The typical Coinstar coin-cashing kiosk is blue (green in the USA) and the size of a large vending machine. They are located at grocery stores, drug stores, larger merchants, banks or other retail locations. The coin-counting service is available in the US (including Puerto Rico), Canada, Ireland, and the UK.

To process coins, loose change is poured into the machine. When the machine finishes counting coins, it issues a scrip, called a voucher, which the user can redeem at the place of business providing the coin-counting service at face value for the currency. The same model of operation and redemption is provided on those Coinstar machines situated in Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

The coin-counting processing fee, deducted from the total once coins have been counted, is 12.5% in the USA, 11.9% in Canada, 8.7% in Ireland, and 10.9% in the UK, unless the kiosk is located inside a bank branch, in which case this fee will not apply for account holders. Some machines may offer a lower rate; in this case, the store hosting the machine has subsidised the rate.

A newer service enables users to use their coins to buy a gift card from merchants without the usual fee (“no fee”) — including such retailers as Starbucks, Amazon.com, Banana Republic, Gap, Regal Entertainment Group, Old Navy, iTunes, J.C. Penney, CVS Pharmacy, and Overstock.com. Select grocery retailers, including SuperValu and Stop & Shop, are also participating in the “no fee” offers. If the user chooses the fee-free option, the machine issues a plastic gift card or, in the case of online merchants like Amazon.com, a voucher with a redemption code.

US and UK users also have the option of donating their change to a selected charity. By 2006, Outerwall has raised more than $20 million for charities including the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and UNICEF’s Trick or Treat program.

Outerwall has processed more than 350 billion coins in its nearly two decades of operation, with an average transaction amount of about £30. The largest single transaction was $13,000 in pennies from a man in Alabama.

As of August 2021, more than 7,000 Coinstar kiosks in 46 US states were equipped with Coinme, enabling customers to convert cash to cryptocurrency