Cash may be king, but gift cards are almost as good. We all know how good it feels to apply a gift card to a purchase and watch the amount owed plummet; it’s guilt-free shopping at its finest.
Yet when you really need a gift card, you never have one. If only there were a way to intentionally seek out the gift cards you need.
That’s why we’ve created a list of how to get free gift cards. If you’re willing to invest some time and try multiple methods, your gift card balances will likely fill up in time for that next Walmart or Amazon shopping spree.
- Earn Free Gift Cards without Spending Money
- Earn Free Gift Cards while Shopping
- Earn Free Gift Cards by Scanning Receipts
skip down to see all the ways to get free gift cards
15 Easy Ways To Get Free Gift Cards
Here’s how to start earning free gift cards today:
- 🏆 Branded Surveys
- Swagbucks
- Survey Junkie
- InboxDollars
- MyPoints
- PrizeRebel
- LifePoints
- Capital One Shopping
- Honey
- Drop
- Shopkick
- Ibotta
- Fetch Rewards
- ReceiptPal
- BONUS: Instagram Giveaway
How to Get Free Gift Cards Without Spending Any Money
Survey websites are one of the best-known ways to get free gift cards by helping big brands with market research. Sure, completing questionnaires may seem tiresome to some, and you’ll undoubtedly need some patience, but you’re guaranteed results. Putting aside just five minutes a day to spend on online surveys can add up.
1. Branded Surveys
With Branded Surveys, you can earn points by completing, you guessed it, surveys. But that is not the only way to earn points; you can participate in daily polls, take advantage of local deals, or benefit from their referral program by inviting friends.
The average payout per survey is around 300 points, or $3. So, if you spend some of your downtime answering surveys, you can earn free gift cards in no time!
You can redeem your points with top retailers such as Amazon, PayPal, and Apple gift cards just to name a few.
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2. Swagbucks
Swagbucks is one of the most popular survey websites in the world. By completing surveys, shopping through their portal, and watching specific videos, you can earn points (which they call Swagbucks).
You can also benefit from using Swagbucks as your default search engine and experience the same search results you are used to, allowing you to never miss out on earning SB for your searches.
When you’ve earned enough Swagbucks, you can use them towards certain rewards. These are mostly gift cards for big companies like Amazon (who doesn’t want free Amazon gift cards!?), Walmart and other retailers, but you can also get direct PayPal cash balances or charity donations.
A huge advantage to Swagbucks is that you get a $10 sign-up bonus using our link as long as you earn enough points in your first two months.
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3. Survey Junkie
With Survey Junkie, you earn points just for signing up and completing your profile.
After that, earn points for completing surveys, and as an optional add-on, you can share your digital browsing behavior in exchange for rewards (this is optional).
Survey Junkie is free for anyone ages 18 or older and living in the United States, Australia, or Canada.
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4. InboxDollars
InboxDollars lets you earn credit towards gift cards by completing surveys, watching television, and playing games.
The disadvantage is that, unlike Swagbucks, you have to wait until you accumulate $30 credit before you can withdraw anything.
Since you get a $5 bonus for signing up and an extra $3 for every friend you refer (plus 10% of their future earnings), you’ll be able to reach this amount fairly quickly.
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5. MyPoints
MyPoints allows you to earn gift cards for answering questions, taking polls, watching videos, and completing other online activities like shopping.
You can even earn points even when you don’t qualify for a given survey.
It also offers a generous $5 bonus for signing up if you spend at least $20 through their portal within your first month.
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6. PrizeRebel
PrizeRebel is another great survey site for learning how to get free gift cards from big sites like Amazon and PayPal. All you have to do is give your honest opinion. You can earn even more points by referring other users.
You can also earn by completing offers and watching videos.
Like Swagbucks, it’s possible to cash out your points at a low value.
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7. LifePoints
As one of the largest influencer communities, LifePoints provides you with thousands of survey options to earn points redeemable for free gift cards.
A cool feature of LifePoints is that each survey shows a time estimate and the number of points you could earn before you start. You’ll know what you’re getting into and how much it’ll pay out.
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How to Earn Free Gift Cards While Shopping
There are cash back websites, Chrome extensions, and cashback apps that will reward you for your normal everyday shopping.
Why not install one and start earning free money for things you already shop for?
8. Capital One Shopping
Capital One Shopping is known for its browser extension that acts as your shopping assistant, helping you find better deals on items on your list.
When buying from specific stores, you can accrue Shopping Credits. These credits build, and you can redeem them for a free gift card from major retailers such as eBay, Lowe’s, and Nordstrom.
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9. Honey App
The Honey App works slightly differently as it’s a browser extension rather than an app. Not only will you receive a cashback, but you’ll also get notified of any available discounts while you shop.
Instead of consciously deciding to shop through a particular portal (which can get overwhelming and confusing), Honey remains dormant in your browser until you enter a site with a cash-back option.
Honey alerts you of the savings opportunity so you can make the most of the offer. When you buy something, you’ll earn ‘Honey Gold’ or cashback points redeemed as gift cards. Plus, you save money with the savings offers. If you refer your friends, you can make even more Honey Gold.
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10. Drop
Drop is purely for earning cashback balances through their online shopping app after you link your credit or debit card.
They have a large list of retailers that count towards the points you can earn, including food delivery sites and travel companies. You can also earn more points on the site by completing surveys and playing video games.
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11. ShopKick
Shopkick is a receipt-scanning app since you can earn cashback from shopping and sending them your receipt, but there are many other ways for you to earn ‘kicks’ (points).
These include online purchases, linking a credit card, scanning a barcode, and even walking into a shop.
Unlike other websites that can leave you waiting for months, ShopKick claims that most users receive their first free gift card within just a week. Partners include Amazon, Target, and Starbucks gift cards.
To get started, download the app (available on Android and iOS), create your account, and start bringing in the kicks! Once you are ready to trade in your kicks, you can choose from great options, such as Target or Walmart gift cards!
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How To Earn Free Gift Cards by Scanning Receipts
Another common way to get your hands on some free gift cards and save money is to scan your receipts through an app and build up your points. Many apps that offer this also store your receipts for you, which is a great added bonus if you want to track your spending or remember what you’ve bought.
12. Ibotta
Ibotta lets you earn money with cashback on purchases both in-store and online.
To start, download Ibotta via the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. Then, before shopping in-store, browse the offers you’d like to redeem and activate them on the app. After shopping, scan your receipt using the app, and they’ll usually add the cash back to your account within 24 hours.
Once you earn $20 in Ibotta points, you can cash out through PayPal or select from the free gift cards such as iTunes, Starbucks, and many others.
You can also ‘Pay with Ibotta’ even though they no longer call it that. This feature lets you pay with your earned gift cards at over 50 stores. You can then receive cashback automatically without having the hassle of scanning your receipts.
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13. Fetch Rewards
Fetch Rewards is a rewards app that lets you earn points easily by scanning receipts from all your favorite stores from your smartphone.
You’ll earn points if you purchase products and brands participating in the offer, and you won’t have to find those brands manually; the app will do it for you. There are also special offers to help you earn even more.
But that’s not it; you will also get 25 points for every receipt you scan, regardless of whether it includes any product deals.
Once you have built up 3,000 points, you can redeem your rewards at hundreds of retailers in all kinds of categories: Airbnb, Amazon, Best Buy, Sephora, and Stitch Fix, to name just a few!
14. ReceiptPal
This is another app that lets you earn points by scanning your receipts. If you prefer not to scan paper receipts, you can link your email or Amazon account and automatically get rewarded for purchases.
As well as earning gift cards at places like Walmart and Amazon, you can also enter prize draws and sweepstakes for cash bonuses.
15. BONUS: Instagram Giveaways
Something else that might not have occurred to you is searching for gift card giveaways on social media, such as Instagram. How? By using the right hashtags.
Of course, there’s no guarantee you’ll win the free gift cards, but if you try enough times, you just might win.
Some of the most popular hashtags include:
- #giveaway
- #contest
- #sweepstakes
- #freebie
- #freebiefriday
Since you can follow hashtags, you can just wait for the best offers to appear while scrolling through your feed.
You may have to tag a couple of friends in a post or follow an account for the company to enter you into the draw, but it’s hardly a huge sacrifice.
What is the Best Way to Earn Free Gift Cards?
Earning free gift cards for things you already do is your best option. Everyone goes grocery shopping, whether once a week or once a month, so why not earn redeemable points for free gift cards with apps like Ibotta or Fetch?
Everyone also sits around binging their favorite shows on lazy weekends; why not sit and do a few surveys with Branded Surveys or Swagbucks and let those points add up to snag yourself a free Target gift card?
Nevertheless, there’s a way for you to start earning free gift cards. Just try out a couple of options from our list and see what works best for you.
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