The iPhone is a powerful computer with world-wide communications abilities that sits right in our pocket, so why not put it to work helping us save money? Whether it’s by having it price match what we’re about to purchase with online retailers, help us keep a budget or refund us money by price matching what we’ve already purchased there are a lot of useful, easy to use apps for the iPhone that put this amazing device to work for us.
Check out these 36 apps for iPhone and other mobile devices that will save you real money now. Scroll through the list of all apps or use the link list below. (Click to skip down.)
- 5 budgeting iPhone apps that save money.
- 11 couponing iPhone apps that save money.
- 5 money saving gas iPhone apps.
- 5 iPhone apps that save money through productivity.
- 7 Miscellaneous iPhone apps that save money.
Budgeting Apps
The first five iPhone apps on our list save money by keeping track of it. iPhone users can lock down their finances by seeing where all their cash is being spent, then making conscious choices to correct the flaws.
1. HomeBudget With Sync
The first of our iPhone apps that save money is the Home Budget With Sync budget app. This app helps users get control their spending. It’s also slick, fast, easy, intuitive and costs just $4.99. It can be synced across more than one device and across different platforms, so the whole family can keep track of spending goals and expenses in one place, from anywhere.
Users create their budget from pre-existing spending categories like groceries, gas, entertainment and so on, or create their own categories. The app’s home screen then displays a useful “at a glance” overview of how the family is doing, including a top level view of their accounts, bills, expenses and performance to goals. The app makes it easy to see how much the family (or family member) is spending per day as well as how much is budgeted per day, and the difference between the two.
Related: 7 Best iPhone Budget Apps
2. Spendbook
The second on our list of iPhone apps that save money is the Spendbook app. Like HomeBudget, it saves money by helping users track their spending. Easy and fun, it provides a bird’s eye view of the budget on the main screen. The app allows recurring transactions and users can see their spending by day on the Spendbook calendar.
Ease of use takes this app from the realm of under the bed exercise machines into the world of truly saving money. The lack of a feature to batch-import a transaction history from bank records is a drawback. Also the app can’t sync budgets across multiple devices like iPhone, iPad and MacBook, making it a little bit of a challenge for family use.
3. Money Monitor
#3 on our list of iPhone apps that save money is the Money Monitor app. This app tracks income, budgets and net worth. The handiest part of this app is its ability to show net worth going up and down by month. Tracking those changes right down to the nearest dollar earned or spent gives a good top-line picture of a user’s finances.
iPhone users can sync data across multiple iPhones, iPads and MacBooks for easy family use. There’s no way to enter batched bank records in this money saving app, but nonetheless it really does save money, based on the idea that what gets measured gets improved.
4. Pocket Expense Personal Finance
Here’s another iPhone app that saves money by helping with the user’s budget. For $4.99, the Pocket Expense Personal Finance app isn’t a bad option.
The app lets users see their net worth and recent transactions. Users can schedule bill payments, set up accounts and view reports with ease. The app allows cloud-syncing for family sharing. Drawbacks include no function for batch-import of bank transactions and no ability to create new spending categories.
5. BillGuard Money Tracking App and More
Now called “Prosper Daily,” Forbes calls this top rated iPhone app “the best app to track your money.” It’s also on PCMag’s list of top free apps. No wonder. This great little app doesn’t just save money by helping iPhone users track their spending. It also packs a host of other gimmes, including:
- Free credit score any time, any where, for any reason.
- Suspicious activity alerts.
- Premium identity theft protection. Save money by stopping it from getting sneaked from under you. Includes monitoring of all three credit reports and black market surveillance so you can see if any of your info has fallen into the wrong hands. Also comes with a cool $1 million in ID theft insurance.
6. Debt Free – Pay off Your Debt With the Snowball Method
Debt Free saves money for iPhone users who might have got in over their heads. This top selling finance app gives consumers a seamless, simple way to monitor, visualize and pay off debts. Charts and progress indicators keep you on track, while multiple payoff strategies can help create a solid debt repayment plan. The app syncs data across multiple devices, letting the debt snowball become a family effort. Built in financial calculators let users create projections so they can see just how long it’s going to take to tackle the debt monster in the living room. This iPhone app may only save money for those who don’t have any, but those are often the ones who need it most.
Coupon Apps
Turns out there are tons of great iPhone apps that save money and time for shoppers by streamlining the coupon process. The next 11 apps on our list save money for iPhone users with discounts and deals.
7. Walmart Savings Catcher
#7 on our list of iPhone apps that save money, the Walmart Savings Catcher App helps with everyday purchases for anyone who shops at Walmart. Savings amounts depend on the kinds of items you regularly buy, but it’s generally anywhere from 1% to 10%. The app is incredibly easy to use. Just download it and then aim your phone at any Walmart receipt as you leave the store. It then compares the prices on the receipt to other local deals and specials for the next few days. If it finds you could have saved money elsewhere, it credits you for the difference. The app works best with processed foods, cleaning supplies, frozen foods, paper products and other prepackaged consumables. People who buy mostly fresh veggies, meats and so on won’t save as much money with this iPhone app.
Also see: How to Save Money With Walmart Savings Catcher
8. Amazon Local
If you haven’t heard of Amazon Local, you will. This great iPhone app can save money for its users via the size and power of Amazon. Search through nearby deals on restaurants, bars, shopping, hotels, beauty, travel and just about anything else. See reviews on local businesses and get alerts on special offers nearby. The neat thing about this local deals app is that it shows not only the deal, but how much it costs, how much money it saves over full price, how far away it is and how other customers have rated it. Not only do users of this iPhone app save money by seeing lots of local deals, but they can also customize their experience, for example weeding out all the offers on big game hunting. Unless you like that kind of thing.
9. Slice
The Slice iPhone app saves money like the Walmart Savings Catcher app. The app watches the store where you bought the product for a week or two. If the price drops on any item you bought during that time period, slice gets you a partial refund from the store in question. As an example, let’s say you bought six buckets of premium Latex-Ite Ultra Shield driveway sealer for $39.32 each at the Home Depot. Three days later, Home Depot drops their price to $33.32 per bucket. The Slice app saves you money by getting the store to refund you the extra $36 you would have saved if you’d shopped later, plus tax.
10. RetailMeNot
The RetailMeNot app saves money for iPhone users by finding coupons for people who don’t want to go through all the hassle of clipping and saving. To use the app, a user just does a search for a store they’re about to shop in, a restaurant they’re about to eat in or a product they’re about to buy. The app then shows a list of deals and coupons available for that store, that restaurant, or that product. Users can also save money on purchases by choosing from a list of categories, like apparel, travel, food or electronics. Users can redeem coupons right from a smartphone. There’s also a super handy map that shows all the deals currently available in your area.
11. The SnipSnap iPhone Coupon App
The SnipSnap coupon app saves money for iPhone users who love coupons but hat the paper cuts. Just download the app, stop snipping and start snapping. Take photos of coupons you like, and this iPhone app turns them into digital coupons. Show your iPhone to the cashier and they’ll enter the promo code or scan in the bar code. This iPhone app saves money on coupons, specials and retailer deals, but not direct-from-the-manufacturer deals, like deals straight from Apple. There’s also a giant database of digitized coupons you can flip through.
12. The Coupons App
The “Coupons” iPhone app saves money for so many users it’s the most downloaded of any iPhone coupon app out there. There’s a pre-fab database chock full of coupon codes that work nearly everywhere, be it brick in mortar stores or online. From local deals to gas stations, this iPhone app saves money with coupons that update throughout the day. Save money with this iPhone app by flipping through coupons in the checkout aisle. Share coupons via text or social media. Then show coupons at checkout and save.
13. The Coupon Sherpa iPhone Coupon App
The Coupon Sherpa app for iPhone saves money by stuffing in hundreds of in-store and local bargains for retailers and restaurants alike. iPhone users save money by using their GPS feature to locate deals nearby and sort them by category and store. Participating stores include Best Buy, Kohl’s, Sears, Office Depot and more. This money saving iPhone app really works, it’s good at dozens of popular stores, and it’s easy to use.
14. Coupons & Coupon Codes, Savings & Deals
Those who still love the paper coupon game but want to get rid of the mess can save money with this iPhone app. Download and print the coupons you like. All the app’s money saving coupons are hand-verified, so they’ll most likely work.
The coupons in this iPhone app save money at Target, Walmart, Payless, Kroger, Nordstrom, Publix, Safeway, Albertson’s, Starbucks, Whole Foods and tons more. Brand coupons for Kraft, Tide, Kellog’s, Pantene and so on save more money. Alerts let shoppers know when deals pop up nearby. There’s also an Apple Watch version to hunt bargains on the move.
A handy link-to-card feature lets shoppers register a credit card, so coupons are redeemed automatically at checkout. Just swipe and save.
15. Groupon: Deals, Coupons & Shopping: Local Restaurants, Hotels, Yoga & Spas
This iPhone save money app gives discounts on more than just vacations and adventure. Shoppers save on merchandise, restaurants and clothing. A huge database of available coupons keeps iPhone users saving. The app’s Apple Watch version can save money right from the wrist, like a frugal Dick Tracy.
The app is also Apple Pay enabled for deals with no waiting. It’s also tied into iPhone’s GPS to help find local deals.
16. Shopular Coupons: Weekly Ads & Shopping Mall Deals for Target, Walmart, Walgreens & More
The Shopular iPhone app that saves money is a big hit with consumers. It’s full of great coupons at everyday stores like CVS, Walmart, Target, Walgreen, Starbucks and Kohl’s. Checkout-ready coupons abound, with screens for weekly deals at your fingertips. Tell the app where you shop and save money.
The coupons in this iPhone app really save money because each one is hand tested. Linked to iPhone’s GPS feature, the app makes the savings easy to find.
Also see: Is iPhone Banking Safe? An Expert Answers
17. Weekly Ads & Sales: Coupons, Deals and Shopping List
Wouldn’t it be great to have every store circular on your iPhone? This iPhone app saves money by doing just that. It stores adds from over 96,000 retailers nationwide, including Safeway, Kroger, Meijer, Publix, Shaws, Stop & Shop and tons more. Want to use the app to save money on more than just groceries? It also has circulars from department stores, office stores, pharmacies, sporting goods outlets and pet stores.
Search by city or state, then use iPhone’s navigation to find your way to save money.
18. Checkout 51: Grocery Coupons & Deals
The Checkout 51 app saves money retroactively. That is, it watches you shop, then gives cash back for coupons you never used. Just snap a photo of each receipt with iPhone’s camera and save money.
The app saves money at Target, Walmart, Whole Foods, Safeway, Costco, Tire Giant and lots more. This iPhone app saves money while eliminating digital and paper coupons alike.
Also see: 18 Big Ways to Save Money at Amazon
19. GeoQpons: Coupons, Sales & Shopping Deals
The GeoQpons iPhone app saves money by mixing in store coupons, online coupons, weekly ads, clearance sales and loyalty cards. It works at Target, Kohl’s, Walgreens, Nordtrom, Hollister, JCPenny’s, Macy’s, Footlocker, Starbucks, Costco, Old Navy, Home Depot, Hobby Lobby, Office Depot and more.
Save money with daily deals, sales and coupons, snap pictures of coupons, and get alerts on deals about to expire. This app boasts 100,000 coupons and a reputation for being a very well organized app to save money with iPhone.
Gas Apps
Here’s the situation: you fill up, congratulating yourself on finding gas for three cents less than you’ve seen anywhere else, then you roll around the corner and spot a station selling gas for ten cents less than you just paid. Never gnash your teeth over this frustrating scenario again by using these money saving iPhone gas apps below.
20. Gas Buddy
The Gas Buddy iPhone gas app connects over 50 million drivers who view and update the cheapest gas prices each day at stations all over the United States and Canada. Just lick the button marked, “Find Gas Near Me” and you’ll see all the cheapest rates at local gas stations, with the lowest prices first. You’ll even get directions from your iPhone’s map feature.
You can earn points for reporting gas prices and redeem them to get entered in a daily drawing to win $100 in gas.
21. Gas Guru
With the Gas Guru iPhone gas app, you won’t spend any time reporting cheap gas prices. You’l just reap the rewards. View cheap gas results by list or map, and see how far each station is from your location.
There’s also a “best nearby” feature you can use when time is of the essence. You’ll also get a tip about how long ago each price was updated, so you don’t get skunked.
22. Waze
The Waze iPhone app is about more than just gas. It does have a gas price component to help you save money, but it’s first and foremost built to save you time in traffic, and as we all know, time is money. Leave the app open while you drive and it’ll figure out your speed. Combined with the speeds of all the other registered drivers, the app builds a real time database of traffic pileups that it lets you snoop on.
The Waze iPhone app will save money on gas, plus on time stuck in traffic idling and even on speeding tickets, since it’ll alert you to upcoming speed traps.
23. Fuelzee
The popular Fuelzee iPhone gas app saves users money by finding nearby cheap gas and then helping drivers spend that gas more efficiently. The app tracks mileage and gas purchases and even helps you earn rewards and discounts.
24. Mileage Keeper
Had enough iPhone apps that save money by finding the cheapest gas? What about one that turns your car into a smart car? Sort of. The Mileage Keeper iPhone app tracks your efficiency and helps you game your mileage.
Productivity
The following five iPhone apps can save you money by giving your productivity a kick in the pants. Time is money and these apps help you save it.
25. Pomodro Timer
Time is money. Save both with this hugely popular iPhone time management app. The app is based on the Pomodro Technique, one of the best time management methods ever created.
The app helps users follow the five steps to effective time management:
- Decide on the task
- Set the timer
- Work on the task
- Take short breaks every 25 minutes
- Take longer breaks every four periods
The app is fully customizable. In essence the app is “just a timer” but it really helps people focus. Users rate it very highly as a genuine time saver. The app indirectly saves users money by helping them get a handle on productivity.
26. Wunderlist
Grocery shopping from a list saves money because it cuts down on impulse buying and focuses your dollars on things you actually need. The Wunderlist app is an iPhone app that saves money by making sure shoppers always have their list at hand. This great little hunk of software replaces old style paper lists by sticking your shopping list where it belongs: in the cloud. No more hunting for a pen or wondering what the heck you did with the sheet of folded paper with flowers printed on it that you had five minutes ago when you got in the car.
With the Wunderlist iPhone list app, shoppers save money by creating their shopping list on their laptop, iPad or iPhone. The list syncs across devices so it’s always at every fingertip in the family. Did you just remember you need toilet paper five minutes after he headed out the door? No worries, just add it to the list and he’ll see it when he hits the store.
Not only does the Wunderlist iPhone app save money by giving shoppers a plan, it also saves on time, which as we know is money. Users of this app save money on paper lists too. Not just for groceries, the app is also great for making lists about just about anything, from home improvement projects to a job search. There’s also a version for the Apple Watch.
27. Carrot: The To Do List With a Personality
Can’t handle a bland to do list that’s all items and crossing things off? Save money with the Carrot iPhone app – the productivity app with personality.
The Carrot app boasts that it can harness the power of addiction to help its users get things done. Get things done to unlock mini games and cheat codes. Fail to get things done and the app gets mad at you. The app has extremely high ratings on the app store and sky-high media reviews.
28. Google Sheets
This one would be way, way higher up on our list if we were ranking the apps in terms of how much money they could save you. The truth is, the Google Sheets app can save money for iPhone users in a ton of different ways. This is the end-all, be-all money saving app for people with a creative touch who like to build their own strategies and structures.
To give an idea how how this app can save money, build a spreadsheet and add everything you own into it, plus its location. (For instance, “alan wrench set: plastic bin #7, basement.) Whenever any family member can’t find something, they just pull up the app and bingo. There it is. No more time wasted searching. No more trips to the store to buy something you already own. That of course saves money.
That’s just one way the Google sheets app can save money. It can also become a great custom budget and expense tracker, shopping list, income tracker or you name it.
29. Google Calendar
Continuing in the vein of throwing props to Google, their calendar app for iPhone can help users save money too. How? The app creates a syncable calendar the entire family can share. iPhone users can set it up with bill reminders, budget events and more.
As just one example, a simple alert with a reminder to check the credit card balance once per month can protect the family from fraud. How is this different from using the calendar in your phone? The Google calendar app can be synced across devices like iPhones, laptops and desktops. That way, the whole family knows about the event, the bill due date, the coupon expiration or the Health Savings Account deadline.
The family that plans together saves money together. Events from Gmail accounts are even added to the calendar automatically.
Miscellaneous Money Saving iPhone Apps
The next seven iPhone apps save money in ways other than gas, coupons, productivity or budgeting. There are local deals apps, debt repayment and scholarships apps. We’ve got iPhone apps that save money at the movies or by finding restaurants where kids eat free.
30. Rocket Mortgage
Rocket mortgage has a “Launchpad” app for iPhone that targets consumers who want to save money on a mortgage. Why not just use a desktop or laptop? Yes, it’s nice to get approved (or denied) for a mortgage a lot faster without having to go into a brick and mortar bank. But do we really need it to happen so fast we want to do it while in the waiting room at the dentist? Well, the idea with Rocket Mortgage’s app is, it makes the process of uploading pictures of documents like your driver’s license and W-2 easier. Just snap the pics with your phone, upload the docs, and you’re off and running. Once the easy steps are out of the way, the app encourages users to finish all the nuts and bolts online.
31.Scholarships.com
Save money on college tuition with the Scholarships.com app for iPhone. This app saves money by making it a lot easier for college bound kids and their families to find scholarship money.
The problem with finding scholarships is that it’s not like finding a needle in a haystack. It’s like finding the right needle in a stack of other needles. Finding and applying for scholarships takes time. The Scholarships.com app cuts right to the chase by eliminating thousands of scholarships an applicant isn’t eligible for. What’s left is a list of matching scholarships that give the student a high probability of success. Just download the app and complete your profile with info like age, hobbies, interests and talents and this iPhone money saving app does the rest.
32. Regal Movies App
Okay, everyone’s excited about Star Wars: The Force Awakens and we are, too. While we can’t get you cheap tickets, we can show you how to save money at the movies with the Regal Cinemas iPhone app. Don’t have a Regal theater near you? Cinemark, AMC and other cinema chains all have their own money saving apps. App users can earn points for discounts and freebies on concessions like popcorn, soda, candy and other goodies.
The app works by tracking movie visits, then logging bonus points. To redeem the points, users just show their phone at the concessions counter. According to rigorous science, the only way to make movie popcorn taste better is if it’s free.
33. Savings.com’s Amazon PriceJump App
The PriceJump App from Savings.com lets shoppers save money by letting them find the lowest price on any product in seconds. If you’re in a store and you’re about to buy something, but you’ve got that nagging feeling you might find it cheaper somewhere else, you may be right. The PriceJump app will save you money by telling you for sure.
Just scan the product’s bar code, or type in its name, and the PriceJump app returns the lowest price from over 5,000 online retailers, stores within your area, and Amazon.com. If it finds a lower price anywhere, you’ll know it instantly.
The downside of the app according to users is that it almost always tells you Amazon has the lowest price.
Also see: 18 Big Ways to Save Money at Amazon
34. FreePrints
There’s really not much need to explain this free iPhone money saving app. It’s just what the name suggests: free prints. Got a lot of photos on your iPhone? Want to turn them into 4×6 prints that you can hold or frame? Just download the app by clicking here. The app promises 1,000 free prints per year. Choose the photos you want printed from your iPhone. Use the app. Your prints get mailed straight to you. What’s the catch? We don’t know. Probably the app assumes you’ll get tired of the 4×6 size restriction and you’ll pay for larger prints at times. Shipping and handling costs from $1.99 to $9.99, so that’s a potential catch. Users seem to love this app though, as it has extremely high ratings in the App Store.
35. The Kids Eat Free App
Want your kids to eat free? Yep, there’s an app for that. The Kids Eat Free app aims to save you money by helping you find local restaurants where kids eat free. Diners search by zip code or by city and state. The results can also be filtered by mileage radius. It’s a nice app, but its info us based on user input. That means it only knows about restaurants where kids eat free if other users tell it. The app will probably be a killer once it gets a few more users. For now it works well enough, though some of the entries are out of date, so make sure you call before you trust it’s word.
36. The Alexa App
The Alexa iPhone app can save money for users in all sorts of ways, and those ways are growing all the time. Alexa is Amazon’s app for its Echo device. That’s basically a really smart, voice-controlled speaker you put in your home. The device has all sorts of skills, and just one of them is the ability to pair with a user’s Capital One account. Picture this: You’re in the kitchen making dinner and suddenly you’re wondering if you’re overspending this month. You could stop making dinner and go check on the laptop, but you’d rather not, and you might not remember it later. Instead, you simply say, “Alexa, what’s my account balance?” and Echo answers. Users can ask for their available credit, for how much money they have in checking, when their next bill is due and even track spending or make credit card payments right from the voice prompt.