Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025: Peer-to-Peer Apps
The winners of the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards' best peer-to-peer apps category.
Lisa Gerstner
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Delivered daily
Kiplinger Today
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more delivered daily. Smart money moves start here.
Sent five days a week
Kiplinger A Step Ahead
Get practical help to make better financial decisions in your everyday life, from spending to savings on top deals.
Delivered daily
Kiplinger Closing Bell
Get today's biggest financial and investing headlines delivered to your inbox every day the U.S. stock market is open.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Adviser Intel
Financial pros across the country share best practices and fresh tactics to preserve and grow your wealth.
Delivered weekly
Kiplinger Tax Tips
Trim your federal and state tax bills with practical tax-planning and tax-cutting strategies.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Retirement Tips
Your twice-a-week guide to planning and enjoying a financially secure and richly rewarding retirement
Sent bimonthly.
Kiplinger Adviser Angle
Insights for advisers, wealth managers and other financial professionals.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Investing Weekly
Your twice-a-week roundup of promising stocks, funds, companies and industries you should consider, ones you should avoid, and why.
Sent weekly for six weeks
Kiplinger Invest for Retirement
Your step-by-step six-part series on how to invest for retirement, from devising a successful strategy to exactly which investments to choose.
About the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards 2025
The Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards aim to recognize and celebrate the best products and services in the personal finance arena. We asked you, our Kiplinger community, to help us name the products and services you think have delivered excellent value in the past year.
The survey results, which we’re sharing here in our second annual Readers’ Choice Awards, offer valuable insight into which providers shine when it comes to your everyday interactions and experiences with them. Our Awards recognize excellence in everything from credit cards, banks and brokers to insurers, tax software and financial apps. For each category, we’ve listed an overall winner that earned the highest score. We’ve also highlighted other products and services that earned above-average scores for various criteria we asked readers to assess.
By voting, our community has helped us form our guide to the very best financial products. These are the products and companies that you think stand out from the crowd.
Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards: Peer-to-Peer Apps
Peer-to-peer payment apps allow you to digitally send and receive money with friends and family from your smartphone. We asked readers to evaluate their preferred payment app’s ease of use, their overall satisfaction with it and how likely they are to recommend it to others.
OVERALL WINNER: Apple Cash
Outstanding for:
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
- Ease of use
- Most recommended
- Overall satisfaction
Apple Cash topped the charts this year as readers’ favorite peer-to-peer payment tool, earning above-average scores for all three surveyed criteria. To use Apple Cash for a peer-to-peer payment, tap the Apple Pay icon in an iPhone’s Messages app, enter the amount, and authenticate using Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode.
“Overall, my experience is positive,” says one reader. There are no fees for transferring money out of your Apple Cash balance if you select a standard transfer, which takes one to three days.
For an instant transfer, a 1.5% fee applies, with a minimum of 25 cents and there's a maximum charge of $15 per transaction.
Zelle
Outstanding for:
- Ease of use
- Most recommended
- Overall satisfaction
Zelle also earned high marks all around. The service no longer has a standalone app, but if your financial institution offers Zelle, you can use it through your banking app to easily make transfers from one checking account to another.
“I prefer Zelle because it’s direct,” says one reader. “I love using Zelle,” says another. “Zelle is very straightforward and easy to use. Plus, it is really fast in sending and receiving funds.” Typically, Zelle transfers are instant and require no transfer fees.
Venmo
Outstanding for:
- Most recommended
Readers who use Venmo noted its popularity among their friends and family members. The app has about 90 million users, according to parent company PayPal.
Venmo offers two options for transferring money from your Venmo balance to your bank account: instantly for a fee of 1.75% of the transfer amount (with a minimum of 25 cents and a maximum of $25), or a standard transfer, which comes with no fee but takes one to three business days.
Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025 Awards Categories
- Readers' Choice Full-Service Brokers
- Readers' Choice Wealth Management
- Readers' Choice Cash Back Credit Cards
- Readers' Choice Travel Rewards Credit Cards
- Readers' Choice Airline Credit Card Rewards Programs
- Readers' Choice Hotel Credit Card Rewards Programs
- Readers' Choice National Banks
- Readers' Choice Internet Banks
- Readers' Choice Auto Insurance Companies
- Readers' Choice Homeowners Insurance Companies
- Readers' Choice Annuity Providers
- Readers' Choice Tax Software
-
Dow Adds 1,206 Points to Top 50,000: Stock Market TodayThe S&P 500 and Nasdaq also had strong finishes to a volatile week, with beaten-down tech stocks outperforming.
-
Ask the Tax Editor: Federal Income Tax DeductionsAsk the Editor In this week's Ask the Editor Q&A, Joy Taylor answers questions on federal income tax deductions
-
States With No-Fault Car Insurance Laws (and How No-Fault Car Insurance Works)A breakdown of the confusing rules around no-fault car insurance in every state where it exists.
-
No-Fault Car Insurance States and What Drivers Need to Know
A breakdown of the confusing rules around no-fault car insurance in every state where it exists.
-
7 Frugal Habits to Keep Even When You're RichSome frugal habits are worth it, no matter what tax bracket you're in.
-
How Much It Costs to Host a Super Bowl Party in 2026Hosting a Super Bowl party in 2026 could cost you. Here's a breakdown of food, drink and entertainment costs — plus ways to save.
-
3 Reasons to Use a 5-Year CD As You Approach RetirementA five-year CD can help you reach other milestones as you approach retirement.
-
How to Watch the 2026 Winter Olympics Without OverpayingHere’s how to stream the 2026 Winter Olympics live, including low-cost viewing options, Peacock access and ways to catch your favorite athletes and events from anywhere.
-
Here’s How to Stream the Super Bowl for LessWe'll show you the least expensive ways to stream football's biggest event.
-
The Cost of Leaving Your Money in a Low-Rate AccountWhy parking your cash in low-yield accounts could be costing you, and smarter alternatives that preserve liquidity while boosting returns.
-
This Is How You Can Land a Job You'll Love"Work How You Are Wired" leads job seekers on a journey of self-discovery that could help them snag the job of their dreams.
