The best apps and websites to make quick money on your phone
A few years ago I lost my job and while job hunting I decided to give something new a try. In the past iv worked at quite a few different types of jobs. Iv worked retail (college bookstore, a outdoor/tool store, and a liquor store), I've worked food service (hostess and a popular food truck), a hotel (laundry, housekeeping, and happy hour), a factory (machine operator), telemarketing (cold calling), data collection/market research.
I didn't really know what I wanted to do but I talked to my cousin and she works for a big retail merchandising company and goes to different retail locations to put out all the new greeting cards and straighten the product to make their brand look nice. This conversation had me looking for positions doing retail merchandising and it wasn't long before I had my first interview.
Me and retail merchandising clicked. I was hooked. Not just on the job, but the lifestyle change suited who i am! Iv never been a morning person and with this job, I work when I want, do what I want, and work where I want. The best part, it's so independent! Obviously these circumstances can be different depending on which company you work for but I pretty much had it made!
Then my hours got cut. Territories change, contracts change, holidays end and things die down. The hours at these jobs are a hit or miss and can change at any time. Because of this, I had to get a 2nd job. Well I wasn't giving up this lifestyle so I found another job doing retail merchandising.
One day my life decided to come crashing down on me. I needed to make money and i needed to do it quick. Iv always enjoyed passively making money on my phone but all of a sudden I needed to make up for as much missed work as possible so I dug deep into all of the apps, reviews, strategies, ect..
I can't even tell you how many apps and websites I tested. Some were great, some were not so great.
To hopefully help others avoid the crash course that I endured, I decided to share how things went for me. Hopefully then you can jump right to making money!
A lot of these apps and websites have multiple ways to make money so I'll briefly explain each.
I am personally not affiliated or employed by any of these websites or any others not mentioned. I created this with my own time just to help others out because I used a lot of guides like this while finding all of these sites but none of them were really quite to the point or has such a variety.
I won't put any affiliate links/codes or referral links/codes in the direct links to each app or website, but im going to add the codes or links at the end of each one. If you want to sign up for any of them, use of the codes and links is much appreciated because there is most likely some sort of bonus in it for both of us! If you do use them, Thank you in advance!
Cashback Apps.
Cashback Apps all have the same concept so im not really going to go into these much. They all have a certain percentage that they will give you back for making purchases on eligible websites. You MUST place your order through these apps to be able to get cash back! You cannot just go on a stores website and expect to get it. Most of these do have browser extensions which do make the process easier and also usually automatically find coupons for you!
*Almost all of these types of websites/apps have a sign-up bonus as well!
Rakuten- Decent cashback rates and has promo codes and coupons.
BeFrugal- One of my personal favorites. Usually has higher cashback rates than most.
Top Cashback- Usually has a higher cashback rate than others.
Coupon Cabin- This one is kinda cool. There are deals where members can get for example, $100 back on your purchases of $100 or more on amazon. Or $50 back on your purchases of $50 or more at Kohls. Be careful though! These offers are limited and you can only redeem 1 of them each month so dont go spending your money all willy nilly expecting to get all of it back! They also are a great site to find coupons and promo codes. Even if you shop in store! I always go on there when I buy dog food because you can claim a rebate and then email them a picture of your reciept and they'll add the rebate to your account!
RetailMeNot- Great for promo codes and also has cashback.
***Cashback Monitor is a GREAT way to make sure your getting the most cash back on all of your purchases. You can go on this website and type in a store and it will list all of the different websites/apps that are currently offering Cashback for that specific store and tells you how much each of them are currently offering!
Receipt Scanning Apps.
You won't get rich off of these but the majority of them are super easy to do and for me personally when I need gas and dont have money or something its nice to be able to jump on one of these and cashout! Keep in mind, with any apps listed within this guide and many apps not listed, you dont always get your money instantly! Some of them can day 2 or 3 days and some take up to a week!
Ibotta- Links to your accounts with certain retailers to automatically scan for eligible purchases. Warns you if you missed cash back and gives you a set amount of time to claim it before it's to late. Scan photos of receipts with eligible products from eligible retailers to earn cash back. Has a referral and sign up bonus. Referral code- YHBYOQP ($5 bonus)
Receipt Hog- Has a point system which can be exchanged for gift cards to paypal redemption. Links to your email and certain retailers to scan for digital receipts. Scan photos of receipts to earn points.
*Seems to have technical errors, sometimes my digital receipts don't show up and then one day it will show over 100 digital receipts to submit. It's like it doesn't find them all the time right away. Referral code- fang4037
Receipt Pal- Scans linked accounts and emails for digital reciepts. You can also submit photos of reciepts for points. Points can be exchanged for gift cards or paypal redemption. As of recently, you can play games for points as well.
Fetch- Uses a point system to exchange for giftcards or paypal redemption. Links to certain retailers as well as email to automatically scan for digital receipts. Has a list of retailers and products that offer high points. These items are always changing. You can also play games and do surveys to earn points. The games part of this app has a lot of high points rewards and can be very beneficial to earning points towards your cashout. Also, if you shop right in their app, you can get a set amount of points for each $1 you spend which can really build up quick. If you shop on Temu or Shein, you'll love this feature. Referral code- 5K563Q (2000 bonus points)
Pogo- Links to your email and debit/credit cards and gives you points for each purchase made. Points can be exchanged for giftcards or paypal redemption. You do have to go on the app to individually claim your points which is super easy and quick to do. You can also submit photos of receipts for set amounts of points.
*Easy and passive
Referral link (250 bonus points)
Bridge Money- Links to your debit and credit cards and gives you points for each purchase. You have to go on the app to claim your points. Exchange points for gift cards or paypal redemption.
*Easy and passive
Coinout- Links to your accounts to scan for digital reciepts or submit photos for points.
*This is another one I have issues with sometimes. For whatever reason it disconnects from my email a lot so I have to reconnect it often and its just kinda annoying. I still use the app so it must not be to bad.
Checkout 51- Cashback on specific products. The items are changing all the time but they have limits to how many people can redeem them so check often! My cashback is automatically sent directly to my PayPal account.
*Swagbucks*Inbox dollars*My points*
I grouped these 3 together because somehow they are internally linked and you'll find out if you submit a reciept to one of them, you will NOT be able to submit the same reciept to another one of them. Because of this, its best to pick 1 to use so that all of your cashback can accumulate in the 1 app rather than having 3 apps with random bits of cashback in each. Each of these apps also have games and surveys you can do for money as well as being able to shop for cashback. I have found that the games is the most profitable aspect of these apps.
Frisbee- Links to your credit and debit cards and gives you a set amount of points for every purchase made. Be sure to claim your points because if you dont they will expire in 14 days!
*passive and easy! But sometimes glitch, crashes a lot.
Brandclub- Brandclub links to specific accounts and scans your purchases for eligible cash back. I love this for my Walmart grocery shopping! There is pretty much always cashback coming my way! Every day you can take up to 3 short surveys which will give you from .20-.40 each. Doesn't sound like much but .40x3=$1.20 per day. $1.20 per day × 365 days in a year=$438. Them small amounts add up! Keep in mind, your cashback can expire on here! You need a minimum of $10 to cash out so I usually do when I hit that mark so I don't have to worry about it expiring. You can also find special deals for amazon!
Referral link ($5 bonus)
Shopkick-This one has some different opportunities. You can earn points as cashback for purchasing certain products which change all the time. It links to your retail accounts and automatically checks for purchases. You can also earn points just for going to some stores like Walmart, dollar general, target, and Walgreens. While your there, there is a list of items that you can scan and each item gives points and some will have a quick bonus video for more points. This one can be quick gift cards if you scan products while your there. (I love this app because as a retail merchandiser im at the stores anyway). Also if you go into the feed sometimes you can find videos to watch for points as well.
*referral code- SAVE691543
Game Apps
There are so many of these apps I could comment on and a lot of the apps you find like this just are not worth your time. I'm just going to comment on the apps where you will earn the most money for your time. Every game app you use to make money a lot of the time will have goals that are just impossible to complete. Make sure you do some quick research to see how others experiences have gone. It's pretty easy to decide this way which games are worth it.
Scrimpr- Another GREAT comparison website to make sure your getting the most value for the offer you want to do. Compares how much each app is currently paying for each offer.
Swagbucks- Uses a point system to exchange for gift cards or paypal redemption. Great for games and the offers are constantly changing. I always check reddit to see what the easiest ones are to complete and people also share tips and guides to help you complete your goals within the time frame. You can also claim offers for reciepts and do surveys, there is Cashback options for shopping online, and many other ways to earn.
Kashkick- Another one of my favorites for games. Has high payouts and easy and cash outs but sometimes has limited options for games.
Freecash- I actively use this app daily and in less than a months time I was able to cashout around $300. I do not constantly sit and play games on my phone, I do have jobs and stuff so I was pretty happy earning that much in that amount of time. I have seen others earn way more and others earn way less. I have also seen mixed reviews about their customer service and having issues with goals not being tracked properly but personally I have not had this problem. You can also do surveys and there are a few other ways to earn money on here but games are the best route.
*Cashout to Paypal usually takes less than 30 minutes
*Cashout to Stake and get an extra 40% earnings!
Rewarded Play- This app i don't think enough people actually know about or haven't tried long enough to see how absolutely beneficial it is!! I tried this app years ago and I was so confused. I just didn't get it and I gave up. Now a couple years ago I downloaded it again and actually paid attention and used some common sense while navigating the app and WOW. It uses a point system which can be exchanged for giftcards. You earn the points by playing games and reaching goals but you also get points just for playing for a couple minutes every day. There is a daily goal and if you reach that goal the next days bonus reward is even higher. When I actually play to my daily goal every day, I claim a $5 Amazon giftcard every 1-2 days. I cannot express how EASY this app is! You can also do surveys for points and customer service has been GREAT!
*Redemption takes usually 1-3 days!
Others
Cash Walk- This app is very passive. As long as you have your phone in your pocket it counts your steps and for every 100 steps you can claim a point. Once you get enough points you can claim gift cards. There are bonus videos to watch on the app for extra points every day. You can also play games and complete offers from partnered platforms to earn extra points.
*This app has a lock screen you can activate to easily claim your points. It is extremely annoying sometimes but it's very much worth it. You get used to it pretty quick.
Atlas Earth- This one takes some time and patience to get going. Im a couple years in and very low on the profit side of it but I also dont use it as much as I could. If you go on the app every day and claim your atlas bucks and start purchasing virtual real estate, you eventually can claim real "rent" its not much but its a nice couple hundred $$ a year once you get to that point! There are also games and surveys to help you speed things up a bit!
Mercari- I always hesitated to sell things online because I thought it would be so much more complicated than it really is. You cant really get around fees but mercari has one of the lowest fees iv seen and in about a year of selling, I. Pocketed about $3,000!! Decluttered the things I never use, someone else is benefiting from them, and I got some money in the end!
*Funds are released via ACH and can take about a week to actually hit your bank account. Cashing out earlier in the week can speed this up since banks are limited on the weekends!
Google Opinion Rewards- I wish I had known about this one a long time ago! If you allow all the permissions, randomly you will get quick surveys on your Google search results or on places you recently visited. Usually 1-10 questions and depending on how in depth you go the reward ranges from .10-2.00 for each one completed. You can also submit reciepts for a few cents. It all automatically goes on your Google play balance which you cannot cash out but is super nice to have when you play some of the games on like swagbucks or freecash or something and you want to make an ingame purchase!
Reklaim- Reklaim is another passive rewards app. You add your email and phone number and shows you what I formation and data companies collect on you and then essentially let's you "reklaim" some rewards for it. Every Thursday you go on the app and claim your weekly "data royalties" in the form of points and these points can be exchanged for gift cards or paypal redemption.
Evidation- Another passive app, evidation let's you link certain health apps and devices and it tracks health aspects of your life. You can go on there and earn points for reading informative health articles and you can even share your feedback and experience with different health related topics. There are daily multiple choice questions you can answer such as how you slept the night before and how your quality of life is and it records your answers for you to look back on. Once you get enough points you can exchange them for gift cards.
Microtask/Gig
Clickworker- Clickworker has quite a few tasks for it but they don't pay super high. There are always things on there to compare AI voices and choose which one you like best. Like I said kinda minimal pay, but it adds up. If your not doing anything else with your time this is a good one to use. They also have tasks where you do shelf audits in stores. Heads up, Iv had nothing but issues doing these and it totally drains my battery before I even finish the task.
Uri Research- URI is bigger pay but more time consuming. This one is focus groups and studies. You have to apply and some of the tasks can take a week but its so worth it. The only downside is they are more focused on specific people depending on where work or your lifestyle. They also have very limited opportunities to choose from until new ones come. Iv seen pay for tasks ranging from $20-$700.
Respondent- Very similar to URI Research. A lot of focus groups, quick video interviews, even some in-store studies. Pay is pretty great but you have to apply and quality.
FocusGroups.org- Again, very similar to URI Research and Respondent. Higher pay, longer tasks, and you must apply. All 3 apps are very much worth it though.
Appen Crowdgen- Appen is a really cool one. They have a lot of different types of focus groups and studies. You apply for them and if your approved the pay can be from $20-$500. A lot of them are zoom calls or zoom focus groups and group discussions. Some are 1on1 interviews. All the details are on each task page.
Amazon Turk- This is one of the more well known ones which is why I put it on here but honestly, im not a fan. Iv done a lot of the gig work apps and this one just has such little pay for each task and you have to qualify for a lot of them. Iv found that this one in my case was just not worth my time.
Field agent- This app isn't as great as it used to be but in bigger cities it might be better than where I am. This one has you go into stores and do photo audits and other quick tasks like photographing displays. There is big potential here when the opportunities are available!
Premise- Very similar to field agent, premise has in store tasks. This one also doesn't seem to have as many opportunities as it used to but again may be better in bigger areas. One of my favorite premise tasks is, they will have a category, for example sunscreen, and you scan barcodes to see if they have info on that product or not. If they dont, you take pictures of each side of the item and any labels and you get paid $3-$5 for each product they dont already have. Also big potential here when opportunities are available.
Outlier- I'm fairly new to this one and you do have to pass some on boarding tests but it seems a lot harder than it really is and you find out right away if you pass or not. It takes a few days to get set up on projects sometimes because you actually have a manager and they manually add you to the projects but this is a good one for some work at home cash.
Telus International- Fairly similar to Outlier. You do have to apply for each project and do a screener as well as get "hired" for the project but sometimes there is a lot of work available.
Others
Amazon vine-
This one wont make you money but it can absolutely save you money!
This program is GREAT, sometimes. But when it's great it's seriously great! It's an invite only platform through amazon. You start out at silver tier and can claim up to 3 items are day with a maximum value of 100 for each item, in exchange for a review. Once your evaluation period is up, you can reach gold tier where you get to choose up to 8 items a day with no maximum value per item. Im not even kidding when I say that things that cost $500 or even more pop up on there all the time! The downside, you have to fill out a 1099 and pay taxes on the items when tax season comes. They tell you what the estimated taxable value is so you know what your getting into before you order but hands down, I love this program. Iv ordered over $6,000 in items in 6 months.
Iv tried just about every app I have come across and if they made this list, you should know about them. If their not on here it's most likely because it just isn't worth it. There is always a chance that I don't know about it! If I missed something that you think should be on this list, leave a comment so I can check it out!
If it's worth it I'll add it to this list, as well as any others I find!
*This is my first ever blog post and at the time of writing this I really had no idea how to go about this. So. If I made any mistakes or links don't properly work, im sorry! Feedback is much appreciated! But, my last addition to this list,
Blogging-
I'm just trying this route out so, we'll see how it goes!!
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