If you aren’t already signed up to some of the best cashback apps or sites, quite frankly you have been missing out!
Cashback apps have become more and more popular in the UK over the last decade, with one app boasting over 2 million members enjoying over £200 in cashback every year.
What would you do with an extra £200 a year?
I can tell you now that there are plenty of ways to earn more than that if you use these apps wisely. But in order to do that, you need to know what you are doing – you need to know the best cashback apps to use.
Finding the best cashback apps is easier said than done, though. There are dozens out there, each offering different welcome bonuses and varying amounts of cashback for varying numbers of retailers – it can be an absolute minefield.
So I thought it would be helpful to focus an article on exactly what a cashback app is, how they work, and some of the best ones out there for you to try.
You could be saving money on all of your purchases online, without having to do much more than clicking on a few links – so let’s get you on your way.
We’ll kick off with our top apps and then get into the details of how to use them.
The Best Cashback Apps in the UK
Let’s dive into the best cashback apps in the UK for you to look over. I’ll take a look at each one and see if you can pick a few that you think will work best for you and help you earn some great cashback!
Cashback UK
Best All-Round Cashback App
We’ll kick things off with the app that is seen by many as the king of all cashback apps.
Over £1 billion gets spent through Cashback every year, and my guess is that if you know someone who is already signed up to an app for cashback, they are signed up to Cashback. It’s massive.
There’s a good reason for its success – it’s a really good app. You don’t need to link any of your bank cards to your Cashback app; you just select the retailer you want, click on the link and away you go! It’s free to sign up, and you get a decent bonus of £25 for every friend you refer (and they get £10 just for signing up).
The best thing about Cashback is the sheer number of retailers that you can pick from – huge names like eBay, JustEat, ASDA, Expedia, Currys, Travelodge, Iceland, and Tui. This is a great all-round cashback app, with surveys to fill in to earn extra money as well as regular special offers.
Signing up for Cashback is a no-brainer. Do it today.
Quidco
Best Overall Alternative To Cashback
Quidco is probably the biggest rival to Cashback. It is one of the biggest cashback apps out there, paying out over £2 million in cashback every year.
It’s free to sign up for (although there is a premium option for £1 a month that offers better rates – not sure that would be worth it unless you are a serial shopper), and there are loads of retailers to choose from.
The great thing about the rivalry between Quidco and cashback is that they are often competing for your business, striving to give you the most exclusive deals. As consumers, we are the winners in this little battle!
Personally, if I am making a big purchase, Cashback and Quidco are the two cashback apps that I first check to see where the best deal is. They are both great apps.
Sprive
Great For Homeowners (with a mortgage)
Sprive is a cashback app with a difference. The objective here is to help you pay off your mortgage, and it uses cashback as one of the tools to do that.
It’s important to highlight that cashback is just a small part of what Sprive offers – the main goal here is that you get the best possible deal on your mortgage, and you make payments that you are able to afford.
It links up to your bank account to automatically put money aside for your mortgage, based on your spending – even overpaying when you can afford it with the goal of you becoming free of your mortgage more quickly.
Anyway, the cashback side helps with that – when you are making a payment, you can do it through the Sprive app and you will be rewarded with cashback. And this money can go towards paying off your mortgage.
It’s a neat little twist on the cashback idea, and is great for people who want to take control of their finances. The list of retailers is pretty good, and the added mortgage features means that this could be a really valuable app for you.
JamDoughnut
Best For Finding Retailers Not On Other Cashback Apps
JamDoughnut works in a slightly different way to most of the other cashback apps that we are going to look at on this list.
You won’t be clicking on a link that will take you to the retailer’s website.
Instead, once you have decided on what you want to purchase, you head to JamDoughnut to purchase a gift voucher for that retailer, and then use that to pay for your goods.
Then you will be rewarded with cashback.
I know what you’re thinking – this all seems quite fiddly compared to the other way. And you’re right, it is – you have to find out exactly how much you are paying before you buy the gift voucher, which is non-refundable, so you can’t make a mistake.
However, the big selling point of JamDoughnut is that it can get you cashback for lots of retailers that aren’t on other sites.
My advice is this: sign up to JamDoughnut (it’s free) and if you can’t find any cashback for a purchase you are going to make, use jamDoughnut as your last resort. You’ll be surprised how often it comes up trumps.
KidStart
Best For Building Up Child Savings
This is another little twist on the cashback model, similar to the Sprive app. KidStart, as you may have already guessed, is focused on saving money for your children.
The principle is exactly the same as with Cashback – you select the retailer you want to shop with, click on the link, and you will be credited with cashback when you complete your purchase.
There are over 2,300 retailers to choose from on KidStart, which is a decent selection. Many are similar to Cashback like eBay and Argos.
I use this app to earn cashback on anything I buy for my boys. It seems a fair way to do it – all of the cashback goes into their bank accounts (which they can’t touch for now), so it’s just a way to keep topping up their savings for when they are old enough for me to trust them with it!
Airtime Rewards
Best No-Fuss Cashback App
Airtime Rewards is a cashback app that boasts a massive 2.8 million users, and it is another different take on the cashback theory in a couple of ways.
First of all, to earn the cashback, you don’t click on a link to go directly to the retailer’s website, but instead you link your bank card to your Airtime Rewards account.
The great thing about this is that you will earn cashback whether you’re in store or shopping online. This is not the case for many cashback schemes, and it is really useful.
The other difference is that the money you earn is saved up until you have enough (£20), and then that money is sent to pay off your mobile phone bill.
The only issue is that not every phone company is part of the scheme, so be sure to double-check that yours is before you sign up. The main ones (EE, O2, 3 and Vodafone) all are there.
I really like Airtime Rewards because you don’t need to think about it – you just spend as usual and it slowly tops up in the background. Also, you can ‘stack’ your cashback – just because you get cashback through Airtime Rewards doesn’t mean you can’t also earn through one of the other apps as well.
easyfundraising
Best For Charity Donations Including Schools
Yet another version of the classic cashback set-up is easyfundraising – a scheme where you don’t actually get the money yourself, but the money instead goes to a cause of your choosing.
This won’t be for everyone, obviously – the entire point of this website is to help people gain more control over their own finances, rather than diverting money to other causes.
However, many people want to do more for charity, and this is a great way to help others without directly transferring your own money.
The premise is the same – there are over 7,000 different brands for you to choose from, which is a huge selection. You can also download a browser extension which automatically detects when you are shopping on one of the available retailers, so the process is incredibly easy.
When you are shopping, you will get a pop-up telling you what steps to take to claim the cashback.
I use easyfundraiser to contribute money to my children’s school. I don’t use it for every purchase, but I try to make sure that a couple of times a month I contribute to the school’s fund to buy books and supplies for the kids. It cost me nothing to help the school, and it feels good.
Shopmium
Best For Supermarket Cashback & Deals
Shopmium is a bit of a different cashback app in that rather than targeting brands and shops, there are offers on specific products.
They are focused on products that you can buy in supermarkets, which changes all the time. The offers vary from a percentage discount to some products being completely free – all you have to do is take a photo of your receipt after you have purchased the products at one of the participating shops and you will be refunded the cashback.
It basically works like digital vouchers or coupons. The supermarkets that you can shop in for cashback on Shopmium are: Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose, while the products can be anything.
On the app you can also keep all of your loyalty cards (Clubcard, Nectar, etc.) so that they are all in one place.
Shopimum is a great app for getting the odd deal and finding something new to try. There isn’t a great deal of choice there, but they often have great discounts and you can even pick up products for free.
How to make the most out of Cashback Apps
Getting cashback from cashback apps is a pretty simple procedure, as you have seen. But in order to make this worth your while, there are a few things you can do.
It’s no good just using a cashback app for one purchase every month or so – you won’t be able to amass enough cashback to feel any benefit. So here are my top tips:
Shop Around
As we’ve seen, different apps will have different rates of cashback for different retailers, so have a look at a few of them to see where you could be getting the best deal.
Refer Your Friends
Once you have seen the benefit of a specific cashback app, refer it to your friends. It’s a great way to get bonus money (usually for you and them), and your friends can enjoy the cashback benefits too.
Complete Surveys
I wouldn’t recommend devoting too much of your time on these, but if you ever find yourself with nothing to do – maybe on a commute, or in a waiting room – then completing a paid survey through one of these sites is a great way to top up your balance a bit. It all adds up!
Consider Withdrawing Cash In The Form Of A Gift Card
A couple of these apps offer you a bonus if you withdraw your balance in the form of a gift card for one of their retailers, as opposed to cash into your bank account. If you are planning on making a purchase, then this could help you save some extra money.
Cashback Isn’t Better Than Paying Less
This seems obvious, but you can end up a little blinkered when you go on these sites, only looking at the retailers they list. Be careful not to ignore other retailers:
If one site is offering a product for £10 with 3% cashback, but another one has no cashback but the exact same product for £6, take the better deal!
Big Purchases Are The Best
Holidays, energy providers, home improvements – all of these are great sources of cashback, and you’ll really notice the impact that cashback can have if you have a couple of these larger purchases a year.
Ensure It Makes Financial Sense
The golden rule of cashback apps: only use it to buy things that you were going to buy anyway!
It’s easy to get carried away when you see high rates of cashback, but it’s so important that you don’t get sucked in by these big rates and make unnecessary purchases. Use these sites as a way to save a little extra money on purchases that you were going to make anyway, on things you really want or need.
Cashback Apps – The Verdict
When used well, cashback apps are a great way to save a bit of money without really having to change anything about your shopping habits.
Whether you are getting a little bit from using a specific card, or clicking on a link when you make a purchase, it really doesn’t take up much time or effort, and you’ll find that your total savings will steadily creep up.
Don’t think about these as money-making schemes – think of them like digital loose change jars. You chuck a few pence in it regularly and you will be amazed at the amount you can save over the course of a year.
The dream, of course, is that you can stack your cashback – earn little bits from a number of cashback apps from one purchase. Then things start to grow a bit quicker, and you can end up being able to treat yourself with the savings.
If you haven’t already, download a few of these cashback apps today – even if you are not sure you will use them that often. You’ll be surprised at what you can save without putting in much effort at all.