Turn Your Receipts into Cash: 9 Grocery Receipt Scanning Apps You Need to Know

If you’re like most people, your receipt probably winds up lost at the bottom of your grocery bag or in a crumpled wad in your pocket. Before getting tossed out in the recycling bin.

But if you’ve got a receipt in hand, you’ve actually got a fistful of cash. Your receipt could be worth anywhere from a 5-cents to 15-dollars or more, but it’s definitely worth something. And since you wouldn’t dump out money into the trash, even a nickel, why would you toss out your receipts?

There are 9 easy apps that you can use to scan grocery receipts and turn those receipts into cash back rewards and free gift cards.

Here are the easiest and best grocery receipt scanning apps to use. And the best thing? You can use more than one receipt scanning app to scan the same receipt. That’s like getting paid a bunch of times to shop at your favorite

grocery store.

9 Grocery Receipt Scanning Apps to Know

#1 Magic Receipts from Swagbucks

Swagbucks will pay you cash when you scan and upload receipts from Walmart, Target, Kroger’s, Albertsons, Ralph’s, Safeway, and 100’s of other grocery stores and supermarkets. (You can also earn cash back rebates from Swagbucks for shopping at Albertsons – just visit the store’s webpage from the Albertsons Grocery coupon page on Swagbucks.)

You scan scan grocery receipts with your phone or scanner at home, and upload your grocery receipt from your mobile phone or laptop.

Earn rewards for in-store or for your online grocery orders. Get paid for:

Purchasing specific featured items (specific brand and size)
Just uploading an eligible receipt (non-expired)
Purchasing any-brand kitchen staples: any-brand bread, milk, cheese, eggs, meats, or produce

Magic Receipts from Swagbucks is truly unique. It consistently offers you rewards for purchasing many any-brand, any-item goods in rotating grocery categories.

Earn rewards in SB. It’s 100 SB to $1 and you can cash out once you reach at least 100 SB in earnings. And yes: it’s easy to get to 100 SB. Redeem your SB for PayPal cash, a check in the mail, or free gift cards to Amazon, Target, Starbucks, Nordstrom, Best Buy, and other popular stores.

#2 BoxTops for Education

That box of Cheerios on the fridge. That pint of Haagen-Dazs ice cream. That tin of crescent rolls in the freezer. Those are all worth big bucks if you take the time to scan the barcodes and your grocery receipt.

The BoxTops for Education app rewards you for purchasing General Mills products. More specifically, the app rewards schools in your community each time you purchase a General Mills product. Each boxtop is worth 10-cents.

Popular labels under the General Mills umbrella include Pilsbury, Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Blue Diamond, Gold Medal Flour, Cascadian Farms, Cheerios, Annie’s, Larabar, Muir Glen, and Progresso.

Since 1996, General Mills BoxTops for Education has awarded over $940 million to schools. You can designate your BoxTops earnings to go to your child’s school or another school in the community that you designate.

And when fundraiser drivers come around, you can feel guilt-free when you say, “No thank you. We already donate with BoxTops for Education.”

When you install & register the BoxTops app today, you can get a $2 cash back reward for PayPal or an Amazon gift card.

#3 Ibotta

Shoppers using the free Ibotta app can earn cash back rewards at more than 300 stores, like Target, CVS, Walgreens, or Walmart, and many regional and local chains.

Ibotta offers a clean, streamlined user experience. The platform is easy to navigate. Scan your receipt, and rewards will be credited to your account within 1-2 days. Often they credit in just a few minutes or less.

Earn rewards for purchasing specific featured products. There is generally a large assortment to choose from, with at least 50-100 offers usually available at major, national retailers.

There are limited (almost no) options to earn for purchasing any-brand items like Swagbucks Magic Receipts offers. But there is the opportunity to earn bonuses for purchasing multiples of specific products, or making multiple store visits within a set window of time. You can cash out your rewards once you reach at least $20 in earnings.

#4 Checkout 51

The Checkout 51 mobile app is quite similar to Ibotta. Scan your grocery receipts, earn cash back rewards. Updated deals and cashback offers are rolled out every Thursday. There are redemption limits, and they are offered first-come, first-serve. The best offers get scooped up quickly, so plan ahead to beat the weekend rush.

Checkout 51 has fewer available offers than Ibotta or Magic Receipts, but it does offer a different assortment of products. Once you reach $20, you can cash out.

It’s worth using Checkout 51, Ibotta, and Magic Receipts together to max out on the rewards. You can scan your grocery receipt with all these receipt scanning apps to get all available cash rewards for your grocery shopping.

#5 ReceiptPal

With ReceiptPal, scan your receipts to earn points that you can redeem for PayPal cash or gift cards. ReceiptApp works for grocery shopping, and for scanning receipts at gas stations, clothing stores, and other participating retailers – including car dealerships.

#6 Receipt Hog

Receipt Hog is another receipt scanning app that rewards you for purchasing specific goods or ‘offers’ in featured grocery stores. Scan your grocery receipt into Receipt Hog, and you’ll receive digital reward coins. 1,000 coins is $5. Redeem your coins for a PayPal account deposit, free Amazon gift card, magazines, or entries into prize sweepstakes.

#7 Fetch Rewards

Fetch Rewards is another app to keep in your arsenal of receipt scanning apps. Shop featured offers. Scan your receipt. Earn points towards gift cards. The pay is less than Ibotta or Magic Receipts, and Fetch Rewards has fewer offers. However, you’re already scanning receipts anyway. You might as well take three extra seconds to claim any cash rewards from Fetch Rewards while you’re at it.

#8 CoinOut

With the CoinOut app, rewards are a lot more random for scanning your grocery receipts. It feels like a game of chance. Upload store receipts – for grocery stores, pharmacies, and popular restaurants and retailers – and win a random reward. Typical rewards range fromm 15-cents to 25-cents. Once you reach $2.50 in rewards, you can cash out your rewards with a PayPal deposit. Rewards can also be redeemed for an Amazon gift card.

#9 ShopKick

ShopKick is a great shopping app for mall-walkers. You don’t have to actually scan receipts for gift cards with Shopkick. Just walk around and earn points, called kicks. You’ll need to allow location services in your app to work for Shopkick.

Earn kicks for checking into stores. (A multitude of stores participate in Shopkick, like Macy’s, Target, and American Eagle. Most any major retailer you can think of.)
Earn kicks for scanning barcodes, in-store, of featured products. No purchase required.
Earn kicks for purchasing specific products.

When I worked downtown in the skyways of Minneapolis, Shopkick was my favorite app. Walking back and forth between different corporate campuses, I logged some serious miles. And checked into dozens of stores each day, raking in the kicks.

Final Thoughts on Receipt Scanning Apps

Scanning grocery receipts is an easy way to save money and pad your wallet with a few extra dollars with each shopping trip.

With most of these shopping rewards apps, you can earn rewards for online shopping too and making non-grocery purchases. Swagbucks, Shopkick, and Ibotta are just a handful of the featured apps where you can earn rewards, points, and cash back rebates for shopping online at sporting goods stores, department stores, and thousands of other merchants.

Receipt apps are definitely not just for grocery purchases, even though these apps all have killer grocery store money saving features.

It’s worth downloading at least a couple of the receipt scanning app so you can earn rewards for your next grocery purchase. Stop tossing out your receipts and claim your rewards and cash prizes.