15 Best Cash Back Apps and Websites for Saving Money
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Cashback apps provide an easy way to save money, but with so many options, how do you know which apps and websites are worth your time? Here’s our list of the best cash back apps to earn rewards.
Whenever you’re looking to save money or create extra breathing room in your budget, one of the first things you should do is look for easy wins. An easy win takes little to no effort, will have no negative impact on your life, and still saves you money.
Of course, there are many different ways you can save money. But the truth is that some money-saving methods take a lot of work or sacrifice. That doesn’t mean these methods aren’t worth your time or effort, but I always recommend starting with the easy wins and then moving on.
The easy wins will not only help you get extra money very quickly, but they’ll also give you encouragement and motivation from seeing noticeable results almost immediately.
One of my favorite easy wins is to use cash back apps and websites. They pay you for buying things you need to buy anyway. To make it even better, you can combine them with a good cashback credit card or coupons to save even more money (see How to Stack Rewards and Cash Back).
This article highlights 15 of the best cash back apps and websites you should consider using. Some offer a signup bonus for joining, making the deal even sweeter.
I didn’t use cashback sites or apps for a long time because I didn’t want to be bothered. But within the past few years, I’ve made an effort to maximize my credit card rewards (another easy win), which led me to try cashback sites as well. Once you start using a few of these sites or apps, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to get free money this way.
The Best Cash Back Apps and Rewards Apps
While all these sites/apps aim to help you save money, they don’t all function the same way. I’ll try to explain the most important factors about each so you can decide which ones are best for you. Here are the best cash back apps of 2023.
1. Rakuten ($10 signup bonus)
- Sign up bonus: $10
- Sign up for Rakuten here
Rakuten (formerly known as Ebates) is one of my favorite sites and apps, and it’s also probably the most well-known cash back site in the industry. You can use the desktop website or the mobile app to earn cash back almost every time you shop online to get the best deal.
All you need to do is go to Rakuten first, then click through to one of their partner websites, and you’ll earn money back for your purchase. Your balance can grow quickly with thousands of websites/stores in their program.
One of my favorite features of Rakuten is its browser extension. You can easily and quickly get their cash back button for internet browsers like Chrome and Firebox. The extension will alert you when visiting a site offering cash back on purchases through Rakuten. Then, you only need to click on the button to activate the cashback deal. This makes it extremely easy to earn cashback since they’re reminding you about it.
Another feature I love is how Rakuten will automatically search and find coupon codes that you can use. When you’re going through the checkout process on one of their many partner websites, Rakuten will alert you if a coupon code can save you some money. It doesn’t get any easier than that! This feature alone makes it one of the best cash-back apps.
As a Rakuten member, you can access limited-time offers, including discounts and extra cash back. They’re always running promotions with different stores and websites, so you can find great deals if you keep your eyes on these offers.
You’ll also have the opportunity to earn cash back from in-store purchases, although the current number of these offers is much smaller than those for online shopping through Rakuten.
In my opinion, using Rakuten is a no-brainer. They make it so easy and effortless to save money, and there are so many great websites and stores in their program. If that’s not enough to convince you, Rakuten will also give you a $10 bonus for signing up (to get the bonus, you must purchase at least $25 within 90 days).
Rakuten has a ton of great websites and stores in its program. I don’t want to list percentages of cash back by site/store because that can change quickly, but through Rakuten, you can earn a reward for purchases at Walmart, eBay, Macy’s, Expedia, Jet, Staples, Lowe’s, and many others. Use the app and browser extension to save money easily.
Rakuten Highlights:
- $10 sign up bonus
- Get paid with a check or PayPal, not a free gift card
- Industry leader
- Convenient browser extension
- Automatically finds coupon codes to save you more money
- Earn cash back for online and in-store purchases
- Limited-time promos allow you to earn more cash back
- Sign up for Rakuten here to get the $10 bonus
Rakuten (formerly Ebates) is one of the most popular cashback apps and you can easily save money at thousands of stores and websites with a free account. You can even get a $10 bonus just for signing up and making your first purchase!
- Get up to 40% cashback at over 3,500 stores
- Easy cashback on many of the purchases you would be making anyway
- Get paid by PayPal or check
- Rakuten will automatically find coupon codes for you
- Super easy to use
2. Capital One Shopping
- Sign up bonus: none
- Get Capital One Shopping here
Capital One Shopping is a browser extension that can help you save a lot of money. Best of all, it’s completely effortless.
The browser extension (it works on any major browser) will automatically search and find coupon codes while shopping online. Add something to your cart, and Capital One Shopping will look for available coupon codes. It will show how much you can save with each code, and you’ll simply click on the best one to apply it.
It also features a price comparison tool that may help you to find lower prices from other websites. Sometimes you think you’re getting a great deal, but how do you know there’s no lower price out there? Capital One Shopping helps by searching a massive database of stores and online retailers.
You’ll also get a watchlist for items you want to monitor. You can see the current price of any item on your watchlist and get notifications of price drops.
Capital One Shopping highlights:
- Get automated notifications when it finds coupon codes that may save you money
- Use the price comparison tool to potentially save money
- Create a watchlist to monitor prices of certain products
- Convenient browser extension
- Sign up for Capital One Shopping here
3. TopCashback
- Sign up bonus: none
- Sign up for TopCashback here
TopCashback is an amazing resource that many people aren’t using. They partner with well over 4,000 online retailers to offer money back on your purchases. You’ll find partners in every category, including department stores, home and garden, health and beauty, travel, fashion, technology, toys, hotels, and more.
TopCashback stands out in the percentage you can earn from each purchase. While several other apps listed below also partner with thousands of online retailers, you’ll find that TopCashback frequently offers a higher percentage of cash back.
Of course, the offers vary depending on the store. Sometimes another rewards app will beat TopCashback’s offer, but from my experience, TopCashback comes out on top very often. If you want to maximize your rewards, you need to be using TopCashback.
TopCashback also offers a convenient browser extension that makes it easy to save. With the browser extension installed, you’ll see a notification when browsing a website with an offer available. All you need to do is click a button in the notification to get cash back with the offer or coupon. This makes saving super easy and ensures you won’t miss out on opportunities.
You can use TopCashback via the desktop browser or the iPhone or Android mobile app.
TopCashback highlights:
- Earn cash back when shopping from thousands of different websites
- TopCashback often has the highest offer available
- Convenient browser extension
- Use in a desktop browser or through the mobile app
- Sign up for TopCashback here
TopCashback frequently offers the highest amount of cashback at a huge selection of websites and online retailers.
- Get cashback on many of the purchases you already make
- More than 4,400 retailers participate
- Members earn an average of $345 cashback per year
- Get paid by ACH, PayPal, or gift cards
4. Slide
- Sign up bonus: $0
- Sign up for Slide here
Slide is one of my favorite cashback apps because it offers an easy way to get 4% or 5% cashback rewards every time you shop at hundreds of leading retailers and restaurants. You can also stack this with a good rewards credit card to increase the impact.
Some apps and websites in this list allow you to earn higher amounts of cashback, but they may be limited to purchases of specific products or in certain categories. Slide is very straightforward. You’ll get a flat 4% cash back on your everyday purchases at stores, websites, and restaurants participating in their program.
Slide has partnered with leading retailers and restaurants like Lowe’s, Petco, PetSmart, AMC, GameStop, CVS, eBay, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Wayfair, DoorDash, Grubhub, Dunkin’ Donuts, Subway, Panera Bread, Taco Bell, and hundreds of others.
Earning cashback with Slide is extremely easy. You’ll pay through the Slide app at the checkout, whether it’s in-store or online, and automatically earn 4% cashback. If you pre-load your Slide account with money, you’ll earn an extra 1%, bringing the total cashback from Slide to 5%.
You can easily withdraw the cash once you’ve earned at least $15.
Slide Highlights:
- Earn 4% cashback on every purchase at hundreds of leading retailers
- Get an extra 1% cashback if you prepay
- Works online and in-store
- Easy to use
- Easy to stack with a rewards credit card
- Sign up for Slide here
5. Swagbucks ($10 signup bonus)
- Sign up bonus: $10
- Sign up for Swagbucks here
Swagbucks is different from any other cashback site we’ve looked at. You can earn reward points (they call them Swagbucks) for several things like taking surveys, watching videos, playing games, downloading apps, and more. An easy way to earn is by shopping at the thousands of websites partnered with Swagbucks.
If you install their extension to your browser, it will notify you of cash back opportunities while you’re browsing (very similar to the Rakuten and TopCashback browser extensions). You can earn Swagbucks on your mobile phone, tablet, or desktop/laptop. Redeem your Swagbucks for cash (through your PayPal account) or gift cards.
Although the cashback aspect of Swagbucks is similar to Rakuten and TopCashback, you should sign up for all three. Not every store will be a part of all programs, and sometimes the reward is higher with one app than another.
Swagbucks highlight:
- $5 sign up bonus
- Several different ways to earn money, including cash back from shopping
- The browser extension notifies you of cashback offers
- Sign up for Swagbucks here
Sign up for a Swagbucks account and make money (and other rewards) with simple tasks like online surveys. Sign up today for a $10 bonus!
- Get paid for taking short surveys
- Earn money by watching videos
- Play games for cash and prizes
- Make money by installing apps
- Get paid in PayPal cash or gift cards
6. Ibotta ($5 signup bonus)
- Sign up bonus: $5
- Sign up for Ibotta here
Ibotta is a popular cash-back app, but it works much differently than the others we’ve looked at so far. You can install Ibotta on your smartphone, and you’ll be able to browse excellent money-saving offers. You can browse the offers by store or view the hottest offers.
You’ll then claim the offers you want and earn cash back after you’ve made the purchase. If you’re making the purchase in-store, you can use your phone to scan your receipt or link it to your store loyalty card.
You can also shop online to earn cash back from Ibotta. Simply click through the app to one of their partner websites, automatically tracking your shopping trip and adding the cash back to your account.
They also offer Pay with Ibotta, which allows you to pay through the app at more than 30 participating retailers. You earn cash back on your purchases made through Pay with Ibotta.
I’ve been using Ibotta for a few years, and I love how easy they make it for you. Some offers allow you to earn a significant amount of cash back.
Ibotta will give you some great offers to earn a few dollars at a time. Last month I got $5 in cash back just for making any purchase on my mobile phone through the app. I just went to Walmart.com and bought some things I needed anyway. An easy $5!
Ibotta is great for saving money at grocery stores, as there are a lot of grocery shopping offers. You can also use it at department stores like Walmart, clothing stores, and even for travel booking. I’ve also saved money at Lowe’s a few times with the help of Ibotta.
You can redeem cash rewards to PayPal or use them for gift cards to your favorite stores and restaurants. Sometimes you’ll get an offer for extra savings if you opt for a gift card from certain retailers or restaurants.
Ibotta highlights:
- $20 sign up bonus
- Cash back for in-store and online shopping
- A lot of offers to choose from
- Cash out via PayPal) or redeem your points for gift cards
- Great for grocery stores, department stores, and more
- Sign up for Ibotta here to get the $20 bonus
Ibotta is one of the best cashback apps you need to be using if you like to save money. Save money at Walmart, Amazon, Target, Best Buy, grocery stores, and more.
- Save online and in-store
- Save on the things you already buy
- Withdraw directly to your bank or to PayPal
- Get $5 back on your first purchase
7. MyPoints ($10 signup bonus)
- Sign up bonus: $10
- Sign up for MyPoints here
MyPoints is similar to Swagbucks in a lot of ways. You can earn points for taking surveys, watching videos, and playing games, in addition to cash back when you shop online. The Score browser extension from MyPoints will notify you of cash back offers while browsing.
You can redeem your points for gift cards from many different stores/websites/restaurants.
One cool feature of MyPoints is the Daily 5. If you complete 5 of these items, you’ll earn five bonus points, plus the points you earn for each task.
Like Rakuten, Swagbucks, and TopCashback, MyPoints has partnered with thousands of different retailers and websites, so their program offers many opportunities to save money.
Right now you can get a $10 Amazon gift card if sign up for MyPoints.
MyPoints highlights:
- $10 sign up bonus (Amazon gift card)
- Several different ways to earn money, including cash back from shopping
- The Score browser extension notifies you of a cash back offer
- Sign up for MyPoints here
Earn cash back from purchases at thousands of online retailers and earn rewards for simple tasks like taking online surveys, watching videos, and printing coupons. Sign up for MyPoints now for a $10 bonus!
- Earn a $10 Amazon gift card with your first purchase
- Lots of ways to earn points for PayPal cash or gift cards
- MyPoints has awarded over $236 million since 1996
- Easy side hustle for your spare time
8. DollarSprout Rewards
- Sign up bonus: none
- Get DollarSprout Rewards here
DollarSprout Rewards is a new program that’s fairly similar to Rakuten and TopCashback. It works through a browser extension or a mobile app to help you earn cashback easily.
You can browse and shop as normal, and DollarSprout Rewards will notify you when an offer is available. For example, if you’re browsing a website that offers cash back through the program, you’ll see a browser notification.
In addition to cashback, DollarSprout Rewards automatically searches for coupon codes to save money.
The cash back rewards from your purchases will be paid out monthly via PayPal.
It’s a straightforward program, and with more than 15,000 online merchants participating, there are plenty of opportunities to save.
DollarSprout Rewards highlights:
- The browser extension alerts you of cash back opportunities
- It also searches for and automatically applies the best coupon codes
- Get paid each month via PayPal
- Sign up for DollarSprout Rewards here.
9. Dosh ($1 signup bonus)
- Sign up bonus: $1
- Sign up for Dosh here
Dosh is another one of my favorites. I recommend that everyone use this free app because it’s incredibly easy. There are a few different ways to earn, but the easiest way is to link your credit and debit cards to your Dosh account. You will automatically earn cash back whenever you pay with your card at one of their partner stores. That’s pretty easy!
I recommend everyone to use Dosh because it takes just a minute to create your account and link your cards. And you can start earning cash back right away.
If you sign up for Dosh through this link, they’ll give you $1 when you link your first card.
The Dosh app will show you a list of cash back offers from stores and restaurants near your current location. Many of these are local places. You won’t find many of these stores and restaurants with many other cash back websites or apps. I’m seeing up to 10% cash back offers from stores in my local area.
You can also earn cash back by shopping online through Dosh. This works similarly to Rakuten or Ibotta. Just go to Dosh first, click through to the site you want to shop at, and you’ll earn some cash back.
Dosh highlights:
- Easy cash back by linking your credit can debit cards to the app
- $1 bonus when you link your first card
- Earn cash back from local stores and restaurants
- Use the app to find offers near you
- Shop online through the app to earn more cash back
- Sign up for Dosh here to get the $5 bonus
10. Drop
- Sign up bonus: $1
- Sign up for Drop here
Drop is very similar to Dosh, and it’s another app that I recommend to everyone. Just like Dosh, I recommend Drop because it’s so easy. Recently I created a Drop account and linked my credit cards. Then I started getting notifications of reward points I had earned. Without even realizing it, I shopped at a few stores and restaurants in Drop’s program, and I earned a reward because I paid with my linked credit card. That’s as easy as it gets.
When you create your Drop account, you’ll choose five of your favorite stores or restaurants in their program. You’ll earn points whenever you shop at any of those five places and use your linked credit or debit card. Drop will also let you earn points by making other purchases and claiming offers through the app.
Drop uses points, and then you trade in those points for gift cards at many different stores and restaurants.
Drop highlights:
- $1 bonus for signing up
- Easy cash back by linking your credit can debit cards to the app
- Redeem your points for gift cards to many different stores/restaurants
- Sign up for Drop here
11. CoinOut
- Sign up bonus: none
- Sign up for CoinOut here
With the CoinOut app, you can scan any receipt and earn cashback. You can also click through the app to earn much more cashback at places like Walmart, eBay, Groupon, and others.
The most exciting part of CoinOut is that there are no minimum requirements for cashing out. You can redeem your cash or PayPal rewards at any time. Almost every other cashback app requires you to reach a minimum threshold before you can redeem, so CoinOut is unique in this way.
CoinOut Highlights:
- Scan any receipt to earn cashback
- Click through the app to earn more cashback from certain websites
- No minimums – cash out at any time
- Sign up for CoinOut here
12. Fetch
- Sign up bonus: none
- Sign up for Fetch here
Fetch Rewards is the best cashback app explicitly created for groceries. The best part is it’s super easy to use. All you need to do is scan your grocery receipts using the app, and you’ll earn points for each receipt.
On top of the points you’ll earn for each receipt, you’ll also earn points every time you purchase a product from certain brands (and many different brands participate). You don’t need to claim these offers. The points will automatically be added to your account after you’ve scanned the receipt.
There are also some limited-time offers that you can redeem if there is an offer for something you want or need to buy. Again, these will be credited to your account if you purchase the item and scan a receipt.
The ease of use is one of the best features of Fetch. If you don’t like spending time looking at special offers, all you need to do is scan your receipts, and Fetch will do the rest. And since we all need to buy groceries, earning some cashback for those grocery purchases is a great way to save money.
Once you’ve earned some points, you can redeem the points for your choice of rewards, like gift cards to your favorite stores or websites.
The downside of Fetch is that your rewards won’t pile up as fast as with the best cashback apps mentioned near the top of the article. Fetch Rewards is easy, but you won’t earn a huge amount of money with it.
Fetch Highlights:
- Cashback app to save money on groceries
- Simply scan your grocery receipts to earn points
- Earn extra points for buying products for specific brands
- Limited-time promos allow you to earn points for purchasing certain products
- Redeem points for gift cards
- Sign up for Fetch Rewards here and use the code FETCH2K to get a $2 bonus
13. Checkout 51
- Sign up bonus: none
- Sign up for Checkout 51 here
Like Fetch Rewards, Checkout 51 is an excellent cash back app specifically for groceries. I prefer Fetch Rewards because it’s faster and easier to use, but Checkout 51 is good too.
It works similarly to Ibotta. You’ll browse the available, claim the ones you want, and then scan your receipt after the purchase.
Some offers are for specific grocery store chains. Others can be redeemed at any grocery store. The offers change every week, but there is always quite a variety.
One of the nice things about Checkout 51 (and Ibotta and Fetch also) is that you can use the app in addition to using clipped grocery coupons.
When you cash out your balance, you’ll be paid by check.
Checkout 51 highlights:
- Cash back app for groceries only
- Get paid by check
- Offers for specific grocery stores, as well as general offers.
- Sign up for Checkout 51 here
14. Rebaid
- Sign up bonus: none
- Sign up for Rebaid here
Rebaid is much different than any other app on this list. Rebaid specifically focuses on rebates for purchases made on Amazon, and you can earn some really amazing rebates, including some rebates for 100% of the purchase price.
More than half of the sales made on Amazon today are from third-party sellers. There’s a great deal of competition among sellers trying to get their products to rank at the top of Amazon’s search results. Many sellers are willing to offer outstanding rebates to get some momentum and increase sales.
Through Rebaid, Amazon sellers can offer rebates on their products. As a buyer, you can create a free Rebaid account to see the current offers. After you purchase, you’ll provide Rebaid with your Amazon order number to verify the purchase. After the purchase is verified, you’ll be eligible for the rebate.
If you like shopping at Amazon and saving money, Rebaid is a site you should definitely check out (you’ll probably be interested in these other sites for Amazon coupons and rebates).
Rebaid Highlights:
- Get rebates, up to 100%, for purchases made at Amazon
- Browse the available offers and purchase items that you want
- Sign up for Rebaid here
Rebaid lists outstanding rebate offers on products sold at Amazon. You can save up to 100% (free products) on a variety of products.
15. ShopKick
- Sign up bonus: none
- Sign up for ShopKick here
ShopKick is different from any other cash back apps or websites on this list. With ShopKick you earn points (they call them “kicks”) for different activities. You can earn kicks for things as simple as walking into a store and/or scanning a barcode on a product with your phone.
You can link your credit or debit cards and earn kicks for purchases at their partner stores. You can also make an online purchase and earn kicks. You can then redeem your kicks for gift cards.
ShopKick highlights:
- Earn kicks in many different ways, even just by walking into stores or scanning barcodes
- Earn cash back from purchases made with a linked card or online purchases
- Sign up for ShopKick here
FAQ About How to Earn Cash Back
There are a lot of great apps available that serve different purposes. The best one will depend on what you’re looking for. Slide is an excellent app that offers a straightforward 4% cashback on all purchases at participating retailers. Rakuten and TopCashback are outstanding options for online shopping. They have some of the best offers you’ll find anywhere.
Yes, they are. You won’t need to spend a lot of time and can easily save money on many purchases you already make.
No, it’s not. A discount saves you money at the time of purchase. For example, a $100 product with a 10% discount will cost you only $90. A cashback offer gives you money after you’ve made the purchase. For example, you’ll pay $100 for the same $100 product with a 10% cashback offer, and then you’ll get $10 back at some point (usually 30-60 days after the purchase).
Ibotta is our favorite option for groceries. While it’s not exclusively a grocery app, there are always many outstanding offers for grocery stores.
Ibotta can be used for shopping online or in-store. Many apps offer cash back for online shopping, but fewer with decent offers for in-store shopping. Ibotta generally has the best offers if you’re looking to earn rewards for shopping trips to stores in your local area. Slide is also very good for in-store shopping.
Earn Rewards with the Best Cash Back Apps
Now that you’ve read this article be sure to take action and sign up for a few of these sites /apps to earn cash back on your spending. All of these options have something to offer, but I recommend going back to the top of the page and starting with the first five mentioned. I think you’ll find this is a great way to get some free money with very little effort.
READ NEXT: How to Stack Rewards and Cash Back
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