Amazon:

Amazon is a huge deal, let’s face it. It has an enormous catalog of products, and the app is technologically advanced and user-friendly. The search function is so easy to use that—pro tip—you can even search for products using just an image. Not only can you easily shop the world’s biggest online retailer, with this app you can also scan credit cards and gift cards. Plus, when a package arrives on your doorstep, you can scan the barcode on the mailing label to verify what’s inside—an added bonus at holidays and gift-giving times. Of all the branded apps on our list, this is easily the one I use the most.

Apple Store:

I LOVE the Apple Store. In fact, I don’t know how many trips to the mall for clothes have been interrupted by my lingering over new devices. I also love how, whenever I have a problem with my tablet or computer, I can always get help from the Genius Bar. The Apple Store app makes that all the better by allowing me to make reservations right from my phone! I mean, I can use it to sign up for one-on-one help, workshops, and events. I also use it quite a bit to research and purchase the latest Apple products.

Nordstrom:

What elevates the Nordstrom in-store app among my best retail apps for 2018 is the way it does all of the shopping basics so well. You browse their offerings by department or brand, and the app has a fun section that features the company’s editorial and social media content. The app also does a great job of sending push notifications about big sales, which makes it so you don’t miss out. And, there’s a version for the company’s savings brand, Nordstrom Rack. Overall, this is a well-designed app, artsy and eye-catching, exactly the helper I need when out looking for a dress for my cousin’s wedding or shoes for a hot date with my man.

Best Buy:

For many years, one of the best ways to keep up with the latest tech trends has been through the Best Buy app, which lets you quickly and easily shop for thousands of electronics and accessories. This isn’t going to change in 2018. Like many of the other apps in this section, you can use it to order online for pickup at your local store. It’s also one of those super cool apps that lets you scan barcodes and get more info on products when you’re in the store. Keeping up with technology can be hard—even when you love it as much as I do—but apps like this make it easier.

Target:

Target’s app has many features that simplify your shopping trips, which, if you’re anything like me, tend to happen quite often. These include notifications about deals, a copy of the store’s weekly flyer, and even maps of where to find your favorite products once you’re physically inside the store. Target also recently integrated its old Cartwheel savings app into its main store app, making it really easy to earn rewards for shopping at Target—especially if you’re also using one of the multi-store rewards and savings shopping apps that you’ll find in the next section.

Shopkick:

If I had to pick one overall best retail app of 2018, it would definitely be Shopkick. Not only does it help me enhance the amount of savings I’m able to collect, it also makes shopping a lot more fun. How Shopkick works is that it gives you points, called kicks, for the things you already do while you’re out shopping: think walking into stores, scanning barcodes to get more info on products, and, of course, making purchases. And, it works on everything from tech to groceries. I’ve even gotten the other ladies from spin class using it—and the best part is that Shopkick has a really engaging Facebook page where I can connect with other shoppers! Oh, and another great thing is that you can use it in tandem with the branded apps mentioned here. For example, you can buy something online at one store, and then collect points for the purchase via Shopkick. So yes, while change is good, something as effective and versatile as Shopkick stays the best from year to year!

Checkout 51:

Checkout 51 can sometimes feel a bit limited compared to an uber versatile app like Shopkick because it focuses almost exclusively on helping you get paid for your grocery shopping. The cashback offers change weekly on Thursday mornings, so waking up to see what deals are available can easily become part of your shopping routine. Then, when you go grocery shopping, if you purchase any eligible items, just snap a quick picture of the receipt to accumulate money back. Once you reach $20 in savings, Checkout 51 will mail you a check.

SavingStar:

SavingStar is what’s known as a digital coupon app, and how it works is that it pays users to shop at grocery and drugstores, or really anywhere else you get all the vital things you put in your fridge, medicine cabinet, or pantry. More than 60,000 stores are part of SavingStar, and they represent more than 100 retail chains. It’s generally free to use but beware: If an account is inactive for 180 straight days, SavingStar charges a $3.99 fee. To take advantage of SavingStar, users either link their existing store loyalty cards to the app or submit receipts after a purchase. Savings add up until users can eventually cash out through PayPal, Upromise, or in the form of Starbucks, iTunes, or AMC Theater gift codes.

SnipSnap:

Like SavingStar, SnipSnap is a mobile coupon app, but this one lets users take pictures of printed coupons that it then transforms into digital, mobile-ready coupons. You can browse online directories and take advantage of coupons friends have “snipped” as well. This one doesn’t exactly pay, though. Instead, users save money as with a traditional coupon. The idea is that coupons can all be easily kept in one digital space, instead of having an overflowing little billfold stuffed with paper.

Pennyful:

As a shopper, I never shy away from a sale. Why would you? One of the simplest truths of shopping is that savings = a good thing! So, when a shopping rewards app tells me I have to accumulate a certain amount of money spent shopping online before I can cash my rewards out, for me that’s not really a problem—I know I’ll hit the mark eventually. But, not everyone shops as much as I do, and for those people, mobile apps like Pennyful let you cash your total out without meeting a minimum threshold. With this app, you just go shopping, make purchases at certain stores offering coupons for through the app, and then accumulate savings in an account that you can later cash in. And, they make it easy and fun to discover new products by dividing their offerings up into categories!

Canopy:

Sticking with our theme of saving precious minutes, can we talk about how using Amazon can turn into a real time waster? At least it can for me anyway. The site has just too much variety! For ages, I used to wish someone could curate Amazon so I could go straight to the items that I am most likely to buy.

Actually, that’s the concept behind one of the best free shopping apps. Meet Canopy, a site full of human-curated fashion, lifestyle items, and home decor products—all of which are available for purchase via Amazon. Tastemakers curate the site, making it easy to bypass all the pages of utilitarian stuff on Amazon that is no fun to browse. Oh, and if you’re a tech geek (which I totally am), you’ll love that Canopy features a user-centered design aesthetic that keeps things simple. I use Canopy quite a bit to save time shopping and have bought everything from beach towels to luxurious bed sets.

The Hunt:

Do you ever find yourself getting sucked into Instagram? I know I do. I love love love Instagram, and one of my favorite things is how it lets me keep up with new styles. Some of the models I follow even let you know where you can pick up the fashions they’re sporting. Other times, however, I find myself just taking screen grabs or photos of cool clothes, and then have to spend even more time trying to track down those fashions. Well, The Hunt makes all of this much easier and quicker. You just hop on The Hunt and post your photos, then sit back and wait as your fellow fashionistas check out the pics, rack their stylish brains, and let you know where you can buy that fashion find! Oh, The Hunt also has a feature where you can ask the community for tips on outfits, which kind of makes it feel like you’re all shopping together!

Flipp:

Okay, so I know I’ve been knocking coupon clipping, which seems a bit outdated in our digital world, but it was once pretty convenient. What Flipp does is bring old-school savings into the digital age as it lets you browse ads and circle items using a shopping app on your smartphone! Flipp essentially combines both the best of the old world—the colorfully and clearly laid out stacks of savings—with the best of the new world—the speed and convenience of shiny new tech. With Flipp, users get access to a digital library of all the latest flyers, plus an interface that lets them build shopping lists within the app. No pen or paper needed. All you have to do is open up Flipp, find the flyer for the store you’re heading to, and tap on a specific product or a digitized coupon within the flyer. The app then automatically circles it for you, subsequently adding it to your digital shopping list. It’s quick, free, and best of all, easy!

Coupon Sherpa:

Flipp isn’t the only app that recreates the experience of clipping paper coupons. There is also Coupon Sherpa, which is one of the best free shopping apps that gives its users a list of hundreds of coupons from leading stores. As with Flipp, there’s no need for that messy coupon book system our parents used to track and take advantage of their deals. All you do with this app is show it to the cashiers, and they can scan the deals for you right there on your phone. Like many of the other apps on our list, Coupon Sherpa is also good about giving you convenient extra features, including a store locator, as well as easy social options so that you can share deals and coupons with your friends, too! There’s nothing like spreading the love out there, let me tell you.

RetailMeNot:

RetailMeNot is another app that simulates coupon hunting, just at a much larger scale than some of the other choices on our list. With RetailMeNot, users get access to more than 50,000 retailers and food offers at thousands of local restaurants and stores, as well as at nationwide chains. It’s also easily customizable, and you can use it to look at what the most popular deals are among other shoppers. Or you can use it to enjoy your own personalized set of offers. I like to have RetailMeNot send me alerts whenever deals come up at the stores I go to most, so I never run the risk of missing out on major savings. You can just use it for its categorized searches or location-based deals alerts. As with all of the rest on this list of best free shopping apps, it’s totally up to you!

Slickdeals:

Slickdeals is another great aggregator in the same vein as RetailMeNot. It collects deals from a wide variety of sources and then brings them all together in one browsable place, saving you both time and money once you make good on the offers. This is a very versatile app that features deals on everything from electronics to groceries to clothes to kid stuff. I generally stick to the front page on Slickdeals, which has a running list of the most popular local deals in my area, but I’ve poked around the rest of the app and run some searches that brought up tons of other great offers, too! Another commonality this app has with RetailMeNot is that it lets you set alerts so you don’t miss out when your favorite stores offer deals.

Ebates:

Ideally you want an app that can help you save on both your online shopping as well as at brick-and-mortar locations, but at least Ebates solves for one of these. This app really excels in helping you save on your online shopping by giving rebates and coupons at 2,000 online stores and websites, which is certainly nothing to scoff at. I’ve used it in the past to get cash back on a wide range of purchases, including those I’ve made at some of my favorite online stores.

Shopkick:

Of all the amazing, free shopping apps out there that save you both time and money, my favorite is Shopkick. Shopkick gives you points—which you then turn into gift cards—for soooo many things. You can use it when shopping both online and at brick-and-mortar stores (vital in this day and age), plus you get points for things like walking into a store, scanning the barcodes of products to get more information, making your purchases, visiting certain online stores, and watching videos about select products. There are so many different ways to score points that, for me, using Shopkick often turns into a fun game, kind of like a scavenger hunt for points. The thing about this game though, is when it’s over, I can trade those points in for gift cards to some of my favorite stores! Lately, I’m on a big Starbucks kick, which is where I cash in most of my points, but last month I used gift cards to save money on my toiletries, and the month before it was clothes. There’s just so much versatility.