What are cashback sites?

Cashback sites are free services that pay you a percentage of your spend every time you shop through their links. When you click through to a retailer via TopCashback or Quidco and make a purchase, the retailer pays the cashback site a commission — and the site passes most of that commission back to you as cashback.

It costs you nothing extra and takes about 10 seconds to set up. Most people who use cashback sites consistently earn between £100 and £400 per year on purchases they were going to make anyway.

TopCashback

Founded2005
MembersOver 20 million
Retailers5,000+
Free planYes
Premium plan£5/mo (TopCashback Plus)

TopCashback is the UK's highest-rated cashback site and generally pays the highest rates. They operate a genuinely free model — unlike Quidco, there's no monthly fee and no commission cut on the basic plan.

Their strength is big-ticket purchases: broadband switches, insurance renewals, and financial products. A single broadband switch can earn £80–£120 cashback. Insurance renewals regularly pay £30–£60.

Sign Up Free
TopCashback — free to join, no monthly fee, and you keep 100% of your cashback on the free plan.
🎁 Join through our link and get a £10 welcome bonus (we earn £25). Join TopCashback — get £10 free →

Quidco

Founded2005
MembersOver 10 million
Retailers4,500+
Free planYes (£1/mo fee deducted from cashback)
Premium plan£5/mo (Quidco Premium)

Quidco is TopCashback's main rival and has a loyal following. Their free plan deducts £1 per month from your cashback earnings — so if you earn £20 cashback in a month, you receive £19. Not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing.

Where Quidco shines is everyday shopping: supermarkets, fashion, and smaller purchases tend to have competitive or better rates than TopCashback. Their app is also slightly more polished for day-to-day use.

Sign Up Free
Quidco — strong for everyday shopping cashback and has a well-rated mobile app.
🎁 Join through our link and get £20 cashback once you earn your first £5 (we earn £25). Join Quidco — get £20 bonus →

Head-to-head comparison

Best for big purchases (insurance, broadband)TopCashback ✓
Best for everyday shoppingQuidco ✓
Completely freeTopCashback ✓
Best mobile appQuidco ✓
Highest overall cashback ratesTopCashback ✓
Number of retailersAbout the same

Verdict — which should you use?

Use both. They're both free to join (TopCashback fully free, Quidco free with a £1/mo fee taken from earnings), and the 60 seconds it takes to sign up to each will earn you back many times over.

In practice: before any significant online purchase, check both sites and go with whichever is paying more. For insurance and broadband in particular, always check TopCashback first — those deals consistently pay the highest cashback rates on the site.