Looking for some ways to make extra cash fast? That sentence sounds like the pop up for another internet scam, and the sad truth is, thousands of those little money earning sites are exactly that; a scam site that drains your valuable time to only pay you pennies (or worse… points). Have you ever fallen for one of those? With $26,000 in student loans and bills to pay, I graduated college with a need for some extra cash. And I hate to admit it, but I fell for a boat load of these scams.
Micro-earning is NOT a bad way to make some extra money! In fact, after searching every corner of the App stores, and getting burned a few million times, I’ve found a small handful of apps that make me over $3,000 in extra cash every year!
So I’ll save you guys the agony of dealing with the bug infested, sketchy apps lurking in the bathroom corner of the Play Store. I wrote out a consolidated list. These are the best money earning apps available in 2019 that helped me make over $3,000 in spare cash (that paid for a trip to Europe), in 1 year.
The Best Money Earning Apps (of 2019)
– Ibotta (makes me $220/year)
– Ebates (makes me $50+/year)
– Product Report Card ($240/year)
– Pinecone Research ($520/year)
– Facebook Research ($360/per year)
– Swagbucks ($620/year)
– Inbox Dollars ($200/year)
– PaidViewpoint ($240/year)
– Dosh ($50/year)
– Field Agent ($200/year)
– Receipt Hog ($30/year)
– Chase ($220/year)
– Shell Gold Rewards ($110/year)
$3,060 Total!
So Why Are These The Best (And How Do You Make The Cash?)
First off, you’ve got to realize 2 things. 1. Your time is valuable. If a money making app or website is taking a lot of your time it loses its value. The ones that are worth it, are the ones that are almost totally passive. 2. Don’t write these off because the individual earnings seem small. I made an extra $3,000 that paid for some traveling around Europe, and these apps required basically no work. Every dime adds up.
This is how they work, and why these ones rock:
Ibotta
Ibotta is a grocery app. It’s one of those apps that reduces your cost of living. One of my biggest expenses when I first graduated college was the grocery bill, so I looked high and low for an app that would give me some decent cash back on grocery shopping.
Before I found Ibotta I found a few stinkers. Some of them paid me in points to redeem gift cards (can’t pay bills with those). Some of them require you to buy half the store just to qualify for 1 cash back rebate.
Then I found Ibotta.
I easily get $20 CASH back on my grocery shopping EVERY. SINGLE. MONTH. just by scanning a few receipts or bar codes on my groceries. It’s money back for things I’m already buying. It may be as small as $0.25 for a carton of milk, or $3 back on my hair gel or migraine pills. But it adds up quick!
If you want a more in-depth review of how Ibotta works, and why it’s a frugal grocery shoppers dream, CHECK IT OUT HERE!
Try out Ibotta right here, and get a $10 sign up bonus!
Ebates
Ebates was one of my greatest discoveries. Essentially, when you shop online, no matter what it is you’re buying, go through Ebates first and they’ll send you a check in the mail every 3 months.
Everything I ever purchase online – Amazon, Best Buy, Etsy, Walmart, filing taxes, ordering flowers, booking flights, you name it, I get cash back on it. Sometimes the amount is tiny (I usually only get 2%-5% on Amazon purchases), other times it’s over half my bill! I bought a bouquet of flowers a while back for my lovely wife, and because I did it through Ebates I got $18 back of the $30.
It’s ridiculous to ever shop online without using Ebates. It’s like throwing away money.
And it gets even easier. You don’t even have to go through Ebates website first. They have a little button you can add to your web browser, so whenever you shop online, Ebates will automatically credit you. And every 3 months a check shows up.
I only make about $50 over the course of the year with Ebates because I never shop online. I’m not an avid shopper, or an avid spender. But every Christmas time I get a nice check from Ebates! Try it out, it’s free!
If you want more details on it, check out a review.
TRY EBATES BY CLICKING THE NAME BANNER BELOW!
Product Report Card
Don’t be scared off by Product Report Card! I almost was. Their website is clunky, and… well… they’re a survey site. What’s not scary about that. But I’m so glad I gave Product Report Card a shot now!
Product Report Card pays in cash. Unlike most other survey sites, they also compensate you even if you don’t qualify for a survey. I often fill out 1 or 2 questions and am told I don’t qualify… but they still give me $0.10 just for that, so I’ll take it. PRC also respects your time by telling you how long each survey will be, and how much it will be.
The real money with Product Report Card, though, is not from the surveys. You can test out new products through Product Report Card that pay FAR better than surveys, and you get free stuff on top of it!
I’ve tested out body wash products, toothpaste, Jolly Rancher candy, and a whole bunch of other things. Not only did I get to keep the free products, I would often get $7, $15, even $35 just for trying it out. I make a few hundred bucks from PRC just doing this every year.
Easy money.
Pinecone Research
Pinecone Research is like a cousin to Product Report Card. It’s got an outdated looking website, and a weird approach, but it is by far the most lucrative survey site that I have ever used (and I have tried an outrageous number of survey sites).
The thing with Pinecone is that they pay $3 for every single survey. No more, no less. That’s a phenomenal rate for surveys, especially considering the fact that many of these surveys take less than 5 minutes. While many surveys from other survey sites that pay $3 can be almost an hour long, you can easily do a survey for only a few minutes and get the reward.
By doing only 3 or 4 Pinecone surveys every week in my spare time I can rack up a cool $520 every year without breaking a sweat.
Facebook Research
I debated putting this one on the list. It’s my favorite of them ALL, but unfortunately it’s not as easy to access as it used to be. The Facebook Research program is actually more of a VPN than an app. It’s simple. You install it on your phone, you forget it’s there, they PayPal you $30 every month.
They use this data tracker to collect details about your internet shopping habits. It’s up to you whether or not you mind the breach of privacy. To me, it’s an insanely easy and passive $30, which adds up to $360 every year.
The downside? Applause, the company that launched Facebook Research, discontinued the Android option a few months back. The iPhone version is still available, but unfortunately only pays $10.
Here’s hoping the old $30 version comes back sometime in the future.
Swagbucks
One of the best places online to make some fast and easy money is Swagbucks. It’s free to use, and it’s got more ways of earning fast cash than any other website in existence. Hands down.
Many people who try out Swagbucks get intimidated by the flood of options all over the homepage, but when you dig in a little, the earning options are amazing.
Tip #1: don’t touch the surveys. They’re useless. But things get better from there. Swagbucks let’s you micro earn by watching some TV on their site (or leave it playing), searching on their search engine, and most importantly sign up for free trials.
Swagbucks paid me $32 to try a $5 month of Hulu. THAT’S A $25 PROFIT + A FREE MONTH OF HULU!! It wasn’t long before I discovered that trying things like this was where all the money is in Swagbucks. I tried a free trial of tooth whitening products, free skin care products, a free trial of Credit Karma to check my score, a free trial of CRTV, and endless other things. Each of these free trials paid good money. So why not?
If you have the patience to sign up to a few free trials, and remember to cancel them, it’s probably the fastest $100 you’ll make. It was for me. Even more perfect, if you refer your friends to Swagbucks, they’ll also pay you a 10% bonus on everything your friends make. My wife signed up through my referral, so now we make double on every offer + 10%. Our earnings increased by 110% that easy. That’s why making over $600 with Swagbucks is a breeze.
TRY SWAGBUCKS AT THE BANNER BELOW!
Inbox Dollars
Inbox Dollars is just like Swagbucks. But a little inferior. Even though Inbox Dollars doesn’t have quite as many options, or quite as good pay as their Swaggering cousin, they’re still a great and easy way to make some extra money.
Inbox Dollars will pay you a little pocket change to open their emails, use their search box, watch TV on their site, opening their blog posts, and a bunch of other things.
I’ve made a decent amount of cash just by hitting play on the Inbox Dollars videos, and leaving it to play for hours at a time. It slowly accumulates earnings with almost NO effort.
The biggest money on Inbox Dollars is in trying out apps and other websites. You can often get a few bucks just for signing up for a free newsletter, or downloading a free app. By using an old phone, and a decoy email, I can do this like a maniac without hesitation. And this allows me to make up to $30 in a month with this.
TRY IT BELOW, and get a few extra bucks just for signing up!
PaidViewpoint
What is it with dusty old survey sites and paying the best? Once again, PaidViewpoint is one of the ugliest looking survey sites you could ever try. But also one of the most worthwhile!
The thing that makes PaidViewpoint awesome is that their surveys are outrageously short. I can do almost every survey on PaidViewpoint in under a minute. While they only pay micro amounts, like $0.35 or $0.62, I can easily fit in a couple surveys a day while I’m working on my laptop, or even just watching some TV.
By churning out a lightning fast survey on PaidViewpoint about 10 times per week I’m easily able to snag $20 in earnings every month, as you can see below.
Try PaidViewpoint! It’s 1 of only 3 survey sites that I ever recommend!
Dosh
Looking for something super passive? That’s what I love Dosh for. I link my credit card to Dosh, and every time I shop at a qualifying store, and pay with my credit card, it passively throws me some money.
I love picking up groceries at Save A Lot or getting some food at Chili’s and getting a random notification telling me Dosh paid me a bit of cash.
It depends a little on where you shop, but I easily make a spare $50 just by having this connected to my shopping.
Try Dosh HERE and get a $5 just for signing up! Or for a full review, read my personal experience right here.
Field Agent
Here’s an interesting one. Field Agent has paid me a nice chunk of change for doing some mystery shopping. Every week they’ll have a series of mini missions, kind of like the quests from Legend of Zelda, or at least that’s what I choose to think. It might be doing some shopping at Walmart (they reimburse you if they ever ask you to purchase something, so you get free stuff), and usually pay anywhere from $7 to $20 for every task.
This adds up super fast, and it only takes a couple more minutes of my shopping time. I’m the ultimate Walmart spy. I’ll take a few pictures of a specific product display, or answer 5-10 questions about an experience with customer service, and get the money.
The best part is, these tasks are pretty fun, and you can often do them with a friend! Also, FREE STUFF! My car is thanking me for the $6 bottle of car washing soap that Field Agent paid for.
Receipt Hog
Receipt Hog is the silliest addition to this list. I like it because it’s easy, but this genuinely doesn’t pay much. Every time I get a receipt, from any store, I scan it fast on Receipt Hog.
They pay you tiny amounts of pocket change for scanning receipts. It adds up over time, and it ends up landing me about $30 every year.
If your budget is super tight, you may find this worthwhile. Otherwise, Receipt Hog may not even be worth the time it takes to scan a receipt.
Chase Freedom Credit Card
Ok, I know, I know… this isn’t really an app. It’s a rewards program. And it makes me a stupid amount of cash for purchases I’m already making! Credit cards can be the best things, and they can be the worst things. If you’re responsible enough to consistently pay off your entire credit bill on time, without spending money that you don’t have, then there’s not reason to purchase anything without using a credit card.
That’s because most credit cards will actually provide you with rewards for spending money on them. I’ve never been late on a credit card payment in my life (because that’s just unnecessary and avoidable debt), but I make hundreds of dollars every year just in rewards cash.
Chase Freedom is my #1 recommendation, but if you prefer another card make sure you check out their rewards points. I get 1% on all purchases, and an extra 5% on special purchases for each month (some months its restaurants, some months it’s groceries, and so on).
Take advantage of those points!
Shell Rewards Gold
Again, more of a rewards program than just an app. It gives me a minimum of $0.05/gallon on all of my gas purchases at my local Shell station. It will often give me $0.10/gallon, $0.15/gallon, and even $0.25 off during some holiday, we-love-you-for-buying-shell-gas something or other.
This may seem like small discounts, but with how often I need gas, this saves me well over $100 every year. And it’s incredibly simple. I just type in my phone number at the gas pump, and it automatically deducts the discount from my cost.
Shell has the best program. It doesn’t require a credit card with them, and it also happens to be the cheapest in my area. Make sure you check for a rewards program with your local gas stations. It’s simple, it’s easy, and it can save you well over $100 with no effort.
Do it guys! Click here to join Shell Rewards Gold membership. It’s free of course.
Simple Saving, Simple Earning. These Are The Best Money Earning Apps Available In 2019
Keep an eye out guys! These are the best money earning apps that I’ve found, and I’ve made lots of extra cash with them. If you know some more great apps for making extra money (that pay in cash only. I’m not looking for more gift cards), please let me know in the comments below!
I hope you’ve found this helpful. Jordan, over and out.
I’ve considered using Ibotta, but I always forget to check the app before I go shopping. It’s pretty rare that I actually buy something that’s on the list of things to get paid for, then again, maybe I just don’t check enough, lol.
Ebates is another one I’ve thought about joining since I do a lot of online shopping, so I think this would definitely come in handy for myself and others that like to shop online a lot.
Out of all of the phone apps you’ve been able to earn with (congrats on that by the way) which one would you say is your favorite and which would you say gives someone the potential for the most income?
I know what you mean, I tend to forget to use Ibotta too! I would make so much more money if I remembered to check before grocery shopping, but I often don’t bother.
Ebates is much easier to use. It takes practically no foresight.
The best paying options that I’ve found are Swagbucks and Pinecone Research. Pinecone surveys are usually short, and they pay $3. That can add up really fast. And Swagbucks hands out CRAZY big reward options. Most recently they’ve offered $40 to anyone who buys a $5 month of Hulu.
The easiest and most passive option is the Facebook Research program, but unfortunately it’s availability has become limited recently.
Great list of ways to make a few extra bucks. On Pinecone research I had a quick question as it seems to be one of the most lucrative options. In the past I’ve signed up for several survey sites but based on specific demographics I’m never actually eligible to take any surveys because that quota is full already or they simply aren’t targeting people like me.
Have you run into any issues like this on Pinecone?
Hey there!
Yes, Pinecone is one of my absolute favorites. That was one of my concerns at first too. Pinecone actually NEVER forces you out of a survey. When you join, they ask you to fill out your demographics info, so they ONLY send you surveys that you already qualify for. The only way you’ll get kicked out of a survey is if it’s already closed, or met the required number of participants.
Pinecone is the best because their surveys also tend to be short, and they always pay $3 which adds up quick.
This article about earning apps for 2019 has so many resources, it’s amazing. I wasn’t even aware of all these different money making apps. This post opened a whole new world for me.
Do these apps work mostly for residents of the United States or most countries? I live in Canada so I was curious if registering for these app opportunities is based on country, state or zip code only?
I know I’ve seen ads for Ebates on TV here in Canada, but the other apps I wasn’t familiar with before. This post was definitely inspiring showing that there are extra ways to earn income that many people can benefit from. Thanks.
Thanks for commenting! I’m glad you found it helpful :D!
Some of these are definitely available in Canada. Swagbucks is available in Canada, as is Ebates, and Inbox Dollars has a Canadian option which I think is called Daily Rewards.
I’m not too sure about the others, but I’m sure I can find out on Google.
Thank you for sharing with us this great post on Best Money Earning Apps of 2019.Many people are interested in making money online but it is very difficult to know which app is genuine for making that money.
Your personal experience is highly appreciated because it shows me the most genuine apps which can help me to earn some extra money.
I have tried Ebate and I am earning some money after my job and that is very good to me.
I will try your recommended apps to earn some money .
Thanks! I’m glad you found it helpful!