Even if you have a work at home job that more or less pays the bills, there’s a lot to be said for extra cash opportunities. There are many different little “side-gigs” I’ve had access to over the years that have seriously come in handy for me. I’ve used them to help pay for Christmas, gas money, extra money for movie and a dinner out, and even just to help make ends meet week to week.
Today’s post is a ginormous list of 100 ways to earn extra cash online. Each listing will link directly to the site if applicable so you can sign up or check it out. I’ve either tried or thoroughly researched the sites listed, so they are legit to the best of my knowledge. I’ve also broken everything down for you by category to make browsing much easier.
Survey Panels
Sign up to be a part of different survey panels and wait for surveys to come to you via email. These surveys will usually cover products and services, but some panels will ask more interesting types of questions. Survey panels usually pay anywhere from $1 to $5 per survey taken or in the form of Amazon gift codes and other types of rewards. Here’s a list of reputable survey panels to try:
Opinion Outpost
Springboard
E-Poll
You Gov
Paid Viewpoint
See more survey panels here.
Subscribe to my newsletter here to get a free e-book that explains how survey panels work in great detail.
Rewards Sites
Rewards site are fun to use and can be a great way to earn extra cash. Most of the let you earn money in a variety of ways, including searching the web, watching videos, answering surveys, playing games, printing coupons, short tasks, and more. Some pay in straight cash while others will pay you in points you can redeem for Amazon gift codes. There are lots of great rewards sites, but the five I’ve listed below are the oldest and most reputable, having been around and paying people for ten years or more:
SwagBucks
Inbox Dollars
Quick Rewards
My Points
Cash Crate
Usability Testing
Usability testing involves testing out websites, apps, software, etc. and sharing your feedback and/or helping developers find bugs and problems. What’s great about these opportunities is that almost anyone can do them and you likely won’t need any equipment you don’t already have. Each site listed below pays differently, but most pay in cash — not redeemable points.
User Testing
Enroll
Erli Bird
StartUp Lift
uTest
Userlytics
What Users Do
YouEye
Short Tasks
These are sites that post short tasks that pay per piece. These tasks may involve anything and everything, including data entry, writing, tagging, surveys, and more. Most don’t pay much per piece, but the key to earning substantial extra money with them is getting fast at the tasks you do accept. Below are a few sites to consider trying that pay for short tasks:
Amazon mTurk
ClickWorker
CrowdSource
More short tasks sites here.
Shopping
It’s really easy these days to get paid for the shopping you do. Most of the sites listed below work by giving you a percentage or a flat rate in cash back for purchasing certain items. If you make a point to actually use the sites below, it adds up in a hurry! Here are the most reputable and lucrative:
Ebates
Ibotta
Checkout 51
Groupon Snap
Saving Star
Jingit
Shopkick
Checkpoints
See more ways to get paid for shopping here.
Unlocking Your Phone
The following are apps that will pay you to unlock your phone. Note that these work only for Android devices. The way it works is pretty simple. Most will display an advertisement or an article on your phone. When you swipe, you earn a little bit of money. It is for sure just small change, but it’s mindless and something you’re doing anyway.
Fronto
SlideJoy
ScreenPay
Perk Screen
Mystery Shopping
While mystery shopping isn’t always done online, it is a great way to earn some extra money. While I do have a large number of mystery shopping companies here, today I’m only going to focus on the ones that require you to use your smartphone and also your home phone because they’re easiest to do and are usually not quite as involved.
Field Agent
GigWalk
Mobee
Easy Shift
Zapiddy
Call Center QA (phone)
Social Networks
These sites pay you a little for sharing links to your social network accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.). I think people with large numbers of social media followers have the most success using sites like this, but even for the average person with few followers, it could be some extra cash here and there.
Share Magnet
Viraliti (Pinterest sharing)
MyLikes
Tsu
Smartphone Photography
You can get paid for your high-quality smartphone pictures, believe it or not. Some people are extremely gifted with smartphone photography and can make their pics look very professional. Below are a few sites that are interested in purchasing smartphone pics:
Foap
IconZoomer
ClaShot
SnapWire
Mail Decoy
The companies listed below monitor mailings, typically junk mailings like catalogs and other promotional things. They will pay people to agree to accept mail at their homes from popular companies that regularly send out these types of mailings, and then you can earn money for sending it in or inputting it.
US Monitor
SBKC
Focus Groups
Focus groups are a little more involved than paid surveys, but they are a bit similar. Rather than ticking off a yes/no to say what you think about a product or service, you’re invited to participate in discussions about what you tried, or share your thoughts via webcam. Focus groups also pay more than paid surveys, and sometimes you may be asked to leave your home and visit a location to do them.
20|20 Research
Mindswarms
Brand Institute
Nichols Research
See several more listings here.
Browser Extensions
These are extensions you can add to your Chrome browser that you can get paid for using. Each of the two listed below works a little differently, the first paying you for clicking on sponsored ads that appear in your searches (through the extension) and the second just for having it installed.
Qmee
Screenwise Trends
Exercising/Fitness
There are a few ways these days to get rewarded just for sticking to your fitness goals. Pretty easy money and you can feel good about yourself at the same time:
Pact
Sworkit (formerly Nexercise)
Run Errands For People
Note these are not online, but it’s flexible work you can do at your convenience to earn extra money. There are people everywhere who need people to do things like pick up their groceries, go check things out for them (WeGoLook, listed below), pick up fast food for them, and more. The companies below will pay you to be that person for others.
Task Rabbit
We Go Look
Agent Anything (college students only)
DoorDash
Postmates
Instacart
Share Your Advice and Expertise
Are you an expert in something? If so, you can earn money online providing it for others who need it. The following sites are usually looking for remote experts:
Maven
Hourly Nerd
Just Answer
Ether
Design & Sell Products Online
There are sites that have things like T-shirts, mugs, calendars, etc. that need designs. You can sign up to design them and then open up your own online store, selling the products you designed to others. Most of these sites will pay you a certain amount of royalties when your item(s) sell.
Zazzle
CafePress
Tee Spring
Pick Out Names
There are few companies that will let you submit ideas for things like domain names, business names, etc. that their clients need. If your name is picked, you can earn money.
Picky Domains
Naming Force
Writing
While writing also falls under the category of an actual work at home job, it can be great for extra cash, too. Particularly content sites. These are sites that post writing assignments for any of their approved writers to grab, and for most you only need average writing skill to become an approved writer. While the pay isn’t fantastic, if you can write fast, you can for sure earn substantial extra money. Most of these sites will pay a penny per word or more:
Textbroker
Domainite
BKA Content
Crowd Content
Writer’s Domain
Demand Media
More writing sites here.
Transcription
Like writing (above) transcription is another type of work that often equals a full-time income. However, there are lots of sites that accept beginners that don’t pay very much for the audio transcribed. While a professional transcriber may not bother with the sites below, someone without the skill to be a professional could use them here and there for some quick extra cash:
Quicktate
Rev
Scribie
TranscribeMe
Sell Your Used Stuff
Something else anyone can do, and who doesn’t have used stuff lying around that is no longer needed? Below are some popular sites you’ve probably heard of that you can use to re-sell your used stuff. You can also use these sites to “flip” items you find at thrift stores:
eBay
Amazon
Facebook
Sell Your Crafts & Handmade Items
Etsy
Artfire
Craftsy
Amazon Handmade (coming soon)
More ideas here.
Use Your Home to Make Money
There are quite a few ways you can use your house to earn an income, although I’m sure not everyone would want to do these things. Still, there may be a demand for it in your area.
Charge people money to park at your house. Works best if you live near a popular area where people struggle to find parking spaces.
Rent out space in your home. You can use Store at My House to list any space you have and charge what you want.
Rent out your home to vacationers. You can do this with Airbnb.
More Ideas
Fancy Hands – This is task-based virtual assisting. Once accepted into their system as a VA, you can pick and choose what tasks you want to do. It may be anything from calling to make an appointment for someone to online shopping.
Humanatic – This is call reviewing. You listen to recorded phone conversations and tag them according to specific criteria. Not much money at all (which is why it’s listed here on my extra money list), but I have done it and it’s not too difficult.
Slice the Pie – This is listening to clips of new music and rating/reviewing them. Doesn’t take long at all plus it’s fun and easy. They pay via Paypal on Tuesdays and Fridays, but you need at least $10 in your account to cash out. Slice the Pie has also started letting people rate fashion in addition to music.
PostLoop – This is paid forum posting. Once approved as a forum poster, you can visit various forums and reply to threads and/or start discussions and earn money. You can cash out as long as you have at least $5 and they will pay you the same day.
Cambly – Work anytime you want, helping others learn English. This one will require you to be on camera, chatting with people who are using Cambly’s service.
Virtual Bee – This is legitimate data entry. Pay is very, very low but it’s kind of fun to do. It’s for sure just barely extra cash.
Fiverr – Earn $5 for practically anything if someone buys the service from you. People offer everything from graphic design to writing, plus a lot of wacky stuff in between.
Ticket Puller – If you use Ticket Puller, you have a shot at earning money for successfully “pulling” tickets for various events. Earn up to $50 per successful ticket pulling session.
I hope this post gives you some good ideas for earning extra cash online (and offline). Please chime in below if you have some more ideas to share with us.
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