Money Earning Apps In 2021

I love the idea of earning money on my phone. These days we always have our phones on us, so it's quick, easy, and accessible. However, in the sea of apps in the Apple Store and Google Play, there's a lot of junk too.

Most apps have one of the following issues:

• Low Payouts- Is it really worth doing a task (ie. make a post, buy a product, spam your friends) for a reward (XX amount of points) that really only values half a cent?

• Tedious Tasks- Even for "higher" paying jobs- like getting $2.00 for a survey, isn't worth it in my time. These surveys can take up to an hour. Quick math $2.00/hr x 8hrs = $16.00 for a hard days work. I make that in one hour at my office!

• Forever To Payout- It doesn't matter how big the reward, or how easy the task, if it's going to take me over 3 years to earn it, it's not worth it for me.

But I didn't come here to complain, not for the most part. Over the years I have found a handful of worthwhile apps that require little effort. If you don't see your app in my list- chances are it made it's way onto my Failed Money Making Apps list- blog post to come on that later. Either that or I simply haven't tried it yet!

Please note that most, if not all, of these apps are not get-rich quick schemes. You'll find that a lot of the apps are passive (meaning little-to-no effort) and therefore won't replace your day job, but it is a nice way to earn some rewards on the side.

*This list was last updated August 21, 2020. If you are curious about an app not seen here, please contact me in regards to trying them out for you!*

THE APPS THAT PAY

Mobile Xpression- iTunes & Google Play

This app is by far my favourite. You literally get paid for having a phone/tablet. Basically, researchers want to know which apps people use, for how long, and how often. So, if you're paranoid, this probably isn't for you. Once you install the app, it simply notes which apps you have open, and every week, pays out with rewards. You get 2 credits every week, and 10 credits = $5.00, or you can save up 15 credits for $10.00

The math:

2 credits x 52 weeks = 104 credits

104 credits / 15 per $10 = 6.93

That's $60/year for doing NOTHING. Now, if it required effort, I would say it wasn't worth my time. But the app just does it's own thing, so it's an extra $60 worth mentioning.

SweatCoin- iTunes & Google Play

A close second on my favourites. This app pays you to walk! You don't need data or wifi to use it, as long as your phone allows the app to use GPS satellites for you location. The app uses a combination of GPS and Step Counters to calculate your steps. So, you can't run on a treadmill or shake your phone, but you can't just hop in a car to track the distance either. This app is great for people with dogs, for hikers, or other athletic folks. 1,050 steps = 1SWC (Sweat coin, the in-app currency). You can cash out on various deals and offers that appear weekly, or save up 20,000 SWC for for $1,000 in cold hard cash. At the end of the day, that means 20 SWC = $1.00.

Now, the basic account has a cap of 5 SWC per day (not counting referral SWC or the daily bonus). You can upgrade for a month to increase your earning potential- but even the upgraded plans are paid in SWC so you don't have to pay real money!

The math (assuming the highest level, maxed out every day):

$1,000 = 20,000 SWC = 21,000,000 Steps

Max Level = 20 SWC / 21,000 Steps per day

At Max Level, it would take you 1,000 days (2.73 years) with 21,000 steps per day to earn $1,000.

To be realistic, I started May 6, 2019, so it hasn't even been a month. I am not athletic, I work in an office so I'm sitting all day, I usually forget the daily bonus, and I don't go for walks. And yet, in less than a month, I've managed to earn 53.94 SWC. Thats just over $2.50.

That's not much, but like I said, I'm not active at all. Most days I only get 1,500 steps. My boyfriend managed to get 83 SWC ($6.00) and he hasn't even had the app as long as I have. So it really depends on you.

I guess this is also not a get-rich-quick-scheme, but yet another passive way to make extra pocket cash.

Google Opinion Rewards- iTunes & Google Play

The first thing I want to say is, while you do get paid, it's applied as a Google Play Store Balance (Android) or PayPal balance (Apple). So, for those of you on Android, you wont be able to take it as cold, hard cash, but you do get paid and you can use the funds to make app purchases, buy songs & books or movies, or other content on Google Play Store.

The app will notify you when a survey is available, and you answer 1-3 multiple choice questions. I don't have iPhone so I can't speak for them, but on Android the balance is available immediately. I've had the app for about 2 weeks now and I've already saved up and spent over $6 on in-game purchases within my favourite app. Finally, I'm one of the favoured gamers with the advantage of having paid content (And it didn't cost me a dime either!).

The math:

$6.00 / 2 weeks = $3.00/week

That's $156/year in free content! Imagine the movie collection you could build up! I personally like to spend my rewards on little in-game purchases for my favourite content once or twice in a game, so to get the paid content "free" is worth it to me!