11 Best Apps to Make Money [Tried and Tested]

Want to know about the best apps to make money? You’re in the right place,

With our list of top money-making apps, you can grow your income by receiving money for taking surveys, leasing storage space, selling unused items, and being a secret shopper. 

Alternatively, if you’re on the quest for a side hustle, these apps usher in the opportunity to discover gigs that align with your skillset and schedule, whether you’re a keen-eyed editor, a pet whisperer, or a super organizer.

These apps are perfect for those who gravitate towards earning a passive income.

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11 Best Apps to Make Money

Most of us would welcome extra cash in our wallets. Perhaps you want to start putting money away for a large purchase such as a house, or you want to pad your savings account.

Maybe you want to have enough cash to treat yourself to an occasional massage and facial at that spa you’ve been eying for a while. 

Regardless of your money goals, earning extra income would make life more comfortable for you. Fortunately, you don’t need to look for a part-time job to make this dream a reality. 

1. Swagbucks: Best for Online Gift Cards and Paid Surveys

It helps you earn quick bucks to watch videos, browse the web, and shop online. Furthermore, you can participate in online games, polls, or online surveys, and the rewards are redeemable via cash, a gift card, or particular merchandise. Here are a few ways to earn a gift card on Swagbucks. 

• Shop online at Starbucks, Amazon, eBay, Target, and Walmart
  
• Watch videos
  
• Earn gift cards and points with exclusive offers and deals
  
• Earn gift cards by filling out surveys
  
• Use the app’s powered search engine to browse the internet
  
• In-game app purchases and playing various games

Swagbucks operates in the UK (New Zealand, Britain, Australia, and Ireland), Canada, Portugal, USA, India, Spain, France, Australia, and Germany.

You can sign up on the app for free via your email address or Facebook account. You can also earn additional points through referrals to this free mobile app.  

Key Features

• Gold Surveys: This mirrors the time it would take to complete a survey coupled with your potential earnings for doing so
  
• Daily Poll: For frequently answering one poll every day, earn 1 Swagbucks point
  
• Early Cash-Out: Swagbucks grants you free rein to transfer a minimum of $3, saving you the inconvenience of waiting a while to receive your paycheck

Pros

• It offers gift cards for PayPal, Amazon, Walmart, Expedia, and Free Charge
  
• Swagbucks offers shopping deals and featured stores from Groupon

Pricing

• Once you sign up on the app, you automatically receive a $10 bonus

2. Survey Junkie: Best for Earning Money via Online Surveys

This money-making app allows you to influence brands by sharing your opinion in surveys and earning extra cash to do so. With Survey Junkie, you fill out surveys based on your profile, after which you’re rewarded with virtual points that are redeemable for e-gift cards or transferable to PayPal as money.

You can transfer your earnings directly to your bank account or receive cashouts via Amazon gift cards. 

Key Features

• Extensive Gift Cards: The app offers gift cards from renowned brands like Target, Sephora, Walmart, Amazon, Starbucks, Groupon, and iTunes.
  
• Quick Estimate: You can check the duration required to complete and the number of points you can earn from it. 

Pros

• The interface is user-friendly
  
• The available surveys are viewable on one dashboard
  
• The answers remain entirely anonymous

Pricing

• Signing up and participating in the surveys is free. 

3. Acorns: Best Suited To Invest Your Spare Change 

It’s a micro-investing platform that paves the way for you to invest your spare change left from your day-to-day shopping. Once your account is set up (in minutes), you can build a diverse portfolio by investing in bonds or stocks with as little as $1.

With Acorns, you can invest in:

• Asset classes
  
• More than 7,000 bonds and stocks of top companies
  
• Exchange-traded funds

Security is also the least of your concerns with this investment app. To safeguard your money against cybercriminals, the mobile app provides top-grade, bank-level security via a two-step authentication process and 256-bit encryption.

Additionally, it helps app users grasp the nuances of investment via its comprehensive videos and articles. 

Key Features

• Advisory: Acorns customer support is armed with qualified advisors to help you achieve your financial goals through investment in the right funds.
  
• Acorns Later: It automates your investment and helps you establish a healthy corpus for your retirement in minutes. 

Pros

• It delivers top-level security that is implemented by some of the safest banks
  
• You can earn a cash-back at specified retailers
  
• With as little as $1 monthly, you can get the ball rolling
  
• The app allows you to earn bonus investments by shopping with more than 350 brands

Pricing

The app offers three pricing alternatives:

• Lite: Inclusive of an investment account, Lite allows you to invest as little as $1 per month
  
• Personal: Inclusive of checking, investment, and retirement accounts, Personal allows you to invest a minimum of $3 monthly
  
• Family: Besides checking, retirement, and investment accounts, Family also comes with an early investment account for kids with a minimum investment of $5 monthly 

4. Fiverr: Best for Online Gigs 

The app is a freelancing marketplace that features gigs in a wealth of categories, including animation, programming, and writing.

To get started, create a profile as a ‘seller’ with a concise description of your expertise and post the gig you’re offering that includes the pricing. Clientele referred to as ‘buyers’ on the app can check out and place an order if it’s a good fit. 

You’ll receive payment upon completion of the job. Fiverr assigns seller levels depending on performance. As you rise through the ranks, you can sell ‘extras’ such as a quick turnaround.

Features

• You receive payment via credit to a prepaid card (Fiverr Revenue Card), PayPal, to direct wire transfer
  
• The lowest withdrawal amounts vary, and you might incur a withdrawal cost based on your preferred option
  
• Fiverr takes 20% of your earnings per gig, including tips
  
• Once you complete an order, there’s a waiting period of 14 days before you can withdraw funds

Pros 

• Compatible with iOS and Android devices
  
• Chasing payments after completing orders is the least of your worries. Furthermore, you can earn tips for outstanding performance on tasks

5. My Points: Best to Boost Earnings via Shopping, Coupons, and Surveys 

With the app, you can earn reward points for in-store and online purchases, filling out paid surveys, and eating out. Other ways to rake in extra bucks on My Points range from playing games, watching movies, and reading emails.

The points you accumulate after a while are redeemable in cash or free gift cards such as Visa and Amazon. Although the registration is straightforward, it’s worth noting that the mobile app is solely accessible in Canada and the US. 

Key Features

• Joining Bonus: The app offers a $10 registration bonus, and creating an account is free
  
• PayPal Transfer: The points you earn are transferable to your PayPal account. Approximately 3970 points translate to $25

Pros

• The points you accumulate are redeemable as travel miles if you have a United Mileage Plus account
  
• Earn a boatload of points by shopping from one of the featured stores on My Points
  
• The app applies the best coupon code at the checkout to boost your earnings

Pricing

• Registration is 100% free

6. Google Opinion Rewards: Best Suited for Earning Extra Bucks by Filling Google Surveys

It’s a rewards-based program that rewards you for filling out short Google surveys. This paid survey app pays out the rewards via PayPal credit or Google Play. You receive surveys on an array of topics ranging from customer satisfaction surveys and opinion polls to reviews. 

Depending on your location, this paid survey app typically offers local surveys, and each paid survey takes a minute or two to fill. Although Google Opinion Rewards are valid for one year from the date of activation, the app notifies you when the expiry date is fast approaching.

Key Features

• The Play Store credits are redeemable to purchase games, apps, movie rentals, and books
  
• The app is compatible with Android and iOS devices
  
• Earnings can be credited to your PayPal account
  
• You have up to 24 hours to fill out a survey

Pricing

• The app is free to install, after which you can get the ball rolling

7. Ibotta: Best for Earning a Cash-back On Groceries

It’s a free cashback app that delivers real money for daily purchases from select in-store and online brands. Upon signing up on the Ibotta app, you instantly receive a $20 registration bonus. You earn an additional $5 per referral.

With irresistible offers on groceries, your earning possibilities are endless. 

The Ibotta app integrates with various retailers such as Kohl’s, Walmart, and Amazon, giving you the chance to earn on your grocery shopping. Additionally, you have free rein to install the app’s browser extension for instant access to the best cash-back offers and deals.

Key Features

• Ibotta App: It allows you to creep into your preferred stores and check out the ongoing offer
  
• Loyalty Card: Once you link this card while shopping in the select stores, you’ll avoid manual receipt scanning

Pros

• Purchase directly from Ibotta via your linked credit or debit card
  
• Receipts are valid up to a week after shopping
  
• Utilize the Ibotta ‘Teamwork’ feature for partnerships, to reach milestones, and much more

Pricing

• While the app is free to use, keep in mind that there are deductible charges for dormant accounts

8. Mistplay: Perfect for Earning Extra Bucks While Playing Mobile Games

As a loyalty program that rewards you for playing games on your tablet or smartphone, you can start raking in points once you install Mistplay and pick a game that tickles your fancy. The points earned are redeemable for various types of gift cards on Xbox, iTunes, Nintendo, and Amazon. It’s a captivating way to kill time while earning money. 

With the loyalty program for games, you can win credits as Steam Credit and Visa Cards. Although Mistplay is available for free, you can solely access it on the Google Play Store for Android users.

To earn the most, you’ll need to play a vast assortment of games at a particular time and reach a given milestone. It’s only then that the app will gift you with redeemable credits. 

Key Features

• Straightforward Registration: The app avails 15 points after signing up via your email address or Facebook account
  
• Point Redeem: The points are redeemable for several gift cards such as Google Play, Amazon, Facebook, GameStop, Xbox, and PlayStation

Pros

• You can earn points in PSPs, Units, and GXPs
  
• The app offers $5 per 1,500 points you earn
  
• Once you reach the milestone of 200 points, you automatically receive 100 bonus points

Pricing

• Mistplay is 100% free

9. Healthy Wage

If you’re looking for a wellness app that provides monetary rewards for completing fitness challenges, then Healthy Wage is it.

Delivering the motivation you need to stick to your wellness goals, the platform offers financial incentives, competitions, positive peer pressure, and the social motivation you need to embark on your wellness journey.

Furthermore, it determines your potential earnings from completing the different fitness challenges. Once you sign up, all you require is to place the bet and kick off your journey.

Key Features

• Corporate Challenge: Designed with government contractors and employers in mind, you can use the free program to begin the fitness journey with your office teams
  
• Team Challenge: If you lack the drive to become fit alone, you can become part of a fitness team. With a team, you can earn more by betting big and stepping out of your comfort zone

Pros

• You can take part in several challenges simultaneously to boost your earning potential
  
• You have free rein to bet any amount, depending on your financial muscle
  
• The app gives you a $40 bonus for every person who joins via your referral link

Pricing

• Healthy Wage uses the cash you lose to stay afloat and make a profit

10. Rakuten: Best for Rewarding Shoppers 

Formally known as Ebates, Rakuten gifts shoppers with a 40% cash-back on purchases from renowned delivery services, retailers, and restaurants. Additionally, users can receive a cash-back from gift cards and travel.

To get the ball rolling, create an account and tap on your preferred deal in this cashback app, make the transaction on the portal, and you’re good to go. You can also link a debit or credit card to your Rakuten account to receive an in-store cash-back provided that you activate the deal via the app.

The app credits the cash back to your account after confirming the purchase with the seller, which may take anywhere between a few hours and several days. 

Features

• To earn credits, you must spend money
  
• Rakuten sends payments every three months
  
• Payment is via check or PayPal
  
• You require a minimum cash-back of $5 to get paid

Pros

• Referral and registration bonuses are available
  
• The app has partnered with thousands of retailers that are eligible for cash-back, boosting your likelihood of stumbling upon deals when you shop
  
• Rakuten is compatible with iOS and Android devices

11. Turo: Best to Rent Your Car

As an American peer-to-peer sharing company, Turo allows you to rent out your automobile, regardless of whether it’s a sports car, truck, or anything in between. Through the app, you can boost your income if your car spends more time in the garage than on the roads.

Once you list it, you can rent it out to app users. You can use the built-in calculator to compute your monthly earning potential by renting out your car. You’ll be pleased to learn that you can earn $700 monthly, on average. 

Turo is available in 5,500 cities in the UK, Canada, and the United States. To put you at ease about the safety of your car, the app offers protection against physical damage and theft in the contract you sign. Furthermore, you can rest easy knowing that $750,000 is covered in liability insurance. 

Key Features

• Two-way Reviews: Turo displays reviews by hosts and guests. It helps you choose suitable guests for your car
  
• Choose Your Price: The app gives you free rein to set the daily price of hiring your car. Nevertheless, to lure in more customers, you can allow Turo to set the most suitable cost

Pros

• You can earn up to 85% of the cost of the trip
  
• No registration charges or listing fees
  
• It offers 24/7 roadside assistance and customer support
  
• You have free rein to review every car booking
  
• Every user undergoes rigorous screening and verification

Pricing

• Besides the lack of registration costs, you can earn between 65% and 85% of the trip price

11 Best Apps to Make Money – Conclusion

Like most people in this digital era, there’s a high chance you pass the time browsing through your tablet or smartphone. While catching up on your favorite Instagram and YouTube influencers can be entertaining, it doesn’t pad your wallet.

Luckily, these apps can maximize your leisure time by downloading and installing a few to make extra money.

Want more ways to earn? Then, check out how to make money online for beginners. This is an easy-to-follow guide that outlines what you can do online to maximize your earning potential.