19 Best Money Making Apps That Pay You Real Money

Written By

Showkat Hossain

Last Updated: May 16, 2026

Want to earn quick bucks but lack time or a part-time job? Try a money-growing app or two to add extra cash to your pockets.

Many money making apps let you work online — it is more than you think.

Participants can get paid through PayPal, choose gift cards from certain retailers, or earn cashback on qualifying products. Businesses want new app users and are willing to pay you for them. Earn extra cash while spending hours on your phone each day.

Surveys and Play Games Apps

Market Research Surveys and Play Games Apps allow individuals to earn modest amounts by responding to prompts, sharing feedback, or playing games.

These platforms are easy to access and let you make money in your spare time. Earnings are usually minimal and vary by task, time, and app availability.

1. FreeCash

Freecash is a rewards site where users earn money by completing simple online tasks. Get bonuses for surveys, mobile games, app testing, product offers, and other advertiser tasks.

Freecash is not a freelance site like Upwork or Fiverr. You do not sell professional services. Earn micro-rewards by engaging in platform activities. Popular earning methods include games, surveys, apps, and tasks.

Freecash is best for those looking to earn extra money on the side. Users must provide an email address, register for an account, select an offer, fulfill the specified requirements, earn rewards, and receive payment through available payout options.

The Freecash app lists payout options: bank transfer, PayPal, or gift cards. Some pages mention crypto cash-outs, based on availability.

2. Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is a research platform that rewards users for surveys. It matches users with businesses and research groups seeking product, service, shopping, ad, and consumer feedback.

Users respond to survey issues and earn points after completing tasks. You do not take on freelance work such as writing, design, or programming.

Survey Junkie is simple for new users. Sign up, fill out your profile, and get surveys that match your interests. Your profile helps the platform send you relevant surveys.

Finish surveys and earn points. Exchange points for cash or gift cards, based on available payout methods.

Survey Junkie is great for those looking to earn extra cash in their free time. It’s helpful for students, freelancers, stay-at-home users, or anyone who likes giving online opinions.

Do not treat this as a full-time job; it usually pays pennies. Some surveys can discourage users if they do not meet their needs.

Survey Junkie is an easy way to earn rewards, but manage your expectations.

3. Scrambly

Scrambly lets you earn small amounts through rewards for mobile games, app testing, offers, and sometimes surveys. It is similar to Freecash but focuses on games and apps.

Select an offer, complete the steps, and collect coins. Cash out rewards through available payout options.

Scrambly is easy for beginners and does not require freelancing skills. Sign up, browse available games or app offers, complete small tasks, and earn rewards.

Scrambly users can withdraw as little as $1. Payout options include PayPal, Visa, Amazon, Google Play, and Apple gift cards, based on availability. The platform is currently available in the US, Germany, and France.

4. Inbox Dollars

InboxDollars is a simple rewards site where users earn cash by completing online activities. Earn money with surveys, games, app testing, shopping through cashback deals, promotional emails, and advertiser tasks.

Many platforms use points, which can make it hard for beginners to track their earnings.

New users register, fill in their profile, select earning tasks, follow instructions, and claim cash. You must be a US citizen and 18+ to create an InboxDollars account.

Request payment via gift cards, PayPal, or Visa. You need at least $15 in your account for your first payout. After that, the minimum is $10

5. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a rewards site where users earn points (SB) for simple tasks. Complete surveys, play games, earn cashback, watch videos, search the web, finish offers, or use partner apps.

When they have gathered sufficient SB, users can cash in on gift cards or PayPal cash. Swagbucks states that 100 SB = $1, and the reward value varies based on what you choose, as mentioned in your first question. Some rewards start at around 300.

Swagbucks is a good place for new users. Sign up, fill your profile, perform tasks for SB, and redeem your SB.

Gift cards may include restaurants, stores, or PayPal cash. Swagbucks is a good option for students, freelancers, people who stay at home, or anyone looking to earn a little extra money.

It’s not rocket science, but it shouldn’t be your main source of income. Earnings are small, and some surveys or offers may reject users who do not fit the profile.

Swagbucks is available worldwide. The help page says people 13 or older can participate in supported locations.

Cash Back Apps

Cashback apps allow users to save money by earning a portion of their spend in shops, on groceries, on travel, or online.

These apps are popular since you earn rewards from your daily spending. Smart cashback use lowers spending and gives incremental value.

6. Pogo

Pogo is a cashback app that offers small bonuses for activities like scanning receipts, linking cards, playing games, completing offers, and taking surveys. It’s for those wanting extra cashback, not freelance work.

Pogo is simple for new users. Download the app, create an account. Earn money by scanning receipts or linking accounts so Pogo can track purchases.

Users earn points by scanning receipts, according to Pogo’s help page. You need to scan your receipts within 14 days of buying something. You can scan up to 25 receipts each week.

Pogo offers other earning methods besides cashback. Google Play details rewards via receipts, mobile games, and completing tasks in the app.

Pogo suits routine shoppers who want small rewards for receipts or daily spending. Do not use it for regular income; earnings are small, making it best for side rewards.

7. Capital One Shopping

Capital One Shopping is a free cashback, coupon, and price tool. It works through a browser extension and mobile app. Install it, shop as usual, and let Capital One Shopping search for coupons, lower prices, and rewards at online retailers.

The tool works with popular browsers. You can download the Capital One app for iOS and Android.

Capital One Shopping is easy for new users. Provide your email, download the extension or app, shop at supported stores, and let it find savings at checkout.

It will apply coupon codes and product prices from several retailers, plus Capital One Shopping Rewards, to qualifying transactions. Most of the time, you can redeem your rewards for gift cards instead of cash.

Best for online shoppers who want savings without searching for promo codes. It does not have earning tasks and is not a freelancing platform.

The main benefit is saving money. You earn rewards for buying products you were already planning to purchase.

Savings and rewards depend on the store, offer, and location. Capital One says available coupons may vary.

Capital One Shopping is a free cashback, coupon, and price tool that helps users save when shopping online. It works through a browser extension and mobile app.

After signing up, shop as usual. Capital One Shopping searches for coupons, better prices, and rewards at many sites. It works on major browsers and is available as an app for iOS and Android, according to Capital One.

Capital One Shopping is simple for new users. Someone signs up, downloads the extension or app, shops at participating stores, and allows the tool to search for savings at checkout.

Automatic application of coupon codes, price comparison across retailers, and Capital One Shopping Rewards on qualifying purchases. Usually, you can exchange your rewards for gift cards, not cash.

Best for: Regular online shoppers looking to save money without manually hunting down promo codes. It is not a task-based earning app like Freecash or Swagbucks, nor is it a freelancing platform. The biggest advantage is saving money and earning cashback on purchases they were already going to make.

8. Ibotta

Ibotta — Another cashback money-making app. A simple Cashback app that actually gives you real cash back, whether you are shopping online or in stores. Beyond grocery shopping, retail purchases, restaurants, and delivery orders, certain online stores are not primarily useful.

There is no earning from freelance work; users do not go and do freelance work to earn, they earn by receiving cashbacks on the purchases that they were going to make anyway.

Ibotta is easy to get started with as a new user. The user downloads the app, creates an account, adds cashback offers before shopping, buys the products they picked, and submits a receipt or links to their store loyalty account. Ibotta then matches it to several offers it has lined up, and the cashback is added to your account.

Earnings are withdrawable once users have a balance of $20 or more. Ibotta offers bank account transfers, PayPal, and digital gift cards as cash-out options (some gift cards may have a minimum amount).

Apps That Pay You to Invest

Investment apps allow you to earn rewards, bonuses, or cash in return for using the platform to help you develop good investing habits.

They may include sign-up bonuses, referral rewards, stock, or even cash back invested in portfolios. They simplify investing for newbies, though users need to know the risks they are taking before using them.

9. Fundrise

Fundrise is an online investing platform that gives individual investors access to alternative asset classes, including real estate, private credit, and startups.

Unlike cashback or survey apps, cashflow does not pay users to complete tasks. Instead, you invest your cash in Fundrise-managed funds and may earn cash over time from dividends, interest, appreciation, or fund performance.

When describing itself, Fundrise encapsulates the concept of a direct-access alternative asset manager, opening markets for the average investor that have traditionally been difficult to enter.

Fundrise is an easy solution for new users. Everything starts with a person opening an account, selecting an investment plan or fund, and putting in some cash. Fundrise then invests this capital in the chosen assets.

However, users can get started investing for as little as $10, making it more accessible than most traditional real estate investment options, according to Fundrise.

10. Robinhood

Robinhood is an investing and trading app where you can purchase and sell stocks, ETFs, options on financial properties, and crypto. While this is not like the cashback or survey apps, users do not earn money for completing tasks.

They look for ways to make money, perhaps through investing or trading in financial markets. Robinhood offers commission-free investing in stocks, ETFs, and options, wherever they are traded; however, other fees and charges may still apply based on transaction or account activity.

Robinhood is easy to learn for beginners. User opens an account, passes identity verification, deposits money, selects an investment, and subsequently buys or sells the trade on the application.

Robinhood is appealing because it offers a no-frills app for beginners that lets users invest without needing a traditional broker. That said, users should not consider this an income-generating app. This means stock prices, crypto prices, and options trades can rise or fall in value, potentially causing users to lose money.

If you’re looking to start taking control of your investments in stocks, ETFs, crypto, or options, Robinhood is mainly intended for you. It is helpful for long-term investing; however, amateurs should avoid trading until they are familiar with the market, as it involves risk. Options and crypto are even more dangerous because prices can change rapidly.

Apps That Connect You With Money-Making Gigs

Apps that connect you to money-making gigs help users find flexible work based on their skills, availability, and location. Such applications include tasks, delivery jobs, home Services, tutoring, or short-term projects on a freelance basis.

These can help you earn some extra income on the side without turning them into a full-time job.

11. Sharetown

A platform that allows individuals to earn money by collecting, storing, and reselling bulky returned products such as mattresses, furniture, fitness equipment, and other large items on a gig basis. This isn’t a survey or cashback app. It functions more like a side hustle where you open a local resale business based on reverse logistics.

Sharetown collaborates with brands and retailers struggling to manage oversized returns, then pairs them with local independent Sharetown Reps who pick up the items locally and resell them in their own area.

It’s an easy process, especially for newbies, but it is more physical than most earn-money apps. A user applies to be a Sharetown Rep, takes pickup orders via the app, retrieves returned items, stores them safely at home for resale, and gets paid after they sell.

According to the Sharetown app, it leads representatives “to physically pick up, store, sell, and make money with bulky products.

Good for: If you own a truck, cargo van, or SUV with a trailer, and you have a storage place and the capability to handle larger things, then Sharetown is ideal. You must be 18+, legally allowed to work in the United States, and Sharetown lists this as a core criterion for their reps.

When users can resell physical products, the earning potential can often be higher than that of a standard survey or rewards app. Your pickup schedule determines your monthly earning potential, the storage space in your vehicle, whether you sell a lot of clothes, and accessibility.

12. Airtasker

SeedFunds is an on-demand money-making platform similar to Airtasker, where people can make extra cash by helping other locals or online. You are not a survey or cashback app. It rather functions as a service marketplace where customers create jobs, and Taskers offer to carry them out.

Airtasker is a platform for tasks like cleaning, delivery, moving help, furniture assembly, handyman work, gardening, admin support & data entry, and design (+writing + business) — where people make money doing small jobs for others.

Airtasker also says that Taskers receive job opportunities for free, without paying a subscription or credit fee, so they can use the platform to earn a flexible income and grow their client base.

The process is straightforward for every new user. Customer posts a task with details and a budget. Taskers pitch for tasks, make offers to customers, and accept a price before completing the work (once the work is done, the customer releases payment).

Payments are processed in cashless mode and transferred to the Tasker’s verified bank account upon completion, according to Airtasker.

Airtasker is better suited to those who have a skill, transportation options, tools, or service experience. This can be really useful for cleaners, movers, handymen, delivery workers, and all sorts of roles, like virtual assistants, writers (for freelance jobs), designers, etc.

13. Wonolo

Wonolo is a gig-economy staffing platform where individuals can earn cash by filling local, short-term jobs. It’s not a survey, cashback, or an investment app.

Wonolo, on the other hand, focuses on matching businesses with workers seeking flexible work in sectors like warehousing, food production, merchandising, the cleaning and washing of various goods, and damage repair from one-off events – delivery being just one way to secure short-term labor. Wonolo was billed as a real-time, on-demand, ongoing, and temp-to-perm staffing platform.

Getting started is easy for beginners. This cycle just keeps going: a worker downloads the Wonolo app, fills out her profile, sees which jobs are available near her, selects and completes a shift, and gets paid.

According to the app listing, workers can “pick up shifts right away,” and pay is received whenever they want; however, whether any local businesses have jobs available at that time depends largely on demand and whether the worker meets the requirements.

Wonolo is great for those looking for local work that offers the flexibility to choose non-permanent jobs, rather than a full-time job. It can be beneficial for warehousing workers, cleaners, event staff, merchandisers, food production workers, and individuals needing extra income to bridge different jobs. But users should bear in mind that gigs might involve labor, on-time arrival, transportation, and dependability.

14. Oppizi

Oppizi is a Gig-based & money-making platform. The only difference is that you can earn from online to offline marketing campaigns. You can work by joining the platform as a Brand Ambassador.

This is not a survey, a cashback offer, or an investment application. Instead, it focuses on real-world fieldwork, including activities such as flyering, leafleting, door-to-door, and brand activation campaigns. Dubai startup Oppizi has dubbed itself an offline marketing platform for flyering, direct mail, and customer acquisition campaigns.

The flow is easy for new users. They will download the Oppizi app, sign up by entering their details, complete onboarding, and verify their particulars before they can select available missions to do flyer distribution work throughout designated areas. Before commencing work, Brand Ambassadors undergo either a video or a live onboarding session, according to Oppizi.

In Oppizi, users can earn cash by completing local missions and delivering leaflets in high-traffic areas, such as streets, college campuses, shopping areas, neighbourhoods, or events.

Commission is also awarded for some campaigns where people use the QR code or discount code from a flyer. Opizzi says that some flyer distributors in a few parts of the U.S. can make $ 23 an hour, plus commission, if they select performance-based campaigns.

Apps That Give You Money for Using Your Phone

Apps that connect you to money-making gigs help users find flexible work based on their skills, availability, and location. Such applications include tasks, delivery jobs, home Services, tutoring, or short-term projects on a freelance basis.

These can help you earn some extra income on the side without turning them into a full-time job.

15. MobileXpression

MobileXpression is another app that pays to complete surveys. This app lets you earn rewards by installing it on your phone and letting it collect information about how you use the internet on your mobile. Its not a survey app, a cashback app, a gig job, or an investment tool.

It pays users to enroll in a research panel and keep the app in the background while they use their phones as usual. According to MobileXpression, it’s used to install the software, claim earned credits every week, and receive eGift cards in exchange.

The process is simple for new users. MobileXpression (Picture: the person creates an account, installs the app, leaves it on their cellular device, and collects week-by-week credits to exchange them later for rewards.)

Its Google Play page says being a member lets you earn credits each week and redeem them for popular gift cards, with PayPal also listed in the rewards selection.

MobileXpression is better suited to passive earners, as there aren’t many surveys or tasks to complete. Privacy is a big deal, though. MobileXpression’s privacy policy says users “earn rewards by allowing us to collect, retain, sell and share personal information.”

16. Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel

Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel is a passive rewards program where you opt in to have Nielsen collect anonymous data on how you use the Internet from a computer or mobile device. That means it is neither a survey app, a cashback app, nor a gig-work or investment app.

It is not a tracking service; rather, it is owned by Nielsen to study public digital behavior, media consumption, and online trends. Nielsen aggregates participant data with many thousands of other users to derive research insights while maintaining individual anonymity.

It is easy for new users. To participate, a person registers for the panel and installs Nielsen’s software on their computer or mobile device (and keeps it running) in accordance with the device’s normal usage.

According to Nielsen’s tech FAQ, users earn points by keeping the Nielsen Mobile App installed and active while using the device normally.

17. Honeygain

Honeygain is an app that lets you earn passively; to earn, you need to share your unused internet connection.

They do not have a survey, cashback, gig-work, or investment platform. Instead, users install the Honeygain app on their device, leave it running in the background, and earn credits every time part of their unused internet connection is used for data-related tasks like web crawling/load testing, or content delivery.

As a new user, it is easy. Someone signs up for Honeygain, installs the application, keeps their device connected to the Internet, and lets Honeygain run quietly in the background. The user receives credits for the more eligible traffic it shares.

Honeygain states that earnings may vary depending on factors such as user location, traffic demand in that country, and the number of active Honeygain users simultaneously sharing the Internet.

Once Honeygain users earn $20 or 20,000 credits, they can request a payout. Payouts can currently be made via PayPal within the task.

Honeygain: Best for people with a stable internet connection who want an easy side-reward application. However, it should not be considered full-time income, as earnings are generally slow and largely dependent on traffic demand.

Apps That Pay You to Drive

Car for Money Apps are platforms that incentivize drivers to earn by using their personal vehicles for various services, including food delivery, passenger transport, package couriering, car advertising, and safe driving tracking.

These apps are attractive because drivers typically choose their hours and earn supplemental income with vehicles they already own.

While most users seek extra income, some depend on these apps for their livelihood. Earnings fluctuate based on location, demand, fuel prices, platform policies, and the time investment required.

18. Uber Eats

You earn for Uber Eats mostly based on delivery fare, tips, promotions, and demand — distance, time, and place are what Uber takes into consideration.

Uber stated that earnings are shown in the app and tracked, and delivery payments are generally transferred automatically (and most places have weekly payment options).

Uber Eats is geared towards people who want local work that can be turned on and off, have a vehicle to drive between deliveries, a smartphone, and safe time delivery limits. Good for students, part-time workers, Uber Eats is geared towards people who want local work that can be turned on and off, have a vehicle to drive between deliveries, a smartphone, and safe time delivery limits.

19. DoorDash

DoorDash is a gig-oriented food delivery app that pays individuals to deliver meals from restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, and other local establishments. The platform’s workers are known as Dashers. It is neither another survey, cashback, nor a passive income app. Instead, it is a delivery job where users earn money by accepting and making orders.

As for new users, it is easy. Someone registers to be a Dasher, goes through the approval process, opens up the Dasher app, accepts delivery offers listed in their area, grabs your order from a restaurant or store, and delivers it to you all while being paid.

Dashers generally need a smartphone and transportation, such as a car, bike, scooter, or motorcycle; car requirements may vary by location.

DoorDash typically pays base*, customer tips, and promotions. According to DoorDash, Dashers keep 100 percent of customer tips, and promotions add income to select orders or during peak times. In select areas, we offer “Earn by Time,” where Dashers earn based on the time they spend actively delivering (in addition to tips and promotions).

Hi, I'm Showkat, a personal finance expert entrepreneur passionate about helping people or students discover new ways to earn money online and save money. As the co-founder of SavetheGuide, I’ve shared insights on Finance, Make Money, and Online Guide to empower readers.

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