The average smartphone user has access to dozens of apps that can put real money back in their pocket. But between legitimate cashback apps, coupon finders, price trackers, and deal aggregators, the landscape is confusing — and many apps promise more than they deliver.
This review covers the 10 best coupon and savings apps available in 2016 based on real-world savings potential, ease of use, and breadth of participating retailers. We'll also explain how to stack multiple apps for compound savings — a technique most users never discover.
How Coupon Apps Are Categorized
Before diving into reviews, it's useful to understand that not all coupon apps work the same way:
Cashback apps: You shop normally, then photograph your receipt. The app matches your purchases against its offer list and deposits cash to your account. Examples: Ibotta, Checkout 51, SavingStar.
Digital coupon apps: The app provides coupons you activate before shopping. Discounts are applied at checkout when you scan your loyalty card or show the app. Examples: Coupons.com app, store-specific apps (Target, Walgreens, CVS).
Browser extensions (desktop): Auto-apply promo codes and notify you of cashback opportunities while shopping online. Examples: Honey, RetailMeNot Genie.
Price tracker apps: Monitor prices and alert you to drops. Examples: CamelCamelCamel alerts, Honey's Droplist.
Deal aggregators: Compile current sales, clearance, and coupon codes from multiple sources. Examples: RetailMeNot app, Flipp.
Ibotta — The King of Grocery Cashback
Platform: iOS and Android
Best for: Grocery shopping, drugstores, and select retail stores
Average monthly savings: $20–$50 for regular grocery shoppers
Ibotta is the most powerful cashback app for grocery shopping. Before heading to the store, you unlock offers in the app by completing simple tasks (watching a short video, answering a poll, or clicking "learn more"). After shopping, you photograph your receipt, and cash is deposited to your Ibotta account.
What makes Ibotta exceptional:
- Available at over 300 retail partners including Walmart, Kroger, Target, Walgreens, CVS, and most major grocery chains
- Offers cover brand-name products and some generic ones
- "Any item" offers (e.g., $0.25 any brand of yogurt) are broadly applicable
- Bonus earnings for hitting monthly purchase milestones
- Referral bonuses for inviting friends
Tips for maximizing Ibotta:
- Unlock offers before shopping, not after — some offers require pre-purchase activation
- Combine Ibotta cashback with store sales and manufacturer coupons for triple savings
- The "Any Brand" and "Any Item" offers are the most flexible — prioritize these
- Cash out once you hit the $20 minimum — funds transfer to PayPal or Venmo
Potential monthly savings: An active Ibotta user shopping for a family of four can realistically earn $40–$60 per month.
Checkout 51 - The Set-It-and-Forget-It Alternative
Platform: iOS and Android
Best for: Shoppers who prefer simplicity over maximum optimization
Average monthly savings: $15–$35
Checkout 51 works similarly to Ibotta but with less upfront activation required. Offers update every Thursday, and you simply photograph your receipt after shopping to claim cashback on matching purchases.
Key differences from Ibotta:
- No pre-purchase offer unlocking required
- Works at any store (not limited to partner retailers) — just photograph the receipt
- Slightly fewer offers than Ibotta but easier workflow
- Minimum cashout threshold is $20 (via check)
Best strategy: Use Checkout 51 for purchases not covered by Ibotta, or run both simultaneously on the same receipt (they work on different offers and both can be applied to the same shopping trip).
SavingStar — The Loyalty Card Link
Platform: iOS and Android (also web-based)
Best for: Shoppers who want automatic cashback without receipt scanning
SavingStar connects directly to your grocery store loyalty card. When you activate an offer in the SavingStar app and make the qualifying purchase at a linked store, cashback is deposited automatically — no receipt scanning required.
Why it stands out:
- Zero friction once linked — savings happen automatically
- Works at over 65,000 grocery and drugstore locations
- Both brand-specific and "any brand" offers available
Limitation: Available at participating stores only. If your primary grocery store isn't a SavingStar partner, the utility is limited.
Honey — The Best Browser Extension for Online Shopping
Platform: Chrome, Firefox, Safari browser extension
Best for: Online shopping on any device with a supported browser
Average monthly savings: Varies widely; $10–$100+ depending on online shopping volume
Honey is the gold standard for online coupon code automation. When you're on the checkout page of any participating online store, Honey automatically searches for and tests available coupon codes, applying the best one.
What makes Honey valuable:
- Completely automatic — zero effort required after installation
- Works on thousands of online retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Target, eBay, and hundreds of smaller stores
- The "Droplist" feature tracks Amazon prices and alerts you to drops
- "Honey Gold" rewards program provides additional cashback on purchases at participating stores
- Free installation takes 30 seconds
One limitation: Honey doesn't always find codes, and sometimes applies a code that saves $0.01 when a better code exists. For high-value purchases, manually check CouponReals.com to ensure you have the best available code.
Best practice: Install Honey as your baseline tool, then check CouponReals.com manually for purchases over $50.
RetailMeNot — The Largest Coupon Database
Platform: iOS, Android, and web
Best for: Finding promo codes for any online store; in-store coupons at participating retailers
Code database: 500,000+ offers across 70,000+ stores
RetailMeNot is the most comprehensive coupon aggregator app. Its database covers more stores than any competitor, and user ratings on each code tell you how recently it worked.
RetailMeNot app features:
- Store-specific coupon pages with all available codes
- In-store deals using the "Nearby" feature (location-based)
- Cashback offers through the RetailMeNot Cash Back program
- Email alerts for new deals from stores you follow
How to use the rating system: Each code shows a percentage of users who successfully applied it. A code with 80%+ success rate in the past 24 hours is almost certainly still active.
Flipp — Your Digital Weekly Circular Hub
Platform: iOS and Android
Best for: Grocery and household shoppers who plan purchases from weekly circulars
Flipp aggregates weekly circulars from hundreds of retailers — grocery stores, pharmacies, electronics stores, and big-box retailers — into a single app. Instead of collecting a pile of paper circulars, you browse all your local stores' sales in one place.
Standout features:
- "Clip" deals from multiple stores into a unified shopping list
- Search function finds a specific product across all available circulars simultaneously (e.g., search "chicken breast" to see which store has the best price this week)
- Coupon clipper function for available digital and printable coupons
- Syncs with store loyalty cards at participating retailers
Best use case: Sunday planning sessions. Spend 15 minutes reviewing Flipp before the week begins, identify the best deals at each store, and plan your shopping trips accordingly.
Target's Cartwheel App — Essential for Target Shoppers
Platform: iOS and Android (also on Target's main app)
Best for: Exclusively Target shoppers
Cartwheel is Target's in-house digital coupon app, and it's genuinely exceptional. Offers change weekly, covering everything from groceries to clothing to electronics, and discounts are deeper than most external coupon codes (often 10–30% off specific items).
The Cartwheel advantage:
- Stacks with Target's RedCard discount (5% off) and manufacturer coupons
- "Spinning the wheel" reveals new daily offers
- Social sharing feature lets you share good deals with friends
- Exclusive app-only deals not available through other channels
Maximum Target savings strategy: Stack Cartwheel offer + Target RedCard (5%) + manufacturer coupon + Ibotta cashback on the same item. On a product where all four align, effective discounts of 40–60% are achievable.
CVS ExtraCare App — For Drugstore Optimization
Platform: iOS and Android
Best for: CVS shoppers using the ExtraCare rewards system
CVS's ExtraCare program is the most complex (and most lucrative) drugstore rewards system in the US. The app makes it manageable.
Key features:
- Digitally clip ExtraBucks Rewards offers before shopping
- View your current ExtraBucks balance
- Receive personalized "mystery" offers based on your purchase history
- Scan items in-store to see if ExtraBucks deals are active
- Access CarePass member benefits (for paid CarePass subscribers)
Why this matters: CVS regularly runs scenarios where items are free or better-than-free (the coupon value exceeds the sale price, generating overage applied to your order). Having the app loaded with clipped offers before you enter the store is essential for capturing these deals.
Walgreens App — Balance Rewards and Digital Coupons
Platform: iOS and Android
Best for: Walgreens shoppers
Walgreens' Balance Rewards program competes directly with CVS ExtraCare. The app centralizes your points balance, digital coupon clipping, and circular browsing.
Notable features:
- Digital coupon clipping for instant in-store savings
- Points tracker (Balance Rewards points are redeemed for dollar discounts)
- Prescription management with automatic rewards points for Rx refills
- "Clip all" function to activate all available coupons at once
Walgreens savings ceiling: With manufacturer coupons + Register Rewards + Balance Rewards points, drugstore personal care items frequently reach free or near-free territory at Walgreens. The app is essential for tracking all the moving pieces.
GasBuddy — Savings on Every Fill-Up
Platform: iOS and Android
Best for: Drivers looking to minimize fuel costs
GasBuddy is technically not a coupon app, but it functions as one for gas purchases. The app uses crowdsourced data to show real-time gas prices at every station near you, making it trivial to find the cheapest fuel within a reasonable radius.
GasBuddy savings potential:
- Finding gas $0.10/gallon cheaper than your usual station saves $1.50–$2.00 per fill-up
- GasBuddy's Pay with GasBuddy card provides additional per-gallon savings at partner stations
- Fuel rewards linked to grocery store loyalty programs (e.g., Kroger Fuel Points) can be tracked through GasBuddy
For a family driving 15,000 miles per year in a vehicle averaging 25 MPG (600 gallons consumed), saving $0.15/gallon averages $90 per year — not transformative, but free money with zero effort beyond checking the app.
How to Stack Multiple Apps for Maximum Savings
The real power of coupon apps comes from stacking them. Here's how:
In-store grocery shopping:
- Review Flipp to identify the best sale prices for the week
- Clip Ibotta offers for items on your list before leaving home
- Clip Checkout 51 offers for any items not covered by Ibotta
- Clip digital coupons in your store's loyalty app (Kroger, Safeway, etc.)
- Clip any manufacturer coupons from Coupons.com for your items
- Shop, scanning loyalty card at checkout
- Photograph receipt in Ibotta and Checkout 51 when you get home
Online shopping:
- Search CouponReals.com for promo codes for the store
- Activate cashback through Ebates or TopCashback
- Let Honey auto-apply any additional promo codes at checkout
- For Amazon specifically: check clip-on coupons on the product page
Target:
- Check Cartwheel for offers on your items
- Check Ibotta for Target-eligible cashback offers
- Check CouponReals.com for Target promo codes
- Pay with RedCard for automatic 5% off
- Submit receipt to Ibotta/Checkout 51 after purchase
Which Apps Should You Install First?
If you're starting from zero, prioritize:
Week 1:
- Ibotta (grocery cashback)
- Honey browser extension (online shopping automation)
- Your primary store's loyalty app (Kroger/Safeway/Target/Walmart)
Week 2:
- Checkout 51 (complements Ibotta)
- RetailMeNot or CouponReals.com as your code lookup tool
- Flipp (circular aggregator)
Week 3+:
- CVS or Walgreens app if relevant to your shopping
- GasBuddy
- SavingStar
Each app takes less than 5 minutes to set up. The learning curve is primarily about building the habit of checking before you shop — which becomes automatic within 2–3 weeks.
Realistic Monthly Savings Estimates by Shopper Type
| Shopper Profile | Apps Used | Estimated Monthly Savings |
|---|---|---|
| Casual online shopper | Honey + CouponReals.com | $10–$25 |
| Regular grocery shopper | Ibotta + Flipp + store app | $25–$50 |
| Drugstore heavy user | CVS/Walgreens app + Ibotta | $20–$60 |
| Power saver (all channels) | All apps, stacking | $100–$200+ |
Conclusion
The best coupon apps aren't the ones with the most features — they're the ones you'll actually use consistently. Start with one or two apps that match your primary shopping environment, use them on every shopping trip for 30 days, and track your savings.
Once the habit is established, add more apps from this list. Each addition compounds your savings rather than adding complexity, particularly when you learn to stack app cashback with store sales, digital coupons, and promo codes simultaneously.
The shoppers saving $150–$200+ per month with apps aren't spending more time shopping. They're simply running through a quick pre-shopping checklist that takes 5 minutes and has become second nature.
Related articles:
- How to Find Working Coupon Codes for Any Store
- 15 Extreme Couponing Tips to Save $500 a Month
- Best Coupon Browser Extensions Reviewed and Ranked
