These days, pretty much every single person and their dog has a side hustle. It could be a part-time job, stocks, or a hobby that can turn into a full-time career. However, not everyone has time for a side hustle. It can be hard to juggle it with all the other responsibilities life throws at you. In that case, you wonder how to make money on the side without it taking too much time. Perhaps something that’s slightly more passive and simple but will still give decent earnings. The good news is that there are ways. With the power of technology, they’re accessible to almost anyone. All you need is a phone and a couple of money-making apps.
25 Best Money-Making Apps for Side Income
Money-making apps are great for side income especially given the convenience they bring to you. These methods employ surveys, cashback, and many more to help you earn a little on the side without much effort. Take note that some apps do require effort because they do seem like actual jobs. However, if you’re up for it, they can give you higher pay. You can even employ more than one of the methods to aggregate your income and earn more.
Here’s a list of the 10 best money-making apps for side income:
1. Acorns
Acorns is an earning app that pools your saved money into a portfolio of stocks and bonds. If you’re not the type to intentionally save up money for investments, Acorns is a good app to try out. It saves your money and invests it for you without you even having to think about it.
Basically, the app rounds up all of your purchases via accounts and cards linked to the app. After linking your cards to the app, you can make purchases as you would normally. Once you make a purchase, the app automatically rounds up your decimal purchases into whole numbers. The spare change saved from these round-ups is then invested into your portfolio. Over time, you would’ve already accumulated larger investments without even realizing you did.
The app is a neat way for beginners to get into stocks. With the app, you can skip the high initial investment and the headache of all the stock market’s complications. Although, it’s still advisable you learn some of the basics. The app’s also customizable since you can choose the kinds of portfolios you want to invest in. Whether it’s a riskier or more conservative investment is up to you.
You can open two different accounts with Acorns. The first one is a Standard Investment Account (Acorns Core) and the second an Individual Retirement Account (Acorns Later). As the name implies, the Retirement account is good for when you want to save up for retirement.
The Acorns account doesn’t come for free, though. There’s a monthly fee of $1 for Acorns Core and $2 for Acorns Later. College students can avail of Acorns accounts for free for 4 years.
2. Airbnb
It’s an obvious choice and kind of goes without saying that Airbnb can make you some good side income. That is, of course, if you have the right stuff. With Airbnb, you can turn an unused room or apartment into a money-making gold mine. You can even use Airbnb when you just want to go out of town and rent your place out for some extra cash. If you live in a prime location, you can even rent out rooms seasonally when people visit the area more often.
Of course, Airbnb is good cash. It could even be better than many of the options on this list. However, pricing your Airbnb can be competitive depending on the others available within your area. Your price should also vary depending on your room/apartment’s current condition. If you want a good pricing gauge, check out the prices of the Airbnbs and hotels in your area. Although people will most likely rent your Airbnb if you’ve got a competitive price compared to other alternatives.
Needless to say, Airbnb is available on Android and iOS. It also has a browser version where you can log into your account and manage your listings.
3. BookScouter
If you’re a recent graduate or have just moved on from certain college subjects, you might find that your textbooks are now useless to you. Sure, some people hold onto certain textbooks for reference. However, many more don’t really use theirs and let their old textbooks gather dust. That’s why BookScouter is a great solution if you want to give a proper goodbye to your books (and maybe earn some money on the side).
BookScouter is an app that lets you scan your books’ and textbooks’ barcodes to see if they have value. It’ll scour various websites to see how much that certain book is selling for. When you’ve determined the market price, the app tells you where to sell your book the best. Best of all? There’s no fee for listing or shipping! BookScouter also offers you an incentive when you refer your friends to the service.
4. Drop
Sometimes, shopping can be very addictive. There are tons of products you can buy from tons of different stores. If you tend to shop a lot, why not earn money back from your purchases? That’s right, folks. You can get apps that pay you back on the purchases you make.
Drop is one of the money-making apps that give you cashback on shopping. You just have to link your debit or credit card to start. Once you’ve linked them, Drop connects your card transactions with Drop’s offers that you have connected. No need for log-ins, verification codes, or anything else. The Drop app gives you points in the background as you shop, shop, shop!
After linking your cards, Drop will then prompt you to choose five favorite brands. These will usually be big brands like Uber, Target, Starbucks, etc. Keep in mind that once you choose five, you won’t be able to change them. Choose the ones you shop the most at. Afterward, you can also choose bonus offers (optional). Bonus offers will vary and they’ll be offered to you fairly regularly. These bonuses can get you added points for different tasks and purchases.
Once the points you earn accumulate, you can cash them in as gift cards from different brands. These can include Adidas, Walmart, Netflix, Starbucks, and more. Drop is great for anyone who wants to earn a bit from the shopping they already do.
5. Foap
If you’re an aspiring photographer or videographer, you can make money online by selling your work on Foap. It’s one of the money-making apps where you can upload photos and videos for sale. Brands and different companies then buy the uploaded photos and videos to use in their business. These can be for marketing campaigns or ad initiatives. Whatever the case, you can make money by selling on Foap. However, do note that Foap will take 50% of the profit.
For Foap to work well, all you need are photos and videos and an active PayPal account. You can upload your photos and videos over on Foap or even undertake their special missions. These missions may require you to take new photos but they’ve got higher pay than the regular photos do. Some missions can even pay hundreds for single photos.
The great thing about Foap is that each photo can be sold more than once. Therefore, if you’ve uploaded a photo and it’s been bought, it can be bought again by a different company. Moreover, Foap isn’t just for professional photographers and videographers, either. It’s easy for just about anyone to use.
6. Google Opinion Rewards
In some sense, Google Opinion Rewards gives you free money when you take their online surveys. You’re not required to pay or purchase anything to get the credits. It doesn’t cost you money to earn, but you do pay with your data in some sense.
Google Opinion Rewards is one of the survey-centric money-making apps you can download on your smartphone. It’s pretty easy to use. All you need to do is complete surveys on different topics given by the app. These things can be pretty random from personal opinions and establishment reviews to satisfaction measurement surveys from different stores. They don’t take up too much of your time, either. You can just take a short survey during your idle time waiting for the bus. However, keep in mind that the frequency of surveys given will vary per person.
Additionally, Google Opinion Rewards gives you the option of sharing your TV and internet usage data. Once you do, you can earn even more as you passively surf the web and watch TV.
As for payout, Google Opinion Rewards will pay you in either Google Play Credits or PayPal credits. It’s great since it doesn’t take up too much time and it’s basically free cash.
7. iBotta
iBotta is one of the good money-making apps that is said to give some fast money. It’s basically a cashback app that not only includes online shopping but physical shopping as well. All you need to do is accomplish a few minor tasks and remember to keep your receipts.
With iBotta, you can shop online or shop in physical stores to earn cashback. Just make sure you keep your receipts since you’ll need to upload them and scan their barcodes to earn points.
The catch to iBotta is that it requires you to do a few minor tasks to unlock products. These can include answering polls or watching videos the app gives. However, these tasks can also be a good added source of rebates for more cashback.
Apart from the task-based eligibility of products, iBotta also has the downside of having a smaller list of partner stores. That means you won’t get cashback from lots of other stores you shop from. However, they do have some well-known brands within their network like GAP, Booking.com, Walmart, Target, and more.
iBotta claims that regular users get an average of $30 per month in cashback. In total, it claims to have given $682 million in cashback to iBotta users. If you sign up, you’ll get a $20 welcome gift if you make a purchase with the service. Payout comes in either gift cards or cash transfers.
8. InboxDollars
InboxDollars is a great option for people who want to make a quick and easy buck. The site acts like many others on this list: it pays you to complete certain online tasks. These tasks can include playing some games, filling out surveys, shopping, watching TV, and more. While most of their surveys will pay around $0.50 to $5.00, you can occasionally find some worth $20+. What’s great about the app is that it pays real cash, unlike others that pay you only in gift cards or points. Although, there are ways to be rewarded in gift cards. If you’re interested in InboxDollars, sign up with a free $5.00 bonus upon account verification.
9. Instacart Shopper
If you don’t mind a bit of labor in money making apps, Instacart Shopper is a great way to earn some money by doing errands. When you use the app, you can get paid to go grocery shopping for folks who need the service. Some people might be too busy to shop for themselves while others may be physically unable to do so. Still, others may just want someone else to do their shopping for them. Whatever the case may be, Instacart Shopper supplies for people’s grocery needs while helping others who need some cash.
With Instacart Shopper, you can get paid weekly and enjoy a flexible schedule. Most jobs will pay you around $7 to $20 per hour. Of course, this figure can fluctuate depending on how many orders you get in a day. There’s also a 5% tip you can get from customers who use the service.
If you’re in immediate need of cash, you can cash out with Instacart Cashout for immediate withdrawals. Otherwise, you can opt to get cash out weekly through direct deposit.
10. iPoll
In the realm of money-making apps, Google isn’t the only one giving out free cash for surveys. With iPoll, you can get paid by taking surveys and answering questions on various topics. These can include your opinions on certain products and stores. The surveys don’t usually take too much of your time and is a great way to earn a little on the side. Although, if you do want to earn more on surveys, the longer ones pay a bit more.
Once you complete many surveys, you can accumulate money and get them in different forms. These payouts can be in cash, gift cards, or even points with airlines. You can also get paid in Apple Store, Amazon, or PayPal gift cards.
iPoll surveys typically earn $0.50 to $3 depending on the survey you take. Sometimes iPoll even gives out missions where you do special tasks and answer surveys to earn lots more. If you utilize the app a lot, you can earn $30 to $50 per month. It’s a great app if you have lots of idle time on your hands.
11. Lyft
People have more skills than they expect and Lyft is one of the money making apps that’s proof of that. If you can drive pretty decently and have a driver’s license, Lyft is a good way to earn some side income.
Lyft is like Uber where people can book cars for ridesharing. You can use it at your own pace and be a driver only when you’re free. There’s also a “destination mode” you can turn on if you only want to rideshare with people who are on-the-way to your destination. Alternatively, you can be a Lyft driver full-time. It’s your choice how you want to set your hours. Plus, you can get tips if you provide great service.
If you have a car, you can easily use it to share rides with people using the app. Don’t worry about reach, either, since Lyft is almost, if not just as popular as Uber. Plus, there’s no policy that says you can’t be a Lyft driver and an Uber driver at the same time. You can easily earn more money by employing both apps. It’s a win-win! If you don’t have a car, you don’t need to worry. Lyft has great Express Drive partners to help you get one with insurance, maintenance, and unlimited miles.
12. Mercari
If you have a lot of goods to sell, Mercari is one of the best money making apps to use. It’s like an online marketplace without the option of setting sketchy meet-ups. Everything is delivered via shipping.
Through Mercari, you can easily snap a photo, write a description, and set prices on products you sell. The most popular items usually include handbags, clothes, speakers, headphones, and tablets. However, you can sell other things, too. Just make sure that the price you set will account for the 10% commission Mercari makes off of your sale.
13. Mobee
Mobee is one of the money making apps that makes you feel a little like a secret agent getting paid to go on a secret mission. The app will ask you to complete various “missions” at different stores. For example, the app can ask you to go to Domino’s to answer a survey. Sometimes, you’ll be tasked to go to Macy’s to take photos inside the store.
After you’ve finished your tasks, you can earn points on Mobee’s app. Once you get enough points, you can redeem them for gift cards to Amazon and the like. It will take some time to redeem points, though. 48 hours to be exact. Mobee’s a great choice if you want to earn some easy cash.
14. Mypoints
Online shopping can easily burn your cash, especially since there’s no psychological pain of taking cash out of your wallet. That’s why cashback money making apps like Mypoints are a lifesaver when online shopping.
With Mypoints, you can easily get points for shopping via partner stores. These stores include popular behemoths like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Macy’s, Groupon, Target, and Home Depot. There are thousands more, though, so you’re sure to cover a lot of ground with Mypoints.
Once you earn enough points, you can redeem them as gift cards for even more wonderful shopping. Alternatively, the app also generously offers cashback via real cash through PayPal. If you’re interested, you can get a $10 Amazon or Visa gift card bonus upon your first qualifying purchase.
15. OfferUp
Minimalism is all the rage these days but you don’t have to be a minimalist to declutter. Sometimes, it’s just a wonderful feeling to get rid of old stuff you no longer find value in. While it may seem like a waste to throw things away, it doesn’t have to be. With money making apps like OfferUp, you can sell your used possessions to people within your region.
OfferUp is quick and easy to use. Just upload a photo, write a description, and set a price. You can sell almost anything from clothes, appliances, and even old cars. There’s also no hassle with OfferUp since they have a flexible selling scheme. You can either arrange a meet-up or ship your items — it’s your choice. It’s free to use although you can promote your listing for a fee.
16. Paribus
Have you ever bought something only to find that the item went on sale a little while later? There’s a sting that can come with buying something like that. With money making apps like Paribus, you can make that sting going away by getting a refund!
Yes, that’s right. Paribus offers refunds on items you’ve bought that have later been discounted. The app also gives you compensation in case you have an online order that’s been delivered late. Paribus is a growing app with over 25 retailers under monitor including Amazon, Target, and Home Depot.
17. Pinecone Research
There’s a lot of money in research and that’s not only on the side of the researcher. Respondents can also earn money by giving away their thoughts, opinions, and experiences via surveys. With money making apps like Pinecone Research, you can earn $3 minimum per survey you answer.
Pinecone Research isn’t like other survey websites that maybe offer you $0.50 for a lengthy survey. They pay a flat fee that may increase but never go under $3. Plus, there’s no minimum amount for payout so it’s pretty flexible.
Most of the surveys will be product-related from different brands so their surveys won’t be too difficult. You can also redeem what you earn via rewards or cash through PayPal. It’s not a bad side-income app so make sure to check it out.
17. Rakuten (Ebates)
Formerly known as Ebates, Rakuten is one of the money-making apps you should certainly check out. You can earn rebates just from buying from Amazon, eBay, H&M, Walmart, JCPenney, and more. There are over 2,500 stores partnered with Rakuten so you’ve got a lot of options. These stores are the ones that pay Rakuten commissions, which are then used by Rakuten to give payouts to users.
Rakuten shines best in its Chrome extension. If you’re shopping online and happen to land at the site of a partner store, you’ll get an alert. That way, you can shop with Rakuten seamlessly without having to check the list of stores for verification. It’s easy money for just shopping as you normally would. You can even get as much as 40% in cashback with some purchases, although the typical percentage is at around 5% to 10%.
Once you sign up for Rakuten, you can earn cash immediately. Rakuten offers a $10 sign-up bonus if you spend $25 within the first quarter of your sign-up. Referrals can also get you some earnings with a $25 bonus if they sign up. Payouts can come via checks or electronically via PayPal.
18. Slidejoy
It’s no secret that ads make money. We see it all around society in many different forms. These can be physical ads like billboards and giant screens. They can also be digital,, just within the internet. However, did you know you can make money from ads yourself? Not as the advertiser but as the consumer. Here’s how.
Slidejoy is a unique app in that it pays you for viewing ads. Perhaps this method has been familiar to you if you’re used to playing online games. Most games will allow you to view ads for free powerups and rewards. With Slidejoy, you get money.
The way Slidejoy works is that it puts ads on your lock screen. In some sense, it “rents out” your lock screen like a digital banner for its many advertisers. You can see news stories, deals, ads, and trends all on your lock screen. While that may sound inconvenient, it’s a good trade-off for a bit of extra cash, isn’t it?
Once you install Slidejoy, you’ll see ads on your phone. Each time you pick up or check your phone, a new ad will be present. Swipe left if you want to know more about the ad and swipe right to go to your home screen. Alternatively, you can also swipe up to view more ads. Payout comes via PayPal, or you can choose to donate earnings to Slidejoy’s charities.
The downside to Slidejoy is that it’s only available on Android. Sorry, iOS users.
19. Survey Junkie
Survey Junkie is similar to Pinecone Research in that it pays you to take surveys about certain products. It’s solely dedicated to paying people to answer opinion-based surveys so it shouldn’t be too difficult. All it takes is an internet connection and you’re set, regardless of what area–or what country–you live.
Survey Junkie rewards users via points redeemable in gift cards or cash (via PayPal). These points roughly equal one cent per point. A 5-to-10-minute survey can usually earn 100 to 200 points. That’s $1-$2 per survey which isn’t too bad. Although, there is a payout threshold of $10 so keep that in mind.
20. Swagbucks
Instead of spending hours browsing social media on your computer, why not use that time to earn money? With Swagbucks, you can earn income by doing simple, online tasks without having to leave the house. The app will make you watch videos, surf the web, shop online, or answer surveys. Sometimes, it’ll even ask you to play games for money–sweet!
Swagbucks gives you points for every task you complete. Once you earn a certain amount, you can redeem them via gift cards (Starbucks/Amazon/Walmart) or via cash through PayPal. Sign-up is free and may even get you a $10 bonus.
21. Sweatcoin
Sweatcoin is one of the many money-making apps, but it’s not at all common. It’s an app that pays you for your exercise, which is great for staying fit and motivated. Even if you don’t specifically focus on fitness, as long as you’re always on-the-go, you can make us of Sweatcoin.
With Sweatcoin, you can earn right as you’re walking. If you walk to work or walk around a lot, it can be really useful. The app pays you 0.95 “Sweatcoins” per 1,000 steps. It encourages you to walk around and move your body with monetary benefits. You only need to let Sweatcoin run in the background on your phone all the time.
Sweatcoins you earn over time can be redeemed for different products and services. Most of these will be athletics and fitness-related things. Fitness classes, fitness gears, and more. Even audiobooks, meditation gear, and headphones are included. There are more than 300 partner brands that Sweatcoin has in its roster. If you want to stay healthy, Sweatcoin is a great way to start and continue your fitness journey. With Sweatcoin, it literally pays to walk.
22. Task Rabbit
Money-making apps rarely give you the feel of a proper side gig. If you’re willing to put in a bit more effort for higher pay, then check out Task Rabbit. It’s one of the money-making apps that will allow you to provide physical labor services to different people. They’re normally one-time jobs that don’t take lots of skills. Don’t worry, Task Rabbit makes sure that these odd jobs are only within your area.
With Task Rabbit, you can put in some work during days off or when you want an additional job. Most commonly, Task Rabbit jobs include cleaning houses, moving furniture, assisting with mounting a TV, or assembling IKEA furniture. It’s also pretty flexible since it allows you to give your hourly rates per task. Many jobs come with a minimum of $20, and lots of them pay over $100 per job.
With Task Rabbit, the more jobs you do, the more jobs you’ll get. You’ll get more exposure as you get more experience. Of course, be prepared to be reviewed for your services. People will check out your profile before employing you for a service. However, if you do good jobs with Task Rabbit, you can get high reviews and get hired even more often.
23. Uber
Most people are already familiar with Uber as a ridesharing customer. However, not everyone stops to think that they can be an Uber driving to make extra cash. It’s actually pretty easy.
Perhaps some people don’t want to be an Uber driver because of the commitment and time it takes. However, it’s not at all a full-time job (although it can be). You can be an Uber driver at your own pace doing it on your own time, with your own car. There’s even an incentive coming in as a newbie since Uber promotes new drivers.
With Uber, you can get to your destination and share the ride to earn a bit of extra cash. If you’re going somewhere at a weird time, you might find some bonuses for using the app during certain hours. There’s also the option of delivering food via UberEats if you’re not comfortable with ridesharing.
24. Vindale Research
Surveys are by far one of the easiest ways to earn side-income and the more apps there are, the merrier. With Vindale Research, you can add to your already growing collection of online survey money making apps.
Vindale gives users up to $50 per survey answered. Not only that, but they also offer payments to people just for reading emails. Of course, you’d have to sign up for their Reward Mail to get paid for these. They also offer payment to users just for watching videos and giving comments. If you’re interested, it’s totally free to sign up with a $1 sign-up bonus.
Final Word
There are many money-making apps that you can employ to earn a side income. It’s even more useful nowadays as earning money becomes increasingly difficult. There are apps for small earnings, and there are apps that give a large amount for payout. You can even aggregate your income by employing more than one method to make money.
With this list, we hope you were able to take a look at the best money-making apps available. All that’s left is for you to decide the best one (or ones) for your situation. Happy earning!
