Chip vs Plum: which savings app is better?

The quick verdict

Pick Chip if you want a strong rate without paying a subscription, a Cash ISA that keeps a decent standard rate after the boost, and the option of a £50 referral bonus. Chip’s account pages list one rate per account rather than a rate per plan, and the only charge on the free plan is for autosave, at 45p per autosave.

Pick Plum if you love setting saving rules (round-ups, payday saves, weekly challenges) and you are happy to pay for a higher tier. Plum’s easy access rates do not include a time-limited boost, so they do not fall off a cliff after a year. If you already hold a lot of cash and would pay for Plum Max anyway, its top rate is competitive.

Both are apps rather than banks. Your savings sit with partner banks, and both are covered by the FSCS on those deposits.

Chip and Plum side by side

Chip figures come from Chip’s account pages and pricing page. Plum figures come from Plum’s Easy Access page, Cash ISA page and subscriptions page, all checked on 16 October 2026. Every rate here is variable.

Rates are variable. New-customer boosts last 12 months, then the standard rate applies. Eligibility criteria apply. The £50 is for people who have never held a Chip account, who deposit £1,000 into an eligible account and keep at least £1,000 there for 90 days in a row.

Easy access rates: Chip’s boost against Plum’s tiers

On a free plan, Chip pays more in year one. After the boost, it is close. Chip’s Instant Access Account pays 3.51% AER for 12 months, then 3.00% AER, a variable tracker that sits below the Bank of England’s Bank Rate. Chip’s Easy Access Saver pays 3.81% AER for 12 months, then 3.50% AER, but limits withdrawals.

Plum sets its easy access rate by subscription tier: Basic 3.05%, Plus 3.10%, Boost 3.25% and Max 3.65% AER variable. There is no new-customer boost, so the rate you see is the rate you keep (until Plum changes it). Plum adds that the subscription fees are not deducted from those rates, which matters a lot on smaller balances.

Put side by side: Chip’s Instant Access standard rate of 3.00% AER is lower than Plum Basic’s 3.05%, so once your 12-month boost ends there is very little in it on the free plans. Chip’s Easy Access standard rate of 3.50% AER is higher than Plum Basic’s, if you can live with 3 penalty-free withdrawals in a 12-month period.

Is Plum Max worth paying for?

Only on a large balance. Plum Max costs £14.99 a month, or £179.88 a year. The gap between Max and Basic is 0.60% AER. On those figures, you would need around £29,980 saved before the extra interest covers the fee. On £10,000, Max would earn about £365 in a year, leaving roughly £185 after the fee, against about £305 on Basic for nothing.

Plum’s own pages also disagree on the Max price: one FAQ says £11.99, the subscriptions page says £14.99. We have used the higher figure. Plus (£3.99 a month) and Boost (£7.99 a month) follow the same logic: work out the extra interest on your balance before paying for a tier.

To see what different balances earn across apps, try our savings interest calculator, which includes the point where Chip’s boost ends. For the full list of Chip rates, see Chip interest rates.

Cash ISA rates: Plum’s higher bonus, Chip’s higher standard rate

Plum’s headline Cash ISA rate is higher than Chip’s, but it falls much further after a year. Chip’s Smart Cash ISA pays 4.68% AER for 12 months, then 3.50% AER. Plum’s Cash ISA pays 4.73% AER variable for 12 months, then 2.54%, which includes a 2.19% bonus for the first 12 months if you meet its conditions.

Plum’s Cash ISA FAQ says the bonus may be lost after your fourth withdrawal, or if your balance drops below £100. Plum also shows a different rate, 3.75%, for ISA money transferred in from another provider. Both ISAs are flexible, so you can take money out and put it back in the same tax year without using up more of your £20,000 allowance. Our flexible ISA guide explains how that works.

Simple illustration: assumes today’s variable rates stay the same, the balance stays at £10,000, interest is not added to the balance and Plum’s bonus conditions are met. Rates will change.

If you are likely to move your ISA once the boost ends, the year-one rate matters most and the two are close. If you would rather open an ISA and leave it, Chip’s higher standard rate is the stronger long-term deal on today’s figures. Our Chip Smart Cash ISA guide covers the rate, transfers and the bank panel in detail.

Withdrawals

Both offer genuine easy access, with conditions on their higher-paying products. Chip’s Instant Access Account has unlimited withdrawals with no penalty, and the Smart Cash ISA has unlimited withdrawals; flexible, so you can put money back in the same tax year. Chip’s Easy Access Saver gives 3 penalty-free withdrawals in a 12-month period; from the fourth, the rate drops by 2.10% AER.

Plum describes Easy Access withdrawals as same-day, no limits or fees. The condition sits on Plum’s Cash ISA instead, where the 12-month bonus may be lost after four withdrawals. Plum also has a 95-day Notice Pocket with Investec, but only for Plum Max subscribers.

Who holds your money and FSCS protection

Both use partner banks, and both are FSCS-protected on savings. Chip savings are held with ClearBank and eligible deposits are protected by the FSCS up to £120,000 per person, shared across all your money at ClearBank. The Smart Cash ISA is spread across a panel of UK banks including Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC.

At Plum, Easy Access money is held with Lloyds Bank and the Cash ISA with Citibank and Lloyds, according to Plum’s website. Plum says the FSCS limit is £120,000 per partner bank, and that it includes money you hold directly with Lloyds. So if you already hold savings directly with Lloyds Bank, check how much of your limit is left.

Two Plum details to know. Its main app balance is e-money, which is safeguarded rather than FSCS-protected. And Plum Interest is a money market fund, not a savings account, so your capital is at risk there. This page compares only Plum’s savings accounts. Our guide to FSCS protection with savings apps explains shared limits in plain English.

Plans and costs

Chip’s account pages show one rate per account, not a rate per plan. Plum’s rates rise with the plan. That is the biggest structural difference between the two.

Chip has two plans. Basic is free, with 45p per autosave; recurring deposits are free on both plans. ChipX costs £5.99 every 28 days, or £65.05 a year, and includes unlimited autosaves, with a 28-day free trial. Whether ChipX pays for itself depends only on how often autosave runs for you, which our ChipX maths page works through.

Plum has four tiers: Basic free; Plus £3.99, Boost £7.99, Max £14.99 a month. Plum adds: Paid tiers free for the first month. Different terms apply if you subscribed before 7 July 2025. On Plum, the subscription is the price of both the higher rate and some of the saving rules.

Autosave and Plum’s saving rules

Plum has the wider menu of rules. Chip keeps it simpler. Chip’s autosave looks at your connected current account and moves small amounts it thinks you can spare. You can change how much it saves and pause it. On the free plan autosave costs 45p per autosave, while setting up a regular deposit yourself is free.

Plum’s automations page lists Round-ups, Pay Days, Weekly Depositor and AI Auto Saver. Some rules need a paid subscription: Rainy Days, the 52-Week Challenge, the 1p Challenge and the Naughty Rule. If you like the idea of saving a bit extra every time it rains or every time you buy a takeaway, Plum is the more playful app.

Neither approach is free of trade-offs. On Chip, frequent autosaves on the free plan add up, at 45p per autosave. On Plum, the best rules sit behind a monthly fee. Our guide to how autosave apps work covers both models and how to avoid going overdrawn.

Sign-up offers

Chip publishes a fixed £50 referral bonus; Plum’s varies by campaign. At Chip, both you and the person who referred you get £50 when you deposit £1,000 or more into the Smart Cash ISA, the Instant Access Account or the Prize Savings Account and keep at least £1,000 there for 90 days in a row. Note that if your balance drops below £1,000 at any point, the 90-day countdown starts again from zero. The Easy Access Saver does not count, and you must have never held a Chip account before. The bonus is paid at Chip's discretion.

Plum’s terms say referral amounts and criteria change by campaign and are shown in the app. Referees must be 18 or over and new to Plum. We have no Plum referral link and earn nothing from Plum.

Where Plum wins

We earn from Chip referrals, so it is only fair to be plain about where Plum is the better choice:

• No boost to lose. Plum’s easy access rates are not propped up by a 12-month new-customer boost. What you see is the ongoing rate.
• Automation rules. Round-ups, payday saves, weekly depositors and challenges give you more ways to save than Chip’s single autosave.
• A slightly higher headline ISA rate. In year one, Plum’s Cash ISA headline of 4.73% is higher than Chip’s 4.68%, if you meet the bonus conditions.
• Large balances on Max. Above roughly £29,980, Plum Max’s 3.65% can beat Plum Basic even after the fee, and it is higher than Chip’s Instant Access standard rate.
• A notice account. Max subscribers can use a 95-day Notice Pocket, which Chip does not offer.
• You have had Chip before. If so, you cannot get Chip’s referral bonus, which removes one of Chip’s advantages. See Chip alternatives.

Who should choose which

If you are still weighing up more than two apps, our best savings apps comparison puts Chip and Plum alongside Moneybox, Trading 212, Monzo and Chase.