A few days ago, I saw an advertisement for a mobile claw game called Clawee.
This arcade-style claw game looked different than most reward apps. After all, you actually get to play a real claw game with your phone to win various prizes!
But is Clawee legit? And can you actually make money or win worthwhile prizes with this claw game?
Well, I tested out the app for an afternoon to find out the truth. Here’s my Clawee app review so you can make the right choice.
What Is Clawee?
Clawee is a mobile claw game for Android and iOS that’s owned by the mobile gaming company Gigantic. The app lets players win prizes by controlling arcade claw machines through their mobile phones. It’s one of the more popular arcade apps out there, with millions of downloads and hundreds of thousands of reviews.
According to Clawee, you’re playing with 100% real claw machines; it’s not a simulation or made up machine.
And the prizes you can win are pretty similar to what you’d find at a regular arcade; think stuffed animals, plushies, keychains, cheap jewelry, and toys.
When you successfully pull a prize with the Clawee machine, you can then pay to have the prize shipped to you. That, in a nutshell, is what Clawee is all about.
How Does Clawee Work?
You sign up for Clawee with your Gmail or Facebook account. Once you sign up, you get 200 free coins and get to pick a beginner prize you can try and win.
I picked a stuffed Pokemon toy, and the app took me to the Claw arcade game where a bunch of the stuffed Pokemon toys were waiting to be plucked.
I missed the toy on my first try, and to my surprise, Clawee just refunded my 200 free coins and then let me play until I won.
On my fourth try, I finally snagged a Pokemon plushie and won the game. Clawee then asked me if I wanted to “claim my prize.”
After selecting yes and entering my address, I found that I had to pay about $8 in shipping costs to get the prize to my house. This is the first step in how Clawee makes money.
See, once you win something, you need to pay to have it delivered. You also have to pay for additional Clawee coins if you want to keep playing the arcade games and to win better prizes.
And Clawee coins can get pretty expensive. The better toys require 400 or more coins to play per game, and Clawee coin packages cost between $5.49 to $139.99 depending on how many coins you buy:
The whole thing is basically a way more expensive claw arcade game because you have to pay for shipping. Granted, you can pay for Clawee membership to unlock free shipping, but this costs around $7.50 per month.
You also win tickets the more you play, and you can redeem these tickets for some free prizes or even random gift cards, but you need so many tickets to redeem anything.
In short, you have to pay to play with Clawee, and if you win something, you’re paying for shipping as well.
Is Clawee Legit?
Clawee is a legitimate claw game that lets you win prizes and deliver them straight to your door. According to the developer, it’s sent over 1 million prizes to its players, and the app is highly rated on the Android and iOS store. However, we don’t suggest Clawee as a side hustle or spending money on this app since it’s very expensive to buy coins and ship products to your home.
Additionally, most of the prizes look like they’re cheap products from China. This is what normal arcades do as well, but do you really want to pay $5 to ship a plushie to your house that you could just buy at the dollar store?
I think Clawee’s concept of live streaming real claw machines is very cool. But I don’t like how expensive coins are or the fact that you have to spend so much money to win anything.
Additionally, it’s really hard to make any money with this app. You can theoretically earn free gift cards or prizes with the bonus tickets you earn from playing, but it would take so many games to get enough tickets.
You can’t redeem tickets for PayPal cash or real money either, so this isn’t a side hustle game at all.
What Prizes Are Available?
Like a regular arcade game, Clawee lets you pay coins to win prizes like:
- Animal plushies
- Electronics and gadgets
- Keychains
- Home goods
- Electronic gift cards (Uber is the only one available right now)
- Figurines
- School supplies
Pretty much all of these prizes look like cheap products from AliExpress or similar wholesale sites. And you can’t redeem PayPal money or win cash in any way.
Other Clawee App Reviews
One of the best ways to tell if Clawee is legit or not is to see what others users are saying about the app.
Reddit is an excellent resource for this. And in this thread, some other Clawee users chat about if the app is a scam or not.
Here’s what some of them said:
- User DaMooseWasLoose says: “I’ve won 6 prizes and only received two. I deleted the app last week when I noticed their daily bonus (which was never big enough to get a play on anything decent) now requires you to make a purchase each week.”
- User laverinth says: “Clawee is legit but their customer service sucks, their prizes are cheap, and your daily coin bonuses only last a week before you have to pay up again. Overall it might be cheaper than Toreba but you get what you pay for. I won two prizes in one grab one time and it only recorded one, then another time it didn’t record the win at all. I put in tickets but still haven’t heard back on them. I wouldn’t waste time with them.”
- User stichmidda2 says: “Clawee is sketchy. The machines are pretty expensive and very glitchy with cameras not working, staff blocking the cameras mid play, cameras showing 2 different images, etc. They lure you in with the non-VIP machines being super easy to win but all other machines with worthwhile prizes are very obviously rigged.”
I think this last review from stichmidda2 highlights the main problem with Clawee: you’re paying a lot of money for very cheap goods from China.
There’s honestly no point in paying this amount of money, especially with such high shipping costs and long wait times.
Best Clawee Alternatives
If you search the app store for various claw games, you find loads of Clawee competitors. But none of these apps really let you earn money and use a similar pay-for-shipping model like Clawee.
In my opinion, if you want a fun way to win rewards, you’re much better off using various gaming reward apps or paid trivia apps like:
- Mistplay: This leading gaming app for Android lets you earn free gift cards for playing new mobile games! You can read our Mistplay review for all the details.
- Swagbucks: A leading rewards site where you can get paid to shop, answer surveys, and for playing games or trivia.
- Rewarded Play: Another popular gaming app like Mistplay that’s for Android gamers.
- Gamehag: With Gamehag, you can earn free Steam games, in-game skins, gift cards, and other gaming gear for playing various PC and mobile games.
These apps are really just a source of beermoney and can’t produce a full-time income. But they’re fun alternatives to Clawee that actually pay you instead of getting you to pay for shipping and cheap prizes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Clawee A Scam?
Clawee isn’t a scam, and if you win prizes and pay for shipping, you should get your prize delivered to your door. However, shipping times can be very long, and some users report that they never received their package. Additionally, Clawee coins are very expensive, and I don’t think the app is worth using whatsoever.
How Much Does Clawee Cost?
Clawee is technically free to play, and you can slowly earn free coins to play the claw game without buying coins. But you need to pay for shipping to get prizes to your house, and earning free coins is so slow that you basically have to pay.
Is Clawee Worth It?
In my opinion, Clawee isn’t worth using. I tested out the app, and while the virtual claw game is a cool concept, the prizes aren’t worth the shipping cost. You’re better off buying similar prizes from the dollar store or going to an in-person arcade like they did in the good old days!
How Long Do Clawee Prizes Take To Ship?
Some customers report Clawee prizes taking a week or two to ship and arrive, but others report times of over a month. The prizes likely come from China, so shipping times depend on where you live and courier speed. But don’t expect to get your prize in a day or two.
Final Thoughts
Clawee is legit, but I don’t think the prizes are worth your time or money. And if you were looking for a way to make money online or to earn gift cards, this definitely isn’t the app for you.
There are so many get-paid-to websites you can use out there that pay you with real cash, not cheap knock-off prizes.
I definitely suggest using these sorts of sites instead and staying away from Clawee. And if you really want to play a claw game, just go into your local arcade with some friends and have a fun night!
Thanks for reading.
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Tom is a full-time blogger and freelance writer with a passion for side hustling, passive income, and the gig economy. His work has appeared on dozens of personal finance websites like Money Crashers, The College Investor, Investor Junkie, and more. This Online World is all about providing people with honest ways to make and save more money by using technology. To learn more about Tom, read his About Page!
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