Well, our app will provide you that opportunity to be your own boss and give you some best and real ways to make money online. We have more than enough apps that will help you make extra money either as a side hustle or as a way of making an actual living. And like anything else, apps come and go. And then there are those money-making apps that stand the test of time. In today’s post, we are going to uncover 10 of the best money-making apps for 2021. You can earn money by taking surveys, playing games, watching videos, investing — and even shopping. The 10 Best Money-Making Apps Trust us when we say we’ve tested a ton of apps. We weeded out the duds and compiled a list of our favorite top-rated money-making apps. InboxDollars: Get Paid to Watch Videos. Carmen Mandato/The Penny Hoarder.
It’s not unusual for people to be interested in generating passive income from the comfort of their homes.
To be honest with you, this is one of the best ways of securing financial independence.
This is the primary reason why I am focusing my efforts on this area.
Can you imagine what it would feel like to wake up every morning knowing you made money while you sleeping?
It’s extremely difficult for anyone to turn this type of opportunity down.
Contents
There are dozens of get-rich-quick schemes being marketing on the internet these days. Unfortunately, many people fall prey to them.
I will not be covering get-rich-quick schemes. They are a waste of time. I’ve learned that generating passive income takes time, dedication, and patience.
Would you like to turn your financial picture around? In this article, I will cover several passive income apps.
They are working extremely well for thousands of people around the globe. There’s no reason why they cannot work well for you.
Would you like to make money while doing easy and fun things on your cellular phone? If so, InboxDollarsis the application for you.
InboxDollars is a popular reward club that will pay you money for everyday activities. You can get paid for the following tasks: watching videos, browsing the internet, taking surveys, and shopping.
You can make decent money while you are on the go. For example, you can make money with Inbox Dollars while enjoying your favorite beverage at a coffee shop. It cannot get any easier than this.
However, I must be honest with you. You will not make a full-time income with InboxDollars. However, this app can help you make extra money on the side.
Can you trust InboxDollars? Yes, you can trust this app. InboxDollars is a top-rated company. Since 2000, it has paid out over $58 million dollars to its members.
You will even get a five-dollar bonus for signing-up.
Would you like to earn big bucks? If so, Fundrise is one app that you cannot afford to overlook.
The apps listed in this article focus on lock screen reward apps, cashback, and loyalty programs. Fundrise is the exception. It deals with real estate investments.
With Fundrise at your disposal, you can invest your money in profitable real estate projects. Please keep in mind that these real estate projects have the potential to generate huge sums of money.
The projects in the Fundrise portfolios are selected carefully by an experienced team of investors. Your investment at Fundrise can increase your net worth with ease.
What makes Fundrise unique? It will give you a chance to participate in multi-million dollar projects. Unlike other commercial real estate investing platforms around today, Fundrise will not put your funds at great risk.
How will you get paid? Fundrise pays dividends to its investors.
Let’s say you want to multiply your income. You can re-invest your dividends through their dividend reinvestment program.
In short, Fundrise will put you in a position to make a nice return from real estate projects.
Trim is a lifesaver for consumers who need help with their budgeting. Trim is a unique automated financial manager. It will scan your expenses and point out opportunities that can reduce your monthly budget.
With Trim at your side, you will not have any trouble with lowering your phone, internet, and cable bills.
Let’s say you would like to negotiate for a lower bill. Trim can do this for you. This is a lifesaver for anyone who is not financially savvy.
It’s free to sign-up at Trim. However, Trim will ask for a portion of the savings. This will cover the fees for their invaluable service.
In the end, Trim can help you save a significant amount of money. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t give this app a try. It can increase your bottom line.
Do you enjoy shopping on your cellular phone? With Drop App, you can shop and get money rewards. Simply make a purchase and you will get a monetary reward.
Here are the advantages of using the Drop App:
· You can shop for food, travel packages, or clothing. The choice is yours. You will be rewarded for your purchases. You can look forward to getting back a significant portion of your spending.
· You will not have to jump through hoops to get your money rewards. When you buy something, points will instantly be added to your account. The points will add up fast and you can redeem them anytime.
· You can spend your money rewards with any brand or at any store. This includes Netflix, Amazon, and Apple.
Drop App is endorsed by many home business experts. It’s a nice way to get rewarded for spending money.
Rakuten is another app that will reward you for your shopping adventures. This app continues to gain more popularity as time progresses.
Rakuten will connect you with companies that will pay you to shop at their stores. It’s important to mention that these cashback rewards are significant. This is why I decided to add Rakuten to the list.
Rakuten collects rewards from online companies and distributes them to its users.
What will you find at Rakuten? This is an excellent question. This app will connect you with over 2,300 stores.
Are there any upfront costs? Fortunately, there’s no need for you to dig into your purse or wallet to use this app. It’s free!
Once you join, you can shop and earn cashbacks. What’s the best part about signing-up at Rakuten? You will be eligible for a ten-dollar bonus.
Do you enjoy playing video games? Mistplay is the ideal app for gamers. It offers an exceptional loyalty program to gamers.
Here’s what you need to do:
· Identify new games
· Select these games and play them
· Earn points
· Redeem your earned points
· Invite family members, friends, and other gamers to sign-up
· Check out the competitions to get a higher ranking
Playing video games is fun. However, you should consider getting paid while playing the hottest video games on the market. Mistplay can help you do this.
Mistplay will definitely add more intrigue to your gaming endeavors.
If you’re an avid shopper, you shouldn’t have any trouble with finding amazing deals. However, you shouldn’t leave money on the table.
With Earny, you can monitor your purchases. When the price of your purchased items goes down, you can get a refund.
Earny started in the United States. The developer wanted to help consumers earn extra money from their purchases.
You can link Earny to your email account. It will examine your purchases and receipts.
Let’s say you purchased a pair of jeans three weeks ago. You bought the jeans for $50, but the price is now $30. Earny will negotiate for a refund.
If the negotiation goes well, you can look forward to getting the difference in price. Please keep in mind that Earny can only help you with recent purchases.
Can you imagine how much fun you will have with this app? With Earny, you can buy neat things and earn easy cash.
Many people consider Swagbucks to be one of the best passive income apps in the game today. Swagbucks offer you the golden opportunity to make money while playing video games and watching videos.
It’s also important to state there are many more ways to earn money with this app. For example, you can take surveys.
Downloading Swagbucks does not automatically mean you will begin to earn money. You must put in the work if you expect to get paid by Swagbucks. It’s really that simple.
From my experience, Swagbucks is a great app to use if you have extra time on your hands. Instead of watching re-runs of your favorite reality television shows, you can complete a few tasks at Swagbucks for some extra cash.
Once you begin to put in the work on this app, your account will begin to increase. To get you off to a great start, Swagbucks will give you a five dollar sign-up bonus.
Would you like to earn more money with Swagbucks? Tell your friends and family members about Swagbucks. This will be an easy way for you to make extra money with the app.
Dosh is another solid app that can help you secure passive income from your smartphone. When you use Dosh, you can earn cashbacks from participating outlets and stores. However, you must make purchases with your credit cards.
Unlike many other platforms, Dosh will not hesitate to send your rewards after every transaction. You will not have to jump through hoops to get paid with Dosh. In my humble opinion, this is one of the main reasons why many people enjoy using this app.
What separates Dosh from other money-making apps? They do not deal with coupons or points. They offer cold cash to their users.
Let’s take a close look at how you can earn passive income with Dosh.
· Link your credit cards to the app. When you make purchases with your credit cards, you will get paid.
· Over 900 stores and restaurants are affiliated with the Dosh cashback program. You can get up to 10% cashback for shopping or dining.
· You can earn referral fees. When you tell your friends and family about Dosh, you will get a $5 bonus when they sign-up.
· You can transfer your money to your bank account or PayPal account. The choice is yours.
Being active with the Dosh app gives you a chance to earn extra cash from the things you enjoy doing. Guys, you can get paid to eat. Isn’t that amazing?
Seated is another money-making app that deserves your attention. If you enjoy dining out, you should consider downloading Seated to your smartphone.
When you make reservations at restaurants with the Seated app, you will earn gift cards. You can get as much as a 30% cashback when you dine at some of the best restaurants in your town or city.
Here’s how Seated works:
· Choose a restaurant or bar – Over 1,400 bars and restaurants are associated with Seated. You can choose an establishment based on cuisine, price, or location.
· Have a seat – After you make your reservation, visit the bar or restaurant. Take a photo of your receipt.
· Get your reward – This is the fun part. This is where you will get your reward.
Can you imagine how it will feel to earn money while hanging out at nice restaurants and bars? Seated can make this happen for you. Check them out today.
If you enjoy taking surveys, SavvyConnect should be on your radar. With the SavvyConnect app in your phone, you can make $5 every month. This equates to $60 per year.
This may not sound like much, but your earnings can be used to cover a phone bill or two fill-ups at the fuel station.
Besides downloading the SaavyConnect app to your phone, you can download it to your tablet or laptop. Let’s say you have SaavyConnect installed on three devices, you can earn $180 per year passively.
SaavyConnect will collect information from the activities conducted on your phone, tablet, or laptop. In return, they will send you surveys that are related to your interests.
After your profile has been completed, SaavyConnect will begin sending surveys to your inbox. If you want to earn more money, you can refer your friends and family members.
When your referral completes a survey, you will get a bonus. The bonus will be anywhere from $5 to $15.
Before we move on to the next app, there’s another special incentive that comes from referring people to SaavyConnect. When your referrals bring someone on board, you will be compensated. Your bonus starts off at $6 and can go up to $16.
As you can see, SaavyConnect makes it easy for you to earn an impressive passive income with your smartphone, laptop, or tablet.
If you want to get paid for turning your phone into an internet gateway, you may want to think about the Honeygain. This app is well-known for helping people earn passive income with little effort.
How can you get paid with Honeygain? Some data scientists use Honeygain to get access to the internet. Honeygain will tap into your phone and help the data scientists get online.
For every ten GB usage of data, you will earn $1. The demand will determine how much data is used.
On average, you can make $40 to $50 every month with Honeygain.
If you are on the lazy side, I suggest you give Honeygain a try. They have a solid reputation for paying their users on time.
The Acorns app is a great micro-investing app that’ll make you a passive income stream in the long run.
This is mainly accomplished via their “Round-Ups” feature, which detects when you make purchases, “rounds them up” to the nearest dollar, and invests the difference.
For instance, you buy a coffee for $2.70, and Acorns rounds it up to $3 and invests the 30 cents.
Final Word
Today’s technology makes it extremely easy for anyone to make passive income from the comfort of their own home. Fortunately, you can take advantage of the apps listed above.
These passive income apps offer excellent rewards and returns.
Choose apps that will suit your needs. You should think about choosing several of them if you’re interested in maximizing your income.
It’s time for you to get started today.
Peter is a serial entrepreneur and founder of DollarSanity blog who created and run a variety of businesses. You can learn more about him at the DollarSanity About me page.
The gig economy sometimes seems like a giant free-for-all, and in many ways it is. So, let us try to help you make sense of it, especially as it relates to spotting the best gig economy apps.
To give you a quick big-picture overview, the gig economy has grown by leaps and bounds over the last ten years since Uber was first founded. Back then there were a handful of online gigs people could work with although most people had never heard of the gig economy and had no idea what gig work was.
Today, not only does it seem like everybody knows what it is, it seems everybody and their friends are working a gig or two!
Today, there are gig economy jobs in more industries than there used to be gig companies. We estimate there are now a couple hundred app-based gig companies that have a decent shot at making it. And there are probably several hundred more that no one has ever heard of and probably never will.
But, whether or not they have a chance at making it, the perceived success of Uber has brought on a slew of wannabe imitators. So, we’ll help you weed through it all to get to the best money-making gig economy apps.
As an independent contractor, getting the most use out of gig economy apps is more than just putting in long hours of hard work with the app you’ve chosen, it is choosing the right app(s) in the first place.
When gig work comes to mind, most people think of Uber and Lyft. That’s natural because Uber and Lyft were the first companies to make it big and really bring gig work to national attention.
In the early days, 7-10 years ago, they were the most widely-recognized gig companies. So, it’s natural that they would come to mind, first, when most people think of gig work. But now, research shows the gig economy has completely exploded with more opportunity than ever before.
But today, gig work has literally exploded in a thousand different directions. Today, there are so many gig jobs to choose from that there is no reason anyone should feel like they have to choose an app that doesn’t fit their skill levels and interests. There are even gigs for doctors now!
Today, just to name a few, there are gigs for:
That’s just for starters and it should give you an idea about what all is available today as far as opportunities in the gig economy. You can find gigs that are well-suited to your skills and interests, so don’t think gig work means being tied to a $7-an-hour menial job anymore. It doesn’t.
Because of this great diversity you can now employ interesting strategies to get the most out of any gig work you may choose to do.
Plus, most, if not all of these gig economy apps are available on iOS and Android devices. All that most require are a quick interview, background check and you can get started within days.
It’s true that a lot of gigs are low-end, low-paying jobs, but they do make it easy for people with no experience or specialized training to start working. And you can use your time in between gigs to get free or low-cost training to up your skill level so you can improve your situation over time.
The four best tips I can give you for using gig apps to your advantage are:
With that said, let’s take a look at various gigs to get a better sense of what will best help you make some extra cash in 2019.
Without a doubt, this is the number one money-making gig app out there. And we say that for three main reasons. First, Airbnb lets you set your own prices. You will almost always make more with the companies that let you set your own price.
Another reason Airbnb is our top choice is because most people can work as a host without incurring many additional expenses. Whatever small expenses you do incur are so incidental that they can be almost entirely overlooked.
And the other reason we love Airbnb is because if you don’t have a traditional full-time job, you’ll have plenty of spare time in between guests to work other gigs. Once a guest checks in they will rarely take any of your time, leaving you free to earn money from other gig jobs.
The main drawback to home sharing is that it is coming under growing scrutiny and regulation by local governments. Some jurisdictions have made it completely illegal. Other jurisdictions have come up with a variety of schemes.
The most common scheme allows people to host short-term guests as long as they live in the home at the time Airbnb guests are there. This effectively outlaws whole-home rentals, where you might buy a second home or lease an apartment that you’re not going to live in for the sole purpose of using it for Airbnb.
The other drawback is that there are few, if any tax advantages. Federal tax law doesn’t allow you to deduct any portion of the price of your home or apartment when you use it for the business of short-term rentals.
However, if you live in a home with at least one spare bedroom, then Airbnb is legal in most places. If you have two spare bedrooms, you can rent them out separately and double your short-term rental income. You should check out Airbnb’s site and see what hosts are earning per night in your area.
This was one of the original gigs. They’ve been around a long time. In the beginning they really did sell gigs for $5 a pop. Writers would agree to pen 500-word articles for $5.
Well, no one is going to write a decent article for $5 so any legitimate writer would either exclude themselves entirely from the platform or end up working basically for free. The good news is that has now all changed.Today, professional gig workers can actually charge something close to a reasonable price and sites like Fiverr work as a solid client-referral system for them.
Plenty of freelancers are making good money on Fiverr. Jobs like the one pictured here literally used to go for $5. Now, talented people can earn what they’re worth.
TaskRabbit was recently purchased by Ikea because Taskers (as they call them) were in such demand for tasks such as putting Ikea furniture together. Like the name implies, TaskRabbit sends people out to perform a variety of tasks.
Tasks can be anything from assembling furniture to hanging pictures, moving boxes to running errands, or waiting in line for people who don’t have time to wait in lines themselves! The upside for workers is that TaskRabbit allows each tasker to set his or her own prices.
Because of that, TaskRabbit is one gig app that we highly recommend because people using it make way above average for gig work. Plus, there is so much flexibility and variety that if you have a decent mind for business, you should be able to find in-demand niches that are perfectly suited to your skills.
People who have done that and built up a good reputation with TaskRabbit customers can actually make a very decent living with it. So we recommend keeping this app handy when you’re in need of extra money.
This freelancing gig app used to be very low-end for starting a side hustle. However, over the last couple of years, they have begun to pick up their game. Upwork has attracted a following of customers who produce a high demand for independent contractors with strong creative and/or computer-related skills.
Some of the top skills on Upwork are web developers, mobile app developers, graphic designers and writers.In their early days they accepted all workers. No one needed to show any proven abilities to do the jobs they were presenting themselves as capable of doing.
That was great for people who really had no skills but it was terrible for people who did. High-end graphic designers who could earn up to $50 an hour in the old economy suddenly found themselves working for $5 an hour.
Today however, Upwork has put into place some pretty strict standards so now people who have actual skills can earn something closer to what they’re worth. So, if you have any of these skills, Upwork is an app you should take a look at. Especially if you’ve had success on other sites like Upwork.
One downside to Upwork, as well as several other apps, is that they charge you to bid. In other words, when you get a request from a potential client, you’ll have to pay a fee in order to respond. And you have to pay the fee whether you get the job or not.
Freelancer is very similar to Upwork. They too specialize in creative and computer-related skills. If you’re a creative type, you might enjoy the fact that a lot of demand they have for computer work leans toward the creative side. Typical freelancing jobs include social media manager, audio and video editing, as well as web design.
Yes, you heard me right! YouTube is a gig too. If you love producing video content, you may be able to make extra money on it by uploading it to YouTube and signing up to be a content creator. The requirements for making money directly from YouTube are pretty strict and not easy to meet for newcomers.
You have to have at least 1,000 subscribers and your videos must have been watched for a total of at least 4,000 hours in the last year. After you meet these requirements, YouTube will review your channel and if everything looks good they’ll approve you for monetization.
But don’t jump up and down just yet! Those are pretty difficult hurdles to meet for a beginner. And even if you do meet them, the pay isn’t all that great. It’s not possible to say exactly how much any one person might make, but estimates range from about $2 to $4 per thousand views.
So, if you get 10,000 views, you’ll likely make around $20.However, there are other ways to make money without having to rely on YouTube for your paycheck. For instance, if you have another marketable skill, you can make videos that teach people about it.
You could then lead them to your website where they can buy things from you. They could buy something you make, a service you provide, or they could buy video classes that would go deeper into your subject matter. Just be aware that all this takes a long time and a lot of effort to get off the ground.
This gig app has a couple of things in common with TaskRabbit that make it a desirable company to work with as well. Like TaskRabbit, they let workers set their own prices. And they have a wide variety of tasks their workers can do as well to make extra cash.
The main difference is Thumbtack independent contractors are on a more professional level, which can come in handy. Many of them are licensed tradespeople like plumbers, electricians and other handyman jobs. The downside is that Thumbtack, like Upwork, charges their workers to respond to inquiries. And sometimes they have to pay a lot.
One plumber told me it costs him up to $150 per response. And he has to pay that whether he gets the job or not! But, then he added, it’s worth it.
So, he earns enough, despite paying sky-high rates to answer inquiries that don’t convert into jobs, that it not only covers that expense but there’s enough left over at the end of the month that he feels it’s worth it.
Now, we move into the gig apps that require the use of a vehicle. Roadie is basically a delivery service company, and like most gig companies today, they’re pretty free and loose with what it is they deliver!
Deliveries can be anything from a grocery or drugstore pickup for a customer to moving a piece of furniture across town. They also do long-distance moves, so if you have a large truck, something like a U-Haul van, you can take those jobs.
One of our forum members told me recently that he loves working for Roadie. He mostly does local jobs. But recently he travelled from his home in California to visit family in Ohio.
His travel dates were flexible (of course, because he does gig work)! So, he waited until a good long-distance job came up with Roadie and he ended up getting paid for three quarters of the distance he travelled.
Another interesting feature about working for Roadie is that once you’ve signed up, you can work for them anywhere in the country. You’re not stuck to just your local area like ride-hail drivers are.
This app is fairly typical of the delivery apps genre. Instacart works in conjunction with grocery stores while others may work with restaurants such as DoorDash and Uber Eats.
When an Instacart worker receives an order he or she will head to the designated supermarket where they will shop the order and then deliver it to the customer’s designation location. Instacart generally pays about $5-$9 per order, plus tips, so it’s a little difficult to understand how anyone can make very much money from this kind of gig.
It could easily take half an hour or more for an Instacart worker to get to the store, shop the list and get out of the store. Then you have to account for the time it takes them to get from the store to the customer’s location. So, it’s hard to imagine how they could do more than one job an hour.
Instacart will pair them up with two jobs if they happen to come in at the same time and are in the same direction. But for the most part this seems like a less-than-minimum-wage gig. It doesn’t help that Instacart was caught stealing workers’ tips a few months ago.
When Instacart sends an order to a driver they’ll tell the driver how much Instacart itself will pay for the job. Workers were finding that when customers left tips through the app that they weren’t getting the total of Instacart’s base pay plus the tip. Instacart later admitted to this.
Basically, they were using the tip to fund the portion they were supposed to pay regardless of whether or not there was any tip. So, if Instacart agreed to pay $5 and a customer left a $5 tip, the driver would just get $5 instead of $10.
When this all came to light Instacart agreed to stop doing it. But now that they’ve showed that side of themselves it’s a little harder to have much faith in them to do the right thing by workers.
The one you’ve been waiting for! While Uber is known for its contentious relations with drivers, it still remains the biggest side hustle opportunities out there. Uber has more than two million drivers and is still the company most people think of first when they flirt with the idea of dipping their toes into the gig economy.
If you have access to an insured car, a driver’s license and a clean driving record, that’s pretty much all you need to start driving with Uber.
A lot of people like driving for this ridesharing company, Uber, because they really can set their own schedule. Although, there are certain times that are more profitable than other times.
While it is easy to get started with Uber, studies have shown that more than half of all drivers in the United States earn less than $10 per hour after all driving expenses are taken into consideration.
For that reason, we can’t say Uber is one of the best gig economy apps out there. But if you just need a few extra bucks in your pocket, and you need them fast, it’s not a bad way to get them.
The Postmates app is a growing and very popular delivery apps among the list of gig economy apps. They are not like Uber Eats or GrubHub offering just food delivery — they are a delivery service that delivers groceries, office supplies, phone chargers, you name it.
Essentially, Postmates is like your own personal assistant, since they pick up and deliver whatever it is you need within an hour. Pretty epic, right?
Becoming part of the Postmates “fleet” comes with some great perks. You get to keep 100% of your earnings and tips, plus you get to cash out your earnings at any time on-demand.
They also provide all the supplies you need to make your job easier — like a delivery bag to put the food in — and you set your own schedule. You do need to complete a background check, as with many of these gigs anyways.
It’s gig ecomony apps like Postmates that seem like a great way to earn some extra money.
The best gig economy apps are those that let you set your own prices and require something more than menial skills. The more skills a gig job requires, the more you’ll make.
The fewer people who share your higher-level skills, the better positioned you’ll be to make some decent dough from an app-based gig.
Some of the companies, like the ones at the top of our list, offer the magic combination of allowing you to set your own prices and work at a higher-skill level, making it possible to maximize your income and get the most out of some of the best gig economy apps available.
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