- Snap receipts from any store to earn points
- Redeem points for gift cards to Amazon, Starbucks, and more
- Get a $2 bonus with promo code C1JAV after the first receipt scan
- Trusted by millions – 17M+ users with a 4.6 Trustpilot rating and $340 million in rewards given
Wondering how to save money on groceries? Have you considered using the best apps to save money on groceries?
A hefty food bill can have a huge impact on your finances. The average cost of groceries each month for one person ranges between $165 and $345, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which publishes a monthly food plan that suggests how much money Americans should be spending on food.
Being a little bit crafty will help increase your disposable income and increase your savings and get out of debt.
It might allow you to enjoy eating out more, get free food, or allow you to save more money for other monthly expenses. Budgeting apps can only go so far, you need real savings on these monthly expenses.
Sound good?
Here are apps to save money on groceries — all of them free — that will help you save money, time and hassle when you're grocery shopping.
- Snap receipts from any store to earn points
- Redeem points for gift cards to Amazon, Starbucks, and more
- Get a $2 bonus with promo code C1JAV after the first receipt scan
- Trusted by millions – 17M+ users with a 4.6 Trustpilot rating and $340 million in rewards given
6 Apps to Save Money on Groceries
We’ve curated the best apps and websites you can use to save money on groceries. Here are the 8 best apps to save money while shopping for food and groceries.
- Fetch — Best if you want to earn money on every receipt
- Pogo — Best for automatic cash back and no scanning required
- Drop — Best app to save money on groceries
- Ibotta — Best if you want cash back on everyday purchases
- Shopkick — Best if you want a variety of ways to earn money
- Checkout 51 — Best app that also gives you cash back on gas
1. Fetch
Fetch is one of the quickest and easiest ways to save when you grocery shop by turning your grocery receipts into savings. Simply scan any grocery receipt after you shop and save on thousands of popular products throughout the store. Yep, you read that right — any receipt.
You can earn points on every receipt you scan so you don't have to worry about clipping coupons, chasing down expiring deals, or missing out on savings. Other apps make you clip offers and choose stores before hand — which in my opinion takes to long.
Just shop, scan, and save. It’s that easy. With Fetch Rewards, just snap a quick photo of any grocery receipt and in seconds they deliver points to your account on thousands of popular products.
Key Features
- Earn points on Fetch Play by playing popular mobile games like Monopoly Go, Scrabble Go, and Candy Crush directly within the app.
- Access a shopping portal within the app to earn points when purchasing from participating retailers, covering everything from groceries to entertainment.
- Connect your online accounts with participating retailers, allowing Fetch to automatically scan and notify you when new digital receipts are ready to submit, ensuring no points go unclaimed.
Best For
Anyone who buys groceries, dines out, or shops at major retailers can earn rewards effortlessly.
Saving Potential
How much you save depends on how often you shop and scan receipts—but it adds up fast! Many users, including me, have earned over $100 just by scanning receipts from everyday purchases. On average, most shoppers can expect to earn anywhere from $5 to $50+ per month, depending on their spending habits and bonus offers
Download Fetch here to to start saving
- Snap receipts from any store to earn points
- Redeem points for gift cards to Amazon, Starbucks, and more
- Get a $2 bonus with promo code C1JAV after the first receipt scan
- Trusted by millions – 17M+ users with a 4.6 Trustpilot rating and $340 million in rewards given
2. Pogo
Pogo is a free app that enables you to earn cash back on your everyday purchases without the need to upload receipts or activate specific offers. By securely linking your debit and credit cards to the app, Pogo automatically rewards you for transactions across various categories, including groceries, dining, and online shopping.
Key Features
- Automatic Cash Back: Once your cards are linked, Pogo tracks your purchases and provides cash back on qualifying transactions without any additional steps required.
- Additional Earning Opportunities: Beyond automatic cash back, Pogo offers extra ways to earn by participating in surveys, playing games, and sharing data for market research, if you choose to do so.
- Flexible Cash Out Options: You can redeem your earnings through Venmo or PayPal with no high minimum thresholds, making it easy to access your cash rewards.
Best For
Pogo is ideal for individuals seeking a hassle-free way to earn cash back on everyday spending. With its automatic reward system and additional earning opportunities, it simplifies the process of saving money without the need for manual input or constant monitoring.
Saving Potential
While the cash back rates vary depending on the merchant and transaction, Pogo ensures that you earn rewards on a wide range of purchases. Additionally, by engaging in surveys and other in-app activities, you can boost your earnings further.
Download Pogo here to start saving on everything, link a card after signing up to snag a bonus as well!
3. Drop
Drop offers to get cash back on groceries and at the brands you love. You can also get free gift cards for playing arcade games within its list of apps to play. You can play casino games or game shows and the games list changes constantly.
Drop helps you find games on the iTunes App Store or Google Play, and each game has a task. When your required game task is complete, you’ll get points that you can cash out for free gift cards.
The great thing about Drop is that it has so many ways to earn — you can earn by shopping for groceries, playing games, cash back offers, taking surveys, and other rewards.
Key Features
- Many ways to earn — Whether you're reserving flights from Expedia or ordering food from places like Postmates, you can shop directly from the Drop app.
- Quick earner — Start earning points right away. For every purchase you make, you get Drop points. And they add up quickly, so you can spend them even faster.
- Cash out — Redeem your points at places like Amazon, Netflix, and Starbucks.
- Proven track record — Drop has over 45k positive ratings and over 4 Million members. Needless to say, this app really pays out for playing games and cash back rewards.
Best for
Best for those who want to earn money for playing games and for shopping. Drop is a new kind of rewards program, created just for your lifestyle. From your morning coffee to your late-night food delivery, use Drop to earn cash rewards on everything you do.
Earning Potential
Drop sets a cap of 5,000 points ($5) per week so you can make up to that amount. Earning $40 a month is possible if you're a big shopper. You can redeem your points at places like Amazon, Netflix, and Starbucks. PayPal cash outs are not an option on Drop.
4. Ibotta
With Ibotta, you can earn real cash back every time you shop online or in-store.
Simply check Ibotta before you shop in-store or online, travel, dine out, or make a purchase in your favorite apps, and you can get rewarded with cash back.
Ibotta works with leading brands and retailers, including Best Buy, Lowe’s, Safeway, eBay, and so many more, to help you save money without the hassle of traditional coupons, or promo codes.
You can even earn with the app's newest feature, Pay with Ibotta, too! When you use Pay with Ibotta, you can pay for your purchases right from the app, and earn cash back on your entire purchase, instantly.
Key Features
- Add cash back offers – Before you go shopping, find and add offers in the app for things you want to buy.
- Go shopping – Shop at your favorite stores, retailers, restaurants, bars, and apps
- Redeem offers – Upload your receipt or link your loyalty card for instant cash back.
- Get cash back – Watch your savings grow! When you’re ready, Withdraw your cash earnings via PayPal, Venmo, or your choice of a variety of gift cards.
Best for
Ibotta is one of the best apps to help you save money on groceries. You can literally earn cash back rewards simply by uploading a photo of your receipt. Plus, you get your money quickly and easily. Ibotta helps you earn cash back on purchases at more than 500,000 locations (and counting).
Ibotta partners include: Walmart, Uber, Target, Lowe’s, Kohl’s, Kroger, CVS, Rite Aid, Groupon, Jet.com, eBay, Boxed, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, JOANN Fabrics, Drizly, Hotels.com, Minibar, AMC, eBags, HotelTonight, Thrive Market, HotelStorm, Safeway, Walgreens, Costco, World Market, Petco, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and many more.
Saving Potential
Ibotta's customers have earned over $550 Million in cash back, just for shopping at their favorite stores. Start your shopping with Ibotta to save money on every purchase. Download the free app now for your chance to earn a $20 welcome bonus.
The average active Ibotta user earns between $10 to $20 a month, and more active users earn as much as $100 to $300 a month, a spokesperson for Ibotta told CNBC Select.
Plus, you can earn extra cash when you refer friends with your Ibotta referral code. Or earn even more with extra cash bonuses on specific products or when you hit shopping milestones.
Ready to ditch the promo codes and old paper coupons and shop with Ibotta to earn real cash back?
Download the Ibotta app now to start earning cash back on every purchase, and watch your savings grow.
Ibotta will pay you for going shopping, it's that easy and you can get a $10 bonus after uploading your first receipt.
5. Shopkick
With Shopkick you can earn rewards and get free gift cards for the shopping you already do.
With this grocery savings app, you can get exclusive deals and discounts as you collect points by walking into stores, scanning items, or receipts (you don’t even need to buy anything to earn your ‘kicks').
Kicks are the apps reward points. Earn them in-store and online, then redeem for a wide selection of gift cards delivered digitally to your phone.
With Shopkick, you can treat yourself and indulge guilt-free as you shop.
Key Features:
- Earn Rewards Without Spending – Get kicks (reward points) just for walking into partner stores and scanning barcodes on select items.
- Shop & Earn – Earn additional kicks by making purchases in-store or online through the Shopkick app.
- Engaging Ways to Earn – Watch in-app videos, discover new products, and take advantage of special deals to rack up even more rewards.
Best For
Those who want to save money just for redeeming kicks and rewards for exclusive deals, cashback, and gift cards to some of your favorites stores.
Discover daily challenges to earn kicks just for walking into nearby stores or scanning products in a fun scavenger hunt. Get cash back just for scanning products and for more bonus points, submit your receipt after you purchase products.
Download the app to explore the rest of the apps exclusive deals to some of your favorite brands! Shopkick is the new way to shop retail.
Saving Potential
Most Shopkickers can earn enough for a gift card in a week. Choose your preference from the app's wide selection of gift cards from Starbucks, Target, Sephora & Amazon.
If you choose to use this app to save money on groceries, you would join the millions of Shopkickers who have earned over $78 million in free gift cards to Walmart, Target, Amazon, Starbucks, Sephora, and at many more retailers.
Shopkick is the fun and easy way to get free gift cards at home, in-store, and on the go. If you use the promo code 'FREE765452' in the app after downloading and signing up, you can get a $5 welcome bonus.
6. Checkout 51
In many ways, this cashback service from Checkout 51 is similar to the one that we have already discussed here – Ibotta.
Checkout 51 is also a cash back app where you can get gas rewards and cash back that saves you tons of money on your favorite brands, groceries, and necessities.
Also, you can get fuel rewards where smart drivers can get their gas cash back and grocery offers on everything you buy.
On this grocery savings app, new deals are available on everyday items from all your favorite stores. Grocery offers and cash rewards are updated every Thursday.
With Checkout 51, grocery offers and cash back rewards are right at your fingertips. Get grocery promo savings, cash back offers, and more right from your phone. Grocery offers are easy to redeem, just snap a photo of your receipt and earn cash back rewards.
Key Points
- Earn Rewards Without Spending – Get kicks (reward points) just for walking into partner stores and scanning barcodes on select items.
- Shop & Earn – Earn additional kicks by making purchases in-store or online through the Shopkick app.
- Engaging Ways to Earn – Watch in-app videos, discover new products, and take advantage of special deals to rack up even more rewards.
Saving Potential
With Checkout 51, your savings depend on how often you use the app and which offers you redeem. Most users can save anywhere from $5 to $20 per month by consistently uploading receipts and taking advantage of gas and grocery cash back deals.
How To Save Money on Groceries
While getting free food may be a bit tricky to finesse and grocery saving apps can only get you so far — here are some ways to reduce your food budget save money on groceries.
1. See a Bargain? Go For It!
Sometimes all the planning in the world can be fruitless if that one lettuce you need is $6.99.
When you head to the supermarket take note what fruit and vegetables are on sale. Most likely it will be things that are in season and in excessive.
Notice that 1 kg of pumpkin is only $.50? Why not grab a couple, vegetables can be so diverse and used in so many different recipes and juicer recipes to use with your juicer.
It might be just pumpkin soup or you can get create and make things like pumpkin cornbread, pumpkin, beef, and black bean chili or pumpkin cannelloni.
You might also see an abundance of cabbage or corn. You can use your natural gas smoker to preserve these foods and enjoy them at a later time. Saving you tones of money down the track.
Tip: Download the free Ibotta to make money off your grocery receipts. You can usually get $1 to $5 back on every grocery run.
2. Don’t Be Afraid of Budget Supermarkets
Budget supermarkets are a sure-fire way to reduce your food budget with limited hassle. The great thing about them is they only have one option, and you either take it or leave it.
There’s no opportunity to be taken in by higher priced or branded products like in a normal supermarket, as they just aren’t available.
Because these shops aren’t so concerned about your shopping experience, it means your food shop costs less – this is a small price to pay when it comes to reducing your food spend.
3. Set a Budget and Stick to It
Setting yourself a food budget is a good way of giving you something to work towards and cut back on wasting money while grocery shopping.
Look at what you are spending on food on a weekly basis and set yourself a reduced (but reasonable) budget to work with each week.
Setting your budget too low will just set you up for failure, so make sure you aren’t too hard on yourself!
You will be so pleased with yourself when you come in on budget, or even better – under budget!
You can make it into a challenge to see how low you can get your weekly food spend.
4. Avoid Big Brands
Buying unbranded or own brand products is another excellent way of reducing your food budget.
The products are often just as good (if not better) and you won’t be disappointed when you swap your branded condiments, snacks and packets for an own brand option.
When you compare the price of your branded and unbranded products when you are next in the shop, you might be surprised to see how much more expensive they are.
5. Calculate Your Food Shop as You Go
It’s easy to place food in your basket and have no idea how much your shop will cost when you get to the checkout.
Adding up as you go is a great way to keep track of your spend; you can do this with a calculator or on your phone.
There’s also a benefit to online food shopping here, as you can see how much you have spent before you pay.
You then have the option to go back to your basket and remove things and change them for alternatives.
Wrapping it up
Once you implement a few of these techniques and download these apps to save money on groceries, you will notice the savings rolling in.
It's like you'll be getting paid to save.
Soon it will become a habit and you will notice that your surplus will allow indulging in more holidays or lovely meals out with your friends and family.
Do you know any other tricks to cut your grocery bill and still be healthy? Do you use any other grocery savings apps?
