Apps That Pay You Real Money: Turn Your Phone Into a Cash Machine

These money-making apps turn sitting at home into a lucrative side hustle.

Are you interested in downloading the best money making apps that pay you real money?

Today I’m going to show you some new strategies to make some extra money fast simply by clicking a few buttons on your cell phone (in under 5 minutes).

The best part? A lot of these require no effort at all.

I get it.

Life happens.

Sometimes you need some extra cash to pay a bill or you’re trying to save up for something you want.

You don’t want to fall behind on bills and are wondering how to make money today or what apps pay you real money?

Sure, another 100 dollars earned today wouldn’t hurt.

We’ve all been there, but what do you usually do when that happens? This is an exhaustive list of things that anyone can do, today, in order to make money online fast through the best mobile applications I've found.

If you're strapped for time, I'll go ahead and share the best money making apps that you can add to your side hustle arsenal.

Best Apps That Pay You Real Money

Ready? I’ll only list legit ways that I’ve personally used to make money, and make it fast.

    Survey Junkie

    • iPhone: 4.5 – ‎17,660+ reviews
    • Android: 4.3 – ‎8,220+ reviews
    • Payment methods: Paid in gift cards, or cash via PayPal
    • Quick summary: With Survey Junkie, you’ll complete easy tasks to earn cash and rewards. If you like taking fun and interesting surveys, this is a good app for you. You can earn points that can be easily be redeemed.
    make money fast with Survey Junkie

    Taking online surveys to make that extra money is a no-brainer!

    You definitely won’t get rich or make thousands of dollars per day with surveys alone, but you won’t waste much time, and you can make some money the easy way. Here is my favorite (and highest paying) survey site:

    Survey Junkie pays between $2 and $50 per survey, and many of them take less than 5 minutes to complete. So if you took on average 10 surveys per day, every day for a month, you could make $375+ per month. If you took more surveys a day — the possibilities are endless.

    There are a lot of scammy survey sites out there, but Survey Junkie has over 11,000 positive reviews on TrustPilot, the highest of any survey site. It’s legitimate.

    Sounds like fun? Sign-up for Survey Junkie, take surveys and earn money from your phone fast. You can also get a registration bonus through here.

    Earn money with Survey Junkie

    Download: iOS | Android | Browser

    Swagbucks

    • iPhone: 4.4 – ‎13,674+ reviews
    • Android: 4.2 – ‎39,986+ reviews
    • Payment methods: Paid in gift cards, or cash via PayPal
    • Quick summary: With Swagbucks, you can put cash back in your wallet for answering fun surveys and polls. You can also get free gift cards and cash for shopping and discovering content online. Plus, they’ll even give you a $10 welcome bonus.
    swagbucks

    Swagbucks is another great survey app to make some extra money in your free time. As a new member, you can earn up to $35 per survey!

     They are known for giving out fun, top-paying surveys. And you can also get paid to play games and watch TV!

    It’s similar to Survey Junkie, but there are also a few other ways you can earn money as a member (including a $10 bonus just for signing up).

    Other ways you can make money with Swagbucks outside of surveys:

    Swagbucks is conveniently offering a $10 bonus just for signing up through this link, so act fast.

    Claim $10 signup bonus

    Download: iOS | Android | Browser

    InboxDollars

    • iPhone: 4.4 – ‎106,369+ reviews
    • Android:  4.2 – ‎94,251+ votes
    • Payment methods: Paid in gift cards or via check
    • Quick summary: With InboxDollars, you can earn cash for sharing your opinion and completing surveys. Join the millions of InboxDollars members who have earned over $50 million in cash to date.
    inboxdollars

    The next thing you can do is sign up for InboxDollars which pays you, in cash, to watch fun videos & take surveys.

    If you sign up before the end of this month, they also give you a $5 free bonus just to give it a try.

    By spending just 5-10 minutes per day on this (either on your lunch break or during TV commercial breaks) you can earn and earn an extra $200/month.

    More people should be doing this!

    Claim $5 signup bonus

    Download: iOS | Android | Browser

    Mistplay

    mistplay

    We all heard the old saying “time is money” right?

    Instead of playing games on your phone like everyone else and feeling bad for wasting your time — now you can get paid for it.

    Getting paid for playing games sounds like a dream. But if you download a free new app, and then download games from it and play, you earn money.

    As you level up you can earn more money for cash rewards or gift cards.

    This is a great opportunity for those looking to get paid for something they enjoy, like winning free gift cards and cash for playing games. I use it and it is legit and has over 35,404 positive reviews in the Google Play store.

    If you’re interested, I recommend you download the app from the Google Play store for free by clicking here.

    Get paid to play games

    Download: iOS | Android | Browser

    Nielsen

    nielsen homepage

    By using the internet as you do every day, Nielsen invites you to make a difference – and you can make a quick $50 too.

    Just by downloading an app, you can collect $60 per device and earn rewards. They track your app usage and that’s it.

    You don’t have to do anything other than initially register your computer or phone.

    Nielsen: This company will pay you $60 a year to keep their app on your favorite internet browsing device and they also give away $10,000 each month. So you can possibly make more than $60. Sign up through here for a registration bonus.

    Make $50 with Nielsen

    Download: iOS | Android | Browser

    Robinhood

    Are you ready to say goodbye to fees for when you buy and sell stocks and hello to commission-free trades?

    That’s right, this app lets you do everything for free and takes no fees — ever.

    robinhood

    Better yet, if you join through this link you can get a free stock like Apple, Ford, or Sprint when you join.

    Sign up for Robinhood now and Get a Free Stock

    Claim free stock now

    Download: iOS | Android | Browser

    Fundrise

    Wouldn’t it be great if you could invest in commercial real estate and apartments without dealing with all the hassle of buying, improving, and re-selling real estate?

    You don't have to be a millionaire to invest in these types of properties. You can now invest in large-scale real estate for as little as $10 with Fundrise.

    Through their real estate investment products, investors earned an average of 8.7 – 12 percent on their money last year, and all without painting a wall or dealing with unruly tenants.

    There is a reason why they currently have over 200,000+ users, this app really pays you!

    If you’re interested, I recommend you sign up for more information from Fundrise by clicking here.

    Earn passive income with Fundrise

    Download: iOS | Android | Browser

    Ibotta

    The app you should know about is Ibotta. This money-making app actually gives you cash back on things you buy every day, even booze!

    You heard me right, you can make money for the booze you buy at groceries.

    Ibotta is a fun rebate app that lets you get cash back on your purchases from major stores like Walmart, Target and almost every grocery store all over the country.

    They are conveniently offering a $10 sign-up bonus after uploading your first receipt. So act fast.

    How it works:

    1. Download the app and start a free account to browse deals in your area.
    2. Scan your first grocery receipt within a few days of downloading the app.
    3. Get paid and cash out cash via PayPal.

    However, you do have to be 21 or older to take advantage of the booze deals.

    Download Ibotta now

    Download: iOS | Android | Browser

    ZippyLoan

    If you actually need money right now, then you can opt for a personal loan. When you need money in a hurry ZippyLoan is where to go.

    You apply for a loan through the ZippyLoan site, if approved they send your loan application to one of many loan providers.

    • You review the loan details and e-sign if you like what you see.
    • No risk in checking what offers you’ll get.
    • You can borrow between $100 and $15,000 as soon as tomorrow.
    • Loans service for up to 60 months.

    ZippyLoan connects borrowers to lenders through their network of lenders. They’ll find you the lowest interest rate and is one of the best no credit check loan. You can visit ZippyLoan here.

    Get cash now

    Download: iOS | Android | Browser

    There Will Always Be Money Making Apps that Pay You

    There you have it. If you’ve finished the list, you’ve just made at least $100 through these apps that pay you real money. We wish you the best of luck on your journey on how to make money!

    Just remember, with most of these services, consistency is key, so be diligent about completing your daily check-in and continue to use the service if you want to earn more lucrative amounts of cash or gift cards.

    It’s always better to use these opportunities as additional cash for smaller purchases, rather than to rely on them for a steady income.

    If you didn't claim your $5-10 cash bonuses already, don't forget to check out the best signup bonuses below:

    To chalk it up, what are the best ways to make money right away? While a search online when you're in need of some fast cash will produce millions of results, not all will be legitimate.

    It's up to you to filter through the so-called noise.

    These strategies to make $50 fast will help put you in the black, even if it's in a very small way. Once you are, resume planning and focusing on the bigger picture.

    Brian Meiggs
    Brian Meiggs
    Brian Meiggs is a personal finance expert, and the founder of Gabcast, formerly SavingExpert, a personal finance site helping you make your money work for you. He helps readers bring in passive income in order to increase their saving potential and start building wealth for the future. He regularly writes about saving, budgeting, investing, and general personal finance topics aimed to help anyone save more, pay off debt, and reach financial freedom. He has been quoted as a top personal finance blogger in major publications including Insider, Yahoo! Finance, NASDAQ, Discover, MSN Money and more.