Fetch Rewards Review 2024: Pros, Cons, and How It Works

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Fetch Rewards scans my email inbox for my weekly Target diaper run and awards me robust cash back on purchases I was destined to make anyways. Here's how the app works and a few simple hacks for earning the most.

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There are dozens of apps to help you save money when you shop.

Some give cash back while others offer gift cards and discounts at your favorite stores and on your favorite products. But they all have one thing in common: saving you money on everyday purchases.

However, not all money saved is worth the time and effort put in. Luckily, Fetch Rewards requires little of both. It’s one of the easiest-to-use cash-back apps available and perfect for shoppers who are loyal to brands over stores. If you like the idea of earning free gift cards without much effort, then the Fetch app might be a good fit for you.

What Is Fetch Rewards?

Free Price No cost to download and use
DollarSprout Rating No option to link cards

Fetch Rewards gives users cash back on grocery purchases. You don't have to select your deals ahead of time. Just shop as usual and scan your receipt after. Fetch Rewards will let you know if anything you bought is eligible for cash back. Exchange your points for free gift cards to hundreds of retailers.

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Pros

  • Free to download and use
  • No need to select deals ahead of time
  • Earn points for referring friends and family
  • Quick turnaround when redeeming points
  • Scan eReceipts through your email
  • Helpful and quick customer support

Cons

  • No option to link store loyalty cards
  • Gift cards are the only reward option (no cash)
  • Rewards expire if you don’t scan a receipt for 90 days
  • eReceipt scanning is sometimes glitchy

Fetch Rewards, also referred to as just Fetch, is a cash-back rewards app that allows you to earn points when you purchase from thousands of products at over 300 brand partner stores. To redeem points, simply scan your receipt through the app or connect your email address to scan eReceipts.

Brands partner with Fetch because, in addition to incentivizing consumers to purchase their products, Fetch provides brands with analytics to help them better understand consumer shopping habits.

But don’t worry. Fetch never shares your personal information with anyone.

Fetch Rewards Review: How Does This App Work?

Fetch is similar to other rewards and receipt-scanning apps, but it has some unique features that set the app apart.

1. Sign up for a free account with a Fetch Rewards code.

To get started, you’ll need to sign up for a free account. If you’ve been referred by a current user, make sure to use their referral code so you can get a welcome bonus and they can secure a 2,000-point bonus as well.

You can use Fetch Rewards code FETCH2K at sign up to get $2 in bonus points.

Personal take: Sign up is easy and takes just a few minutes. The 2,000 bonus points showed up in my account balance after I scanned my first receipt.

2. Get familiar with Fetch Rewards brand partners.

Fetch Rewards Mockup PointsFetch offers points for every receipt scanned, but you’ll get more points when you make purchases from brand partners like Huggies, Tostitos, and St. Ives.

Once you download the app, familiarize yourself with the Fetch Rewards brands that earn you extra points. You don’t need to download any coupons or activate any rebates to get the extra points; you simply need to remember that these brands offer them.

Personal take: With a one-year-old, the brand I redeem the most is Huggies and they tend to have the best rewards. I frequently get 6,000 points on a single pack of diapers and recently there was a 12,000-point bonus.

3. Grocery shop as normal.

Since there’s no extra work to earn points, like selecting offers in advance or clipping coupons, you can shop like you normally would and the points are added to your account as soon as you scan your receipt.

Fetch partners with over 300 brands to offer extra points every time you shop. Some brands will tell you which products and how many points, but others aren’t specific. If a point value isn’t listed, you can usually expect to receive 10 to 25 points for buying any product from that brand, and special offers from brand partners might earn you up to 5,000 bonus points.

There might even be times you’re surprised with extra points when you scan a receipt. That occasionally happens to me if I unknowingly buy a partner product.

You can also get points on prescriptions when you use your SingleCare Digital Savings code. You can find your unique code within the Fetch Rewards app. Simply present your SingleCare Digital code to your pharmacist when you fill a prescription at a participating pharmacy and you’ll earn bonus points.

You can learn more about SingleCare in the Fetch Rewards FAQ.

Personal take: I’m not particularly name-brand loyal, so I don’t seek out brand partners. However, it’s nice to get the occasional bonus points. I also love that, unlike other cash-back apps I’ve used before, there’s no need to search through deals, commit to a purchase, or complete a task before you go shopping. 

Related: 14 Smart Ways to Save Money at the Grocery Store

Fetch Rewards Mockup Receipts4. Scan your receipts for points.

After you shop, scan your receipt to add points to your account. You’ll earn a minimum of five points per receipt at any retailer. Most receipts from major grocery stores and retailers will earn you a base of 25 points.

It’s important to scan receipts not just to get points, but to keep them. You must scan a receipt or enter an eReceipt at least every 90 days or your points will expire, including points received for referrals.

And, if you’re doing a lot of shopping, remember you can only scan a maximum of 14 receipts per week.

Personal take: Although Fetch’s receipt-scanning system is easy, it isn’t flawless. For example, I have a Walmart Grocery eReceipt that I’ve been trying to upload but for some reason, Fetch’s system can’t find it and another eReceipt was incorrectly marked as a duplicate. On the other hand, I’ve also received bonus points for products I didn’t buy.

Whenever something’s not right, contact the customer support team through the Contact Us button in the app’s Help Center or email support@fetchrewards.com. They’ve always been quick to respond and fix any issue I’ve had.

5. Invite your friends to try it.

If you enjoy using Fetch, you can earn even more by referring friends. Each referral is worth 2,000 to 4,000 points. And every friend you refer will get 2,000 points once they scan their first receipt.

You can see when Fetch is offering higher referral bonuses on the homepage of the app and keep track of your referral history and unique referral link in My Account under the Refer a Friend section.

Personal Take: I’ve referred two friends when the referral bonus was 4,000 points. The extra points are nice, but it’s not as reliable as getting the Special Offers bonuses.

Related: 17 Cash-Back Apps and Browser Extensions You Need to Have

Fetch Rewards Mockup Points6. Cash out your earnings.

Fetch Rewards has one of the lowest thresholds for cashout of any rewards app I’ve used.

You can redeem 100 points for a sweepstakes entry, and once you reach 3,000 you can cash out points for donations to partner charities. Once you reach 5,000 points, or $5 in total earnings, you can begin to redeem your points for most gift cards.

You will need more points if you want to redeem for a MasterCard or Visa gift card, or you can redeem points for magazine subscriptions at a lower rate.

Personal take: So far I’ve been able to redeem my points for a $10 Amazon gift card, and I have enough points to get a $5 gift card. If you take advantage of special offers, it doesn’t take long to accumulate enough points to cash out. It’s a lot faster than most other savings apps.

Fetch Rewards Alternatives

Fetch can be used in combination with other apps and coupons, leading to bigger savings. But if scanning receipts feels like too much work or you’d rather receive cash instead of gift cards, there are some alternatives to Fetch Rewards.

Ibotta

Fetch Rewards and Ibotta are fairly similar. The points value system for both Fetch and Ibotta is comparable and both accept receipts from almost any retailer or restaurant.

The big difference is Ibotta requires you to select certain products in advance to earn rebates. With Fetch, you can shop like you normally do and any partner product you purchase is automatically eligible for extra points.

Ibotta also has rebates for “Any Brand” items that Fetch doesn’t. You can get rebates on many generic brand products whenever they’re available for rebates in the app. And unlike Fetch, Ibotta automatically scans eReceipts. I’ve experienced fewer glitches in that department with Ibotta.

Ibotta also allows you to earn actual cash instead of redeeming for gift cards, which can be much more useful to some users. However, Ibotta’s minimum cash out is $20 whereas Fetch’s is $5 for most gift cards.

Dosh

Dosh is another alternative to Fetch, partnering with over 100,000 stores to offer cash back on your shopping. And you won’t just earn cash back on certain items; you can earn it simply for shopping in a particular store.

While there’s a lot of variety, you may not find your favorite grocery store on Dosh. For instance, in my area, Dosh only offers cash back on Sam’s Club, Costco, and BJ’s memberships. But it does offer cash back at many local restaurants without the need to scan receipts.

To earn cash back, simply link your credit or debit cards to Dosh and anytime you use them at a partner retailer, you’ll automatically get cash back. It’s a simpler process, but Dosh has a cash-out minimum of $25, higher than Fetch and Ibotta.

Fetch Ibotta Dosh
Good for brand-name grocery products Good for generic grocery products Good for dining at restaurants
Detects eReceipts but must scan physical receipts Automatically detects eReceipts or scan physical No need to scan receipts
Automatically detects products Requires you to select products for cash back Automatically detects purchases
Pays in gift cards Pays cash Pays cash
Author
Jen Smith

Hi, I'm Jen! As a best-selling Amazon author writing about minimalism, spending less, and making more money, my work has been featured in U.S. News and World Report, Yahoo Finance, Money Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. In 2017 my husband and I finished paying off $78,000 of debt and that's what I help others do here.

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