Top 5 Highest Paying Side Hustles on the Internet
Maximizing your side hustling potential
Side hustles are a great way to earn money on the side with a variety of methods. However, side hustlers are often given mediocre pay for their hard work, leaving them ultimately unsatisfied and demotivated on their financial journey.
The simple reason for this lies in the fact that a lot of good side hustles remain under wraps and undiscovered, having been covered up by the grand marketing schemes of large companies, who are then able to control their pay with little regard to the effects of competition in the market.
But by engaging in those undiscovered side hustles hiding in various corners of the internet, not only will you be paid much more, you will be expanding your services on a platform with much less competition.
To help you start your side hustling journey in the right place, I have researched over a hundred side hustles across the internet and compiled the Top 5 Highest Paying ones below, up to $700 an hour.
NUMBER 5: USER TESTING
UserTesting is a place where you can easily earn money by completing various tasks, tests, and reviews that help various brands improve their products and services.
Your projects can range from trying out new websites and apps for big online companies such as Canva, Subway, or GoDaddy, or completing simple feedback surveys for a certain product.
User Testing is extremely flexible and contains a wide variety of work for you to do. Projects can be as short as 5-minutes, making User Testing a great side hustle available to you even if you have a busy schedule.
How much can you earn?
UserTesting pays varying amounts depending on the lengths of the test/project you have completed. Below is the typical pay you can expect:
- $4 USD for a 5-minute test
- $10 USD for a 20-minute test
- $30-$120 USD for live interviews and longer tests
In contrast to other testing sites, User Testing makes live interviews and more extended tests available. With these involved, you can potentially make $100 an hour, and if less, at least hundreds of dollars a day (if you work hard).
Tests are still released daily, and the best will be matched to your profile. While there may not be infinite projects for you to complete, making it harder to make money some days due to the unavailability of tasks, in general, the time-to-reward ratio is quite profitable.
On those unlucky days, I recommend working with another profitable side hustle, either one you see on this list or a less profitable one. Don’t limit yourself to working for one side hustle only. They’re called ‘side’ hustles for a reason.
How do you get started?
Getting started with UserTesting consists of four steps according to their site:
- Enter your email and complete a practice test to join the team of trusted contributors; this is part of the application process.
- Complete a quick survey that will help you match with test opportunities. Browse the available projects to you and select one you are interested in.
- Share your opinions and perspectives on the product or service you are testing.
- Get paid by User Testing. Payment for a test arrives via PayPal 7 days after completing it.
NUMBER 4: LIST VERSE
If you’re an aspiring writer, finding the right writing-related side hustles may prove to be the best choice for establishing yourself as a writer and making the money you need.
Out of all the writing side hustles I have researched, ListVerse seems to be one of the most professional and reliable ones. It may not promise as high pay as others, but writing for it is much simpler and objective.
Moreover, it accepts a wide variety of articles relating to topics like science, society, entertainment, life, and many more, providing you with the freedom to choose the topics you are confident in.
Even if you’re not well versed in a topic, you can simply do research and come up with a story to write about. It all boils down to creativity and willingness.
ListVerse is special in the requirement for your article to consist of ten items in the form of a list. Although this may initially feel restrictive, I’ve found from my own experience that list articles are probably the easiest and simplest articles to write.
In list articles, you are able to easily keep things informal and organized. The most you’ll have to do is research the details of each individual item to meet your word count requirement.
How much can you earn?
ListVerse pays handsomely: $100 for accepted articles. If you’re able to write an article in 1 hour, you’ll be able to make at least close to $100/hour. Writing a list article in 1 hour is totally possible considering the maximum word count allowed by ListVerse is 1500–2000 words.
However, please do visit their site to see what their specific rules on publishing are.
1500 words is approximately a 6-minute read. With lists, you don’t need to tell a sophisticated story or create a complicated format, making it all the much easier to write.
How to get started
To get started with ListVerse, visit and fill out their submission form with your article, and fill in the necessary information. Once the form is completed, your article will be reviewed and you’ll be notified if it is published or not.
NUMBER 3: TESTING TIME
TestingTime is another online product and service testing site, much like User Testing. In comparison, the overall pay seems higher.
However, if you are interested in website-testing side hustles like this, I recommend enrolling in as many as you can to maximize your flexibility and allow you access to more tasks.
How much can you earn?
Your earnings are dependent on the type of study you are participating in. However, according to some sources, TestingTime can pay up to $54 for a test between 30–90 minutes.
In short, you can be paid $108 per hour in the best-case scenario of a 30-minute test.
How to get started
- Sign up and answer some basic questions
- You’ll be invited to a study via email, and after completing a quick survey to verify if you’re right for the study, you can choose to accept it and select your own schedule for completing the task
- Provide feedback and get compensated
NUMBER 2: RELODE
I’ve discussed this platform several times in my other articles because it is truly a side hustle that harbours great potential. Moreover, its high pay definitely grants it a spot on this list.
For the uninformed, Relode is an online platform that centers around jobs from industries of all different kinds. Essentially, the way to profit from this site is to work as a recruiter.
Recruiting is a great job anyone can begin learning that has few requirements associated with degrees or levels of education. Relode is one of the places where, as a recruiter, you can set up a foundation for true recruiting success.
On Relode, you can be eligible to earn up to three paychecks per referral. The person you refer doesn’t even have to be hired!
Here are more details from their site that discuss the entire process:
- Find a job out of the hundreds of options on the site
- Find and refer a candidate. A member of the Relode team will review and approve the candidate if they are suitable.
- You receive a submission reward as the candidate is submitted to the client.
- If your candidate is set up and completes an interview, you receive an interview reward.
- Once your candidate is hired, you receive a hire award.
How much can you earn?
Relode is an extremely high-paying side hustle compared to most jobs we see out there. From the side hustles I have researched, it ranks near the top both in terms of pay, flexibility, and feasibility.
To give you a basic idea, the average recruiter earns from $4000-$5000 per candidate referred. There have also been reports of recruiters earning over $10,000 per candidate referred, which is extremely significant for a comparably effortless amount of work.
Typically, you’d have to work from 9 to 5 for over a month to earn that much in a standard job. Meanwhile, $10,000 can be within your grasp in mere days by referring a suitable candidate. In fact, a lot of people recruit their friends for the jobs they see.
Ultimately though, your total earnings really depend on your experience, your working style, and also pure luck (like most other things).
How to get started
You can get started by visiting the embedded link which leads to their site. You should be able to find the application and more information on this side hustle in the Recruiters section.
Once again, depending on the time this article is published and when you’re reading this article, Relode may have different requirements. This may include a higher age requirement, basic recruiter training and experience, and certain sets of soft or hard skills.
NUMBER 1: RESPONDENT
Out of all the side hustles I have researched and written about in the past, this has by far been the most profitable, with nothing else ever nearly reaching its pay.
Respondent.io is a place for you to participate in various research studies, interviews, and surveys. Essentially, it’s a survey site, but iny my opinion, the best one out there.
And it isn’t a place for you to answer stupid and pointless questions about a book you bought or your experience on Amazon Prime.
This is a place where real professionals seek advice; a community where people network, help each other and learn while earning insane amounts of money.
While you may believe that this is only for geniuses or rich, successful people in the top 1%, Respondent can be a place for you as well, as long as you have a significant skill you are proficient in and have great achievements in relation.
Everyone is an expert at something.
Here’s a glimpse at the average payments you can receive depending on your profession:
- Software Developers: $200/hr
- Marketers: $150/hr
- Business Owners: $500/hr
- Executives: $700/hr
If none of these professions match your personal profile, don’t worry, because there are still other opportunities on Respondent that can be right for you.
The pay may be lower if your skill isn’t in high demand, but considering the average pay on Respondent is $140/hour, you won’t be missing out on any money anytime soon.
Providing honest feedback, personal advice and knowledge should not be a difficult task for you. It all boils down to the value you bring, how you can prove that you’re worth their time, and if you believe $100+/hour is worth it.
Thank you for reading. I am constantly researching new and valuable side hustles and passive income ideas for you to digest. If you’d like to stay updated and see more of these, feel free to follow and subscribe to Shu Hasegawa to receive an email every time new side hustles are ready for you.
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