10 Best Rewards Apps To Make Extra Money Online

Written by Jason Michaels Last Updated: May 8, 2024

Finding the best rewards apps is becoming more and more difficult.

This is because there’s so many claiming you can make a lot of money when in fact you only make pennies.

Not only that, but it’s difficult to tell which ones are a scam.

That’s why we’ve put together this list to bring you apps that we’ve personally tested that we know are completely free, 100% legit and are worth your time.

10 Best Rewards Apps To Make Extra Money Fast

Below you’ll find a list of the 10 best rewards apps to help you make extra money online from your phone.

You’ll find a review of each app that covers how it works, how much you can make, why it’s worth your while and the pros and cons.

Keep in mind that these apps aren’t in any particular order.

We’ve even included a bonus at the end of an additional 15 apps that are definitely worth looking into for extra cash.

Let’s begin.

1. Survey Junkie

• Registration Bonus: 25 points
• Join Survey Junkie

The only reason Survey Junkie gets the number one spot on this list is due to their high payout.

This survey site pays you free cash for sharing your opinion.

By sticking to higher paying surveys, you can expect to make anywhere between $12 – $18 per hour.

However, if you go with the lower paying surveys you’re not going to earn this high.

What we suggest doing is logging-in once a day and checking for surveys from Survey Junkie that are actually worth your time.

The great thing about Survey Junkie is that they always tell you how long and how much you’ll make before you start any survey.

For example, if you see a survey that only pays a dollar and it’s going to pay $1 dollars, skip it. But if you see one that’s going to pay you $5 for 20 minutes of your time, you should go for it.

Once you reach a minimum of $10 in your account, you can reedem your points for free PayPal money or a gift card to Target or Amazon.

Pros:

• High earnings at $12 – $18 per hour
• 25 point signup bonus
• Lots of surveys available
• Will warn you if you don’t quality for a survey

Cons:

• Also plenty of low-paying surveys (you should skip these)
• Depending on your demographics, you may not qualify for a lot of surveys
• Only 3 payout options (Target, Amazon and PayPal)

2. Swagbucks

• Registration Bonus: $10 (previously $5)
• Join Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a smartphone app that offers a huge number of ways to earn points (called SB) which can be redeemed against gift cards.

Most of the activities you can do to make money are things that you’d probably be doing on your smartphone anyway.

Their primary focus is on surveys, but you can also earn points by:

• Playing games
• Watching videos through Swagbucks Watch (their version of YouTube)
• Making purchases at selected retailers
• Searching through their search engine
• More

The great thing about Swagbucks is that you receive a $10 welcome bonus just for signing up as a new user.

Unfortunately, this does not count toward your minimum cash out amount of $5.

My favorite thing about Swagbucks has to be their video watching feature which is essentially passive income.

All you have to do is click on the “Play” button and the videos keep playing from your browser or your mobile app without stopping.

Expect to earn anywhere between $5 – $12 per hour depending on the task.

You can redeem points for PayPal money or a gift card of your choosing.

Read our Swagbucks review for more information.

Pros:

• Wide variety of tasks (more than almost any other small task site)
• Passive income watching videos
• Great earning at $5 – $12 per hour
• Plenty of payout options
• Excellent mobile version
• $10 signup bonus

Cons:

• Not as high of an earner as Survey Junkie
• Takes some time to get used to since they have so many tasks to choose from

3. Ibotta

• Registration Bonus: $20 after you scan your first receipt
• Join Ibotta

Ibotta is one of the most popular rewards programs on the market – and for good reason. It’s simple, easy-to-use, and a great way to save on grocery shopping and other everyday purchases.

Ibotta is primarily a cash back shopping app, which means you get real, genuine cash for simply making purchases from participating retailers.

You can also earn other prizes such as gift cards and coupons.

Participating retailers include big-names like:

• Walmart
• Target
• Hotels.com
• Uber
• eBay
• 7-11

Plus many more!

The way it works is simple: before you make any purchase, you check Ibotta on your smartphone to see if the product you’re interested in buying is listed in the current offers.

If it is, you can earn money on it.

Here’s how it works:

1. Make your purchase like you normally would.
2. Search for the product on the app and “claim it.”
3. Scan your receipt to your phone and upload it.
4. Wait 48 hours to receive your earnings.

Keep in mind that you need to purchase the item at the correct store in order to receive your earnings.

They’ve also also recently expanded into a cash back portal, giving you free money for shopping online.

The best part?

You get a $20 registration bonus after you scan your first receipt.

Send your referral link to your friends and get paid a $10 bonus when they sign up and scan their first receipt.

This company is constantly changing, so we suggest reading our Ibotta review for updated information.

Pros:

• Fun way to earn
• Simple to use
• $20 sign-up bonus after you scan your first receipt
• Constantly expanding for more ways to earn
• 1,000+ items to claim

Cons:

• When taking a picture of your receipt, you need to make sure the photo is extremely clear
• You have to make purchases from certain stores to make anything

4. Rakuten

• Registration Bonus: $10
• Join Rakuten

Rakuten (formerly Ebates) is one of the best cash back portals on the web.

They’ve partnered with thousands of retailers across the web to give you cash back.

Essentially, they’ve put the affiliate links to these retailers on their site. This means that each time you click on one and make a purchase at one of their partner retailers, they receive a commission.

However, instead of keeping all of this commission for themselves, they give the majority of it back to you in the form of cash back.

This is a win-win situation for both parties

What’s more is that they even give you a $10 bonus when you register as a new user.

Earn even more (up to $25) when you refer friends using your referral link. Use social media is a great way to share your link to your friends.

The downside is that Rakuten automatically processes your earnings only once a quarter directly to your PayPal account.

Still confused on how it works? Check out our full Rakuten review to find out.

Pros:

• Excellent way to earn free money shopping online
• $10 welcome bonus
• Earn 1% – 20% in back on thousands of retailers

Cons:

• Limited redemption options
• You’re paid only once a quarter on your earnings

5. MobileXpression

• Registration Bonus: $5 Amazon gift card after one week from registration
• Join MobileXpression

If you really want to earn a passive income, MobileXpression is where it’s at.

This passive income app pays you just to leave it installed on your phone, easily making it one of the best apps for cash.

How it works is that MobileXpression sites in the background of your phone without using up a large amount of processing power – so little you won’t even notice.

From there, they collects data on things such as how long you make phone calls for, how many texts you send per day, etc.

They take this data and sell it to companies in the form of market research. In exchange, they give you prizes in the form of free gift cards.

Keep in mind that MobileXpression does not collect any personal information, so they won’t be able to see any of your text messages.

Stick with MobileXpression for a week and you’re automatically granted a free Amazon gift card at the end of it.

For those who are still confused on how it works, check out our MobileXpression review.

Pros:

• 100% passive after installation
• Low processing power
• Free $5 Amazon gift card after the first week
• Does not collect any personal information

Cons:

• Not the highest earner among other items on this list

6. Fetch Rewards

• Registration Bonus: $1.50 when you use promo code HH3MN and scan your first receipt
• Join Fetch Rewards

Fetch Rewards is another receipt scanning app like Ibotta.

Take a picture of your receipt and claim your offers. From there, wait a couple of days (usually much sooner) to see cash back rewarded to your account.

The great thing about Fetch Rewards is that it doesn’t matter where you make the purchase. Just as long as the item shows up on your receipt, you can earn from it.

Each item is worth a certain amount of points. To learn more about the points system, read our Fetch Rewards review.

You can redeem your Fetch Rewards points for gift cards. Your options include gift cards from Amazon, Target, Best Buy, and more.

You can even redeem points for free prepaid Visa gift cards. Minimum gift card amounts start at only $3.00.

You can earn a 1,500 point signup bonus by using the link above or the referral code HH3MN.

The points show up in your account after you scan your first receipt. You’re also rewarded with 1,500 points for every person you refer.

Pros:

• Lots of different items to earn from
• Doesn’t matter which store you shop at
• Earnings are deposited quickly into your account
• Over 50+ point redemption options
• $1.50 welcome bonus after scanning your first receipt

Cons:

• Less options than other receipt scanning apps
• Referral bonus is low compared to others on this list

7. Drop

• Registration Bonus: $5 when you connect your credit/debit card
• Join Drop

The Drop app was created with a specific target demographic in mind – millennials.

They’ve created an app that understands where millennials tend to spend their money and allow them to earn points for it.

When you sign-up for the Drop app, you’re presented with the option to choose 5 of your favorite retailers.

From there, you connect your credit card or your debit card (it’s completely safe).

Each time you make a purchase with your card at one of these five retailers, you earn free points.

These points can be exchanged for cash prizes such as free Amazon gift cards.

Here are some of the retailers and brands that Drop links up with:

• McDonald’s
• Starbucks
• Uber
• Chipotle
• Cineplex

The great thing about Drop is that it’s super easy.

The only thing you really have to do is connect your card and shop like you normally would. That’s what I call passive income.

For those worried about safety, Drop uses high-encryption technology to make sure your credit/debit card information is safe.

Don’t forget to read our Drop review for the full details.

Pros:

• Incredibly easy way to get free prizes
• Essentially passive income

Cons:

• Limited amount of retailers
• Need to connect a card

8. Acorns

• Registration Bonus: $5 once you complete registration
• Join Acorns

Not sure how to invest? Acorns will do it for you automatically.

Acorns is one of the most popular robo-investor apps that invests your spare change.

When you connect your credit card or debit card, Acorns will automatically round up your purchase to the next dollar and put the spare change in your account.

For example, let’s say you buy a gallon of milk for $3.50. Acorns will round up this amount and charge $4.00 to your card.

The remaining $.50 cents is deposited to your Acorns account for automatic investing.

What If I Don’t Know How To Invest?

The great thing about Acorns is that you don’t have to do any of the investing work. This company helped gather leading financial experts to put together the perfect portfolio based on your risk level.

The only thing you have to do is deposit your money (or invest your spare change) and let them do the investing for you.

In short, it’s a passive income.

Keep in mind that with Acorns you are charged a monthly subscription fee ($3 is the lowest plan). However, it’s great for those who want to start investing but don’t know how.

Also get a $5 sign-up bonus when you complete the registration process.

Pros:

• $5 sign-up bonus
• Invest your spare change
• Investments done automatically
• Excellent for new investors

Cons:

• Need to link your card
• Monthly subscription fee (minimum of $3)

Want to give Acorns a try but want more information first? Head on over to our Acorns review.

9. Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel

• Registration Bonus: None
• Join Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel

The Nielsen Computer and Mobile Panel is another passive income earner that helps you generate income just for leaving it installed on your phone.

Nielsen uses up very little space and processing power so you won’t even know it’s running in the background.

While it’s not the highest earner, you don’t have to do anything to make money from your phone.

If you have more than one phone, you can increase your earnings by installing the app on as many phones as you want.

For each phone that you have it installed on brings you an extra $50 per year.

If you download the app on two phones, that’s $100 per year, and so on (they may limit you after so many phones, but we’ve yet to encounter or hear about this).

You only need a minimum of 805 points (or $5) to redeem for a sweepstakes entry or a gift card of your choosing.

If you still need more convincing, here’s our Nielsen Computer and Mobile Panel review with the full details.

Pros:

• Passive income
• $50/year doing nothing
• Can install on more than one phone

Cons:

• Not the highest earner
• No registration bonus

10. MyPoints

• Registration Bonus: $10 (must first spend $20 through their shopping portal)
• Join MyPoints

MyPoints is another comprehensive smartphone app which lets you earn points for doing all sorts of easy and fun activities on your smartphone.

You can get points for:

• Shopping online
• Reading your emails
• Watching video playlists
• Searching the web
• Printing coupons and using them in stores
• Playing games
• Referring friends
• Completing surveys

Once you’ve accumulated at least 700 points, you can choose to redeem them for travel miles, gift cards, or cash deposits to your PayPal account.

The great thing about MyPoints is that you’re given a $10 registration bonus, but you must first make a minimum of a $20 purchase using their online shopping portal.

(If you’re not sure what a shopping/cash back portal is, we explain the basics in #4 on this list).

My personal favorite task is watching videos.

While it’s not a passive income earner since you do have to click on “Play” for the next video, it’s an easy way to earn money. You can even earn cash by reading emails.

Check out our MyPoints review to get more information.

Pros:

• Wide variety of tasks
• High registration bonus of $10
• Get paid to read emails (not common among rewards programs)

Cons:

• Must first spend $20 or more to get the registration bonus

More Rewards Apps To Earn Extra Money

Although we’ve already covered the first 10 best rewards apps, we decided to throw in a bonus to give you 15 more.

The apps listed below aren’t as great as the first ones we discussed, but they’re definitely worth looking into to see if they work for you.

11. Checkout 51

• Registration Bonus: None
• Join Checkout 51

Checkout 51 is a receipt scanning app that’s similar to Fetch Rewards. You have to buy certain items, but it doesn’t matter where you buy them.

Checkout 51 is updated with new items weekly.

At any given time, you’ll find about 40 to 50 different offers. This may not sound like a lot, but the payment per item is fairly impressive. The typical reward amount is $0.25 to $3.00 per item.

Checkout 51 pays through a paper check via mail. You’ll need to earn $20 before you receive a check. The company recently announced that they plan to add PayPal as a reward option, too.

Currently, there are no signup or referral bonuses offered by Checkout 51.

12. Ipsos i-Say

• Registration Bonus: None
• Join Ipsos i-Say

The Ipsos i-say is first and foremost a paid survey company.

Filling out the surveys doesn’t typically take long, and it can be a great way to kill some time whilst you’re commuting to work on a bus or train.

Instead of playing games, why not fill out some surveys and earn enough to pay for your lunch that day instead?

Once you’ve found a survey you’re interested in filling out, you first need to check that you qualify by filling in some basic information about yourself.

If you don’t qualify, you walk away with 5 points anyway – just for trying.

Points can be redeemed against prizes like:

• A $5 Starbucks Card for 500 points
• A $10 Amazon Gift Card for 1,000 points
• $15 PayPal funds for 1,530 points
• A $15 Target Gift Card for 1,500 points.

13. Zap Surveys

• Registration Bonus: $6.25 guaranteed on your first survey
• Join Zap Surveys

Zap Surveys is, as you’d expect given the name, another survey app.

Like Ipsos i-Say, you can use it to earn you a few extra dollars a day while you commute by answering some survey questions – but wait, there’s more.

Zap Surveys also donate a certain amount of money to charity for every survey you complete, which means that you’re not just helping to fatten your wallet, you’re helping other, less-fortunate people around the world too.

Even if you’re not interested in taking paid surveys, it might be worth downloading Zap Surveys just for their ‘location rewards’ anyway.

If you allow the app to access your location, you’ll occasionally get a notification letting you know that you’re near a store that’s running a promotion.

If you open this notification, you’ll be awarded anything up to $0.25.

As long as you don’t mind sharing your location data, there’s nothing to lose from downloading it, even if you’d prefer not to participate in surveys.

14. Pinecone Research

• Registration Bonus: None
• Join Pinecone Research

Pinecone Research is a survey app that pays considerably more than both Zap Surveys and Ipsos. For each and every survey that you fill out, you’ll earn around $3.

Even better, these surveys only take around 15-30 minutes each, meaning, if you could line these up back to back, you could potentially earn $6-12 per hour.

The only problem is that you almost certainly won’t be able to line up surveys back to back.

As you might have guessed considering the high pay rate, Pinecone Research is very selective about survey participants and you’ll have to wait for them to notify you that you’re eligible.

You can probably hope to be eligible for 1-4 surveys a month.

Once you’ve earned your rewards, you can redeem them for PayPal money or alternatively by check to your postal address.

15. Makeena

• Registration Bonus: $.25 cents
• Join Makeena

Makeena is a shopping rewards program that will help to thin out your waistline and fatten your wallet.

If you’re a healthy-eating enthusiast, it’s the perfect smartphone rewards app to download.

You earn reward points on healthy and eco-friendly products by scanning barcodes and submitting proof of purchase.

Here’s how it works:

• Download Makeena and search for the kind of items you’re interested in (e.g organic) to see what’s available.
• Add the items to your shopping list and go shopping for them.
• Scan the barcode to register the offer on Makeena.
• Scan your receipt to your phone.
• Wait for verification and claim your rewards using PayPal once you have at least $20.

16. TopCashback

• Registration Bonus: $10 (we’ve seen this vary)
• Join TopCashback

TopCashBack claims to be the highest paying cash back rewards program.

The reason they claim they’re able to pay out so much is that they pay 100% of the commission they receive from retail purchases out as cash back, without taking a cut.

This has earned them over 8 million users and, last year alone, they paid out over £40 million.

It works the same way as many other rewards apps: you browse the offers, choose your favorites, make your purchase, then snap a photo of your receipt.

17. ScreenLift

• Registration Bonus: None
• Join Screenlift

ScreenLift is one of the best smartphone rewards app as it allows you to make money completely passively.

It’s what’s known as a lockscreen app, meaning it changes your lock screen so that you have to view an ad each time you unlock your phone.

Each time, you’ll earn a small number of points which, over a lifetime of using your phone, will soon add up.

You can then redeem your points for gift cards or PayPal deposits.

While you won’t earn a lot of money, there’s essentially no time commitment or effort required on your part, which makes this one of the easiest ways to make money passively.

For more companies that pay you just to unlock your phone, check out our blog post here.

18. BeFrugal

• Registration Bonus: $10
• Join BeFrugal

BeFrugal is very similar – almost identical, in fact – to Rakuten.

They pay you to shop at participating stores by giving you cashback on the commission they receive. Like Rakuten, they claim to give out 100% of this commission to their users.

They’ve partnered with over 5,000 stores, so you’ve got plenty of options, and the minimum withdrawal amount is $25.

You can choose to claim your points via PayPal deposit, Check, or trade them in for Amazon Gift Cards.

19. Dosh

• Registration Bonus:
• Join Dosh

Dosh is another rewards app that allows you to earn cash back on common purchases like gas, hotel bookings, and more.

ou don’t need to dig around and find those receipts to validate your purchases, you just link up your card and the whole process is automatic.

If you’re a shopaholic, it’s definitely worth downloading it and linking up your card. It won’t take you more than a few minutes but it will allow you to save money on a lot of your purchases.

20. PointClub

• Registration Bonus: $5
• Join PointClub

PointClub is a well-known paid survey company that starts you off with a $5 bonus just for signing-up.

Each survey is worth a set amount of points, which you can redeem for rewards.

You can even earn points simply by logging in for certain amounts of consecutive days.

Our PointClub review provides plenty of helpful info to get you started.

PointClub rewards you through PayPal payments or gift cards. There is a $25 payout minimum.

When you sign up for PointClub, you earn a $5 bonus.

You get an additional $0.50 for entering your e-mail, Facebook, or Google+ details and $1 for confirming your e-mail address.

This means you earn $6.50 just for joining PointClub.

21. YouGov

• Registration Bonus: $2
• Join YouGov

YouGov is unique from other apps because of its surveys. The surveys are about news, current affairs, politics, and more. This makes them a bit more diverse than your typical marketing surveys.

Over 4 million people use YouGov, and it’s available internationally. You earn a certain number of points for each survey you complete.

You can redeem your points for PayPal payments or gift vouchers for Amazon, VISA, and more.

YouGov will give you 2,000 bonus points just for signing up. You may also get bonus points for filling out your profile.

YouGov also offers a 2,000 point bonus for every person you refer.

22. Inbox Dollars

• Registration Bonus: $5
• Join Inbox Dollars

Inbox Dollars is a GPT and survey app that has a broad selection of tasks. You can get paid to read e-mails, perform web searches, take surveys, complete trial offers, and so much more.

The tasks and surveys are typically low paying, but there is always something to do. This makes it easy to earn rewards quickly. Learn more by reading our Inbox Dollars review.

With Inbox Dollars, you get paid via paper check or gift codes to various retailers.

The payout minimum for all options is $30.

When you sign up for Inbox Dollars, you receive an instant $5 bonus. Every time you refer a user, you’ll receive 10% of their earnings permanently.

23. Quidco

• Registration Bonus: None
• Join Quidco

Quidco is similar to the shopping portals above, but it’s designed for UK residents.

They are partnered with over 4,500 online and in-store retailers. Over 7 million people use the app, so it’s easy to see it’s quite popular.

The Quidco Google Play page says it’s possible to make hundreds of extra pounds per year. They state that the average earnings per year are £280 (about $380 USD).

You can get paid via PayPal or through direct deposit to your bank account.

The one-click design makes it super easy to cash out through the app.

Signup bonuses for Quidco change periodically. You’ll typically receive a certain amount of bonus pounds once you make your first purchase.

You’ll make £10 for every person you refer to Quidco. To get your bonus, your referral will need to spend £5.

24. CashPirate

• Registration Bonus: None
• Join CashPirate

With CashPirate, you earn rewards for downloading apps, watching videos, completing product trials, and more.

This app has a great 4.5-star reputation on Google Play, and it boasts over 100,000 users. You earn Pirate Coins for every app you download or task you complete.

You can choose PayPal cash payments or gift cards when you redeem your points. Some of the gift card options include Amazon and free Steam codes. You’ll need a minimum of 2,500 to start receiving PayPal payments.

CashPirate offers a 500 point bonus when you sign up. You also earn 10% of your referral’s earnings. On top of that, you’ll earn 5% of the earnings from people referred by your referrals. This is a pretty impressive bonus system.

25. Trunow

• Registration Bonus: $2
• Join Trunow

Wondering which app gives you money for gas?

Trunow is a must-have for any motorist out there.

The main reason to use Trunow is to get paid every time you buy gas.

You’ll get either 1% or 2% back depending on if the gas station is partnered with Trunow or not. This means that the amount you can earn depends on how much you spend on gas.

If you spend $200 a month on gas, you’ll earn between $2-4 per month, and probably much more in savings by finding a better deal.

Again, it might not make you rich, but why not save a little extra where you can?

You can also get free money and reward points for other gas-station purchases too, such as confectionary.

Which App Gives Real Money?

All of the apps on this list give 100% legit money.

If for whatever reason you don’t receive your money in a timely manner, we recommend contacting the company’s support team to inquire about your earnings.

Although we don’t expect you to use every program on this list, we hope that you can at least use a few mentioned here to get one step closer to reaching your personal finance goals.

If none of these are cutting it for you, check out our make money section for more ideas on ways to earn money in your spare time.