14 Fast Food Apps That Are Actually Worth Using

If you've ever driven up to a fast food window with a list of orders for a big family or group of friends, you know the excruciating pain of trying to get every order correct through the speaker. It gets even worse when someone in your group has substitutions or dietary preferences. Mobile apps have eliminated this problem forever, and they offer savings and coupons on top of the convenience. We rely on our phones for many things these days, and fast food ordering through apps is making our lives easier. However, some apps are buggy, hard to use, or don't offer any real savings.

If you're wondering if a fast food app is worth taking up space on your already full-of-icons phone, we've got you covered. We've rounded up the most convenient, best deals, and easy-to-use apps out there. Following is our list of 15 fast food apps that are worth the download and registration process.

The best thing about the Starbucks app is the ability to order ahead and skip the long wait in line. You can do so from your phone and either pick up your order or get it through the drive-thru. However, there are times when the drive-thru line for Starbucks is so unbearably long that you may not save much time with this route. By using the app, you can place your order and get a notification when it's ready. Simply head inside the store and find your drink in the designated area to save yourself a potential 40-minute wait or longer.

Aside from convenience, the app offers rewards for purchases. You earn one star for each dollar you spend, and these are doubled if you're using a Starbucks gift card or pre-paid digital card. There are also special days and times when your stars can double or chances to order special items and get bonus stars. The more you buy, the more stars add up, and you can earn a free customization, beverage, food item, or even merchandise. Although the stars can take a while to accrue,  it makes sense to use the app if you're buying Starbucks anyway — save some time, and get the rewards. Don't forget to enter your birthday in the app for your free birthday drink.

If you're heading to McDonald's, it almost doesn't make sense not to download the app and order from there. Before we even talk about earning rewards, the app offers exclusive deals you won't want to miss. Today, my McDonald's app is offering eight deals, including 40% off a McFlurry, a 50-cent cheeseburger, and a $1 soft drink. Ordering food through the app allows points to accrue. These points add up quickly. For every dollar, you get 100 points. The first reward can be had after 1,500 points, and this includes a McChicken sandwich, hash browns, vanilla cone, or cheeseburger. Save your points to get to 6,000 and you can have free items like a Happy Meal or Big Mac.

The McDonald's app is easy to use with a simple interface. You prepay ahead, saving that step at the restaurant. You then choose to pick your order up either inside or in the drive-thru. Unlike Starbucks, McDonald's drive-thrus tend to move quickly, making this a convenient choice. All you have to do is give them your four-digit code at the order screen and drive around to get your food. If you don't use the McDonald's app, you are missing out on a lot of cost-saving deals.

If you're the type of Burger King customer who has a lot of dietary preferences, or you're ordering for someone who does, the app makes it simple to place your customized order. This can beat trying to remember everything at the drive-thru speaker. You pay ahead in the app and can choose to pick it up inside or through the drive-thru. Ordering ahead via the app speeds up the entire process.

In addition to convenience, the Burger King App has savings you will only see in the app. Today, some of the offers include a free medium iced coffee or $9.99 for a Croissan-which Meal for Two. You get seven points (called Burger King Crowns) for each $1 spent. Once those points accrue, you can redeem for free items such as a cheeseburger for 250 points, or a Whopper for 750 points. Unfortunately, the points expire after six months — something you don't see in a lot of other fast food apps.

You don't have to worry about hanging onto paper coupons when you use the Domino's app. The app gives you access to national and local Domino's coupons, and you earn points for rewards. Every order you place that is over $5 gets you 10 points. You can start redeeming points once you reach 20. This means after two orders, you can get free dip, 16-piece parmesan bread bites, or a 20-ounce drink. Save your points longer and you can redeem more. Forty points get you free stuffed cheesy bread or bread twists, while 60 points (the same as six orders) lets you choose a free sandwich, medium pizza, pasta, or chocolate lava crunch cakes.

The app is user-friendly and mostly bug-free with a high rating in the app store. A really useful feature allows customers to track their delivery driver through GPS. While many pizza places let you know when your order is out for delivery, Domino's takes this one step further. You can follow the pizza tracker in the app so you know exactly when your pizza is arriving at your home. (Note: the app makes it easy to follow, but you can track your pizza online via a web browser as well.)

Chipotle lines can be long and tiresome, sometimes snaking all the way out the door as customers wait to customize their burrito bowls. The app saves you from this wait by letting you order ahead, pay with your phone, and simply walk over to the to-go shelves and grab your food. If you're ordering for more than yourself, it can get cumbersome telling the counter employee everything you need in your bowl or burrito. Ordering from the app makes it convenient to order for a group, letting everyone get their burrito made exactly how they like it. The app also notifies you as soon as your order is ready to be picked up, so you know exactly when to head inside.

Besides convenience, the app offers rewards and savings. Each dollar equals 10 points. You can start redeeming rewards as early as 85 points for a free side tortilla. Save 1,625 points and you can get a free burrito. The app sometimes offers double points and random free foods like a free side of guacamole.

If you've noticed your Panera Bread appears to be understaffed every time you go in, you aren't the only one. Recently, Panera Bread announced a second round of corporate layoffs, while employees on Reddit complained of their stores being consistently understaffed. You can avoid the lines and employee shortage issues at Panera when you order ahead from the app, track your order to see when it's complete, and walk up to the take-out shelves to grab your food. 

Although you can register for Panera rewards without the app, the app allows you to easily check your rewards balance and redeem points when you place your order. Joining MyPanera gets you a free pastry upon sign-up, plus a free birthday treat. As points accrue, you can claim rewards, such as $2 off certain items. The app also has offers like "Buy one get one for $5" and free delivery. The rewards aren't the best value on this list. However, the convenience of ordering ahead with as many customizations as you want and being able to grab-and-go earned this app a spot on our list.

If you're ordering Pizza Hut pizza, you owe it to your wallet to check out the app. Even without the rewards, you can order from the "Deals" section of the app where you will find specials such as a large 5-topping pizza for $10 or a medium one-topping pizza for $8. Order that same one-topping medium pizza from the regular menu, and you'll be paying $18.48, instead of $8. And the large 5-topping pizza without the deals would run you $30.44.

Aside from the regular "deals" which make the pizza much more affordable, you can also rack up points for future rewards. You receive two points for each dollar spent. Redeeming them starts at 75 points for a free order of breadsticks. It takes saving 300 points to get a free large pizza. While the rewards are nice and add up fast if you order a lot of pizza, it's the deals that make this app one worth downloading.

You can find a Dunkin' Donuts in almost every state in the nation. This popular donut chain rivals Starbucks for America's favorite coffee shop. The app makes it easy to order ahead and avoid waiting in line, while the rewards offer freebies and discounts. You can get a free drink with your purchase when you download the app and register your account. From there, you get 10 points for each dollar spent. However, if you are a frequent Dunkin' customer (12 times in one month), you can collect 12 points for each dollar. Dunkin' calls this "boosted status."

Once you've accrued 150 points, you can get free three-count Munchkin donut holes or six-count hash browns. Sadly, Dunkin' Donuts has recently done away with the free birthday drink. However, you can get three times points on your order all day on your birthday. This may not bring much solace to customers missing their birthday drink, but overall, it's an easy-to-use app that makes ordering ahead convenient.

While ordering ahead on the Wendy's app is a convenient and easy process, the true benefit of the app is the money you will save. Just like the McDonald's app, Wendy's offers special deals only seen in the app that are way cheaper than you can get when you order from the regular menu. For starters, you can get a free small frosty on your birthday. Other deals include $1 small chili, $5 off a purchase of $25 or more, or a $3.99 chicken sandwich. 

You earn 10 points in rewards for each dollar that you spend. Eat at Wendy's very often, and you will find your points adding up. The rewards begin at 200 points for a free small frosty. At the other end, you can save 800 points for a free salad or Baconator. If you don't want to order ahead, you can still collect your points. Just open the app and have the employee scan your digital rewards card. 

Although the Taco Bell app is easy to use, you won't save much time, considering Taco Bell has some of the fastest drive-thru lines in the country. With a wait time of only four minutes, the true benefit of ordering Taco Bell through the app is the savings. You can get a freebie right off the bat when you sign up and get your free soft taco, five-layer burrito, or Cantina Chicken crispy taco.

Using the app will earn you 10 points for every dollar spent. Once you've made it to 250 points, you can start redeeming for freebies. Taco Bell gives you a choice to redeem your 250 points between 11 menu items such as chips and nacho cheese sauce, a crunchy taco, or a bean burrito. If you frequent Taco Bell a lot and you earn 2,000 points, you'll start accruing them slightly faster, with 11 points for each dollar spent.

Jollibee is a fried chicken fast-food restaurant that was founded in the Philippines and has been expanding across the U.S. It's been gaining in popularity and was recently named one of the top 10 fast food spots for fried chicken by USA Today, famous for its Chickenjoy fried chicken. Jollibee is also known as one of the best fast food joints for mashed potatoes, and it has a convenient-to-use app that offers customers savings and deals. 

The Jollibee Rewards program was announced in November 2024. Sign up and you'll begin earning 10 points for each dollar spent. You can redeem points for $2 off once you get to 200 points. If you save them for bigger rewards, 400 gets you a free pie. Saving up 900 points will let you redeem them for a free deluxe chicken sandwich. The points never expire, unless your account is inactive for over a year. Ordering from the app also lets you skip waiting in the ordering lines, which can get quite long depending on your location and time of day.

The Sonic app offers convenience — you can order ahead, pay via the app, and choose a pickup time. Pull into a space, use your app to check-in, and your food will be delivered directly to your car. It also gives access to a lot of deals. Upon checking the app today, we found 1/2 price drinks and slushes, 1/2 price 3 piece chicken tenders, a free small side with purchase, $1.49 French toast sticks, $3.99 for a double Sonic Queso Smasher, and a buy-one-entree-get-one-free deal. If the app doesn't have deals that you like, you can check again later. Folks on Reddit have noticed its deals can change daily or even within the same day. 

While Sonic does not have a rewards system or loyalty program at this time, it offers the same deals to everyone. This might be a plus to infrequent customers, leaving some to wonder why it doesn't offer a loyalty program similar to other fast food restaurants where you earn free food the more you buy. 

Chick-fil-A customers rave about the company's app. Not only is it easy to use with a great interface, but it also offers a very rewarding loyalty program. The app can let customers skip the sometimes very long drive-thru lines and grab their orders quickly. Like many of the other apps on our list, Chick-fil-A offers 10 points for every dollar spent. You can start redeeming those when you reach 200 points. While 200 points get you an ice cream cone, 400 is free medium fries. Save 1,200 and you've got yourself free 12-piece chicken nuggets.

However, where the Chick-fil-A app stands apart is in its tier system. Everyone starts at the first level (10 points for $1), but you move on up to a Silver member after accruing 1,000 points. Here, you can earn 11 points on your dollar. Red members (4,000 points) get 12 points per dollar, and Signature members (10,000 points) get 13 per dollar plus other rewards that are "exclusive to Signature members." This is a true loyalty program where frequent diners at Chick-fil-A are rewarded above the casual customer.

With the Subway app, you can order your sandwich with all of your customizations ahead of time and pick it up in-store. According to the company's website, once you place your order online, it will be ready within 15 minutes. Even better, if you have a custom order that you frequently buy, favorite it, and you'll be able to re-order without any effort. 

Subway offers a loyalty reward program with 250 points just for signing up, plus a free birthday reward. Ordering through the app gets you 5% more bonus points. The app also offers member-exclusive deals. Like a few of the other apps on our list, Subway offers a tier system where the more points you accrue, the more you can earn per dollar. This goes up to 12 points per dollar once you've spent $400, plus other rewards including free chips on Fridays. Watch for promotions as they may vary within the app. The current promotion offers 20% off any sandwich when ordering in the app.