Everyone is looking to relax after a busy workday, but why not chill out, watch some TV, and also get paid for it at the same time?
The market is saturated with different apps that allow you to earn extra money while you’re doing your daily scrolling, so long as you’re passing through content advertisers are putting out there.
Once you’re set up on these apps, stream, scroll, and shop away, while making a few extra bucks from the comfort of your couch.
These apps work best when they fit into things you already do. You won’t be able to replace your day job with these apps, but they are an easy way to make a little extra money in your spare time.
You can also read about 51 apps that pay real money.
Inbox Dollars
Inbox dollars offers several different ways to earn some extra cash, but the most passive option is watching snippets of tv shows, previews, the news, and more.
These videos are matched to your interests, so you don’t need to worry about being too bored–they have themes ranging from celebrities to recipes so there is something for everyone.
With the ability to watch from your laptop or phone, you can earn extra money on your commute, while you’re mindlessly scrolling in bed, and all times in between.
Inbox Dollars makes it easy to sign up. Just create an account, answer a few questions, and while you’re at it, earn a $5 sign up bonus. They help you track your earnings in dollars, not a confusing point system like many other sites.
Once you hit $30 you can cash out, but if you wait until $40 they’ll waive the $3 transaction fee.
- Read about simple ways to make an extra $300 a day.
While Inbox Dollars boasts a high payout in annual rewards, the individual earnings for videos is not huge. You aren’t going to get rich off of watching videos for cents, but at less than 2 minutes a clip, your earnings can add up.
Swagbucks
Just like Inbox Dollars, all you need to do to earn an extra $5 with Swagbucks is sign up. After logging in, choose your favorite genre then start watching–or passively streaming their videos in the background while you catch up on email, make dinner, or binge your favorite reality tv.
At the end of each video, you’ll be asked to rate it with a thumbs up or thumbs down, then can move onto the next. Swagbucks makes playlists tailored to your interests so you might even find that you’d enjoy watching the videos.
With each video, you’ll earn SB’s, the point system Swagbucks uses to track your earnings. You can then cash these points out for gift cards from places ranging from Amazon to REI, or opt for PayPal cash instead.
Swagbucks claims you can make up to $5 a day, or about $150 a month. This translates to an additional $1,800 per year.
- Read about the highest paying survey apps.
Swagbucks Live
For any trivia buffs out there, Swagbucks Live is a live game where you answer timed questions for the chance to win cash prizes. You have ten seconds to correctly answer each question with ten questions total in each round.
If you get them all right, you split the pot (usually around $1,000) with the other winners.
Swagbucks Live is great for people who like pop-culture, trivia, or just have fifteen minutes to spare. You can play every weekday to increase your chances of winning.
Just like with other Swagbucks apps, Swagbucks Live uses the SB currency as a point system. Even if you don’t win the round, you can still earn SB for correct answers.
Cash your SBs out for money or gift cards, or spend them to get back in the round if you miss a question.
- Learn about the Best Ways to Make Extra Money Online.
My Points
For anyone looking to earn some extra travel miles, My Points is the app for you. As with a lot of these apps, you can watch playlists to earn points, and these points can be redeemed for cash value.
What sets My Points apart is that in addition to cash and gift cards, you can also earn travel miles if you are a United Mileage Plus member.
In addition to watching videos, you can also complete surveys, shop with them, and sign up for emails for additional points.
My Points does have a daily cap on the number of videos you can watch each day, but with each video having a specific point value, you can make sure you’re watching the ones worth the most to maximize your earnings.
Participating in the daily deals will also help increase your income.
There is no cap or waiting period to redeem your rewards and you can check out in $5 increments. My Points is partnered with over 70 brands so there is a gift card for everyone, and if none of them appeal to you, you can always cash out for money, too.
Ibotta
With Ibotta you earn cash back for your everyday shopping trips, both online and in store. All you need to do is shop normally and submit your receipt to earn your cash.
Ibotta gives you the option of linking loyalty accounts so you don’t need to change any of your habits to start.
With in-app shopping you have the option of earning bonuses, and the more you use the app, the more bonuses you are able to unlock. They also have offers for referring friends.
Overall, the Ibotta app is straightforward with its guidelines, clear about offers and expiration dates, and works in a variety of stores. Everyone needs to grocery shop, so you might as well at least start earning a few extra bucks from your weekly trip.
- Read our full Rakuten Ibotta Review.
AppNana
With AppNana, you earn gift cards after completing small tasks. Once in the app, you can download other apps to increase your point earnings and complete the challenge that AppNana laid out. These are generally making it to a certain level in a game or something similar.
AppNana makes it easy to earn points–just opening the app daily will earn you some “nanas.” They also offer referral codes as another simple way to earn nanas.
While AppNana is easy, it requires you to earn extra points for a payout. You need 30,000 points to earn $1 at Amazon. Keep in mind that AppNana only lets you redeem points for gift cards.
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Fusion Cash
FusionCash has a couple of different ways to earn some extra money, and with their Better Business Bureau A+ rating, you can have some peace of mind while using it.
To start off, they give you a $5 sign up bonus. You can then watch videos or click through games to earn right off the bat.
Where the real money-making potential lies, though, is in their risk-free trials. With this set up, you sign up for free trials in the FusionCash app and then use the product that you signed up for.
Typical examples might be a one-month Hulu or Amazon Prime trial. Keep in mind, you do need to provide a credit card number and they will auto-charge you once your trial is up, but you can cancel your trial before the auto renewal.
App Trailers
Are you always looking for new apps, but don’t have time to demo them? With AppTrailers, you earn reward points for watching short trailers for new apps.
Similar to other options, you can redeem your points for gift cards and cash. With App Trailer, you need 1,000 points for $1. On average, you can earn 7 points per video watched.
You can also bump up your earnings by referring a friend.
Checkpoints
Checkpoints is a family and employee owned company that gives you a lot of ways to earn a few bucks on the side.
Watch videos, take quizzes, and shop offers to earn points for gift cards, or participate in giveaways for even more opportunities to win. The best way to earn money with Checkpoints is through their tasks, which involve going into stores and scanning certain items.
If you don’t want to go to actual stores, there are 50 videos available at a time to watch with a lot of different themes to keep everyone happy.
You can also refer a friend to earn more points or play in-app games to increase your chances of winning big.
Perk
Perk is a rewards app with a lot of sub-apps to help you maximize the amount of extra money you make. They offer shopping, TV watching, and games to earn cash gift cards, sweepstakes, airline miles, charitable donations.
Through Perk you earn points and tokens which are used differently on the app. Points translate to dollars while tokens can be spent on in-app games to potentially earn more money.
With their other apps, like Perk TV, Perk TV Live, and Viggle you can focus on TV watching and streaming to earn points and tokens.
Watch and rate videos provided by Perk or let Perk TV sync the sound from your TV or computer to analyze what you’re watching and direct you to the IMDB page for that movie. You can earn extra points by tweeting from the app and engaging with other users.
Perk lets you truly watch what you would be streaming anyway instead of only watching videos provided by advertisers. An average user could earn an extra $30 per month, just for watching your normal TV programs.
