Rakuten
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Join if you shop online often and can shrug off occasional missed tracking . it's free and often pays.
Comparison
Rakuten vs Swagbucks
Rakuten and Swagbucks both land on Depends.
Swagbucks
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Fine as a free pocket-change side hustle; it genuinely pays out.
| Compare | Rakuten | Swagbucks |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Frequent online shoppers at big chains | Casual earners with idle downtime |
| Who it's not for | Anyone who needs cash back to reliably track . it often doesn't | Anyone needing real income |
| Privacy | 2021 US breach notice on file; recent CVEs hit sibling products (Viber, Kobo, Send Anywhere), not the cash-back portal itself.⁹ | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. |
| Support quality | Multiple complaints about disputes and slow resolution. | Complaints; faster support paywalled behind Plus |
| Public sentiment | Longtime users report reliable payouts, but a loud minority complains about slow, missed, or disputed cash back. | Users confirm real payouts but increasingly complain about low earnings, subscription upsells, and disputed redemptions.12 |
| Biggest gotcha | Cash back can take months to pay and sometimes never tracks; the top complaint across review sites.⁴ | Swagbucks Plus promises expedited redemption and faster support; users say it delivers neither. Avoid.16 |
Pick Rakuten when
- Frequent online shoppers at big chains
- Coupon stackers
- Patient savers okay with slow payouts
When Rakuten is not a fit
- Anyone who needs cash back to reliably track . it often doesn't
- Privacy-sensitive users wary of granting email access
- Buyers expecting instant rebates at checkout
- People unwilling to chase missing cash back with support
Pick Swagbucks when
- Casual earners with idle downtime
- Online shoppers who'd buy anyway
- Mobile gamers tolerant of surveys
- Gift-card and PayPal pocket change
When Swagbucks is not a fit
- Anyone needing real income
- Time-poor people valuing hours over dollars
- Users in unsupported countries (VPNs banned)
- Anyone unwilling to submit ID documents
Sources
- Rakuten: Coupons, Promo Codes & Cash Backrakuten.comofficial
- Get 10% Cash Back, every day, with Rakuten+rakuten.comofficial
- Rakuten (USA) Reviews . Trustpilottrustpilot.comreview
- Rakuten.com Reviews & Complaints . ConsumerAffairsconsumeraffairs.comreview
review
- Rakuten alternatives? . Redditreddit.comreview
security
security
- 7 of the Best Cash-Back Apps . NerdWalletnerdwallet.comreview
- Swagbucks Trustpilot reviewstrustpilot.comreview
- Swagbucks on Google Playplay.google.comreview
- Is Swagbucks Legit? Full Revieweneba.comreview
- Is it still worth it? r/SwagBucksreddit.comreview
- Swagbucks Plus is a waste of moneyredditmedia.comreview