It is now easier than ever to make money from the comfort of your smartphone with these money making apps.
If you are looking for a change in your financial life starting today, these top money making apps are your best bet to start you off on the path to financial freedom.
These money-making apps won’t make you a millionaire but, if you use them well enough they will be enough to ease your financial burden.
Plus, these are legit money making apps you that require very little investment in time and money.
Here’s a list of some of the money making apps I dug up:
1. Nielsen App
What is Nielsen App?
It is a market research app that pays its users for the information they provide.
How To Use Nielsen App
All you have to do is install the Nielsen Mobile and Computer Panel on your device to start earning.
Nielsen is one of the best money making apps that will help you to start making some passive income today.
The app works in the background collecting data and sending it to Nielsen.
How Much Can You Make With Nielsen App?
Nielsen uses a points-based reward system for people who install the app on their smartphones.
You are then required to accumulate points which can be redeemed for gift cards at retailers like Amazon, Starbucks and Target.
The points are added to your account every month. You can expect to earn up to $50 in rewards yearly for each registered mobile device.
If you want to redeem your points earlier than this, you’ll have to accumulate about 800 points, which translates to about $5.
You can redeem these points for gift cards. There is no option to receive cash via Paypal.
How to Get Started with Nielsen App
Signing up for Nielsen is easy, fast and free. All you need to get started is your email address. The signup process is simple too, taking less than 15 minutes.
2. Inboxdollars
What is Inboxdollars?
Inboxdollars is an app that pays its users in cash for completing surveys. They also offer a sign up bonus.
How to Use InboxDollars
First, you need to signup using your email address. The process is fast and easy and will earn you the $5 sign up bonus they offer.
You’ll be required to answer a few demographic questions to complete this process.
To earn rewards, you’ll need to take surveys and other tasks like online games, videos and shopping through InboxDollars will earn you money.
How Much Can You Make With InboxDollars?
The amount of money you’ll earn depends on the amount of time you spend in your account.
The more time you spend filling out surveys and engaging with other offers, the better you’ll earn.
Surveys will pay out anything from a few cents to a few dollars at a time.
However, they take some time to complete. Also, you may not qualify for all of them.
To cash out, you’ll need to accumulate about $30 in your account. It takes about 2 weeks for you to receive your payment.
Getting Started With InboxDollars
You can get started with InboxDollars by going through their signup process. It’s 100% free and will take you less than 10 minutes.
3. Vindale Research
What is Vindale Research?
This is one of the market research apps that pay for the feedback they provide through online surveys and product survey opportunities.
How to Use Vindale Research
Once you sign up, there is a range of online activities you can participate in to earn rewards.
For instance, you can complete surveys, watch ads, participate in panels, look for reward codes or read emails.
These activities have low payout amounts, however, if you participate in as many of them as you can, you will reach the payment threshold quickly.
There is no limit to the number of surveys you can take each day. However, you may not qualify for all the surveys.
How Much Can You Make With Vindale Research
There is no limit to the amount you can earn with Vindale Research. It all depends on the number of activities you participate in.
You must, however, reach the $50 payment threshold to receive your payout.
Getting Started With Vindale Research
You start by creating your Vindale Research Login. You can use your Google login to hasten the process.
It will take you less than 5 minutes to complete your profile and answer some demographic questions(relationship status, annual household income).
There is a $1 bonus for completing your profile. The more complete your profile is, the more opportunities you’ll have to earn increasing rewards.
4. MobileXpression
What is MobileXpression?
MobileXpression is also one of the market research apps that pay its users for providing information about the trends and behaviours of average, everyday internet users.
How to Use Mobilexpression
All you’ll have to do is install the MobileXpression app on your phone or tablet to get started.
The app works silently in the background collecting information about your mobile phone usage.
Some of the information that is tracked includes the websites you visit, app usage, shopping habits and more.
How much can you make with MobileXpression?
When you join MobileXpression, you’ll automatically receive an entry into a $100,000 sweepstake.
One lucky participant wins $100 every month and will also be given the chance to win up to $100,000.
Within the first week, you qualify for a $5 Amazon gift card. MobileXpression rewards you weekly for keeping the app installed.
How To Join MobileXpression
To become a member, you must be at least 18 years old. You should also have a mobile device compatible with the MobileXpression app.
Just download the app, follow the signup process and you’re done.
5. Panda Research
What is Panda Research?
Panda Research is among the money making apps its users for doing every day online activities like taking surveys, completing paid surveys and much more.
How To Use Panda Research
This site works like many other survey sites.
The first thing to do is to create your very own account. Once your account has been activated, you’ll start receiving surveys to participate in.
Survey invites are sent directly to your email address so be sure to check your emails regularly.
For you to take part in any survey, you’ll first need to qualify for it.
Panda Research’s qualification process entails filling a questionnaire to determine whether you are a perfect match for the survey.
Unfortunately, you won’t qualify for every survey you are nominated to take. Panda Research only pays you for completed surveys.
When you complete a survey, Panda Research credits your account with the survey’s payout.
How Much Can You Make With Panda Research?
Just like other survey sites, the amount you can make depends on the number of surveys you qualify for.
You can typically expect to make about $5 to $10 per week on this platform.
Most surveys will take you about 10 to 15 minutes and can make you between $1.50 and $3.00.
There are higher-paying surveys also. However, these will take you an hour or more to complete.
There are also highest-paying surveys that could pay up to $75.
As you would expect, they are rare to qualify for and will take you several hours to qualify for.
How To Join Panda Research
It is simple. Just head to their home page and fill out the information in the free sign up form.
Make sure to give the correct email address since this is where you’ll be receiving survey invitations and paid emails.
You can unsubscribe at any time if you think the site is not right for you.
Upon completing your profile and registration, you immediately qualify to receive a $3 bonus.
6. Paribus
What is Paribus?
Paribus is a price adjustment app that helps online shoppers to earn refunds on the items they buy.
It is an app that helps shoppers take advantage of price drops on items they recently purchased.
How to Use Paribus
You first have to install this price tracking app on your mobile device. It is available for both android and iOS devices.
To get refunds, you first have to sync it to your email account.
The app scans your receipts and negotiates with online retailers on your behalf to have the difference refunded if there has been a price drop shortly after you bought an item.
All you have to do to earn this refund is shop as you normally do and Paribus will do the rest.
The app works in the background monitoring for opportunities to get some of your money back.
And whenever the opportunity arises, Paribus will file price adjustment claims on your behalf. Paribus allows you to keep 100% of the money you earn as cashback.
The app is 100% free to use. However, it requires you to grant it full access to your email address.
How Much Can You Make With Paribus?
This will depend on how heavy an online shopper you are. The more you shop online, the higher the earnings you are eligible to get.
You’ll probably make a few bucks per month. Nothing more than that.
How to Join Paribus
After downloading the app, you first sign up using the email where the majority of your shopping receipts will go.
The app will then scan this email and check for rebate opportunities.
Related: Best Money Making Apps in 2020 (Make Money on Your Phone)
7. Uber
What is Uber?
Uber is a ride sharing app that offers a great alternative to conventional taxis.
It is one of the best money making apps due to the flexibility it affords users.
How to Use Uber
You must be of legal age to drive in your city, have an eligible mode of transportation, and the required documents, for example, a valid driver’s license.
You then have to have the uber driver app installed on your phone.
The app’s dashboard will help you find customers and keep track of important information like payments and updates.
How Much Can You Make With Uber?
The money you make with Uber depends on when, where, and how often you drive.
Uber drivers make up to $19 per hour on average.
This amount varies greatly from one driver to another, as it depends on the type of vehicle you use and the area you drive in.
Uber calculates your pay weekly. They do this by adding up your trip fares, cancellation fees, promotions, referral awards and tolls.
They then subtract any Uber fees, vehicle fees and device subscriptions where applicable.
How To Join Uber
Joining Uber is easy. You can do this through their homepage.
You will have to create a profile by filling the required information.
Then, upload your documents which includes vehicle registration certificates, driver’s license and more.
Finally, submit your banking details. Then, wait for confirmation.
8. Lyft
What is Lyft?
Lyft, just like Uber, is a ride-sharing app that offers a great side hustle opportunity for any licensed driver.
How to Use Lyft
The Lyft app has everything you need.
How much can you make with Lyft?
You get paid according to the time and distance a trip takes.
Plus, you get to keep all of your tips and bonuses. Per-minute and per-mile rates vary by city.
The amount you stand to earn with Lyft depends on the number of rides you successfully complete.
On average, Lyft drivers make an average of $8.55 and $11.77 per hour.
There are different ways to get paid with Lyft like Direct Pay, Express Pay, and Weekly Pay.
How to Join Lyft
Applying to be a driver is easy. However, you and your vehicle should meet Lyft requirements first.
Create a Lyft account through the app or on the web at lyft.com.
Enter your name, email address, and phone number, then submit all the info needed to ensure you meet all the requirements.
Lyft driver applicants are subjected to background checks that take several weeks to process.
9. HealthyWage
What is HealthyWage?
HealthyWage is one of the money making apps that pay you to achieve their weight loss goals.
How To Use HealthyWage
It is easy to use. All you have to do is to follow a simple four-step process.
You first have to use their Prize calculator to calculate your potential winnings.
Do this by entering your stats and your goal and the algorithm will generate a number for you.
You then make your bet by adjusting your goal weight, how much you are willing to wage and the time you expect your challenge to take.
After this, now comes the fun part. Losing weight.
You have to stay on track throughout the contest with weekly weigh-ins and support from fellow contestants.
If/when you meet your goal, you win your prize. It’s that straightforward.
How Much Can You Make With HealthyWage?
The amount you stand to make depends on the amount you are willing to stake or bet per month, your weight loss goal and the amount of time you will be taking to achieve your goal.
Each contestant’s prize looks different. This is because HealthyWage uses a “proprietary algorithm” that generates figures unique to your input.
The average prize for goal achievers is about $1,331.
How To Join HealthyWage
Signing up for HealthyWage is simple. You can either go to their homepage or you can use their mobile app to sign up.
All you are required to have is a valid email address.
10. Airbnb
What is Airbnb?
Airbnb is an online marketplace that lets home owners rent their space/property to guests.
How to Use Airbnb
Airbnb leaves almost all the aspects of hosting to you. Airbnb lets you control how you host.
They let you set the prices, dictate the hours you want to host and establish rules for your space.
You can advertise your space to millions all over the globe.
Airbnb helps you create the perfect profile by asking you the questions that guests want to know when booking.
When setting up your account, you’ll describe details like what makes your space special, like any quirks they can expect.
Airbnb also gives you help along the way if you are having trouble getting booked.
You can get advice on settings, prices and other updates that will help you to get booked faster.
They also have an experienced community that will help you get help faster.
How Much Can You Make With Airbnb?
On average, Airbnb hosts can expect to make about $ 900 a month.
This income can vary dramatically depending on your location, how frequently you rent out your space and the quality of the space and services you provide.
If you have the space to rent out, it can be one of the best money making apps to sign up for.
How to Join Airbnb
Joining Airbnb is not complicated. To get started, go to the Airbnb host page.
Enter basic information about your listing by following the prompt questions.
The details you give about your space are critical for guests when they will be choosing a place to stay in.
11. Getaround
What is Getaround?
It is an online car-sharing service that allows drivers to rent cars from private car owners at a fee.
This is one of the money making apps will help you take advantage of the sharing economy if you have an extra car lying around.
How To Use Getaround
When you sign up and qualify to have your car listed, Getaround installs a device in your vehicle that enables their app to unlock it, lock it and track the location of the car.
Renters can access the car without ever meeting the owner.
Getaround allows you to schedule times when your car is available with an online calendar tool.
With this service, you’ll always know where your car is while it is rented.
Renters pick up your car from wherever it is parked and then drop it off at the same point they picked it up from.
When you list your vehicle on Getaround, you can get paid when you’re not using it.
For example, you can have your car listed on Getaround if you own a car you rarely use or travel frequently and leave your car at home.
How Much Can You Make With Getaround?
With Getaround, renters can have your car for as little as one hour and for as long as you avail it.
Hourly rental rates normally range from $6 – $10/hour.
Getaround lets you keep 60% of the rental rate while they keep the rest.
Car owners are paid once in a month by either check or PayPal.
Every rental includes full insurance and roadside assistance for your car, so your car is always covered.
How to Join Getaround
You can join Getaround through their app or homepage. For your vehicle to be eligible, it must meet some requirements like:
- It must be well maintained.
- Be model year 2010 or newer.
- Have fewer than 125,000 miles.
- Must not seat more than 8 passengers.
12. Drop App
What is Drop?
Drop is an intuitive app that allows you to earn gift cards from the money you spend shopping at your favourite stores.
How To Use Drop
Earning rewards on drop is easy.
You first have to download the Drop app. It is available for both Android and iOS devices.
Then sign up and link a card you regularly use when shopping.
The app works by lining up purchases you make on your card with offers you connect on the Drop app.
You don’t have to worry about rewards cards or logging in anywhere.
All you have to do is link your card and go about your normal business while Drop earns you points in the background.
After connecting your card, you’ll be prompted to choose your five favourite brands.
These are usually the more popular brands like Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Target and others. You can only choose these brands once so choose wisely.
There are a few bonus offers you can choose from(if you want to) too. These offers allow you to earn extra points by completing the selected tasks.
Drop gives you some initial points for completing the sign up process.
How Much Can You Make With Drop?
How much you can earn will depend on how often you shop at your chosen stores.
Also, different brands have different points systems.
For example, Starbucks gets you 12 points per $1 spent, Dunkin Donuts 14 points per $1 spent and Target 8 points per $1 spent.
Once you have accumulated a minimum of 5000 points, you can begin to redeem them for gift cards at various retailers.
5000 points will get you a $5 gift card, 6000 gets you $6 and so on.
How To Join Drop
It is simple and straightforward. You can go to the Drop website and enter your phone number or just download the app.
Create your profile, link a credit or debit card and you’re done. All that is required of you after this is to shop at your favourite brands to start earning points.
13. Acorns
What is Acorns?
Acorns is a fintech micro-investing app that allows users to set up automated investments and portfolios.
It is one of the best money making apps because it presents you with an opportunity to invest in low risk, diversified portfolios.
It is a real money making app that allows you to save and make some money at the same time.
How to Use Acorns
The Acorns app rounds up your spending to the nearest dollar and invests the difference.
All you have to do is link a credit card and a checking account, and Acorns will do the rest for you.
There are two different ways you can invest money using Acorns.
First, is by making a lump sum or recurring deposit.
This way, all you have to do is transfer your selected amount from your bank to your investment account.
Another way to invest is through Acorns “round-ups.” After connecting your debit or credit cards, you can set up the app to “round-up” your purchases and invest the difference.
For example, if you spend $2.40 on coffee, Acorns will invest $0.60.
Acorns automatically recommends a portfolio to choose. You can change the portfolio depending on how much risk you would like.
You have to start off with an initial investment amount of not less than $5.
Acorns costs $1/month for accounts less than $5000 and 0.25%/year on those over than that.
However, if you are a student, or are 18-23 years of age, it’s free.
How Much Can You Make With Acorns?
The amount you stand to make with Acorns depends on the amount you have invested, and also the asset classes you have in your portfolio.
Boosting your investment account balance is, therefore, the key to earning more on Acorns.
You can do this by adding a larger lump sum payment to your account balance with an automatic transfer from your bank, for instance.
The app also allows you to add a multiplier to your round-ups.
How to Join Acorns
Signing up for an Acorns investment is easy. You just have to follow a simple three-step process which starts with downloading the app or signing up on the web.
Then, choose a Round-up account. This account allows you to pick the transactions you want to round up and invest the change.
There is a selection of popular banks you can choose from including Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Chase, BoA, etc.
Log in to your chosen bank using your online sign-in credentials. Then, click the account you want to use in your round-ups.
The second step is to link your checking account to your Acorns account.
This is the account from which funds will be transferred into your Acorns account.
The final step is to create an investment account. You will be required to fill in a few details and you’re done.
Acorns will ask you for information about your income, risk tolerance and financial goals.
14. Book scouter
What is Bookscouter?
Bookscouter is a tool that helps college students to buy (and sell) textbooks at the best prices.
It helps you to scan through several sites selling these books to find the best bargain.
And because of this, I consider it one of the most amazing money making apps.
How To Use Bookscouter
At the Bookscouter website, click the ‘Vendors’ tab to see the list of all the vendors at Bookscouter.
There is also a search bar for the ISBN code of your book.
Enter your book’s ISBN to find out the resale value of your book from different vendors.
You can then compare the prices and choose the option that offers the highest for your book.
When choosing a vendor, it is important to read the reviews of other customers who have dealt with that vendor to get an idea of how good that dealer is.
Once you have chosen a dealer to go with, proceed to get a free shipping label to ship your books.
Keep in mind that for your books to sell, they have to be in good condition. You also have to make sure that you package your shipment correctly.
You will receive your payment once the dispatched book has reached the vendor. Vendors use either PayPal or Check.
How Much Can You Make With Bookscouter?
Depending on the demand your book has, you can expect to at least turn a small profit. On average, you can earn about $10-$20 on a single book.
How To Join Bookscouter
To start selling books on Bookscouter, go to the Bookscouter website or the Bookscouter app.
15. Sweatcoin
What is Sweatcoin?
Sweatcoin is one of the best money making apps that tracks your movement and pays you for it.
How To Use Sweatcoin
Sweatcoin pays you depending on the number of steps you take per day with a corresponding amount in ‘Sweatcoins’.
Sweatcoins are a digital currency that works similarly to the cash in your digital wallets and e-payment apps.
These sweatcoins can be used in different methods and transactions.
Once you have downloaded the app on your smartphone or wearable and complete the registration process, you can start walking to rack up the steps.
The app tracks using an algorithm that uses data from GPS and movement sensors on your phone.
For every 1000 steps you take, you’ll earn one sweatcoin. You’ll receive 95% of its value and Sweatcoin keeps the rest.
Once you have accumulated enough sweatcoins to shop, you can go to the Sweatcoin marketplace in the app to see what you can buy.
There is a wide range of offers and products you can buy. Anything from gadgets to clothes can be bought from the marketplace.
How Much Can You Make With Sweatcoin?
If you want to make lots of Sweatcoin, you’ll have to get out and get walking. The more steps you take, the more Sweatcoin you rack up.
However, Sweatcoin limits the number of coins you can earn per day.
They also charge you if you want to upgrade the number of coins you want to earn.
Sweatcoin offers the following plans:
Mover(Free): Allows the user to earn up to 5 sweatcoins per day.
Shaker: Lets the user earn up to 10 sweatcoins per day (costs 4.75 sweatcoins/month).
Quaker: Allows you to earn up to 15 sweatcoins per day (costs 20 sweatcoins/ month).
Breaker: You can earn up to 20 sweatcoins per day with this one (costs 30 sweatcoins/month).
How To Join Sweatcoin
It’s easy. All you need to do is to download the Sweatcoin app on your phone or wearable.
16. Slidejoy
What is Slidejoy?
Slidejoy is a lock screen is app that pays you for displaying content on your lock screen.
This is one of the money making apps that pays you to have the app on your phone.
How to Use Slidejoy
All you’ll have to do is to install the app on your phone and continue using your phone normally.
Slidejoy will display content on your lockscreen like news and ads. This is what they pay you for – to display their content only.
You can choose to interact with it or not.
Slidejoy pays you in redeemable points called carats. 1000 carats is equal to $1.
How Much Can You Make With Slidejoy?
Earnings vary. You can earn a maximum of 100 points per day. And that’s if you use the app heavily.
I believe that most people earn about 30 – 60 per day. This translates to about $0.03-$0.06.
You will need to have at least 2000 carats and at least one month’s usage of the app to start redeeming your points.
You can redeem your carats for money or gift cards.
How To Join Slidejoy
Download the app on your phone to start earning carats.
17. Field Agent
What is Field Agent app?
This is an app that pays you to do small jobs online with your phone.
These tasks include mystery shopping, doing market research and completing audits at retail stores.
How to Make Money With The Field Agent App
There are several job options offered by the app. Here are some of the job categories:
- In-Store Surveys: These are done inside the specific retailers.
- Audits: These require that you go on site to inspect products or services.
- General: Include jobs like traveling to retailers and doing audits on the products or services offered.
- Scavenger Hunt: These jobs involve transcribing UPC labels on products.
How Much Money Can You Make?
The app pays between $3 to $15 for each job you complete.
The jobs will take you anywhere from a few minutes to 30 minutes to get done.
The app pays you in one of three ways: direct deposit, checking account or savings account.
How To Join
To join Field agent, download the app to start doing paid online tasks.
18. Achievement
What is Achievement?
It is an app that tracks your healthy activities throughout the day including sleep, step and nutrition data.
The app then rewards you in points for these healthy activities.
It connects with more than 20 health apps to get your data.
How To Use Achievement
To make money on achievement, you have to earn and accumulate points. Here are some of the ways to earn points on Achievement app:
- Post photos of healthy food.
- Do what you do every day. Achievement tracks your step count and pays you according to the number of steps you have taken.
- Workout.
- Share your results with friends to earn points.
Living a healthy lifestyle is the best way to increase your earnings with this app.
How Much Can You Make With Achievement?
You can expect to earn 1 point for every 400 steps you take. For instance, if you take 20,000 steps, you will earn around 50 points.
On average, you can expect to earn about 500 points a day doing all these activities. This translates to about $0.5.
Once you have about 10,000 points, you can start cashing out. You will earn $1 for every 1000 points, paid directly to your PayPal account.
This is one of the best money making apps simply because it allows you to make money by living a healthier lifestyle.
How To Join Achievement
You can download the app or enter your email address on their homepage to get started.
To get started, just enter your basic information and connect any health app of your choice.
This process will earn you 50 bonus points to start you off.
Final Thoughts
This is not an exhaustive list of all the money making apps that pay you real money.
There are more money making apps out there that will help you to make good cash this year going foward.