Did you know there are legit ways you can make money from your Android phone? There are several apps available that exist solely for the purpose of helping you make money in your spare time.
Some of these apps can help you make money with your phone in as little as a few minutes, meaning you can earn some extra cash when you’re waiting to be seen at an appointment or on a morning break at work.
Check out our favorite sites for making money with your Android phone and see which ones best fit into your schedule and lifestyle.
In This Article
Apps for Making Money with Android
There are several sites that help you make money with your Android phone. Here we’ll share six of the most popular.
1. Ibotta
Ibotta is a shopping portal that helps you earn cash back as you shop. Ibotta has paid out over $300 million in cash back rewards to its members so far.
Earning money with Ibotta is easy: you simply sign up to be a member, and they search the app for cash back offers before (or even after) you shop. Ibotta helps you access money saving coupons and other offers from stores and manufacturers everywhere.
When you’re done shopping you scan your receipt into your phone (you can also link your rewards card to your Ibotta account and Ibotta quickly finds the purchases that coordinate with the offers you accepted.
Then Ibotta puts the cash into your Ibotta account, and you can in turn have your earned cash transferred into your PayPal account.
When I signed up for Ibotta in January I earned over $30 in just two weeks. This can be a great way to take advantage of saving money on everyday purchases and abandon the tedious work of clipping coupons.
2. Pinecone Research
Pinecone Research rewards you with cash and prizes for voicing your opinion online. It’s free to sign up and pays $3 per survey. When they have surveys available that need the opinions of people like you, they’ll send you an email. They may on occasion send you products to test as well.
Each completed survey will earn you rewards points. Those points can then be used to get cash through PayPal, or you can use your points to shop their catalog and buy prizes. There are also sweepstakes you as a member can enter.
3. Swagbucks
Swagbucks has paid out over $255 million to members since its inception. Here’s how making money with Swagbucks works.
You complete a variety of activities on your phone (or on your PC or other device). Some of the activities you can participate in include:
- Surveys
- Playing games
- Watching videos
- Searching the Net
And more. For each activity you complete, you get rewarded points from Swagbucks. Those points can then be converted to give you money in two ways: you can convert them into a cash transfer into your PayPal account, or you can use them to get free gift cards to your favorite retailers such as Amazon and Walmart.
One of the reasons using Swagbucks to make money with your phone is so popular is that many of the activities they have for members take only a few minutes, meaning you can complete activities and earn points around your busy schedule.
Swagbucks gives out over 7,000 gift cards every day, so you know it’s legit.
4. InboxDollars
InboxDollars is a rewards club that pays you cash for taking surveys, watching videos, searching the Web and more. In fact, InboxDollars has paid out over $50 million to members to-date.
After you sign up to be a member (it’s totally free to sign up, and they often give away bonuses of $5 just for signing up), you start completing activities, many of which only take a few minutes.
Some of the activities InboxDollars will pay you for include:
- Taking surveys
- Searching the Web
- Watching videos
- Shopping
- Trying out new products and services
Each activity has a designated payout amount which is listed clearly on the site. Once you’ve earned enough money, you simply request a transfer of your cash to your PayPal account.
5. Lucktastic
Lucktastic is an app that’s available for Android and iPhone users. It’s free to download and play with daily rewards, scratch card games, sweepstakes and more.
Some activities in Lucktastic will give you cash and others will give you tokens.
Cash balances of $1 or more can be withdrawn using Dwolla. Tokens can be used to earn gift cards and enter contests and drawings on Lucktastic.
Since Lucktastic’s launch, there have been over 220,000 cash winners!
6. Drop
Drop is an app that helps you turn everyday purchases into cash rewards, and it takes very little effort on your part.
You simply link your debit and credit cards to the Drop app and go about shopping like you normally would. As you spend money at your favorite stores, Drop gives you points that you can instantly redeem to get free gift cards.
Drop pays rewards at popular stores such as Tim Horton’s, McDonald’s and many more. Drop has given away over 300,000 gift cards to-date, and it’s free to sign up.
7. Rakuten
Rakuten gives you cash back of up to 40% on your purchases when you shop through their portal. And, they represent over 2,400 stores willing to give you discounts, including big box stores such as Amazon, Walmart and Target.
To date, Rakuten has helped members earn over $1 billion in cash back at their favorite stores. Here’s how it works.
After you join and become a member (it’s free to do so), you’ll receive your customized login information.
The next time you want to shop online, you simply login to your Rakuten account, and from there access the stores you want to shop at.
After you make your purchases shopping through the Rakuten portal, the cash back you earned at each of the stores you purchased from goes into your Rakuten account.
At the end of each quarter, Rakuten sends you your total cash back earned, either via PayPal or via a check in the mail; the choice is yours.
Shopping through Rakuten is a great way to earn extra cash back as you shop, and you can then use that money however you wish.
Note: the company occasionally doles out sign-up bonuses. As of this writing they were giving away a $10 cash bonus to new members.
8. MobileXpression
MobileXpression is a company that will reward you for sharing your Android mobile browsing history for market research purposes. You will earn reward points based on how many hours you browse each week.
The points you earn can be redeemed for prizes, including cash, gift cards, and more.
There are also weekly sweepstakes you can enter to win merchandise prizes.
iPhone users go here to get the app!
Andriod users go here to get the app!
Summary
If you’re interested in earning some extra cash to cover minor expenses, save for a vacation or other treat, or just some extra spending money, consider taking advantage of one of these money-making avenues you can use right on your Android phone.
Have you ever tried any of the apps above to earn money? If so, what was your experience? Feel free to share in the comments below.
Vish
Hmm, I think I should try some of the mentioned apps. Good work, Laurie!
Deacon
Which one are you going to try first?
JoeHx
I’m also a big fan of the Android apps, “Surveys on the Go”, and “ReceiptHog”.
buttler
Give me a website for earning money.
Deacon
Check out the links in this post as well as other posts on our site. That should give you some money making ideas and websites. Good luck!
Gilbert Arboleda
Hello, guys. I want to try and learn about how to start working online using only my smart phone. To be honest, I have no idea where I should start. So, please guide me. I want to learn and share the ideas I have in my mind that fit in with your needs. Thank you very much in advance. Have a nice day and God bless you.
Deacon
Gilbert, you should check out our post titled, 49 Ways to Make Money with Your Smartphone. It can help you get started! 🙂
Marian
Can I make it here in the Philippines?
Deacon
You would just have to check each app to see if it will work in your country. Look for a site map or check policies and terms and conditions. If that doesn’t tell you, use their contact information to ask them directly.
eustace
How do I start making money?
Deacon
Follow the links and use the information in this post. However, we have additional posts on this site about ways you can make money. Be sure to check them out!
Lovette
To be sincere, I don’t know how to go about this. Who can put me through? I really want to make money with my smart phone.
Deacon
Follow the links and suggestions in this post to see if you can start making money with your phone. In addition, we have other posts on this site that can help you make money. 🙂
Bamijola olusola Joseph
To be sincere, I don’t know which one to start with.
Deacon
Why not do more than one? 🙂
Chengalvala Rajasekhar
How will I earn online money through mobile?
Deacon
If you have an Android phone, you can check the links in this article to try out apps that can help you make money! Best of luck!
Shahab uddin
How can i earn money from Bangladesh? I wanna earn money doing freelancing using my android phone.
Adrian
Wow thank you very much Deacon for this wonderful insight it was really helpful. But I want to ask, what security measures can I take when using these apps?