American shoppers who use digital coupons save an average of $1,465 annually, or about 6.5% of their average household spending. In other words, not using them means youโre missing out on one of the best ways to save money.
We reviewed dozens of digital coupon apps and found that store-specific apps are almost always the best option for the biggest savings, although there are a few multi-store digital coupon apps that are also worth adding to your money-saving arsenal.
Hereโs a list of the best digital coupon apps we’ve found, divided into in-store and online shopping categories.
Best for in-store shopping:
Best for online shopping:
Best Coupon Apps for In-Store Shopping
#1. Ibotta
ibotta is a rebate platform where you make purchases and then submit your receipt to earn cash-back on qualifying products. The majority of the coupons available on the app are for name-brand food and household items, but you’ll also find a small number of โany brandโ offers for everyday items like milk, bread and bananas.
To activate rebate offers, you have to open iBotta, select a grocery store within the app, and then โclipโ the offer before you go shopping. If you donโt have the offer selected when you upload your receipt, you will not get the cash-back!
ibotta is a rebate app, so the cash-back you earn can stack on top of most store and manufacturer coupons. This makes for great savings if there are offers for items that are already on sale or have available manufacturer coupons.
For these reasons, we ranked Ibotta as the best cash-back app for groceries. You can learn more about how it works in our in-depth Ibotta review (weโve saved hundreds of dollars with the app over the years).
#2. Krazy Coupon Lady (KCL)
Krazy Coupon Lady features daily deals and an extensive database of both digital and printable coupons, which it pulls from several different sources to show you as many offers as possible.
The app highlights daily blog posts that feature hot online deals as well as money-saving tips. Hard-core savers will love the section dedicated to using coupon stacking to score free stuff; each post shows you exactly which items to buy and what coupons you need to get the items for free.
#3. The Coupons App
The Coupons App doesnโt require you to create a login and password to browse coupons. Ads show up immediately upon opening the app, but they do offer an ad-free version for $14.99 per year.
One unique feature of this app is its โCheapest Gasโ section. Using your location, the app will show you the closest and least expensive gas options. (Itโs similar to Upside, except that Upside also offers cash-back on gas.)
This is one of the few coupon apps that has restaurant deals. I would highly recommend this app to people who like to eat out but are on a budget. Some of the offers I found while researching for this article included cheap coffee, free appetizers, and one-cent sandwiches.
#4. CouponCabin
CouponCabin features coupons for national retail stores along with a handful of chain restaurants. The coupons are broken up into online and in-store options.
To redeem an in-store coupon, select the desired coupon and an image with a barcode will automatically download to your phone. You can then ask the cashier to scan the coupon when youโre checking out. To use online coupons, just click on the desired offer and then select โget code.โ The promo code will pop up and instantly be copied to your phoneโs clipboard so that you can easily paste it when checking out on the retailerโs website.
You can also earn cash-back on purchases made through the app, and this cash-back can be stacked with the available coupon codes. To do this, click through to the retailerโs website; the app will track your purchase and give you a small percentage (1-3%) of the total price as a credit in your CouponCabin account.
You need to have earned a minimum of $10 to cash out.
More options: The best cash-back apps and website.
#5. Flipp
Once you enter your zip code, Flipp automatically loads weekly store ads and any available coupons. It includes weekly ads from stores across the board, including local retailers, but the digital coupons are limited to a few national chains. There are a small number of printable coupons that you can use at local retailers.
Flipp works with loyalty cards from retailers like CVS, Walgreens and Family Dollar. You link your store card and load coupons directly to your account through the app. Youโre then able to redeem those coupons when you shop at the store and scan your loyalty card.
Flipp also offers a feature that allows you to build your shopping list with weekly ads and coupons. When you clip a coupon, the app automatically adds the item to your shopping list. Similarly, if youโre searching through the weekly ads and see a good deal, you can click on it and it will show up on your list (even if there is no applicable coupon).
#6. Individual Restaurant Apps
The majority of national restaurant chains, like McDonalds and Panda Express, offer apps with screaming deals. The downside of these apps is that you need to download and sign up for each individual restaurant separately. However, if you eat out regularly (even just a couple of times per week), you can save a lot of money.
Another perk of using a restaurantโs app is being able to earn loyalty points on top of using coupons. You can then redeem your loyalty points for free food. However, many restaurants only allow you to redeem one offer per order, so if youโre ordering for a group or a family, youโll need to look at whether cashing in your points or using a coupon will save you the most money.
McDonaldโs is a great example of this. You can only redeem one offer per mobile order, so youโll need to pick between redeeming your points for a free item or using a coupon.
Ordering in these apps can take a little planning ahead because most restaurants require you to place your order through their app to redeem your points or use a coupon. But if Iโm already out and decide to grab some food on my way home, Iโll just sit in the parking lot of the restaurant and place my order in the app. Itโs worth the extra couple of minutes to save a few dollars.
Coupon Apps for Online Shopping
#1. Capital One Shopping
Capital One Shopping is a browser extension that automatically applies coupon codes when you shop online. The tool pops up on the screen whenever youโre on a website for one of the approximately 100,000 stores in the program, and it automatically enters any known coupon codes. (A mobile app is also available.)
The extension will also tell you if the retailer offers โShopping Credits,” which are rewards given as a percentage of your purchase price that can be redeemed for digital gift cards.
Note that you do not need to have a Capital One credit card or account to use this coupon app.
Iโve been using the Capital One Shopping extension for the past six months and have accumulated $20 in credit without even trying.
You can learn more about how it works in our full Capital One Shopping review, which highlights tips for maximizing its value.
Download Capital One Shopping.
#2. Rakuten
Rakuten is a cash-back portal that works with more than 3,500 retailers. The majority of the businesses are retail stores, but it also offers savings on some travel, food and subscription sites.
To earn cash-back on Rakuten, youโll need to find the retailer on the app and click through to their website. Rakuten tracks your purchase and rewards you with a percentage of your order total.
Cash-back accumulates and pays out quarterly. You must have earned at least $5.01 during the quarter to receive your cash-back payment. If you have less than a $5 balance, that total will carry over to the next quarter.
If you arenโt anxious to get your โBig Fat Checkโ (as they call it) Rakuten does allow you to donate your cash-back to select non-profit partners instead.
Learn more in our Rakuten review or sign up here.
#3. Honey
Honey is another browser extension that can help you save money on 30,000+ websites. Coupon codes are the main sources of savings, but the app also offers cash-back rewards at a limited number of large retailers like Home Depot and Walmart.
As with Capital One Shopping, Honey automatically crawls the internet for possible coupon codes and automatically tries them to find the most lucrative coupon (or combination of coupons) for your order. While it works well, weโve found Capital One Shoppingโs coupon engine to be a little bit better at finding the best deals.
Honey also has a nifty price tracking feature called โDroplist.โ When youโre shopping online and want to know when a specific item is on sale, you can add it to your Droplist and Honey will notify you if or when the price goes down.
Final Thoughts
While paper coupons are still widely accepted, digital coupons make saving money incredibly easy. When you shop at national chain stores or big box retailers, youโre likely buying items that have coupons available. Utilizing coupon apps requires a few minutes of your time to either search, scan or download, but the savings can add up.
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