Mobile apps for fast food restaurants are some of the best ways to save money when eating out. Many chains have revised their rewards program and added additional deals to create platforms that can optimize mobile ordering and reduce the time for customers to get their food. This article will offer advice on which apps you should continue to use, along with some others worth downloading from the app store.

Value Town

These apps are the greatest in the game, offering consistent deals and rewards. Almost every time you open the app, there is a new promotion to take advantage of. McDonald’s has constant running deals such as, BOGO on breakfast sandwiches and lunch entrees, or free fries on Fridays. Their rewards program is also very consistent and inexpensive, allowing users to redeem rewards after spending just $15 on ordering food.

Chick-Fil-A has an app centered on the rewards for purchasing food on previous trips to their locations. This characteristic is obviously not enough to make the app one of the greatest available.  However, the app is redeemed by two main factors, the convenience and surprise rewards. Not only does the app allow for full customization of your order, the app gives a great advantage to ordering online by offering quick pickup after placing an order. The surprise rewards allow franchise owners to drop rewards such as free nuggets or milkshakes into the rewards section of your app.

Very Solid

These apps have great perks, such as earning rewards and exclusive deals dropped to members. The factors that hold them back are either a lack of consistency with which the deals are available, or the rewards are difficult to earn, stuck behind large amounts of purchasing. Many of these do offer great sign-on rewards to draw customers in, which is a great incentive for downloading them.

Some of the greatest deals in this category include, Sonic’s 1/2 price drinks all day when ordering in the app and Burger King’s bundle deals only available in their app. Chipotle’s app may be the worst out of this category, but the repeated ‘Guac Mode’, where users are randomly gifted a side of guacamole or queso with their order redeems the expensive rewards. Additionally, Dairy queen adds new deals weekly for cones, shakes, and blizzards.

All of these apps are definitely worth downloading and signing back on each time you visit the restaurant. There might be a deal you can use if you want something specific, or a way to save money if you do not have anything in mind before ordering.

Glorified Rewards Program

Many of these apps lure in the user with the promise of earning rewards once purchasing a few meals from their locations. However, the rewards are not as easy to earn as they initially seem. Many of them take over $50 to earn an entree, which seem unachievable if  you are not a regular patron of the fast food chain. However, they may offer deals sporadically that can help you out on specific days.

Domino’s and Pizza Hut offer very consistent deals, however they are no different from the pricing on their website or from calling in to order. Users should never pay full price for pizza but also not be fooled into thinking they are getting a much better deal.

Restaurants such as Jimmy John’s, Jersey Mike’s, and Moe’s give the user points for each purchase, when once they earn enough they can be used to redeem an entree of close to a $10 value. Taco Bell is the MVP of this tier with a rewards program similar to those previously mentioned, also including the $6 Cravings Box, only available in the app.

Only Good for Signup Deal

Most of these apps lure in users with the promise of getting a certain deal or reward for signing up for the app. Typically after this deal is redeemed the rest of the value from the app is underwhelming or nonexistent. While it may seem like these would not be worth downloading, these are sometimes the best deals. You can get a free entree with no other purchase for a signup that may only take a few minutes. The drawback is you can only redeem the reward one time.

Some of the highlights of this tier are the free sandwiches from Zaxby’s and Arby’s without any prior purchasing required. Culver’s gives out a BOGO on their basket combo meal. They also send users a free custard on their birthday. Firehouse gives rewards members the opportunity to get a free sub once they make any purchase.

Barely Release Deals

These apps may occasionally offer deals, but with little consistency or value. Most of these are not worth it to download unless it is a place you eat at often and want to have online ordering capabilities. Some of the better deals from this category include free orange chicken day at Panda Express and 1/2 price shakes a few times a year at Shake Shack. While you may sometimes be able to save some money, these apps are largely underwhelming.

Only for Online Ordering

These apps are useless for getting extra value out of your order, or free food. The only reason to have these would be to order ahead or to help with large catering orders. There is no reason for these to be on your phone and take up space. Hopefully these apps will be updated over time to include more rewards and incentive to use them.