No, it isn't a scam: While you won't make enough to quit your day job there are tons of apps on the market that legitimately pay you for viewing ads, taking surveys or shopping in certain stores.

But when you're looking for the right app to pad your budget, you have to be careful that you're not just wasting your time. It can be hard to tell just how much you can make with these apps because most reward points instead of cash. While you can usually exchange these points for cash or gift cards, with many different ways to earn and spend points it's tricky to say just what you're getting for your efforts.

Some apps pay just pennies, but earning those pennies for simple tasks—like watching an advertisement—can make them add up quickly. Others will pay a few dollars each time you use them, but require more time and effort on your part. So are you ready to start earning a few extra bucks with a few clicks of your smartphone? We road tested and rounded up our favorite 11 apps for making extra cash.

You're already uploading photos to social media, but CoSign lets you turn them into cash.

Just tag images you upload to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or Tumblr with information about the products pictured in them, like the brand and price of the new handbag you're carrying. But CoSign isn't just for fashionistas: If you already have a social following and share the type of content CoSign wants, it's an easy way to earn extra cash—but if not, it may not be worth the effort.

Tag your social images with information about products shown How much you're paid: PayPal, check or gift card How much you need to make before cashing out: Would you be willing to view a few ads a day in exchange for cash? If so, that's exactly what Fronto offers: You'll earn points for viewing or interacting with each ad plus occasional bonus points , which you can exchange for cash, coupons or Amazon gift cards.

While earnings aren't high, the effort on your part is almost non-existent—and the points earned will add up. One thing to be wary of with Fronto is bandwidth and battery use. Downloading and displaying ads will take a toll on both, and if you already struggle keeping your phone charged all day this may not be a top choice. View ads on your phone's lock screen How much you're paid: PayPal or Amazon gift card How much you need to make before cashing out: The advantage of Swagbucks is the number of ways it lets you earn points.

Most things you already do online—searching, shopping, playing games, taking surveys, watching videos and lots more—can earn you points. But that variety makes Swagbucks a bit more complicated simply due to the number of different activities you can do to earn points. Swagbucks has eight different apps for iPhone though just two for Android plus activities on its website and browser toolbar.

That offers a ton of variety, but makes it all too easy to while away your day while making just minor earnings. If you like Swagbucks, we'd recommend using a point-earner or two that fit fits easily into your digital routine, letting you earn points without going crazy by trying to do absolutely everything.

Though you don't earn much per activity, those points will add up if you use Swagbucks every day. Search, shop, play and more How much you're paid: PayPal, gift cards from Amazon, Target, Walmart, Starbucks and more How much you need to make before cashing out: Web , iOS , Android. Like Swagbucks, Perk offers lots of ways to earn points: Each feature has its own app—and like Swagbucks, it deciding what to do to earn points can get convoluted quickly—but the app you probably want to use is Perk TV, which rewards points for watching videos.

Watching videos earns you very little a point or two each, which amounts to fractions of a penny , you can run Perk TV on your phone and it will autoplay videos while you do other things, making it one of the lowest effort apps on this list.

If you use it regularly, that can result in some very real cash over the course of a month. Watch videos, take quizzes, play games and more How much you're paid: PayPal, gift cards from Target, Starbucks and more How much you need to make before cashing out: If you enjoy the thrill of playing the lotto, give Lucktastic a try.

Get paid to view ads | take surveys | complete tasks

It's a free app that lets you play games akin to scratch-off lottery tickets—and like lotto tickets, your rewards can be pretty random. Every day you get a handful of new tickets to scratch off, each of which will reward you between five to 10 points. Scratching off your tickets will only take a minute or two, and though the earnings are small unless you win one of the big prizes , they add up over the course of the month.

10 Mobile Apps That Earn You Real Cash & Rewards - Hongkiat

Plus, because it's free you've really got nothing to lose—beyond a tiny amount of time—by playing. View ads and play games How much you're paid: Check, Dwolla, or gift cards from Amazon, GameStop, Fandango and more How much you need to make before cashing out: Looking to get healthier? Pact can help with that while helping pad your wallet. Using the app, you can make a pact to get to the gym, eat more veggies, or log your food.

Decide how often you want to do these things and Pact will hold you to it—giving you cash usually a dollar or two if you meet your goals and taking your cash you decide what you want to risk if you don't.

To prevent you from gaming the system, Pact verifies all of your activities, using your GPS to verify you've gone to the gym, linking with a fitness tracker to confirm you've taken a run, checking your food logs in MyFitnessPal, and ensuring you ate your veggies through photos of your meals.

Meet your goals every week and you'll rake in cash, which varies depending on how active you are and how many people didn't meet their goals. If you're trying to make healthier choices, there's no reason not to use Pact to collect a few extra bucks along the way—at least as long as you can stick to those goals. Go to the gym, eat your veggies, or log your food How much you're paid: Varies, but often a dollar or two a week How you get paid: PayPal How much you need to make before cashing out: Shoppers, this one's for you.

Shopkick gives you points for visiting stores, browsing and scanning product barcodes while you do , and buying certain items. Different stores will have different offerings, some giving you points for just walking in the door while others will only reward you for buying products.

Offers change frequently, so keep an eye on the app to see which stores are offering points before you head out shopping.

Though Shopkick requires a bit of effort to keep up with the available rewards, it's a good way to earn some extra cash just by doing the shopping you're already doing. Shop and browse at certain stores How much you're paid: Gift cards from Walmart, Target, Starbucks, Best Buy and more How much you need to make before cashing out: Think of Ibotta as a coupon or rebate system, offering rewards for purchases you make.

Unlock offers for specific products at specific stores in the Ibotta app—by just clicking on them or sometimes watching an ad or answering a question—and then take a photo of your receipt as proof of purchase. Most of Ibotta's offers are focused on grocery items, but there's a growing selection of clothing, electronics and other retailers on offer for deals no matter what you're shopping for.

Adding Ibotta to your grocery shopping routine is relatively low effort—especially if you're already used to clipping coupons—and the earnings can add up relatively quickly, depending on your shopping habits. Buy products How much you're paid: PayPal, Venmo, or gift cards from Amazon, Best Buy, Starbucks and more How much you need to make before cashing out: If unlocking Ibotta's rebates is too much hassle, try Receipt Hog , which rewards you for shopping in fewer steps.

Just scan receipts when you shop—the app primarily supports grocery and drug stores—and collect points for each scan based on how much you spend. If you scan at least one receipt a week, you'll also have the chance to play a slot machine style game that can earn you extra points.

Receipt Hog makes the money to reward you by collecting your shopping data—minus your personal information—for market research, so if you object, you'll want to stay away. But if that's not a problem, Receipt Hog is a straightforward way to earn a bit of extra cash for your everyday shopping. Scan your receipts How much you're paid: Becoming a mystery shopper has never been easier.

Mobee offers mystery shopping "missions" at shops and restaurants around the country, asking you to shop, take photos and answer a few questions about your experience. The missions are relatively quick to complete at 10 to 15 minutes each, and if there's a mission convenient to where you're shopping or running errands, it's usually worth your while.

The only downside is that if you're in a rural area, you're likely to find Mobee's missions well out of your way, meaning the time you take to get there could be more than the reward is worth. Shop and answer some questions How much you're paid: Donations to charity or gift cards from Walmart, Target, Best Buy, eBay, Starbucks and more How much you need to make before cashing out: Get paid cash for your opinions! Surveys on the Go lets you anonymously answer survey questions on a variety of topics for market research.

The downside to making money by taking surveys, however, is that sometimes they can take a lot of time for only a small reward—and, worse, sometimes you'll answer a number of questions only to be told you don't qualify for the survey.

However, if you don't mind in spending some time answering questions in exchange for cash, Surveys on the Go definitely has advantages over other survey systems: Take surveys How much you're paid: Panel offers amazon or paypal have to have location services on and answer question about your daily deeds have made 5 bucks have about a more points for 5 more takes about months to get enough points free money is free money!!! From Ben on August 21, Lucktastic is like a Lottery scratch card game you play on your phone, but rewards you with cash when you win, not just points for in-game items.

The apps make earning even easier, and faster.

From Arun Singh on December 28, A very awesome list , i have used perk app and now i am going to try other two also thanks to share…. From Greg Hinds on March 11, It pays through PayPal or Amazon gift cards.

Looks like a new app is coming? I have long thought Internet marketers use the wrong advertising model. My screens computer, tablet or phone either earn me money I am using them to work or cost me money I pay for equipment, software and services. Why not pay me instead? I know what I buy, and when I am choosing between products. After all, I spend lots of money each year, but filling my mailbox, my inbox, my screen or my time with unsolicited ads does not endear me to those products or companies.

They are thieves of my resources. In fact, I frequently boycott them and shop their competitors if I need a similar product.

Leave a Comment Here. Home About Meet the Team Sponsorship Opportunities Newsletter Archive Contact Us Terms of Use Privacy Policy. Techlicious participates in affiliate programs, including the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, which provide a small commission from some, but not all, of the "click-thru to buy" links contained in our articles. These click-thru links are determined after the article has been written, based on price and product availability — the commissions do not impact our choice of recommended product, nor the price you pay.

When you use these links, you help support our ongoing editorial mission to provide you with the best product recommendations. Techlicious - tech made simple Choose It Use It Deals Home Browse Topics Latest News Techlicious Top Picks Reviews How-Tos Deals. CoSign You're already uploading photos to social media, but CoSign lets you turn them into cash. Android Swagbucks The advantage of Swagbucks is the number of ways it lets you earn points. Web , iOS , Android Perk Like Swagbucks, Perk offers lots of ways to earn points: I tried to find the smartapp one its showing other apps do you have the link to the smartapp.

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