15 Best Ways To Get A Free Starbucks Gift Card
When it comes to coffee, there's no denying that Starbucks takes first place in terms of sheer size and brand recognition.
The coffee house goliath has over 30,000 stores across the world! Chances are, Starbucks is also your favorite place to grab a coffee since you're reading an article on ways to get free Starbucks gift cards.
Now, I've covered ways to get free Starbucks drinks before on WebMonkey to help make your next Starbucks trip a bit cheaper for your monthly budget.
But today, I'm focusing on how to get a free Starbucks gift card so you can enjoy your favorite coffee shop without spending a penny.
I've been enjoying free Starbucks gift cards for years and plenty of free coffee and snacks. Hopefully, some of these tips work for you so you can treat yourself without spending a fortune.
How To Get Free Starbucks Gift Cards
I've been finding ways to get free Starbucks gift cards and beverages for years since my time in college. And I even worked as a Starbucks barista for a few years, so trust me when I say I know the insider secrets!
And since Starbucks is a massive company, plenty of reward apps and online money-making methods actually let you redeem free Starbucks gift cards as rewards.
Plus, there's a few nifty Starbucks hacks you can also use to score some free gift cards to enjoy your next drink or food item completely for free!
1. Branded Surveys
One of the easiest ways to get a free Starbucks gift card is to answer surveys in your spare time with Branded Surveys.
This free paid survey website lets you earn free PayPal cash and gift cards in your spare time. And it lets you cash out at only $5, which is pretty low in the paid survey space.
I've been using Branded Surveys for over a year now, and it's a legitimate platform that pays on time.
Free Starbucks gift cards are also a reward option, and Branded Surveys usually pays you within a day or two of cashing out.
Overall, Branded Surveys is a popular way to make money online for beginners. And it's also my number one suggestion for getting free gift cards to Starbucks.
Start making money with Branded Surveys!
2. Join Starbucks Rewards
If you're a true fan of this global coffee chain, then one of the best ways to get free Starbucks gift cards and perks is to join its free rewards program.
With Starbucks Rewards, you earn stars, the program's point system, for every dollar you spend at Starbucks. You can then spend those stars on a variety of rewards, like free drinks, and enjoy some other nice freebies.
Specifically, options for redeeming your stars include:
- 25 Stars: Customize your drink.
- 50 Stars: Redeem a free coffee, tea, or bakery item.
- 150 Stars: Redeem a free handcrafted beverage or breakfast item.
- 200 Stars: Redeem a free food item like a sandwich or protein box.
- 400 Stars: Get a free Starbucks bag of coffee or tumbler.
This rewards program also comes with nice perks like a free Starbucks drink on your birthday. And you can also get free refills on coffee and tea, as well as discounts if you bring your own mug!
⭐ The Best Places To Get Free Stuff For Your Birthday.
3. Swagbucks
Like Branded Surveys, Swagbucks is another reliable way to answer surveys for free Starbucks gift cards.
I've also been using this rewards site since college, and it's a popular online side hustle that's also easy to use.
I also like using Swagbucks since it has numerous ways to earn rewards, including:
- Shopping online
- Uploading shopping receipts
- Referral bonuses
- Playing mobile games
- Answering polls
- Watching ads
Additionally, Starbucks gift cards are redeemable when you earn $5 worth of points (500 SBs), which is possible in a day or two of work. I've also cashed out with dozens of times with Swagbucks, and it always pays me on time.
Swagbucks often has a $10 sign up bonus as well for new members. Ultimately, there's no denying that Swagbucks is one of the more popular GPT sites in the space, and it's definitely effective for getting some free gift cards to Starbucks.
Start making money with Swagbucks!
4. InboxDollars
Like Swagbucks, another legit way to get a free Starbucks gift card is to use InboxDollars.
This U.S. rewards website also lets people make money with a variety of online tasks, like answering surveys and playing games. Plus, it has an instant $5 sign up bonus to get you started.
You can cash out with free PayPal cash or a variety of gift cards after earning $10. Starbucks gift cards are often available as well to help you get your coffee fix.
Sure, you won't make $500 a day or anything crazy with websites like InboxDollars. But if you grind out a few surveys a day, you should be able to get one or two free Starbucks gift cards per month pretty easily.
Sign up for InboxDollars or read my InboxDollars review for all the details.
5. Use Drop
Drop is one of my all-time favorite reward apps that pays you for shopping at dozens of your favorite retailers.
If you do a lot of shopping on your mobile phone, it's also one of the easiest ways to snag a free gift card to Starbucks.
While Drop used to let you earn passive income for shopping at 5 of your favorite stores, the app recently went through a massive overhaul.
Nowadays, Drop takes a bit more work to earn, but the effort is certainly worth it if you want some free Starbucks gift cards.
Here's how you can start earning with Drop:
- Download Drop. Download the Drop app for Android or iOS.
- Link Your Cards. Connect the debit and credit cards you use for shopping to Drop's secure app.
- Activate Offers. Browse Drop's offers to find retailers where you earn Drop points as a form of cash back for shopping.
- Cash Out. Accumulate Drop points and spend them on free gift card rewards when you earn $25 worth of points (25,000 points).
That's all there is to it! Drop also lets you earn points by playing mobile games and answering short surveys, but shopping is where the app shines.
I like Drop because it works with hundreds of partners, including popular stores like Uber Eats, Amazon, Sephora, Subway, Walmart, and plenty of other massive retailers. This makes it easy to earn Drop points for everyday shopping.
To date, I've earned about $30 in free Starbucks gift cards from using Drop, so I know this app is legit and pays out.
A $25 cash out limit takes some time to reach, but if you want to earn free Starbucks gift cards by shopping, Drop is one of the best apps around.
6. Survey Junkie
If you're still wondering how to get free Starbucks gift cards, answering surveys with Survey Junkie is one of the most straightforward options.
This paid survey site is available in the United States, Canada, and Australia. And it's an easy way to earn PayPal cash or gift cards just for sharing your opinion.
You can cash out once you reach $5 through PayPal cash or a variety of free gift cards. Free Starbucks gift cards are also a reward option and are pretty much always in stock.
Overall, if you don't mind using get-paid-to websites to answer surveys for money, Survey Junkie is worth trying.
And you can read my post on the best Survey Junkie hacks and Survey Junkie review for some useful tips to maximize your earnings.
Sign up for Survey Junkie and start earning rewards!
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7. Fetch Rewards
If you do most of the shopping for your household, Fetch Rewards is one of the best ways to get free gift cards to Starbucks.
This leading receipt scanning app pays you with points as a form of cash back for buying products from Fetch Reward partners.
The reason Fetch Rewards is awesome is because it's super simple to use. All you have to do is buy products from Fetch Reward brands, snap a photo of your receipt, and earn points.
This is different from apps like Checkout 51 and Rakuten that both require pre-selecting shopping offers before shopping, which takes more of your precious time.
Plus, Fetch Rewards works with dozens of popular brands, so it's easy to earn points. Brand partners include:
- Doritos
- Gatorade
- Lipton
- Kraft
- Pepsi
- Starbucks
- Sara Lee
- Trix
So yes…you can earn Fetch Reward points for buying Starbucks products in-store and then redeem your points for free Starbucks gift cards…talk about reward stacking!
And, with the recent introduction of Fetch Rewards eReceipts, you can also earn points for online shopping as well!
Unlike many receipt scanning apps, you can also redeem free Starbucks gift cards once you earn 5,000 points, which is worth $5.
This is achievable in a few shopping trips, making Fetch Rewards one of the most reliable ways to get free Starbucks gift cards there is.
My post on the best apps like Fetch Rewards has even more useful apps you can use to get paid to shop.
Start earning rewards with Fetch Rewards!
8. Starbucks Rewards Visa
While this isn't a direct way to get free Starbucks gift cards, signing up for the Starbucks Rewards Visa is a must for any serious coffee fan.
The main reason for this is that new cardholders get 4,500 bonus stars after spending $500 within the first three months of opening a card.
Stars are redeemable through the Starbucks Reward Program and let you unlock a variety of perks and free food/drink items, so it's basically as good as getting gift cards.
So, with your 4,500 bonus stars, you're looking at 90 free drinks if that's how you plan on spending your stars…not bad!
Plus, the Starbucks Reward Visa also lets you earn stars faster for spending at Starbucks, so it's a solid card for anyone who regularly buys Starbucks.
9. MobileXpression
MobileXpression is a passive income app that's also how I earned most of my free Starbucks gift cards back in college.
In a nutshell, MobileXpression monitors how your smartphone works with cellphone towers to help network providers test signal and performance. In exchange for sharing your data with these companies, MobileXpression pays you with 2 credits per week.
When you reach 10 credits, you can redeem free $5 gift cards to companies like Amazon, Best Buy, and Starbucks.
To make money in college, I tried a bunch of these types of apps. All in all, I redeemed about $40 of free Starbucks gift cards by using MobileXpression, and this was basically free money without doing much work.
Granted, you have to be comfortable selling your data, and the app is glitchy. But, if you want a low-effort way to make money on autopilot, I recommend trying MobileXpression!
10. MyPoints
MyPoints is another easy way to get free Starbucks gift cards if you frequently shop online or like completing mircotasks like with Swagbucks.
With MyPoints, you can earn points for things like:
- Shopping online
- Watching videos
- Downloading apps
- Playing new games
- Answering surveys
- Reading emails
- Searching the web
Points you earn are redeemable for dozens of different gift cards, including Starbucks. Most gift cards are redeemable when you earn 700 points, which is worth $5. You can also redeem $25 of PayPal cash if you earn 4,000 points.
What makes MyPoints worth trying is the online shopping portal. You can actually earn cash back for shopping at hundreds of stores, and the cash-back rates are usually higher than Swagbucks.
Plus, MyPoints is giving new users a free $5 Amazon gift card or prepaid Visa card when they sign up!
Earn a free $5 gift card from MyPoints!
11. Ibotta
Like Fetch Rewards, another easy way to get free Starbucks gift cards when you shop is to use Ibotta.
This popular rewards app pays you with gift cards and PayPal money for buying sponsored products from its partners. All you have to do is shop, take a picture of your receipt, and upload it to earn.
I like using Ibotta since it also works with online purchases. And, its in-store offers are pretty stellar and sometimes even include Starbucks grocery products.
You can cash out at just $5, and reward options usually include free Starbucks gift cards and cards to dozens of other retailers.
My post on Fetch Rewards vs Ibotta compares these two shopping reward apps in greater detail. But you can always test both of them out to see what works best for your shopping habits.
You can also read my Ibotta app review for more details.
12. Microsoft Rewards
While it might surprise you, using Microsoft Rewards is another effective way to get free Starbucks gift cards online.
Microsoft has been running its reward program for a while, and the entire idea behind the program is to incentivize people to use more of Microsoft's products and services.
So, you can earn Microsoft Reward points for doing things like:
- Searching with Bing
- Playing Xbox games or buying digital purchases for your Xbox
- Subscribing for newsletters/emails
- Answering quizzes and polls
- Completing a daily set of tasks
Searching with Bing every day is the fastest, easiest way to earn points. However, Microsoft Rewards is a pretty slow earner since most tasks pay a couple of points or a few dozen at most.
You can redeem points for sweepstakes to win various Microsoft products or new gadgets. You can also donate earnings to charity or redeem free electronic gift cards to companies like Starbucks.
It takes approximately 5,000 Microsoft Rewards points to redeem a $5 Starbucks gift card, so again, this is a slow but passive earner!
Get started with Microsoft Rewards!
13. Shopkick
When it comes to mystery shopping apps, Shopkick is one of the most popular apps in the business.
With Shopkick, you can earn Kicks, the app's point system, for completing tasks like:
- Walking into stores
- Scanning product barcodes
- Shopping online through Shopkick
- Shopping in-store with a linked credit card
- Watch videos and ads
The variety of earning options is what makes apps like Shopkick cool. For example, you might earn 5 kicks for walking into a Target, earn 3 kicks for watching a video, and finally earn 90 kicks for buying a sponsored product with your linked card.
One kick is worth roughly $0.004, so you need 250 kicks to redeem a $1 gift card. The minimum redemption amount is $2, but certain gift cards require $5 to redeem. Shopkick can also pay you through PayPal.
It might take a few shopping trips to redeem rewards, but the online and in-app shopping offers can pay more kicks than the other tasks. Plus, you can use a variety of cheats for Shopkick to maximize your rewards and cash out faster!
14. Buy Discounted Gift Cards
While this doesn't let you get gift cards without spending some money, there are several websites where you can buy Starbucks gift cards online at a discount.
This is possible because gift card exchange websites buy unwanted gift cards from people at a discount price and then resell those cards to you at a slightly higher but still cheaper price than paying in full.
So, if you know how much you spend on Starbucks in an average month, you can buy discount gift cards ahead of time to save more money.
One popular website for buying discount gift cards is Raise.com.
Right now, Raise lets you save up to 1.30% on buying Starbucks gift cards. Plus, Raise is giving new customers a 10% discount with the code “FIRST” for a maximum of $20 in savings.
So, if you know you're going to spend a certain amount of money at Starbucks in the coming weeks, consider buying a discount gift card with Raise before you spend!
15. Try Starbucks Happy Hour
Did you know that Starbucks runs a happy hour at select stores on certain Thursdays from 2pm to 7pm?
That's right: you and a friend can go to a participating Starbucks and enjoy a BOGO deal on a handcrafted drink. That's about $3 to $5 in savings depending on the beverage you get.
The Starbucks app notifies you which local stores are participating. You can also see if your local Starbucks has an Instagram page and follow it for regular store updates.
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Tips For Geting Your Free Starbucks Gift Card
Now that you know how to get a free Starbucks gift card, I want to share a few tips that I've found helpful over the years to help you save as much as possible.
- Always Stack Rewards: Stack rewards like credit card bonuses, Starbucks rewards, and anything you can think of to save as much money whenever you shop at this coffee chain.
- Test Several Methods: Try out several side hustle methods and free Starbucks hacks to find what works best in your area.
- Create A Budget: I firmly believe that you can drink a lot of free Starbucks drinks with the methods in the article. But you should still stick to a budget so you don't overspend.
I also made a YouTube video you can watch that covers even more ways to get a free Starbucks gift card.
Hopefully, you find a new, fun side hustle with the ideas in this post and get your coffee fix without the price tag!
Extra Reading – How To Make $200 A Day.
Final Thoughts
If you're wondering how to get free Starbucks gift cards to reduce your spending at this coffee house favorite, I hope this list of ideas helps you!
Just remember: you should still stick to a coffee budget, and if anything, these methods are meant to help you treat yourself once in a while.
I earned free Starbucks gift cards with apps like Branded Surveys and MobileXpression back in college. I also worked as a Starbucks barista for 3 years, so I know a lot of the Starbucks hacks out there to cut costs and score freebies.
The reality is that if you get Starbucks every day, it's going to be hard to earn gift cards fast enough to cover the cost.
But, if this is an occasional treat, I think the methods in this list can cover $50 to $200+ of free Starbucks gift cards annually if you put in some effort.
When you throw in other Starbucks incentives like the Rewards Program, free refills, and different seasonal promotions, I don't think this iconic coffee chain has to be as expensive as people make it out to be.
Hopefully, all of these ways to get free gift cards to Starbucks helps you get your coffee fix while staying more on-budget.
Looking for more money-making ideas? Checkout:
- How To Get A Free Shein Gift Card.
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