22 Best Online Money Making Apps You Must Try in 2021
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How much time do you spend glued to your phone screen in a day? Well, according to a recent study by Nottingham Trent University in Britain, an average adult spends an average of five hours on their phone every day. The study further shows that a significant percentage of this is either spent on social media, emails, and messages or on gaming.
What if you could use this time more constructively and earn extra cash in the process?
The process is relatively easy, instead of spending your time trying to outperform another score or advancing to another level with your games, what if you could install smartphone apps 
that let you make cash by putting in little effort and during the time you could have spent on social media or games.
In this money making guide, we share with you some of the most popular and reputable apps that you can use to acquire extra cash. These apps are freely available on both Android’s Play Store and iPhone’s Apple Store.
Some, especially the passive income generating apps, will, however, require an initial deposit. But the better part of this list of apps doesn’t require capital commitments and only call for your time. They don’t even require you to have particular skills or experience in a given field.
Here is the list detailing how each of this money making apps work, expected incomes, and how to generate extra cash from either. But first, look at the criteria that we used to come up with the list and the merits/demerits of using a money making app to make extra cash.
Why use money making apps to earn extra income?
I. Most won’t require capital investment:
Whenever the topic of earning incomes comes up, the first thing that probably comes to mind is about taking up another job or committing your savings to some form of investment. There are however numerous money making apps that don’t require any investments.
II. Productive use of your free time:
Most of these apps are paying you to engage in some of the activities that you would have engaged in for free. These include using a specific search engine, surfing the web, watching videos online, and even playing video games.
III. No fixed working schedules:
There are no fixed timelines within which you must accomplish specific tasks. These apps have the most flexible work schedules as you get to login into the platform anytime and complete whatever tasks available at the time.
IV. No training or specialized skills required:
Surveys, shopping, and watching videos and playing video games make up a huge percentage of the different tasks that will earn you money online. And neither requires specialized skills or previous experience in any field to complete.
Pros:
- The earnings here come in handy in sorting some bills around the house
- Some gigs within the apps are highly scalable with the ability to grow into full-time ventures
- Most apps require participation from virtually anyone regardless of their skills
- Most present you with the option of cash or gift card payments as well as highly rewarding charity sweepstakes
Cons:
- Most have infrequent workflow resulting in inconsistent payouts
- The pay is too low and therefore not enough to earn you a living
Criteria used to rank the best money making apps for 2019:
- Projected income potential
- Skill or capital requirement
- Ease of registration and use
- Regulation and reputation
- Availability in both Android and iOS versions
- Number of income generation streams
- Level of effort that goes into income generation i.e. passive/active
Best Money Making Apps in 2019:
The Foap app is specially designed for the upcoming photo and videographers to help them turn a coin off their innovative projects. It links these professionals with an online market for their photos on a 50/50 profit sharing program. This implies that if you listed a photo or short video that sold for $20, you will get $10 to your PayPal with the Foap app keeping the other half. The Foap app is also coming up with regular photo and video projects – referred to as missions – where the contestants with most captivating photos get to walk away with as much as $100 for their collection. Photo buyers here don’t get to maintain exclusive rights to the use of the photo meaning that there is no limit to the number of times or individuals a single photo can be sold.
How much can you make with Foap app?Well, your returns here will highly depend on how captivating you images and videos are. If more people are using your photos, then you have a chance to earn more.
How to start earning with the Foap app:
Step 1: Download the photo app from Android or Apple’s app stores
Step 2: Complete your registration and create an online portfolio
Step 3: Start uploading your photos and videos as well as participating in regular missions. You may also consider sharing your portfolio on social media to increase your chances of scoring a sale
Pros:
- No limit to the number of times you can sell a photo
- Easy and free registration process
- Missions present you with a chance to showcase your skills and earn higher for winning collections
Cons:
- One may consider the 50/50 revenue sharing model exploitive
- Most online photo buyers are after exclusive use and will, therefore, shy away from purchases that don’t guarantee them total ownership rights
Are you looking for a fully automated app that operates in one of the most lucrative global markets – consider downloading the Stash App. This is an investment app that generates you passive income where the limit to your monthly income is also almost entirely dependent on the amount of capital you are willing to commit to the app. But how does it work? You get to invest a minimum $1 into the app and it will help you create an investment portfolio in some of the best-performing markets like green energy and technology industries. It will then automatically invest in these share stocks and earn you profits from these investments. Returns here range between 2% to 5%. How to start earning from Stash? Step 1: Download the investment app on the Android or Apple stores Step 2: Complete registration by filling in personal information to activate the account and unlock the $5 welcome bonus Step 3: Make the deposit and constantly monitor the app’s highly intuitive user interface to check on the performance of the auto trader or withdrawing accumulated profits Pros: Cons: How about the idea of getting paid for just maintaining an app on your smartphone? Nielsen, the TV shows rating company will pay you to download their Nielsen app and maintain it on your phone. No daily tasks to complete, no cash deposits or trading skills required. Just install the app and having it run in the background. What are you paid for, you might ask? The app is configured to anonymously collect and send your browsing history to the big data company on a regular basis. And Nielsen guarantees that their simplistic app will have a negligible impact on your storage space and even lesser impact on your smartphone speeds. Step 1: Download their Android or iOS version of Nielsen App Step 2: Install the app on your phone and register an account with the app Step 3: Let it run undisrupted in the background Pros: Cons: Money app is best described as a market research application that pays you to voice your opinion on a variety of issues. It is a famed paid online survey app that has in the past few years made several institutional improvements that have seen it incorporate more broader types of income generating steams that range from opinions about general topics, mystery shopping, playing online videos and watching videos, and also test different services. How much you earn with Money App is hugely dependent on the amount of time you spend on the app and the number of these tasks you complete. However, you can make as much as $100 in a month.The most interesting part of this is that they don’t require specialized skills and you get paid in the form of PayPal dollars or gift cards with most retailers as soon as you accumulate $10. How to start earning from Money App: Step 1: Download the Android or IOS versions of Money App Step 2: Create a user account and complete the registration by filling such personal details as name and address Step 3: Start completing surveys and other micro tasks available here Pros: Cons: Swagbucks remains one of the most reputable survey apps available today. The app is currently rated A+ on most online reviews sites and this is testament enough to support their credibility. Here, you are welcomed with a $10 bonus for signing up and exposed to several income streams that you can use to earn extra cash. Note that while Swagbucks is best known as a survey app, it has over six income generation streams that don’t require any capital investment or specialized skills to monetize. You will be paid to play games, answer short surveys, using their search engine, shopping online, watching short videos posted here, and answering short general surveys on the platform. With a little dedication, you can easily earn more than $100 per month in the form of SB Points that you can then convert to PayPal dollars or a gift card from major retailers. How to start earning with Swagbucks? Step 1: Download the Swagbucks Android or iOS app Step 2: Signup by filling your personal details like name, gender, email address, age, and physical address Step 3: Start earning by answering surveys, watching videos, playing games or any other available tasks Pros: Cons: Toluna is yet another popular money making app that lets you make extra cash by voicing your opinions about different products and services. Most of the gigs on this platform fall within the paid online survey niche. Like most other survey apps, how much you make here is to a large extent dependent on the amount of time you dedicate to this as well as the number of surveys and other micro tasks you complete in a day. Unlike most other surveys apps, however, Toluna allows you to create free personal surveys for free based on current happenings and gain bonus points that you can later convert into cash rewards should they capture the user’s attention. How to start earning with Toluna: Step 1: Download the Toluna Survey app on Google Play or iTunes Step 2: Complete the registration process by filling in the required personal information. Step 3: Start earning by completing daily surveys or creating free personal surveys Pros: Cons: MyPoints will also award $10 free for signing up on their platform. While most individuals associate it with paid online surveys, there are several other activities you can engage in here for a few bucks. Key among them is watching paid short videos as well as playing online games. You will also appreciate the fact that you don’t need special skills or prior experience in any field to succeed here. Most of the tasks take no more than a few minutes and there is no limit to the number of surveys you can complete or videos you can watch as long as you fit the promoter’s qualification requirements. There is, therefore, no cap to the number of surveys you can complete or videos you can watch in a day. The limit to how much you earn is, therefore, pegged on the amount of effort you direct towards the platform with most MyPoints users averaging $50 per month. How to start earning from MyPoints? Step 1: Download the Mypoints Android or iOS app Step 2: Register an account by providing such personal details as your name, email and physical address, gender and age and even race (these are mostly used to sort out different demographics for the survey questions) Step 3: Start completing and watching as many surveys and videos as possible during your spare time to maximize your income potential Pros: Cons: Acorns is an investment app that gives you $5 head start to start your investment when you download their app and register an account with them. It is a passive income earner, implying that you only have to deposit your cash and its automated trading systems will come up with an automated investment portfolio that is primarily based on the money market products like shares and stocks. How much you make here is dependent on such factors as the invested amounts and the stock market performance. One of the most interesting aspects of the Acorns investment app is that you don’t require any trading skills or prior experience to use the app. How to start earning with Acorns? Step 1: Download the Android or iOS version of Acorns app Step 2: Complete your registration process that only requires your name, email address, and phone number Step 3: Invest your preferred amounts and watch your investments grow steadily Pros: Cons: What if you could put your car to use during your free time by driving different people around the city through the all-popular Lyft app? If you live in a populous neighborhood, have a nice car and are pretty confident about your driving skills, Lyft is looking to connect you with well-paying clients that need your services. The app pays decently and you can quickly transform it into a full-time job with enough revenues to support your livelihood. Currently, the app is running a new-drivers promotion that rewards every driver that signs up for the ride-hailing with $300 upon hitting the 100th ride milestone – basically completing 100 rides successfully. How to start earning from Lyft: Step 1: Download the Android or IOS Lyft app Step 2: Create a user profile and go through their verification checks that look into your criminal background, driving skills and the condition of your car Step 3: Start driving and getting paid for it Pros: Cons: Do you love interacting with dogs? Do you have enough free time at hand that you can use to either sit or walk them around the neighborhood? Rover a fairly new app is connecting you to pet owners and letting you get paid for it. You will be paid to help exercise them by walking them around the neighborhood – where an average 30-minute walk nets you between $10 and $30 dollars. You can also get paid between $25 and $100 per day for sitting the dog and taking care of it when the pet owner is away. The Rover app appeals most to canine lovers who get paid to do what they enjoy most – hanging out with pets. How to start earning from Rover app: Step 1: Download their android or IOS app Step 2: Create a user profile indicating such factors as your name and address in addition to uploading your profile picture Step 3: Start connecting with dog owners and pet owners Pros: Cons: Instacart connects you with individuals who don’t like the idea of grocery shopping or others who just don’t have time for it. You, therefore, will be tasked with the responsibility of handling or sourcing the groceries for these individuals and delivering it to their doorstep. Unlike most other apps that pay pennies for an hours work, Instacart pays decently and can be turned into a real source of extra income with time as you expand your client base. How much you earn here is primarily dependent on the size of the grocery shopping orders and miles covered per trip. It, however, averages $15 per hour but also reports some of the highest number of tips from satisfied customers. How to start earning with Instacart: Step 1: Download the Android or iOS Instacart app Step 2: Create a personal profile by filling such details as name and physical address as well as uploading a profile picture. Step 3: Set your grocery shopping and delivery rates and rules of engagement – such as availability Pros: Cons: Need to lose some weight but keeps on procrastinating or just haven’t found the right gym buddy or team to help you walk through the process? Helthywage provides you with the necessary incentive – a cash reward of up to $10,000 if you lose the percentage weight of your body. And you don’t even have to put your finances at risk through betting or making an initial deposit as required by most other weight loss reward programs. The app is also equipped with different social and networking features that let you create or join different weight loss teams where members can motivate each other to push through with the process. The most interesting thing about Healthywage is that it pushes you out of the comfort zone and even if you don’t eventually get to walk away with the $10,000 price for the highest percentage weight loss, you get to walk away healthier. How to start earning from Healthywage: Step 1: Download the Android or iOS Healthywage app Step 2: Create user profile including your current verified weight Step 3: You can choose to enter the solo weight loss competition or the team challenge and stand to get paid depending on the amount of body weight shed Pros: Cons: Do you live in a hugely popular city, coastal town or any other tourist destination? In this case, you can download the hugely popular Airbnb app and use it to rent out any extra room in your house or your vacation home for decent incomes. The app matches space-renters to the global market where you are free to set the rent for the space. It will even connect you with the bookies where you negotiate the terms of stay and if possible charge extra for any additional amenities and services they might require like tour guiding, laundry, and meals. How much you make here is dependent on such factors as your location, the rented condition of the listed space, extra services provided and the number of days the listing remains occupied. How to start earning from Airbnb: Step 1: Download the Android or iOS version of the Airbnb app Step 2: Create a listing profile and upload as much information about the listing as possible including inviting pictures Step 3: Set the rent price and if possible consider marketing the listing on such platforms as social media to increase the likelihood of scoring a booking Pros: Cons: Are you planning to downsize or just decluttering the house and are looking for ways of earning extra cash? Do you have a stockpile of old and used DVDs, VCDs, and Video games, electronics – both modern and vintage – as well as Blu-ray discs that you don’t plan on using ever again? Consider selling them and you could easily make money online. And you don’t even have to go through expensive auction houses or pay listing fees required by such online sales platforms as eBay. You only need to download Decluttr App. The app offers instant cash for different items and doesn’t charge you the unnecessary processing fees. They will even cater for the mailing fees to get the item to their warehouses. How to start earning with Decluttr: Step 1: Download their Android or iOS app on respective app stores Step 2: Create a client profile by filling such details as your name, email and physical addresses Step 3: Use the apps bar code scanner to scan the products you which to sell and it automatically informs you how much you can expect to gain from its sale. Once you are ready, the Decluttr Company will send over a pre-paid mailing box for packing the scanned items. Pros: Cons: Relying on your local bookstore to buy back your books often exposes you to exploitation. It strips you off any bargaining power and you have to, almost always, settle with the bookstore’s price especially when you don’t have the latest or the most popular edition. Enter Bookscputer, a book buyback application that helps you resell your expensive books and recoup some of the finances you might have spent on education. But how is it different from the local bookstore? The app that is available in both android and IOS versions makes it possible to compare the buyback prices offered by over 44 bookstores, ensuring that you only sell it for the maximal price regardless of the edit version or its popularity. How to start earning with Bookscouter: Step 1: Download Booskcouter’s IOS and Android application Step 2: Create an online user profile detailing such factors as your name, email, and physical addresses Step 3: Start listing books for sale. The app will automatically handle price comparisons and furnish you with a list of the most viable high-dollar buying stores. Pros: Cons: You can sell virtually anything on Offer Up. It works like craigslist with the only exception that everybody here maintains a profile that you can check out and decide on whether to sell an item to them or not. Traditionally, Offer Up App was highly localized and you could only sell your product to individuals within your neighborhood that could physically come and collect it. Recent improvements have, however, introduced the option of nationwide shipping and PayPal settlements. You only have to list your product here and negotiate such sales terms as mode delivery and payment with the interested parties. It provides you with an inexpensive means of marketing your products to verified buyers across the country online. How to start earning with Offer Up? Step 1: Download the Android or iOS version of the online selling app Step 2: Create a seller profile including such factors as the products you wish to promote and such personal information as the number name and address Step 3: Start listing your products and initiating conversations with potential buyers Pros: Cons: Fiverr is an online platform where everything goes for Five dollars. However, unlike most other money making apps on this list that doesn’t require any specialization, Fiverr lets you monetize your skill or talent for $5+. Whether you are a web designer, an accountant, a photographer, animator, content creator, a voice artist or even singer or song composer, you will get paid to do what you are good at. Note that the $5 is just but the minimum amounts allowed and you are free to charge the upwards of $100 for a single task depending on your professionalism or its complexity. Fiverr is also one of the money-making apps that you can easily convert into a full-time income generating opportunity. How to start earning from Fiverr: Step 1: Download the Fiverr gig economy app on Google Play or iTunes Step 2: Create an online profile and describe the nature of the skills you seek to offer Step 3: Start browsing through job listings and apply for the ones that you most qualified for or wait for personalized invites Pros: Cons: Gigwalk app pays you to complete a myriad of tasks for other individuals, especially if they are engaged in other activities. Some of the paid activities you can engage in through the app include dog walking, running errands like parcel delivery or grocery shopping, or even helping around the house with such services as landscaping or putting together furniture. There is a huge number of gigs available on the Gigwalk platform and they are uploaded by the minute especially for the urban dwellers. How to start earning from Gigwalk: Step 1: Download the Gigwalk app on Google Play or iTunes Step 2: Create a user account here by filling your personal information, physical address and uploading a profile photo Step 3: Browse through the app and apply for the gigs in your neighborhood that you feel you are most qualified for Pros: Cons: iPoll is one of the most popular and highly reputable paid survey sites currently available. It can be best described as a research company whose works extends beyond online surveys to gathering information on consumer behaviors and retail industry operations. The app will, for instance, pay you to share your food consumption diaries and complete information gathering missions in the grocery and other retail shopping stores. How much you earn here is primarily dependent on such factors as your preferences, location, and availability. Most of the tasks here are highly customized for different demographics and the app is constantly sending you alerts about the gigs that you qualify for. You will receive your reward in the form of PayPal dollars or gift cards for popular retail stores as soon as you accumulate $10. How to start earning with iPoll: Step 1: Download the Android or iOS iPoll app Step 2: create an account and complete your registration by filling in such personal details as your name, email and physical addresses, age, gender, race, and occupation – these are used to determine the surveys and micro-tasks you qualify for. Step 3: Start completing paid surveys online and participating in different in-app missions to earn as much as you can Pros: Cons: Some products that you buy using a credit card or retailer apps are subjected to price protection policies. This effectively means that you can claim refunds should the price of the product drop within a specific period after time after purchase. But you probably will never remember to keep track of the price fluctuation of your purchases. Enter Earny, a retail app that you can link with these cards and other retailer apps to help keep track of your purchases. And if the price drops, Earny will claim the rebate for you and keep 25% of the refunds. How to start earning from Earny: Step 1: Download the Android or iOS version of Earny Step 2: Crete a user account link it to your credit card or retailer app Step 3: It will automatically monitor and inform you of possible price drops Pros: Cons: Shopkick is most appealing to frequent shoppers as it pays you to complete different micro tasks as you go about your shopping. Note, however, that you are not obliged to make a purchase when using the shopping app that will only pay you via gift cards that can be used to purchase items in a Shopkick partner store. There are over eight activities that you can engage in when using ShopKick and these range from walking down the retail store aisle scanning barcodes for different products, scanning and uploading your shopping receipt, using your Shop kick-linked card to make a purchase, reviewing different retail shopping related products and services or even watching in-app videos. How to start earning with Shopkick: Step 1: Download the Shopkick app on Google Play or iTunes Step 2: Create a user account and complete registration by filling such personal information as your name, email and physical addresses Step 3: Start completing the numerous tasks therein every time you go out shopping or during your free time Pros: Cons: LetGo is one of the most inexpensive product sales platforms you will ever come across. Selling products on this hugely popular smartphone app is virtually free and there is no limit to the number or the type of products accepted here. It is also totally free given that as most popular product selling platforms take up as much as 20% of the product value, LetGo is totally free and doesn’t charge a listing fee or take a cut off the products sales value. However, note that while the app is available nationally, it adopts a more localized approach by connecting buyers and sellers within the same localities. How to start earning with LetGo: Step 1: Download and install the LetGo app from the Android and IOS Step 2: Crete a seller profile here by filling in such details as your name, email and physical addresses. Step 3: Start listing products and matching them with potential buyers Pros: Cons: Bottom line There is an infinite number of apps that you can use to make money both online and by completing tasks offline. Some like Fiverr seek to make maximal utilizatin of skills that you already poses, others involve completing an offline task that requires little to zero skills like dog walking and grocery shopping. A huge chunk of these money making apps, however, have their activities concentrated online where they reward you for completing such micro tasks as surveys, watching videos, and playing games online. In either case, how much you earn will be highly dependent on the amount of time you dedicate to the app and the number of tasks completed per session. However, you should be wary of money making apps of ill repute by going through their customer reviews both on Google Play and iTunes pages as well as on reputable online review platforms like the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Trust Pilot. FAQs: 
How much can I make with smartphone money making apps?
Do I require special skills to make money with a smartphone application?
How do I tell if a money making app is genuine?
Are money making apps regulated?
Do these money-making apps require a capital investment?
Why do I have to fill gender and race questions when registering for a money-making app?
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