So you would like to make money using your tablet or smartphone, but you’re not sure if you can do it and what app you should use. The good news is that you can definitely make some extra money on your mobile device and there are plenty of money-making apps available for download.
The problem is: there are some “money-making apps” that turn out to be online work-from-home scams. But thankfully, there are several apps out there that will actually pay you cash or rewards for your work inside the app. And I’m going to save you the trouble of looking for these legit money-making apps.
So, in this article, I’ll show you nine great apps that can truly earn you extra money. I will also make sure all of these apps are available for both Android and iOS devices. At the end of this article, I’ll even give you some bonus apps that are similar to some of these apps I will be showing you, so stick around.
With that being said, let’s get started with this money-making app list.
1. Rakuten (Cashback Rewards)
This app is especially good if you’re the kind of person that enjoys spending money with your credit or debit card.
Long story short, Rakuten pays you for shopping at certain stores and restaurants, and even some websites as well. You are basically receiving cashback from this app for spending money at participating businesses.
For example, if I were to go to a Denny’s (which is one of many places recognized by Rakuten) and use my debit card that is linked with my Rakuten account to pay for my food, Rakuten will recognize that my card was spent at a Denny’s and pay me back accordingly.
So how much cashback can you earn? Well, Rakuten gives you a different cashback percentage for each participating business. So, in one store, you may earn a 3% cashback, and at a restaurant, you might earn a 1% cashback. The percentages you can earn will be provided to you inside your Rakuten app.
2. FeaturePoints (Many Ways to Earn)
There’s a lot that you can do inside the FeaturePoints app! Seriously, a lot! With FeaturePoints, there are many ways you can earn points that can be redeemed to cash or gift cards. Here are some of the things you can do with this app to earn points for money:
- Earn cash back at participating businesses (like Dosh)
- Take surveys and share your feedback and opinions
- Download and try out different apps from games to social media
- Share FeaturePoints with others and get paid whenever they use it
All these tasks are pretty simple and straightforward, so it’s pretty much a breeze to earn points that can build up over time. After a while, you may be able to cash out your points sooner than you think.
As for the different rewards, you can cash out your points into PayPal as well as various gift cards for places like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google Play.
FeaturePoints has been around for a while and, since they began, they have actually paid their members over $5 million. You too can get a piece of the earnings by taking part in the various things you can do inside FeaturePoints.
LEARN MORE ABOUT FEATUREPOINTS!
3. AppKarma (Try New Apps)
If you enjoy spending your time trying out new apps on your mobile device, why not get paid for that? With AppKarma, you can download apps, enjoy your experience with them, and earn points at the same time!
From productivity to gaming to social media, there are a variety of apps that you can check out using AppKarma. All you do is download it to your mobile device, interact with the app for a certain amount of time, and you’ve earned points! You can even earn points every single day that you play with your new app!
And, of course, you can also earn points by referring AppKarma to others.
AppKarma also has achievement badges which you earn by installing a certain number of apps, checking into AppKarma every day, watching a certain number of AppKarma videos, etc.
You can cash out your points to either PayPal or a gift card of your choice, such as for Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, etc.
4. Zogo (Learn Finance)
Managing money is not easy and it takes skill and experience to master your money wisely. With Zogo, you can learn financial literacy all while getting paid! Yes, Zogo is serious enough that they’re willing to pay you to learn how to use your money the right way!
All you need to do is go through their simple bite-size lessons and answer their questions at the end of each lesson. Every time you complete a lesson, you earn points, known in the app as “pineapples”. You can then redeem those pineapples for gift cards to places like Amazon, Walmart, even AMC, and several others!
As you can see, Zogo makes learning about money fun and rewarding.
I think it’s very important that people like you learn money skills, but Zogo is one amazing app where you can earn to learn! Now that’s awesome!
DOWNLOAD ZOGO ON GOOGLE PLAY OR ON THE APP STORE!
5. Mistplay (Try Mobile Games)
Mistplay is very similar to AppKarma. The only difference is that AppStation specializes in mobile games! If you enjoy playing with apps on your mobile device, you can earn money doing just that with Mistplay.
Simply open the app and then download any of the mobile games featured inside the app. As soon as you install a mobile game and get started with it, you will earn points in your AppStation account. You can also earn points by earning achievements in the mobile games you play and referring others to Mistplay.
Once you have enough points to redeem, you can turn them into prepaid Visa cards or into gift cards for Amazon, Google Play, iTunes,and gaming places like Nintendo, Xbox, and Playstation.
At the time of writing, Mistplay is only available for Android users. However, they are developing an app for iOS devices. Check out their website below to see if and when Mistplay’s iOS app is available for download.
6. Observa (Take Pictures in Stores)
Believe it or not, Observa is an app that asks people like you to go to your local store and take pictures of products stocked in store shelves. This is so companies can see how their products are being placed inside different stores.
So the process is simple: all you have to do is accept an observation task, go to your assigned local store, take pictures of different shelves in different aisles, submit your work, and then you get paid! Keep in mind that, once you accept a task, you must complete it within two hours or you will have to restart the task.
Your work will undergo review, but as long as you follow their instructions to the tee, your work should be approved. At that point, they will deposit a payment into your PayPal account.
If you’re ready to shop and help out companies at the same time, become an “observer” with Observa and earn some quick bucks with your mobile device!
7. ProductTube (Video Reviews)
Does the name remind you of a too-familiar video website? That’s because, in ProductTube, you’re gonna be recording videos about stuff you buy and use every day. When you complete a video task inside the app, they will pay you with an Amazon gift card.
There are two kinds of videos you may be asked to upload:
- In-store videos: You will be going to your local store and recording a short video of various products in a particular aisle. As you’re recording, you simply describe your decision-making process when it comes to picking the products you want from the shelf.
- At-home videos: While you’re at home, you will be reviewing a specific product that you buy and use. Simply show the product on video and consume it as you normally would, giving your feedback on what you think of it. In some cases, you may be asked to complete follow-up videos and get paid extra for those videos.
Examples of what these videos look like can be found on ProductTube’s website.
Before you submit your video, make sure you review it to ensure the video and audio are working well. After you submit, your video will be reviewed by ProductTube and they will pay you within 48 hours if approved. They only pay you through Amazon gift certificates.
And, as a fun fact, ProductTube says that you can earn up to $80 per month for completing an hour’s worth of videos, so I think ProductTube is one of the highest-paying mobile apps out there. Why not get recording and start earning?
GET PAID TO REVIEW WITH PRODUCTTUBE!
8. Dreamstime (Sell Photos)
Are you good at taking pictures with your mobile device? You can actually earn money using your phone’s camera with Dreamstime. This is a service that sells professional photos to their customers. And it doesn’t have to be too hard to take good pictures that sell.
All you have to do is be natural with your photography and find picturesque angles to get your snapshot. If you’re still unsure, there are many online resources that can help you improve your photography skills.
Simply pick a subject that you want to take a picture of, whether it’s your pets, a person or people posing or doing things, nature scenes, plants or animals, you name it. Then upload it to the Dreamstime app, provide information about your work, and you can start selling digital copies of it for others to use.
And it’s not Dreamstime. There are several places online and even on mobile where you can earn money selling your photos. I’ve made an article on this subject in the past, so be sure to check it out.
When it’s time to pay out, Dreamstime has a few payment options: through check as well as through PayPal, Payonner, or Skrill.
Are you ready to share your photography with the world and make money?
DOWNLOAD DREAMSTIME ON GOOGLE PLAY OR ON THE APP STORE!
9. S’more (Lock Screen Ads)
If you’re feeling lazy, S’more might be the moneymaking app you’re looking for. The concept of S’more is very simple: it will show an ad in front of your lock screen. Just swipe up to dismiss the ad and unlock your mobile device as you normally would. Every time you allow an ad in your lock screen, you earn points that can be redeemed in your S’more account.
That may not seem like much, but if you regularly put down your phone and use it again, the earnings can actually build up. You might find yourself with a few dollars by the end of the day.
And, if that’s not enough, you can earn extra points for completing surveys, trying out apps and other services, and referring other people to the S’more app. All in all, S’more can be a very easy way to earn a little bit of money straight from your mobile device.
When you’re ready to redeem your points, you can choose from all sorts of gift cards like Amazon, Google Play, AMC, Domino’s Pizza, among several others.
In case you’re wondering, S’more and other lock screen apps are sadly not available for iOS devices because these kinds of apps violate Apple’s TOS.
Final Words
Bonus Apps
So those were my nine best money-making apps to earn some extra cash or gift cards. But, if you’d like more ideas on apps that can make money, I have a couple of articles that you might be interested in checking out:
- There are many apps that will pay you simply by answering questions and completing surveys. Check out 17 awesome mobile survey apps that will pay you to give your opinion and feedback.
- If you enjoy walking or exercising, you can earn money from the steps that you take. Here are 6 apps that will pay you to walk and encourage you to stay healthy and fit.
Conclusion
I hope this list helped you get started making money with your mobile device. Just keep one thing in mind: you won’t earn a lot from any of these moneymaking apps. But these apps are a good way to earn some extra cash on the side.
If you’d like to make real money online, I would recommend looking into work-from-home jobs or, even better, starting a blog or monetizing a YouTube channel. You can even learn about affiliate marketing and how you can earn hundreds of dollars a day selling other people’s stuff as an affiliate.
Anyway, that’ll do it for this article, so I hope you enjoy the awesomeness of earning some extra money all in the palm of your hands!