Apps to Save Money on Food as a Student: How They Work and Which to Try

Food-saving apps can cut what you spend on food, but the savings are usually smaller and less predictable than the headline numbers suggest, and it only counts when the food replaces something you would have bought anyway. This guide explains the four kinds of apps, names 10 services across the UK, US and Europe, and shows you how to work out whether they are saving you money.

Disclosure: we run Instuly Pulse, a rewards platform for students. None of the apps below is part of it, and we explain where Instuly Pulse fits at the end.

Why these apps exist

Globally, about 19% of the food available to consumers was wasted in 2022 at retail, food service and household levels, according to the UN Environment Programme's Food Waste Index Report 2024. Households were responsible for 60% of that waste, and the average person wastes about 79 kg of food a year. Food-saving apps work on one part of that problem: shops and restaurants that have unsold food at the end of the day and would rather sell it cheaply than bin it.

Four kinds of food-saving apps

• Surplus meals and bags. Restaurants, cafes, bakeries and shops list unsold food at a reduced price near closing time. You pay in the app and collect it in a set window. Some apps sell surprise bags; others let you choose the items.

• Reduced-price supermarket finders. These show which items nearby supermarkets have marked down, so you can plan a shop instead of hoping to find a yellow sticker.

• Free food sharing. Neighbours and some local shops list food they will not use, and you collect it for free.

• Surplus delivery boxes. Services buy surplus or cosmetically imperfect produce from growers and deliver it to your door on a subscription.

10 food-saving apps and services, by type

These are established services. We have not tested every one for this guide, and availability, prices and fees change, so check each in your own city before you rely on it.

Surplus meals and bags

• Too Good To Go. Businesses list unsold food at the end of the day as surprise bags. You pay in the app and collect in a set window, and the business decides what goes in. Bags are priced at about a third of the normal price. One UK retailer, the Co-op in the East of England, says its bags cost £3.30 and contain food worth at least three times that. Research by Wageningen University found buyers consumed around 90% of what was in the bag. It operates in many countries across Europe and North America.

• Karma. A Swedish app that launched in London in 2018. Unlike a surprise bag, you see and choose the specific items, which were sold at around half price from restaurants, cafes and shops. We could only find reports from its launch, so check the app to see whether it covers your city.

• Phenix. A French app selling baskets of unsold food from local shops, at around half price on average according to the app. It operates in France and several other European countries, including Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Italy.

• ResQ Club. A Finnish app operating in Finland, Sweden, Germany and Poland. Cafes, restaurants and shops sell surplus meals and bags, usually at about half price, which you pay for in the app and collect before the last pick-up time.

Reduced-price supermarket finders

• Gander. A UK app and website that shows items supermarkets have reduced, such as yellow-sticker food, in nearby stores in real time. It connects to retailers' systems, so coverage depends on which retailers have partnered. Check which stores near you appear before you count on it.

• Flashfood. A Canadian app used in the US and Canada. Partner grocery stores list food nearing its best-before date at a discount, often described as up to about half price, which you pay for in the app and pick up from a marked area in the store. Which stores take part changes, and some reviewers report fees, so check your local stores.

Free food sharing

• OLIO. A free app that connects neighbours and with local shops so surplus food can be shared. Most items are free, and some are offered for a donation to charity. You can also share non-food items such as furniture, clothes, toys, and household and beauty products, which makes it useful when you move into a new flat. There is a separate section for selling non-food items.

Surplus delivery boxes

• Oddbox. A UK service that delivers surplus and imperfect fruit and veg in boxes. You choose the box size and weekly or fortnightly delivery, and you can skip or swap boxes. Delivery is overnight, and not every postcode is covered, so check yours. Boxes started from £11.49 on its website at the time of writing.

• Misfits Market. A US service that delivers imperfect and surplus produce and groceries at a discount. It acquired Imperfect Foods in 2022.

• Imperfect Foods. A US delivery service for surplus and cosmetically imperfect food, now part of the same company as Misfits Market. Check which brand serves your area and what each offers.

What the savings really are

The worth figure that these apps show is the retail value of the food, not the money you save. You only save money when the food replaces something you would have bought anyway.

Here is an illustration, based on the Co-op's published bag price and its claim that bags hold at least three times that in food. It is not typical savings data. A £3.30 bag worth at least £9.90:

• If all of it replaces food you would have bought, you save about £6.60.

• If half of it replaces food you would have bought, you save about £1.65.

• If none of it does, you have spent £3.30 on extra food.

The same logic applies to every app here. The saving comes from what you stop buying, so a bag of bread you freeze and eat beats a bag of pastries you throw away.

Which kind of app for which problem

A four-week test for your own budget

1. Week 1: install one app of each type that covers your area. Set your search radius to somewhere you already pass, and turn on notifications only for the places you like.

2. Weeks 1 to 4: each time you buy, note what you paid and what food you would otherwise have bought. At the end of each week, note what you ate and what you binned.

3. Week 4: work out your real saving, which is what you would have spent minus what you spent. Keep the app that replaced the most food, and delete the rest.

Safety, dates and allergies

• Use by is about safety. Do not eat food past its use-by date. Best before is about quality, and food is often fine after it, but check it first.

• Freeze what you will not eat soon. Bread, cooked meals and many bakery items freeze well.

• Allergies need extra care. A surprise bag hides its contents. Ask the business about allergens, or use an app where you choose specific items. Do not rely on the app for allergen information.

The hidden costs to watch

• Travel. A £3 bag that costs £4 in bus fares is not a saving.

• Time. Collection windows and stock that sells out quickly can take more effort than a normal shop.

• Buying too much. Cheap food that you do not eat is a cost, not a saving.

Where Instuly Pulse fits

Instuly Pulse is not a food app. It is a free rewards platform for adults aged 18 and over, with paid surveys from research partners including CPX Research and PureSpectrum, student deals and skills-based tasks. Think of the money you earn as a small offset to your food bill, not a replacement for planning it.

Most surveys pay between $0.10 and $5, and you can cash out to PayPal or your bank once your balance reaches $10. Balances and withdrawals are in US dollars, and PayPal or your bank may convert the money at their own rate. Earnings vary, and not every survey will match you. You can see how Instuly Pulse works, or read our guide to cashback sites and apps for ways to save on what you buy online.