibotta has more options to shop online, which is probably the most notable difference between these two apps. Checkout 51 also works on the web in addition to via an app on Android and iOS devices.
The main downside of Checkout 51 is the short time frame for offers. Once offers go live on Thursday at 12am, they only last until the following Thursday, and quantities run out quickly. The key to making money with Checkout 51 is to act fast and diligently check the app each week.
Checkout 51 is available in the U.S. and Canada, whereas Ibotta is only available in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Ultimately, your best bet is to download both apps to ensure you always have a wide range of rebate offers to save money on your next grocery bill.
8. Shopmium
- iOS rating: 4.8 stars
- Google Play rating: 4.5 stars
If you live in the United Kingdom, France, or Belgium and want to get in on the world of grocery rebate apps, you’re in luck. While most apps like Ibotta only work in North America, Shopmium is working to change that.
Shopmium is available for Android and iOS and also works online. Like Ibotta, Shopmium members add rebate offers to their shopping list. Offers are either available at multiple retailers or specific stores. The Shopmium app has a geolocation feature that highlights offers in your area, making it easier to save money.
Additionally, once you upload an eligible receipt, Shopmium pays cash back within 48 hours via PayPal or direct deposit. That’s much faster than accumulating $20 in either Checkout 51 or Ibotta. You can also link loyalty cards directly through the Shopmium app to earn rewards at checkout.
If you live in a supported country, use Shopmium to start finding local rebate offers and to put a dent in your grocery spending.
9. Krazy Coupon Lady
- Google Play rating: 4.8 stars
The Krazy Coupon Lady is known for its ability to find the internet’s hottest deals and now the app helps you capture those deals even faster. You can select your favorite stores and brands so you only get notified of the deals you want.
When a deal pops up that you’re interested in, whether as a price drop or coupon, you find out instantly. You can also create shopping lists and read helpful money-saving tips in the app. However, there’s a downside; it’s only available as an app for Android phones.
So while it’s an app like Ibotta because it helps you save money, Krazy Coupon Lady doesn’t offer cash back opportunities; it helps you keep more money in your pocket initially.
10. ShopSavvy
- iOS rating: 3.4 stars
- Google Play rating: 4.7 stars
The ShopSavvy app is like Ibotta because it helps you save money, but like Krazy Coupon Lady, it doesn’t have a cash back option. Instead, it keeps you alert of price drops, stock alerts, and deals.
The app makes it easy to search for deals by name or scan the product’s barcode. They also have a mobile browser extension that ensures you get every deal online.
While not deal-related, ShopSavvy also uses an AI system to summarize product reviews, tell you about common issues, and help you make buying decisions.
11. Receipt Pal
- iOS rating: 4.5 stars
- Google Play: 4.0 stars
Receipt Pal is another one of the apps like Ibotta. All you have to do is upload receipts or connect your Amazon account to get points for shopping.
Receipt Pal pays you points for your receipts and Amazon purchases, redeeming them for gift cards. They also run weekly sweepstakes for even more earnings.
Final Word
Regardless of how frugal you are, you always have to spend money on groceries and household essentials. There are plenty of grocery rebate and cash-back apps claiming they help reduce these expenses, but not every app is worth your time.
When it comes to rebates, Ibotta is the benchmark of what you want in an app. Lucrative rebates, hundreds of partners, and an intuitive app make it easy to benefit from downloading Ibotta.
Similarly, you can increase your monthly savings even further by trying out apps like Ibotta. Mixing rebates, automatic cash back, and coupon codes whenever you shop makes it possible to find meaningful savings as long as you’re consistent. Give some of them a try for a few months. You might be pleasantly surprised at just how much money you save.
Have you tried any of these rewards apps? Do you have a favorite money-saving app you can’t live without?
