Best Money Saving Apps UK

There are lots of apps out there that could be considered money-saving apps in the UK, but they do different things.

Some save money for you, such as putting it to one side so you don’t spend it. Others help you achieve discounts on the stuff that you are buying.

In this article, I am going to share some of my favourites in both categories, so whatever you have come searching for there should be something here for you.

How do Money Saving Apps work?

First things first, let’s talk about how these apps actually work. Some might require you to connect your bank account, which can sometimes feel a bit scary.

How do we know it’s actually safe?

Well, they link to your bank account through something called ‘open banking’ and use bank-level encryption which basically means that they can see your money – but they can’t do anything with it without your permission. 

This allows them to do clever things like analyse your spending, show you where you can save money and calculate amounts you can afford to save which they might then stash for you.

Before connecting to any app like this, it pays to do a bit of research to ensure they’re genuine.

But all the open-banking apps mentioned in this article are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Best Money Saving Apps UK (to Stop you Spending It)

These apps are great for helping you save and potentially investing your money. (Remember that this is not financial advice. When investing your money can go down as well as up.)

But that is not all that these apps do and they come with a lot of other features too.

Plum

Plum is a great money-saving app and one of the first that I came across that offered automatic saving by linking to your bank account.

There are lots of ways that you can do this, such as round-ups on your spending or save every time it rains.

They also offer savings accounts and a way to invest. Through the use of what they call “Pockets,” you can choose where your money goes.

Some could go into your holiday pocket, some into the investments of your choice.

Top features

• Lots of creative ways to help you automatically save money – you won’t even notice the money leaving your account.
• Access a Basic Savings Account with 0.25% interest or upgrade to one of their monthly paid plans to earn 4%.
• Additional features as Bills Tracking, Cashback and Money Maximiser.

Things to watch out for

There are additional costs involved in using some of the features of this app. A lot of them are free and the ones that cost you are well-marked so you won’t accidentally sign up for anything.

Cleo

Cleo is similar to Plum and offers some of the same features. It differs mostly in how you use the platform.

Cleo uses a chatbot which is actually a great way to interact with your finances. You can ask for what you need and Cleo will cheer you along as you work towards your savings goals.

Top features

• Automatically save money based on what you can afford – it checks your bank balance and will transfer an amount you can afford to your Cleo wallet.
• Chatbot system is a really easy way to manage your money.
• Allows you to set savings goals and helps you work towards achieving them.

Things to watch out for

Cleo also offers a premium subscription service that will offer additional features.

Chip

Chip is another auto-saving app which links to your bank account to identify amounts to set aside for you. You can adjust your ‘save level’ which will increase or decrease the amounts it saves for you accordingly.

You can also choose to invest with Chip from as little as £1.

Top features

• Auto-saves which you can adjust the save level of.
• ‘Payday Put Away’ – set a regular amount to save every payday
• Set Saving Goals
• Invest in a General Investment Account (Chip) or into a Stocks & Shares ISA (Chip X – £3 monthly subscription) 

Things to watch out for

ChipX is a fee based upgrade of the basic Chip Account offering access to a wider range of investment funds. Though highly regarded by most users, there has been some criticism due to technical problems some users faced when withdrawing their saved money.

Monzo

Monzo is a digital bank account where you can manage your money like any other current account with a high street bank.

It offers all the services of a regular current account but has a wide variety of extra creative and user-friendly features that makes it a popular choice with it’s users.

My favourite feature is having the ability to split your money into separate ‘pots’ without the need for creating numerous extra accounts.

Top features

• Salary Sorter
• Spending budgets
• Savings pots – create various pots to save for your goals. You can also set up round ups to automatically save your spare change to your designated pot.
• Bills pots
• Free cash withdrawals abroad (up to £200 per month outside the EEA).
• Get paid early

Things to watch out for

Monzo is completely web based and only accessible via the app so there aren’t any branches to visit. 

There are account upgrades available for a monthly fee – Monzo Plus and Monzo Premium, with additional features.

Starling

Starling is another digital bank account operating largely in the same way as Monzo.

A great additional feature is the Starling Connected Card and the Starling Kite which gives a trusted person and kids access to money.

Top features

• Set up saving spaces – which you can personalise (which is a great visual motivator to help you save).
• Numerous tools to help you manage your money such as categorised spending and paying bills from saving spaces.
• Round up spending to help you increase the amount you save.
• Starling Connected/Starling Kite

Things to watch out for

Fees are applicable if you have and use an overdraft facility.  

Revolut

Revolut offers many of the same features as Monzo and Starling but isn’t actually a bank account and is a digital payment service.

It’s biggest selling point is the ability to transact in foreign currencies easily and access cash abroad at a lower fee than most alternative providers.

And, in addition to savings and investment products, you can also invest in commodities and crytpocurrency.

Top features

• Features to help manage your money such as spending analytics, instant spend notifications and reminders when you have a payment due and your balance is low.
• Split bills – easily pay for bills between your family and friends.
• Savings – round up spare change, get cashback and rewards on your spending.
• Transfer and spend money abroad without fees (limits apply).

Things to watch out for

Again, there are account upgrades with additional features for a premium.

Also be aware that there are some costs associated with attaining a physical card.

Moneybox

Moneybox is essentially a digital version of emptying the spare change from your purse/wallet into a piggy bank. 

The app connects to your card and rounds up the value of purchases you make to the nearest pound and puts that ‘spare change’ into savings or an investment product.

What’s great about Moneybox is that it allows you to save quite effortlessly and proves the old adage that little things can make a big difference.

Top features

• Round up your purchases – there is also an option to double your round ups saving even more.
• Good range of investment and saving account options.
• Earn interest on your savings.
• Additional helpful tools and calculators.

Things to watch out for

Savings accounts are free, but there is a monthly £1 fee payable (after the first 3 months) for investment accounts.

Best Money Saving Apps UK (to Cut your Costs)

The apps mentioned above are great, but what if there’s no money to actually set aside?

That’s where these apps come in. These apps will help you to spend less or to get more from your money.

Snoop

Snoop is a clever little app that connects to all your bank accounts and credit cards to give you an overview of your spending all in one place.

It then analyses this information to create personalised money saving tips (called Snoops) for you based on what you’re spending.

It will also watch your regular bills and let you know when a DD has gone up or down, and has energy switching built in too.

Olio

Olio is an app designed to reduce waste. 

Sign up and you’ll be able to access listings offered by people in your area of things that they are giving away for free.

This could be short dated food items offered by local people, retailers and cafes (which is great for reducing your food bill) or non food items.

You can also create your own listings and give back things you no longer need.

Shopmium

Shopmium is a cashback app specifically geared towards grocery items.

They have regularly updated offers for various shops – simply buy the item, scan your receipt and they’ll give you the money back.

This is a great way to get free grocery items (when the full amount is reimbursed) or to save money on things you’re already buying (or perhaps brands that are normally outside your budget).

Too Good to Go

Similar in some ways to Olio, Too Good to Go is another app designed to reduce waste.

Supermarkets, Cafes and Restaurants will sell a ‘Magic Bag’ which contains food leftover at the end of the day. The contents will usually be worth around £10-15 (sometimes more in some cases) but you buy the bag at a heavily reduced price.

Once you’ve purchased your bag, you collect at the time stated on the listing.

Morrisons bags are pretty popular and a great way of making your food budget go further (contents aren’t guaranteed though, of course).

And restaurant bags are great as a treat when you fancy a takeaway, but can’t afford to (or don’t want to!) fork out on one.

Airtime Rewards

One of my favourite apps that require no more effort than linking your debit card!

Another cashback style app, you earn a % back on your spend with certain retailers which you can then redeem against your phone bill.

Not on a network supported by the app? Still download it – you can cash out to your bank account instead.

Quidco/TopCashback/My Money Pocket

Quidco, TopCashback and My Money Pocket are all websites that give you money back on your purchases.

Free money when you buy something you were going to anyway? Sounds too good to be true but it isn’t.

Cashback is one of the best ways to help your money go further.

I’ve popped them all under the same header, because they operate in the same way but I would advise having an account with each of them and checking to see who offers the highest rate of cashback.

Don’t forget, you don’t just earn cash back on from your retail purchases. You can also earn hefty amounts when you take out a new mobile phone contract, buy a new insurance policy and more!

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