20 Ways to Make Extra Money From Home With Paid Surveys

People always ask me, “Can you really make money from home with paid surveys?” and the answer is YES!

There are many legitimate websites 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 surveys, it is a fun way to share your thoughts on products and services, and you'll receive compensation 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 of time. 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 do require a credit card number, so if you don't feel comfortable giving out that information, just stick to the offers which 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 as well as 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 wi.n 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 paid out in five $1 Amazon credits. On the app, you can answer survey questions via text, audio recording, or video recording — which you'll earn better rewards for audio and video responses. So far, I've only done text answers, and rewards are distributed usually a few days later — so there's no threshold to meet. GUAGE Research is available for both 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!

Survey Taking Tips

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 a lot 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 there is a survey that takes 60 minutes to complete and it 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 are not going to 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.

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