Billions of dollars in class action settlement money goes unclaimed every year. The reason is simple: most people never find out they qualify. Between data breach settlements, defective product recalls, and consumer fraud cases, there are dozens of open settlements at any given time that you might be eligible for.
Quick answer: Class Action Buddy is the only app that goes from settlement discovery to filed claim in under 2 minutes — it auto-fills the form, captures your signature, and submits electronically. Top Class Actions is the best news source. Most other "settlement directories" just link you to PDFs you have to fill out yourself.
There are four real apps in this category and two long-running websites. The apps — Payout, ClaimHunt, Settlemate and our own Class Action Buddy — all find settlements you may qualify for; they differ mainly in what happens next, and in price. The websites tell you what exists but leave the filing entirely to you.
We build one of these, so treat our opinion accordingly. What follows is what each actually does, verified against each company’s own site and App Store listing, including where ours is the weaker choice.
The comparison
| Tool | What happens after it finds a match | Price | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payout | Files claims in the app | Free to download | iOS, Android |
| ClaimHunt | Sends you to the official settlement site to file yourself | Free | iOS, Android |
| Settlemate | Completes and submits the form in the app | Subscription (not published on their site) | iOS, Android |
| Class Action Buddy (ours) | Auto-fills the official PDF; you review, sign and submit. Pro prints and posts it for you | Free for 1 claim/month; Pro $9.99/month | iOS, Android |
| Top Class Actions | Nothing — it lists settlements and links out | Free | Web |
| ClassAction.org | Nothing — news wire and open investigations | Free | Web |
The four apps, and what each gets wrong
Payout — the biggest
By far the largest of these by adoption: its site states more than 500,000 downloads and a 4.7 rating from over 10,700 App Store reviews. It finds settlements and files claims within the app. If you want the most-used option and do not care who built it, this is it. The trade-off with any in-app filing service is that you are trusting a third party with the submission rather than seeing the official form yourself.
ClaimHunt — free, but it stops at the door
Free on iOS and Android, and refreshingly clear about what it is: it matches you to settlements then, in its own words, “directs you to the official settlement filing websites”. It also states plainly that it is not a law firm. The limitation follows from the design — it will not fill anything in for you, so every claim still means typing your details into another form from scratch. Good for discovery, no help with the tedious part.
Settlemate — capable, but priced opaquely
Matches you to settlements, scans receipts and submits claims in-app on iOS and Android. Our reservation is straightforward: its site does not publish a price anywhere we could find, only referring to a subscription. Third-party write-ups quote a monthly figure, but we are not going to repeat a competitor’s number we cannot verify at source. Check the price in the App Store listing before subscribing.
Class Action Buddy — ours, including the drawbacks
We auto-fill the official PDF claim form from a profile you set up once, show you a live preview, capture your signature, and leave you to review and submit. The free tier is genuinely free forever for one claim a month; Pro is $9.99/month for unlimited claims, and on Pro we print and post the paper ones for you with tracking.
Where we are the wrong choice: our free tier makes you print and post the form yourself, which is a real chore if you have no printer. We only auto-fill settlements we have built a form-filler for, so a brand-new settlement may appear in our list before it can be auto-filled. And we are much smaller than Payout — if you want the most-downloaded option, that is not us.
The two websites worth bookmarking
Top Class Actions has been covering open settlements for years and is usually the fastest to publish when a new one opens. ClassAction.org is the better source for what has just been filed rather than settled, and runs open investigations. Neither files anything for you, and neither is an app — but if you would rather do this entirely by hand, they plus the administrators’ own sites are all you need.
Prefer to do this on a desktop rather than a phone? We compare the browse-only directories separately in our roundup of class action lawsuit websites.
The honest answer
If you file one or two claims a year, you do not need any app. Bookmark the two sites above, and file directly on the administrator’s site when something applies to you — it costs nothing and takes a few minutes.
Apps earn their place when you file regularly, because the tedium is not finding settlements, it is typing the same name, address and email into the twelfth form this year. That is the problem all four of these solve, in different ways and at different prices. Whichever you choose, filing directly with the administrator is always free, and no legitimate service ever takes a cut of your payout.
Reviewed by the Class Action Buddy team · last verified 7 August 2026.
Disclosure: we make Class Action Buddy, one of the tools compared above. Every competitor detail here was taken from that company’s own website or App Store listing on the date shown, not from third-party summaries; where a company does not publish its price, we say so rather than guess. We earn nothing from linking to competitors. Class Action Buddy is a self-service tool, not a law firm; it does not give legal advice and you review and submit every claim yourself.
How We Ranked These Options
Our ranking prioritized tools that actually help you collect money, not just find information about lawsuits. We weighted these factors:
- Can you file a claim through the tool? Discovering a settlement matters little if you do not follow through and file.
- Does it track deadlines? A missed deadline is a missed payout.
- How current are the listings? Stale data leads to wasted effort on expired settlements.
- Is it easy to use? Complicated tools lead to abandoned claims.
- Mobile access? Most people browse on their phones.
Why Filing Matters More Than Finding
Here is a stat that surprises most people: the majority of class action settlement funds go unclaimed. It is not because people do not know about the settlements. It is because the filing process is tedious enough that people start a claim form and give up halfway through.
This is why we built Class Action Buddy to focus on filing, not just discovery. Finding a settlement takes seconds. Filing the actual claim — downloading the PDF, reading the instructions, hand-typing your information, printing, signing, and mailing — takes 20-30 minutes per settlement when done manually. Our app reduces that to under 2 minutes.
If you are serious about claiming every dollar you are owed, the tool you choose should make filing effortless. Read our guide on filing claims to understand the full process, or browse open settlements to see what you might qualify for right now.
Founder of Class Action Buddy. Tracks 200+ active class action settlements; built CAB after watching family members miss out on hundreds of dollars in eligible settlements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there an app that finds class action lawsuits for me?
Yes — there are four: Payout, ClaimHunt, Settlemate and our own Class Action Buddy. All of them match you to open settlements. They differ in what happens next: ClaimHunt sends you to the official site to file yourself, Payout and Settlemate file in the app, and Class Action Buddy auto-fills the official PDF for you to review, sign and submit.
Are class action settlement apps free?
Filing a claim is always free, whichever route you take — the settlement administrator never charges you. The apps differ: ClaimHunt is free, Payout is free to download, Settlemate is a subscription whose price is not published on its own site, and Class Action Buddy is free for one claim a month with a $9.99/month Pro tier for unlimited claims. No legitimate service takes a percentage of your payout.
What is the best website for class action settlements?
Top Class Actions is the best-known site for open settlements and is usually quickest to publish new ones. ClassAction.org is better for cases that have just been filed rather than settled. Neither files anything for you — if you only file a claim or two a year, those two plus the administrator’s own site are genuinely all you need.
How do I know if I qualify for a class action settlement?
Each settlement defines a class — the group of people it covers — usually by what you bought or used and over what dates. If you fall inside that definition and the deadline has not passed, you qualify. Many consumer settlements accept an attestation instead of a receipt, meaning you confirm your purchase without producing documentation. The class definition is always on the administrator’s official site.
Is Settlemate or ClaimHunt better than Class Action Buddy?
It depends on what you want. ClaimHunt is free but stops at discovery — it points you to the official form and you type everything yourself. Settlemate files in the app but does not publish its subscription price. Payout is much larger than any of us, with over 500,000 downloads. We auto-fill the official PDF and, on Pro, print and post paper claims for you — but on our free tier you do the printing and posting yourself, which is a real drawback if you have no printer.