Survey sites are becoming one of the most popular ways to earn a modest side income online as they’re easy to use, can be completed from almost anywhere on your smartphone, and have a low barrier to entry!
In this article, we take a look at some of the best options out there to see what potential survey takers can expect from each of them in terms of topics, compensation, and payment methods. Let’s jump right in!
1
Great for anybody!
- Engage in tasks like surveys, games, and TV shows for consistent earnings.
- Earn $1 to $5 daily with potential for thousands yearly, backed by a high Trustpilot score.
- Boost earnings by referring new users through affiliate programs.
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Swagbucks is free to join and offers cash rewards, charity donations, and personalized gift cards for survey participants.
Some surveys are single-question polls, while others are large surveys used for market research. Surveys can be completed in a web browser or through the Android or iOS app.
In addition to surveys, users can receive rewards for trying new games, TV shows and apps, gambling, and scanning receipts.
Earnings
Swagbucks claims that most users can earn between one and five dollars on an average day, with some users earning up to a couple of thousand in one year.
They have a high Trustpilot score of 4.2, with many reviewers confirming these claims.
Prodege offers affiliate programs for all of its survey platforms, meaning you can earn extra money if you get people to join the platform.
Pros
- Sign-up and referral bonuses
- Highly trustworthy and positively reviewed
- A wide variety of survey types and other ways to earn rewards
2
Great for SwagBucks users who want more surveys
- Earn points from surveys, redeemable for PayPal or gift cards.
- Surveys typically pay between $0.50 and $3 for steady income.
- High Trustpilot score of 4.2 and part of Prodege's affiliate program.
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Survey Junkie users can take surveys and earn points that they can exchange for PayPal deposits or electronic gift cards, just as they can on SwagBucks.
In fact, both platforms are owned by the same company, Prodege, so it would be a little weird if one were obviously far better than the other!
Earnings
A typical survey pays between $0.50 and $3.
Pros
- Like Swagbucks, Survey Junkie has a high Trustpilot score of 4.2, indicating users generally trust the service and review it positively
- Part of Prodege’s affiliate program.
Cons
- Some recent complaints suggest the Survey Junkie app sometimes glitches, causing frustrated users to lose their progress on surveys and consequently miss out on their rewards.
3
Great for SwagBucks users who want more surveys
- Create separate accounts for more quality surveys and similar payouts.
- Earn $0.50 to $5 per survey, with some up to $25.
- High Trustpilot score of 4.2, shared features with SwagBucks and SurveyJunkie, plus Prodege's affiliate program.
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Like SwagBucks and Survey Junkie, InboxDollars is owned by Prodege. It is a very similar service with a similar reputation and most of the same basic features.
The main appeal of InboxDollars is that it’s still a separate service from SwagBucks and SurveyJunkie, meaning you can make independent accounts for all these platforms and expect to get even more decent quality surveys with similar payouts!
Earnings
While InboxDollars claims you can earn up to $25 from one survey, a typical survey takes between 10 and 30 minutes to complete – typically paying between $0.50 and $5.
Pros
- Once again, InboxDollars has a Trustpilot score of 4.2.
- Many of the same great features as SwagBucks and SurveyJunkie
- Part of Prodege’s affiliate program.
Cons
- Like SwagBucks, Inboxdollars is said to send excessive, “spammy” emails.
4
Great for serious surveys
- Earn PayPal payouts and vouchers from 10-20 minute surveys.
- Bonus points and substantial prize giveaways available.
- Typical earnings of $25 to $100, up to $1500 annually for active users.
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LifePoints rewards come in the form of PayPal payouts and vouchers for some of the most popular food and retail outlets in the US. Surveys typically take between 10 and 20 minutes to complete.
In addition to the usual rewards, LifePoints has giveaways for bonus points and prizes – and the prizes can be worth a lot!
Earnings
Supposedly, a typical user can expect to make between $25 and $100 in PayPal deposits or rewards, while those who accept all survey invites can expect to make $1500 in rewards in a year.
5
Great for data-sensitive people
- Engaging surveys focused on socio-economic and political issues.
- Earn around $50 monthly for 30 minutes of daily work, plus extra from YouGov Pulse.
- Exceptional 4.6-star Trustpilot rating with shorter surveys and data transparency.
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YouGov is a pioneering market research site that is strongly trusted by both the survey participants and those who buy the data.
Earnings
At first, a typical user doing 30 minutes of work every day can expect to earn around $50 worth of points in one month.
However, users report that after a while, they are offered fewer surveys – so you shouldn’t expect to keep this up forever.
Users can choose to opt into the YouGov Pulse service (if they’re invited) to earn extra points by allowing YouGov to monitor some aspects of their phone usage via an installed app.
Pros
- YouGov has a whopping 4.6-star rating on Trustpilot, meaning it is considered to be exceptionally trustworthy
- YouGov’s surveys focus on issues that are important to users, such as current political and socio-economic affairs
- Surveys are likely to be shorter than many services
- The earnings are good initially
- The company is highly transparent about how your data is used.
Cons
- There is a decrease in the number of available surveys after a period of consistent use.
6
Best for hardcore survey takers
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While OnePoll is available in the US, it is a UK-focused company and their website is heavily marketed towards those who want to buy the data rather than those who want to give it.
This makes it difficult to know how much you can get paid without starting the process of setting up an account.
Reviewers say their paid survey app is well-designed, safe, and easy to use, and that the customer service is high quality.
However, the rewards tend to be smaller compared to other services, the surveys are time-consuming, and you have to work and earn a lot before you’re allowed to withdraw your rewards.
Earnings
Reviewers say OnePoll only pays up to $0.25 per survey, and you can’t withdraw any rewards until you’ve earned $40. That means it will take months to actually see any of those rewards!
Cons
- Not very transparent about their paid survey service
- Does not pay as well as other services.
7
Best for opinionated people
- Focuses on opinion-based surveys, ideal for expressive individuals.
- Surveys pay 15 to 50,000 points, from less than a cent to several dollars.
- High Trustpilot rating, rewards for profile completion, and easy data opt-out options.
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Toluna offers a software platform to companies that automates market research for them, which helps them make decisions about their services.
Their ‘social voting platform’ is where they offer surveys that reward participants with points, and their software platform uses data from these surveys.
Toluna’s surveys are focused on opinions rather than other information about your life – so if you find yourself getting into heated debates, Toluna is a way to get paid to speak your mind!
Earnings
5,500 points is worth around $1.23, and Toluna claims that each survey pays between 15 and 50,000 points – in other words, from less than a cent up to several dollars.
8
Best for side income
- Pays for opinions on products and services, rewards in vouchers, gift cards, and PayPal.
- Surveys delivered via email for regular participation.
- Typical earning of around $2.50 per hour, with a 4.2 Trustpilot rating.
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Opinion Outpost pays users to share their opinions on topics such as products, services, and advertisements.
Surveys are offered to users via email, and participants are rewarded with vouchers, gift cards, and PayPal deposits.
Earnings
Most users can expect to make around $2.50 an hour in rewards.
Cons
- Some surveys require you to fill out a bunch of information only to discover that you don’t qualify for the survey.
9
People who enjoy traveling
- Offers surveys with a focus on travel, ideal for travel enthusiasts.
- Surveys pay up to $50, with varying time commitments.
- Notable for a 4.4-star Trustpilot rating and a $5 signup bonus.
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MyPoints is another survey site owned by Prodege and thus is similar to Swagbucks and InboxDollars.
MyPoints surveys apparently tend to focus on travel, so if you have a lot of wanderlust, these might be more fun for you to fill out!
Earnings
MyPoints say some of their surveys pay up to $50, although they admit that most of them pay less. However, lower payout surveys also take less time to complete.
Cons
- Misleading about earnings. Multiple regular users have told me that they never earned anywhere near $50 from a survey.
How Do Survey Sites Work?
In a nutshell: survey sites compensate you for taking surveys!
On some sites, this compensation comes in the form of a payment to your bank account or cash app account, while on others it comes in the form of gift cards or free items.
So, why would somebody pay you to take surveys?
The information you provide is worth money to the companies and businesses who ultimately commission the surveys (and to be honest, they can be a bit boring to take!).
As such, survey sites are willing to pay money so people part with that valuable information.
Final Thoughts
Survey platforms don’t tend to pay much, but the tasks are generally considered easy and the rewards can be maximized by signing up to multiple platforms.
Prodege’s platforms may appeal to people who are active in online communities due to their affiliate program, and their platforms are considered trustworthy.
Those interested in particular survey topics may be especially interested in Toluna, MyPoints, and YouGove, which is the most highly rated survey platform on the list!