42 Apps That Pay You Real Money: The Best Money Making Apps of 2024

We’re hooked on our devices, but did you know there are actually apps that pay you real money?

Yes! Out of the millions of apps on the app store, many will actually pay you to use them.

To come up with this list of the best money making apps, I:

looked my own favorites from the last 10+ years of testing
cross-referenced the best-rated money making apps in both the iOS and Google Play app stores
gathered feedback from Side Hustle Nation readers

For each, we’ll take a quick look at how they work and how you can earn money and get paid for using them. Some are completely passive after you set them up, while others take a little more time.

I’ve broken these down by category, and encourage you to pick and install the ones that make the most sense for you.

Apps That Pay You to Take Surveys and Play Games

Turns out there are tons of ways to make extra money sharing your opinion with brands.

These apps probably won’t make you a ton of money, but could add $20-100 a month to your bottom line if you use them consistently.

To earn more, consider online focus groups—my personal favorite resource for these is User Interviews. (Feel free to check out our full User Interviews review for more details.)

1. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a recognized leader in the online survey space. The long-running app has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to users over the years.

You can earn rewards for shopping online, answering surveys, playing mobile games, and watching videos. Cash out for gift cards from major retailers.

Sign up through my referral link for a $10 bonus.

2. KashKick

KashKick is a newer app that pays you to answer surveys, test new games (up to $150 each!), and redeem money-saving offers.

With the slogan “get paid to have fun,” KashKick is rated 4.2-stars in the Google Play store.

3. Survey Junkie

With Survey Junkie, you get to be the influencer — and give your opinions to hundreds of partner brands.

As one of the highest paying survey apps, Survey Junkie offers popular gift cards and cash outs via PayPal. Just 3 surveys a day can earn you $100 a month.

Join the 20+ million members and get started today.

4. InboxDollars

Most InboxDollars surveys pay between $0.50 and $5, but occasionally you’ll see offers up to $20 or more. You can also earn by watching TV, shopping, or completing offers through the app.

InboxDollars pays you in real money—not points—and offers a free $5 sign-up bonus.

5. Bingo Cash

The popular Bingo Cash game app turns classic bingo from a game of luck into a game of speed and skill. Each game only takes about 2 minutes to play, and you can earn real-world rewards and cash prizes (except in AR, IA, LA, SC, and WA).

At press time, the app has a 4.7-star rating on the iOS App Store from 140,000+ reviews, with players calling it legit, fun, and addicting.

As with all gaming apps, practice for free first. Then, never put more money at risk than you can afford to lose.

6. Cash Giraffe (Android)

Cash Giraffe (Android only) connects you with new mobile games that are trying to attract more players. The app tracks the time you spend playing and rewards you for hitting certain milestones.

As you earn more Cash Giraffe tickets, you can cash out for gift cards or deposit directly into your PayPal account.

While Cash Giraffe is relatively new, it’s earned positive feedback so far. With over 5M downloads, it’s rated 4.4-stars on the Google Play Store.

7. Rewarded Play (Android)

With over 200,000 reviews and a 4.4-star rating in the Google Play store, Rewarded Play is another free, legit, and fun, “get paid to play” app.

Rewarded Play is your one-stop app for casual games like:

Solitaire
Mahjong
Wheel of Fortune
Yahtzee
and more

As you play, choose your rewards and get your gift cards within 48 hours.

8. Lightster

You can earn $1 per minute sharing your opinion and feedback with brands through Lightster. The market research app matches you with paid studies based on your profile.

To get started, you’ll add some demographic information about yourself and answer some questions about your experience and interests.

After that, you may see some questions pop up in the app. Answer those to qualify for paid sessions.

I got invited to my first half hour brand conversation within a couple weeks of downloading the app, and got paid (via Amazon gift card) right away.

Apps That Pay You to Invest

9. Arrived

Arrived is a real estate investing app that lets you buy shares of cash-flowing rentals for as little as $100.

The company pools money to buy rental properties, manages them, and then distributes the cash flow every quarter.

10. Fundrise

I’ve been a Fundrise investor for years, and like their long-term outlook and consistent quarterly dividends. With just $10, you can start building a portfolio of commercial real estate.

(Disclosure: when you sign up, I earn a commission. All opinions are my own.)

11. Robinhood

Robinhood is an online brokerage that gives new customers a free stock when you sign up—worth up to $200.

It’s a random draw–not your choice, unfortunately. I got Groupon (currently worth about $6), but Microsoft, VISA, and Johnson & Johnson are options.

The Best Cash Back Apps

Many cash back apps will basically give you free money just for tracking the spending you’re already doing.

12. Fetch Rewards

The Fetch Rewards app is a favorite of mine because it’s super easy. You earn points by snapping pictures of your grocery shopping receipts, which you can cash in for gift cards.

Pro Tip: Use referral code FETCH300 when you sign up to get 300 free bonus points added to your account. 

13. Rakuten

The Rakuten shopping app is an established leader in money saving apps—the company’s been paying users back for over 20 years!

The app offers cash back, in-store cash back, and a cash back button extension for online shopping. Shop almost every retailer on the planet and earn up to 40% cash back.

I look forward to my “Big Fat Checks” every quarter!

Join through my referral link and get a $30 sign-up bonus.

14. Ibotta

I use Ibotta every week to check for extra cash back on our grocery purchases.

The drawback is you still have to scroll through each store’s listing and choose the products you bought. Then, you snap a picture of your receipt and watch the cash back hit your account.

Ibotta Savers who use the app every month earn over $130 a year! I’ll take it. (You can cash out via gift cards or PayPal.)

15. Pogo

By sharing your location and credit card transaction data with Pogo, you’ll earn points you can cash out to PayPal or Venmo.

Just enable location tracking and link your bank account credentials when you sign up. Based on my results so far, I expect Pogo to be worth around $5-20 a year.

Check out my full Pogo app review to learn more.

16. Upside

Use the free Upside app to get up to 25¢/gallon cash back on gas at thousands of locations all around the country. Plus, get a 25¢/gallon bonus on your first fill-up with promo code SHN25.

You just have to tell the app where you’re filling up and what credit card you’re using. Upside also gives you cash back at participating grocery stores and restaurants, too!

17. Dosh

With Dosh, there are offers to claim or receipts to scan. You’ll earn automatic cash back at lots of locations locally.

Where Dosh is perhaps most interesting is in booking hotels — when you book through the app you can get up to 40% cash back at 600,000 hotels!

Apps That Connect You With Money-Making Gigs

18. Sharetown

Not many people know about Sharetown, but I’ve connected with side hustlers earning $3,000+ a month with this app.

Sharetown matches you up with gently-used mattress and furniture returns from direct-to-consumer brands.

Since the items aren’t new, the companies can’t really take them back and resell them — but you can. The Sharetown reps I’ve connected with report earning $150-250 per item.

And the cool part is the inventory doesn’t cost you anything until it sells.

But you can’t just download the app and get started. You have to apply first to make sure the company needs additional reps in your area.

Check out our full Sharetown review to learn more about how it works.

19. Wonolo

Wonolo is a popular temp work app that connects you with immediate hourly or same-day gig jobs. Wonolo connects you with jobs in retail, logistics, manufacturing, and more. You can choose when you want to work, and how much you want to work.

With several different industries available, you can choose gigs you’re familiar with or try something new.

At press time, Wonolo was rated 4.3-stars in the Google Play store, with over 1M downloads.

20. TaskRabbit

TaskRabbit is the original odd jobs app. You can create a profile specializing in everything from running local errands, assembling furniture, local admin temp help, and even virtual support jobs.

Rates vary widely based on what service you’re providing, but I’ve seen tasks anywhere from $15 an hour all the way up to $100 an hour or more for specialized handyman skills.

21. Oppizi

Oppizi is a cool app for local brand ambassador and flyer delivery gigs. You can earn $23 an hour, plus bonuses when people sign up for the services you’re promoting.

(Oppizi partners with brands like Uber, DoorDash, Classpass, and Uniqlo to help them reach more customers.)

If you don’t mind getting outside and interacting with others, Oppizi is a pretty easy way to get paid to take a walk.

Apps That Give You Money for Using Your Phone

Because we give so much of our data away for free to companies like Facebook, it’s probably not that far a stretch to actually get paid for the data you share. Here are some options to do just that.

22. Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel

Nielsen pays you for sharing Internet usage behaviors. Just download the app to all of your registered devices and earn up to $60 per year.

The app isn’t intrusive and won’t slow down your devices.

23. MobileXpression

MobileXpression is a market research panel that pays you for data from your mobile phone.

After you download the app, it works in the background recording your browsing habits. You’ll earn weekly credits redeemable for gift cards to popular retailers.

Realistically, this is an un-intrusive background app that will probably earn you around $20 a year in passive income. And you’ll earn a free $5 gift card after your first week.

24. Honeygain

I’ve seen a lot of buzz lately around a new app called Honeygain. According to the site, you can earn up to $50 a month when you share “your unused net traffic with data scientists.”

Just install the app (available on Windows, MacOS, and Android), connect it to the Internet, and earn rewards passively. On average, it takes users 48 days to reach $20.

Get a $3 bonus to start.

Before you get started though, make sure you’re truly on an unlimited plan—it sounds like this could chew through a lot of bandwidth in a hurry!

25. Caden (iOS)

Caden is one of my newest finds, and is earning me over $10 a month on autopilot

The app itself is a little slow and buggy, but may be worth those small headaches for some relatively easy passive income.

At press time, it was iOS only. Check out our full Caden app review to learn more.

Apps That Pay You to Drive

26. HopSkipDrive

HopSkipDrive specializes in safe and transparent school transportation for kids.

Their rigorously vetted CareDrivers are “caregivers on wheels” who set their own schedule and get to support the community.

HopSkipDrive currently operates in select metro areas, but is rapidly expanding to new cities.

Requirements:

At least 23 years old
5 years caregiving experience
Background check; good driving record
4-door vehicle under 10 years old

Earning Power: $20-30 per hour. (Earnings vary based on location and demand, but HopSkipDrive CareDrivers can earn over $35 per trip on average, completing 7-8 trips a week.)

27. Uber Eats

Jason Butler reported earning $25-30 an hour making takeout deliveries with Uber Eats.

Uber’s mega-popular tech platform connects your with nearby restaurant orders. Then you go pick up the order and bring it to the customer.

28. Instacart

Get paid to shop for and deliver other people’s groceries with Instacart. Enjoy weekly payouts and a flexible schedule.

Check out our full Instacart Shopper review, where Kevin LaCombe reported earning an extra $450-500 a week.

29. DoorDash

DoorDash “Dashers” make up to $25 an hour as food delivery drivers.

Check out our full DoorDash driver review, where I sat down Kevin Ha, a Dasher earning $250-500 a month in his spare time.

30. Lyft and Uber

These two ridesharing services are some of the most popular apps to make extra money.

With millions of users, they pay you to drive your neighbors around. Your earning potential varies by city, but you can set your own hours and earn tips for providing a great, safe passenger experience.

One potential “hack” is that both Uber and Lyft have a feature called “destination mode.” This allows you to tell the app where you’re going, and only accept rides from passengers heading in the same direction.

Several Side Hustle Nation readers report using this setting to offset the costs of their regular commutes.

Mystery Shopping Apps

31. Field Agent

Field Agent presents a list of tasks you can do based on your location.

Most of these gigs involve evaluating product displays or checking on inventory. They typically pay $3-10 apiece, depending on complexity and the time involved.

No purchase is necessary, unless specified in the task, in which case Field Agent will reimburse you.

For more, check out my full Field Agent review.

Apps That Pay You to Exercise

32. Rover

With the Rover app, you can get paid to walk dogs. The platform has a large database of dog owners looking for help from people like you.

According to Rover, top dog walkers are earning $1000 a month.

33. Cashwalk

Cashwalk pays you to track your steps, with power users earning $5 every 6-8 weeks, or around $30 a year. (Available in the US only.)

Check out our full Cashwalk review to learn more.

Apps to Make Money Selling Stuff

Many people earn quick extra cash selling items part-time. Here are the top apps to list and sell items locally and online.

34. Decluttr

Make money selling your used CDs, DVDs, and video games using this app.

Decluttr will tell you how much your items are worth and even give you a pre-paid shipping label to send them all in.

(Usually it’s a depressingly low amount!)

But what Decluttr lacks in high payouts, it makes up for in ease-of-use. It’s definitely easier than attempting to photograph, list, sell, and ship all your items one-by-one.

35. Amazon Seller App

The free Amazon seller app is your gateway to the world of Amazon FBA — fulfillment by Amazon. The app will let you scan the barcodes of various products and see what they’re selling for on Amazon–and what your profit would be after fees.

I used this app, along with a lot of shopping, to earn over $600 on the side.

Reselling on Amazon is a serious side hustle that many have turned into full-time businesses.

36. Poshmark

With the Poshmark app, you can make extra cash selling clothing, accessories, and home goods. (Used designer clothing is a big seller on Poshmark.)

The app does take a 20% fee, but has a large audience of buyers and makes the selling process as easy as possible.

You can take pics straight from your phone, pick categories, and write a description of your item.

Once you sell something, they send you a free prepaid shipping label for USPS Priority Mail.

Similar Option: 

Mercari — A Poshmark competitor, with lower fees.

The App That Pays You For Your Extra Space

37. Neighbor

The Neighbor platform connects people who have extra storage space with people who need it. If you’ve got some excess storage capacity in your garage, attic, or side yard, list your space here to fill it and get paid.

Top hosts are earning up to $10,000 a year running their own mini self-storage operations. Check out our full Neighbor review to learn more.

Apps That Pay You Real Money To Share Your Stuff

38. Getaround

Getaround is a leader in the peer-to-peer car rental space. Your car probably sits idle most of the time and the Getaround app helps you turn that idle time into $500 a month or more.

Naturally, nicer and newer cars in popular travel destinations earn the most. I’ve actually heard of people taking out leases on cars specifically to rent them out on Getaround.

Similar Options:

Turo – Turo is a similar concept to Getaround, and has car owners earning up to $10,000 a year. Check out the free “carculator” to see how much you can earn or check out our full Turo review for more.
RVshare – Rent out your RV for $200+ per day on RVshare, “the largest and most trusted RVing community.” Top renters earn $15-30k a year.

39. Airbnb

Airbnb is one of the most well-known “sharing economy” platforms and has disrupted the entire hotel industry.

If you have an extra room and don’t mind meeting a rotating cast of house guests, it’s a fantastic way to offset your living expenses.

Your rates will depend on your local competition, but could be anywhere from $40 to $300 a night. And if you have any hotels in your city or town, you know there’s at least some demand.

Overlooked Money Making Apps

40. X (Formerly Twitter)

Top X influencers are making $10k+ per month with X’s new ad revenue sharing program. To qualify, you need to:

Be verified or an X Premium subscriber ($8/mo; formerly Twitter Blue)
Have received 5M impressions on your content over the last 3 months
Have at least 500 followers

You can use the app to build an engaged audience like Dickie Bush did. In 12 months, he went from zero to 50,000 followers and built a multi-6-figure online business as a result.

41. TikTok

Like YouTube, TikTok actually does pay creators who publish creative viral videos. The TikTok Creator Fund has paid out millions of dollars so far.

42. Your Phone Itself!

While these apps are great, the most overlooked money making app that’s already on your phone is … wait for it … the phone itself!

As in, call a prospect, figure out their pain points, and make a deal to help them.

Conclusion: There Really Are Apps That Pay You!

Yes, you can turn your smartphone into a money making machine by installing a few apps.

Hopefully a few on this list were new to you and you decide to give them a shot. Feel free to report back on your results in the comments below to help future readers!

Just a handful of these apps have already netted me well over $1000 in benefits. I think with a little effort and attention you can have a similar experience.

Serious About Making More Money?

Start Your Free $500 Challenge. My free 5-day email course shows you how to add $500 to your bottom line.
Join the free Side Hustle Nation Community. The free Facebook group is the best place to connect with other side hustlers and get your questions answered.
Download The Side Hustle Show. My free podcast shares how to make extra money with actionable weekly episodes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there really apps that pay you?

Yes! I’ve turned my phone into a money maker by installing several of these, and many work automatically after you set them up. Check the full list on Side Hustle Nation for more info.

What are the best cash back apps?

My favorite cash back apps are Fetch, Dosh, and Ibotta. Fetch is great because it works at tons of locations and you can earn extra cash back on tons of popular brands. Check the full list on Side Hustle Nation for more info.

What apps pay you to play games?

Several apps pay you to play games, including Swagbucks, KashKick, and others. Still, there are other apps where you can make more money so be sure to check the full list on Side Hustle Nation for more info.