I have had Fetch installed about 2 years and Ibotta for longer, though I hadn't done much with it until probably the past year. I like to try out apps to see how they work and if they will work out for me. Which is better, Ibotta or Fetch? And which money saving app is worth your time?
Here goes...
Deal variety: Ibotta wins hands down. There are literally thousands of offers I could do at any multitude of stores. To redeem via Ibotta, though, it has to be a store that they are affiliated with, which can mean a mom and pop grocery store is not on the their list. Fetch does have brand partners, but far less than Ibotta (though theirs are fairly steady partners, like Unilever, for example).
Money for "any" item: Ibotta wins here, too. The stores it supports will have various offers (usually 10 cents for me) for any milk, any bananas, any dog food, etc. Sometimes these are offers I use and often not. However, if you get an offer for .10 off any canned cat food, you're probably going to grab one and buy it since some money off is better than none.
Frees: Oh, who doesn't love a good freebie? I love freebies, of course, and I like to try new and exciting products. Ibotta tends to offer more free after rebate offers (depending upon store; for me, Walmart has had the most available in the past year), though Fetch has had some pretty spectacular deals that were not free, but also let you get more than one. For instance, Fetch recently had an offer on Klondike Cones. It was limit 5 and they would have been free had my store carried them. Lots of lucky shoppers stocked up their freezers on those. Last summer, I got some Popsicle Twists that were free and I was able to hide some in the downstairs freezer away from the kids. Right now, Fetch has an offer for free Viennetta and I'm hoping to find it before the offer disappears. I would call this a draw, perhaps Ibotta leading just a bit because of the frequency of free offers (though lots of times, too, my store doesn't carry the products.)
What Fetch has that Ibotta doesn't: Fetch gives you the ability to scan any grocery receipt and get some points. I'm not saying that the points are great, but it is at least something for the effort. Scanning takes two seconds of your life and the points eventually add up. Ibotta does not accept receipts unless they are tied to an offer.
What Ibotta has that Fetch doesn't: PayPal. Honestly, this is a huge negative for Fetch because though you can claim gift cards (starting at 3,000 points = $3.00), I like to reclaim my offers in cold, hard cash. I mentioned before about Shopkicks and that one also does not offer PayPal, but I redeem for Target for my college kid anyway. I really like couponing apps to offer you the ability to literally put that money back into your pocket.
Payment threshold: Fetch offers some rewards (Amazon, Target, Dunkin, et al.) starting at 3,000 points or $3. This is a low threshold and not having to save up points forever is nice. One caveat is that for Fetch you will need to wait a day to redeem if you just put in a receipt and reached the threshold. But if you had enough points in there already, you do not need to wait. This is a security feature. With Ibotta, you have to reach $20 to cash out. You also need to link to your PayPal account to receive cash. Depending on how often you are redeeming deals, it could take a bit of time. Or if you're a serious shopper, not as much time as you'd think, especially if you are able to snag free items that you get all of your money back on.
So which is better? I honestly like Ibotta better than Fetch. I earn more back on Ibotta, but last year got about $50 back in gift cards from Fetch. Both apps are worth doing, especially if you recognize that Fetch will earn at a slower rate (unless you find a great free item you can buy and redeem for multiple times).
Pinching Abe does, from time to time, include referral links and/or affiliate links within the body of the text. Please be aware that clicking on any of these and/or shopping through those links may benefit her by way of earning money toward a commission for referring you to specific deals or sites.
