ReceiptPal is one of several receipt-scanning apps that pays you real money for sharing your shopping receipts.

But does the app deliver?

Dedicated ReceiptPal users can earn $10-25 a year. It’s essentially free money — but is it worth the effort?

In this review, I’ll share:

How ReceiptPal works
My experience with the app so far
Some ReceiptPal alternatives to consider

We based this ReceiptPal review on:

Our personal experience with the app
Feedback from our independent app testers and public App Store reviews
Comparing with other similar receipt-scanning apps

Ready? Let’s do it!

Is ReceiptPal Legit?

Yes, ReceiptPal is legit. ReceiptPal was founded in 2013 and has over 1 million downloads and a 4-star rating from almost 40,000 reviews on Google Play.

At press time, the app had also earned a 4.5-star rating from over 20,000 reviews on the Apple App Store.

How Does ReceiptPal Work?

ReceiptPal (sometimes written as “Receipt Pal”) collects your receipts and gives you points to redeem for gift cards.

You can submit paper receipts through your smartphone camera, or connect your email and other retailer accounts to share digital receipts.

You have 7 days from the date of purchase to submit your receipts.

With ReceiptPal, all receipts are treated equally. (Other apps give you more points for larger purchases, or only work with receipts from certain stores.)

You can upload receipts from convenience stores, grocery stores, clothing stores, sporting goods stores, gas stations, and more. 

How Much Can You Make with Receipt Pal?

The Receipt Pal earning system is somewhat convoluted, but the more receipts you share, the more you can earn.

Every four receipts you submit earns you one “card.”

A card is worth 100 points.

It takes a minimum of 2200 points to cash out for a $5 reward. If my math serves me, that means each receipt is worth approximately $0.06.

(This is actually higher than some other popular receipt scanning apps.)

The average shopper could anticipate filling about 1-2 cards per week (4-8 receipts). That would earn you 100-200 ReceiptPal points each week, letting you get a $5 cash out every 3-5 months.

Over a year, ReceiptPal would be worth $12-$25, depending on your shopping habits.

How Does ReceiptPal Make Money?

ReceiptPal takes your information and combines it with information from other ReceiptPal members.

Then they sell the anonymized information to help companies better understand consumer purchase behaviors. Based on everyone’s buying patterns, brands and retailers can make better product and marketing decisions.

What are the Payout Options?

You can cash out your ReceiptPal points for an Amazon gift card or a gift card to other select retailers. There is no option to redeem for PayPal credit, bank deposit, or Venmo or Zelle transfer.

As of press time, here are the Receipt Pal payout levels: 

2,200 points = $5 gift card
4,000 points = $10 gift card
9,250 points = $25 gift card
17,250 points = $50 gift card
32,250 points = $100 gift card

Some of the non-Amazon retail gift card options include:

Apple
Chipotle
Panera
Starbucks
Target
Walmart

One potential downside to be aware of is you must connect your email account for at least 30 days to redeem any ReceiptPal reward.

How to Maximize Your Receipt Pal Earnings

The best way to maximize your ReceiptPal is to simply make it a habit to scan your receipts after every shopping trip. 

It won’t be a lifestyle-changer in terms of the extra income, but you’ll slowly build points over time.

Here are some other ways to make the most from Receipt Pal.

Connect Your Email and Retailer Accounts

ReceiptPal wants you to connect your email addresses so it can scan your inbox for online shopping receipts. That way, you’ll get points for all the shopping you do, not just the trips with paper receipts.

Important note: If you don’t want to give Receipt Pal access to your inbox, you won’t be able to cash out from the app.

You can also connect your Amazon, Instacart, Kroger, Starbucks, and Walmart accounts to earn more points.

They’ll give you a small bonus for each account you connect, plus you’ll automatically earn ReceiptPal points for every transaction through a connected account.

Sweepstakes, Bonuses, and Surveys

As you use the app regularly, you’ll notice different point bonus earning opportunities and sweepstakes entries. I’ve yet to win big here, but it is a way to earn more points and get you closer to your next cash out.

Keep your eye out for paid surveys as well.

Stack with Credit Card Rewards

At most stores, the price you pay is the same whether you’re paying with cash, a debit card, or a credit card. So you might as well get some credit card rewards while you’re shopping. 

Here are some of the best current cash back card offers. 

Stack with Other Cash Back Apps

Receipt Pal is one of several cash back apps, and there’s nothing to stop you from scanning receipts into multiple apps. 

It still won’t make you rich, but can turn pennies into more pennies.

Among my favorites are:

Fetch Rewards – Scan receipts with this app to earn rewards and cash in for free Amazon gift cards (or other stores).
Ibotta – Check your grocery receipts for special cash back offers. I’ve gotten as much as $5 back on single items so it pays to check!
Pogo – Pogo pays you for sharing your location data and linking your credit card statement. You can cash out via Venmo or PayPal. Check out our full Pogo review for more.
CoinOut – Featured on Shark Tank, CoinOut has similar functionality to Receipt Pal. Check out our full CoinOut review for more

Save Up for Better Redemption Values?

If you like a deal, you might have noticed that Receipt Pal points are worth more the more you have. 

For example, your points are worth $0.003 each when you redeem for a $100 gift card, compared to just $0.002 when you cash out at $5. 

“That’s a 50% better value!” you might be thinking. And you’d be right … but it might also take you 4+ years to save up enough points to get to that level.

My recommendation? Cash out as early and as often as you can, because you never know when the point values may change.

What We Like and Dislike About ReceiptPal

On the positive side, “It’s quite easy to use,” our independent app tester explained. “You just snap a picture and earn points. Once you add your accounts, the app automatically scans them for possible points. I like the little sweepstakes entries too.”

The $5 cash out minimum is reasonable and the value per receipt is in line with other similar apps.

We’d love to see some more cash out options, and not require an email account connection to cash out.

It’s also kind of lame that your points expire if you forget to upload a receipt for 90 days.

Other users mention the app itself can be slow, but I haven’t experienced that myself.

Receipt Pal Alternatives

ReceiptPal is one of several receipt-scanning apps I keep on my phone. After each shopping trip, it’s pretty fast to go through and take a picture with each to earn the points.

Here are some similar apps to consider, along with some other ways to get paid for your data. 

1. Fetch Rewards

The Fetch Rewards app is a favorite of mine because it’s super easy. You earn points by snapping pictures of your grocery receipts, which you can cash in for gift cards.

Pro Tip: Use referral code FETCH300 when you sign up to get 300 free bonus points added to your account.

2. Receipt Hog

Receipt Hog is a similar receipt-scanning app, where our independent app tester reported earning $25 a year. 

Here’s our full Receipt Hog review for more.

3. Ibotta

I use Ibotta every week to check for extra cash back on our grocery purchases.

The drawback is you still have to scroll through each store’s listing and choose the products you bought. Then, you snap a picture of your receipt and watch the cash back hit your account.

Ibotta Savers who use the app every month earn over $130 a year! I’ll take it. (You can cash out via gift cards or PayPal.)

4. CoinOut

CoinOut won’t replace your day job, but could pay you up to $36 a year for uploading your shopping receipts.

It’s easy to use and you can cash out for an Amazon gift card as soon as you earn your first $3 worth of coins.

Check out our full CoinOut review to learn more.

5. Pogo (iOS)

The free Pogo app is one of my latest finds. By sharing your location and credit card transaction data, Pogo gives you points that you can cash out to PayPal or Venmo.

Just enable location tracking and link your bank account credentials when you sign up. Based on my results so far, I expect Pogo to be worth around $5-20 a year.

Check out my full Pogo app review to learn more.

Is Receipt Pal Worth It?

If you’re an online shopper, Receipt Pal is an easy way to score gift cards just by granting access to your receipts via email and online retailers.

Add in the ability to upload your paper receipts too, and you could earn multiple gift cards throughout the year.

If you shop regularly — and don’t care sharing what you buy — then yes, Receipt Pal is worth it given how little time it takes to use.

But if you’re looking for a side hustle with more earning power, Receipt Pal isn’t it. Take a look at our big list of ways to make extra money for ideas that will make a bigger impact on your bottom line.

Serious About Making Extra Money?

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If you’ve ever thought about traveling the world while getting paid (and mingling with the rich and famous on the side), Hugo Ortega’s side hustle story may appeal to you.

After spending 9 years working as a yacht crew member and captain, traveling to over 60 countries, the former engineer decided to turn his niche career experience into a fast-growing online course business—Superyacht Sunday School.

Now, it has grown into a full-time business earning $10K/month.

(Sign up for Hugo’s free superyacht training here!)

Tune into Episode 602 of The Side Hustle Show to learn how to:

build your audience with free valuable content
turn followers into email subscribers
boost sales through live virtual trainings and webinars
monetize your expertise with courses, one-on-one mentoring, and memberships

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A Stumble into Yachting

Hugo didn’t grow up dreaming of working on boats. In fact, he admitted he couldn’t even swim when he first discovered the yachting industry.

It happened by chance while he was backpacking through Southeast Asia and met someone working as a yacht crew member. The more he learned about the job and lifestyle, the more appealing it became—especially the opportunity to get paid to travel the world.

As Hugo shared, “It’s really common for people to have envy towards your job and ask you, ‘How did you get into it?’” He was constantly fielding these kinds of questions from others interested in breaking into yachting.

Hugo thought nothing of it at first. He’d explain the basics of getting started, certifications needed, tips on finding jobs, etc. But then he started to notice a trend of people attempting to work online and leverage their existing skills and knowledge.

That’s when the light bulb went on for Hugo. He thought, “Maybe there’s something I can do on the side.”

Starting Small as a Service Provider

In late 2022, Hugo began putting together some basic resources to help aspiring yacht crew members. This included PDF guides on how to create an effective CV/resume, a list of top crew recruitment agencies, and checklists outlining the steps to get started.

To get things going, Hugo turned to Facebook groups related to yachting and began engaging with the community, answering common questions, and adding value wherever he could.

Anytime someone asked a common question, Hugo made sure to answer it thoroughly. At the end, he’d say something like “If you want more resources on this topic, I’ve got a great guide here,” and include a link to opt-in to his email list. He also uses the software ManyChat to automate his audience engagement.

This was the “free upfront, paid content later” type of funnel. By offering valuable free content, Hugo could gain trust, expand his email list, and prepare for future paid offers.

Pretty soon Hugo had his first $299 sale for a basic package that included a 1-hour phone consultation and those same PDF guides he had offered as opt-in incentives. It was a simple proof of concept, but it showed there was real revenue potential.

Building the Signature Course Offering

Bit by bit, the email list began to grow. He uses a visual email builder called Flodesk for a more expensive/luxurious feel, as he claims.

He then constantly paid attention to which lead magnets were getting the most downloads, which content resonated best through open rates, and what people’s most burning questions were.

The current main offering from Super Yacht Sunday School is priced at either $997 for full upfront payment, or $99 per month for 12 months.

But as Hugo explained, “But if you go through the webinar sequence and funnel, that’s when I offer it pretty much at a 50% discount.” So students can get the full course for either $499 upfront or $99 per month for 6 months only.

Using a limited-time discount required Hugo to adopt some new software to handle the “open/close cart” expiration timing. That’s where the Deadline Funnel tool came into play to enforce that scarcity.

The tool that really helped open the revenue floodgates? Switching from a pre-recorded evergreen webinar to live weekly training sessions.

Hugo said this single shift doubled his webinar conversion rates. Now, instead of people watching a pre-recorded pitch at their leisure, they had to show up at a designated date and time for Hugo’s real-time training session.

By adding some artificial scarcity and demand, it created better shows, more engagement, and ultimately more course sales.

Short-Form Videos for Marketing

Hugo cited cheap or free marketing strategies as critical to his exponential revenue growth in 2024. That includes organic traffic through short-form videos on Instagram and TikTok.

The videos follow a similar pattern of catchy one-line hooks followed by simple cuts of life on a superyacht.

Some examples:

“This is how much money you can make working as a yacht crew.”
“Here’s how much a superyacht captain makes per year.”

His best performing video with over 1 million views and counting is a short clip of Hugo on a yacht posing in different crew positions with text displaying those jobs’ earning potential.

@superyachtsundayschool

How much do yacht crew actaully make? #salery #howmuch #crewtraining #superyachts #fyp #yachties #belowdeck #industry #luxury

♬ Summer day – TimTaj

Short videos under 15 seconds seem to be the sweet spot for engagement and views according to Hugo. The videos are designed to attract eyeballs to his free lead magnets and eventually to his paid training offers.

On the SEO front, Hugo has started expanding into long-form blog content as well. This involves taking some of his popular Instagram posts and spinning them into deeper “how-to” style articles to build his website’s authority and search rankings.

Of course, these blog posts include opt-in offers and calls to action to join Hugo’s email list and get more free training from him.

And as an advanced tactic, Hugo has started experimenting with paid Facebook ads, specifically targeting members of big yachting enthusiast groups on Facebook.

He uses a tool called LeadEnforce that can combine the audiences of up to 10 separate Facebook groups into a custom list to upload to Facebook for ad targeting.

Though he admits these are still cold audiences compared to his existing email list and followers, Hugo says he’s acquiring new leads through Facebook ads for $1-$1.25 each, which seems promising so far.

User-Generated Content, Influencers, and Continuity Programs

Beyond his organic and paid marketing efforts, Hugo has found ways to leverage other people’s audiences and influence too.

For one, he’s been working to build partnerships with cast members of the popular TV show Below Deck featuring real-life superyacht crews and owners.

The goal is to have these influencers co-host trainings and events to cross-promote and tap into their large followings on social media (which can exceed 1 million fans in some cases).

Hugo is also starting to source user-generated content from his successful students to build social proof and case studies. The plan is to leverage these stories and transformations in an upcoming podcast currently in the works.

Another new frontier for Super Yacht Sunday School is creating paid continuity/membership programs to serve existing industry professionals.

Currently in a testing phase with a small group paying $59 per month, Hugo envisions building out more advanced crew training and development resources on an ongoing basis.

The tech tool he’s using for the community and course aspects of this premium membership is Hearbeat.chat.

Beyond just helping people get their first yacht crew job, this program would serve as a lead nurturing channel to continue advancing their skills and knowledge over time.

Branching into Other Revenue Streams

The online education piece was just the start for Hugo. Given his extensive industry expertise and connections, it was a natural pivot to also offer staffing and recruitment services for yacht owners.

Through some nice positioning and branding, Hugo started getting inquiries from yacht owners looking for crew. And as he explained, “Every time you place crew onto a yacht, as long as they stay at least 3 months, you get 1 month’s salary paid out also to you.”

Now Hugo has another income stream by placing his own students on crews after certifying them through his training programs.

Unforgettable Experiences as Yacht Crew

One of the perks of working in yachting is getting to meet ultra-wealthy individuals and occasional celebrities like Jon Bon Jovi, George Lucas, and Pharrell. Though the “star factor” wears off as it becomes your everyday life and work environment.

Hugo claims that celebrities are actually more down-to-earth than you’d expect when on vacation.

He also had his share of wild experiences like getting caught in powerful storms during Atlantic crossings where the entire boat felt like it was going to capsize.

The luxury yachting world is full of surprises, but owners can simply postpone trips if conditions look too risky since they have the flexibility that cargo ships don’t.

What’s Next for Hugo?

Looking into the future, Hugo sees other opportunities to further modernize and innovate in the yachting industry through tech products and services:

“I feel like there’s a lot of antiquated practices, even with recruiting, where it’s just people emailing each other and saving PDFs,” Hugo said. “I want to automate and show that a small online entrepreneur can really take this by storm and make it better.”

Sounds like there’s potential for Hugo to develop some sort of “Upwork for yacht crews” style recruitment platform or marketplace.

Hugo’s #1 Tip for Side Hustle Nation

“Just don’t give up.”

Episode Links

Superyacht Sunday School
Free Super Yacht Training
ManyChat
Flodesk
Deadline Funnel
LeadEnforce
Hearbeat.chat
Super Yacht Sunday School Instagram
Super Yacht Sunday School TikTok
Super Yacht Sunday School Blog Content
Below Deck

Serious About Making Extra Money?

Start Your Free $500 Challenge. My free 5-day email course shows you how to add $500 to your bottom line.
Join the free Side Hustle Nation Community. The free Facebook group is the best place to connect with other side hustlers and get your questions answered.
Download The Side Hustle Show. My free podcast shares how to make extra money with actionable weekly episodes.