Paid survey sites are a good way to earn extra money. With fairly minimal effort, you could make an extra $2 to $5 day for taking online surveys. That’s an extra $60 to $150 a month you could stash in your 529 plan, PayPal account, or rainy day fund bank account fund.
Before signing up make sure you know how to spot a legitimate survey site and how to get the most extra cash for your time.
We’ve evaluated plenty of survey sites- good and bad-and compiled a list of the best survey sites out there so you can feel confident that you are making money on a trusted, credible survey that will pay you.
Which sites are best for surveys?
All survey sites do screening surveys before you are taken to the actual survey opportunities. The best sites have the highest rate of paid surveys vs. disqualifications.
8 Best Online Survey Sites
1 | Swagbucks
Swagbucks is huge favorite again and again. Not only does Swagbucks offer the most generous survey rewards, it offers the biggest variety in online and in-app earning activities.
- Earn SB that you redeem for free gift cards, free PayPal, and other rewards. It’s 100 SB to $1.
- Easiest survey site to cash out and redeem earnings. Cash out with as little as $1 in earnings.
- Most variety of ways to earn: surveys, daily polls, live trivia, Bingo, Daily Lists, cash back shopping, searching the web, trying new apps and games, and more.
- Join Swagbucks now.
2 | Inbox Dollars
InboxDollars is king of cash. Earn cash rewards, most pay $0.25 to $25, for completing different online activities. Earn rewards when you scan receipts, read emails, play games, shop online, answer daily polls, try new offers, or take online surveys for money.
- Earn a $5 bonus for signing up as a new user.
- Complete surveys on your computer or phone.
- Join InboxDollars.
3 | MyPoints
MyPoints is known for being a cash back shopping portal, but it’s also one of the best paid survey sites out there. Earn points for cash back shopping, using coupon codes, paid surveys, and other online activities. Redeem your free gift cards for PayPal cash or free gift cards for Amazon and other popular stores.
- Get a $10 welcome bonus when you sign up as a new user.
- In addition to paid online surveys, MyPoints rewards users with up to 40% off on purchases with thousands of merchants on and offline.
- Earn points for referring friends and doing other actions as well.
- Join MyPoints!
4 | Survey Junkie
Survey offers consumers to the opportunity to complete online surveys for money – in the form of gifts or PayPal cash. Unlike other rewards sites, Survey Junkie offers surveys only. They have the same volume of paid surveys as InboxDollars or Swagbucks and other legit survey sites, but that’s really the only earning activity.
Still, if you love taking surveys for money, and only completing surveys, Survey Junkie is a good option.
- Participate in surveys or focus groups.
- Share your digital browsing habits by signing up for Survey Junkie Pulse to earn additional points.
- Must earn a minimum of 500 points before cashing out your first reward.
5 | Opinion Outpost
Opinion Outpost is one the older, more established online paid survey sites. Earn points for completing online surveys (that translate to 20 cents to a couple dollars per survey). Redeem your points for gift cards.
- Earn 10 cents per point.
- Surveys include longer, diary-style surveys that may have higher rewards.
- Choose rewards from a list on the website.
- Can use the site on a computer or mobile device.
6 | iSay
iSay is one of the better known survey companies on the market for people who are big into online survey sites. There are fewer surveys available, but iSay is a legit online survey site that will pay you.
- Owned by market research company, Ipsos.
- Limited in the number of surveys that are offered making it harder to earn money but less confusing than some other survey sites.
- It may be perfect for people who feel overwhelmed by other, more broadly based survey sites.
7 | Toluna Influencers
Toluna also makes the list of well established, paid online survey sites. It doesn’t have the most surveys, but market research companies trust Toluna and it does offer survey takers the opportunity to earn real money online.
- One of the few survey websites that allow people to select and limit the types of surveys that they are offered.
- It may not be one of the highest paying survey sites but can be rewarding because of the sense of control.
8 | LifePoints
LifePoints also makes our list of legitimate paid survey sites. Earn points for answering online paid surveys that you can redeem for gift cards.
- Get 10 LifePoints immediately when you sign up.
- Prizes and rewards include gift cards and cash.
- LifePoints do not expire for 3 years.
- Points can be donated to charity.
Other Legit Online Paid Survey Sites
Here are some other survey websites that will pay you for answering online surveys.
- Ysense
- Pinecone Research
- Branded Surveys
- American Consumer Opinion
- YouGov
What is the most popular survey website?
The most popular online survey sites is Swagbucks. It’s paid out well over $650 million in free gift cards for consumers. Earn SB for taking online paid surveys (worth 50 SB to 500 SB for the most part), and redeem your SB for free PayPal or gift cards. It’s 100 SB to get $1.
Like most survey sites, Swagbucks offers other ways to earn money online. Apart from answering surveys, you can get paid for playing games, searching the web, playing trivia, shopping online, trying new products, installing free apps, signing up for free newsletters, and much more.
Swagbucks crushes other sites when it comes to offering the most, and the easiest, ways to earn money online.
What is the highest-paying survey site?
There are a lot of factors that determine how much money you can earn from taking surveys. The highest-paying sites offer the most ways to earn money, the easiest to qualify for surveys, and the most survey options.
On Swagbucks, motivated survey takers can earn anywhere from $30 to $230 a month through taking surveys. With other activities, like trying new apps and playing games, that figure can easily double.
To Increase Your Survey Earnings
- Take as many surveys as possible. Relevant paid surveys are always changing, so try as many as possible and check back often on your paid survey site of choice.
- Perform additional actions whenever they are offered.
- Refer friends if that is an option.
- Dedicate at least a few minutes of every day to doing surveys. The more time that you put in, the more rewards you will earn.
- Watch for the higher reward surveys and try to get to them as quickly as possible. These are the surveys that will fill up the quickest as everyone tries to get the big money.
What About Vindale? Is Vindale safe?
Vindale ended its operation in November of 2021. There are reports that thousands were left with pending payouts that are no longer going to be paid out. With the number of negative reviews that were found online, it may be important to review how to avoid survey scams:
- Never pay cash or give your credit card information to join a survey site. Legitimate survey sites want to pay you, not the other way around
- Try to check out some non-paid reviews before signing up. Are members happy? Are there complaints that seem to be repeated frequently?
- Do not give out information such as banking info, social security number, or other personal data during sign-up.
- Check the minimum pay-out listed and see how easy it is to reach that amount plus how easy it is to retrieve your first reward.
Do surveys actually pay you?
The reason that survey sites pay is that it is easier and cheaper to get their market research this way. Yes, you will be paid for the survey and the amounts rewarded can vary.
- Bigger companies tend to pay higher amounts
- The more urgent a survey is, the higher the pay that is offered
- Some demographics are going to be harder to pin down than others. Those groups will see the highest payout per survey
- Every survey site should list an average time for completion plus the expected amount to be paid for survey completion.
How good is Swagbucks?
Swagbucks is one the best survey sites according to many reviews sites, news outlets, and app users.
- Trustpilot rates it at 4.4 of 5 stars.
- Sitejabber rates it at 4.44 stars and the 1st for “Free Stuff Sites”
- The parent company, Prodege LLC has an A rating with the Better Business Bureau.
- Swagbucks has been featured in many reputable news outlets as an outstanding way to earn extra cash:
- Free Apps That Can Earn You Extra Cash (New York Times)
- Earn Extra Money to Help Pay Off Holiday Bills (Forbes)
- Ways to Jump-Start Your Emergency Savings (Wall Street Journal)
- Ways to Get Paid for Searching the Web (Yahoo! Finance)
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