Dosh Has Shut Down: What Happened and What to Use Instead

Dosh is an app that gives you automatic cash back for your shopping, travel, or dining purchases. Here's my experience with the app.

The Bottom Line

If you find it difficult to save money, using the Dosh app to help you automatically save can get you on the right track. By saving money regularly you get in the right habit and start building wealth.

Dosh has shut down. Cardlytics, which acquired Dosh in 2021, reported in its fiscal 2024 annual report on Form 10-K that the Dosh consumer app was decommissioned on February 28, 2025. Its fiscal 2025 Form 10-K reports that Dosh Holdings LLC was formally dissolved on November 13, 2025.

There is nothing left to sign up for. The company no longer exists as a legal entity, the app is not listed in the App Store, and the old Dosh website now returns a blank page with no content on it.

If you landed here looking for a Dosh invite code, a referral bonus or a way to log back into your wallet, none of those exist any more. This page now covers what actually happened, what it means for any balance you were still holding, and which apps are worth using in its place.

What Dosh actually was

Dosh was a card linked cash back app, and that phrase is the whole point of it. You linked a debit or credit card once, and from then on cash back landed in the app automatically whenever you paid at a partner merchant. There were no receipts to photograph, no offers to clip before shopping and no barcode to scan at the till.

  • How it worked. You linked a card, Dosh watched for qualifying transactions at its partner merchants, and the cash back appeared in your Dosh wallet on its own
  • What it paid on. Mostly restaurants, hotels and a rotating set of retail partners, rather than groceries
  • How you got paid. You transferred the wallet balance out to a bank account, PayPal or Venmo once you reached the minimum
  • Why people liked it. It was genuinely passive. Once the card was linked there was nothing to remember, which is the opposite of how receipt scanning apps work

It was bought by Cardlytics in March 2021 in a deal reported at around $275 million, and ran as a consumer app under that ownership until it was shut down. That history matters mainly because it explains why the app disappeared without much announcement: the acquiring company kept the underlying advertising technology and retired the consumer facing product.

What happens to a balance you never cashed out

Dosh deposited into an in app wallet rather than into your bank, so the money only became yours once you transferred it out. A balance sitting in that wallet was a claim against the company, not cash in an account you control.

The referral program was suspended in January 2024, more than a year before the app was switched off, which was the first real signal that the product was being wound down. With Dosh Holdings LLC dissolved as of November 13, 2025, there is no entity left to pay out a leftover balance and no support desk to appeal to. If you did not withdraw before February 28, 2025, treat that money as gone.

Linked cards are not a problem. Dosh worked through the card networks and never held your card credentials directly, so nothing needs unlinking now that the service is off. If you still have the app installed, delete it, since it cannot connect to anything.

What to use instead of Dosh

Dosh was appealing because it required nothing from you. You linked a card once and cash back appeared on its own, with no receipts to photograph and no offers to activate. Nothing replicates that exactly, and honestly the passive model is part of why it did not survive.

The three below take a different route. Instead of paying you a small slice of money you were going to spend anyway, they pay you for doing short tasks, and each one pays a signup bonus up front. These are the bonus amounts we track through our own accounts. The apps do not publish these figures on their own websites, so treat them as our numbers rather than an advertised rate.

Bigcash

The largest signup bonus of the three at $15, and the widest mix of things to do once you are in. You earn by trying apps, playing games and completing short offers, and it is the one to start with if you want the biggest amount credited fastest.

Bonus we track$15
How you earnApps, games, short offers
Best forThe largest starting bonus

Get started with Bigcash and take the first few offers to see what it credits.

Freecash

Pays $10 to start and is the most flexible on how you get paid, since it settles in cash or in crypto. It also has a low withdrawal threshold, which matters if you want to prove to yourself that an app pays before you sink real time into it.

Bonus we track$10
Pays inCash or crypto
Best forLow withdrawal threshold

Get started with Freecash if you want to cash out quickly rather than build a balance.

Testerup

Pays $5 to start and is the narrowest of the three, because it is built around one thing: getting paid to test apps and games. Individual tasks pay more than a typical survey does, and you see the payout before you agree to the task.

Bonus we track$5
How you earnApp and game testing
Best forHigher paying single tasks
Read this before you start. Testerup has a $55 minimum payout, which is high. It pays through PayPal only, transfers take up to 3 business days, and your first withdrawal requires face verification. If any of that is a dealbreaker, one of the other two is the better pick.

Get started with Testerup if you would rather test apps than shop.

How the three compare

AppBonus we trackWhat you actually doWorth knowing
Bigcash$15Apps, games and short offersLargest bonus and the broadest mix
Freecash$10Offers, games and surveysPays in cash or crypto, low withdrawal threshold
Testerup$5Paid app and game testing$55 minimum payout, PayPal only, face verification on the first withdrawal

If you specifically want cash back

None of the three above is a cash back app, and it is worth being clear about that rather than pretending otherwise. If the reason you used Dosh was to shave money off spending you were already doing, a roundup is a better starting point than a single recommendation, because the answer depends on where you shop.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Dosh app still working?

No. Cardlytics reported in its fiscal 2024 Form 10-K that the Dosh consumer app was decommissioned on February 28, 2025, and its fiscal 2025 Form 10-K reports that Dosh Holdings LLC was dissolved on November 13, 2025. The app is not listed in the App Store and the old website is empty.

Can I still cash out my Dosh balance?

No. Withdrawals ended when the app was switched off on February 28, 2025, and the company that owed the balance was dissolved on November 13, 2025, so there is no entity left to pay it and no support channel to contact. If you want to start earning again with a bonus up front, Bigcash pays the largest of the three we track at $15.

Do I need to unlink my card from Dosh?

No. Dosh operated through the card networks rather than holding your card credentials itself, and the service is fully off, so there is nothing left running against your card. Deleting the app is enough.

Do old Dosh invite codes or referral links still work?

No. The referral program was already suspended in January 2024, over a year before the app closed, and there is no signup to apply a code to now. Any page still advertising a Dosh invite code has simply not been updated.

Which replacement should I pick first?

It depends on what you want out of it. Bigcash has the largest bonus we track at $15 and the widest range of things to do. Freecash pays $10 and is the most flexible on payout since it settles in cash or crypto with a low withdrawal threshold. Testerup pays $5 and suits you only if you want app testing specifically, and you are comfortable with its $55 minimum payout and PayPal only withdrawals.

Where to go next

If the goal was gift cards rather than cash, how to get free Amazon gift cards covers the routes that still work. If you would rather earn than save, the best money making apps is the wider list these three come from.

Brian Meiggs
Brian Meiggs founded My Millennial Guide and has spent over a decade writing about money. He tries every app and product before it goes on the site. No fluff, no guesswork. Named to the Northern Virginia 40 Under 40 earlier this year, and featured in WSJ, Business Insider, and Entrepreneur. Off the clock: chess, the gym, a quiet night in.
If you find it difficult to save money, using the Dosh app to help you automatically save can get you on the right track. By saving money regularly you get in the right habit and start building wealth.Dosh Has Shut Down: What Happened and What to Use Instead