Ibotta Review: Is This Cash-Back App Worth Your Time?

By Kelli Francis

July 22, 2021

What Is Ibotta?

Ibotta is an app aimed at giving you cash-back rewards for your everyday purchases. Ibotta partners with more than 1,500 brands and retailers, from Gap to Lowe’s, The Home Depot, Petco and more. Simply shop on Ibotta, earn cash back, upload your receipts and get cash for your purchases within 24 hours. From there, transfer it to your bank account via PayPal or Venmo. Ibotta’s cash-back offer applies to in-store and online purchases.

How Does Ibotta Work?

While you’re shopping in person or online, look at cash-back offers from retailers and claim the deals that make sense for you. Check out using the Ibotta app, scan and upload your receipt and plan to transfer the cash you’ve earned to yourself within a day or so.

Ibotta Features

Here’s a look at some of the features that Ibotta offers its users.

Browser Extension

Prefer to shop on your laptop or desktop computer? Ibotta has a plan for that. Just download the app’s browser extension for Chrome or Firefox, log into your Ibotta account, activate the cash-back offer and shop for whatever you’re looking for. You’ll earn cash back in the same way that you would if you were shopping in-store or on the app.

Plug-In for Loyalty Accounts

You can spare yourself the hassle of uploading receipts by linking your loyalty accounts or cards to Ibotta’s app. That way, if you’re shopping at one of your preferred stores, such as Target, Ibotta will automatically give you credit for your purchases with that retailer — no receipts needed.

Nearby Offer Alerts

Ibotta can use your location to send you push notifications while you’re shopping or running errands. You don’t have to allow Ibotta to use your location, but if you do, you’ll be able to get offer alerts in real time to help you take advantage of potential deals.

Influencer Program

Ibotta offers publishers and content creators an opportunity to earn by promoting the app to their followers. Affiliates start out earning $2 per new Ibotta user registration and payouts can increase from there.

Is Ibotta Safe?

To support safe purchasing, Ibotta uses 256-bit bank-level encryption, according to its website. The company does not see your transaction details, and it partners with payment processors to ensure adherence to industry guidelines for accepting payments.

To support your overall privacy, Ibotta offers privacy settings. There, you can prevent the app from selling any anonymized data about you to interested third parties. Your account will default to data sharing, so you’ll have to make your own privacy selections.

Is Ibotta Free?

Ibotta is free as long as you’re an active user. Once your account is deactivated or registers no activity for six months, Ibotta will deduct $3.99 from your balance in the app until your account balance reaches zero.

How To Sign Up

Download Ibotta’s app and register for an account using your email address. Once you’re registered, the app will recommend that you enable tracking, location and notifications to receive relevant, personalized recommendations on where to earn cash back.

Ibotta’s Approach to Customer Service

You can reach out to the team at Ibotta via the contact form on its website and expect to hear back within two business days, on average. To speed things up, you can also field a question to Ibotta’s community forum.

Is Ibotta Right for You?

If you’re running a busy household, Ibotta could deliver a financial advantage. Your routine will get a little busier as you look for offers on Ibotta and upload receipts, but the savings tend to add up quickly. Ibotta claims that its users have received over $1 billion so far and counting.

Have a Plan for the Incoming Cash

Who doesn’t love getting cash back? Whether you apply it to travel, brokerage accounts or an education fund, Ibotta seems to have built a cash-back service that has the potential to benefit anyone. Since the funds you’ll get back is money you wouldn’t have had otherwise, don’t let it disappear into the black hole known as a checking account.

About the Author

Kelli Francis

Kelli Francis is a writer and content strategist. She started her career with a degree in journalism from the University of Oregon and went on to work in some of the industry’s busiest newsrooms, from The Seattle Times to MSN.com, WebMD and Yahoo. In nearly a decade at Yahoo, she worked as an assistant managing editor at Yahoo Finance, specializing in personal finance content; a producer for Yahoo News; and a managing editor on Yahoo’s home page team. A perennial seeker, Kelli is currently expanding her knowledge of all things finance as a student at The American College of Financial Services. She is also the very proud mom of a wonderful and unstoppable 7-year-old with Autism Spectrum Disorder.