I Tried Shopkick: Here's My Honest Review
Review
Updated
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I had trouble with Shopkick from the start, and I wasn't overly impressed even when I got it going due to disappointing earning opportunities and low rewards rates. There is a lot of potential here, however, especially if you live in a chain-store-rich area.
I think its best use would be as a good addition to another cash back app if you're hitting the stores already.
Shopkick is a mobile app with which users can earn rewards for various shopping-related activities. Once you earn enough rewards, you can redeem them for gift cards for a variety of brands.
Shopkick rewards are called "kicks." Users can earn kicks when they:
You need at least 500 kicks to redeem for the cheapest gift cards. The amount of kicks required for a gift card varies by brand.
Shopkick app offers multiple ways to earn rewards while shopping. In fact, you don't even need to make purchases to earn kicks. The number of kicks you can earn depends on the store and products:
Shopkick may be categorized as a cash back app, but you don't redeem your kicks for cash in your savings account. Instead, you can redeem the kicks you earn for gift cards to more than 40 different brands.
The list of retailers includes all of the popular brands you'd expect, including:
The number of kicks required to get a gift card and the minimum size gift card you can get varies by brand. For example, you can get a $2 gift card to TJ Maxx for 500 kicks. On the other hand, the minimum gift card you can get for Walmart is a $5 gift card that requires 1,250 kicks.
Make sure you're getting the best account for you by comparing savings rates and promotions. Here are some of our favorite high-yield savings accounts to consider.
| Account | APY | Promotion | Next Steps |
|---|---|---|---|
Open Account for SoFi Checking and Savings
On SoFi's Secure Website.
Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars.
4.50/5
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale.
5 stars equals Best.
4 stars equals Excellent.
3 stars equals Good.
2 stars equals Fair.
1 star equals Poor.
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
= Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair = Poor |
up to 3.80%²
Rate info
You can earn the maximum APY by having Direct Deposit (no minimum amount required) or by making $5,000 or more in Qualifying Deposits every 30 days. See SoFi Checking and Savings rate sheet at: https://www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet.
Min. to earn: $0
|
New customers can earn up to a $300 bonus with qualifying direct deposits!¹
|
Open Account for SoFi Checking and Savings
On SoFi's Secure Website. |
Open Account for CIT Platinum Savings
On CIT's Secure Website.
Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars.
4.50/5
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale.
5 stars equals Best.
4 stars equals Excellent.
3 stars equals Good.
2 stars equals Fair.
1 star equals Poor.
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
= Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair = Poor |
4.10% APY for balances of $5,000 or more
Rate info
4.10% APY for balances of $5,000 or more; otherwise, 0.25% APY
Min. to earn: $100 to open account, $5,000+ for max APY
|
Earn a bonus of at least $225 after a one-time deposit of $25,000+.
Transfer a one-time deposit of $25,000-$49,999.99 for a bonus of $225. Transfer a one-time deposit of $50,000+ for a bonus of $300. Account must be opened with code PS2025 while this promotion lasts, and funded within 30 days. Bonus will be fulfilled within 60 days from the funding date. There is no period of time where the customer will be required to maintain the funds. Account must be open when bonus is credited. One bonus per account and primary customer. Bonus will be credited into the Platinum Savings Account that fulfills the funding requirement. Funding can be deposited all at once or incrementally.
|
Open Account for CIT Platinum Savings
On CIT's Secure Website. |
Open Account for American Express® High Yield Savings
On American Express's Secure Website.
Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars.
4.00/5
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale.
5 stars equals Best.
4 stars equals Excellent.
3 stars equals Good.
2 stars equals Fair.
1 star equals Poor.
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
= Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair = Poor |
3.70%
Rate info
3.70% annual percentage yield as of April 5, 2025. Terms apply.
Min. to earn: $0
|
N/A
|
Open Account for American Express® High Yield Savings
On American Express's Secure Website. |
SoFi disclosure:
¹ New and existing Checking and Savings members who have not previously enrolled in Direct Deposit with SoFi are eligible to earn a cash bonus of either $50 (with at least $1,000 total Direct Deposits received during the Direct Deposit Bonus Period) OR $300 (with at least $5,000 total Direct Deposits received during the Direct Deposit Bonus Period). Cash bonus will be based on the total amount of Direct Deposit. Direct Deposit Promotion begins on 12/7/2023 and will be available through 1/31/26. See full bonus and annual percentage yield (APY) terms at sofi.com/banking#1.
² SoFi members who enroll in SoFi Plus with Direct Deposit or by paying the SoFi Plus Subscription Fee every 30 days or with $5,000 or more in Qualifying Deposits during the 30-Day Evaluation Period can earn 3.80% annual percentage yield (APY) on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. There is no minimum Direct Deposit amount required to qualify for the stated interest rate. Members without either SoFi Plus or Qualifying Deposits, during the 30-Day Evaluation Period will earn 1.00% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Only SoFi Plus members are eligible for other SoFi Plus benefits. Interest rates are variable and subject to change at any time. These rates are current as of 1/24/25. There is no minimum balance requirement. Additional information can be found at http://www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet. See the SoFi Plus Terms and Conditions at https://www.sofi.com/terms-of-use/#plus.
³ We do not charge any account, service or maintenance fees for SoFi Checking and Savings. We do charge a transaction fee to process each outgoing wire transfer. SoFi does not charge a fee for incoming wire transfers, however the sending bank may charge a fee. Our fee policy is subject to change at any time. See the SoFi Checking & Savings Fee Sheet for details at sofi.com/legal/banking-fees/.
⁴ SoFi Bank is a member FDIC and does not provide more than $250,000 of FDIC insurance per depositor per legal category of account ownership, as described in the FDIC’s regulations.
Any additional FDIC insurance is provided by the SoFi Insured Deposit Program. Deposits may be insured up to $3M through participation in the program. See full terms at SoFi.com/banking/fdic/sidpterms. See list of participating banks at SoFi.com/banking/fdic/participatingbanks.
⁵ We’ve partnered with Allpoint to provide you with ATM access at any of the 55,000+ ATMs within the Allpoint network. You will not be charged a fee when using an in-network ATM, however, third-party fees incurred when using out-of-network ATMs are not subject to reimbursement. SoFi’s ATM policies are subject to change at our discretion at any time.
⁶ Early access to direct deposit funds is based on the timing in which we receive notice of impending payment from the Federal Reserve, which is typically up to two days before the scheduled payment date, but may vary.
⁷ Overdraft Coverage is limited to $50 on debit card purchases only and is an account benefit available to customers with direct deposits of $1,000 or more during the current 30-day Evaluation Period as determined by SoFi Bank, N.A. The 30-Day Evaluation Period refers to the “Start Date” and “End Date” set forth on the APY Details page of your account, which comprises a period of 30 calendar days (the“30-Day Evaluation Period”). You can access the APY Details page at any time by logging into your SoFi account on the SoFi mobile app or SoFi website and selecting either (i) Banking > Savings > Current APY or (ii) Banking > Checking > Current APY. Members with a prior history of non-repayment of negative balances are ineligible for Overdraft Coverage.
You won't get rich from using Shopkick. Most brands require 1,250 kicks for a $5 gift card. This gives you an effective rate of $0.004 per kick.
A typical item scan provides 10 kicks, or $0.04. This means it would take you 25 scans to earn $1. If it takes you 30 seconds to scan an item -- and in larger stores, it may take longer than that to even find the product -- you're looking at over an hour of scanning just to earn a $5 gift card.
It gets even worse when you look at the video ads. A 30-second ad earns just one kick. So you're getting paid less than $0.50 an hour to watch ads.
When checking the app store reviews, it becomes apparent that the app isn't very reliable -- and I experienced a lot of technical issues myself.
Reviewers cited issues ranging from being unable to scan items, to receiving incorrect GPS locations for stores, to error messages when trying to redeem rewards for gift cards.
For my test, it took 15 minutes and multiple reloads to get the app to show me any stores at all. Even after they started showing up, the app was slow and often took multiple minutes to load new pages.
This app does not work if you don't give it access to and turn on your device location. And no, you can't even get online shopping rewards offers without first turning giving the app access to your location data.
In a time when a lot of apps are getting in trouble for secretly stealing your location info, I guess it's preferable that this app is at least upfront about it. But it's something to keep in mind.
The location thing aside, the real privacy kicker is when you participate in the kicks for purchases feature by uploading photos of your receipts. Your receipts are chock full of useful data that you're handing right over.
Your entire receipt will need to be uploaded, with nothing redacted. So this means everything you purchased on that receipt is visible, as well as peripheral factors like payment method, location, time of day, and so on.
I suggest, at minimum, purchasing items for the app separately from your other shopping. You may also want to actually read the company's privacy policy instead of skipping straight to "accept."
The Shopkick app is free to download and use. It does take a significant time investment to earn any appreciable amount of rewards from the app, however.
Although a few people online report making money in the app, the broader comments seem to be either lamenting the low rewards rate or complaining about bugs. I found a significant number of comments from people who could not redeem their kicks for gift cards or who received gift cards that would not work.
The app is prone to technical issues. When it works, however, the app is simple to use and the interface is easy to navigate.
Shopkick main screen, nearby offers. Image source: Shopkick, captured by author.
Shopkick offers for a specific store (Walmart). Image source: Shopkick, captured by author.
As far as I can tell, Shopkick is a legitimate app and shopping rewards program, so it's generally safe to use. That being said, Shopkick collects a lot of personal data through many different sources. Be sure to read the privacy policy very carefully, so you know what is happening to your data once it's collected.
If you want better cash back rates: The Ibotta app is a shopping rewards app that earns cash back on eligible purchases. Once you earn $20 in rewards, you can redeem it for cash right into your bank account or PayPal account. This makes it easy to see how much you're earning as you go.
If you want automatic rewards: The Fetch app earns rewards points for purchases without the hassle of other apps. Fetch doesn't require users to preselect items before scanning a receipt. Instead, it automatically detects eligible items for you, saving you time as well as money.
There are a few cases in which Shopkick might be a good fit:
Redemption costs vary, but kicks can be redeemed for an average of $1 per 250 kicks.
Shopkick is a real app, and it's not an outright scam. However, many users report issues with bugs, and the rewards rates aren't great compared to other apps. You're also giving the app a lot of personal data, so keep that in mind.
No, you can't redeem kicks for cash. You redeem kicks for gift cards to popular brands.
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