Can money-earning apps help you earn some cash while sitting at home doing nothing?
Yes, they can!
If you are trying to figure out how to make extra income easily without much time or effort, there are several money-making apps for Android phones or iPhones that will help you with that.
However, while you could make a couple of bucks here and there, there are no apps that can replace the income earned from full-time work.
Over time though, it may be enough to treat yourself or pay for your monthly mobile phone bill, even as a way to supplement your current income when 9-5 simply isn’t cutting it.
In today’s post, I am going to share with you the top 10 money earning apps. These apps will give you the flexibility of earning some extra cash anytime and anywhere.
For more options, check out my other article about the best apps that pay you real money.
This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure page for more information.
Top 10 Money Earning Apps – Best of 2021
The top apps that pay you money range from survey apps to mobile advertising apps to exercise apps.
Some money-making apps require you to answer online surveys or shop online while others will simply pay you for installing them. There’s even an app on the list that will pay you to exercise!
They are the best money making apps because of their popularity, reliability and effectiveness in generating extra money without requiring too much effort and time.
You can engage with them while watching TV, commuting to work or when you have some downtime.
Make the most of your spare time by installing any of these top 10 best apps to make money.
Swagbucks
The Swagbucks mobile app will pay you for taking surveys, playing games, watching videos, searching the Internet, shopping online and for doing other simple tasks.
Performing those tasks will earn you points called SB which is equivalent to $10 in value for every 1000 SB points.
When your point balance reaches 2,500 or $25, you can withdraw them via Paypal cash or redeem for gift cards from popular retailers like Amazon, Starbucks, Walmart and more.
Swagbucks has eight different apps for iPhone and two for Android along with opportunities to earn from their website directly and via a browser toolbar.
With so many options, you can easily optimize your online activities to earn the most points.
Click here to get a $10 bonus just for signing up.
Nielsen Mobile App
Nielsen is one of the best-known names when it comes to survey and market research. The Nielsen Mobile Panel is your opportunity to be part of the research they do.
Nielsen wants to understand how consumers use the Internet and mobile devices by studying websites and apps people use.
By installing the Nielsen Mobile app on your smartphone or tablet, Nielsen collects your Internet usage habits over time.
As a reward for your participation, they will pay you $50 a year to keep their app on your device. You must keep the app installed for a minimum of 14 days to qualify for the reward.
To join, start by answering questions at their website to tell more about yourself, your household and the devices you use. Then download the Nielsen App, either on your tablet or smartphone.
Now you’re probably a little concern about privacy. But according to Nielsen, your info will be anonymized.
Your data will be encrypted, aggregated along with thousands of other participants statistics and then used to make reports and analysis.
Nielsen’s Privacy Policy stated that your personal info will never be used to send promotional offers or advertisements.
The app itself is only 2.6MB in size and won’t slow down your phone or tablet at all.
If you are looking for apps that pay you real money passively without having to do anything, this is as close as it gets.
Sign up and download Nielsen app here.
Ibotta
Ibotta is a free mobile app that rewards you with cash on your purchases.
Simply download the app and save on everything from groceries to household essentials to dining out.
To start earning money, simply check the app before you shop for relevant offers from participating store.
After your purchase, take a photo of your receipt and upload it to Ibotta to redeem the offer.
Ibotta will match the receipt with the deals and reward you with cash back in your account. You cash back will be deposited into your Ibotta account within 48 hours.
When you refer your friends to sign up, this money-making app will pay you $5 and your friend get $10 free!
Download the Ibotta app here. Enjoy a $20 welcome bonus (or other bonus) when you redeem an offer.
Rakuten
Let me guess, you are probably going to buy food, household items, clothing, electronics, and toiletries for this month right?
These are the things you’re going to buy anyway, so why not buy them through Rakuten (formerly known as Ebates) and earn cash back for your purchases?
If you know what you want to buy, Rakuten will show you which stores are selling that item and how much cashback you would receive from each store.
The cash back is usually between one to two percent. But sometimes it can go up to 40%. In addition, you’ll get access to in-store coupons and other perks.
You can shop at over 2,500 online stores including Amazon, Walmart, Groupon and Expedia.
To earn more money, take advantage of their referral program. When your friend sign-up through your affiliate link, you’ll get $25 and they’ll get $10.
If you like shopping, this is one of the best money earning apps you can download today.
Sign up and get $10 Welcome Bonus now.
Acorns
Acorns is a beginner-friendly investing app with a few extra bells and whistles.
Acorns helps you invest spare change or extra cash without you really thinking about it even when you think you don’t have enough money to start investing.
It works by rounding your credit or debit card purchases up to the nearest dollars and invests the digital change into a portfolio of ETFs diversified across 7,000 stocks and bonds.
You can also set up automatic recurring investments where you can start with just $5 per day.
While there’s no withdrawal fee, Acorns charges a $1 monthly fee so take that into account when calculating your earnings.
The perks you enjoy would more than compensate the monthly fee though.
You can build a diversified investment portfolio automatically, make a one-time investment, earn more from side gigs with Airbnb, Uber and more and enjoy free access to all your accounts.
Sign up today to get a $5 free sign up bonus.
Paribus
Paribus is another money making app that helps you save money by tracking if stores owe you a refund.
If you do a lot of online shopping, you’d know not all purchases went smoothly.
Sometimes there’s a sudden price drop after the purchase, or you missed the coupon or promo code or your guaranteed shipment show up late.
Whatever the issue, Paribus got your back. It will take over and sends you money for the troubles!
Think of it as your automated shopping assistant living on your phone, tablet and desktop.
Currently, they track 25+ major retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Macy’s and Nordstrom. They also monitor hotel room rates booked through Expedia, Booking.com, Priceline, Hilton etc.
Simply sign up using the email provider where you receive online shopping receipts and they’ll do the hard work for you.
There’s money out there with your name on it and Paribus will be keeping tab for you only if you sign up now.
The app is available for iOS and Android.
Although currently, the Paribus Android app is not available from the Google Play store. However, you can still track your Paribus account and savings via their website.
Slidejoy
Slidejoy is one of the money earning apps that pay you for placing ads on your Android device or tablet lock screen.
You may be asking, why would anyone want to place ads on their phone?
Well, if you want the ability to get free money without doing anything and don’t mind utilizing your lock screen for that, Slidejoy is a good option.
The ads are not that intrusive or spammy and they can be relevant too as Slidejoy learns more about your preference.
You can make between $5-$15 per month. While it won’t replace the income from your day job, it’s probably the easiest passive income you could make by using your phone.
Once installed, every time you check your phone you will see a card with a news story or promotion on your lock screen.
To dismiss the ad, just slide right to go to your home screen.
You will make the same amount regardless of whether you engage with an ad to prevent bias.
Sweatcoin
Sweatcoin pays you to walk, move around and exercise. The company is UK-based and the app is available for both iOS and Android.
Sweatcoin converts the steps you take outside into a digital currency called “Sweatcoins” or SWC.
For every 1,000 steps you take, you earn 0.95 SWC. Keep in mind that other activities which aren’t based solely on steps like riding a bike or swimming are not going to earn any coins.
A recurring complaint from the users is that Sweatcoin doesn’t count all the steps they took. It’s also a huge battery drain for some users as it needs to be running at all times.
You are also limited to earning 5 Sweatcoins a day with the basic plan. That’s 5,000 steps per day which are still a lot for most people.
If that’s not enough, you can upgrade to 10 Sweatcoins a day (10,000 steps) for 5 Sweatcoins per month.
At the moment you can’t trade the Sweatcoins for cash.
For that, you can take advantage of their marketplace offers that range from gift cards, online memberships, food gifts, gadgets, sports kit, app downloads, music downloads, and more.
Once in a while, a PayPal or Amazon Gift Card becomes available but these run out fast.
Sweatcoin could be worth your time if you are already walking and running a lot and don’t mind being tracked everywhere you go.
Foap
Do you take a lot of selfies, sunset and other types of photos with your phone?
Rather than letting them take up space on your phone and do nothing, imagine getting paid for those photos.
Foap is a money earning app that you can use to sell photos and videos taken using your phone even if you are not a professional photographer.
Simply download the app then upload your photos and videos to your Foap online portfolio.
When a brand, agency or just anyone purchases you work, Foap will share the profit with you 50/50.
A photo on Foap usually sells for $10 so you’ll get $5 dollars. But you can sell the same photo more than once.
It’s much cheaper for companies to buy photos from Foam users than from the agencies. That’s why well-known brands, including Bank of America, Air Asia, and Pepsi bought from them.
In addition, Foap also distributes your photos through partners like Getty images to help you gain even more exposure.
You can also take part in Missions where brands asked for specific imagery. Simply follow the Mission brief and upload one or multiple videos or pictures.
You can win a minimum of $50 dollars to hundreds of dollars if your photo or video got selected.
Now before you start counting how much money you can make from your photos, you might want to read this article to brush up on your phone photography skills.
Google Opinion Rewards
I’ve decided to include Google Opinion Rewards as a bonus app to help you make money.
Google Opinion Rewards pays you for answering quick surveys.
But rather than paying you in cash or PayPal money, it rewards you with Google Play credits which are deposited directly into your Google Play account.
Simply download the app and answer basic questions about yourself. You’ll get a notification on your phone when a relevant survey is ready for you.
Surveys are shorts and easy to complete covering topics such as “Which logo is best?” and “When do you plan on travelling next?”.
You will receive up to $1.00 in Play credit which can be used for Google products. The pay varies depending on the surveys. Writing reviews would usually earn you more credits.
In addition to apps and games, Google Play credits allow you to buy books, music, subscriptions or even rent a movie for your date night!
Related: 11 Ways to Get Free Google Play Gift Cards & Credits
Money Earning Apps Conclusion
I hope you find the list of top 10 money earning apps useful.
As people spend more and more time on their phone, it’s no wonder everyone is searching for the best apps to make money fast.
Individually, each app is not going to earn you a whole lot of money. The trick is to use several money-making apps together in order to increase your earning potential.
Now it’s your turn. Do you use any of these top money earning apps yourself?
If so, we would love to hear about your experience in the comments.
