Lodavo vs KOHO: Honest Canadian Comparison

Searching Lodavo vs KOHO usually means you’re trying to figure out which app to put your savings in. The short version: they’re not really competitors, because they do two different jobs. KOHO is a spend-and-save app built on a reloadable prepaid Mastercard that holds your money and pays you interest (about 2 to 3.5 percent depending on the paid plan, as of 2026). Lodavo makes saving rewarding: it works with the bank you already use, and the more you save, the more chances you get in a weekly cash draw. So the choice isn’t KOHO or Lodavo. It’s whether you want a card that pays interest and cash back on your balance, a free weekly draw for the saving you do, or both.

What’s the difference between Lodavo and KOHO?

The one difference that matters: KOHO holds your money and pays interest on it, while Lodavo gives you free weekly draw tickets just for saving. Everything else follows from that.

KOHO is custody plus a rate. You load money onto a KOHO prepaid Mastercard, spend with it, and earn interest on your balance, with higher rates and more cash back on the paid plans. Your money lives inside KOHO’s system (held in trust at CDIC member banks), and KOHO is the place you spend and save from.

Lodavo sits on top of whatever you already do. It’s Canada’s first prize-linked savings app: a free app that rewards you for saving by giving you tickets in a weekly cash draw, more of them the more you keep saved. There’s no card to load and no balance to fund. You keep banking exactly as you do now.

How KOHO works

KOHO gives you a reloadable prepaid Mastercard and an app to spend, save, and budget in one place. There’s a no-cost entry point, but the interest and perks scale with paid plans. As of 2026, KOHO advertises roughly 2 percent interest on the Essential plan, 2.5 percent on Extra, and 3.5 percent on Everything, per KOHO’s own interest rates page (opens in a new tab). Essential is free with direct deposit or $1,000 a month in deposits and $4 a month otherwise, and paid plans run about $18 a month for Extra and $22 for Everything when billed monthly, or $12 and $14.75 a month billed annually.

On top of the rate, you get cash back on everyday categories like groceries, dining, and transit (more cash back on the pricier plans), plus budgeting tools and an optional credit-building add-on at about $10 a month. KOHO isn’t a bank. Eligible balances are held in trust at CDIC member banks, so the deposit protection flows through the partner bank, not through KOHO itself. For context on the rate backdrop, the Bank of Canada (opens in a new tab) has held its overnight rate at 2.25 percent since April 2026, which is why even the best app rates have come down from their peaks.

How Lodavo works

The more you save with Lodavo, the more chances you get. You connect the Canadian bank account you already have through Plaid (opens in a new tab), which covers over 99 percent of deposit accounts in Canada and never hands over your bank password, so you can track your savings each week and earn free tickets. The draw pays up to $10,000, with a guaranteed weekly prize of at least $100 going to a user every week.

You can confirm exactly how draws are run on the provably fair page, and the eligibility rules and odds live in the contest rules. For a wider look at where Lodavo sits next to other apps, the best savings apps in Canada roundup puts it in context.

Can you use Lodavo and KOHO together?

Yes, and it’s a genuinely good combination. Keep KOHO for the rate and cash back on your balance, and add Lodavo so the saving itself comes with a free weekly draw. Nothing about KOHO changes; you simply get a chance to win cash for the money you set aside.

Think of KOHO as the card that pays a rate on your balance, and Lodavo as the free weekly draw that rewards the habit of saving. Run the two together and you give up nothing to do it.

When KOHO is the better choice

KOHO is the right tool, on its own, if any of these is your main goal:

• You want one app to spend and save from, with a real card you can tap.
• You want to actually earn interest on your balance and are willing to pay for the higher tiers to get 2.5 to 3.5 percent (as of 2026).
• You want cash back on groceries, dining, and transit.
• You want budgeting tools and a clear view of your spending in one place.
• You want to build credit history through KOHO’s credit-building add-on.
• You want your money held somewhere, with eligible balances in trust at CDIC member banks.

If maximizing yield is your only goal, also weigh a plain high-interest account. A no-fee CDIC-member option can sometimes beat a paid KOHO plan once you factor in the monthly fee, so do the math on your balance. The KOHO alternatives in Canada guide lays a few out side by side.

When Lodavo is the better fit

Pick Lodavo if this is you:

• You want more chances to win the more you save.
• You don’t want to move money, switch banks, or open another account.
• You want zero monthly cost and no card to manage.
• You like the bank you already have and just want a reason to save a bit more.
• You want a draw you’re in just by saving, with no card to load and no plan to pay for.

Lodavo won’t replace a savings account, so it’s not the tool if pure yield is what you’re after. It’s the tool if you want the amount you save to decide how many chances you get, for free, on top of whatever bank or app (KOHO included) you already use.

Ready to make saving something you look forward to? Download Lodavo (opens in a new tab) free on iOS or Google Play (opens in a new tab).

Terms and conditions apply. No purchase necessary (alternate method of entry available). Skill-testing question required. Open to legal residents of Canada who are the age of majority. Odds depend on the number of eligible entries received. Full rules and odds at our contest rules.