Welcome to the Smarts Tools page! As part of our commitment to providing you with the resources and guidance you need to make smart financial decisions, we've compiled a list of some of the best financial tools and resources available online.
From budgeting apps to investment platforms, we've hand-picked a selection of tools that we believe can help you take control of your finances and achieve your goals. We've tested these tools ourselves and believe they offer a combination of ease of use, value, and features that make them stand out from the rest.
We're constantly updating and refining our list of recommended tools, so you can be confident that the resources you find here are the best of the best. Whether you're just starting out on your financial journey or are looking to take your investing to the next level, we're here to help.
Thank you for choosing Smarts as your trusted source for personal finance advice and tools. We hope you find our selection of financial tools helpful and look forward to helping you achieve your goals!
Banks
An innovative digital bank with one goal: to help you earn more, and grow your savings faster and easier than at your everyday bank. CIT offers one of the highest interest rate for any savings account and its mobile app has great reviews on the App Store and Google Play.
- Qualify for up to $200 overdraft without paying any fees with SpotMe*
- No monthly fees and no minimum opening balance
- Get paid up to 2 days early with direct deposit*
Credit Cards
Annual Fee: $0
Regular APR: 11.99%-22.99% Variable APR
Intro APR: 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers
Annual Fee: $695
Regular APR: 16.74%-23.74% Variable APR
Promotion: Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards®points*
The OpenSky Credit Card is a good credit card for people with a bad credit score who want high approval odds more than they want rewards. The OpenSky Card is worth its $35 annual fee because it has no credit check for new applicants and it helps cardholders build credit.
Investing
Robinhood is a free-trading app that allows you to trade stocks, crypto, and more without paying commissions. Plus, they'll give you a free stock worth between $5 and $200 for joining.
Webull offers a promotion where you can get up to 40 fractional shares worth between $3 and $3,000 each. To qualify, you need to make an initial deposit of $2,000. The free stocks are randomly chosen from Webull's inventory of settled shares. They are from companies listed on NYSE or NASDAQ with a minimum market cap of $2.5 billion.
SoFi Invest allows members to buy and sell stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), fractional shares, initial public offerings, and cryptocurrency. SoFi Invest also offers commission-free trades. Join now and get $25 worth of your favorite stock to start building your portfolio when you fund your SoFi Active Invest account with at least $10.
- Round up spare change from everyday purchases and invest automatically
- Even small investments can grow significantly over time with automated reinvesting
- Get a free $20 bonus investment when you invest just $5
- Earn passive income with real estate investing starting at just $10
- Easy-to-use app for seamless access to crowd-funded real estate deals
- Perfect for those who want their money to work for them
- Track your net worth in real-time and see all your accounts in one place
- Get personalized investment advice to optimize your portfolio for long-term growth
- Trusted by millions with over $1.6 trillion in tracked assets and a 4.7-star rating on Trustpilot
Cash Back Apps
Drop is the free app that rewards you for shopping at your favorite brands. Join over 4 million members earning millions in cash rewards at Amazon, Netflix, and Starbucks.
Upside can help you make up to $5 back on each gas fill up from on at over 1,000 stations. You can also get the cheapest gas prices near you. Cash out your earnings to PayPal with no minimum balance requirements.
- Snap receipts from any store to earn points
- Redeem points for gift cards to Amazon, Starbucks, and more
- Get a $3 bonus with promo code C1JAV after the first receipt scan
- 17M+ users with a 4.6 Trustpilot rating and $340 million in rewards given
Ibotta will pay you for going shopping, it's that easy and you can get a $10 bonus after uploading your first receipt.
Rakuten can get you up to 40% cash back at over 2,500 stores. They don't mess around with points, fees, or any forms, just straight up cash back. You can signup and get a $30 bonus today.
Credit
See your free credit scores, reports and personalized tips and tools to help you achieve your financial goals. Start making progress today.
Extra’s mission is to make credit building safer and more accessible for everyone with the first debit card that builds credit and earns reward points. The Extra Card is an ideal choice for those who cannot meet the requirements of standard credit cards but are aiming to improve their credit scores.
- First debit card that helps build credit and earns rewards points
- No security deposit is required like other credit cards for building credit
- Anyone can join, no credit check or minimum credit score required
- Costs $20/month
- Only reports to two credit bureaus: Equifax and Experian
Insurance
Lemonade Insurance offers a new approach to renters, condo and home insurance. They even give back up to 40% of unclaimed money to the nonprofit of your choosing.
Side Hustles
This app lets you play bingo for money — make $100 today. Over 5 Million players agree Blackout Bingo is the fresh, social competitive twist to the classic game where you can win real world rewards and cash prizes (where available).
DoorDash provides more stable hourly pay but has lower earning potential. Instacart has higher earning potential but you must book your schedule in advance. Most gig workers sign up for both to maximize their earning potential.
By signing up as a dog sitter through Rover, you’ll be connected to a nationwide network of pet owners in need of caring providers who offer boarding, pet sitting, or dog walking.
- $60+ per year just for installing the app and simply keeping it on your phone
- Nielsen has been measuring internet usage and media trends for decades
- Runs in the background with no effort required, no tasks, no surveys, just install and earn
- 100% free to join
Solitaire Cube is the ultimate solitaire game where you can compete in cash tournaments and play head-to-head online in fair competitions for a chance to win real money.
Sign up for free and start using Swagbucks Search, powered by Yahoo!, every time you search the web - you get paid!
Discover games you'll love, and earn rewards for playing. Over $15 million given away to date to gamers who love to earn free gift cards.
Decluttr will give you an instant cash quote for the unused stuff that you have laying around. They'll even give you a free shipping label to send it in. Using them to earn extra cash is a no-brainer.
Bluehost is one of the largest website hosting providers and powers millions of websites and you can start a blog in less than 10 total clicks. If you set up your site on a platform like Bluehost, it automatically walks you through every step of the process, from buying the domain to setting up your own blog.
To participate with HealthyWage, you make a bet on your weight loss and then compete against others – either as an individual or as part of a team – to achieve that goal. If you reach your goal, you will win money. If you don’t, you lose and don’t get to share in the winnings.
Money Saving Apps
- Helps lower your internet, phone, and cable bills automatically
- Trusted by over 5 million users to cut monthly expenses
- Contacts providers to find discounts and hidden savings
- Saves users an average of $300 per year
- Charges no upfront fees — you only pay if they save you money (40% of the savings)
- Tracks and cancels unused subscriptions effortlessly
Capital One Shopping is a legitimate company designed to save people money on purchases they make on a regular basis. Capital One Shopping has millions of customers using its services on a frequent basis. Within the last year, Capital One Shopping saved its customers more than $70 million on the purchases they made.
Survey Apps
- Get paid for surveys, shopping, playing games, watching videos, and more
- Join and earn a quick $10 just for getting started
- Over 20M users paid $600M+ with a 4.3 Trustpilot rating
- Earn cash by taking quick, simple surveys
- Redeem earnings with low payout thresholds through PayPal and gift card cash-outs
- Trusted by millions – 10M+ users with a 4.3 Trustpilot rating and $76M+ paid out
- Get paid real money (not points) for surveys, games, and more
- Join and start earning with an instant bonus after confirming email
- 2M+ active members with $80M+ paid out and a 4.2 Trustpilot rating
We've built relationships with some of our favorite companies on this list. As a result, using some of these links support what we do at no cost to you. We greatly appreciate your support!