Microsoft Rewards review: is it legit, and what do its own pages say?

We build PaysFair, an earning app that competes with this one. Judge our bias accordingly, and check every number below against the sources at the bottom.

Microsoft Rewards is legit: Microsoft runs it as part of your Microsoft account. It pays points for Bing searches, daily activities, Xbox and Microsoft Store purchases, and you redeem them for gift cards and donations. It never pays cash, and its rules on VPNs, phone numbers and regions are strict.

We have not used Microsoft Rewards ourselves. No account, no points, nothing redeemed. On October 23, 2026, we read its terms, its US Rewards site, its catalog and its support pages from a US server, signed out. Where its pages disagree, we print both.

Who runs Microsoft Rewards?

Microsoft does, under the Microsoft Services Agreement. The version we read was published July 30, 2026, and took effect on September 30, 2026. It has its own section on the Rewards program.

Joining is free. If you have a Microsoft account in a region where it runs, the terms say you're "automatically enrolled". You still have to activate your Rewards account on its dashboard before you can redeem. Bing Rewards members moved over automatically, its FAQ says.

We found no app named Microsoft Rewards in Apple's US store. You earn through Bing, Microsoft Edge, Outlook mobile and Xbox, and you redeem on rewards.bing.com. Google suggests "is there a microsoft rewards app".

How do you earn points?

Searching on Bing is the core. Each qualifying search earns 5 points. Its US Rewards site sets a daily limit by level: up to 20 searches for Gold members, 10 for Silver and 5 for regular members.

Its support page tells a different story. "Level 1 members can earn points for up to 10 searches each day and Level 2 members can earn points for up to 30 searches per day," it says. Its terms send you to that support page "for currently applicable limitations".

Searches aren't the only source. You also earn for quizzes and daily activities, playing and shopping on Xbox, and purchases from the Microsoft Store, up to 20,000 points a month. Checking 3 emails a day in Outlook mobile counts toward your daily streak.

Levels matter. You reach Silver by earning more than 500 points in a calendar month. Gold takes more than 750 points and 2 level-up activities, such as searching with Bing 7 days in a row.

Monthly bonuses depend on your level:

Silver sits in between, at 150, up to 1,500 and 300. The Bing Star bonus is "based on your engagement level and a behavioral score that rewards genuine, organic usage". You have to claim monthly bonus points within 30 days, or they expire.

What are the points worth?

We read its US catalog on October 23, 2026. A $5 Amazon.com card cost 6,500 points and a $10 one 13,000, which is 1,300 points to the dollar. A $1.25 Microsoft gift card cost 1,625 points, and $5 or more cost 1,100 points to the dollar.

The catalog also listed a Chipotle card from 7,000 points and a Roblox card from 13,400. Our page on Microsoft Rewards and Robux covers the Roblox cards.

By our math, a Gold member's searches earn up to 100 points a day. That buys the $10 Amazon.com card in 130 days, before bonuses and other tasks. A regular member's 25 search points a day would take 520 days.

None of it turns into cash. Points "have no cash value, and you may not obtain any cash or money in exchange for them," the terms say. Microsoft and Xbox gift cards go straight to your Microsoft account balance, which Microsoft calls promotional balance. Google suggests "does microsoft rewards have paypal" and "can microsoft rewards give you money".

How do you redeem points?

You pick a reward on rewards.bing.com once you have all the points it costs. Rewards "will be emailed to the email address associated with your Microsoft account". Your Order history also shows the code. Some rewards need a mailing address, and some ask you to sign extra documents.

Stock comes and goes. Microsoft says its support advocates "are unable to provide details when gift cards will be restocked or removed." If a reward runs out after you order, it may send one of comparable value or refund your points.

Once you redeem, you can't cancel or return the reward for your points, unless it's defective or the law says otherwise. A reward that can't be delivered "will not be reissued". While one order is still in process, no new order goes through, and Microsoft says to contact support after 24 hours.

What are the rules?

You can have one Rewards account, and a household can have six. A VPN, or anything that hides your location, "may result in cancellation of your Rewards Account and forfeiture of your accrued Points."

To redeem, you'll verify with a mobile or landline number. Voice over IP numbers aren't allowed. After too many failed codes, you wait 48 hours. Microsoft may also ask you to share your location before it sends a reward.

You redeem in the region you signed up in. One help page says points "cannot be redeemed while traveling in another market/region". Its regions page says you'll "still earn points and be eligible for rewards as long as you are not consistently earning in multiple markets".

An account Microsoft flags is "temporarily restricted because recent account activity may be in breach of the Microsoft Rewards Terms of Service." The terms go further. Microsoft can "immediately cancel your Rewards Account" and forfeit your points if it believes you've abused the program.

There are limits on time and size, too. Points expire if you don't earn or redeem any for 12 months. Your account can be canceled if you don't sign in to your Microsoft account for 12 months. Redemptions are capped at 550,000 points a year for other companies' rewards.

For Microsoft's own items, the terms say 1,550,000 points a year, and an error message on its order page says 1,500,000. If Microsoft ends the program, it says it'll try to give you at least 90 days to redeem.

What does Microsoft Rewards take from you?

Your searches. Microsoft's privacy statement, last updated September 2026, says it uses a search "along with your IP address, location, the unique identifiers contained in our cookies or similar technologies, the time and date of your search, and your browser configuration". It doesn't have a separate section for Rewards.

Clearing your Bing history "does not delete information from our search logs," which are kept and de-identified, it says. You also give a phone number when you join, and sometimes when you redeem.

What do members complain about?

On Trustpilot, its rewards site had a TrustScore of 2.0 from 38 reviews on October 23, 2026, with 71% at one star. The profile is unclaimed. Several reviewers wrote that their accounts were restricted or suspended, one in September 2026.

We read Trustpilot's page twice that day, through a web page reader. 38 reviews is a small sample, so treat it as a list of themes. Microsoft's own order page has a message for that state: "temporarily restricted".

Is a Microsoft Rewards email real?

Microsoft's best-practices page asks members to add two senders to their safe list: [email protected] and [email protected]. Rewards you redeem go to the email address of your Microsoft account. Google suggests "is microsoft rewards email legit" and "microsoft rewards scam email".

Where does Microsoft Rewards work?

Microsoft lists 235 countries and territories. India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Nigeria are on the list. Offers and catalogs vary by region, and searching on Bing "may not earn points in all countries/regions," its FAQ says.

Microsoft doesn't state a minimum age for Rewards. If you're under 13, a parent consents when the Microsoft account is created. The Xbox Rewards hub is for players 18 and older.

Is Microsoft Rewards worth it?

It suits people who already search with Bing, browse with Edge or play on Xbox, and who want gift cards. The points come from things they do anyway.

It doesn't suit you if you want cash, or if you use a VPN or a VoIP number. The search points are small: at its US prices, Gold's 100 search points a day are worth about 8 cents of Amazon credit.

Our verdict

As of October 23, 2026, Microsoft Rewards is a legitimate loyalty program run by Microsoft. It pays gift cards and donations, never cash, at 1,100 to 1,300 points to the dollar in its US catalog. Its search limits differ between its own pages, and a flagged account can be restricted.

We build PaysFair, an earning app that pays for surveys, games and campaigns, with gift cards from $1.00. Our page of Microsoft Rewards alternatives compares five other apps, including ones that pay to PayPal.

Prices, limits and rules change. We'll check this page again by January 23, 2027.