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When your 9-to-5 isn’t cutting it, money-making apps can help you put a little extra cash in your wallet with minimal effort and even less commitment.
There are a number of different money-making apps to choose from, from ones that pay you for shopping online to ones that help you save without even thinking about it. Some let you earn extra money while playing games, while others offer a great platform for finding freelance and contract work on the side. Point is, there’s something for everybody.
Here are 19 of our favorite money-making apps for whatever kind of gig you’re looking for.
19 Best Money-Making Apps 2023
This list includes micro-investing apps, side hustle apps, resale apps, savings and cash back apps, gaming and survey apps, and fitness apps.
Acorns
Stash
Upwork
Fiverr
DoorDash
Instacart
TaskRabbit
Rover
OfferUp
Decluttr
Poshmark
Capital One Shopping
Rakuten
Ibotta
Swagbucks
Survey Junkie
MyPoints
Sweatcoin
Evidation
Were You Looking for Our Best Investment Apps?
Micro-Investing Apps
Micro-savings apps don’t guarantee that you’ll earn cash, but they do help you find some money to invest so you can try to turn it into more money. Acorns and Stash are two great options for saving and investing spare change.
Acorns
Pros
Low investment minimum. You only need $5 to start investing with Acorns Invest.
Automated investing. Round-Ups automatically set aside your spare change.
More accounts, more benefits. Pair your Acorns Invest account with an Acorns Checking account to make instant Round-Ups and an Acorns Earn account to earn investment bonuses at participating merchants.
Cons
Subscription fees. There are three different Acorns plans: Acorns Personal ($3 a month), Acorns Personal Plus ($5 a month), and Acorns Premium ($9 a month).
Limited investments. You can’t choose your investments and there are only ETFs.
Earnings not guaranteed. You never know what you’re going to get with investing, even the micro kind.
How to get paid: With Acorns, you can earn money by investing in stocks, bonds, or both. You’re not guaranteed to make money and probably won’t see growth right away. But if you leave your portfolio alone, it might grow and you’ll have the opportunity to sell and cash out.
Acorns was one of the first apps to help people invest their spare change with round-ups, or by rounding up transactions to the nearest dollar and investing the extra. For example, if you spent $14.84 on breakfast, the app would round the transaction up to $15 and drop the extra $0.16 right into your investing account. Now, the Acorns app lets you do a lot more, but if you’re just looking for an easy way to invest in the background with money you already have (and probably won’t miss), an Acorns Invest account is a good way to do it.
With Acorns, you invest in a portfolio of ETFs curated by experts and the platform automatically rebalances and reinvests dividends for you. Because there’s only a $5 minimum and Acorns is hands-off, this app is ideal for beginners. You can also earn money with Acorns Earn with bonus offers from over 15,000 different brands.
Read our full review.
>>> Find out more: The 6 Best Apps Like Acorns
Stash
Pros
Low investment minimum. Get started with $0 if you’re creating your own portfolio or $5 if you’re using a Smart Portfolio put together by experts.
Good selection. Stash offers stocks, ETFs, and crypto.
Automated investing. A Stash Smart Portfolio automatically invests in ETFs for you.
Stock-Back Card. The Stash Stock-Back Card is a debit card that lets you earn up to 1% stock for every transaction.
Cons
Subscription fees. Stash offers two different subscription plans: Stash Growth ($3 a month) and Stash+ ($9 a month).
Earnings not guaranteed. You may earn money on your investments, but you may not.
How you get paid: You may earn money with Stash if your investment portfolio increases in value. You can withdraw your earnings at any time.
Like Acorns, Stash is a micro-investing app that finds investable cash for you by monitoring your transactions and automatically invests it. Stash offers stocks, ETFs, and even crypto and lets you either choose individual investments for yourself or use a Smart Portfolio to get the benefits of automated investing with hands-off diversification. You can also do a combination of both if you want to tweak an existing portfolio.
Stash and Acorns offer many of the same basic advantages and disadvantages but you may choose Stash over Acorns if you want a little more control over how you’re investing, want access to crypto, or you prefer an investment app that’s more hands-on. The Stash Stock-Back Card is a unique alternative to the average cash rewards credit card in that 1) it’s a rewards-earning debit card and 2) the reward is stock. You either earn stock in the company you’re shopping with, if it’s a partner, or in a company/ETF of your choice.
Read our full review.
Side Hustle Apps
Upwork, Fiverr, Doordash, Instacart, Task Rabbit, and Rover are money-making apps for those willing to put in more time and work for larger, more consistent payouts. These apps and websites show remote freelance and contract work as well as in-person jobs in your area.
Besides being another way to make some money, side hustle apps can also be great stepping stones if you’re looking to transition into a different type of job or turn a hobby into something more. Who knows, maybe you should quit your day job.
Upwork
Pros
Work from anywhere. The vast majority of Upwork jobs are 100% remote.
Flexible. You can take any projects you want that fit into your schedule.
Free. Other than service fees when you complete work, you won’t pay for an account.
Cons
Service fees. Upwork charges service fees on all contracts equal to between 5% and 20% of earnings, depending on how much work you’ve done for a client.
Need experience. Many jobs on Upwork require some amount of professional experience to qualify. You might be able to scoop up some entry-level work without it, but these pay much less.
How you get paid: You may earn money on Upwork on an hourly basis, per project, or per milestone (project checkpoints). If per project or milestone, you’ll turn in your work by the due date and receive payment usually within two business days. Hourly projects use a weekly billing cycle. You can see whether a job pays a fixed or hourly rate in the description.
Upwork is a marketplace where freelancers can connect with people hiring for contract or part-time work. If you have a money-making skill and you want to start using it, Upwork could be the right app for you. This platform covers a wide range of fields and specialties from creative work like graphic design and writing to technical work like coding and data analysis. There are so many one-off and ongoing jobs to choose from.
The biggest drawback to Upwork is the fees. You’ll start out paying 20% on everything and only reduce this to 10% or 5% after earning $500 or more for any given client. You’re also pretty reliant on client reviews to score higher-paying work, so you have to keep at it and build your portfolio if you want to turn this into something more profitable.
Learn more.
>>>Find out more: 9 Ways to Make Extra Money From Home
Fiverr
Pros
Work from anywhere. Fiverr is one of the most well-known services for finding WFH job opportunities.
Flexible. Work when you want to work — for yourself.
Free. You won’t pay any subscription or listing fees when joining Fiverr and it costs nothing to use the app.
Cons
Service fees. Fiverr will take 20% of all your earnings to cover advertising expenses and let you use the marketplace.
Need experience. To really make a name for yourself on Fiverr, you need to put in the work to show you know what you’re doing and market yourself well.
How you get paid: All Fiverr work is paid on a per-project basis, so you will receive payment after completing an order. You can transfer funds to a PayPal account, bank account, or Fiverr Revenue Card.
Fiverr is another freelance marketplace that covers a wide variety of services from design and site creation to voiceovers and translations. Fiverr differs from Upwork in that all work is fixed-price and project-based rather than a combination of this and hourly. So if you just want to grab some work here and there without committing to tracking hours, choose this platform.
Like Upwork, Fiverr places heavy emphasis on your client success. Your star rating is at the top of your freelancer card and you’ll be assigned one of four levels based on how many gigs you’ve completed and how much you’ve earned. You start at New Seller when you have less than seven gigs active and can work your way up to a Top Rated Seller if you’ve completed at least 100 orders. You might not necessarily make a quick buck with an app like this, but getting started could be a worthwhile investment.
Learn more.
DoorDash
Pros
Flexible. You can pick and choose the deliveries you want to make based on which orders work for you.
Easy approval. DoorDash doesn’t require much other than an (insured) vehicle that drives and a valid driver’s license to start delivering.
Multiple ways to get paid. You’ll earn money from DoorDash for each delivery and may also earn tips from customers.
Cons
Tip dependent. Many DoorDash delivery drivers depend on tips for the majority of their earnings. There may be times when your pay doesn’t amount to much.
No gas reimbursement. You’ll have to factor the cost of gas into your budget yourself, as DoorDash doesn’t pay anything for gas.
First come, first serve. DoorDash orders are assigned very quickly to drivers after a customer schedules a delivery, so you’ll need to monitor the app for opportunities when you have time for work for a better chance at getting the ones you want.
How you get paid: You’ll earn a small base pay from DoorDash that’s based on the delivery duration, demand, and distance. You may also earn tips from customers, but these are never guaranteed. Payments are disbursed weekly.
If you have a decent car and you don’t mind driving – or a scooter and you don’t mind scooting –, you might be able to do the hungry people of the world a service and deliver them food in exchange for money via DoorDash. Ah, the gig economy. To qualify to become a DoorDash delivery driver, you need to be at least 18 years old, have a car or a bike/scooter that gets around, and verify your identity with your driver’s license and SSN.
You can deliver on your own schedule, but you may have trouble finding jobs if you’re not checking the app at the right times. This varies a ton by area, so it might take a little while to get into the swing of things. The better your customer rating, the better your chances of qualifying for promotions. Do your best to go above and beyond by communicating with customers about issues and being friendly, and you’ll stay on DoorDash’s good side.
Learn more.
Instacart
Pros
Different types of shoppers. Instacart offers both full-service shopper and in-store shopper gigs so you can choose the type of gig you’re most interested in.
Multiple ways to get paid. As a full-service shopper, you’ll make money directly from Instacart for each order you fulfill and keep 100% of any tips you earn. As an in-store shopper, you’ll be paid hourly.
Flexible. Choose the hours and days you work.
Cons
Waitlist. Instacart isn’t always hiring, and you may be placed on a waitlist for your area if you apply and find out they don’t need shoppers. In some cities, it can be tough to get in.
No gas reimbursement. If you deliver for Instacart, you will not earn more to cover your gas money or car wear and tear.
How you get paid: Instacart pays shoppers weekly whether they provide in-store shopping services or full-service shopping. Full-service shoppers earn per-order pay as well as tips and in-store shoppers earn hourly wages and choose shifts.
For those who know their local grocery stores like the back of their hands, becoming a shopper and delivery driver for Instacart makes sense. Instacart operates in all 50 U.S. states in every kind of place from small and mid-sized towns to metropolitan areas. You’ll choose orders based on your time, which stores you want to visit, and what you feel like doing.
When you apply, you’ll put in your location and wait to see if it’s been accepted. If Instacart needs more shoppers in your area, you’ll likely be approved. Full-service shopping is the way to go for a side hustle because you can choose the jobs you want and turn down the ones you don’t, plus you may earn tips. In-store shopping is paid hourly and requires you to take shifts. While still flexible and without minimums, this is a bit more of a commitment.
Learn more.
TaskRabbit
Pros
Flexible. You can set your weekly availability and decide which tasks to do.
Set your own rates. Hourly rates for Taskers vary greatly depending on the type of work, but you can charge whatever you see fit.
Many categories. TaskRabbit offers over 50 different categories to choose from, including niche skills like babyproofing to more general help like errands.
No service fee (for Taskers). While TaskRabbit does charge a service fee for every task, this doesn’t come out of your pay. Instead, the customers are responsible for paying service fees on top of the price of a task.
Cons
Application fee. To become a Tasker, you pay a nonrefundable $25 registration fee.
Limited range. TaskRabbit is not available everywhere. This platform only operates in major cities and very populated areas.
How you get paid: You’ll earn an hourly rate, set by you, for each task you complete. TaskRabbit will direct deposit your earnings right into your bank account within three to five business days after a payment has been approved. You’ll also keep 100% of any tips you receive.
TaskRabbit shows tasks people need help with and gives you a platform for marketing your handiness. This side hustle is extremely flexible and diverse, with over 50 different task categories to choose from. These include cleaning, car washing, delivery, errands, help moving, general assembly, minor home repairs, and so much more. Some tasks, like waiting in line for someone, don’t even require experience or qualifications.
You get to set your own hourly rates and you don’t have to worry about TaskRabbit taking a chunk of your earnings, which is really unusual for an app like this. To sign up, you’ll choose a category, pick your area, set your schedule, and verify your identity. That’s it.
Learn more.
Rover
Pros
Flexible. Like many side hustle platforms, Rover lets you decide when you want to work and when you don’t, so you can easily fit gigs into your lifestyle.
Set your own rates. Rover lets you choose your own hourly rate or fixed rate for every type of service you provide.
Always hiring. Unlike other side hustle platforms for in-person services, Rover is always accepting new sitters.
Cons
Service fees. Rover takes 20% of all your earnings excluding tips.
Application fee. You’ll pay $35 for Rover to review your profile
How you get paid: Whether you earn money hourly or flat rate depends on the type of gigs you do. Jobs like house sitting and day care are charged hourly while drop-in visits and dog walks are charged per gig. You choose your rates for all services. Rover processes payments through Stripe and your funds will appear in your Rover Balance within two days of a completed job.
Love dogs and/or cats and also making money? Rover might be the perfect side hustle app for you. This niche platform is exclusively for providing people with pet care services including dog walking, boarding, house sitting and drop-ins, and day care. And not only do you get to pick your schedule, but you can also set pet preferences (e.g. no big dogs, cats, puppies, etc.). Rover is like Upwork or Fiverr. You create a profile, tell people about yourself, and set your rates.
Because you’re talking about people’s pets here, keep in mind that reviews really matter. If you do something to upset one of your clients, they can let everyone else know and this can bring your overall success score down, hurting your chances of landing future gigs.
Learn more.
Resale Apps
When you’ve got stuff to get rid of, it can be tempting to just toss it in the trash or pawn it off on a friend or family member. But you can often make extra money using apps meant for secondhand selling. If you have a lot of unwanted items lying around, install one of these.
OfferUp is a money-making app for selling just about anything, Decluttr is specifically for tech you’re ready to get rid of, and Poshmark is mainly secondhand fashion-focused.
OfferUp
Pros
No listing fees. There are no fees to list items or create an OfferUp account. You can optionally upgrade to the Promote Plus plan, but this really isn’t necessary.
Hands off. After listing an item, you’ll just sit back and wait for the offers to come in. You don’t need to do anything else unless you decide to offer shipping.
More than selling. OfferUp has expanded to be much more than a peer-to-peer marketplace. There’s also a job listing platform within the app for open positions.
Cons
Service fee. You’ll pay a 12.9% service fee when you sell something on OfferUp, which is relatively low but still a decent chunk of your earnings.
Limited range. OfferUp local listings are available in every state, but not every city or town. You might not be able to find people near you unless you expand your area.
How you get paid: If selling locally, you’ll be paid directly by the purchaser using your payment method of choice, like cash, PayPal, Venmo, etc. If you ship, you’ll be paid via direct deposit.
Social media might do the trick when you’ve got something you want to get rid of and you want to make a buck, but apps like OfferUp are safer and more reliable overall. OfferUp is a peer-to-peer marketplace that lets you sell your unwanted items to people in your area for whatever price you set. You can also opt to ship items across the country and OfferUp will create the labels for you. Depending on what you’re selling, you can earn a lot more.
Unlike other selling marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp actually verifies people’s identities to help filter out bots and scammers. This makes it less frustrating to use and can help speed up the selling things that have got to go.
Learn more.
Decluttr
Pros
Free. The Decluttr app is completely free to download and use, and instant valuation is offered free for everyone. You also won’t pay shipping fees to send your items in.
Fast payment. Many users report receiving their payment. And since there are no auctions, you won’t have to wait for bidding wars to end.
Instant valuation. You’ll get a free instant valuation for anything you’re interested in selling, so you’ll know right away if going through Decluttr is worth your time.
Cons
Low payouts. You might not always make as much using this app as you might at a local tech store or using a marketplace, but it really depends on what you sell and when.
Limited options. Decluttr is particular about what it will buy from you. For some types of tech, you can only sell certain brands; for others, only newer versions are accepted.
How you get paid: Decluttr pays users by direct deposit or PayPal. Most payments are processed on the same business day as your item successfully goes through a Quality Assessment, and you’ll get the funds between one and three business days after that.
If you’re one of those people who hangs onto your old smartphones and tech for dear life, Decluttr is the app for you. Decluttr is a platform for selling your old technology and electronics. You can sell phones, CDs and DVDs, gaming consoles, and more, even your unwanted books. But instead of being a marketplace like OfferUp, Decluttr is basically a mass purchaser of secondhand tech. It buys from you directly, refurbishes your item, and resells it through the platform. You can even get paid for damaged or faulty items.
There are a lot of benefits to using this platform including a Tech Price Promise that guarantees you’ll be locked into the first price offered for up to 28 days and instant valuation so you don’t have to wait around. You can shop or sell through Decluttr, or do both.
Learn more.
Poshmark
Pros
Hands off. You don’t need to do anything after listing and describing an item until it’s time to ship it off to the buyer.
More than clothes. Though geared toward clothing resale, you can use Poshmark to sell almost anything including electronics, home items, pet care items, and more.
No shipping fees. Poshmark will send you a shipping label when you sell an item and complete a listing, paid for by the purchaser.
Cons
Service fees. Poshmark takes a commission fee of either $2.95 for items under $15 in value or 20% for items over $15 in value.
More time-consuming. To take full advantage of Poshmark’s platform and sell faster, you’ll want to be a highly engaged seller, sharing listings and posting often.
How you get paid: After selling and shipping an item, the buyer will mark it received through the app. After that, you should receive payment minus service fees within three business days.
Poshmark is a social peer-to-peer marketplace for selling your clothes. The Poshmark app is completely free and it doesn’t cost anything to sign up for an account. This platform is mostly for designer, vintage, and popular styles but people use it for all sorts of brands and items. As long as you’re being honest about what you sell, you’re good.
To become a seller on Poshmark, you’ll just set up a free profile and start taking pictures of your items. You can use Poshmark as a one-and-done gig to get rid of that big pile of clothes you don’t need, or you can continually add listings to your shop and turn this into a side hustle, passive income situation. But if you go the second route, promotion is key. The more followers you have, the more reach.
Learn more.
Savings and Cash Back Apps
Cash back apps that help you save money are pretty much the definition of “work smarter, not harder.” These apps offer cash back rewards, savings, coupons, and more when you’re shopping online so you can pay yourself back with every purchase.
If you want to earn cash rewards by shopping, try Capital One Shopping, Rakuten, or Ibotta.
Capital One Shopping
Pros
Free. There are absolutely no hidden fees to download or use the app, making this one of the only truly free money-making apps out there.
Save money. This app compares offers to help you find the lowest prices for any particular item.
Shopping Rewards. You may earn Shopping Rewards as a percentage of qualifying purchases or as a fixed rate.
Available to everyone. You don’t need a Capital One credit card or bank account to sign up for an account and use this app.
Cons
Data tracking. Capital One tracks your spending to create a “Personalized Deals Feed” for you and might send this data to third parties for marketing purposes.
Not guaranteed. You won’t always save money with Capital One Shopping and there will be times when the best deal available isn’t shown on the app. This is partially due to the fact that Capital One recommends its partners.
How you get paid: Most of the “pay” for this app is in the form of savings or money back. Capital One Shopping may give you Shopping Rewards for qualifying purchases made through the platform, which can be redeemed for gift cards. You’ll also “make money” by spending less and saving more.
If you love to shop, you’ll love Capital One Shopping. This is an app and browser extension that searches available discounts and promotions when you’re shopping and might also reward you. For example, if you’ve got your eye on a Shark vacuum and you use the app, you could save 20% on eligible products and get 3.5% back in Shopping Rewards.
With this app, you can search for any brand or product and automatically apply available coupons/promo codes to your purchases. Capital One Shopping will do all of the comparison shopping for you to recommend the best retailer for whatever you’re looking for. Shopping Rewards, if you get them, can be redeemed for gift cards. Next time you’re online shopping, make sure you’re doing it the right way.
Learn more.
Rakuten
Pros
Free. Rakuten doesn’t cost a penny to use. It earns a commission when members use deals and links.
Save money. Browse coupons from your favorite stores to save on the final price or take advantage of offers like free shipping; buy one, get one deals; etc.
Cash back. Earn cash back when you shop at participating merchants and activate available offers.
In store and online. Works when shopping online or in store.
Cons
Data tracking. Rakuten will track and store your spending habits to customize your marketing experience.
Slow payouts. This app only makes cash back payments every three months.
How you get paid: Rakuten pays cash back on a quarterly basis and you can choose to receive your payment in the form of a PayPal transfer or paper check.
Rakuten is a free app and browser extension that finds savings for online purchases. It’s a lot like Capital One Shopping, except Rakuten offers more rewards while Capital One Shopping offers more coupons. You can also use Rakuten when shopping in person by using the app to link available offers, but Capital One Shopping is more automated.
There are over 3,500 participating stores in the Rakuten app, and this covers nearly every category of merchants and services. You’ll earn cash back on almost any coupon but you may need to use a code or go to a different site to activate a coupon. Overall, Rakuten is a great choice for earning cash back and everyday saving.
Learn more.
Ibotta
Pros
Cash back. Shop from a variety of exclusive offers only available to Ibotta users at big brands.
Online or in-store. You can earn cash back whether you’re using your phone to shop online or making purchases in person as long as you’re signed into the app.
Cons
Activate offers. You need to manually activate offers.
Limited brands. Compared to similar services, Ibotta’s list of partners is short, so you may have a harder time finding offers for the stores you like.
How you get paid: You can withdraw your cash back earnings by transferring them to a linked PayPal account. Transfers are almost instant and you can initiate them at any time.
One of the most well-known cash back apps in the game, Ibotta is popular with people who can’t say no to a good deal. It’s an app and browser extension that includes exclusive offers from more than 1,500 brands to help you save and cash back to help you earn.
Like Capital One Shopping and Rakuten, Ibotta lets you browse by brand to find deals you might be interested in. An offer might be for a discount, cash back, or both. If you find one you like, just activate it when shopping online and complete the purchase. If shopping in person, activate the offer and scan the receipt when you’re done.
Learn more.
Gaming and Survey Apps
You don’t have to be a world-famous streamer to make money playing games.
Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, and MyPoints are the best money-making apps for people who want to earn money with games and other boredom-crushing activities.
Swagbucks
Pros
Low cashouts. If you’re strapped for cash, you can withdraw as little as $1 from your Swagbucks account at a time or purchase a gift card. And there’s no waiting period.
Multiple ways to earn. There are a lot of ways to make money with Swagbucks, including surveys, videos, and more.
Free. You won’t pay any fees to sign up for and use Swagbucks.
Cons
Time-consuming. It can take a lot of time to earn rewards.
You may not qualify. Surveys, which have the highest payouts, have certain criteria you need to meet and you may not be eligible (or know ahead of time if you will or won’t be).
How you get paid: You can cash out your Swagbucks as a PayPal transfer or use them to purchase gift cards at qualifying merchants. While gift cards have minimum cashout requirements, you can transfer to PayPal with just $1.
Swagbucks is an app that’ll pay you for doing almost nothing. If you’re killing time on your phone, you may be able to make money by watching videos, shopping online, downloading certain apps, taking surveys, and more. It’s up to you how you earn and how much time you spend doing it. Sometimes, you can even do activities in the background.
While you won’t get rich with Swagbucks, you may be able to make a few bucks. You can qualify as long as you’re at least 13 years old and start using the app immediately.
Learn more.
Survey Junkie
Pros
Easy. Surveys usually take around 15 minutes to complete and require very little effort.
Free. You won’t have to pay to set up an account and Survey Junkie won’t take a portion of your earnings.
Flexible. You take the surveys you want to take when you want to take them.
Cons
You may not qualify. Not all surveys will be available to you as some require you to meet certain criteria to be eligible.
Data sharing. Obviously, surveys you take may contain personal information, and this will be shared with third parties that are interested in the data. You do have control over what and how much you share though.
How you get paid: You can cash out your points for e-Giftcards or transfer them to your PayPal account as cash. You need to have at least $5 in rewards to cash out or 1,000 points.
Survey Junkie is, as you’ve probably already guessed, a survey app that pays you to answer questions. You’ll take surveys as part of market research carried out by DISCQO, a platform that compiles information about customer experiences for businesses.
If you like sharing your opinion about companies and products, this could be a fun and rewarding way to pass time. Taking surveys isn’t really going to be a source of passive income, if that’s what you’re looking for, but if you take a handful a day you might be able to cushion your budget a bit each week. You need to be 18 or older and verify your identity to join.
Learn more.
MyPoints
Pros
Multiple ways to earn. With MyPoints, you can earn points by taking surveys, playing games, shopping, and more.
Invitations. MyPoints will invite you to new surveys you might qualify for so you don’t have to waste your time trying to take ones you’re not eligible for.
Daily deals. Check in daily to see special deals that can earn you more points.
Free. MyPoints doesn’t cost anything to use.
Cons
You may not qualify. You might get an error message when trying to take surveys if you aren’t eligible.
Data sharing. MyPoints will hand over your survey responses and some of your personal information to businesses and corporations who can use it.
How you get paid: You can redeem points in $5 increments for gift cards at 70 retailers, cash them out to your PayPal or Venmo account, or even transfer them to your United MileagePlus account to use them as travel rewards.
MyPoints is a free service where you can earn rewards by watching videos, playing games, scanning receipts, completing surveys, and even reading the spam emails you typically avoid. And often, you get a cash reward just for signing up with MyPoints. There are many ways to earn and sometimes offers come with additional benefits like free products to test.
If you’d rather make money buying things, MyPoints also partners with retailers so you can earn points on purchases when shopping through the portal. Overall, it’s a great app to have on your phone whether you want to earn money, save, or both.
Learn more.
Fitness Apps
Sweatcoin and Evidation are the best money-making apps for people who already exercise and want to earn extra cash while doing it, but this can also be a good idea for meeting your fitness goals.
Sweatcoin
Pros
Free. The standard version of Sweatcoin costs nothing to use and the app is free.
Data privacy. Sweatcoin won’t sell any of your data and all of your personal information will be kept completely private.
Cons
Limited redemption. Offers are often for discounts at particular retailers and you can’t just redeem your tokens for cash. You may need to pay shipping and handling.
Power intensive: You’ll need to have this app run on your phone in the background.
Tokens only. There are no options for earning cash directly.
How you get paid: 1,000 steps are equal to 0.95 Sweatcoins, which are added to your Sweat Wallet. You can use these to redeem hundreds of different retail offers or donate to charities. To cash out, you will need to trade or sell your coins.
Do you use a fitness tracker? Download and sign up for Sweatcoin to turn your steps into rewards. You can earn Sweatcoins, a digital token, with every step and redeem them for purchases or charitable donations. Although you won’t get a ton of rewards, Sweatcoin allows you to earn in the background by sharing information from activities you’re already doing. It’s a gamified fitness app to maximize your exercise while earning coins.
The more targets you reach and steps you take, the more Sweatcoins you’ll earn. You can convert Sweatcoins into SWEAT, a digital currency, if you want to invest in crypto.
Learn more.
Evidation
Pros
Multiple ways to earn. Earn points for more than just exercising with surveys, research, and more.
Multiple ways to redeem. Redeem your points for cash or charitable donations.
Data privacy. Evidation gives you complete control over who can see your data and exactly what they can see.
Cons
Requires other apps. You’ll need to have other fitness apps installed to take advantage of Evidation.
Manual syncing. You may have to manually sync your other apps with Evidation to track activity and do this daily.
How you get paid: You’ll earn $10 for every 10,000 points added to your account. If you’re feeling charitable, you can instead donate your earnings. Otherwise, you can redeem for a gift card or cash out as a PayPal transfer or pre-paid Visa card.
Evidation is a fitness and wellness app that rewards you for a variety of healthy activities. You can get points for exercising, walking, sleeping, weighing yourself, logging your eating, and more by linking your tracking apps with this one to import your everyday activity. Evidation incentivizes you to meet your goals with nudges, updates, and rewards.
While other fitness apps are focused on how much you exercise, Evidation offers other ways to earn that aren’t just about your movement. There are also surveys you can take and research studies you can participate in for extra points, if you qualify.
Learn more.
How To Choose the Right Money-Making App for You
So which of these apps should you start with? Here’s how to narrow them down.
Time Commitment
You’re not going to choose a time-consuming app for making money if you’re already exhausted all the time from your current job. If you only have a few minutes to spare at a time, try a passive income or selling app. But if you do have some extra time to spend, try a side hustle app or fitness app.
As a rule, you’ll earn more cash the more time and effort you put into these apps.
Fees
While most of these money-making apps are free to use, some have in-app purchases or paid plans. If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, an app that requires you to pay a subscription fee might not be the right choice for you right now. Just keep in mind that the truly fee-free apps also tend to offer the lowest payouts.
Redemption Options
Many apps for making money have limited redemption options because they’re partnered with particular payment platforms (say that five times fast). For example, several of these only let you use PayPal to transfer money. And while some apps let you cash out as soon as you have any earnings, others only pay out monthly or quarterly.
Check into not only how often you get paid but also how. And if a separate payment transfer app is required, decide if this is worth it.
App Usability
Finally, a money-making app is only useful if it’s actually usable. Read a handful of customer reviews in the Google Play store or IOS App Store to give yourself a better idea of what to expect in terms of functionality, reliability, and the overall user experience.
People are generally pretty honest when they’re unhappy with a product, so you should be able to get the information you need without doing much research.
Bottom Line
Money-making apps might not bump you into the next tax bracket, but they can help you earn a little extra cash on the side that you can turn into savings, invest, or use as spending money. The best part is there are so many different kinds of these apps out there that you’re sure to find at least one that works for you.
Whether you’ve got an hour to spare or a minute, give your bank account a boost with these 19 money-making apps.
