If there’s one thing that a rideshare driver can’t get enough of, it’s saving on gas. It’s an expense we all have, and for some, it is a daily expense that adds up to hundreds of dollars a month. This is why we found the best gas apps for you to start saving money today.
If you can save when you fill up your tank by taking a few simple steps, would you do it? The best part is that many of these apps are able to be used together to double or even triple your savings.
7 Best Gas Apps of 2023
These are the best gas apps for drivers to start using today:
1. Upside
Upside is a U.S.-based company that partners with some of the biggest gas, grocery, and restaurant brands in the nation, making it easy to earn cash back. You can earn up to $0.25 cents off per gallon directly at the pump.
The basic premise is that you download the app and search nearby participating stations. The app will show you a map of the gas stations along with their current prices and how much of a discount you’ll earn.
You have to “claim” which gas station you’re going to, fill up at that station within 4 hours and submit your receipt to earn cash back within the app.
Some gas stations don’t even require you to upload a receipt. You just mark “check-in” in the app when you’re about to pump gas and it will automatically give you your cashback within the next day or two.
A great thing about Upside is that there is no expiration date on the cash back you earn. Your cashback balance will never expire, so you don’t need to worry about rushing to spend your funds.
The biggest downside for me is that the receipt upload process is a bit clunky and you have to wait to earn the money. It’s not savings I see that very moment.
One fun aspect is that the app lets you choose between cashing out to your PayPal account or choosing a gift card for places like Amazon, Starbucks, AMC Theatres, and more. You can also link your bank account if you don’t have PayPal or if you just prefer your bank account.
Click Here to Save with Upside
⭐️ Use promo code RIDE35 to earn at least 35¢/gal on your first fill-up.
2. GasBuddy
GasBuddy is another gas app that gives you more immediate savings. You don’t have to upload your receipt to receive the savings, and you don’t have to wait until you have enough built up to cash out.
According to GasBuddy, they work with 95% of the gas stations within the U.S., which is very appealing to me.
I know which gas stations work best for my commute, so I love that I can use whichever one I want instead of hunting down a participating location.
With GasBuddy, you get a card from them and you attach your bank account to it for those instant savings at the pump. And users can update the prices within the app for the most up-to-date information.
Since it uses a card, it’s easy to double this up with other apps like Upside. All you need to do is try out as many as you have the patience for, and you’ll see the savings start to pile up.
Click Here to Save with GasBuddy
3. Fetch Rewards
Fetch Rewards is another popular cash back app. This is a great app because you can combine the points you earn from shopping and gas purchases. Every purchase gives you a minimum of 25 points which you can save until you want to redeem them.
All you have to do is upload your gas receipt into the Fetch Rewards app and you’ll earn points that you can redeem for gift cards. Unlike Upside, points earned can expire if the account has been inactive for 90 days or more.
Also, unlike Upside, you cannot transfer the points to your bank account or PayPal. Instead, you can redeem your points for gift cards, with $3 being the minimum amount to redeem.
4. Trunow
Trunow is another app that will help you find the cheapest gas prices in your area as well as earn cash back with every gas station receipt you upload.
In some areas of the country, you can find rewards for cashing out your earned money, otherwise, you have to wait until you have enough to cash out to your PayPal account.
In the app store, they boast “Put cash back in your pocket at every gas station, every time.” I’ve put this to the test. I was recently on a road trip in South Dakota and stopped by an unknown gas station that was not associated with any big national chain and my receipt was accepted.
One benefit of this app is that you can combine points earned from gas purchases with points earned from grocery stores and restaurants as well, just like Fetch Rewards.
The downside of Trunow is the savings take a while to add up. You need 100 points to earn $1 and from what I can tell, each dollar you spend is worth half a point. So, I uploaded receipts totaling $128 and received 63 points for it, which in turn is equivalent to $0.63 cents of cash back.
Click Here to Save with Trunow
Get Indirect Savings With the Help of These Apps
Not all the best gas apps are going to give you cash back or discounts, but there are several that will help you find the cheapest gas prices, which helps you save in that respect.
If you go to a gas station just because it’s close, you could be spending $0.20 cents or more per gallon for convenience. Use these apps below to help find out if there’s a gas station within a mile or two of you that will be cheaper overall.
5. Waze
Many rideshare drivers already use Waze as their main navigation app, so why not let it work for you even more?
Within Waze, you can search for nearby gas stations, and Waze will show you how much you’d be spending per gallon. It also tells you when the price was last updated in the app, so you have a better idea of if it’s up-to-date or not.
If you click on the gas station you’re interested in, you can also see the cost of other gas options. The number you see up front is for regular.
6. AAA TripTik Travel Planner
In much the same way as Waze, you can use the AAA mobile app to find nearby gas stations and the cost per gallon. However, you do need a AAA account in order to utilize this. It also allows you to plan long road trips with up to 25 stops which allow you to fully plan out a trip without needing to plug in address after address.
This app I would recommend this if you already have a AAA account and plan to do traveling outside of your rideshare services. Otherwise, I’m not sure the $61 fee to sign up is worth it. Granted, this does include roadside assistance, so if your current insurance company doesn’t provide roadside assistance, this might be beneficial for you anyway.
However, if you just want to use their website, it looks like you can use the trip planning and gas-finding features without having a subscription to their services.
7. Gas Guru
Gas Guru, much like the others, shows you nearby gas stations and their prices. One thing that makes this app stand apart is that they have a “Best Nearby” feature so you don’t have to scroll through the whole list to find the absolute best price around you.
All you do is click on the “Best Nearby” star in the bottom corner and it’ll automatically jump to the best deal near you.
It also shows when it was last updated, so you know the price is accurate. That’s why I think Gas Guru is one of the best gas apps to consider using when you want to fill up.
This is an excellent app if you’re not interested in earning cash back from apps like Upside and Fetch Rewards.
If you just want information on the cheapest gas prices, this is a great app. Or, you can use this app to find the best deals on gas stations and use the cash back apps to get points for purchases.
Which Are the Best Gas Apps for Drivers?
The best advice I can give is to try all of these gas apps out. See which ones you can use together to earn double, triple, or more.
For the ones you’re not the most satisfied with, simply uninstall them and leave them behind.
The worst that can happen is you won’t save quite as much as you were hoping for based on the effort needed to gain the rewards.
Personally, when I’m traveling a long distance, I’m going to use as many as I can just to see how much I can rack up and see if it’s worth keeping all of them around for more cash back in the future.
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