Steppa vs CashWalk: Free Amazon Gift Cards or a Cash Step Pool

CashWalk is the pick if you want a free, low-effort app that turns daily steps into an occasional Amazon gift card and never touches your money. Steppa is the pick if you want cash rather than gift cards and are willing to stake money on reaching a step goal every day.

Key Takeaways

• CashWalk is free: about 1 coin per 100 steps, up to 100 coins a day, traded for gift cards such as Amazon.
• Reviewers report the coin price of a $5 card has risen over time, from 2,000 coins to as much as 5,000.
• CashWalk has no PayPal or bank option; Steppa pays winnings to PayPal or a US bank account.
• On Steppa you stake money and lose it if you miss the step goal on any day; CashWalk never asks you to pay.
• CashWalk works on iPhone and Android; Steppa is iPhone only and reads Apple Health.

CashWalk earns a lot of goodwill: some reviewers say its first card comes quickly, the cards arrive reliably, and it is light on battery. The catch is the size of the reward, and some reviewers say the coin price of a card keeps rising. Steppa makes this blog, so we have cited CashWalk's App Store page and independent reviewers for every figure below.

Steppa vs CashWalk at a glance

How CashWalk works

CashWalk counts steps in the background with no GPS and pays roughly one coin per 100 steps, up to 100 coins a day. VISU Network reports that iPhone users are capped at 10,000 steps a day. You redeem coins for gift cards from $5 to $25, and there is no PayPal or bank option. The app is free and shows ads.

The price of a card is where reviewers push back. Some say a $5 card cost 2,000 coins at first, then 2,500, and others now report up to 5,000. At 100 coins a day, that is the difference between about 20 days and 50 days of walking for one $5 card. RunMatch also reports that coins expire after a year, so a slow saver can lose some.

How Steppa works

Steppa pays nothing per step. Each challenge has one daily step goal that every player shares, and you reach it every day, counted midnight to midnight in your own time zone, or you are out. The stakes of players who miss a day stay in the pool, and the players who finish split all of it. Steppa keeps none.

Official challenges mostly run one or two weeks, often only three days. A challenge you create runs 5 to 180 days at a goal of 5,000 to 50,000 steps, and a stake of $10 to $1,000.

Gift cards against a pool

Bitletics estimates CashWalk pays $1 to $3 a month. That is small but certain, and it never costs you a cent.

A made-up Steppa challenge for comparison: 20 friends each stake $20 on a 5-day challenge, and 16 make it. The $400 pool splits 16 ways, $25 each. Every player paid a $1.30 service fee to join (for most players $0.50 plus 4% of the stake, shown before you pay), so each finisher ends $3.70 ahead, about what CashWalk pays in a good month. Each of the four who missed a day is $21.30 down, which would take many months to earn back on CashWalk.

Steps and accounts

Steppa reads every step from Apple Health on your iPhone and never counts them itself, so an Apple Watch, Garmin, Fitbit, Oura or Whoop works if it syncs there. Steps you add to Apple Health yourself never count. A challenge settles at 12:00 UTC two days after its last day, leaving time for a late sync.

CashWalk counts on its own and runs on Android as well as iPhone. Some App Store reviewers report accounts paused and weak support when something goes wrong, and many mention the ads.

Getting paid

CashWalk sends a gift card code. Steppa sends money: after settlement your winnings sit in the app until you withdraw them to PayPal, which works beyond the US, or to a US bank account. A standard transfer to a US bank costs nothing from Steppa, and a PayPal fee, when there is one, is shown before you confirm.

Who each one suits

CashWalk suits you if you:

• want a reward for walking with no money at risk
• shop on Amazon and are happy with gift cards
• use Android, or want something that runs quietly in the background

Steppa suits you if you:

• want cash you can send to PayPal or a bank
• are motivated by a stake you could lose
• have an iPhone with steps already in Apple Health

One more difference: Steppa is for adults 18 and over, and paid play is open only where local law and its Terms allow.

More gift card and cash reward apps are side by side in our guide to apps that pay you to walk, and the comparison hub lists every app we have compared with Steppa.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many CashWalk coins is a $5 gift card?

It has changed. Reviewers report a $5 card cost 2,000 coins at first, then 2,500, and some now report as much as 5,000, so check the price in the app. At the daily maximum of 100 coins, The Budget Diet estimated about 20 days to a first $5 card, or 30 to 40 days if you walk less. A higher price stretches that out.

Can CashWalk pay to PayPal or a bank?

No. CashWalk pays in gift cards, from $5 to $25, with Amazon the one reviewers mention most. RunMatch also reports that coins expire after a year. Steppa pays in cash: winnings go to your in-app balance, and you request a payout to PayPal, which works outside the US too, or to a US bank account, with no Steppa fee on a standard US bank transfer.

Why does CashWalk stop counting at 10,000 steps?

VISU Network reports that CashWalk caps iPhone users at 10,000 steps a day, which matches the 100-coin daily maximum at about 1 coin per 100 steps. Steps past that earn nothing from walking. Steppa has no per-step pay or cap: you need to reach a single daily goal, between 5,000 and 50,000 steps in a challenge you create, on every day of the challenge.

Which is better for a beginner, CashWalk or Steppa?

If you only want a small reward for walking and no risk at all, CashWalk is the gentler start. It costs nothing, counts in the background, and some reviewers say it is light on battery. If you want a stronger push and are fine with a stake, start Steppa with a short challenge at a step count you already hit most days, since one missed day loses the stake.