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Back when I was really struggling for cash, I had to do all that I could to make some extra money.
I did everything I could to help support myself and increase my income in any way that I could.
Fortunately, I was able to find quite a few unique ways to earn free Amazon gift cards online.
While most of the methods were a bit time consuming, I was able to narrow it down to 35 different survey sites, mobile apps, short task sites and other methods.
In order to maximize my time and effort, I used these methods while standing in line, waiting for a friend or whenever I had a few spare minutes to kill.
I knew that these gift cards would go toward purchasing food off of Amazon, and that made me just that much more motivated.
Overall, these methods were able to help relieve some of the stress in my financial life.
I’m hoping the 35 methods listed below can also help you achieve the same.
It’s going to be difficult to do them all, so try out a few and see which ones work best for you.
See one that’s not on the list and should be? Let us know in the comments below.
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Table of Contents
A. Survey Sites
It can be a little bit difficult to determine whether survey sites are legit or scam.
This is mostly because they claim you can make a few hundred dollars within a couple of hours.
While this is sometimes the case, there are plenty of survey sites out there that always pay and pay you at a rate of $10 or more.
Here are some things to keep in mind when looking for an online survey site:
- Survey sites are always free – if you ever have to enter in payment information, it’s probably a scam
- Check their minimum payout amount to see if it meets your requirements
- Don’t bother wasting time on low-paying sites (below minimum wage) since you can find plenty of decent options
- Be aware of when they pay since sometimes it can take a couple of weeks
With that said, here are some of the top survey sites that pay you in Amazon gift cards.
Note: I try to list both the maximum and average amount of earnings per survey site. For example, while it is possible to earn at a rate of $15/hour for some surveys, this doesn’t mean you’re always going to earn this quickly due to a limited survey ability. You might only be earning this much for 20 minutes before you drop down to earning at a rate of $10/hour for an actual hourly rate of closer to $12/hour.
1. Survey Junkie
Survey Junkie has a long-standing reputation of being one of the most popular survey sites on the web. This is mostly because of their decent payout rate along with their incredibly reliability. They always payout and payout on-time.
While it’s possible earn up to a rate of $15+ per hour, this is only assuming you take high-paying surveys which don’t come around too often. Otherwise, on average you can earn roughly $10 per hour. You need a minimum of $10 to cash out for Amazon gift cards.
Click here to sign-up for Survey Junkie
2. Vindale Research
When it comes to earning the most amount of money per survey, Vindale Research is where it’s at. You can anywhere from $.25 cents to $50 per survey. Keep in mind that with higher pay comes a lot more time and effort.
Sometimes you’ll even be able to get $75 in which they send you a product and you answer questions about it. You even get a $2 registration bonus.
The survey site is currently only available to users of the US, Brazil, Australia and the UK. While the surveys do payout quite quite high, you need a minimum of $50 to cash out. They also have a wide range of other options such as watching videos or taking polls, but they’re mostly known for their surveys.
Click here to sign-up for Vindale Research
3. Pinecone Research
Pinecone Research is great because you always know that you’re going to earn $3 in points per survey. They’re also relatively short, and you can expect to earn around $15 per hour. The downside? There just aren’t that many surveys available.
You’ll be sent email notifications when there are new surveys, and your rewards are sent to you within 3-5 days after you claim them. Aside from Amazon gift cards you can also cash out to PayPal and other merchandise.
Click here to sign-up for Pinecone Research
4. Toluna Opinions
Toluca is a survey site that typically pays between $1 – $5 per survey, but keep in mind that you need to qualify to take a lot of there surveys. Fortunately, most of the time they let you know within the first few questions of starting a survey.
This is another great site for those looking to earn cash from surveys quickly. In the past there used to be reports of people having their earnings being erased for no reason, but it’s been a while since this has last happened.
Click here to sign-up for Toluna Opinions
5. YouGov
YouGov was created for a way to people to discuss their opinions on politics and current events. Answer daily polls and find out the opinions of others when it comes to global issues. You get a $2 registration bonus when you sign-up and complete your first survey.
Expect to earn anywhere from $5 – $15 per hour depending on the survey. Since most surveys don’t pay this high, on average you’ll probably be making closer to $10 per hour, which is still a decent rate. For each friend you refer you get an additional $2 and so do they.
Click here to sign-up for YouGov
6. PointClub
PointClub is by far one of my favorite survey sites out their mostly because of their high payout rate and abundant amount of surveys. Expect to earn anywhere from $7 – $15 per hour and receive a $5 bonus for registering as a new user.
They do have a high minimum cash out at $25 dollars, but you shouldn’t have any problem reaching this amount in a short amount of time.
PointClub has a bonus system that gives you a 10% bonus of all of your earnings when you log-in for 5 consecutive days in a row up to a maximum of a 100% bonus. However, forget to log-in for one day and your bonus sets back to zero.
Click here to sign-up for PointClub
7. SurveySavvy
SurveySavvy is one of the newer survey sites out there, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t pay well. Earn a minimum of $3 per survey with most surveys taking around 5 – 20 minutes to complete, meaning you’re earning on average around $15 per hour.
Sometimes they even have really long surveys that pay up to $20, but these are few and far between. Not only that, but you have to qualify for them. SurveySavvy is definitely up there when it comes to a high payout rate, but it’s difficult to be eligible for the higher-paying surveys.
Want to earn even more cash? SurveySavvy now has a new program called SurveySavvy Connect – earn a passive income by having them track your internet usage. This includes information such as what browsers you use and your internet speed.
Click here to sign-up for SurveySavvy
8. LifePoints (formerly MySurvey)
MySurvey isn’t as high-paying as the other survey sites mentioned on this list, but they do a pretty good job of accurately determining how long surveys will take you. Not only that, but they’re incredibly honest about how much each surveys pay.
One other benefit they offer aside from Amazon gift cards is that you can participate in surveys that will give you free sweepstakes entries. Although these drawings aren’t easy to win, at least you’re given the opportunity. You need a minimum of $10 to cash out. New users get a $2 registration bonus.
9. MySoapBox
MySoapBox is another favorite survey site of mine primarily due to their high payout rate. The downside? There just aren’t that many surveys available.
You get a $2 bonus when you sign-up as a new user. Upon registration, you’ll most likely only have one survey available. From there it can take a few weeks before another one appears. In order to not have to check in constantly for new surveys, we suggest signing-up for email notifications.
Click here to sign-up for MySoapBox
10. Global Test Market
Global Test Market is one of the more popular international survey sites currently available in 49 countries. They’ve been around since 1999 and are ranked as one of the most popular survey sites across the web.
The only difficult thing regarding Global Test Market is that sometimes their site doesn’t work properly during the sign-up process, but give it a few tries and you should be able to join. Surveys are usually quick and you can earn up to about $8 – $10 per hour. You need a minimum of $10 to cash out for an Amazon gift card.
11. Ipsos I-Say
Ipsos often overestimates the time it takes for you to complete a survey. With this in mind, you can typically complete a survey much faster than the time they give you. We estimate that you can earn around $8 – $9 per hour with the Ipsos I-Say Survey Panel.
Each time you complete a survey you’ll be given points that can be exchanged for deposits to PayPal, Amazon gift cards, entries to sweepstakes a lot of other prizes. One of the unique features of Ipsos is that they often give you bonus points just for being a member and continuously taking surveys through their site.
Click here to sign-up for Ipsos I-Say
12. VIP Voice
VIP Voice works a little bit differently than the other sites on this list. Your points are typically exchanged for auctions or sweepstakes. These auctions include ways to earn vacation packages as well as Amazon gift cards.
Every once in a while they hold a special promotion, such as giving a free $25 Amazon gift card to select new participants. VIP Voice also has a unique rewards program that tells you specifically how much more you can earn for being an active member.
Click here to sign-up for VIP Voice
13. Harris Poll Online
Harris Poll Online is a great survey site for completing surveys on the go. Most surveys take at most only 5 minutes with a maximum of 20 minutes. This reasonable lengths will prevent you from getting bored that much more quickly.
You need a minimum of $10 to cash out for your free Amazon gift card. Unfortunately, you won’t have that many surveys to complete, but they do send you email notifications when surveys are available.
Click here to sign-up for Harris Poll Online
14. PrizeRebel
PrizeRebel is quickly becoming a very popular survey site. Although you get paid to complete other tasks aside from just surveys, this is what they’re primarily known for.
Earn at a rate of $10+/hour if you complete the right tasks, and you even get a 10% bonus from all of your friends that you refer for life. Definitely a site worth taking a look at.
Read Our Full PrizeRebel Review
B. Receipt Scanning Apps
Receipts scanning apps are free mobile apps that give cash back for taking a picture of your receipt. Originally designed to get information on what groceries you purchase, now there are multiple apps that pay you for almost any type of receipt.
As long as you take a picture of the entire receipt, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting credited for it. Once you reach a minimum balance, you can withdraw your earnings to your PayPal account or for gift cards to popular retailers such as Amazon.
Keep in mind There are 3 different types of receipt scanning apps that you should be aware of:
- You need to buy a specific product from one of their partnered retailers. For example, maybe you need to buy a gallon of milk at Safeway to claim the offer.
- It’s not necessary that you purchase a product at a specific retailer just as long as it shows up on the receipt.
- It doesn’t matter what type of receipt you get or what you buy, just as long as the receipt is itemized.
The great thing about these type of apps? Since the cash back you receive is considered to be a rebate and not a coupon, you can use the same receipt for multiple apps. This can allow you to double or even triple your earnings.
If you’re interested in more apps like this, we suggest checking out this list of the top 10 free apps that pay you to scan your receipts.
15. Ibotta
Ibotta is by far one of the most popular receipt scanning apps out there due to their wide range of offers. You can earn anywhere from $.25 cents to $5 in cash back per offer, and you even get a $10 registration bonus after you scan your first receipt.
When claiming offers with Ibotta, you need to purchase a specific product from one of their partnered retailers.
Although this may seem like a challenge, Ibotta now has over hundreds of offers and has partnered with some of the most popular retailers across the nation. In short, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a way to get cash back with this app.
Ibotta was originally intended for grocery receipts, but now they’ve expanded to give you cash back at restaurants, electronic stores, pharmacies and even when shopping online. This is definitely the best app of its type. You need a minimum of $20 to cash out for an Amazon gift card.
Click here to sign-up for Ibotta
16. Shopkick
Shopkick is an app that pays you for shopping. You get a 250 kick bonus when you sign-up as a new user, and you get paid to do a wide array of tasks. Here’s just a short list of how you can earn through Shopkick:
- Earn kicks just for walking into stores
- Linking your credit card and making purchases
- Shopping online and earning cash back
- Scanning barcodes in-store
- Referring Friends
When it comes to shopping, Shopkick is one of the best earners out there due to the fact that there’s so many options to earn.
Click here to sign-up for Shopkick
17. BerryCart
Unlike most receipt scanning apps, BerryCart awards you for those grocery products that aren’t typically on your list. Receive cash back rewards when shopping for products that are gluten-free, vegetarian, organic, dairy-free and many other options.
What I personally like is their filter option. You can choose which specific health requirements you need and they’ll give you a list of food items that you can buy and earn cash back from.
When you use the promo code 7xYw14Jb you get a $2 bonus after scanning your first receipt. Not only that, but to cash out for an Amazon gift card you only need a minimum of $2 in your account.
Click here to sign-up for BerryCart
C. Short Task Sites
Short task sites are great since you can complete a wide variety of tasks and get paid for it. If you get bored of one thing, you can always move onto the other. Here are a couple of common activities you can participate in and earn Amazon gift cards:
- Watch videos
- Complete surveys
- Participate in polls
- Shop online
- Play games
- Click coupons
- Sign-up for free-trial offers
- Listen to the radio
You’ll find that these sites typically pay you in a wide variety of gift cards as well as other payout methods such as PayPal and Venmo.
We suggest trying out each activity on these sites to determine the fastest way of earning cash. If you’re looking for a lot of sites like this, check out 50 short task sites that pay.
18. Swagbucks
Out of all of the options on this list, Swagbucks is probably one of the most popular. They have a strong reputation, currently a $5 sign-up bonus, and have some of the best payout rates available.
Best of all is that you only need a minimum of $5 to cash out for an Amazon gift card. You can earn money doing a wide variety of tasks, but we suggest watching videos and referring your friends. When a friend signs-up using your referral link, you get 10% of all of their earnings.
Click here to sign-up for Swagbucks
19. InboxDollars
InboxDollars is another popular rewards site that pays you for a wide variety of tasks. If you’re looking for the quickest way to earn cash, we suggest completing their surveys and watching videos.
The only downside is their high minimum payout at $25, but you shouldn’t have any trouble reaching this amount. Fortunately you get a $5 sign-up bonus to help out with this as well as a 10% referral bonus on all your friends’ earnings when they register using your referral link. You can cash out for Amazon gift cards or direct deposits to PayPal.
Click here to sign-up for InboxDollars
20. GiftHulk
If we had to guess Swagbucks’ direct competitor it would definitely be Gift Hulk. They’re both very similar in layout and both come with a great payout rate. The only difference is that Swagbucks is more well-known since it’s been around longer.
You need a minimum of $10 in points to cash out for an Amazon gift card, and you get a 250 point bonus when you register with the promo code JW802600.
Click here to sign-up for GiftHulk
21. Earning Station
Earning Station isn’t as popular as the other small tasks site, but nonetheless it’s definitely a great addition to this list. You can get paid for one of the simplest tasks to complete – watching videos – among with countless other activities.
The great thing about EarningStation is that often they throw random bonuses, such as giving you double the amount of earnings for a limited time. This is why it’s important to check-in periodically to see what they’re offering. You get a 10% bonus of all your referrals’ earnings and need a minimum of 2,500 Station Dollars for a $25 Amazon gift card.
Click here to sign-up for Earning Station
22. CashCrate
CashCrate doesn’t have as many options when it comes to completing tasks, but they still have a decent payout rate. Most of their offers include answering some sort of questionnaire, such as a survey or poll.
There’s usually plenty of offers available, making CashCrate my go-to when running out of activities on other small task sites. The great thing about their site is that you earn 20% of whatever your referrals earn plus a $3 bonus when they earn their first $10. You need a minimum of 250 points to cash out for a $10 Amazon gift card.
Click here to sign-up for CashCrate
23. InstaGC
InstaGC is another short task site with a strong reputation. The payout isn’t as high as Swagbucks, but you can still get paid quite well for completing simple tasks such as watching videos and taking surveys. Watching videos tends to be the easiest.
You even get a 10-point bonus for each friend you refer plus 10% of all of their earnings for life. The great thing about InstaGC is that they pay you immediately after you claim your rewards.
Click here to sign-up for InstaGC
D. Online Shopping Portals
Online shopping portals are websites that give you cash back when you use their affiliate links to make a purchase. They typically have thousands of retailers on their site. Here’s a quick summary of how it works:
- Sign-up for a popular shopping portal. They’re all free, and most of them even give you a sign-up bonus.
- Search for the retailer of your choice. For example, let’s say we want to shop online at Walmart. Simply type in Walmart in their search bar to see how much cash back you can get.
- Click on a “Get Cash Back” button to be redirected to the retailer’s website. The portal will automatically keep track of your purchase and give you a certain amount of cash back depending on where you shop. For Walmart, it’s typically between 2% – 6%. Keep in mind that these rates change quite frequently.
- Within 1 – 4 weeks the cash back will appear in your account. Once you reach the minimum balance you can withdraw for Amazon gift cards.
Still confused on how shopping portals work? Feel free to read our online shopping portal guide to get a better understanding.
24. TopCashBack
TopCashBack is one of my favorite cash back portals. Not only do you get a $10 bonus for signing-up as a new user, but they often have the highest cash back rates out of all of the portals across the web.
Some of the great deals that they currently feature:
- 6% cash back at Walmart
- 9% cash back at Hotels.com
- Up to 10% cash back at Amazon
You even get a $10 bonus for referring a friend and having him/her claim their first cash back offer. Keep in mind that you need a minimum of earned cash back to cash out for an Amazon gift card. Choose the Amazon gift card option instead of PayPal and get an additional 3% bonus.
Click here to sign-up for TopCashBack
25. BeFrugal
When it comes to online shopping portals, BeFrugal isn’t far behind TopCashBack. You also get a $10 registration bonus and they often have some of the highest cash back rates out there. I often look between these two sites when shopping online.
Here are some of the great deals they currently have:
- 12% cash back at Expedia
- 10% cash back at Macy’s
- 9% cash back at Hotels.com
Like TopCashBack, you also get a 3% bonus when you decide to cash out for an Amazon gift card instead of PayPal. For every friend you refer, you get a $15 bonus and your friend earns $10.
Click here to sign-up for BeFrugal
26. Ebates
While their cash back rates aren’t typically as high as the other 2 portals mentioned thus far, Ebates is great for their random specials. Sometimes during the holidays or on a random day they’ll hold a random promotion such as doubling the amount of cash back for a wide selection of stores.
You get a $10 gift card to a retailer of your choice just for signing-up. One thing that stands out about Ebates is their referral program. Refer any 3 friends within a 3-month period and earn $50 (sometimes with an entry into a Disney vacation sweepstakes).
They don’t provide a bonus for withdrawing for Amazon gift cards, but they’re currently one of the only portals that gives you cash back for in-store shopping.
Click here to sign-up for Ebates
E. Passive Income Programs
Passive income programs are great. They usually only require you to register for an account, and once you have everything setup you receive an Amazon gift card every so often. The only work you have to do is cash out.
Most of the programs of this nature pay you for things such as collecting your internet search history or browser information. The reason they’re willing to pay is because the data they collect is sold to companies that use this information to help improve their products or services.
While there are a lot of passive income options out there, most of them require a lot of extra work. Here are some legitimate ways to earn Amazon gift cards with minimal effort. You can use more than one of these programs to increase your passive income.
27. Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel
The Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel pays you for using the internet like you normally do. Download the Nielsen app to your desktop or mobile devices and get paid for them to track your internet usage. This typically includes information such as the browser you’re using.
All of the information they collect goes toward helping companies improve their products and services. Keep in mind that all of the data they collect is kept confidential. The more devices that you have the app installed on, the more you earn.
Click here to sign-up for Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel
28. MobileXpression App
MobileXpression is a mobile app that collects data about your phone usage. Just by leaving the app installed in the background, you earn points that can be used to exchange for Amazon gift cards.
As a new member, you should receive a $5 Amazon gift card within a few weeks. However, don’t expect them to payout this much all the time. After the first reward expect to make around $20 – $25 per year. While the payout isn’t very high, you aren’t doing any work.
Click here to sign-up for MobileXpression
29. User Interviews
User Interviews pays you for your time as panelist, providing your opinion and thoughts about products, services, and companies. After you join for free, you can apply to any many panel opportunities as you’d like.
Currently, the average compensation is around $90 to complete one panel. The panel compensation usually ranges from $40 to $400 and you are paid via Amazon gift card.
Click here to sign-up for User Interviews
30. DataCoup
DataCoup works a little bit differently than the first 2 passive apps mentioned. This program works by linking your social media accounts to DataCoup. Get paid to release information about how often you tweet, what Facebook groups you’re in and more.
Keep in mind that DataCoup can’t view personal information such as your messages with others. You also have the option to link up your credit cards so they can grab information on what you buy, but if you feel insecure about this it’s not required. The more accounts you link, the more you pay.
Click here to sign-up with DataCoup
31. Google Opinion Rewards (formerly Cross Media Panel)
Previously known as Screenwise Trends, Cross Media Panel pays you to install a browser extension to your browser and track your internet usage. This includes information such as your browser type and how fast searches come up.
You can have the app installed on a maximum of 3 devices with each earning $1 per week for a total of $12 per month. You can cash out for free Amazon gift cards as well as many other prizes.
Click here to sign-up for Google Opinion Rewards (formerly Cross Media Panel)
32. eBesucher
eBesucher is a program that pays you to leave your browser open while it surfs the web. All you have to do is log-in to your account and choose to turn it on. This can be running in the background while it surfs automatically for you.
Registration is completely free, and you can run the program on more than one device. However, it must be ran from different IP addresses. You even get a 10% bonus for each friend you refer that registers using your link. By running it 24/7 365 days a year, expect to earn around $65 per device.
Click here to sign-up with eBesucher
F. Directly With Amazon
There are plenty of ways to earn an Amazon gift card when dealing directly with Amazon services. Often these deals aren’t very well-promoted, so it’s difficult to find out about them unless you do some digging. You can also check out 8 Amazon services you can utilize to make extra cash.
33. Amazon Trade-In Program
If you have some old text books or some used electronics that you want to get rid of, you should consider sending them to Amazon. They pay you in Amazon gift card in exchange for items that they can resell on their site.
When the iPhone 5 was going for around $350 on Amazon you could trade it in for around $124. However, keep in mind that you won’t always receive such a great offer. The older the product, the less Amazon is willing to pay you.
What I love about this program is that they send you a free shipping label and give you Amazon credit before you actually send it in.
Click here to check out the Amazon Trade-In Program
34. Amazon Credit Card
Amazon frequently holds credit card promotions giving away free gift cards when apply for one of their cards or for one of their affiliated cards. Right now they’re offering $75 in free statement credit when you apply for a Discover It Credit Card or $70 when you apply for the Amazon Visa Rewards Credit Card.
I highly recommend applying for the Amazon Prime Store Card. For a limited time you can get a $40 Amazon gift card upon approval and you get 5% cash back on all Amazon purchases. You can opt out of the cash back option and choose up to 6 months of interest-free financing instead.
Click here to check out Amazon Credit Cards
35. Amazon App Referral Credit
New users that sign-up with the Amazon Shopping App and make their first purchase receive a $5 credit toward their account. Refer for your friends that also make their first purchase and you both get a bonus of $5.
If you’ve already used the app and missed out on the promotion, we’ve heard that contacting Amazon will still get you the credit. Keep in mind that the $5 bonus only applies to purchases of $10 or more.
Click here to check out the Amazon App
36. Amazon Associates
If you’re a blogger like myself, you can sign-up for an Amazon Associates and earn affiliate commission for linking out to Amazon products. Earn anywhere from 4% – 8% commission when someone buys something. You can choose to cash out for deposits to your bank account or for free amazon gift cards.
Want to start a blog and not sure how? I suggest starting with 7 detailed steps on how to start a successful blog.
Starting a blog is incredibly cheap. We’ve partnered with Bluehost to get you a deal of a free domain and web hosting for only $3.95 per month. That’s only $8 per year Domains typically cost around $10 per year and hosting at $7 per month.
Click here to sign-up for Amazon Associates
Final Thoughts
There are plenty of ways to earn free Amazon gift cards, but I’ve personally found that these methods are some of the best out there. Most of these programs have been around for a while, so I don’t see them going away anytime soon. See one that’s not on the list and should be? Let us know down below. Thanks for reading and happy frugaling!
