My honest review of Ibotta – is it worth it? How does Ibotta work? I give you all the details: how I use Ibotta in my weekly shopping, plus tips for how to make the most money while still buying real food.
I quit using coupons several years ago because they took up too much of my time. I also felt that as we transitioned to real food, there weren’t a lot of old paper coupons that fit our lifestyle.
Fast forward a few years and I tried no less than FIFTY different apps as I was developing my course Grocery Budget Bootcamp. I included an entire lesson on grocery shopping online and another section on apps, and I wanted to make sure I knew how the apps and stores worked for myself, before offering them as an option to members.
Many were not worth the time and effort for the amount they saved.
Then I discovered Ibotta and it quickly became one of my favorite apps!
Not only is Ibotta FREE to use, but they make it SO easy to save money. I know many of you might be on the fence when it comes to coupons and apps in general, so let me share my own honest thoughts on Ibotta – I’m breaking down not only how Ibotta works, but also my best tips to help you save time, make money with Ibotta, and even how to find savings on healthy foods!
WHAT IS IBOTTA?
What is Ibotta? Ibotta is a FREE app that allows you to get cash back for items you purchase. So just how does Ibotta work?
- Download the Ibotta app for free. Click HERE to do that (it works whether you’re on the computer or on your phone).
- Open the app and browse through the available rebates, unlocking rebates for things you were going to buy anyway. (You unlock the rebate by tapping the plus sign.)
- Shop at the store like you normally would.
- Upload your receipts.
- Get paid!
And that’s it! Really truly, it’s SO easy to use and you can start earning money right away!
Ibotta works at TONS of different stores…grocery stores like Whole Foods, Safeway, and Trader Joe’s, pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS, clothing stores like Kohl’s, restaurants, convenience stores, home improvement stores, specialty stores like Petco, and even your favorite stores online.
I’ve made using Ibotta a streamlined part of making my grocery list.
- Once a week, I make my meal plan and scan through the Ibotta rebates for one grocery store. You can save the stores you frequently shop as your favorites by tapping the heart, and they’ll automatically show up at the top of your list in the future.
- I only look at the categories that apply to me (for example, I usually completely skip PERSONAL CARE, KIDS & BABY, and CANDY & SWEETS).
- Sometimes I’ll check one other store as well to see if there are any additional rebates (some offers are store-specific) and if I’ll be nearby anyway.
- I shop like I normally would.
- I upload my receipts as soon as I get home. If anything is missing, it’s easy to add it by tapping “Verify more items” and scanning the bar codes directly from my purchased products.
- I get cashback in my account within 48 hours (but it usually only takes a few minutes)!
IBOTTA REVIEWS: PROS AND CONS TO USING IBOTTA
PROS:
There are rebates for generic and/or store brands.
Every week there is some sort of rebate for “any brand” items, like any brand of milk or any kind of yogurt. Right now, there are 6 rebates for “any brand” items, saving a total of $0.45 for things you’d never see a coupon for. Even if there’s just $0.50 of savings on the typical week, that’s $26 in just one year.
There are rebates for healthy food.
Again, as I type this, there are currently 3 rebates available for fresh produce. There are 4 available for fresh meat and a handful of others for things I’d normally stock in my kitchen, like yogurt and cheese. That’s another $5 saved on things you’d buy anyway and wouldn’t have a coupon for. Over a year, that’s another $260!
There are rebates for household items.
Toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning products, trash bags… you buy some of these items too, right? So do I, and it’s always nice to save some money whenever I can on these things.
You can save on things that are harder to save on.
Rebates for wine, liquor, or diapers?! Yep, Ibotta has these too. We like wine, and I use vodka for Homemade Vanilla Extract. My kids aren’t in diapers anymore, but if they were, I sure wouldn’t pass up a $4 rebate when I saw it!!
CONS:
There’s a temptation to try new things.
This might not be a bad thing for everyone, but it’s fun to try new things and Ibotta makes it too easy to offer a rebate for doing it. They often have “seasonal” rebates that align with holidays or big events (like the Super Bowl) and it’s VERY tempting to give in! At the same time though, I can’t blame Ibotta for my lack of self-control!
THE BOTTOM LINE ON THE IBOTTA APP
I’ve been an Ibotta user for several years now and I’ve gotten over $1000 in actual cash back!
I love Ibotta! Hands down, Ibotta is my favorite way to save on almost everything I buy. It’s SO easy to use and it works for things I was already planning to purchase.
Ibotta makes it super easy to withdraw the money you’ve earned too. You just expand the profile link that states your balance and click “withdraw.”
You can get a real cash back deposit via Paypal or Venmo or choose a gift card. Cash-out with as little as $20 earned!
If you work it right, you can even MAKE money using Ibotta! Keep reading for insider tips!
15 WAYS TO MAKE MONEY WITH IBOTTA
1. LINK YOUR STORE LOYALTY CARD
Ibotta works with over 2000 retailers, but they work directly with a handful of stores. These stores are called Preferred Partners, and you don’t even have to scan in your receipts when you shop there.
This is important to note because you MUST link your store loyalty card or reward program with Ibotta to receive rebates from them. And it’s recommended that you do it at least 24 hours BEFORE you shop.
When you shop with your store loyalty card, Ibotta will automatically sync with your purchase history and give you cash back for the rebates you have unlocked before making your purchase. You don’t even have to scan your receipt! Plus you get the goodies from your rewards program.
2. LOOK FOR BONUS REBATES
There are always bonus rebates going on for various items and they’re often linked to the current holiday season, or to redeeming a certain number of rebates within a week.
For example, around Christmas, there was a bonus rebate for buying a certain amount of baking items. I’ll often see a midweek bonus or weekend rebate offer for extra cash bonuses for redeeming a certain number of rebates in a specified timeframe.
Bonus rebates are icing on the cake for rebates you were going to redeem anyway because if there’s a bonus rebate, there’s likely an individual rebate too!
3. WATCH FOR RECURRING REBATES
As you use Ibotta for a little while, you’ll notice that some rebates will show up over and over again. This is by design because even if you redeem a rebate, the rebate promotion AS A WHOLE is still going on.
This means you can take advantage by redeeming the same rebate again during the rebate promotion period!
How do you do this? Simple. Ibotta has a rule of “one receipt per rebate,” meaning you cannot submit the same receipt for multiple identical rebates.
The workaround though, is to pay for a second item separately – specifically, an item that you’re pretty sure will show up again and submit the second receipt when the rebate shows up again a few days after redeeming it the first time.
4. BUY THE SMALLEST CONTAINER
Some rebates are for specific products at specific sizes, but some will say “valid on any variety, any size.” Use these to your advantage and buy the smallest and ideally, the cheapest size you can. This will give you the most savings and maximum profit!
5. SHOP AT THE DOLLAR STORES
Not all dollar stores are created equal, but for those where everything is priced close to one dollar, definitely use the Ibotta app when you shop there!
6. USE YOUR PRICE BOOK TO PRICE SHOP FOR THE BEST DEALS
Creating a price book is the easiest way to know what stores have the best deals on items you buy most often. I wrote about how to make a price book here and gave a real-life example of how a price book can save you money.
Note: A price book is one of the best ways to get rock-bottom prices on your most purchased items! Learn more about using a price book and all my money-saving strategies in Grocery Budget Bootcamp. Grocery Budget Bootcamp enrollment is currently closed, but you can join my FREE Fight Inflation Workshop and start saving money on groceries tomorrow!
If you use your price book to go to the store that has the best deal, you can not only save money but also MAKE money with Ibotta.
7. STACK REBATES TOGETHER
There are times when there are rebates for a specific brand of something, as well as “any brand” rebates. When this happens, you can redeem both by purchasing just one item!
8. STACKING REBATES WITH SALES AND COUPONS
I don’t use many coupons anymore, but I simply can’t NOT mention the tremendous savings when you stack rebates with sales and coupons. Let me walk you through this for a second.
Coupons are usually released to coincide with sale prices. Ibotta rebates are a form of advertising that works similarly to coupons.
This means if you find a rebate in Ibotta, there’s a good chance the item is currently on sale or will be on sale the next week… which means there’s a decent chance there will be a coupon in the Sunday paper too. Don’t forget to check for digital coupons too! They’re nice when you don’t want the hassle of traditional coupons.
In short, we have a triple whammy: sale + coupon + rebate app(s)
Coupons for real food don’t come around that often, but that’s why I like Ibotta so much – you can save on healthy food without even trying!
Note: Ibotta does have a few restrictions on using coupons with cash-back rebates. It is against the terms of service to combine paper coupons with Ibotta rebates on purchases at Walmart and Dollar General, for instance. However, you can use coupons at other retailers.
9. LOOK FOR DEALS ON LOW-PRICED ITEMS
You can really maximize your savings with Ibotta when you combine rebates with items that are already a low price to begin with.
Be on the lookout for other single-serve items that are regularly priced at around $1 each. Granola bars, yogurt drinks, dried fruit bars, and flavored yogurt are just a few examples.
While I typically make Homemade Granola Bars and Homemade Yogurt, sometimes it’s nice to try something new or in a different flavor. It’s also nice to have items like this on hand for a quick toss-in-the-bag snack or for when the kids go on a field trip and need a completely disposable lunch. I aim to pay just 25¢ for each of these single-serve items and using Ibotta helps me reach that price!
10. REFER YOUR FRIENDS
Ibotta is not an MLM company, but they do encourage you to refer your friends because together you can earn more money! If you sign up with my link, you automatically get a $5 bonus when you sign up (and so do I)! If you have friends who are not Ibotta users yet, you can share your referral code with them and you both get a bonus.
11. KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS!
I briefly mentioned this earlier, but now you have more than one reason to keep your grocery receipts because you can unlock a rebate up to 7 days AFTER you make a purchase!
Rebates are officially released on Thursdays, but they sometimes can take a few days before they’re live in the app. My suggestion is to check for new rebates on Thursdays and go ahead and shop. Then when Sunday night comes, do a quick once-over to see if any rebates were added for things you already bought. If so, add the rebate to your list and redeem that cash!
12. SAVE ON MOBILE SHOPPING
Ibotta has rebates for mobile shopping too. The “mobile” category shows you all the mobile options, and this also changes depending on the season.
If you prefer shopping on your computer, you can also download the Google Chrome extension for Ibotta and activate your mobile rebates before checking out that way.
13. SAVE ON GROCERY PICK-UP AND DELIVERY
If you would rather order your groceries for pick up or delivery than shop in-store yourself, you can still use Ibotta! Make sure you link your online retailer to your Ibotta account, add the cash-back offers to your list, and place your order. You’ll receive your cashback within 24 hours of your grocery delivery.
14. SAVE AT THE COMMISSARY
We’re not a military family, but I have friends who are, and they almost always shop the commissary. While the commissary accepts manufacturer coupons and military coupons, they do not accept grocery store coupons and you can only use one coupon per item.
Now that Ibotta has added the commissary as a store option, you can shop at the commissary AND redeem the rebates!
15. SAVE ON WAREHOUSE MEMBERSHIPS
Finally, there’s even a rebate for a Sam’s Club membership! Many people are hesitant to join a warehouse because of the membership fee, so this digital offer is a great way to save on that fee.
I save over $75 a month if I shop at Costco instead of ALDI, and I know the prices for Sam’s Club are similar to Costco. This goes to show that shopping in bulk really does save you money and using Ibotta to save on the membership fee is a no-brainer!
FINDING HEALTHY FOOD IN THE IBOTTA APP
At first glance, you might notice a lot of processed foods on the Ibotta app. That doesn’t help out much with our real food goals! However, I’ve also found a lot of healthy options on Ibotta.
I mentioned earlier that I use Ibotta weekly, and every week I see a huge variety of rebates for healthy food in Ibotta.
To give you an example of what you can find – and how much you can save on everyday purchases – I wanted to share with you a sampling of the healthy food rebates I found in Ibotta.
A few things to consider:
- Because I found all of these rebates for healthy food in Ibotta in just one afternoon (plus a brain dump of recently redeemed rebates), you can easily redeem all of these within a one-month grocery budget cycle and save BIG TIME.
- Because these rebates are time-sensitive (i.e. they have expiration dates) AND it’s not always easy to save money on real food, I encourage you to buy healthy food in bulk whenever you can.
- Each rebate has a different rebate limit. For example, I would redeem the ice cream 5 times (because there’s a limit of 5), the yogurt rebates 3 times, etc. Your purchases may or may not be required to be on the same receipt, so read the rebate in Ibotta carefully to take advantage of the ones that will work for you.
EXAMPLES OF HEALTHY FOODS IN THE IBOTTA APP
- Dairy/dairy alternatives. Things like 50¢ on Halo Top ice cream, $1 on organic milk, 75¢ on cottage cheese, and 50¢ on eggs.
- Pantry. How about $1.50 on almond butter, 50¢ on chickpea pasta, $1 on pasta sauce, and $1 on 2 packs of Larabars?
- Beverages. $1 on coffee, 50¢ on juice, $2 on cold brew, and 45¢ on water kefir.
- Produce. 25¢ on sweet potatoes, 50¢ on Brussels sprouts, and 25¢ on blueberries.
- Meat. 75¢ on sausage links, 50¢ on tuna, and $1.25 on pork chops.
This is by no means an exhaustive list – I didn’t even write down half of the rebates that I found! There is a significant savings right there in these individual rebates alone, but at least half of these healthy food rebates qualified for bonuses too. If I took advantage of all the rebates I found that I would actually purchase, I’d qualify for another $14.50 back in bonus rebates…
That means the total amount I could save in ONE MONTH through rebates and bonuses on healthy food in Ibotta is $95.05.
HOLY SMOKES!!
I’ll be honest – I know I’ve been saving money on healthy food through Ibotta, but this is the first time I’ve actually calculated the potential savings. THAT’S INCREDIBLE!
IBOTTA FAQS
How does Ibotta make money?
Brands pay Ibotta a certain amount in an affiliate commission when users buy the products through the app, like when you use an affiliate link from an influencer online and they get a commission from the company. Ibotta also charges advertising fees for the ads or digital promotions that you may view to unlock savings. And finally, they sell non-personalized data (meaning they might note that 50% of people who buy Halo Top ice cream also buy Larabars, but it’s not attached to specific names or receipts – this is a made-up stat, but you get the picture).
Is Rakuten or Ibotta better?
For grocery savings, Ibotta is the better choice. While Rakuten can save you money shopping online, Ibotta gives you savings shopping in-store and online. Groupon is another good one to consider for online deals!
Does Ibotta give you real money?
Yes! I’ve gotten over $1000 in cash back from using Ibotta! That’s real cash earnings in my bank account!
SO SHOULD I USE IBOTTA?
Is Ibotta legit? In the end, Ibotta is one of the few grocery savings apps that I’ve tried and that I’ve still kept on my phone. It’s one of my favorite mobile apps and it’s well worth the few minutes of time I spend each week for the cashback I get in return.
SIGN UP FOR IBOTTA HERE!
Use this link to sign up for Ibotta and get $5 back after you upload your first receipt!
Hi I am having trouble sending the long reciepts, I do it in sections but just won’t g o through.
Have you tried contacting Ibotta? Or using a different internet service, maybe at a coffee shop? I’ve never had an issue with receipts going through, but it sounds like a connection issue.
What about online receipts from amazon and grocery stores where I pick up or have delivered? Can I upload those somehow?
If you have a receipt from a local store you picked up from, that should work. For online only stores (Amazon) you have to start at Ibotta to shop and click through to the mobile site.
Ibotta is not a full time income. But I made $70 in February and $68 in March so far. Don’t throw your receipts away. I bought some cereal in February and it continues to keep appearing on available rebates. The rebates paid for that cereal. Before I go shopping I see what items and brands that are in it. Recently I picked up a receipt blowing across Walmart parking lot. Took it home and made 1.75 by just picking it up.
My daughter talked me into getting this. I haven’t even gotten to the first five dollars, and she’s just ordered a serger with her earnings. I’ve never been a good coupon clipper for the same reason—I just don’t buy mainstream boxed food. I scroll for miles and can’t find one single item that I need or use. Clearly it works for some, but not others. I’ve gotten 50¢ off here and there for general shopping, but have yet to find something I would actually buy.
I was very happy with this app, until last December. I bought items on HSN thru Ibotta
And still did not get rebate after one month sending them email ever week. Planning to contact HSN directly and write bad review.
I shop first and then run my receipts thru Ibotta so I won’t be tempted to buy what is not on my list. The earnings are less but I think my overall savings are good. Wish I had joined thru your team link!! 😃 Save about $8 a month just on groceries and household supplies- need to remember to do online shopping thru Ibotta links
Well I have downloaded the app and it seems like a total waste of time to me I have bought items that they have on their site and everything seems to b not eligable. I never receive the free $20 sign on bonus I was promised and have spent to much time wasting my time trying to do what is suppose to b simple. I just don’t get it and after a month of use I only have $1. Not worth time or data or phone battery. Lol
Deborah – did you contact customer service about the sign-on bonus?
I just joined, do you need to add me to your team?
If you joined through my link Carol, you’re good to go!
I used Ibotta for almost 18 months then suddenly I was banned for assorted and various reasons. They were very unhelpful with their emails and I did not like the overall tone of the wording of the emails. It made me feel like a criminal and I don’t even know what I supposedly did wrong. I was accused of uploading shared receipts, fraudulent receipts, too many receipts, and so on. I usually uploaded about three receipts a week. Oh well I’m better off they taught me that virtual money is not money in my pocket. I will resume shopping at Aldi with low prices that keep the money in my pocket and I’m not depending on something that might evaporate before cashing out.
AMEN SISTER
I’ve been thrilled with it. We use it relatively passively so we don’t fall into the temptation to stray from our plan. If something happens to be on there that week – BONUS!!!
I just sit down once a week with my recipes and redeem what we can. We are making anywhere from $0.25 to $5.00+ a week.
I think the online cash back deals may be good and plan to start looking into those as the holidays near.
Got my pills at CVS, is medication covered also? Prob not, but have to ask. How to find what stores covered by Ibotta?l how to link existing paypal account to Ibotta? Thanks for your time, make good case for using Ibotta.
Just put down website dontwastethecrumbs as where read about ibotta.
I am so close to being done with ibotta about 30% of my submitted rebates are returned as “unable to process” or just refused. I have NEVER submitted any receipts that were not eligible so this is all bogus!!! Not worth the trouble when 30% of my rebates refused.
I’m sorry to hear that Jean! I’ve never had my rebates refused. Did they give you a reason? Have you tried emailing them to figure out where it’s not working?
Thank you
You are welcome. =)
I just got banned for “improper receipt uploading”. I was making $6-9 a week from any bar rebates. I would take work clients to bars and buy them any offer that I knew i could make a rebate off of. I don’t think they like cashing out, and I was banned at $69.
Ibotta was great, until they didn’t want to pay out. I have one store near my house and would frequently purchase new items based on a coupon from ibotta. I was soon banned from my account and could not cash in on the $30 I had steady accumulated during that time. Their reasoning for doing so kept changing. First it was improper receipt loading (I’m still unsure how to this day). When I asked them what I did wrong, it changed to too many uploads a week. And then again from using only one store. Some of the stuff they were acc using me of wasnt even stated in the terms. But I am still unaware of their reasoning. I had ibotta for almost a year, never had a problem when it wa’s a quarter here saved, a dollar there. But now just seems like they don’t want to pay up. Sorry for the rambling, JUST PLZ BEWARE when using this app.
Oh wow, I’m sorry you had a poor experience with them Amber. I’ve cashed out twice and haven’t had any issues. Have you tried making a new account with them?
I agree with this. I’ve been using Ibotta for over a year now and I have a substantial amount of money however I cannot redeem it. It tells me that my paypal account doesn’t match my Ibotta account or it says that my password isn’t right. I know my password is correct but what does it mean that my accounts doesn’t match? I’ve tried reaching out on the site many times but never receive a response.
I received that error one time, so I disconnected my Paypal account and then reconnected it. That fixed it!
I had this exact problem. I used the app for a year. Accumulated $30 dollars then tried to cash out and couldn’t. I tried several times with an Amazon gift card and then PayPal. I loved how easy it seemed and how I could use it with whole food purchases. I just can’t get the money I accumulated back for the effort I put in. It’s really frustrating because it did take maybe 15 minutes of my time during each grocery day, I could have been doing something else with that time.
To clarify, I didn’t have any improper reciept loading. My account was fine and still is. I just can’t cash out.
Have you tried contacting Ibotta Julie?
I had the same problem. It was just magically frozen. I am going to give it one more try-it is time consuming for some-I wish it would just cover all stores too! It happens again, I guess I will know.
I was really disappointed with ibotta. It seems the only real way to get money is to have friends sign up under you. We don’t buy much outside of meat, veggies, fruits, and flour – the rebates are mainly for brand named things that we wouldn’t buy anyways. For a little bit there was a rebate for ground beef, milk, bananas …. but I haven’t seen those in a while. I think as a money saving app for someone who isn’t getting people to sign up under their links it really stinks.
That’s unfortunate Amanda! I’ve actually found several offers on most weeks for healthy items. For example, there’s an offer (as I type this) for milk + oats, eggs, shredded cheese, corn on the cob, almond butter, bread, fresh basil, two types of oranges, 3 different brands of yogurt and all natural pork. Every week is different, but every week I find something we were going to buy anyway!
I agree, and I think what it comes down to is where you live. I live in a small town and the only rebates are processed snacks and beverages and medicines.. And alcohol. Alot of alcohol. When I search all rebates, not just the local ones, there are alot of ingredients, just not at my stores.
I downloaded the app a couple weeks ago, but my regular stores aren’t on there. I need to re-read your post more thoroughly to figure out how to make this work for us. It seems so complicated to me, but maybe if I just get in there and really figure it out it won’t be. New trick…older dog. 😂
I have been a Ibotta user for about a year now. I love it, but recently there are no good rebates I products I use. Need to put more of everyday products that you had in the past.
The rebates can be hit/miss some weeks Robyn, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the variety that keeps showing up. And there always seems to be something listed that I was going to buy anyway!
I’m in you’re grocery budget Bootcamp, and last week i found ibotta by looking up some grocery trackers for the phone. So far i have $15 earned. But i do have same question as the person above, if I’m already part of ibotta, how do i join the team for the extra bonuses? I saw those before, tried to unlock them, but it didn’t work
Hi Oksana! Unfortunately we can’t join teams unless you sign up under my link. You can, however, become teammates with your friends on Facebook. Congrats on your earnings so far!!
If I already have an Ibotta account is there any way to connect to your team?
Hi Rosetta! Unfortunately we can’t join teams after the fact – you have to sign up under my link. HOWEVER, you can become teammates with your friends on Facebook and still earn bonuses through them!
Can we friend you on Facebook to join your team?
That’s about the only good use of Facebook, haha.
LOL – unfortunately Mikayla I don’t use FB for a personal account. But I agree with you on FB’s purpose! 😉
I had 10 of my friend join under my code they said I would get $5.00 for each one never got anything
Sandy – the referral is credited only if your friend redeems a rebate with 30 days.
It seems like those details about not getting the promotions for getting others to join are very much in fine print Sandy. That is why I dont ever bug my friends to do those things. It now says you get !10.00 for using your first rebate. I had my boyfriend buy something from a specific store so I could use the receipt for the 3.00 AND get the 10.00 bonus and I have yet to receive either one. I have contacted customer service to get it straightened out and if someone doesn’t get to me soon I am deactivating my account and looking for a different app. to be honest I have made a ton of rebates with Ebates which seems much better!
I joined through one of your links, am I on your team now? Or do I have to do something else to get on your team?
That’s all you have to do H – welcome!!
What is the deal with a “team” with Ibotta? Also, I submitted a receipt to Ibotta September 6th and it is almost a week later and it is still not showing up on my account. It was my first time using it and so far I am a little nervous about it and afraid to put my paypal infornation.
Hi Sharon! When you sign up under someone, you become part of their “team” and together, you work towards earning bonus rebates. As for not getting a rebate from Ibotta, I’d suggest contacting customer service!
At first I ONLY had to scan my receipts now that my account is up to $4.75 it’s now asking me to scan each item barcode in addition to receipts. So what’s going on here because it’s seems like Ibotta is trying not to give me the money that it promised me by making it hard to redeem items. Nobody wants to go through any extra trouble that’s why WE ALL DONT USE COUPONS IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!! My opinion of Ibotta just made a drastic turn from good and easy to hard and time consuming… If I wanted to do all that I would be better off going back to coupons at least after my long shopping day I could put the groceries away and rest with my money STILL IN MY POCKET!!!
With the exception of produce and “any brand,” I’ve always had to scan both the item and the receipt…