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I wish someone had told me about getting PayPal cash for completing online surveys when I was a poor college student!
If you’re looking to make some quick cash, completing online surveys is one of the easiest side hustles you can make money from.
You might be wondering – why would anyone pay me to take online surveys? Is it even legit?
Absolutely! Market research and paid online surveys are what drive the decisions of some of the biggest brands in the world.
But there are many online surveys out there and it might be difficult to distinguish the good ones from the bad ones.
While you won’t be able to earn a full-time income taking online surveys, you can earn $200 – $500 extra a month by focusing on the right surveys. Just $10 a day would give you an easy $300/month.
Survey Tip:
Most survey sites might only have 1 or 2 surveys you can take in a day. To maximize your earning potential, sign up for multiple survey sites.
It might be a good idea to set up a folder in your email box called “survey folder” to keep everything organized.
Best Paid Survey Sites That Pay Cash
1. Swagbucks ($10 Sign up Bonus)
- How to Earn: Surveys, shop, surf the internet, videos, games, refer friends
- Potential Earnings: Varies
- Minimum Payout: $1
- Payment Options: PayPal, gift cards, sweepstakes
Swagbucks has awarded over $566 million to its members since 2005.
With over 35,000 reviews and a score of 4.2/5 on Trustpilot, you can trust that Swagbucks is legit.
You earn Paypal cash and gift cards for taking surveys, watching videos, shopping online, and referring a friend. Most surveys take 15-30 minutes to complete.
You can earn additional Swagbucks by installing the Swagbucks Google extension and using it to search and shop like you normally would.
Register here: Free $10 for signing up
2. Survey Junkie
- How to Earn: Surveys, test products, videos, refer friends
- Potential Earnings: Varies
- Minimum Payout: $10
- Payment Options: PayPal, gift cards
Survey Junkie is an online community with over 10 million members. After registering, create your profile so you can best match with surveys that fit your interests.
The platform is very user friendly and most surveys take 10 to 15 minutes to complete.
You earn points by completing surveys. Points can be redeemed for payment via PayPal or e-gift cards.
Register here for Survey Junkie
3. InboxDollars ($5 Sign up Bonus)
- How to Earn: Offers, surveys, videos, shop, magic receipts, coupons, games, search, paid emails, refer friends
- Potential Earnings: Varies
- Minimum Payout: $30
- Payment Options: PayPal, gift cards
InboxDollars has been around since 2000 with over $80 million in cash rewards paid out to its members. You get paid to take surveys, watch videos, play games, shop online, and so much more.
Register here: Free $5 bonus for signing up
Related read: InboxDollars Review: The 10 Best Ways to Make Money With InboxDollars
4. LifePoints
- How to Earn: Surveys, product testing, daily challenges, weekly drawings.
- Potential Earnings: Varies
- Minimum Payout: PayPal – $10. Gift card – $5
- Payment Options: PayPal, gift cards, charity
LifePoints was created in 2019 when two global market research companies, MySurvey and Lightspeed, joined together. With over 37,000 reviews, it has a TrustPilot score of 4.1 out of 5.
You can expect to earn 20 to 100 points per survey on average, but there are also surveys worth 150 to 200 points. Once you’ve accumulated 550 points ($5 gift card), you can request a gift card payment. And you need 1,200 points to redeem a $10 PayPal cash.
5. MyPoints
- How to Earn: Surveys, shop, coupons, deals, travel, bonus mail, games, videos, search, refer friends
- Potential Earnings: Varies
- Minimum Payout: PayPal – $25. Gift card – $5
- Payment Options: PayPal, gift cards, travel points
MyPoints is another well-established online site with over 10 million members. You can earn points by taking surveys, watching videos, playing games, shopping online, and so much more.
You can easily earn $25 via PayPal cash in under 10 days by watching videos. Earn up to 500 points/day just by watching videos. That’s $25 PayPal cash in less than 10 days!
Register here: Get $5 free for completing your first 5 surveys
6. Panda Research ($3 Sign up Bonus)
- How to Earn: Surveys, coupons, discounts, giveaways, read emails, refer friends
- Potential Earnings: $0.25 – $50 per survey
- Minimum Payout: $50
- Payment Options: PayPal cash
Panda Research has paid out over $2 million to its members for taking surveys, answering emails, and referring friends.
You can earn up to $50 per survey and $.50 for every email that you read.
Most surveys take 10-20 minutes to complete and you can request payment once you’ve earned $25.
Register here: Free $3 bonus for signing up
7. Ipsos-iSay
- How to Earn: Surveys, cashback, deals, refer friends
- Potential Earnings: Varies
- Minimum Payout: None
- Payment Options: PayPal, gift cards
Ipsos iSay is an online survey rewards community, made up of millions of members worldwide. Founded in 1975, Ipsos is the third largest research company in the world, with more than 17,500 employees in more than 80 countries.
You’ll be contacted by email up to twice per day if you have available surveys.
When you take surveys, you’ll earn points that can be redeemed for PayPal cash or gift cards. Gift cards are delivered instantly via email. However, PayPal cash will be delivered within 3-4 weeks.
8. Prime Opinion ($5 Sign Up Bonus)
- How to Earn: Surveys, cashback, deals
- Potential Earnings: Varies
- Minimum Payout: $1
- Payment Options: PayPal, gift cards, visa
Prime Opinion was founded in 2022 and already has over 6,000 reviews on Trustpilot with a score of 4.5/5. The site also claims to pay 150 % more for the same surveys.
You have the option to redeem your points through ACH transfers, a physical or virtual Visa, and certain gift cards once you’ve earned a minimum of 100 points. For all other options, such as gift cards, PayPal cash, and charity donations, you need at least 500 points.
Register here: Free $5 bonus for signing up
9. Survey Insiders
10. Smart Opinion
11. Opinion Edge
12. Qmee
- How to Earn: Surveys, cashback, deals, refer friends
- Potential Earnings: Varies
- Minimum Payout: None
- Payment Options: PayPal, gift cards.
Qmee is not as well known as Swagbucks or Survey Junkie, but that doesn’t mean it’s not any good.
I have taken a lot of surveys from a lot of different sites and some of them can be frustrating. Nothing is more frustrating than answering a bunch of questions and then not getting qualified for it. It does happen with Qmee, just not as often.
The platform is simple and very user-friendly. You can easily make $10 a day taking surveys on Qmee to earn $300/month. There are so many surveys on the platform that you can probably earn $30-$50 a day. My favorite part about Qmee is no minimum payouts and you can redeem for PayPal cash or gift cards.
13. Survey Rewardz
- How to Earn: Surveys.
- Potential Earnings: $0.50 – $10.00 / Survey
- Minimum Payout: $5.
- Payment Options: PayPal, Payza, gift cards, check
Survey Rewardz is one of the world’s most popular market research communities. You earn money by sharing your opinions. With a low minimum payout threshold and many payment options, it’s a great survey site to earn extra money.
Register here for Survey Rewardz
14. OneOpinion
- How to Earn: Surveys, test products
- Potential Earnings: Varies
- Minimum Payout: $25
- Payment Options: PayPal, gift cards
OneOpinion is a market research company for online surveys and product testing opportunities.
Most surveys pay $3 to $5 and they take between 5 to 20 minutes to complete.
As for product testing, they will send you new products to test and they are yours to keep in addition to compensation.
Points are instantly loaded into your account after you complete a survey. You can redeem your points for PayPal cash, Visa gift cards, or Amazon gift cards.
They have a 24/7 Member Services team to help any day or time.
15. PineCone Research
- How to Earn: Surveys, product testing, mobile app
- Potential Earnings: $3 per survey
- Minimum Payout: None
- Payment Options: PayPal, check, gift cards
PineCone Research is another paid online research and survey site. After you sign up, they will send you an email notification when you have a survey available. They also send you products to test occasionally.
You can redeem your points for gift cards for cash or prizes.
Register here for PineCone Research
16. TimeBucks
- How to Earn: Surveys, play games, install apps, watch videos, and refer friends
- Potential Earnings: $3 per survey.
- Minimum Payout: $10
- Payment Options:Payeer, Bitcoin, Skrill, Neteller, AirTM
TimeBucks pays you to post on TikTok, take surveys, play games, install apps, watch videos, and refer friends. It also offers daily bonuses.
You could earn up to $50 on the first day and $10-20 every day after that, depending on how much time you spend on the site.
TimeBucks pay every Thursday via Payeer, Bitcoin, Skrill, Neteller, AirTM. While the app does not pay using PayPal directly. You can still withdraw money with Paypal on the AirTM platform. The minimum payout is $10.
Paid Online Surveys FAQ
Can I Really Make Money Doing Online Surveys
Absolutely! You might be skeptical and wondering where all this money is coming from to pay people taking surveys.
Here is how it works:
- Brand wants to know what their consumers (you) want in order for them to create/target the right products.
- Brand hires a market research company to develop the questions to address the problems or gauge interests.
- Market research company partners with survey site(s).
- You get compensated for taking the survey.
- Brand creates the product -> you buy the product -> brand makes money (this makes the world goes round and round)
How Do Paid Online Surveys Work
Let’s recap 🙂
Brand wants to create/sell a product -> Brand pays market research company (aka survey site)-> Market research company pays you.
Easy right?
How Much Can I Make Taking Online Surveys
You won’t get rich doing online surveys.
How much you make depends on how many paid surveys you take and if you’re qualified for higher-paying surveys.
Most surveys take 10-20 minutes and pay between $0.50 to $5, and it can go up to $50 per survey. Take surveys while binge-watching Netflix. It doesn’t sound like much, but if you make $10 a night, that’s $300 a month!
On top of taking surveys, you can also get paid for surfing the internet like you normally do.
How to Get Paid Taking Online Surveys
This depends on the survey site, but generally, there are three ways you can get paid:
- Cash – via PayPal or check
- Points – redeem for gift cards
- Sweepstakes – using points to enter into prize giveaways
How to Make More with Online Surveys
I recommend signing up for all of them to maximize your earnings. Most survey companies will only have a survey or two for you to complete every other day and sometimes even just once a week.
By signing up for all of them, you can maximize your earnings. Additionally, some of them give you a sign-up bonus just for signing up for an account with them.
How to Avoid Online Survey Scams
If you stumble upon a survey site that is not on this list, make sure that it is legitimate.
Signs that a survey site is a scam:
- Membership fee (there should NEVER be a fee)
- Request for a credit card number or social security number
- Promises that sound too good to be true
There are enough legitimate survey sites listed in this article that you don’t need to overwhelm yourself with other survey sites.
Start with a couple and see how you fare. I’d especially sign up for the ones that give a $5 bonus just for signing up.
Other Ways To Make Money Online
- 17 Flexible Work-At-Home Jobs For Night Owls
- 24 Easy and Flexible Part-Time Weekend Jobs That Pay Well
- Online Test Scoring Jobs That Are Work From Home
