Top 3 Online Survey Sites That Actually Pay

I’ve tried them!

When it comes to earning online, surveys can be a great way to earn an extra few bucks. No, you probably aren’t going to get rich, but if you have some spare time and an opinion, my top 3 online survey sites might be a great option for you. Beware of sites that promise you riches for completing surveys, and sites that ask you for your credit card information. Legitimate paid survey sites are not going to do either of these things.

The best (and my favorite) survey sites are free to join, pay you in actual money through PayPal or another legit payment method like prepaid Visa cards, gift cards for popular retailers such as Amazon or Starbucks, or entries into sweepstakes for prizes.

Personal disclaimer: I have tried each of these sites. I know that they pay, and I know that you can make some money on them. I love making money online, and if there is a site that says it pays, I am all for checking it out. Let’s take a look!

( On some links, I may be registered as an affiliate, and I may earn a small commission when you earn using these recommendations.)

Swagbucks

This site is probably the most popular amongst survey sites on the internet today, and has paid out more than $714 million in cash and free gift cards to its members. Yes, you read that right! More than $714M in rewards payouts. There are actually 9 different ways that you can get paid on Swagbucks, and surveys are just one of them. Some of the other ways to get paid are playing games, browsing the net, online shopping, sharing the site as an affiliate, and more.

I honestly LOVE Swagbucks. I have the Swagbar extension installed on my Google Chrome, and when I am doing any kind of online shopping at a store that is affiliated with Swagbucks, I get a little notification that I can activate deals and cashback offers just because I took the 30 seconds it took to install an extension. To me, this is a huge plus.

The average payout for surveys ranges from 50 to 500 Swagbucks, or $0.50 -$5 if you like looking at it in dollar amounts. $1 is equal to 100 Swagbucks. There is a low minimum threshold for payouts at $3 (there is an Amazon gift card that can be purchased for only 300 Swagbucks!). This is actually the lowest of all survey sites that I have tried. Most sites have a minimum payout amount of at least $20.

I am a fan of being able to choose how I cash out my rewards. On this site, you can choose to get your pay outs via Paypal, prepaid Visa cards, or you can select gift cards from over 500 of the most popular merchants. My favorite thing to do is bank up my Swagbucks through the year and then at the holidays I do a good chunk of my gift shopping using my rewards.

Another thing I love about this site is that even if I don’t qualify for a particular survey, I still earn Swagbucks for attempting it, unlike other sites that give you nothing even though you just answered a bunch of questions trying to qualify.

Swagbucks does have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and a 4.3/5 Trustscore on Trustpilot from over 27,000 reviews, so you can be sure that this is a legit site. At the time of writing this article, there is a $5 bonus that you can earn when you open a new account that can be redeemed via PayPal, or as a gift card.

One last bonus that I think is really cool is that Swagbucks does have a referral program where you can earn rewards for referring people to the site. Currently you can receive a 300 Swagbuck bonus, PLUS earn 10% of their rewards earnings for their lifetime on the platform! So not only will you earn from the work you put in on the platform answering surveys and earning in the various other ways, you will also earn from the work that your referrals put in! Double win.

MyPoints

MyPoints is a Swagbucks partner with multiple ways to earn points including shopping through qualifying merchants (be sure to install the extension so you don’t miss out on rewards), watching videos, reading emails, surveys, mobile apps and games. 160 points equals $1 in gift cards or PayPal payout dollars.

With a Trustpilot score of 4.4 with over 14,000 reviews, it is pretty obvious that this site is legit.

Get $10 bonus when you spend $20 with a qualifying merchant within the first 30 days as a member of MyPoints. Not too shabby! Rewards are redeemed by selecting a gift card from over 70 top retail and restaurant chains, PayPal deposits, Visa prepaid cards, or in travel miles if you have a United MileagePlus account.

You can even save money on groceries and earn points by printing coupons! I like to scan my receipts and earn points for the groceries I buy. This site is so cool! With a family of 6, I am game to save some money on groceries any day of the week and to be able to earn cash back on purchases I was already making is pretty awesome.

When it comes to surveys, the average payout is anywhere from 50 to 500 points which is equal to approximately $0.25 to $3. The surveys take between 5 to 30 minutes each. You won’t get rich off the surveys, but a few extra bucks here and there can really add up!

Like Swagbucks, MyPoints also has a Refer and Earn program — Earn when your friend accepts your invite, you both earn when your friend spends $20 or more in their first 30 days, 10% of all of their purchases for their lifetime on the site.

Download your copy of “The Insider’s Guide To Affiliate Marketing” to learn more about how to maximize your earnings by utilizing the affiliate programs on MyPoints and Swagbucks.

Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is pretty basic, and super easy to use. You do surveys to earn points and redeem them for gift cards and cash. 100 points is worth $1 and the redemption threshold is $5. Survey payouts range from $0.20 all the way to $5 and take an average of 10–30+ minutes to complete. Rated 4.4 out of over 35,000 reviews on Trustpilot.

You won’t qualify for every survey of course, just like most other sites there is always a set of qualifying questions to answer before the survey to ensure you are a member of the target audience. I find that I qualify for about 1 in 4 or 5 that I attempt, but Survey Junkie rewards you for answering the qualifier questions and gives you a couple of points for trying even when you don’t qualify.

One other way to get paid by the site is to take part in their research program called SJ Pulse. When you participate in this program, you agree to allow Survey Junkie to track the ads you see, sites you visit, online shopping and a variety of other online behaviors and than anonymizes the data. This helps analysts a clearer picture of online consumer behavior. It’s hard to say exactly what the payouts for participants in this program are, but you earn points as you surf the web and perform your day to day online tasks.

They do have a separate affiliate program if you are interested in sharing the site with others. Not everyone is approved to become an affiliate, but applying is always an option.

My Thoughts

While you aren’t going to get rich on surveys alone, you can earn a decent chunk of change, and may even replace your full time job income if you are willing to put in a little work on the affiliate program side of things. As for me, I get some daily emails about recommended surveys or activities, and I spend a little time on it in the morning while I have my coffee. It has become somewhat of a typical morning routine for me, and I find it relaxing. Some people like the crossword puzzle in the paper, I like doing a couple surveys or online activities. I earn a few extra bucks off of it, and as I mentioned earlier, I use it on gift cards for Christmas shopping.

The possibilities really are endless when it comes to setting up your side hustle the way you want it, but it needs to work for you and your routine. Got a few minutes to spare while the baby naps? Do a survey! Bored on a bus? Do a survey! Taking a poop? Do a survey! Whatever’s clever my friend.

I would love to hear from you what your experience with online surveys is, if any. And if you would consider doing surveys in the future as a bit of a side hustle. Drop your comments below!

Originally published at https://kristenabram.com on May 7, 2022.