These 5 chatbots have saved people more than $10 million

We’ve all got bills to pay, fiscal responsibilities to meet, retirements to save for — and we need help.

As tens of thousands of chatbots proliferate across Slack, Facebook, and other platforms, you hear naysayers claim that bots might be useful someday but that today they’re little more than a gimmick. It’s hard to feel that way after you learn about a handful of chatbots that have saved people more than $10 million.

Next time you hear someone make that argument, point them to this list, because perhaps nothing is more useful than putting (or keeping) money in your pocket.

PennyCat

Approximate total saved: $100,000

After its first month, about 100,000 people have interacted with PennyCat, according to maker Leo Kangin.

The coupon and discount-finding bot wants people to stop using search engines to find coupons and to start relying on its little hipster cat to discover deals. Ordering a pizza from Domino’s? Type Domino’s into PennyCat and see what happens.

Above: Credit: PennyCat

PennyCat accesses 450,000 coupons for stores and apps in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, India, and other countries. Thus far, Kangin says PennyCat has saved users $100,000.

Trim

Approximate total saved: $6.3 million

Trim got its start late last year by canceling unwanted or forgotten online subscriptions. Last month, the bot’s makers announced plans to turn it into a fully fledged personal finance bot that can answer questions in natural language, like: “How much did I spend dining out last month?” In time, cofounder Thomas Smyth wants Trim to become a proactive bot that handles all of a user’s financial needs, while they “sit on the couch and play Pokémon Go.”

The startup announced a $2.2 million seed round last month, which will be used to explore ways to save people even more money.

Bond

Approximate total saved: Too early to say

Now in beta, Bond helps you track your personal finances via SMS, but unlike MyKAI or Trim, the intelligent bot helps you set financial goals, and when you’ve saved some cash, Bond can automatically invest it according to your plan.

Over time, the bot claims it can automate savings and help people accumulate wealth.

DoNotPay

Approximate total saved: $4 million

Made by 19-year-old college student Joshua Browder, DoNotPay helps people challenge parking tickets in New York, London, and soon Seattle. It also helps people claim compensation from airlines if they’re stuck on tarmacs for more than four hours.

Browder said in June that DoNotPay has successfully challenged 160,000 tickets, saving New Yorkers and Londoners millions of pounds and dollars.

MyKAI

Approximate total saved: N/A

From Kasisto, MyKAI answers more than 1,000 questions about your personal financial situation:  “How much did I spend on cake last month?” and “Will robots take my job?” But it also answers questions that help you better understand financial terminology like, “What is stock?” and “What is the Fair Credit Billing Act?”

MyKAI will soon be able to trade stock on Facebook Messenger.