6 Best Grocery Rebate Apps for Earning Rewards & Cash

By Danielle Pietersen

Move over coupon cutting, grocery rebate apps are the future and they’re here. They’re big on convenience with some of the best apps offering not only rebates but also coupons, online discounts, and extensive rewards programs.

It’s hard to choose which is the best grocery rebate app. There are so many factors to consider and each has a slightly different offering. Read on to find out more about the various apps and decide which one will best suit your needs and shopping style.

What Is A Grocery Rebate App?

A grocery rebate app works in a similar way to a coupon. With a coupon, you can purchase items for a reduced price. With rebates, it works a little differently. Instead of getting a discount, you will be rewarded with points that you can trade for cash, gift cards, and other rewards. You usually need either a loyalty card or an app to prove that you’ve purchased the item that qualifies for the rebate.

Do They All Give Me Actual Cash Back?

Some of them do. All rebate apps will give you points that can be converted into various rewards. Most cash back apps offer gift cards as the easiest way to redeem your points, but some apps may offer in-app purchases or actual cash back via Paypal or a preloaded card.

Are They Hard To Use?

These apps are generally simple, intuitive, and easy to use. It’s important to remember that most of these apps require some sort of effort on your part. Most of the grocery rebate apps require you to follow these steps:

Shop at a specific grocery store.
Purchase products that qualify for the rebate.
Take a photo of your receipt and upload it to the site.

It’s obviously a little more effort than just doing your grocery shopping, but it’s not difficult and the rewards are usually worth the small amount of extra time.

What Else Can I Do On A Rebate App?

Many apps are exclusively used for rebates and discounts, but some offer far more extensive rewards programs and multiple ways to earn points The best cash back apps help you save money across a wide range of categories, from groceries to fuel, car insurance, vacations, and much, much more.

Some apps offer a variety of ways to earn points. You can get paid to watch videos, take surveys or even complete simple and fun tasks like playing games. Some rebate apps also offer traditional coupons and less traditional e-coupons which can be automatically applied to online purchases.

How Do I Get Started?

In most cases, it’s as simple as downloading the app and setting up your account. Grocery rebate apps are designed to be safe and easy to use, so they usually guide you through steps, making the process quick, simple, and pain-free.

Swagbucks: The All In One Site

Swagbucks is an amazing app and site. It works well for grocery rebates, but the best part is it’s an all-in-one rewards site. They don’t just give you coupons and rebates. There are all sorts of great discounts to be had and points to be earned.

How Does Swagbucks Work?

Simply download the free app or browser extension and create an account. Swagbucks has an extensive rewards program and offers many ways to earn Swagbucks which you can redeem for actual cash in your PayPal account or a large variety of gift cards.

In-store Savings

Swagbucks offers the usual grocery rebates along with traditional coupons which can even be printed out if you prefer. Simply purchase the qualifying items and upload a photo of your receipt to earn points. Present your coupons when you pay to save instantly on your groceries.

Online Purchases

Use the Swagbucks app or browser extension when you shop online and they will instantly apply rebates and coupons for you. It’s very convenient and will help you save money and earn cash back straight away without even changing where or how you shop.

How Else Can You Earn Points?

The best part is that you can also earn Swagbucks on the site by completing simple tasks. The tasks include things like watching videos, doing online surveys, playing games, and even shopping. When you complete the task you’re rewarded with SB’s. The points are easy to cash out and convert to gift cards and other rewards. Casual, but regular users report earnings of around $50 or $60 dollars a month.

How To Spend Your Points

You can cash out amounts from as little as $3 and receive vouchers or actual money in exchange for your points. The most common ways people choose to cash out are through Amazon gift cards and Paypal, but there are many other options available.

Ibotta: Simple And Popular

With 35 million app downloads, Ibotta is probably one of the most well-known and widely used grocery rebate apps. They keep it simple and only offer a few features, but the range of stores and rebates on offer is impressive.

How Does Ibotta work?

Simply download the free app or browser extension and create an account. Ibotta gives rebates on in-store and online purchases.

In-Store Purchases

The app shows you which products qualify for rebates at which stores. When you purchase a qualifying item and upload your receipt, you’ll be rewarded with points in your Ibotta account. Points can be used to purchase gift cards.

Shop Online

Use the app or browser extensions when you shop online. Ibotta will automatically calculate how much cash you get back and add the earnings to your account.

Receipt Hog: Keeping It Simple

Receipt Hog is slightly different from the other grocery apps and doesn’t put limits on which items you can earn points on. It’s a great app to use alongside other apps because you can earn extra money on purchases from stores where you wouldn’t usually be able to get cash back.

How Does Receipt Hog work?

Simply download the app and create an account. When you shop, use the app to take a picture of your receipt. You’ll get paid for each receipt that you upload. Receipt Hog doesn’t specify which stores you need to shop at or which items you need to purchase to earn rewards. They use the data for market research, so they’re happy with almost any receipt.

What Can You Do With Your Rewards?

Receipts from the grocery store will earn you coins which can be converted into a gift card like an Amazon gift card or redeemed via PayPal. There are also ways to earn spins and entries into the Receipt Hog Sweepstakes, these aren’t as valuable as the coins, but if you strike it lucky, you can make some decent money.

Checkout 51

Checkout 51 lets you earn cash back on gas, groceries, and other items you buy every day. It’s a simple app that helps you get paid for the things you buy every day.

How Does It Work?

Simply download the app and create an account. Browse the products and shop the offers. When you purchase a qualifying product, simply scan your receipt on the app. Your Checkout 51 account will be credited instantly.

What Can You Do With Your Rewards?

When your account reaches $20, checkout 51 will cash it out for you and mail you a check. They have some great offers, but the $20 minimum on cashing out is a little high. If you prefer a check in the mail to PayPal or Venmo, then this is the app for you.

Shop Kick

Shop Kick offers a few different ways to earn rewards. They have various fun ways to earn rewards that help get people into the grocery store. Some of them can be a little time-consuming, but the little extra effort will help you save money.

How Does It Work?

Simply download the app and create an account to start earning Kicks. You can earn Kicks in the grocery store, online, and in the app.

Earn In-Store

Earn Kicks by walking into any qualifying store. Simply being in the store will earn you Kicks and help you save money. You can also earn Kicks by purchasing items and uploading your receipt.

Another fun way to earn points is by using the app on your phone to scan the barcodes of specific products while you do your grocery shopping. You don’t need to buy the items. You only need to scan them. There are also certain stores where you can earn Kicks when you pay with a linked credit card.

Earn Online

You can earn Kicks at qualifying stores when you shop online. Use the app to earn Kicks by watching promotional videos.

How Do You Get Cash Back?

Shop Kick offers cash back in the form of gift cards. They have a good selection of gift cards available for stores like Amazon, Target, and Starbucks.

Fetch Rewards

Unlike other grocery rebate apps, Fetch Rewards gives you points not only for purchasing specific brands at the grocery store but also when uploading your receipts. An uploaded receipt will earn you points even if it doesn’t contain a qualifying brand. If your receipt contains one of their brands, you’ll earn extra points.

How Does It Work?

Simply download the app. Create an account and start earning points when you shop in-store and upload your receipts.

How Do You Get Cash Back?

Points can be converted into gift cards which are available in amounts ranging from $3 to $50. They have a good variety of vouchers available for popular stores and online retailers. You can also choose to use your points to donate to charity or participate in their sweepstakes.

How Do You Choose Between Between All These Rebate Apps?

The good news is you don’t have to. Downloading an app and creating an account is so quick and easy. You can choose a few that sound appealing and try them out. Some of these apps give you cash back automatically without requiring any input, others require more effort. Try out a few and see which ones work best for you.

Some of these cash back apps reward very specific behaviors while others are broader and offer more ways to save money than just by doing your grocery shopping. You’ll soon discover how much time you can dedicate to maximizing your savings.

At the end of the day, the best cash back apps are the ones that help you save the most and give you rewards in a form that you can spend and enjoy most easily.