How to Develop a Cashback App like Upside

Agree or not, everyone loves discounts and cashback to save a little extra on their purchases! And won’t it be amazing if that happens by doing what we have already been doing, like buying groceries, fueling the car, or dining out? Well, that’s when cashback apps like Upsides come into play. 

It’s a popular cashback mobile application that puts some money back in your pocket on your grocery shopping, paying for your favorite meals at restaurants, and other purchases we make in our everyday life. The app was downloaded 618,000 times by Android and iOS users in the United States of America alone. 

Considering the popularity and high demand of cashback mobile apps similar to Upside, if you wish to build one like it, this blog is just for you. It is a complete guide to developing a cashback app like Upside. 

Apart from the step-by-step development process for Upside-like cashback apps, we have also covered: 

Introduction- what the app is about.

Market statistics- to help you understand its market size and other interesting facts and statistics.

Reasons- why building a clone of the Upside cashback app is a great decision in 2025. 

Benefits- to highlight the advantages of an Upside-like cashback app for users and businesses.

Features- to list the crucial functionalities of the cashback app.

Technology Stack- to help you understand the key technologies and platforms used for the development of a cashback app like Upside.

Monetization Models- ways to make money from your Upside-like mobile app. 

Future- to understand the potential of cashback mobile applications like Upside.

Apart from this, we have also added an FAQ section right at the bottom of the blog, where you can find quick answers to other questions associated with Upside-like mobile app development. 

Without a delay, let’s start!

A Brief Introduction to Upside Cashback App

First things first, what does a cashback app like Upside do? Well, as the name implies, a cashback mobile app like Upside gives its users cashback on their everyday purchases at gas stations, restaurants, and grocery stores. The app has three dedicated panels, User, Admin, and Merchant, equipped with top-notch features. 

Unlike traditional methods of saving, where a user has to put effort into using coupons or rely on loyalty programs, Upside directly offers cashback on making a purchase at any of its merchants. 

It is no less than a smart shopping companion that finds cashback offers near you to help you save on your shopping. What a user has to do is to:

Upside Cashback App: Market Size and Other Statistics

Check out these interesting statistics to get an idea of the potential of the Upside app and why you should invest in Upside like cashback app development:

• At the time of writing, the Upside cashback app has over 10 million downloads on the Google Play Store. 

• The Upside app has a 4.8 rating out of 5 on Apple’s App Store.

• According to GlobalNewsWire, expert consumers have recognized Upside as the Top Cash Back on Essential Purchases App for 2025.

• The Upside cashback app was downloaded over 618 thousand times combined by Android and iOS users in 2024. 

• Using the Upside app, users have earned over $800 million in cash back on their grocery, gas, and restaurant purchases. 

• The cashback and rewards app market is projected to reach USD 7.03 billion by 2033.

Why Building a Cashback App Like Upside is a Great Decision

Considering the market statistics given in the above section, it is evident that cashback apps like Upside are every shopper’s favorite. Here are some other reasons that will convince you to invest in creating a cashback app similar to Upside:

Massive Market Potential

Cashback applications like Upside have a huge market potential, and their demand is growing multifold every year. According to Global Growth Insights, their market size is expected to reach $6995.03 million by 2033. 

People Love Getting Paid to Shop

Whether a user shops for an outfit or simply pays their electricity bill, a little cashback is the least they expect in return for doing it online. In such a situation, they look for reliable cashback applications to get exciting cashbacks, and that’s the reason behind the growing popularity of cashback apps such as Upside. 

Cashback Creates Loyal Fans

By consistently providing users with great cashbacks, you can create a loyal fan base, which is imperative for your app’s continued success. Your business can be successful with minimal effort and repeat customers. 

Everyone Wins with Cashback

Cashback apps not only provide users with amazing cashbacks and benefits, but they also offer businesses a platform to attract more loyal customers and increase sales. The more users use your application, the more commission you will earn. It creates a win-win scenario. 

Building a Cashback App Similar to Upside? Explore Its Benefits

Here are some amazing advantages of building a cashback mobile app like Upside. For better understanding, we have listed the benefits of the cashback app for businesses and users. Let’s take a look:

Cashback App Benefits for Users

• Great Savings: Financial gain is the biggest benefit that users get from using cashback apps like Upside. They can get cashback on their everyday purchases of gas, groceries, and dine-outs. 

• Effortless Earning: Unlike traditional coupons and loyalty programs, cashback doesn’t require users to put in any additional effort. A cashback app gets this done automatically. All it requires a user to select the cashback offer and make payment using their credit/debit card that is linked to the app.

• Discovery of New Merchants: A cashback app provides users a single platform where they can explore multiple merchants and earn great cashback on making purchases from those merchants.

• Personalized Offers: Cashback apps enable users to get personalized offers by automatically looking into their previous purchases, interests, and other crucial data. This delivers an unmatched shopping experience.

•  Cashback Tracking: A cashback app with advanced features enables users to look into their earned cashback, previous transactions, and current offers to facilitate cashback tracking. 

Cashback App Benefits for Businesses

• Increased Traffic and Sales: Cashback apps like Upside are in high demand and offer attractive cashback offers that users can’t resist grabbing. It can increase traffic and, thereby, sales and the chances of the app’s success. 

• Targeted Marketing Opportunities: With a cashback mobile application, businesses can run targeted promotional campaigns. They can employ technologies like AI, ML, and others to do customer segmentation and show them personalized offers based on their interests, past purchase history, and demographic information.

• Valuable Customer Data: Cashback apps, built using big data, AI, ML, predictive analytics, and other technologies, can collect and process valuable customer data to offer crucial insights. These insights can be used to optimize strategies for improving profitability.

• Measurable ROI: Cashback mobile apps provide a medium to easily track and measure return on investment. Based on the outcome, businesses can amend their marketing strategies. 

• Competitive Advantage: By building a cashback app like Upside, businesses can get a competitive edge as the demand for such applications is skyrocketing. Since the Upside app offers cashback mainly on gas, restaurants, and grocery stores, you can think of adding more categories and merchants to differentiate. 

Also Read: Digital Wallet App Development: A Detailed Guide

Key Features of Upside Cashback App

Before you invest in Upside-like cashback app development, it is important to understand its key features. It would help you build the feature list of your app to make it different from the Upside. Since the Upside app has three different panels, we have provided you with a detailed feature list of all these panels: 

Users Panel Features of the Upside Cashback App

#1 Personalized Cashback Offers

Upside relies on top technologies to analyze each user’s purchasing behavior, spending habits, and location data to display personalized cashback offers on gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants. This increases the chances of the user grabbing the offer. 

#2 Cashback Redemption 

Upside has an effortless process to enable its users to redeem cashback without requiring scanning barcodes or clipping coupons. All they have to do is claim the offer and pay through the card linked to the app, the cashback will be automatically credited to their account. This is one of the reasons behind the popularity of the app. 

#3 Real-time Alerts

With this feature, users receive real-time notifications about the new offers within their proximity. This ensures no user should miss the opportunity to grab big savings on their purchases. Apart from location, the app also sends notifications on product-specific cashback offers. 

#4 Multiple Redemption Options 

Upside offers its users a specialized feature to allow them to choose how to receive their cashback. They can choose from direct bank transfers, PayPal deposits, and gift cards for different merchants. 

#5 Performance Tracking

This feature enables users to track their cashback earnings and check the history of all transactions without any hassle. They can check the total amount of the cashback they have earned, the merchants where they shopped, and other details. 

#6 Referral Program

The Upside cashback app gives its users an opportunity to earn rewards by inviting their friends to join the platform. It creates a win-win situation for both the app and the user.

Merchant Panel Features of the Upside Cashback App

#1 Offers Management 

With this feature, merchants can easily create and manage cashback offers by setting the cashback amount or percentage, offer duration, eligible customers, and other details. 

#2 Performance Analytics 

With this feature, merchants can get critical insights into the number of offer redemptions, users’ average spend, and more to optimize their offer strategies for maximum redemption and profit. 

#3 Payments Management 

Upside enables its merchants to seamlessly manage their payment information and track the payouts that Upside users make at their locations. 

#4 Customer Insights

With this feature, merchants or partners can get critical user insights, including their spending patterns, visit frequency, and more, to understand their expectations. 

#5 Location Management 

Upside offers this feature to enable merchants, especially with multiple outlets, to manage cashback offers across different stores.

Admin Panel Features of the Upside Cashback App

#1 User and Merchant Management 

The feature enables administrators to effortlessly manage both user and merchant accounts for seamless registration, verification, and updates. 

#2 Offer and Category Management

With this functionality, administrators can keep a tab on all active and inactive offers, add or remove product and service categories, and ensure the integrity of the app. 

#3 Payment and Payout Management

This feature of the Upside cashback app enables admins to manage the flow of funds, securely process payouts to users, and manage merchant transactions. 

#4 Analytics and Reporting

The admin panel has this feature to allow admins to get actionable insights into the app’s performance, user engagement, merchant activity, cashback, and more. 

#5 Security and Compliance Management 

A cashback app like Upside should have this feature to ensure effortless management and adherence to compliance associated with user data and financial transactions. 

#6 Customer Support Tools

With this, the admin can seamlessly manage and provide a resolution to the inquiries raised by both customers and merchants. 

Technology Stack Required for Creating an Upside-Like Cashback App

Here is the technology stack you can consider to build a cashback app akin to Upside:

This stack may vary depending on your specific cashback mobile app development requirement. A reputed app development company can help you with the technology stack selection. 

Step-by-Step Development Process for a Cashback App Like Upside

Now that you have learned a lot about the Upside-like cashback app, it’s time to check out how to develop a cashback app like Upside. Here it is:

Step 1: Planning and Research 

The first stage of the Upside-like cashback app development process is thorough market analysis and research. This app offers cashback-related offers on gas, groceries, and restaurants; therefore, decide whether you want to keep the same categories or cover more. 

Analyze other similar websites and applications to figure out their strengths, weaknesses, unique selling points, features, and more. Now, decide who you are trying to target and what their preferences are.

Step 2: Design a Development Roadmap

After conducting in-depth market research, plan your development roadmap, which will include detailed answers about the core cashback mechanism (the way users will earn cashback), merchant partnerships (the way you will onboard and manage merchant partnerships), GPS-enabled services like showing nearby offers, and payments and withdrawal options.  

Also, define measurable metrics based on which you will evaluate the performance or success of your app. Apart from this, define a monetization strategy to ensure how to make money from your Upside-like cashback app. Take note of all legal and compliance requirements. 

Step 3: UI/UX Design

The next step is to craft an appealing and intuitive UI/UX design, plan the app’s information architecture, prepare a visual style guide, including color palette, typography, and overall aesthetic, a high-fidelity visual representation of each screen, and prototypes. While designing both user experience and user interface, don’t forget to consider your unique brand identity and vision. Make sure the app’s design reflects it so well. 

Step 4: Development 

After preparing the UI/UX design during Upside-like app development, begin with the backend and front-end development. Build APIs that will establish secure communication between the mobile app and the server. Design the database, build a robust infrastructure, and implement top-notch security measures to safeguard user data and ensure transparency and security in financial transactions.  

Use the right technology stack and programming languages to build the front-end of your cashback application. You can also plan to build a dedicated merchant portal to ensure seamless management of their offers, tracking performance, and receiving payments. 

Step 5: Testing 

Testing is the most crucial phase while developing an app like Upside. Perform unit testing, integration testing, system testing, UAT testing, performance testing, and security testing to test each code component, verify seamless functioning of various parts of the app, test the entire application, get users’ feedback, and ensure the performance and security of the cashback application. 

If you identify any bugs, troubleshoot them immediately and make changes to the developed part, if required. 

Step 6: Launch 

Once developed successfully, optimize the app to submit it to the App Store or Google Play Store. Make sure its name, description, and visuals are as per the guidelines defined by the store. Don’t forget to provide an option for the customers to submit their feedback, ratings, and reviews. Monitor them regularly.

Step 7: Support and Maintenance 

The last step of the Upside-like cashback app development process is to monitor the app for security, performance, and user engagement. Moreover, regularly update the app with new features and updates to ensure its long-term success and enhance customer experience. 

At any point, if you find trouble in developing a cashback app alike Upside, consult a mobile app development company or hire app developers from a reputed technology partner. 

Technologies and Features You Can Add to Make Your Cashback App Different from Upside

Replicating the Upside cashback app won’t guarantee success; you have to go beyond and add additional features or employ top-notch technologies to make your cashback app stand out. This section is about those features and technologies that can pave the way for your Upside-like cashback app to be successful: 

Technologies to Power Your Unique Cashback App

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: You can integrate AI to bring hyper-personalization and ML to enable your app to automatically learn from past interactions. Both technologies can be employed to make the most of the data to understand user interests, purchase history, browsing patterns, and other details to show them personalized cashback offers with high chances of being redeemed. 

• Blockchain: Implementing blockchain into your cashback application can bring next-level transparency and security in cashback transactions. This transparency builds trust and fosters a loyal customer base. Blockchain-powered cashback mobile apps and platforms can also enable faster payouts or even crypto rewards.

• Augmented Reality: You can integrate this technology into your app to allow your users to point their phone’s camera at the store’s shelf to find real-time cashback offers on the captured products. AR can help deliver an engaging and outstanding experience to customers. 

• Advanced Location Services: Apart from displaying offers based on location, integrate your cashback app with more precise positioning technologies for hyper-local and context-aware offers. You can rely upon technologies like iBeacons and Geofencing. 

Advanced Features for Your Cashback App

• Dynamic Cashback: Instead of a fixed cashback percentage, make your app capable of dynamically showing cashback rates. For example, if a user avails a particular offer during a specific time of the day, they will get a little more cashback than the rest of the day. 
• Gamification: Add gamification elements like streaks, leaderboards, virtual rewards, and others to make your customers keep coming back for more. It will make earning cashback fun and engaging. 

• Social Sharing: Along with referral links, provide your users with an option to share their cashback and rewards on social media. They can build a virtual community and encourage other users to grab cashbacks from your application.
• Real-time Cashback Alerts: This feature will enable your users to get a cashback alert for a particular merchant. Besides alerts, you can also provide an option for integrated price comparison.  

How do Upside Make Money? (Monetization Models)

Upside-like mobile applications make money through affiliate commissions, subscription-based models, and other monetization models. If you, too, are planning to build an app like Upside, consider the following monetization models to make money from your app:

Affiliate Commissions 

The first and most popular way to monetize a clone of the cashback app like Upside is through affiliate commissions. It is basically the referral fee that you can charge in return for bringing business (customers) to your merchants. 

Data Insights and Analytics

It is a new monetization model that most apps these days use to make money. You can make the most of your customer data (not the confidential one and the one they didn’t agree to use), process it to prepare reports and analytics. Many businesses would be willing to pay for those insights. 

Premium Subscriptions 

When building an app similar to Upside, you can offer premium subscriptions so that your customers/users can get additional cashback rates, exclusive details, and other perks by subscribing to a paid subscription. 

In-App Advertising 

Well, this is the most common monetization model that most companies choose. You can also opt in for targeted advertising or sponsored promotions to make your cashback app profitable. The only thing you need to care about is the user experience, which should not be affected by in-app advertising. 

Explore More by reading Top Android App Monetization Strategies: Freemium vs. Paid Apps and Top Monetization Strategies for iOS Apps.

The Future of Upside-Like Cashback Apps

Now that we have read almost everything about the popular cashback app like Upside, let’s look at the future of such applications. Consumers are inclining towards platforms and applications that offer savings and personalized rewards. In 2025 and the upcoming years, we can expect the demand for such applications to grow multifold.

Some other trends that we may expect in cashback applications are the integration of these apps with other financial services and the implementation of AI-powered hyper-personalized services. Apart from this, location-based services would also become more refined to provide context-aware and real-time cashback offers to customers. 

The integration of gamification elements in cashback apps can also become a trend in cashback applications. Moreover, cryptocurrency-based reward systems can also become common to incentivize users of the cashback applications.

Final Thoughts 

Cashback apps like Upside provide users with great cashback offers on their food, grocery, and gas purchases. These apps create a win-win situation for both businesses and users by enabling the former to generate huge revenue by implementing different monetization models and the latter to save big on the things they are already doing. 

Considering the immense popularity and high demand for cashback apps, if you are planning to build one, this guide to developing a cashback app akin to Upside is all you need. The guide digs deeper into the benefits, market statistics, features, technology stack, development process, and a lot more that can help you build a successful cashback mobile application. 

If you don’t wish to build the app on your own, connect with a reputed mobile app development company with at least a decade of experience and a proven background in building feature-rich cashback apps. 

FAQs