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Between bills, loans and everyday purchases, life can be expensive. Enter: technology. These savings apps help you to meet your goals and control your spending by doing one of two things — cutting down on costs, or sweeping your spare change into savings.
How we picked the best savings apps
To narrow down apps that are best for today’s savers, we considered key factors like how quickly it could grow your savings or how it saves you money, how much it costs and the extent of its capabilities. That meant digging into account details like interest rates, fees, account features, compatibility, terms and conditions.
In the world of savings apps, Trim is a jack-of-all-trades. It analyzes your spending habits and scans your accounts for subscriptions — and then asks if you want to cancel them or negotiate the prices down. Subscriptions can be any recurring payment, from cable bills to car insurance.
It also offers help with debt consolidation and financial advice. To sign up for Trim’s mix of paid and unpaid services, you’ll need Facebook Messenger or a phone number.
With your permission, Trim will attempt to cut the cost of your cable, Internet and phone bills and insurance with any provider. It may lower your bill by up to 30%.
Cancels unwanted subscriptions on your behalf.
Detects and disputes overdraft fees.
Tracks and categorizes your spending so you know exactly where your money is going.
Grows your money with Trim’s Simple Savings. This service transfers a set amount of money each week into the app’s savings account, which earns 1.5% annually.
Creates payoff plans and provides expert advice to help you to consolidate your debt.
Trim operates through Facebook Messenger, so you’ll need a Facebook account and a smartphone or desktop computer.
According to BillShark, Americans could save $50 billion a year by negotiating their everyday bills, but they either don’t know how to do it or don’t have the time. That’s where the app steps in.
BillShark attempts to lower your phone, Internet, cable, home security and satellite radio bills. If the agents are successful, they’ll score 40% of the money they saved you — but if not, you won’t pay a thing.
When you want BillShark to negotiate a bill on your behalf, snap a photo and upload it to the app, and enter details about the bill’s date, type and amount. BillShark will update you throughout the process.
Aims to slash your monthly bills by up to 25%.
Contacts companies and negotiates with them on your behalf.
Handles utility bills as well as monthly expenses for gym memberships, storage units and alarm systems.
Each bill is assigned to a representative, or Shark, who’s trained in that specific type of bill.
Grows your money with Trim’s Simple Savings. This service transfers a set amount of money each week into the app’s savings account, which earns 1.5% annually.
If the negotiation results in savings, you can pay BillShark immediately, or over the course of two to six months.
BillShark is compatible with iOS 9.0 or later, and Android 4.1 and up.
A Capital One company, Paribus scans your online shopping receipts to alert you when stores owe you a refund. The app tracks price changes for your purchases. If it detects a price drop for something you bought online, it’ll help you to get your money back.
It does the same thing for hotel bookings. Once you book a hotel online, the app will aim to rebook the room at a cheaper rate.
Paribus also keeps tabs on your shipments, and assists you in getting compensation for late deliveries. The app is free.
Monitors purchases from over 25 major retailers with price adjustment policies, including Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, Home Depot, Nordstrom, Walmart, Gap and Macy’s
Tracks shipments to ensure they make it to you on time. If they’re late, the app will try to get you a refund on the delivery fee.
Analyzes hotel room rates across Expedia, Booking.com, Hotels.com, Priceline, Hilton and Marriott.
Depending on the retailer, Paribus will either file a claim directly or help you to contact the retailer.
No hidden fees.
To use Paribus, sign up with the email you use to shop online and book hotels. You can also log in with your Facebook, Microsoft or Yahoo account.
If you regularly shop with Amazon, Target, Home Depot, Uber, Old Navy and Expedia, you could be eligible for cash back. Ibotta is designed to help you to earn up to 10% cash back on purchases from 300 retailers and restaurants across the US.
The app is free, and works with both online and in-store purchases. Before you shop, head to the app to search for offers. If the store has a cashback offer, shop as you normally would and then upload a photo of your receipt to the app.
Offers cashback on qualifying purchases — not coupons.
After submitting the receipt, you can expect to receive the money within 24 hours. You can then choose to move the money to your PayPal or Venmo account, or convert it to a gift card.
Use the app’s Pay with Ibotta feature to get cashback at the checkout.
For extra savings, you can link loyalty accounts for grocery stores and other retailers to the app.
Head to the Bonuses page to see if you’re eligible for rewards for redeeming offers or referring friends.
Ibotta requires iOS 11.0 or later, or Android 5.0 and up.
Run on Facebook Messenger, Cushion contacts banks and credit card companies on your behalf to get you reimbursed for the fees you’ve paid. It scans your transaction history to detect overdraft, wire transfer, foreign transaction, late and minimum balance fees. Currently, Cushion works with Chase, Wells Fargo, PNC and American Express, and is aiming to roll out the top 15 banks across the US in the second half of 2019.
The app asks for your permission before haggling your bank and credit company about any fees.
Negotiates to reduce or refund a range of fees, such as monthly service fees and foreign transaction fees.
Typically, users can expect to get their first refund within 24 hours of signing up.
If Cushion is successful in waiving a fee, it holds on to 25% of the refunded amount. Otherwise, you won’t be charged.
Since Cushion is tied to Facebook Messenger, you’ll need an email address and a Facebook account to use the service.
Want to pay down your debt faster? Qoins collects the spare change from each debit and credit card purchase and applies it to your debt. It makes a single payment at the end of each month.
The app is compatible with 98% of financial institutions across the US, and it can send payments to any lender — as long as it has a valid account number and address. To use Qoins, you’ll need to grant the app access to your checking and debt accounts and pay the $1.99 monthly fee.
Rounds up your purchases and sets the spare change aside.
Withdraws your spare change in $5 increments and transfers it to a holding account until it’s ready to be sent to your lender. You can monitor this account from the Qoins app.
Automatically makes an extra payment towards your debt at the end of each month.
If your lender doesn’t process the payment by the due date, Qoins will refund the money to you and find out why it was rejected.
No opening deposit requirement.
Qoins will waive the monthly fee if you accumulate less than $20 that month.
Pay off multiple debts and pause your account activity at any time.
Qoins works with iOS 10.0 or later, and Android 4.1 and up.
With Qapital, you can set specific savings goals, and then sit back as the app rounds up change from your purchases to the nearest dollar and moves it to your savings accounts.
The key to the app is customization: It’s up to you to establish your own goals and rules. For example, you can ask the app to make a deposit every time you dine out or visit the gym. The idea is to incentivize you to save while enjoying your life.
While Qapital is free, you can pay between $3 and $12 a month to unlock more account features. There’s also a $10 minimum opening deposit.
Offers a 30-day free trial.
Allows you to put money aside for multiple goals like a vacation or a car, and decide how much you want to save.
Set Spend Less Rules to reward yourself for spending less than you normally would, or Guilty Pleasure Rules to save while spending on dining, entertainment or other wants.
The app has handy tools such as Payday Divvy, which helps you to cover your monthly commitments while planning for the future.
Step up your savings efforts by investing in Qapital‘s prebuilt portfolios. The app will diversify your money — just tell them how much you’d like to invest.
Qapital operates on iOS 10.0 or later, and Android 4.4 and up.
ChangEd aims to help you to chip away at your student loans and save on interest. Much like the other apps on this list, it works by rounding up your spare change and applying it to your student loan payments. Once you’ve saved $100, the app will send a payment to your student loan servicer.
Depending on your loan, you can choose to pay down your interest or principal. ChangEd reports that the average user saves $30 to $50 per month, which means that it may take a few months to raise the funds to make a payment. There’s also a $1 monthly fee.
Analyzes your checking account and credit card transactions for roundups.
If you’ve saved a little extra, you can use the Savings Boost feature to transfer $5, $10 or $20 to your ChangEd account. The app will apply this towards your next payment.
Check out the dashboard to see how much you’re saving and how those savings will affect your loan.
To save you from digging around for info, the app includes details for common student loan lenders and the way they invoice.
ChangEd is compatible with iOS 10.0 or later, and Android 4.3 and up
Digit is a microsavings app that is designed to help you to save the money you wouldn’t miss. Once Digit is connected to your checking account, its algorithms start learning your financial habits, including your expected income and spending.
After calculating how much you can afford to save, the app then strategically transfers money into savings. The dollar amount that’s transferred will vary. For example, if you’ve taken unpaid leave or gone on vacation, the app will adapt to your new spending situation and adjust the amount accordingly. Digit costs $2.99 per month.
Digit is free for the first 30 days, and there’s no minimum, balance.
The funds that are held in Digit earn a 1% APY, and you can transfer funds back to your checking account at any time for free.
If you save for three consecutive months, you could score a 1% bonus on your balance.
The app offers overdraft protection. Plus, if it causes your account to overdraft, Digit will reimburse the fee for up to two transactions.
Earn $5 every time a friend signs up with your referral link.
Digit operates with iOS 9.0 or later, and Android 4.1 and up.
If you want to look beyond saving to investing, consider Acorns. The microinvesting app allows you to invest your spare change into a personalized investment portfolio. To start, you’ll need to connect your credit cards to the app.
Acorns will then round up your purchases, and send the leftovers towards your investments. When you set up an account, the app will ask you about your investment preferences. There are no minimum deposits or trading fees, but you will have to pay a $1 monthly fee.
Transfers spare change to a professionally managed investment portfolio of stocks, bonds and EFTs.
Adjust your investments, risk tolerance and financial goals at any time.
If you save for three consecutive months, you could score a 1% bonus on your balance.
Monitor your investments on the app.
Boost your account with a one-time contribution or recurring payment.
Get access to perks like the Found Money program, which offers cashback for your portfolio when you make a purchase at over 100 participating companies.
Acorns is compatible with iOS 11.0 or later, and Android – though the features vary by device.
Many of us have a long list of monthly expenses. With so many payments to keep track of, it can be hard to save. These apps were designed to automate the savings process and put money aside – with little to no effort on your part.
Yes. Some banks offer round-up programs within their apps. For example, Bank of America’s Keep the Change Program rounds up your debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and transfers the change to your savings account.
Yes. Acorns is one of a handful of microinvesting apps. These are a couple of others:
Robinhood trades ETFs and doesn’t charge trade fees.
Stash has a minimum investment of $5, and can invest your money in ETFs and fractional shares of companies like Amazon and Apple.
Yes. You can set up automatic transfers within your bank account. Some banks will do this for you. For example, Chime is a mobile-only bank that transfers 10% of your paycheck to savings, and the Simple app allows you to split direct deposits between your spending account and built-in savings account.
Katia Iervasi is a writer from Sydney, Australia. Her writing — and curiosity — has taken her around the world, and she now calls New York home. With a journalistic eye for detail, she navigates insurance and finance for Finder, so you can splash your cash smartly (and be a pro when the subject pops up at dinner parties).
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