Top 50 Earning Apps in 2025: Your Complete Guide

With the help of this guide, you can easily make more money from mobile earning apps by doing small tasks, selling items, or sharing resources. These apps reward you for doing quick surveys or watching videos, while some apps give you cashback on shopping or let you rent out things you own. This guide covers the top 50 earning apps; we also group them by category and industry, which will give you clear steps to start making money with your phone today.

To start, you need the official app or source of these apps. If you already have an account, sign in, or sign up with your email or a social account link, and then you may need to link your account to a payment method like your bank or PayPal. Next, finish simple tasks, take surveys, scan receipts, or deliver orders, and watch small rewards build up over time. With regular use and smart tips, you can turn spare minutes into a side income or gift cards that add up quickly.

Why Earn Money with Apps?

By using these apps, you are enabled to earn more money without extra effort on your part. On the other hand, most apps ask for small tasks or jobs, such as taking quick surveys or watching short videos, so you can complete them in your free time. You can get started in minutes: just download the app, register for free, and begin earning right away.

Apps let you earn whenever and wherever you have a spare moment—on a bus ride, in a coffee shop, or between meetings. There’s no strict schedule or rules to follow because you will decide when and how long to work. That flexibility makes these apps ideal for fitting extra income around your busy day.

Who Should Use Earning Apps?

Anyone can use earning apps; students can earn pocket money for books, snacks, or social activities using earning apps between classes. Students can incorporate short tasks into their study breaks, maximizing their free time without having to miss lectures. All you need is a smartphone, an internet connection, and a few free minutes to build up rewards.

Stay-at-home parents can top up the family budget without leaving the house by using apps like Receipt Hog to snap and upload shopping receipts. These people earn awesome rewards and cash while caring for kids.

Furthermore, side hustlers use these apps to boost their incomes by working on simple gigs like driving, freelancing, or selling items for extra cash.

What to Expect in This Guide

I’ve categorized these apps into ten categories, which include quick surveys, cashback shopping, gig driving and delivery, freelancing, selling items, investing and savings, microtasks, renting or sharing, game rewards, and health-and-wellness challenges—for easy browsing. Below in the article, you’ll see comprehensive details that show average monthly earnings so you can plan your side income with confidence.

Under each app listing, you’ll find expert tips on boosting earnings—like claiming all available bonuses, avoiding low-pay offers, and protecting your personal data. We’ve also included real user case studies—such as someone earning $105 for about 90 minutes of survey work—so you see exactly what is possible. To round it off, we spotlight longer-term success stories—like a $5,000-a-year side-hustle example—so you get both data and inspiration.

Quick Start: Getting Started with Earning Apps

When I first tried side-hustle apps, I tried a survey app late one evening and saw money appear in my balance within minutes after completing a survey. Your phone really can be a mini computer that pays you back. In our list all the apps are trusted, and you can try it. To get going, just install any of these apps, sign up with your email, and follow the on-screen prompts.

What You Need to Begin

You only need three things: a working smartphone, a reliable internet connection, and an email or payment account (like PayPal or a bank account) to collect your rewards. Additionally, I always make sure my PayPal is linked before I start any new app, so cashing out is smooth and fast.

Choosing Your Payout Method

Most apps let you choose PayPal, direct bank deposit, or gift cards as your payout option, so you can pick what works best for your routine. I usually opt for PayPal for quicker transfers, but gift cards often come with bonus offers when you shop at your favorite stores.

Keeping Your Data Safe

Keep your accounts locked down with strong, unique passwords and turn on two-factor authentication wherever it’s offered—this stops almost all unwanted logins. Always avoid sharing sensitive info like Social Security numbers or full bank details; I only enter data into apps with clear privacy policies.

Survey Apps You Can Do in Minutes

Survey apps give you simple tasks like quick polls or product tests that pay you in cash or gift cards for just a few minutes of your time. I popped open a survey app on my phone during a TV commercial break and earned $1.50 in less than five minutes, so small wins that stack up fast.

You can fit surveys into almost any spare moment: waiting for coffee, traveling on the bus/vehicle, or lounging on the couch. I’ve used these apps to turn idle time into a regular side boost, logging in daily to keep my points balance growing.

Swagbucks

Swagbucks stands out because it pays you in “SB” points for surveys, videos, web searches, and even online shopping, while 1 SB equals 1¢. Most surveys award between 50 SB (50¢) and 250 SB ($2.50), with occasional higher-value offers for longer questionnaires.

Pro Tip: Set a daily goal (for example, 300 SB) to keep you on track and unlock bonus SB for hitting streaks.

InboxDollars

InboxDollars pays you in real dollars, no confusing points, by taking surveys, watching videos, reading paid emails, and scanning coupons for extra cashback. In my first 24 hours, I made about $7.63 (including a $5 signup bonus), mostly from surveys and scratch-off tickets.

Pro Tip: Open every “paid email” you get; they’re easy cents that add up without much effort.

Google Opinion Rewards

Google Opinion Rewards sends you very short, location-based surveys, often under one minute each, and pays $0.10 to $1.00 straight into your PayPal or Google Play account. I leave location services on so I don’t miss any nearby survey chances and answer fast, and those quick rewards pile up over weeks.

Toluna

Toluna offers points for standard surveys (1,000–20,000 points per survey), plus daily polls, product-testing invites, and community votes you can do in under two minutes. In my experience, focusing on short surveys and the quick “pulse” polls helps me clear payout thresholds faster.

Pro Tip: Complete your profile fully to get matched with better-paying studies.

Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie’s clean dashboard lists survey payout (20–400 points per survey) and minutes required, so you can pick the best pay-per-minute gigs. I earned $12.50 over a couple of hours by choosing only the highest-value surveys and opting into their “Surf to Earn” browser extension for extra guaranteed points each month.

Cashback & Receipt-Scanning Apps

Cashback and receipt-scanning apps let you get money back on groceries, dining, shopping, and even hotel stays just by snapping receipts or shopping through their links. These apps partner with thousands of stores, brands, and hotels, sharing a slice of their marketing budget with you when you submit proof of purchase or use their services. I use these apps to recover 2–10% on essentials and sometimes up to 40% on special offers, turning routine errands into steady side income.

Most receipt-scanning apps pay you in points or cents per receipt (often $0.02–$0.10 each), while pure cashback apps credit a percentage of your purchase directly to your account. You usually cash out via PayPal, bank deposit, Venmo, or gift cards once you hit a low minimum (often $5–$20), making it easy to access your extra cash. My best tip is to upload receipts promptly and link loyalty cards to earn automatically without extra steps.

Rakuten

Rakuten works by routing your shopping through its website, app, or browser extension and then tracking purchases to credit you with 1–40% cash back, depending on the retailer and current deals. Payouts arrive quarterly via PayPal, mailed check, or gift cards once you hit $5.01 in earnings.

Pro Tip: Always enable the Rakuten extension before checking out and watch for seasonal “double cash back” events to boost your haul.

Ibotta

Ibotta pays you real money for uploading receipts or shopping through its portal at over 2,000 retailers, with normal cash-back rates of 1–25% on groceries, restaurants, and more. You can withdraw via PayPal, bank transfer, or gift cards after reaching a $20 minimum.

Pro Tip: Link your store loyalty accounts to skip receipt scans, and tap the “Boost” tab daily for extra high-value offers.

Dosh

Dosh links to your credit or debit cards to give you automatic cash back, usually 3–10% on shopping and dining, and up to 20–40% on select hotel bookings without any receipt uploads or coupon codes. You can cash out to a bank, PayPal, or Venmo once you hit a $25 balance.

Pro Tip: Check the app’s “Hotels” section before booking travel, as rates there often max out higher than retail offers.

Shopkick

Shopkick awards you “kicks” (points) for simple in-store and online actions, walking into partner stores, scanning product barcodes, watching videos, or making purchases. And you redeem kicks for digital gift cards starting at just 2,000 points ($1). You can also earn bonus Kicks by referring friends or completing app challenges.

Pro Tip: Keep Bluetooth and location on, open the app when near stores, and scan featured items quickly to snag extra in-store bonuses.

Honeygain

Honeygain runs in the background to share your unused internet bandwidth with data-hungry clients. They are paying roughly $1 per 10 GB shared and averaging $20–$30 per month per device. Payouts post to PayPal or crypto wallets once you reach a $20 threshold.

Pro Tip: Connect multiple devices on separate networks and enable JumpTask mode (if available) to multiply your passive earnings without extra effort.

Gig Economy Apps: Drive, Deliver & Earn Fast Cash

Gig economy apps let you choose when and where you work, turning your car or bike into a rolling side hustle. Suppose that you have driven during peak hours for Uber and DoorDash, then switched to Instacart when the grocery rush hit, so mixing apps helped you hit $200 in one weekend.

Most of the riding apps pay per task or per mile, plus tips and bonuses, so you can plan your time around the best hours in your area. A multitude of riders track their earnings in a simple spreadsheet to compare rates. While Uber averaged $11.77/hour after expenses, Lyft hit $21.51 before costs last month.

Uber: Ridesharing King

Uber’s driver app offers real-time ride requests, GPS navigation, cashless payments, and 24/7 support. After fees and car costs, drivers earn around $11.77 an hour on average, though busy times can push gross pay toward $30/hour. One of my Uber driver friends told me to work Friday and Saturday nights for surge pricing and always decline low-fare short trips to boost my net pay.

Lyft: Friendly Ride Partner

Lyft gives similar features—ride estimates, multiple ride options, in-app tipping, and rider ratings—and focuses on U.S./Canada markets. Drivers see an average gross of $21.51 per hour, with top earners hitting $30/hour before deducting gas and maintenance.

Pro Tip: Schedule 90-minute blocks during morning commutes, then switch apps when traffic eases.

DoorDash: Food Delivery Hustle

DoorDash connects you to restaurant orders with batching features, contactless drop-offs, and peak-pay boosts. After expenses, many dashers report $21–$24 net per engaged hour, especially when you level up in the Dasher rewards program. On the other hand, you can chase “Peak Pay” badges and stack incentives by accepting only $10+ orders, which lifted your average from $12 to $18/hour.

Instacart: Grocery Gig Cash

Instacart’s shopper app shows batch pay upfront and highlights “peak earning times” so you can plan shifts around busy slots. Nationwide averages sit around $13–$16 per hour, though high-demand areas hit $18–$26 before tips. Additionally, you can set alerts for weekend mornings, when stores are packed, and use instant cash-out to keep cash flowing.

Postmates: All-Purpose Delivery

Postmates delivers more than food—groceries, essentials, and even small items with flexible batching and in-app navigation. Drivers earn roughly $12–$18 per hour, with peak-pay bonuses pushing some into the low $20s.

Pro Tip: Run Postmates alongside other apps, accept multi-item orders, and avoid slow days to keep the dollars rolling in.

Freelance & Microjob Platforms: Sell Your Skills Online

Freelance and microjob apps let you offer almost any different skill, such as writing, design, coding, or even odd tasks, to clients around the world.

These platforms handle the billing and payment process; you just spend some hours and publish your skills to clients you’d never meet otherwise. Assuming that you mix big sites like Upwork with micro-task apps, you can build a steady side income that scales with your free time and skills.

Fiverr: Quick Gig Marketplace

On Fiverr, you just create “gigs” for specific services like logo design, voice-overs, or blog editing, and buyers pick what they need. However, fiverr takes 20% of fee from every order up to $500 and 5.5% plus $2 on smaller order below $50.

Pro Tip: Bundle extras (like faster delivery) into gig packages to increase your average sale without raising base prices.

Upwork: Full-Service Freelancer Hub

On Upwork you can work hourly and fixed-price jobs across 125+ categories, from web development to customer support. As of May 2023, Upwork announce that freelancers will pay a flat 10% fee on all their earnings instead of the old sliding scale.

Pro Tip: Start with small-fee, short-term projects to build reviews promptly and a strong portfolio.

Freelancer.com: Global Bidding Platform

Freelancer.com covers over 2,700 service types, everything from CAD drafting to data entry, and lets you bid on client posts or offer fixed-price “services.” The site charges 10% (or $5, whichever is greater) on fixed-price projects and 10% on hourly work.

Pro Tip: First complete your profile with real projects to win bids faster and avoid lowball competition.

PeoplePerHour: Project-Based Freelance Site

PeoplePerHour features both per-hour contracts and “hourlies” (fixed-price mini-projects) in categories like marketing, design, and programming. New sellers pay 20% on the first £500 earned, then 7.5% up to £5,000, and just 3.5% on earnings after that.

Pro Tip: Aim to cross the £500 threshold early—once you do, your fees drop and every extra pound counts more.

Guru.com: Trusted Freelance Network

Guru.com lets you post jobs like writing, engineering, and law services, and it lets you choose from hourly, milestone, and task-based payments. It charges a 2.9% payment handling fee per invoice (allowing direct wire transfers) and also plan-based subscription fees.

Pro Tip: Use Guru’s WorkRooms feature to keep clients engaged with regular updates, which boosts repeat business and ratings.

Online Selling Apps to Turn Clutter into Cash

Online selling apps let you turn clutter into cash by listing clothes, gadgets, and crafts on your phone. I cleared out old T-shirts and toys last weekend and made $75 without leaving the house.

In the majority of apps, you can list items for free and handle payments in the app to keep things simple. In addition, you can choose to ship items with prepaid labels or meet buyers in person, giving you control over payments and delivery time. My personal opinion is that you should always add clear photos and honest descriptions to avoid returns and get more repeat buyers.

eBay: Auction & Fixed-Price Listings

I always use a white background and multiple angles to make listings pop. eBay charges no listing fee for your first 250 items each month, then $0.35 per listing, plus a 13.6% final value fee on most categories up to $7,500. Moreover, to ship, you can use calculated shipping tables so buyers pay a fair rate, and you can offer free domestic shipping to boost views.

Pro Tip: Bundle similar items in one auction to lower overall fees and increase bids.

Poshmark: Socially Social‑Driven Resale

Poshmark charges $2.95 on sales under $15 and 20% on sales of $15 or more, with a flat $7.97 shipping fee paid by the buyer. On top of that, you need to take bright, clear photos and write clear titles with brand and size to grab attention.

Pro Tip: I always offer bundling discounts and share my closet at Posh Parties to get more views.

Mercari: Free Listings, Global Reach

Mercari takes a 10% selling fee on each order, and shipping labels start at $3.99, depending on weight, with the buyer covering label cost. As well, you need to focus on the quality of items, while Mercari listing is free, so you just snap product pics and hit post.

Pro Tip: Price slightly above the final amount to cover buyer fees and encourage offers.

Depop: Fashion & Vintage Hub

Depop charges a 10% commission on the total sale (including shipping), and if you ship with Depop labels, they deduct the label cost from your payout. I list with a mix of styled and plain shots to stand out. Besides, you can make some extra income in a few clicks.

Pro Tip: Offer “free” shipping by folding the label cost into your price to avoid hidden fees popping up and confusing buyers.

Facebook Marketplace: Local & Nationwide

Sometimes I post different items, even some old items with clear photos and honest titles, so I attract local buyers fast. Facebook Marketplace charges no listing fees for local sales, but if you offer shipping, they take 5% of the sale (or $0.40 minimum) to cover payment processing.

Pro Tip: Meet buyers in public safe spots to avoid shipping fees and get cash in hand that same day.

Grow Your Money with Investing & Savings Apps

When I invested in stock and crypto apps for the first time, while the process was easy to buy stocks and crypto from the market, I sold them without paying any trade taxes and commissions. Additionally, you just need basic knowledge about stock and crypto trading, so with just a few taps, you could open a brokerage account, transfer funds to it, and start investing as little as $1.

These apps added features like rounding up spare change or automated deposits, which quietly build your balance over time without any extra effort. For all that I set up Acorns’ Round-Ups account and monitor my small investment, in just three months it grows to over $150.

Robinhood: Commission-Free Stock & Crypto Trading

Robinhood takes 0% commission trades for stocks, ETFs, options, and crypto, making it easy for investors and individuals to start without worrying about fees. Moreover, you can upgrade margin users accounts to Robinhood Gold for $5 per month, which unlocks $1,000 in quick deposits and lower margin rates.

Pro Tip: Use limit orders instead of market orders to avoid slippage and get better entry prices.

Acorns: Micro-Investing with Spare Change

Acorns rounds up every purchase to the dollar and invests the spare change into an ETF portfolio once your round-ups hit $5. The basic plan costs $3 per month, rising to $6–$12 for extra features like retirement accounts and family investing.

Pro Tip: My recommendation is enabling Double-Up to speed up your earnings—Acorns matches your change at double value for select purchases.

Stash: Guided Investing & Learning Tools

Stash simplifies investing with expert-built portfolios, automated recurring deposits, and a Stock-Back® debit card that earns stock rewards on everyday spending. Even so, the Stash pricing plans start from $3 per month with educational articles, live webinars, and personalized advice.

Pro Tip: You can use Stash’s themes like “Blue Chips” or “Tech Innovators” to build a portfolio lineup with your interests.

Webull: Advanced Tools for Active Traders

Webull features commission-free trades, no account minimums, and a high 4% APY on uninvested cash, which is one of the best rates available today. What’s more, its research suite includes 50+ technical indicators, drawing tools, and customizable screeners that help you spot opportunities. A great deal that I use fractional-share trading on Webull to invest exactly $5 in top stocks, making changes easy with any budget.

Coinbase: User-Friendly Crypto & Rewards

Coinbase supports over 10,000 cryptocurrency assets and offers a built-in NFT marketplace. Also, this wallet provides educational “Earn” tutorials where you can learn and earn small crypto rewards. The Coinbase wallet charges 1.49%–3.99% per transaction and offers recurring buys to dollar-cost average your positions.

Pro Tip: Stake stablecoins like USDC on Coinbase to earn up to 4.1% APY with minimal risk.

Microtask Apps: Tiny Jobs for Small Payouts

Microtask apps break big projects into tiny online jobs like tagging images, transcribing audio, or taking quick quizzes that you complete in minutes. I tried Amazon Mechanical Turk and earned $5 in about 40 minutes by doing data entry and short surveys.

Most microtask platforms pay per piece rather than hourly, so you pick tasks you like, finish them at your pace, and watch small rewards grow in your account. I mix MTurk with Clickworker to keep my inbox full; when one site slows down, the other usually has new tasks ready.

Amazon Mechanical Turk

Amazon Mechanical Turk provides dozens of HITs (Human Intelligence Tasks) like surveys, transcription, content moderation, and image labeling. The app typically pays between $1 and $6 per hour, depending on the task length and its complexity.

Pro Tip: You can filter tasks by reward amount and only accept those HITs that are paying at least $0.10. This way, you will avoid low-paying jobs and boost your effective rate

TaskRabbit

TaskRabbit connects you with locals who need help in furniture assembly, moving, home repairs, or errands and lets you set your own hourly rate from about $15 to $150 based on skill and location. However, TaskRabbit takes a 15% service fee from every task and a 7.5% trust and safety fee from the client, but taskers keep 100%.

Pro Tip: You need to build a strong profile by showcasing previous projects and respond quickly to get more invitations, while high ratings pull in better gigs.

Field Agent

Field Agent sends you on local “missions” like checking store displays, verifying prices, or mystery shopping, while most pay $3–$15 per gig depending on effort and travel. Tasks usually take 5–30 minutes; you pick jobs on your route home to cut drive time and boost your hourly average.

Clickworker

Clickworker supports different microtasks that include data entry, web research, copywriting, and surveys with payouts ranging from $0.02 to $7 per task. Furthermore, the app shows the approximate time for each job so you can choose high-pay-per-minute tasks.

Pro Tip: Complete the onboarding to unlock better-paying work streams and steady task flow.

Microworkers

Microworkers lists simple gigs such as social media engagement, app installs, surveys, and data tagging that often pay $0.05–$0.10 per task. After a task is approved, a 10% service fee is deducted before you cash out, and you need at least $9 to withdraw.

Pro Tip: You can group similar small tasks together to clear the payout threshold quickly and then hit “withdraw” so payments don’t sit idle.

Renting & Sharing Apps: Turn What You Have into Earnings

Renting apps let you list spare rooms, cars, parking spots, or storage spaces and earn money whenever someone books them. You can list your extra garage and earn passive income in a week—money you would never have made without the app.

Most sharing platforms handle bookings, payments, and basic insurance or protection plans, so you spend minutes setting up and then just collect payouts. However, you link your bank account once, snap good photos, and let the app’s tools handle the rest—earnings drop in monthly, home run.

Airbnb: List Your Home or a Room

Airbnb listings shine with bright, clear photos and honest descriptions of amenities and nearby attractions. Hosts pay a service fee of 3% per booking (split-fee model) or opt into a host-only fee of 14–16%, deducted automatically from payouts.

Pro Tip: Offer free-cancel windows of 48 hours to boost bookings without risking guests backing out last-minute.

Turo: Turn Your Car into Cash

On Turo, hosts choose from protection plans that pay 60–90% of the trip price; higher pay means higher deductibles. Every plan includes up to $750,000 liability insurance and varying physical physical‑damage coverage, so you pick the balance of earnings vs. risk.

Pro Tip: Switch to the 80 plan for 80% earnings and a moderate $750 deductible—you still earn well and stay covered.

Getaround: Car Sharing with On-Demand Insurance

Getaround installs a Connect device in your car, and then you earn 60% of each booking by default. In addition, Getaround’s cut covers 24/7 roadside assistance and insurance. Trips include minimum protection, with Plus or Premium plans lowering your deductible at extra cost.

Pro Tip: Offer competitive daily rates and enable automatic Connect® billing; your car books more often without manual intervention.

SpotHero: Rent Your Parking Spot

Listing on SpotHero takes minutes, so fill out location, price, and availability, then get your spot in front of thousands of drivers. SpotHero handles payment and deposits your earnings monthly, with no fees on independent daily listings.

Pro Tip: Use SpotHero’s Flex Rates tool to adjust pricing by demand; higher rates on event nights can double your usual income.

Neighbor: Share Extra Space & Storage

Neighbor lets you list garage bays, driveways, sheds, or even unpaved lots, and you set your own rules and access hours. Hosts pay a 4.9% processing fee plus $0.30 per reservation, and Neighbor covers you with $1 million liability protection at no extra cost.

Pro Tip: My advice: list multiple space types (e.g., driveway + garage) to capture both car and RV storage demand; more listings mean more bookings.

Game‑Reward & Fun‑Pay Apps: Play Games, Join Contests, Earn Cash

Game-reward apps turn your screen time into side cash by paying you to play simple games, enter prize draws, or complete app-based challenges. I’ve tried a handful of these apps on lazy weekends, and logging in to Mistplay while watching TV helped me snag $5 in points over a few hours.

Each app has its own twist; while some award points for time spent, others give tickets for prize rounds, and some blend saving with gaming for extra fun. I mix and match to keep things fresh: when one app’s rewards slow down, I switch to another for bonus spins or scratch cards.

Mistplay: Rewarding Your Game Time

Mistplay tracks the mobile games you try and counts the minutes you play, then shows you offers to earn “units” for each game session. You earn player experience points for leveling up in games and game units for every minute you play; higher multipliers mean more units per minute. I only play games with at least a 3‑dot multiplier to get the best rate, and I complete daily check‑in bonuses to top off my unit balance.

Big Time Cash: Spin for Prizes

Big Time Cash gives you tickets for playing quick arcade-style games, which you can spend on prize draws or convert into cash once you hit a threshold. Each day, you get free ticket plays for a chance to win cash prizes in timed drawings, with top prizes often in the hundreds. Moreover, you save tickets for live draws with fewer players (usually late at night) to boost your odds, and you cash out small ticket batches ($10+) regularly to lock in guaranteed rewards.

Long Game: Save & Play

Long Game links to your bank account and rewards you with in-app coins whenever you deposit money into savings, so coins unlock mini-games you play for extra cash or gift cards. You use earned coins to spin slots, play scratchers, or scratch virtual tickets for chance-based rewards, blending saving with gaming. On top of that, you can automate weekly transfers of $5–$10 to your savings, which builds your coin balance fast and gives me more game plays each week.

Lucktastic: Free Scratch Cards

Lucktastic offers daily virtual scratch cards; scratch off panels in-app to reveal cash prizes, tokens, or entries into sweepstakes. You get several free cards per day plus bonus spins for watching ads or completing offers, and these can pay out small cash or gift gift‑card prizes. Further, play twice daily and use bonus spins as soon as they appear, since unused tokens expire after 24 hours.

FeaturePoints: Tasks & Bonuses

FeaturePoints rewards you for downloading partner apps, completing surveys, watching videos, or playing featured games and credits points you can redeem. Beyond game installs, you earn extra points for reaching milestones (like 5 app downloads) and daily check-ins. After all, you can swap points for PayPal cash or gift cards. In conclusion, focus on bonus offers that pay 200+ points for quick installs, and always hit the daily spin wheel for extra points before logging off.

Reward Apps: Get Paid for Healthy Habits

Health apps can turn your phone into a simple fitness coach that pays you back for moving more. Sweatcoin counts your steps in real time and swaps them for coins so you can spend them in its rewards store. On the other hand, Achievement connects with fitness trackers and other apps to log runs, rides, or even sleep, giving you points you redeem for cash or gift cards.

There are apps that add a little friendly competition: HealthyWage and DietBet let you place a small wager on your own weight loss, and on the condition that you hit your goal, you win cash prizes. Charity Miles goes one step further by converting your walking, running, or cycling miles into charity donations, paid for by corporate sponsors. I’ve tried the below five apps, mixing step counting with bets and donations to build my own side income and stay motivated.

Sweatcoin: Earn Coins for Every Step

The Sweatcoin app runs in the background on your phone, tracks your daily steps, and gives you 0.95 coins for every 1,000 steps. In addition, you spend these coins in the in-app rewards store on gadgets, gift cards, or charity donations.

Pro Tip: I link my fitness tracker for more accurate step counts and aim for at least 5,000 steps a day to rack up coins faster.

Achievement: Points for Any Activity

Achievement links to apps like Fitbit, Strava, and MyFitnessPal to track workouts, meals, sleep logs, and more. Further, you earn 10 points per logged activity, plus bonus points for surveys or referring friends, reaching 10,000 points to cash out $10 via PayPal or gift cards.

Pro Tip: You can set weekly goals and combine logging healthy recipes with walks so you hit payout thresholds twice a month.

HealthyWage: Bet on Your Weight Loss

HealthyWage lets you calculate a cash prize based on your weight-loss goal, time frame, and wager amount, so bigger bets mean bigger potential wins. In the event that you meet your goal, you get paid via check or PayPal. As long as you don’t, the house keeps your bet.

Pro Tip: I ran my own “10% Challenge,” betting a small amount and winning over $200 when I hit my goal which keeping me accountable and rewarded.

DietBet: Group Weight-Loss Challenges

DietBet hosts group challenges where everyone bets a set amount, and winners split the pot based on percentage of weight lost. As well, you get community support through chat groups and weekly check-ins, helping you stay on track while you lose weight and earn money.

Pro Tip: I joined a “Kickstarter” challenge to win early-bird bonuses and stayed active in group chats for extra motivation.

Charity Miles

Charity Miles tracks biking, running, or walking miles and pays charities at rates like $0.10 per mile for walking and $0.25 per mile for biking via corporate sponsors. To boost, you pick a charity in the app, and sponsors fund donations based on your mileage, at no cost to you.

Pro Tip: You can clear your routes into multiple short walks to trigger more mileage events and boost total donations.

Expert Tips to Boost Earnings

Tapping multiple apps at once is known as “multi-apping,” which means you can accept the next available gig on one platform while waiting on another, so you keep your work queue full and your income steady. For example, assume that you started running DoorDash and Uber Eats side by side, then added Instacart when groceries spiked, and saw your weekly earnings jump by nearly 30% without any extra driving.

Pair referral bonuses with your regular gigs: share your invite link whenever someone asks about the app, and watch bonus credits roll in without lifting a finger. Numerous, earning over $150 just from friends signing up on cashback and survey apps, money you never had to work directly for.

Combine Multiple Apps

Multi-apping is key: start a new order on one app while you finish another so you never wait idly. This strategy fills gaps; when one app is slow, the next one usually has work available. For all that you can line up Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash simultaneously on weekend nights, then switch in seconds as orders pop in.

Use Referral Bonuses

Almost every earning app offers referral rewards as cash, credits, or gift cards for each new user you send their way. All the same, share your link in group chats or social posts to stack bonuses on top of your regular earnings. For example, you can keep a saved note with all your codes and drop them when friends ask, scoring a $10 bonus on apps like Venmo, Rakuten, and Ibotta.

Track Your Time

Use a simple time-tracking tool (like Toggl, Harvest, or Clockify) to log each app session and see which gigs pay best per minute. For instance, accurate data helps you drop low-paying tasks and focus on the highest earners. And you ran a week-long test recording every delivery and survey, then doubled down on the two apps that brought me $18/hour or more.

Watch for Peak Bonus Periods

Every app has busy windows, such as weekday evenings, weekend brunches, or holiday shopping sprees, when extra pay or surge boosts kick in. Routinely check each app’s bonus calendar, and plan your shifts around those times for the biggest paydays. Anyway, you can mark Friday and Saturday night “peak pay” slots on your phone so you never miss the 1.5× bonus on your favorite apps.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Conclusion

In this guide, we explored fifty clear ways from ten categories to earn on your phone, such as taking surveys, earning cashback, driving or delivering on gig apps, freelancing, selling items, investing, doing microtasks, renting out assets, playing reward games, and tracking healthy habits. Nonetheless, each category offers its own mix of effort, payout speed, and flexibility, so you can pick the ones that fit your schedule and goals best. By working across these areas, you tap into a broad set of apps and methods that balance quick wins (like surveys and cashback) with longer-term growth (like investing or renting).

To keep your earnings rising, try stacking several apps at once; when one slows, you jump to the next without wasting time. Over and above that, don’t forget to share your referral links to get free cash or credits whenever friends sign up. Additionally, track exactly how much time you spend on each app using a simple time tracker or notebook. While this helps you, which apps pay best per minute so you can focus where it counts?

Lastly, you need to plan your schedule around known peak or surge times so bonuses and higher rates can boost what you earn by the apps. With these strategies, you’re all set to turn spare time into steady side income.