The best apps to save money on groceries are Upside and Fetch Rewards, with Ibotta added if you are willing to pick offers before you shop. None of them lowers the price at the register. They pay you back afterward, in cash, points or gift cards, once you prove what you bought.
Most of these apps do the same job, so installing all eight wastes your time. Below is what each one is best at, how the money reaches you, and which ones can be used on the same trip, so you can pick the two or three that fit how you shop and ignore the rest.
The best apps to save money on groceries
1. Upside
$5 With Code MMGCASHUpside pays cash rather than points and covers the gas stop on the same run. You claim an offer in the app before you buy, pay with any credit or debit card, and the cash back lands in your Upside balance. It lists grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants, with up to 25 cents a gallon back on gas, so the fill-up on the way home from the store can earn too. New users get $5 with code MMGCASH after claiming a first offer. Grocery offers depend on where you live, so open the map before you count on it for the weekly shop.
2. Fetch Rewards
2,000 Bonus PointsFetch Rewards is the grocery app for people who will never plan ahead. There are no offers to pick first: you shop, photograph the receipt, and points post for the participating brands that happen to be on it. A paper receipt can be scanned up to 14 days after the checkout date, so a week of receipts done in one sitting still counts. Code C1JAV adds 2,000 points, worth about $2, and most rewards need 3,000 points before you can redeem.
3. Ibotta
Cash Back Per ItemIbotta pays a set amount on specific products, which is why it can beat the scan-anything apps on a single trip. The trade is that it only pays if you add each offer to your list before you check out. After you shop, you submit the receipt in the app and the cash back is added to your balance. You can withdraw to a bank account or a gift card once you reach $20. Ibotta says it has paid out more than $2 billion across 2,600+ retailers.
4. NCPMobile
Gift Card RewardsNCPMobile is the app for National Consumer Panel, a market research panel rather than a rebate program. After each shopping trip you scan the barcodes of what you bought and add a few details about the trip. You earn points for that, and the points redeem for gift cards and other rewards. It also runs prize drawings and sends surveys to panel members. Because it does not depend on brand offers, the points do not change with what is in your cart.
5. Checkout 51
Best for: a short weekly list you can actually remember.
Checkout 51 adds new offers every week, on Thursdays, for groceries, gas and everyday items. The list is short, and that is the appeal. Instead of scrolling hundreds of rebates you glance at a handful, note the two worth buying, and get on with it.
You buy what is on offer, photograph the receipt, and the cash back is added to your balance. You can cash out once the balance reaches $20, so this one suits steady weekly shoppers more than occasional ones.
6. Receipt Hog
Best for: anyone who finds the game layer more motivating than the payout.
Receipt Hog is a market research panel wearing a game. You upload paper or digital receipts from any store, collect coins, spin its slot machine and enter monthly sweepstakes. Coins can be redeemed for PayPal payouts or Amazon gift cards.
Earnings are modest compared with Upside or Ibotta. People stick with it because the game keeps them scanning, which is a real advantage if consistency is your problem.
7. Weekly Ads & Sales
Best for: deciding where to shop before you leave the house.
This one does not pay you anything, and that is the point. It puts the weekly ads from major retailers near you in one place, so you find out which store has the cheaper meat this week before you have already bought it.
Pair it with a cash back app and it does the half of the job the rebate apps cannot: lowering the shelf price you pay in the first place.
8. RetailMeNot
Best for: the non-grocery items that end up in the cart anyway.
RetailMeNot is a coupon and promo code database rather than a receipt app. Its value shows up on the rest of the trip: cleaning supplies, clothes and household goods, the categories where rebate apps rarely have offers and a plain coupon still works. For more options like it, see the best coupon apps.
Which grocery app fits how you shop
Pick by habit, not by which app pays the most on paper. An app you forget to open pays nothing.
- You never plan ahead: Fetch Rewards. Scan the receipt afterward and you are done.
- You write a list and stick to it: Ibotta. Adding offers takes a few minutes and pays the most per item.
- You buy gas on the same run: Upside, since one app covers both stops and pays in cash.
- You shop at several stores every week: NCPMobile, because every purchase counts no matter what brand it is.
- You buy mostly store brands: rebate offers are thin for you. A weekly ad app and NCPMobile will do more than Fetch or Ibotta.
- You order groceries online: connect your email to Fetch so it can read digital receipts, since it does not accept screenshots or printouts of them.
How the savings actually arrive
This is where people get disappointed, so know it before you start. Nothing comes off your bill at checkout. Each app holds your earnings in a balance until you ask for them.
- Upside: cash, sent to your bank account, PayPal or a gift card.
- Ibotta: cash, withdrawn to a bank account or a gift card once you reach $20.
- Checkout 51: cash back you can request once you reach $20.
- Fetch Rewards: points that become gift cards. Most rewards start at 3,000 points and can take up to 72 hours to process.
- NCPMobile: points that redeem for gift cards and other rewards.
- Receipt Hog: coins that redeem for PayPal payouts or Amazon gift cards.
If you want spendable money rather than store credit, lean on Upside and Ibotta. If a grocery or Amazon gift card is as good as cash to you, Fetch and NCPMobile are easier to keep up with. Our list of apps that pay you real money covers more options that cash out to PayPal.
What stacks with what
These apps are separate programs paid for by different companies, so one trip can earn in more than one place. The layers that work together:
- Store loyalty price and digital coupons come off at the register. Rebate apps pay on top of that afterward.
- One receipt, two apps. The same paper receipt can go into Fetch for points and into Ibotta for the offers you added.
- NCPMobile sits alongside both, because it records barcodes for research and is not a rebate at all.
- Upside stacks with your card. Upside says its cash back comes on top of credit card, debit card and loyalty rewards.
- A cash back credit card earns on the full total regardless of which apps you use.
What does not stack is two offers on the same item inside one app. You are paid once per offer. And the 14 day Fetch window is the one deadline worth remembering, since a late receipt earns nothing.
- Before you leave: check the weekly ad, add Ibotta offers for items already on your list, and claim an Upside offer if a store or station near you has one.
- At the register: use your store loyalty account and pay with your usual card.
- At home: photograph the receipt for Fetch and Ibotta, then scan barcodes for NCPMobile as you unpack.
If scanning receipts is the part you like, there are more options in our guide to apps to scan receipts for money. For money back on gas, restaurants and online orders too, see the best cash back apps.
Which ones are actually worth installing
If you install one, make it Upside, because it pays cash rather than points and it covers gas.
If you install two, add Fetch Rewards, since it needs nothing from you before you shop and catches what the others miss when you forget. Our Fetch Rewards review covers how the points work, and these Fetch Rewards hacks show how to earn more from each receipt.
Round it out with NCPMobile if you want something that counts every purchase, not just the brands with an offer running. It is slower than the others, and it pays in gift cards.
Add Ibotta only if you will open it before you shop. It pays the most per item and it is also the one most likely to sit unused.
Frequently Asked Questions
For most people it is Fetch Rewards, because it needs no planning: you scan the receipt after you shop. If you want cash instead of gift cards, Upside pays to a bank account, PayPal or a gift card, and Ibotta pays cash on specific items you select before you shop.
Yes. Fetch Rewards and Ibotta are separate programs, so the same receipt can earn points in one and cash back in the other. You can also report the same trip to NCPMobile, which is a research panel and not a rebate. See more apps that scan receipts if you want to add a third.
No. The apps on this page pay you back after the purchase. Your earnings sit in a balance inside the app until you cash out or redeem a gift card. Store loyalty prices and digital coupons are what lower the total at the register.
Only with some of them. Ibotta and Checkout 51 pay on offers you add before you buy, and Upside needs you to claim an offer first. Fetch Rewards and NCPMobile need nothing in advance.
It depends on each app's minimum and how much you buy. Ibotta and Checkout 51 pay out once you reach $20, and most Fetch rewards need 3,000 points, with redemptions taking up to 72 hours to process. Treat this as money off the yearly grocery bill and not quick cash.
