The growth in financial apps and digital platforms has made managing money and taking control of your personal finances more readily available for the average person. As an example of that, these 15+ of the best free money apps below allow individuals to do just that with a touch of a phone or clicks of a mouse.
These apps and services provide users of all ages and demographics the opportunity to get cash back, make more money, save more money or have easier access to investing.
Apps like these are a great tool improving financial literacy for everyday people.
Each differs slightly and specific services might fit best for certain people. Personal finances are indeed person and there is no one size fits all solution.
FREE CASH BACK APPS
RAKUTEN – FREE CASH BACK ON YOUR ONLINE PURCHASES
Earn free cash back with Rakuten for the normal spending you would traditionally do online. All you do is register an account and click through the links on the Rakuten website or App (or install the Browser Extension).
Rakuten has affiliations with almost every major retailer cluding Amazon, eBay, Indigo, GroupOn, Expedia, etc. So the cash back opportunities on your normal shopping habits are endless.
You aren’t spending any more and it’s not costing you anything. They just pay you a % of cash back as part of your spending.
When you’re ready to cash out you have 1 of 3 choices: a cheque, PayPal or Interac e-Transfer.
Rakuten offers a registration bonus of up to $30 FREE for new users.
BEFRUGAL – CASH BACK, COUPONS & DEALS
BeFrugal is another cash back platform to help you earn free money back on your online shopping purchases. Similar to Rakuten, you get a % kicked back to you depending on the specific offer and amount you’re spending. To help make sure you don’t miss an offer, you can install the BeFrugal Browser Extension and download the App.
BeFrugal has relationships with over 5,000 retailers plus thousands of other coupons and special promotions to help you earn and save. When you’re ready to cash out you can go with 1 of 4 options: check, PayPal, Venmo and direct deposit.
Sign up today to get a FREE $10 welcome bonus.
GREAT CANADIAN REBATES – GREAT OFFERS & CASH BACK
Great Canadian Rebates is another cashback site for those North of the border. They have relationships with over 500 merchants including all the big names you’d expect like Amazon, eBay, Expedia and so on.
Great Canadian Rebates has daily cash back boosters and special offers to give you the opportunity to earn even more cash back on your everyday online purchases.
One area that they really shine is with the bonuses they offer on credit cards. They have cash back rebates of $50 – $100 when you go through their page to register for a new credit card.
Sign up today and starting earning free cash back!
FETCH REWARDS – DIGITAL REWARDS AND GIFT CARDS
Fetch Rewards is another popular cash back rewards app and platform to earn free gift cards.
They have over 11 million users.
You simply upload your receipts from your phone after shopping (grocery, clothes, gas, entertainment, etc.). Submitting earns you points and as those points stack up, you can exchange them for gift cards.
You can submit up to 35 receipts each week.
Fetch Rewards is similar to the other platforms above. It’s free. It’s easy to use. And you aren’t spending any more, you’re just doing your normal shopping.
IBOTTA – CASH BACK ON GROCERIES
Ibotta is a popular cash back app that focuses primarily on groceries.
They claim that users earn an average of $261 per year using the app. And their millions of users have totaled over $2 billion in cash back earnings!
You load offers up on the Ibotta app, submit receipts after shopping and accumulate your cash back rewards.
Once you hit $20 you can withdraw to your bank account, PayPal or exchange for a gift card.
Ibotta is free and easy to use.
FREE APPS TO MAKE MONEY
SWAGBUCKS – 9+ WAYS TO MAKE FREE MONEY ONLINE ($10 BONUS)
Swagbucks is a great way to make a little extra money online. You earn rewards (or SBs) by: taking surveys, using the Swagbucks search engine, getting cash back on online purchases, watching videos, playing games, discovering deals and buying gift cards.
They have 9 different ways for you to earn rewards.
Is Swagbucks legit? Yes, they have an A rating on Better Business Bureau and have paid out over $670+ million their users. When you’re ready to cash out your SBs you can convert them to PayPal cash or gift cards to your favorite retailers like Amazon.
Sign up for Swagbucks today to earn a FREE $10 new member bonus.
PINECONE RESEARCH – $3 PER SURVEY
PineCone Research is one of the most popular and rewarding survey websites that provides their users with $3 per survey completed. After you’re ready to cash out, your money will be sent directly via cash or to your PayPal account.
PineCone Research is free to join and offers surveys to both Americans and Canadians.
SURVEY JUNKIE – POPULAR, HIGHLY RATED
Survey Junkie is another one of the most popular and highest rated free survey websites. They do a great job of matching surveys to your interests and demographics based off the questions answered when you first set up your free account.
When you’re ready to cash out, you can get paid via PayPal or gift cards. Survey Junkie is available to both Americans and Canadians.
Sign up today for free and see why it’s one of the most used paid survey sites available.
INBOX DOLLARS – FREE $5 BONUS OFFER
Inbox Dollars is an American site that offers free cash rewards for watching TV, taking surveys, or making purchases online.
Their services are similar to Swagbucks but at a smaller scale. However, that doesn’t mean you wont have plenty of opportunity to make some extra money each and every day.
Best of all Inbox Dollars offers a free $5 welcome bonus offer once you register.
DAILY REWARDS – FREE $5 WELCOME BONUS
DailyRewards is the Canadian counterpart to Inbox Dollars mentioned above. You’ll be rewarded for watching TV, taking surveys, or making purchases online.
Their platform is continually growing and adding more ways for you to earn daily.
They offer a free $2 welcome bonus offer for signing up and your pay outs are made via cash or gift card.
BEST FREE APPS TO SAVE MONEY
HONEY – COUPONS & CASH BACK
Honey is another great cash back rewards program that searches the internet for the best deals and coupons from their list of over 20,000 partner stores. In a matter of seconds you can track down the best offer at literally any online (or physical) store you might be shopping at.
Their user base has grown to over 17 million members and their Chrome Browser Extension has 100,000+ 5-star reviews.
Sign up for free to Honey today and start saving on your purchases.
TRIM FINANCIAL APP – CUT BACK ON SERVICES
Trim helps you save money on your subscriptions, bills and recurring expenses. It’s like an automated savings assistant that reviews your services to identify cost-saving opportunities.
Trim is a free tool and their 3 million users save millions combined each month.
Some examples of the free services it provides to help you save are:
- Subscription Analyzer
- Bill Negotiation
- Deal Finder
- Price Protection
Trim is free, secure and another service to add to your financial toolbelt to help you save money. Sign up today for free to review your own spending habits and subscriptions.
INVESTING APPS
WEALTHSIMPLE – ROBO ADVISOR INVESTING
Wealthsimple remains and continues to grow as one of the largest and most preferred robo-advisors for investors looking to take a more hands-off approach.
An amazing user-experience and intuitive platform, quick set-up process, $0 account minimums, unlimited transactions and strong customer service make Wealthsimple a great choice.
Wealthsimple offers portfolios based on your risk tolerance (conservative, balanced and growth) and an extensive account mix. Plus they take care of rebalancing your portfolio and dividend reinvestments.
They’ve expanded beyond just investing as well. From tax software and bank accounts to business acounts and lines of credit.
Both Americans and Canadians have access to Wealthsimple. Sign up today to start building wealth with Wealthsimple and their leading investing platform.
QUESTRADE – CANADIAN LOW COST DIY INVESTING
Questrade is the online discount brokerage of choice for many Canadians and is often voted or regarded by industry as the “best”.
From the fully digitized sign-up process, intuitive user-experience, and ease of use, Questrade is a great platform for DIY investors. In terms of the costs, there are no opening or closing fees on a TFSA or RRSP, no account holding fees, no withdrawal fees and best of all ETF purchasing is free, while ETF selling is $0.01 per share ($4.95 minimum – $9.95 max).
They make investing easy and cost-friendly. Their website is full of great resources to help you better understand what approach will work best for you.
Questrade is used and trusted by millions of Canadians saving and investing.
ACORNS – AMERICAN ROUNDUP MICRO INVESTING
Acorns is a micro investing app that has helped millions of Americans get started investing for their future. Their platform is a unique and powerful way to support building wealth.
How does Acorns work? Acorns provide their members 6 ways to grow:
- Round-Ups
- Recurring Investments
- One-Time Investments
- Found Money
- Referrals
- Acorns Later
Your investments are automatically diversified across thousands of stocks and bonds thanks to Acorns Fractional Share Ownership of ETFs in your portfolio.
There are no minimum investment levels, no trading fees and your total costs will only be $1, $2 or $3 monthly depending on the membership their. The goal is to make investing for your future easier, non-intrusive and cost-friendly.
Get started with Acorns today in less than 5 minutes and leverage the power of compound interest.
CONCLUSION: BEST FREE MONEY APPS
The services and digital platforms mentioned above are only a sample of the best free money apps available. New products are hitting the market every month to help everyday consumers take control of their personal finances.
Best of all apps and services like these are free, becoming more powerful and help automate your finances so you can focus on other areas of your life.
Use these apps to help manage your money and reach your financial goals.
Which apps have helped you most with money? Are there any that you recommend to your friends and family? Is there an app or service you’d like to see made that isn’t currently offered?
