Ibotta vs Rakuten – Which Cashback App is Better in 2024?

Ibotta vs Rakuten- which is really better? If you like earning cashback when shopping (who doesn’t), you have likely come across Ibotta and Rakuten. Both are wildly popular cashback apps that pay you to shop. While they have some similarities, they have many differences too, catering to different audiences.

Whether you’ve received an Ibotta referral or Rakuten referral, there are pros and cons to each which we cover in this guide.

What is Ibotta?

Ibotta, like Rakuten, is a cashback app. You shop at certain stores and buy certain products and Ibotta pays you to do it. You can shop both in-store and online, but you must activate the offers within Ibotta to earn the rewards.

Once you earn $20, you can cash out your earnings, receiving cash via PayPal or Venmo. There’s no limit as to how much you can earn, but you must activate the offers to earn the cashback.

How Does Ibotta Work?

Most people know Ibotta for its cashback program on groceries. Before you head to the store, you open your Ibotta app and activate any offers for products you’d buy. You check out at the store like you normally would and upload your receipt to Ibotta. Once Ibotta verifies your purchases, they’ll credit your account with the rewards earned. It usually takes around 48 hours.

If you want to make it a little easier, link your store loyalty account to Ibotta so you don’t have to upload the receipt. Ibotta automatically knows about your purchases and credits your account within 48 hours.

If you want other ways to earn an Ibotta bonus, you can also shop online. Ibotta has a mobile app that you can use to shop at your favorite retailers. When you make a purchase, Ibotta will credit your account for the promised cashback. Each store offers a different bonus.

You can also shop from your PC or laptop using the Ibotta browser extension. When you visit a store’s website, Ibotta will pop up and tell you if there’s an offer for the products you’re looking at or the store you’re shopping. If you shop within the link provided, you’ll earn cashback for your purchase. Read more about Ibotta in this Ibotta Review. 

What are the Benefits of Ibotta?

Ibotta has many benefits including:

What are the Downsides of Ibotta?

What is the Ibotta Referral Program?

If you’ve received an Ibotta referral code, it’s from someone who uses Ibotta and wants you to use it too. Once you’re an Ibotta member (it’s free), you too can share your Ibotta refer a friend code and earn bonuses too.

Here’s how it works.

There’s no limit to the number of people you can refer and sometimes Ibotta runs specials that give you even higher bonuses for referring more friends or family to Ibotta. Also, if you sign-up with an Ibotta referral code you get a $20 sign-up bonus. Read this Ibotta referral article to learn more guidelines on how the Ibotta referral program works.

What is Rakuten?

Rakuten, which was formerly Ebates, is another cash-back app that pays you to shop. Rakuten is available as a mobile app and browser extension that’s easy to use to shop for your favorite products online.

Unlike Ibotta, Rakuten doesn’t have an in-store option – you only get paid for shopping online. Rakuten works as a referral service, getting paid from the retailers in its network when users make a purchase.

How Does Rakuten Work?

Most people use Rakuten to shop online and earn cashback. You can either log into your Rakuten account on their website, use the mobile app, or the browser extension to learn about cashback opportunities at your favorite stores.

Rakuten pays members the cashback earned every 3 months via check or PayPal. You can also make money using Rakuten in the following ways:

If you want to learn more about Rakuten, read this Rakuten Review for an in-depth evaluation and more info about the platform.

What are the Benefits of Rakuten?

There are many benefits of using Rakuten including:

What are the Downsides of Rakuten?

What is the Rakuten Referral Program?

The Rakuten referral program pays you to refer friends and family to Rakuten. You can even share your unique code on social media or in your email to get even more people to sign up.

New users (they can’t have a current Rakuten account), can use your code to sign up and once they make a purchase (must be within 90 days), you’ll earn a small commission. There’s no limit to the number of referrals you can have, so the sky is the limit when earning a referral bonus. Also, when you sign-up with a Rakuten referral link, you get a $30 reward. For the guidelines on the Rakuten referral, you may read this Rakuten referral program article to get more information and updates.

Which is Better – Ibotta or Rakuten?

Everyone wants to know, what’s better Ibotta or Rakuten? The answer isn’t cut and dry – it depends on your shopping style, how often you want to get paid, and the type of people you may refer to the program. Overall, Ibotta is best for those who like to earn cash back on their groceries. You’ll see many more cashback offers for groceries in-store than online purchases, although they have their fair share of online deals too. If you have the time to sort through the offers, activate them, and upload your receipt, you can earn cashback quickly since most people grocery shop weekly.

If you like to earn cashback on other purchases and mostly shop online, Rakuten is the better option. It’s easy to use and your earnings add up quickly. You don’t need to activate offers – as long as you shop through the Rakuten app or use the browser extension, you won’t miss an opportunity to earn cashback. Both apps have a great referral program. If you use Ibotta, share your Ibotta referral and let your earnings add up. You can cash out every time you have $20, which if you regularly refer people and shop, can be often.

If you use Rakuten more, share your Rakuten referral code online. Your social media pages are a great place to share them. Unlike Ibotta, you must wait 3 months to get paid, but you only need $5 to cash out, which means most people cash out four times a year if they use Rakuten even a little bit.

Other than Rakuten, there are other similar platforms like Swagbucks and Fetch. If you want to know how these platforms compare with Ibotta, we’ve got you covered. Read Ibotta vs Fetch and Ibotta vs Swagbucks.

Final Thoughts

Rakuten and Ibotta are both great apps and you can double dip using both and making the most of your money. Every time you shop, between the two apps, you have a good chance of earning some decent cashback.

Even if you only earn $1 or less, every penny adds up and when you can cash out either in cash or as a gift card, it’s like getting paid to shop. It doesn’t get any better than that! If you receive an Ibotta or Rakuten referral, take advantage of the opportunity to earn money shopping. It’s a great way to save some money and have a little fun shopping knowing that you’re getting paid to do it!