If you’re wondering, “Can I really make extra money with paid surveys?” keep reading. I’ll be discussing which survey sites are trustworthy and tips for making the most of these online opportunities.
There are many legitimate sites where you can offer your opinion in exchange for money, gift cards, and sweepstake entries. While you’re not going to get rich from taking paid surveys, it is a fun way to share your thoughts on products and services, and you’ll receive a little compensation for your time.
20 Ways to Make Extra Money From Home With Paid Surveys
1. Swagbucks
Swagbucks is an online platform where you can earn points called SB, which can be redeemed for gift cards and coupons. You can earn points by watching videos, playing games, answering questions, shopping online, even surfing the web using their search bar. Refer your friends, and you’ll earn even more points.
Your points can be traded in for gift cards from Amazon, Target, Starbucks, PayPal, and Walmart. With Swagbucks, you can redeem as few as 300 points for a $3 gift card. New users get a $5 sign-up bonus, and Swagbucks has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
Read: Can You Really Make Money With Swagbucks?
2. User Interviews
User Interviews is a market survey site that connects companies with focus group participants, survey takers, and website testers. You can create an account by filling out their online application. Once you’re logged in, browse projects, and answer a few simple questions to see if you qualify for the project. If you are eligible, you’ll be notified via email. Projects can be done in-person (one-on-one) or remotely. A recent travel app study paid $125 for 60 minutes. Payments are made via PayPal and Amazon gift cards.
3. Survey Junkie
Survey Junkie is a straight-up survey site. With this site, you register for a free account (you can log in with your email address, Google, or Facebook account). You’ll immediately receive 25 points for creating an account and 50 points for answering 16 basic questions (gender, zip code, country, etc.). Each survey lists the number of points you’ll earn and the approximate time it will take to complete. One hundred points equals $1 and can be traded in for gift cards or PayPal cash — you must reach 1,000 points before you can redeem your prize. Survey Junkie gets a B rating from the Better Business Bureau.
4. InboxDollars
At InboxDollars, you can earn cash for taking surveys, reading emails, playing games, redeeming coupons, searching the web, and shopping online. There are nine different ways to make money with InboxDollars — you can check out this post for full details. Membership is free, and new users receive a $5 bonus for signing up! Your account needs to reach a $30 threshold before you can request payment. Payments are made via PayPal, check, or gift card. InboxDollars has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
5. FusionCash
FusionCash is an online platform that allows you to make money from taking surveys, watching videos, shopping, completing short tasks, and much more. Sign up and immediately earn $5 just for joining. Most offers pay between .25 to $30 per offer, and payments are made via PayPal, check, or direct deposit once your account reaches a $25 threshold. Some offers require a credit card number, so if you don’t feel comfortable giving out that information, just stick to the offers that display the No CC icon. FusionCash has an A rating with the Better Business Bureau.
6. Mindswarms
Mindswarms is a research group that pays individuals for conducting surveys via video format. With this platform, you’ll need to fill out some preliminary questions and record a short profile video. Because surveys are in video format, they need to verify video quality and your communicative clarity. Once this is done, you’ll wait for survey opportunities. Video surveys usually have ten questions and pay up to $50 per survey.
7. MindField Online
Mindfield Online is an online survey site where you can earn cash for taking surveys. Just sign up for an account, fill out your membership profile (you’ll get more surveys by doing so), complete surveys, and once your account has reached a $5 threshold, you can request payment via check. MindField not only has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, but they’re also a member of CASRO, which requires members to adhere to a strict code of ethics and standards for survey research.
8. Opinion Outpost
At Opinion Outpost, you can earn money by completing online surveys. Just sign up, answer survey questions, and earn cash, sweepstakes entries, or rewards for your time. Reviews on Opinion Outpost are favorable on their Facebook page, as well as on Survey Police they have a solid 4 out of 5 stars rating.
9. Nielsen Computer and Mobile Panel
You’ve probably heard of Nielsen, paying people to allow them to track what they watch on TV. Well, they also pay people to follow their internet behavior. To get started, sign up and register your devices. With this opportunity, you’ll earn sweepstake entries and rewards. The best thing about this side earner is it’s totally passive.
10. TellWut
TellWut is a survey site where you can win prizes and earn rewards for sharing your opinion. Most surveys award 5 to 15 points per survey, but you can also earn points by referring friends (25 points), creating an account (100 points), and providing your information (100 points). Points can be redeemed for Best Buy, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Visa, and various other gift cards. TellWut has an A- rating with the Better Business Bureau.
11. Toluna
Toluna is a survey and product testing site where you can earn points for participation. Most surveys and questionnaires take 15 – 20 minutes, and members receive anywhere from 15 – 20,000 points depending on the length. Points can be redeemed for sweepstakes tickets for gadgets or getaways, vouchers for stores like Amazon, even cash via PayPal.
12. Valued Opinions
On Valued Opinions, you can participate in surveys and earn points for doing so. Points can be redeemed for gift cards from major retailers and brands like Macy’s, Amazon, and Marriott. Earn even more by referring friends; in fact, you can earn up to $2 per friend who joins and completes two surveys.
13. Viewpoint Forum
Viewpoint Forum is an online survey site where you can earn forum points and sweepstake entries. Most surveys will award 75 forum points and take about 10 minutes to complete. Once you’ve accumulated 375 forum points, you can redeem them for $10; payments are made via check. Viewpoint Forum is a member of CASRO.
14. MySoapBox
MySoapBox is part of the Interview Service of America (ISA), which has been collecting data since 1982. With this survey platform, you register for an account, respond to surveys, and you’ll earn points for each survey you take. When you accumulate 25,000 points, you can trade them in for gift cards to places like Amazon, Starbucks, Home Depot, Walmart, and more. MySoapBox has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
15. VIP Voice
Formerly known as NPD Online Research, VIP Voice allows you to complete online surveys for the opportunity to win vacations, electronics, gift cards, and other prizes. The NPD Group was established in 1967 and has conducted more than 12 million surveys each year.
16. Pinecone Research
Pinecone Research is an online survey site that is owned by the Nielsen Company. Simply fill out your profile, and you’ll be matched with opportunities and surveys that fit your demographic. Most surveys take 15 – 20 minutes and payout in points, which can be redeemed for cash, prizes, or sweepstake entries. If you select the cash-out option, payments are made via a debit MasterCard or PayPal. Pinecone Research also has opportunities for product reviews.
17. Springboard America
Springboard America conducts market research for household brands, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and the media. For offering your feedback to companies, you’ll be awarded points and sweepstake entries. Points can be traded in for gift cards from PayPal, iTunes, Amazon, and VISA, but you’ll have to meet the $50 threshold before you can request payment. You must be a US resident and at least 18 years of age to participate. According to their website, Springboard America paid members $55,000 in May of 2020 — not bad!
18. Google Opinion Rewards
Google Opinion Rewards is a smartphone application that allows you to share your opinions on a wide variety of topics, products, and services. For each survey you complete, you’ll earn either Google Play credits or cash via PayPal. This app is available for both iPhone and Android devices, and it receives a 4.7-star rating in the Apple app store. I have this app installed on my phone, and surveys usually consist of 1-3 questions and payout $0.10-$0.20 each. Rewards are available once you reach the $2 threshold.
19. GUAGE Research
If you’re looking for paid focus groups and online surveys, a friend of mine, recommended the GUAGE Research App. She said that she usually gets invited to participate in a couple of surveys each month, which earns her $20-$60 a month.
I downloaded it myself, and over the past six weeks, I’ve been invited to five different surveys, which each paid out $1. Your account must reach the $5 threshold before you can request payment via PayPal or gift card. You can answer survey questions via text, audio recording, or video recording on the app — which you’ll earn better rewards for audio and video responses. GUAGE Research is available for Android and iPhone operating systems if you’re interested in checking it out.
20. Vindale Research
Vindale Research is a short task site where you can make money by taking surveys, referring friends to the platform, reading emails, and watching videos online. According to their website, surveys pay between $0.25-$50.00 per survey depending on the length and how many panelists are eligible. They accept users from the US, Great Britain, and Australia, and payments are made via PayPal. New users will also earn a $1 bonus just for signing up!
Tips For Making Money with Paid Surveys
By no means are you going to get rich, taking paid surveys, but they are an easy way to earn a little extra cash while you’re watching TV, listening to an audiobook, or waiting for an appointment. I’ve read a couple of accounts where people have used their survey earnings to pay for their Christmas gifts or a weekend vacation. I use my survey money to cover my Starbucks habit.
Are you ready to jump in? Here are some survey taking tips to make the most of this side hustle.
Set Up a Separate Email Account
Before you sign-up with a bunch of survey companies, set up a separate email account for your surveys taking activities. You will get LOTS of emails from these survey companies, and you won’t want these emails clogging up your personal or work email accounts. I personally use a free Yahoo email account for the survey sites that I use.
Create a Plan
To be successful with paid surveys, you just need to create a plan and execute it. For instance, if you answer four surveys a day, and each one pays $1.00, and you do this for 30-days — at the end of the month, you’ll have $120! Just be aware that invitations to paid surveys are sporadic, so you’ll want to sign up with multiple survey sites.
Use Your Time Wisely
When you’re looking at your options for surveys, use your time wisely. If a survey takes 60 minutes to complete and only pays $0.10, it’s not worth your time.
Also, never use your work-time to take surveys. Your work hours should be spent on tasks that are going to make you a living wage. This means if you don’t currently have income coming in, your work-time should be used for searching, applying, and interviewing for jobs. Or, if you’re a business owner or freelancer, your work-time should be used for getting new clients or marketing your business. Again, surveys are a side earner; they will not provide you with a full-time income.
Watch Out For Survey Scams
Lastly, look out for scam survey sites. You should never have to pay a fee, provide a credit card number, or bank account number when you sign up. If you’re using a smartphone app to take surveys, be sure to read the reviews before installing it. If something seems off, it probably is; always trust your gut.
Do you take online surveys? Which paid survey sites do you recommend? Drop us a note; we’d love to hear from you.
Originally published October 4, 2013. Content updated in June 2020.
I like taking surveys to make some extra cash/ gift cards. I like Survey Savvy but I also download the app for monitoring internet use on my tablet and laptop. Quick Thoughts is also really good for earning Amazon gift cards.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Kristina!
I’m currently using Swagbucks, Google Opinion Rewards, Respondent, and GUAGE Research — it’s not a ton of money, but it keeps me supplied in Starbucks and gives me Amazon credits which I use for books.
Okay thanks is everyone allowed to carryout a survey like we in Africa?
Hi Joy,
Try Swagbucks, it’s open to worldwide residents.
Good luck!
I might look into that at a later date. I tried InboxDollars and some other survey site.
These survey sites are looking for personal information. If you don’t mind trading your personal information for a few bucks, whether it’s real money or not, & you have all the time, try these survey sites.
Yes, they are doing market research, and they will ask for things like your marital status, education level, how many children you have, as well as how much you earn annually.
But you should NEVER give out your bank account info, social security number, or credit card info — and there should never be a fee to take a survey.
I just started my blog HomeWorkin Mama where I will discuss being a WFH Mom and first time mom. I’m also going to homeschool my daughter and share those experiences! Please check it out! :)
http://homeworkinmama.com
Is there any recommended survey website for the africans
I have tried surveys several times to pad my bank accounts with desperately needed cash. I failed miserably. I have old-fashioned and (oftentimes) downright esoteric interests and preferences, which mean that I seldom qualify for surveys that are worth my time (or the irritating videos advertising things in which I have little interest—I might like giving sarcastic, rude comments to tell what I really think), and those that are somewhat worthwhile are long and onerous (once again I cannot say what I really think). If a survey is truly worth my time, I must waste some time failing to qualify.
My latest attempt was with Mindswarms. Fifty dollars a survey? Sign me up. It has been almost a month. I have been quietly (meaning they did not have the decency to inform me outright) rejected for EVERY SINGLE STUDY for which I could apply. I had several panics which drove me to try to contact (Their FAQs are worse than useless) them, and no answers. Methinks that only an especially average individual with an especially average mind (a teen girl, perhaps, who “likes” Katie Parry) can get any significant payment from Mindswarms. If you enjoy the works of Vasily Kalinnikov, or hip hoppers make you want to don white robes (and you’re not even a racist), do not bother with Mindswarms.com.
I very love Vindale Research. It is the best site, that I ever tried. I earned 150 dollars for first 2 weeks. It is good additional income and fun entertainment sometimes. I would like to recommend it.
150 dollars for the first two weeks? How did you do it? I suspect that it has something to do with your personality, which I would presume from your 150 dollar evidence must be incredibly average. Please correct me IF I am wrong (fingers crossed that I am).
Another good one is Amazon Mechanical Turk (https://www.mturk.com). It’s not all survey, but the surveys tend to pay the best. I’ve made over a thousand bucks this year.
Hi! I want to join a site called iglobalsurveys.com, but I’m not sure if it is legit. Have you heard about it? is it legit and does it pay well? Just want to make sure before I join. Thanks for your site and looking forward to your information.
Hi Maria, I haven’t heard of that one. I plan to update this post with more survey opportunities that are legit … so stay tuned. In the mean time check out this post that has some short-task and digital earning opportunities: https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/short-task-sites/
Hi, I am a teenager who isn’t really able to leave to home for work due to my current family situation. I’ve never had a job before but I really need some money for upcoming college (very soon, I am of legal working age) and I was thinking about doing some of these surveys jobs. However, I don’t know very much about taxes… Will working for Survey Savvy or Mindfield cost myself of the rest of my family money?
Check out these posts:
https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/jobs-college-students/
https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/short-task-sites/
Hi! I’m interested in the work from home with no experience but I’m willing to learn! I have a smartphone! I would like to earn money from home to make a living! Please contact me! Thanks for your attention!
Hi Monique, Here are some great ways to make money with your smartphone: https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/make-money-smart-phone/
And this article talks about jobs without a college degree: https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/work-from-home-college-degree/
Good luck with your job search and keep us posted!
I would add http://iwadi.net to the list. Sign up is really easy. They are part of Cint network and pay via PayPal.
Thanks for sharing, Anna. I haven’t heard of that one — will have to check it out.
hi, any sites africans can particitate in?
You’ve made an impressive listings of this paid survey sites.But which of this sites which pay to the members that are not from America or Europe. I’m from India. I need a guidance about ‘WFH’.
You would need to check each individual listing to see what countries they allow.
The Work at Home Woman is for geared for U.S. residents.
Please check out FlexJobs for global opportunities.
http://flexjobsrocks.go2cloud.org/SHPF (affiliate link)
Is this a Canadian thing or does it matter?
You’ll have to check each each individual app to see if it’s applicable to Canadian residents.
Viewpoint forum says that you have to have a referral to join , how do I get the referral? Thanks
According to their website:
“We are no longer accepting registrations without a referral. You must be referred by an existing member or receive a special invitation from Viewpoint Forum or one of our affiliates.”
Maybe somebody will chime in with their referral ID.
There a paid survey site that i’ve been apart of for a few years now called cashcrate. They are a legit company. it cost nothing to sign up and you earn a dollar just for signing up. they have offer, daily surveys, top surveys, bonus offer, bonus surveys, videos, and shopping online and you get paid to do it. Checks are sent out monthly the minimum payout is 20 bucks to earn a check but you can earn way more. You earn points that you can use towards giftcards and there are contest monthly as well. There’s forum and Faq’s if you need help and the staff is awesome too. Also to prove that cashcrate is the real deal there’s a payment wall where members post pictures of their checks just click on Faq and see payment wall. Cashcrate is great for stay at home moms, college students, etc. I hope that i covered everything, if anyone is interested just click the link below and start earning and having fun with Cashcrate.
I am interested to work with cash crate
Another great offer is surveys through Loop11.com. Anyone can signup & I’ve been getting surveys sent to me each week. You get between $1-$5 for a 10-30 minute survey.
http://www.loop11.com/get-paid-to-test-websites/
Thanks for your advice.I tried it out but I can’t .It isn’t available in my country.
The Work at Home Woman is for geared for U.S. residents.
Please check out FlexJobs for global opportunities.
http://flexjobsrocks.go2cloud.org/SHPF (affiliate link)
Hi I’ve tried to register to do surveys with this site and a few others but they keep telling me that my email is not valid. .any idea why?
Thanks
Which site, Trudy?
im looking to be paid by hr,for collecting data,doing surveys w/ people over the phone,im not an official survivior of domestic violence yet,but i better be,and im too disabled from him in the past to work,and babysitting his cat w/ lukemia. pray pla for richard and christine
Hi Christine, I haven’t seen an survey or digital earning sites that pay per hour. Most of these pay per task. If you need something that pays hourly, I’d check out phone type work or virtual assistant work.
Take a look at these two pages, they should help you:
https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/wah-jobs/
https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/make-money-from-home-quickly/
Hi…I just have a quick question. I live in the Caribbean and wouldn’t mind working from home doing one of these survey jobs, but I realize that none caters to people in my neck of the woods. How come?
Most of these companies are doing research for businesses that sell products in the US, so they only want people who have experience using these products and services. Say for instance they’re doing research on Chobani Yogurt — there’s a good chance that Chobani isn’t available in the Caribbean.
I’ve often answered surveys for eRewards.com — and have gotten subscriptions to magazines (Inc. and Money, which I love), and things like camera cases and purses. Plus they let you donate part of your rewards to sites like Kiva. Interesting surveys, and I only take part in ones when I have time, and if they interest me.
Thanks for the sharing Kayelle! I’ll have to check that one out.
How do I get an invite to join e-rewards?
I know I’m over a year late, but…
If your have a loyalty rewards card, such as Kroger Plus or GameStop Powerup Rewards, make sure you haven’t checked do not contact me in your profile.
I got invited via GameStop.