Everybody welcomes free money. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? And while you may have heard the saying, there’s no such thing as free money, that’s not exactly the case. Believe it or not, many websites offer just that – all you have to do is sign up and get free money. Not a bad way to make a buck!
In this post, you’ll find out exactly which platforms do this. Sites will offer you plenty of incentives (like free money) just to get you to download their app and click on their website.
Sign-Up and Get Free Money: Are These Claims Legit?
So, is it possible to sign up and get free money? Most of the time, these claims are legit! But if you’ve been concerned about which platforms to trust with your information, I have some reputable websites and apps that offer you free money just for signing up.
In some cases, these apps offer cash-back incentives for shopping; some are designed for investing, and others are meant for watching videos and participating in surveys.
There are plenty of ways to earn free money! And if you stick around with them, you can probably earn even more. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me!
While you won’t become a millionaire with these sign-up bonuses and apps, it is technically free money that goes straight into your pocket. You can earn some extra cash rewards to go towards that item you’ve been saving for or your much-loved vacation fund.
To start earning your free money, check out these 18 apps and websites that allow you to sign up and get free money.
Cashback Apps to Sign Up and Get Free Money
Cashback apps help you earn a little bit of money when you shop online using their service. The apps below offer an additional welcome bonus you can turn into free cash just for signing up for a new account (the internet is a beautiful thing!).
Simply install them on your mobile device via Android or iOS and get started.
Please note: Each site’s offers may change from time to time – you may get even more cash if they are running special promotions!
1. Ibotta
Get a $5-$10 welcome bonus when you register for Ibotta using this referral link. Many people use the Ibotta app to save on grocery shopping. With the app, you can scan your receipts and earn cashback. You can also link loyalty accounts that automatically apply codes at checkout when shopping online.
After uploading your first receipt, your sign-up bonus is added to your account. You must reach $20 in rewards before cashing out via PayPal, Venmo, or a gift card to popular brands. You have 30 days from joining to upload that first receipt to get your bonus.
In addition, you can earn a referral bonus by referring your friends or by using a friend’s referral code. You’ll both get a bonus once you redeem your first receipt.
According to Ibotta, users earn an average of $261 per year using the app, essentially earning free money.
2. BeFrugal
Another cashback app, BeFrugal, helps you earn up to 40% cashback from more than 4,000 stores. Once you have earned your first $10 in cashback, you can also get a $10 sign-up bonus.
This ensures that you actually use the app before you get your bonus. Your earnings will be deposited into your bank account via direct deposit, PayPal, or other means.
Plus, if you share with a friend via a referral code, you can get a $15 referral bonus as well. Of course, this one may not be as instant as others, but it’s still a notable deal!
3. Rakuten
Sometimes, you have to spend money to make money, and when it comes to coupon sites and cashback apps, no one does it better than Rakuten. This app allows you to earn cashback and exclusive discounts when you make an online purchase at one of their partnered sites!
When you make your first purchase using the app, you can get a cash bonus! Plus, you can currently refer a friend for a $30 reward after their first qualifying purchase within 90 days.
With Rakuten, you’ll receive your earnings quarterly via check or PayPal cash.
4. TopCashback
TopCashback labels itself as the USA’s most generous cashback app, claiming that members earn an average of $450 in cashback per year.
While we don’t know how much you have to use the app to get that much cashback, we do know that you can often get a sign-up bonus and earn cashback on over 4,000 of their partnered retailers.
Use the app, desktop extension, or website directly when shopping online, and you’ll earn cashback and bonuses in no time.
5. Fetch Rewards
If you’re on the hunt for the best receipt scanning app, Fetch Rewards might just take the top prize!
Fetch Rewards is one of the top market research companies offering you cash back for simply photographing your receipts. Shop grocery stores, electronics, gas stations, and other retailers to receive free gift cards and cash sweepstakes entries.
While Fetch doesn’t offer direct cash, you can earn Amazon gift cards and Visa gift cards to maximize your spending potential.
If you sign up using a friend’s referral link, you’ll receive bonus points; just remember to enter the code before uploading your first receipt!
Their app is available on both Apple and Android through Google Play for convenient savings. It’s a great way to earn some extra money through a low-effort side hustle.
6. Shopkick
Shopkick is a rewards app that allows you to earn kicks (points) for various activities, including walking into a participating retailer and activating the app, scanning barcodes in-store, scanning receipts, shopping online, and taking quizzes.
Like other apps on this list, Shopkick will reward you with free money in the form of 500 bonus kicks ($2.00) when you sign up and earn 50 kicks in-store within 7 days. Currently, it takes 2,500 kicks to get a $10 reward.
Rewards include gift cards from Starbucks, Walmart, Amazon, PayPal, and more!
7. Capital One Shopping
Another way to sign up and get free money is by joining Capital One Shopping, a cashback and discount shopping platform and app.
When you sign up as a new user using this referral link, you’ll earn $40 in rewards by downloading their browser extension and keeping it on your device for 90 days.
Not only will you receive $40 in rewards, but you’ll also automatically get alerts for discount codes when you shop online and cashback rewards at participating retailers. It’s a win, win, win!
Currently, rewards include gift cards from popular retailers and entertainment companies, such as Hulu, Zappos, PetSmart, Ace Hardware, Nordstrom Rack, among others.
Survey Sites and Apps to Sign Up and Get Free Money
Use these apps to complete surveys and earn points that can be redeemed for cash back or gift cards. Of course, they all offer a welcome bonus for installing and using the app!
8. InboxDollars
InboxDollars is a rewards app that pays users to play games, take surveys, surf the web, read emails, scan receipts, and much more! To incentivize new users to join, InboxDollars offers a $5 bonus to new users who create an account and verify their email address.
When your account reaches the $15 threshold, you can receive your earnings via a Prepaid Mastercard, PayPal, or popular gift cards, including Starbucks, Amazon, Walmart, Target, and more. According to this review, users can expect to earn $15 to $50 per month when they use InboxDollars a few times a week.
9. MyPoints
One of the older cashback and survey sites, MyPoints, dates back to 1996, when it partnered with United Airlines. You can earn points by shopping online, taking surveys, watching videos, buying groceries, and more. Once you’ve confirmed your email, you’ll get a $2 bonus.
While this welcome bonus is relatively small compared to other offers, it’s backed up by an additional bonus! New members will receive 1,750 bonus points after their first purchase of $20 or more through the MyPoints site. These points can be redeemed for a $10 gift card.
One great thing about this site is that you only need a $15 minimum cash credit to receive a payout. You can deposit the cash reward through PayPal or exchange your points for gift cards or travel miles.
10. Swagbucks
Another popular app, Swagbucks, allows you to earn Swagbucks points (aka SB) in various ways. Answer surveys, watch videos, search the web, print coupons, and shop online or in-store to rack up those Swagbucks.
If you’re new to Swagbucks, you can earn a $10 sign-up bonus!
Just create an account, verify your email address, and earn 2,500 SB within your first 60 days of joining. Once you achieve this milestone, your bonus will be deposited in your account one day after you qualify.
With Swagbucks, you can use their mobile app or their online platform to earn SB! With Swagbucks, you can earn around $30 to $150 a month, depending on how often you use the platform.
11. Branded Surveys
With Branded Surveys, you can get a 100-point bonus ($1) when you sign up!
It currently takes 500 points to redeem a $5 reward, but this is relatively easy when you log in to the platform or app and complete surveys, answer daily polls, take advantage of offers, and refer friends to the platform. Points can be traded for cash via direct deposit, PayPal, Amazon, Best Buy, and many others!
Check out this full review for more info on Branded Surveys and their bonus structure.
Investment Apps to Sign Up and Get Free Money
These apps are designed to help you make money. To kick-start things, they all offer sign-up bonus offers that you can either cash out to your checking account or use for your investment portfolio.
12. Robinhood
Robinhood allows you to invest and trade fractional shares of stocks, crypto, funds, and more without a commission fee.
As a welcome bonus, you can receive one free stock. The stock you receive will be chosen completely at random. This could be worth anywhere from $5 to $200. It’s most likely to be worth $5, but it’s still a simple way to earn some extra cash.
To earn this bonus, you must link your bank account or debit card to the account.
Once you have your stock, you’re welcome to do with it as you wish. Hold onto it and hope it increases in value, or you can trade it in right away!
13. Acorns
Acorns is one of the most popular investing apps, as it allows you to invest your spare change when you make a purchase with an Acorns Visa or another linked card. It can automatically round up your payments to the nearest dollar, so you can effortlessly invest money in Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) or Bitcoin.
When you sign up for the app, you’ll usually get an instant $5 bonus. This bonus fluctuates and has been as high as $20 (which it is right now).
14. Fundrise
Fundrise creates online investment portfolios for over 2 million users, specializing in direct-to-consumer investments spanning real estate, private credit, and venture capital.
They offer new customers a $10 sign-up promotion, which must be used within 30 days of signing up. In addition, they offer $50 in shares to new members.
Banking Apps to Sign Up and Get Free Money
Banks are prolific in offering cash bonuses upon sign-up, but many involve a credit card with a yearly fee. These banking apps are all free to use.
15. Current
Current is a mobile banking app designed to help you build your credit with zero annual fees. All funds are FDIC-insured, and new checking accounts are eligible for a $50 sign-up bonus when you use the code WELCOME50.
A note for this bonus: You actually have to USE the app to receive the cash reward. Their terms state a mandatory direct deposit of $200 within the first 45 days of signing up.
16. PayPal
PayPal is a longtime leader in online payment systems. It offers safe, secure money transfers for personal and professional use, and you can even use it to transfer cryptocurrency.
Low usage fees and free conversions make this site a go-to for 426 million worldwide users. In other words – in PayPal, we trust!
PayPal offers a referral bonus system. To take advantage of this, send your friend a personalized referral code. When that friend signs up using a new banking account and makes a minimum $5 purchase through PayPal, you both earn a $10 bonus.
You can repeat this up to 10 times for a maximum $100 bonus!
Plus, PayPal offers instant withdrawals for a small fee. Otherwise, you’ll just wait 3-5 business days for withdrawal.
17. SoFi
SoFi is a one-stop shop for all of your banking needs, including savings, investments, loans, and more. They also offer a $50 or $300 sign-up bonus when you open a checking and savings account with them.
To qualify, you must set up a direct deposit and wait for it to hit your account. Your bonus amount will be based on the amount deposited.
18. Chime
Chime offers free mobile banking with zero monthly fees and fee-free overdrafts. When you set up direct deposit, you can even get up to $500 of your payday early!
They currently offer a $50 sign-up bonus to sweeten the deal.
Sign Up and Get Free Money: Tips for Maximizing Your Earnings
The best way to make these sign-up bonuses worth your while is to maximize your efforts. Follow these tips to sign up and get even more free money:
- Take advantage of referral codes.
- Compare offers across platforms and choose the best one.
- Track your sign-ups and remember to cancel accounts before you’re charged any monthly fees.
- Use receipt scanning apps for everyday purchases to avoid spending more.
- Double up on offers through platforms like Swagbucks, Ibotta, Shopkick, and Rakuten.
- Track deadlines to ensure you qualify for your bonus.
- Cash out at the right time. In other words, wait for points to accumulate for larger rewards.
Final Thoughts on Ways to Sign Up and Get Free Money
That covers the top 18 websites and apps that allow you to sign up and get free money. Some are better than others, and some are quicker at getting that cash into your savings accounts. But when it comes to free money, it’s hard to complain.
Remember, these apps and websites are just the tip of the iceberg. Before signing up for an account, always look for those valuable welcome, sign-up, and referral bonuses!
Originally published July 18, 2022. Content updated June 2025.
