These apps were fun to test because the process was basically just shopping. Or, really, browsing. And an important feature of a furniture and decor shopping app is how easy and/or pleasurable it is to use. Some apps are more utilitarian: you use them when you want something specific, you want to find it fast, and you don’t want to look at a ton of products. Some are more for people who want to browse around, see what’s on-trend, find inspiration and plan what they might want to buy later. The best apps accommodate both users, with good searchability and browsability.

In considering the best value apps, I thought about both price and sales/discounts. Some shopping apps offer low everyday prices and don’t have as many sales. Others may have significant discounts on higher-priced items. Even if the sale price is on the high side, it’s still a good deal. Our top choice, Overstock, offers both everyday low prices and lots of sales. But depending on what kind of a shopper you are or what you’re looking for specifically, one of the other choices may appeal more.

Overstock is built around offering great savings on furniture and home products. But if you're furnishing or redecorating your home, quality and selection are equally important considerations. Overstock sells a wide variety of furniture and home goods. While quality is difficult to judge without seeing the items in person, you can get a sense of it by looking at the extensive pictures and reading customer reviews.

The Deals tab is divided into 3 sections: Deals, Clearance, and Lott-o. As you might expect, deals shows you sales, and clearance shows clearance sales. But Lott-O is a unique feature. It’s a virtual scratch ticket that may pay out big discounts. "Scratch" the label with your finger to potentially win a deal. You can do this once a day, and it's a clever way to keep people coming back to the app. I don't know how often it pays off-- I tried a few times with no luck -- but it is a fun little feature.

This is par for the course with discount furniture online, but many of the items on Overstock will require some assembly. While this is often easy, anyone who has bought furniture online has found that some products are way more difficult than advertised or are missing pieces, or just don't fit together right. Customer reviews really come in handy here, and if you can't tell how much assembly an item is going to need, reports from other shoppers can often shed some light and help you make your decision. 

That goes for the other potential snag of Overstock: quality is difficult to ascertain. Reviews may indicate whether what looks like high-quality wood is actually particle board, or on the flip side, whether something is better than expected. 

IKEA stores feature display rooms so shoppers can see how different pieces go together. The app replicates this, showing images of rooms or parts of rooms. You can click the items to find their name and price and link to the product page with one click. The appealing pictures make browsing a pleasure, and shopping from the pictures is seamless. Little dots indicate that you can see more about an item, so you know what’s available, but the picture is still clear.

One of the difficult things about shopping for furniture, whether online or in person, is that you can’t see how the item will look in your space. The Bob’s app uses Augmented Reality (AR) to check how furniture will look in your room. Using your phone’s camera, you scan your room and then tap where you want the item to go. Everything is to scale, so you can check whether an item will fit as well as whether it goes with other pieces. As you might expect from a piece of software on a free furniture app, the feature is not perfect: it can be difficult to get things exactly where you want them, and I created some rooms with mattresses hanging in the air, but it’s still pretty useful (and fun). It will be interesting to see where technology like this goes in the future, but for now, I’m impressed that places like Bob’s are incorporating them into their apps.

To use the app (or Rue La La’s website), you’ll need to sign up for a free membership. Once you’re in, you can access a huge number of sales that generally last between one and three days. Clothing brands, beauty products, jewelry, shoes, and more pop up on the home screen. Home and furniture-specific sales are under the home tab at the menu at the top. You can browse through curated collections, like Jackie O- inspired coastal style, organization solutions by room, and vacation vibes. The furniture available tends more toward accent pieces than larger stuff. Small chairs, coffee and end tables, and stools abound. But you can find couches and dining sets as well.

A easily browsable app with lots of items. Wayfair's regular prices are low, and there are also many sales with good deals. It's worth checking out, but does have frequent and intrusive pop-up ads if you don't make an account. 

This is a solid app with good prices, but we preferred other options. However, if you have an Ashley furniture store in your area, using the app to get a sense of what's available before visiting the store might improve your shopping experience. You can also shop online and pick up in person.

Part of the same family of brands as Wayfair, the Joss & Main app is similar. It's easy to use and browse, but with lots of pop-ups.

 The prices are a little higher here, so if you're looking for something higher end, this is a good one to check out.

Another Wayfair brand, All Modern is true to its name. Sleek, minimalist furniture at reasonable prices. If that's your aesthetic, this is a great place to check out. The app features many sales, so it's worth checking regularly in case a piece you want goes on sale.

Pepperfry's prices are pretty high, but they have a lot of unique furniture items. If you're willing to splurge, or want to add some higher-priced accent pieces to cheaper basics, this is a good one to check out. They also have sales regularly, so higher-priced items may drop if you keep checking back.

While it's not the prettiest site, OfferUp is a great place to find discount items close to you. Your neighbors may be selling lightly used pieces for low prices. People selling on these sites are often trying to get rid of things, so you can get serious deals, although you'll likely have to pick the item up yourself.