CoinOut Review The Receipt Scanning App That Pays for Any Store Receipt My Month of Testing
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There's a particular type of receipt app that makes a promise so simple it feels like it must be hiding something. "Scan any receipt. Get paid." No brand limits. No offer activation. No specific product needs. Just photograph your receipts — from any store, for any purchase — and money builds in your account. When I first found CoinOut, I was doubtful in the specific way that comes from testing many reward apps that promise universality and deliver fine print. The question with CoinOut wasn't whether it would pay — enough users had confirmed that it does. The question was how little it would pay, and whether the pennies-per-receipt model could build into anything useful over time.
I spent one month testing CoinOut — scanning every receipt from every purchase, from grocery trips to gas station stops to coffee runs. I wanted to understand the per-receipt earning rate, the processing trust, the withdrawal experience, and whether the "scan anything" ease makes up for what I expected would be very low per-receipt returns. What I found is that CoinOut does exactly what it promises — it pays for every receipt, with no brand limits and no offer activation — but the per-receipt rates are so small that the app works best as an extra layer on top of higher-value cashback apps rather than a standalone earning tool.
- CoinOut is a universal receipt scanning app — upload any receipt from any store and earn cash, with no brand limits or offer activation needed
- Per-receipt earnings are very small — usually $0.01–$0.15 per receipt, with occasional higher-value "bonus" receipts
- I scanned 43 receipts over one month and earned $6.85 — roughly $0.16 per receipt on average, though the middle was closer to $0.05
- Withdrawals via PayPal, bank transfer, or Amazon gift card with a $10 smallest — I didn't reach the level in one month
- This is a supplemental tool, not a main earner — the value is in catching receipts that don't qualify for higher-value cashback on other apps
What Is CoinOut and How Does It Work?
CoinOut was started in 2017 and got national attention when the founders appeared on Shark Tank, getting an investment from Robert Herjavec. The company's pitch was simple: a universal receipt scanning app that pays cash for any receipt, no matter where you shopped or what you bought. Unlike Ibotta (which needs activating specific offers and buying specific products) or Checkout 51 (which needs buying specific brands), CoinOut's model is universal: every receipt has value, even if that value is very small.
The app makes money through market research and data study. When you upload a receipt, CoinOut takes purchase data — what you bought, where, when, and for how much. This grouped, anonymized purchase data is useful to consumer goods companies, stores, and market research firms who want to understand shopping patterns. CoinOut shares a small part of this data money with users as cashback. The business model explains the low per-receipt rates: your single receipt is worth very little as a data point, but across millions of receipts and users, the grouped data is useful. Your payment is basically a small licensing fee for your purchase information.
The app works with refreshing simplicity compared to other receipt apps:
- Shop anywhere: Buy anything at any store — grocery, retail, restaurant, gas station, online (with e-receipts).
- Keep the receipt: Paper or digital — CoinOut accepts both.
- Scan and upload: Photograph the receipt through the app or forward e-receipts to CoinOut's email address.
- Earn: Cash is added to your account, usually within 24 hours. The amount changes — sometimes a set rate per receipt, sometimes a random amount, sometimes a higher bonus.
"Universal receipt apps offer a different value from brand-specific cashback platforms. You're not being paid to switch products or try new brands. You're being paid for your data — your purchase history, anonymized and grouped, sold to companies that want to understand buyer behavior. The payment is small because your single data is worth very little. But the friction is also small — you're already shopping, already getting receipts, and the scanning takes seconds."
Getting Started: Setup and First Scans
CoinOut is available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play. At the time of writing, it holds a 4.6-star rating on the App Store with about 30,000 reviews. The app is free to download and use.
Registration took about two minutes: phone number (for account checking), email address, and a payment method choice. No identity checking at signup. After registration, the app showed a simple interface: a camera button for scanning receipts, a running balance display, and a withdrawal area. The design is small and focused — CoinOut does one thing and doesn't crowd the experience with offers, coupons, or game features.
My first scan was a grocery receipt from a local supermarket — $47.32 in purchases. I photographed the receipt, the app processed it within seconds, and my balance updated to $0.08. Eight cents. On a $47 purchase. The per-receipt rate was exactly what I expected based on user reviews — small enough to feel almost symbolic, but real money that showed instantly. Over the first week, I scanned 11 receipts ranging from $3.50 (coffee shop) to $89.00 (grocery trip) and earned a total of $1.42. The earnings per receipt ranged from $0.03 to $0.25, with most around $0.05–$0.10.
The scanning process is fast — faster than Ibotta or Checkout 51 because there's no offer matching step. You don't need to check whether your purchases qualify for anything. You just scan and earn. The app's OCR processes the receipt in 5–15 seconds, and the cash is added right away. This speed and simplicity is CoinOut's main advantage — scanning a receipt takes about 30 seconds total (including opening the app and placing the camera), making the real "hourly rate" for scanning alone roughly $12–$18/hour if you had an endless stack of receipts. The limit isn't the scanning speed — it's that you only have so many receipts to scan.
The Earning Mechanics: What Decides Your Per-Receipt Rate
| Receipt Type | Number Scanned | Usual Earnings | Total Earned |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grocery | 8 receipts | $0.05–$0.15 | $1.15 |
| Restaurant/Fast Food | 7 receipts | $0.03–$0.10 | $0.62 |
| Retail/Clothing | 5 receipts | $0.05–$0.12 | $0.58 |
| Gas Stations | 4 receipts | $0.03–$0.08 | $0.30 |
| Coffee/Small Purchases | 9 receipts | $0.01–$0.05 | $0.35 |
| Online/E-receipts | 5 receipts | $0.05–$0.12 | $0.55 |
| Bonus Receipts | 5 receipts | $0.25–$1.00 | $3.30 |
CoinOut doesn't publish a clear rate card — the per-receipt earnings seem to be decided by a mix of things including purchase amount, store, and a random part. During my testing, I saw patterns but not set rules:
- Purchase amount matters somewhat: Larger receipts tended to earn slightly more, but not evenly. A $200 retail purchase earned $0.12 — not 20x more than a $10 purchase that earned $0.05.
- Store matters: Receipts from major national chains (Walmart, Target, Kroger) sometimes triggered small bonuses beyond the base rate. The app seems to have partnerships with certain stores that boost earnings.
- Randomness is real: Two nearly same receipts from the same grocery store on different days earned $0.07 and $0.14. The difference suggests a random part in the earning count.
- Bonus receipts are where the money is: About once per week, CoinOut would give a "bonus" on a seemingly random receipt — $0.50, $0.75, even $1.00 — that clearly beat the usual rate. These bonuses made up $3.30 of my $6.85 total — nearly half my earnings from just 5 of 43 receipts.
The bonus receipts are CoinOut's most interesting and most annoying feature. They're interesting because they clearly boost your earnings. They're annoying because they're unpredictable — you can't plan to earn more bonuses, and the randomness means two users scanning the same receipts could earn different amounts. The bonus system seems made to create changing reward thinking — the same thing that makes slot machines interesting. You never know when the next scan will trigger a $1.00 bonus, and that uncertainty keeps you scanning. I noticed myself feeling a small rush when a bonus showed up, followed by mild letdown when the next several receipts returned to $0.05–$0.10. The mental design works, which is worth knowing even if you're using the app casually.
Receipt Processing: Speed and Trust
The receipt scanning and processing experience is CoinOut's strongest working feature. During my month of testing, I scanned 43 receipts (38 paper, 5 e-receipts forwarded by email). The results:
- 41 receipts processed automatically: The OCR system correctly read the receipt and added earnings within 15 seconds of scanning.
- 2 receipts needed re-scanning: One was a faded thermal receipt where the text was barely clear; the other was photographed in poor light. Both were accepted on the second try with better photography.
- 0 receipts rejected: Unlike some apps that reject receipts that don't meet specific rules, CoinOut accepted every receipt I sent, no matter store type, purchase amount, or clarity (as long as basic information was visible).
The 95% first-try acceptance rate is great — better than Ibotta (which sometimes rejects receipts where offers don't match) and similar to Fetch Rewards (which also accepts almost everything). The re-scanning process for the two failed tries was quick — the app asks you to retake the photo, and the second try processed normally. There's no waiting time for manual review because CoinOut doesn't need to match offers — it just needs to check that the receipt is readable.
The e-receipt forwarding feature worked dependably. I forwarded 5 digital receipts from online purchases (Amazon, Target.com, and a food delivery service) to CoinOut's special email address. Each was processed within 2–4 hours, and the earnings were similar to paper receipts from similar stores. This feature is useful for online shoppers who don't get paper receipts — it expands CoinOut's coverage to digital purchases that other receipt apps might miss.
My 1-Month CoinOut Results
📊 CoinOut — 1-Month Scanning Record
| Week | Receipts Scanned | Base Earnings | Bonus Earnings | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 11 | $0.85 | $0.75 | $1.60 |
| Week 2 | 12 | $0.92 | $1.00 | $1.92 |
| Week 3 | 10 | $0.68 | $0.50 | $1.18 |
| Week 4 | 10 | $1.10 | $1.05 | $2.15 |
| Total | 43 | $3.55 | $3.30 | $6.85 |
Total cashback earned: $6.85 from 43 receipts over one month — about $0.16 per receipt on average, but the middle receipt earned just $0.06. The $3.30 in bonus earnings from 5 receipts clearly raised the average. Without bonuses, the base earning rate was about $0.09 per receipt. The $10 smallest withdrawal level was not reached during the one-month testing time — at this rate, reaching the smallest would need about 6–8 weeks of regular scanning. Total time spent scanning: about 22 minutes across the month — roughly 30 seconds per receipt.
The $6.85 monthly total needs context. It's clearly less than Checkout 51 ($22.75) or Ibotta ($25–$40 estimated), but those apps need intentional offer activation and specific product purchases. CoinOut needed none of that — I simply scanned every receipt from every purchase, with zero planning and zero brand switching. The value is different: CoinOut catches value from receipts that would otherwise give nothing, with almost no mental work. For context on how universal receipt scanning fits into a wider earning plan, my 15 money apps tested guide covers the full range from high-effort/high-reward to low-effort/low-reward platforms.
The Withdrawal Challenge: The $10 Smallest
After one month of regular scanning, I had built $6.85 — below the $10 smallest withdrawal level. This is CoinOut's main practical limit: the per-receipt rates are so small that reaching $10 takes 6–8 weeks of regular scanning for the average user. During my testing, I kept scanning beyond the formal one-month time to reach the level and test the withdrawal process.
When I finally reached $10.15 after about 7 weeks of scanning, I tested the withdrawal:
- Methods: PayPal, bank transfer (ACH), or Amazon gift card
- Smallest: $10.00 for all methods
- Processing time: 2 business days via PayPal — funds came with no fees
- Checking: Phone number checking needed for first withdrawal — a code sent via SMS
The $10 smallest is the biggest barrier to CoinOut working as a satisfying standalone app. Waiting 6–8 weeks to reach $10 feels out of balance with the work, even though the work itself is small (30 seconds per receipt). The mental reward cycle is too long — you scan receipts for weeks with nothing to show except a slowly growing number. For users who want quicker satisfaction, Fetch Rewards offers trades at much lower levels (gift cards starting at the equal of $3–$5 in points), though the per-receipt rates are similarly small.
Comparing CoinOut to Other Receipt Scanning Apps
| Feature | CoinOut | Fetch Rewards | Ibotta | Checkout 51 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipt Acceptance | Any receipt, any store | Any receipt, any store | Select stores + offers | Any store, specific products |
| Per-Receipt Rate | $0.01–$0.15 usual | 25–50 points ($0.03–$0.06) | $0.50–$5.00 per qualifying item | $0.50–$5.00 per qualifying item |
| Monthly Earnings (My Test) | $6.85 | $5–$15 | $25–$40 | $22.75 |
| Withdrawal Smallest | $10 | ~$3–$5 (gift cards) | $20 | $20 |
| Work Needed | Very low — scan only | Very low — scan only | High — pick offers, buy specific items | Moderate — check offers, buy specific items |
CoinOut and Fetch Rewards sit in the "universal receipt scanning" group — scan anything, earn small amounts. CoinOut pays in cash with a higher withdrawal smallest; Fetch Rewards pays in points with lower trade levels for gift cards. The earnings are similar — both give $5–$15 monthly from regular scanning of all receipts. The choice between them comes down to whether you like cash (CoinOut) or more frequent but gift-card-based trades (Fetch).
Ibotta and Checkout 51 sit in the "brand-specific cashback" group — higher per-item returns but need intentional shopping behavior. The best plan is using both groups together: scan every receipt through CoinOut or Fetch for base earnings on all purchases, and layer Ibotta/Checkout 51 on top for high-value cashback on specific products you're willing to switch brands for. The combined approach can produce $30–$50 monthly from grocery and household shopping. The 15 money apps I've tested includes detailed guidance on receipt app layering plans.
Pros and Cons: What Worked and What Didn't
✅ What I Liked
- Truly universal acceptance: Every receipt earns something — no offer activation, no brand limits, no store limits.
- Very fast scanning: 30 seconds per receipt from open to credit — the lowest-friction receipt app I've tested.
- E-receipt support: Forward digital receipts by email — catches online purchases that other apps miss.
- No behavior changes needed: You don't need to switch brands, activate offers, or plan shopping around the app.
- Cash payments: Real money via PayPal or bank transfer — not points with unclear conversion rates.
- Sometimes bonuses: The random higher-value receipts add a small part of nice surprise to the scanning routine.
❌ What I Didn't Like
- Very low per-receipt rates: $0.05–$0.10 per receipt is tiny — the earnings feel symbolic rather than clear.
- $10 withdrawal smallest: Needs 6–8 weeks of regular scanning to reach — the delayed satisfaction is annoying.
- Random earnings are unclear: You never know what a receipt will earn, and the lack of openness about rates is unsatisfying.
- Data privacy trade-off: You're selling your purchase history — the value exchange is clear but the privacy cost is real.
- No receipt organization features: Unlike some apps that sort spending, CoinOut is only a scanning tool with no budgeting or tracking benefits.
- Bonus dependency skews earnings: Nearly half my earnings came from 5 of 43 receipts — the base rate alone is even lower than the average suggests.
Who Should Use CoinOut — and Who Should Look Elsewhere
CoinOut Might Be Worth Using If:
- You want a zero-effort addition to other cashback apps — CoinOut catches value from receipts that don't qualify for anything on Ibotta or Checkout 51.
- You're already scanning receipts for other apps and want to double-dip — the same receipt can be scanned on multiple platforms.
- You value simplicity above all else — CoinOut is the easiest receipt app to use, with no learning curve and no planning choices.
- You're comfortable with data sharing — you understand that your purchase history is the product being sold.
- You have patience for delayed rewards — waiting 6–8 weeks for a $10 cashout doesn't bother you.
CoinOut Is Probably Not For You If:
- You want clear earnings from receipt scanning — $6.85/month is pocket change. Ibotta and Checkout 51 offer much higher returns if you're willing to spend more work.
- You want frequent, small trades — the $10 smallest and slow building rate mean long waits between cashouts. Fetch Rewards offers lower trade levels.
- You're uncomfortable selling your purchase data — CoinOut's whole business model is data money-making. If that bothers you, the small payments won't make up for the privacy trade-off.
- You rarely keep or get receipts — if you usually decline receipts or lose them, the app won't have anything to scan.
- You want clear, predictable earnings — the random rates and unpredictable bonuses make it impossible to guess what you'll earn.
Final Verdict
🏆 Final Verdict
CoinOut is the simplest receipt scanning app available — every receipt earns something with zero work beyond scanning — but the per-receipt rates are so small and the withdrawal smallest so high that it works best as an extra layer, not a standalone earning tool.
CoinOut earns a moderate rating because it gives exactly what it promises — universal receipt acceptance with cash payments — but the value given is very small. $6.85 per month from 43 receipts is a true return on receipts that would otherwise give nothing, and the scanning process is fast enough that the real hourly rate for scanning alone is fair. However, the $10 withdrawal smallest creates an annoying gap between earning and reaching your money, and the random earning rates feel less like a clear transaction and more like a game with unclear rules. My suggestion: use CoinOut as a second receipt app — scan every receipt here after you've already scanned it on Ibotta or Checkout 51 for the higher-value item-specific cashback. The 30 seconds it takes to double-scan a receipt on CoinOut is worth the small $0.05–$0.15. For full receipt app planning, the 15 money apps I've tested resource includes detailed layering guidance across all major platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CoinOut real or a scam?
CoinOut is a real company that appeared on Shark Tank in 2018 and got investment from Robert Herjavec. The company has been working since 2017 and has processed millions of dollars in cashback payments to users. I successfully withdrew $10.15 via PayPal after about 7 weeks of scanning — the payment came in 2 business days with no fees. The app has a 4.6-star rating on the App Store with about 30,000 reviews. The business model is clear: CoinOut makes money from grouped, anonymized purchase data and shares a small part of that money with users. There's no deposit need, no money risk, and no hidden conditions. The only "cost" is the purchase data you share through your receipts.
Why do some receipts earn more than others?
CoinOut doesn't publish a clear rate formula, but based on my testing and user reports, earnings seem shaped by: Store partnerships — receipts from major national chains sometimes earn slightly more due to data-sharing deals. Purchase amount — larger receipts tend to earn more, but not evenly. Randomness — there's a changing part that creates different earnings for similar receipts. Bonus allocation — about 10% of receipts trigger a "bonus" of $0.25–$1.00, which clearly beats the usual rate. The randomness and bonus parts are made to create changing reward thinking — the same thing that makes slot machines interesting. You never know when a scan will trigger a higher amount, which keeps the experience more interesting than a flat $0.05 per receipt would be. If you like clear, predictable earnings, this random approach may be annoying.
Can I scan the same receipt on CoinOut and other apps?
Yes. CoinOut works independently from other receipt apps, and there's no rule against scanning the same receipt across multiple platforms. One grocery receipt can be scanned on Ibotta (for item-specific cashback on qualifying products), Checkout 51 (for extra item-specific offers), Fetch Rewards (for universal points on any receipt), and CoinOut (for universal cash on any receipt). Each app works on a different business model and pays from a different money source, so there's no conflict. The best plan is scanning each receipt on as many apps as you have patience for — the small time per app is 15–30 seconds, and the small earnings, while little per app, build across multiple platforms.
How long does it take to reach the $10 smallest?
For the average user scanning all receipts regularly: 6–8 weeks. I scanned 43 receipts in one month and earned $6.85 — meaning I needed about 7 weeks to reach $10. The timeline changes based on how many receipts you make: a single person making 10–12 purchases per week will take longer than a family with 20–25 weekly transactions. Users who make more receipts (families, people who separate transactions, those who keep every receipt including small purchases) will reach the level faster. The key is scanning every receipt, including small ones — coffee runs, gas station stops, convenience store visits. These small receipts only earn $0.01–$0.05 each, but they add up and speed your progress toward the smallest. If you only scan major grocery and retail receipts, reaching $10 could take 10–12 weeks.
Does CoinOut sell my personal information?
According to CoinOut's privacy rules, the company sells grouped and anonymized purchase data to market research firms and consumer goods companies — not your personal identity. Your single receipt data is stripped of personally identifying information, combined with data from millions of other receipts, and sold as market insights ("buyers in this area are buying more organic products" rather than "Jane Smith bought organic milk on Tuesday"). CoinOut states it does not sell your name, email, or single identity to third parties. However, your purchase history itself is the product — the company's money comes fully from making money from what you buy. Whether this data sharing is okay is a personal choice. The value exchange is clear: you get small cash payments in return for giving your purchase data. If you're uncomfortable with any purchase data sharing, CoinOut (and all receipt scanning apps) may not line up with your privacy likes.
Can I use CoinOut for online purchases?
Yes. CoinOut accepts e-receipts from online purchases. When you make an online purchase and get a digital receipt via email, forward that email to CoinOut's special receipts email address (given in the app). The e-receipt is processed like a scanned paper receipt, and earnings are added to your account — usually within 2–4 hours. I forwarded 5 e-receipts during testing (Amazon, Target.com, and a food delivery service) and all were processed successfully with earnings similar to paper receipts. This feature expands CoinOut's use beyond in-person shopping — any online purchase that gives an email receipt can be made money from. Note that some stores send order confirmations rather than actual receipts at the time of purchase; CoinOut needs the final receipt showing what was bought and the total paid, not just the order confirmation.
How does CoinOut compare to Fetch Rewards?
Both are universal receipt scanning apps that accept any receipt from any store. The key differences: Earnings type — CoinOut pays in cash; Fetch Rewards pays in points traded for gift cards. Per-receipt rate — CoinOut averages $0.05–$0.15 in cash; Fetch averages 25–50 points (roughly $0.03–$0.06 equal, though gift card bonuses can improve this). Withdrawal level — CoinOut needs $10 for cashout; Fetch allows gift card trades starting at the equal of $3–$5. Bonus chances — Fetch offers clearly more bonus point chances through special offers, brand partnerships, and receipt challenges. Overall earnings — similar at $5–$15/month for regular scanning. The best approach is using both: CoinOut for cash earnings and Fetch for faster gift card trades plus bonus point chances. The small time to scan a receipt on both apps is little, and the combined earnings are added together.
Disclaimer
This review reflects my personal experience using CoinOut over a one-month testing period. All earnings mentioned are from my own receipt scanning activity. Per-receipt rates vary and CoinOut does not publish a fixed rate schedule. I did not receive any compensation from CoinOut for this article. If you'd like to reach out with questions or feedback about this review, visit our Contact Us page. Curious about who we are and how we test apps? Head over to About Us. Looking for quick answers on how we evaluate platforms? Our FAQ covers the most common questions. For details on how your data is handled when you visit our site, see our Privacy Policy. And for a full explanation of the limits of the information we share, read our Disclaimer.
