MyPoints and Swagbucks are not the same app with a different name, but they are closer relatives than most people realize. Both platforms are owned by the same parent company, Prodege LLC, and they share a similar rewards structure built around earning points for shopping, taking surveys, and watching videos. The key differences come down to how each platform weights its earning opportunities, the specific retailer partnerships each one offers, and the redemption options available. If you have used Swagbucks and found it decent but not spectacular, MyPoints will feel familiar but not identical, sort of like comparing two fast-casual restaurants owned by the same corporate group.
The menus overlap, but the daily specials are different. The practical question most frugal-minded people are really asking is whether it is worth signing up for both, or whether running two rewards apps from the same parent company is just a waste of time for marginal extra earnings. The short answer is that MyPoints tends to be stronger for online shopping cashback while Swagbucks offers a broader mix of earning activities, so using both strategically can make sense depending on how you already spend your time and money. This article breaks down the ownership connection, compares earning rates side by side, looks at where each app actually pays better, and helps you figure out whether doubling up is worth the effort or just clutter on your phone.
Table of Contents
- Are MyPoints and Swagbucks Really the Same Platform Under Different Branding?
- Where MyPoints Actually Pays Better Than Swagbucks
- The Redemption Options Tell You Who Each App Is Really For
- Running Both Apps Without Wasting Your Time
- Where Both Platforms Fall Short Compared to Dedicated Alternatives
- The Browser Extensions Are Where the Real Value Lives
- What Happens If Prodege Merges These Platforms
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
Are MyPoints and Swagbucks Really the Same Platform Under Different Branding?
They are not the same platform, but the family resemblance is unmistakable. Prodege LLC acquired MyPoints back in 2013, several years after launching Swagbucks in 2008. Rather than merging the two services, Prodege kept them as separate products with separate user bases, separate point systems, and separate apps. This is a deliberate business strategy. Running two brands lets the parent company capture a wider slice of the rewards market, much like how Procter and Gamble sells both Tide and Gain laundry detergent. They compete with each other on the shelf, but the profits go to the same place. The underlying technology shares some DNA.
Both platforms use a points-based currency (Swagbucks calls them SB, MyPoints just calls them points), both offer browser extensions for shopping cashback, and both partner with many of the same retailers. You will find surveys from the same third-party providers showing up on both platforms, sometimes word for word. But the point values, bonus offers, and promotional calendars are managed independently. A Walmart shopping bonus running on Swagbucks might not exist on MyPoints the same week, and vice versa. One important distinction that trips people up: your accounts are completely separate. You cannot transfer points between MyPoints and Swagbucks, you cannot use the same login for both, and earning on one platform does not credit the other. Prodege treats them as distinct products. This means if you are going to use both, you are genuinely maintaining two separate reward balances and need to be intentional about which platform you route each purchase through.
Where MyPoints Actually Pays Better Than Swagbucks
MyPoints was originally built as an online shopping portal, and that heritage still shows. Its strongest feature is cashback on online purchases through its BonusShop, where it partners with over 1,900 retailers. For straight online shopping rewards, MyPoints frequently beats swagbucks on earning rates for the same stores. For example, during a typical week you might see MyPoints offering 8 points per dollar at Old Navy while Swagbucks offers 4 SB per dollar at the same retailer. Since both currencies convert to roughly similar gift card values, that is a meaningful difference if you are already planning to buy something. However, MyPoints is noticeably weaker when it comes to non-shopping activities. If you are the type of person who earns most of your rewards by taking surveys, watching videos, or playing games, Swagbucks has a much deeper bench of those options.
MyPoints does offer surveys, but the volume and variety tend to be thinner. The video-watching category on MyPoints is particularly underwhelming compared to what Swagbucks provides through its Watch section and the Swagbucks Live game. If you are a college student with more free time than shopping budget, Swagbucks is probably the better primary platform. The limitation worth noting is that cashback rates on both platforms fluctuate constantly. That 8-points-per-dollar rate at Old Navy might drop to 3 points next week, and Swagbucks might temporarily boost its rate above what MyPoints offers. Chasing the best rate between two platforms on every single purchase is a recipe for spending more time than the rewards are worth. A more realistic approach is to default to one platform for shopping and only check the other when you are making a purchase over fifty dollars where the rate difference would actually matter.
The Redemption Options Tell You Who Each App Is Really For
Swagbucks offers a wider range of redemption options, including PayPal cash, which is one of its biggest draws. You can cash out as little as roughly five dollars through PayPal once you hit 500 SB (though the exact thresholds shift occasionally with promotions). Swagbucks also offers a large selection of gift cards, charitable donations, and periodic discounts on certain gift card denominations where you might get a twenty-five dollar card for 2,200 SB instead of the standard 2,500. MyPoints has historically leaned harder into gift card redemptions, which makes sense given its shopping-portal roots. Its gift card catalog is extensive, covering Amazon, Target, Starbucks, and dozens of other retailers. MyPoints does offer PayPal as a redemption option, but the conversion rates and minimum thresholds differ from Swagbucks.
Where MyPoints stands out is in its travel-related redemptions. Through its connection with United MileagePlus, MyPoints lets you convert your points into airline miles, a feature Swagbucks does not offer. If you are a miles-and-points hobbyist who likes stacking travel rewards from every possible source, that alone might make MyPoints worth keeping active. A specific example illustrates the difference: say you accumulate the equivalent of twenty-five dollars in rewards on each platform. On Swagbucks, you could cash that out to PayPal and use it however you want, effectively turning rewards into unrestricted cash. On MyPoints, you might instead convert those points into United miles, which could be worth more than twenty-five dollars depending on how you redeem them for flights, or significantly less if you just let them sit in your account and eventually expire. The right choice depends entirely on what you actually do with your rewards, not just what they are nominally worth.
Running Both Apps Without Wasting Your Time
The strategic approach to using both platforms is specialization, not duplication. Use MyPoints primarily as a shopping portal and Swagbucks as your survey-and-activities platform. This way you are not doing the same thing twice on two apps. Before any online purchase over twenty dollars, take thirty seconds to compare the cashback rate on both platforms and route through whichever one pays more. For your daily time-killing activities like surveys and video watching, stick with Swagbucks where those options are better developed. The tradeoff with this dual-platform approach is account maintenance.
Both apps send promotional emails, both have daily login bonuses that reward consistency, and both occasionally run limited-time bonus events that require checking in. If you are the type of person who already feels overwhelmed by notifications, adding a second rewards app might create more friction than the extra few dollars per month justify. A reasonable estimate for someone who shops online regularly and does occasional surveys is that the second app adds maybe three to eight dollars per month in incremental earnings over using just one platform. That is real money over a year, but only if the mental overhead does not bother you. There is one important constraint: some cashback offers have terms that only credit the purchase if you go through that specific platform’s portal. If you accidentally click through MyPoints, change your mind, and then click through Swagbucks for the same retailer in the same browser session, there is a risk that neither platform credits the purchase. Clear your cookies between switches, or better yet, use one browser for each platform to keep sessions clean.
Where Both Platforms Fall Short Compared to Dedicated Alternatives
Neither MyPoints nor Swagbucks offers best-in-class rates for any single category. Their cashback percentages on shopping are consistently lower than what you can get from a dedicated cashback platform like Rakuten, which regularly runs promotions with double or triple the rates. For surveys specifically, platforms like Prolific pay significantly more per hour of your time because they connect you with academic researchers who have actual budgets, rather than market research firms trying to pay as little as possible. The survey experience on both Prodege platforms can be genuinely frustrating. You will regularly spend five to ten minutes answering screening questions only to be told you do not qualify, with no compensation for that wasted time. Swagbucks does offer a small DQ (disqualification) bonus of one SB when this happens, but that works out to pennies.
MyPoints is even stingier on survey disqualifications. If you are earning minimum wage or above at any job, the effective hourly rate from surveys on either platform is almost certainly lower than what your time is worth. The warning here is about opportunity cost. People who get deeply invested in the Swagbucks and MyPoints ecosystems sometimes spend so much time optimizing their earning across both platforms that they miss bigger financial wins. Spending forty-five minutes chasing a fifty-cent survey bonus while ignoring a twenty-dollar annual fee on a bank account, or not bothering to call your insurance company to shop rates, is penny-wise and pound-foolish. These apps work best as a passive layer on top of purchases you were already going to make, not as a primary income strategy.
The Browser Extensions Are Where the Real Value Lives
Both MyPoints and Swagbucks offer browser extensions that automatically notify you when you visit a retailer where you could be earning cashback. This is where the lazy but effective approach to rewards stacking lives. Install both extensions, and when you land on a shopping site, you will see which platform is offering the better rate without having to manually log into two different portals. The Swagbucks extension (SwagButton) also offers coupon-finding features similar to Honey, occasionally applying discount codes at checkout.
The MyPoints extension is simpler but serves the same core purpose of reminding you to activate cashback before you buy. The practical value here is significant because most people who sign up for cashback portals forget to use them. A browser extension that pops up a reminder at the moment of purchase captures earnings that would otherwise be lost to forgetfulness. If you are only willing to do one thing after reading this article, install one or both extensions and forget about the rest. That single action will likely earn you more over a year than any amount of survey grinding.
What Happens If Prodege Merges These Platforms
There has been periodic speculation in the rewards community that Prodege might eventually merge MyPoints and Swagbucks into a single platform, especially after Prodege itself was acquired by Upland Software and has gone through various corporate reshufflings. So far, the company has kept both brands running independently, likely because each one captures a slightly different demographic. MyPoints skews toward older online shoppers who have been using it since the early 2000s, while Swagbucks attracts a younger, more activity-oriented audience. If a merger did happen, the most likely outcome would be one platform absorbing the other’s user base with some kind of point conversion, similar to what happens when airlines merge loyalty programs.
Your existing balances would presumably convert at whatever exchange rate the company sets, though history suggests these conversions usually slightly disadvantage users. The practical takeaway is not to hoard enormous point balances on either platform. Redeem regularly, keep your balances low, and you will not be caught off guard by any corporate restructuring. This is good advice for any rewards program, not just these two.
Conclusion
MyPoints and Swagbucks share a parent company and a general philosophy, but they are meaningfully different products. MyPoints is the better shopping portal with consistently competitive cashback rates and a unique United MileagePlus redemption option. Swagbucks is the more versatile platform with stronger survey options, more ways to earn through activities, and the convenience of PayPal cashouts. Neither one is a scam, and neither one will make you rich.
They are modest tools for extracting a bit of extra value from things you are already doing online. The smartest approach is to pick one as your primary platform based on whether you are more of a shopper or a survey taker, and then use the other selectively when it offers a clearly better deal on a specific purchase. Install both browser extensions, redeem your points regularly instead of stockpiling them, and do not let the pursuit of small rewards distract you from larger financial decisions that actually move the needle on your budget. These apps are side dishes, not the main course of a frugal living strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use the same email address for both MyPoints and Swagbucks?
Yes, you can register with the same email on both platforms since they maintain completely separate account systems. Your accounts will not be linked in any way, and earning on one does not affect the other.
Is it against the rules to use both MyPoints and Swagbucks?
No. Prodege allows users to have accounts on both platforms. You cannot, however, double-dip by claiming cashback on the same purchase through both portals simultaneously. Each transaction should be routed through one platform or the other.
Which platform has a lower cashout minimum?
Swagbucks generally lets you cash out at a lower effective minimum, with some gift cards available starting around three to five dollars worth of SB. MyPoints typically requires accumulating more points before your first redemption, though exact thresholds vary by reward type.
Do MyPoints and Swagbucks sell my data?
Both platforms collect data about your shopping habits and survey responses. Their privacy policies permit sharing data with third parties for marketing and research purposes, which is standard for free rewards platforms. You are the product as much as you are the user.
Are there sign-up bonuses for new users?
Both platforms periodically offer sign-up bonuses, typically ranging from five to ten dollars in point value, sometimes tied to making a qualifying purchase within the first few weeks. These offers change frequently, so check current terms before assuming any specific bonus amount.
