Download these apps to your phone to start earning
If you find yourself with some spare time then a money-making app or website could be a worthwhile way to use the spare minutes.
I’ve shared the key ones to download and try and provided the codes and links for any which offer a welcome bonus. Plus I’ve taken a look at when I think you should use them and when you shouldn’t.
Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.
Data sharing apps
Your data is valuable – and companies know it. As a result, a number of apps have sprung up recently that reward you for sharing your information. This could include your online browsing habits and how you spend. These particular apps require access to your personal accounts, such as your email inbox or bank accounts, to get the data they’re after.
While it sounds intrusive, the chances are you’re giving away plenty of your data for free already. For example, cookies track our online activities and social media companies know loads about us so they can target us with personalised adverts.
However, I appreciate these apps won’t be for everyone and a lot of them aren’t particularly worthwhile anyway.
YouGov Connections
YouGov Connections is part of the survey company YouGov. But instead of earning rewards for giving your opinion, you get them from sharing your data.
This could be things like your Netflix or Amazon account, but the most profitable option is connecting your current accounts and credit cards.
As it’s done via Open Banking, YouGov Connections will be able to see your account details and your transactions, however, it won’t be be able to access your money. The idea is that YouGov Connections can sell your data to companies, but it’ll all be anonymised.
You can add three accounts and you’ll earn up to 5 points a day for each. One point is worth 1p and if you link the three accounts for a year, you could earn just under £55.
After launching as an invite-only service in summer 2024, YouGov Connections is now available to everyone. You’ll need to have a YouGov account though, which is free to set up.
Andy’s done a full explanation of how YouGov Connections works and how to hack it.
Survey apps
I’m slightly dubious about most of these apps. Though you can earn some extra cash on the side, or get payout in vouchers, the experience can often be frustrating.
One of the biggest problems is always getting “screened out” of surveys. This can happen if your answers to some initial questions don’t fit the sample wanted. There are lots of reasons, from age, gender and income through to… well who knows!
And if you do get past these, then earnings won’t be huge. However, that doesn’t bother some people who are happy to tap away at the surveys while watching TV or waiting for a bus.
Watch out for minimum payouts too. It can sometimes take a lot of surveys before you’ve made enough money to cash out.
If you do want to try then, then the ones I see spoken about most are listed below. It’s worth looking for referral codes when signing up.
- Branded Surveys
- Swagbucks
- YouGov
- Prolific
- Ipsos iSay
- Qmee
- Attapoll
What is your time really worth?
Though all these apps might sound like easy ways to make some cash, could your time be better spent elsewhere?
To answer this you need to find out what your time is worth, and I think the best way is do this is calculate your hourly rate.
Divide your salary by 220 to get the amount you earn per working day, then divide that figure by the hours you work (this removes weekends and holidays). So someone on £35,000 a year working an eight-hour day earns just under £20 for each hour they work hour.
Suddenly £4 an hour from surveys doesn’t look so good! It looks even worse when you compare it to the £200 you might be able to make from 20 minutes spent switching bank.
If you can’t be bothered to work it out, then it’s worth noting that the National Living Wage will be £12.21 from April. That’s a good floor to work from, and shows that getting a part-time job might be a better payer.
Testing apps
These apps still want your opinion, but you’ll have to complete some testing tasks first and then give your feedback. I’ve seen quite mixed reviews about these, so do research before signing up. However there is one app that seems to be a decent one to try.
User Testing
With User Testing you will be recorded and you’ll usually need to talk through your thinking as you complete the tasks.
Tests take you 10 to 20 minutes on average, paying around $10. The desktop version has more opportunities, so make sure you check this out too. There might even be higher paying live versions.
Since payment is in US dollars you could lose a little in the currency conversion.
Once again, be aware there are screening questions so you might miss out on some opportunities.
Tasking / Mystery Shopping apps
These are interesting ones to look at. There’s the potential to get some larger sums of cash each time (between £5 and £10, perhaps a little more or less), for something that could take you around 30 minutes in total (though this can vary too).
There are a few issues with the apps you need to be aware of. First available tasks really vary by location. You’ll get more in bit cities than villages and small towns. Though you’ll also have more competition in the bigger cities. So you can’t guarantee any regular bonus income – it’s as and when.
Also some of the tasks might seem simple, such as take a photo of displays in supermarkets and answer a few questions, others will require more effort (and time). For example you might need to record and upload videos, or you may have to engage with staff members without letting on that you’re a mystery shopper. You’ve also got to factor in the time and effort to get to the location.
A couple of apps worth downloading:
Field Agent
When I signed up for Field Agent, there were no jobs available in my area.
However, other team members had a look they saw a job taking (lots of) photos of chocolates at Waitrose that pays £5. Previously we’ve seen them for Asda and Sainsbury’s paying £5 and Tesco paying £10 for taking some photos and answering some questions – though they can go quite fast. The minimum payout is £5.
BeMyEye
This works in the same way. There were more offers, such as £5.70 for my local Three store, £4.50 for my local Currys and £5 at Carphone Warehouse. These all required more time though and interaction with staff about certain products (eg Microsoft).
BeMyEye £1 welcome offer
Join with the code 6o2krk5 and you’ll get £1 credit added to your account when you complete your first “mission”.
Other mystery shopping apps
- Streetbees
- Roamler
- Shepper
Our podcast
Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-in-chief Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.
Episodes every Tuesday and Friday.
Walking apps
If you tend to get your steps in, you could earn rewards as you walk. I will say though, these aren’t huge payers but if you’re walking anyway, it makes sense to have the apps running.
Betterpoints
Betterpoints rewards you for being ‘green’ and improving your health and wellbeing. You’ll earn points and tickets (for prize draws) when you exercise, like cycling or walking, or take public transport instead of driving your car. The points can then be redeemed for gift cards at local businesses and high street retailers, like Currys, Ikea and Tesco.
The app works differently depending on where you live in terms of the rewards you can earn for different activities. For example, I use it in Brighton and I can earn 10 Betterpoints twice a day for every half a mile I travel on the bus or train, and the same for when I walk, cycle or run.
You can also earn Bettertickets which go into a prize draw. I can get 10 Bettertickets (up to four times a day) for every active or sustainable travel journey over half a mile, and an extra 10 tickets if you’re travelling in a specific area. These tickets are then be entered into a draw to win 1,000 BetterPoints. You can earn more points by filling in surveys and referring friends.
One Betterpoint is generally worth 0.1p. So you can get a £1 Costa e-giftcard for 1,000 points and a £2.50 Starbucks e-giftcard for 2,500 points. You may also able to get discounts for fewer points – 100 points can be redeemed for 20% off indoor cricket at Sixes or a one-month Magzter Gold subscription.
Be warned, it can take ages to build up enough points for a decent giftcard. If you don’t win any of the bigger points prizes, and earn the maximum amount of points each day by walking, it’ll take over 71 weeks to earn 10,000 – enough for a £10 gift card. You can half the time by also taking public transport each day.
So this isn’t a huge earner, but there’s no harm in using it if you’re active anyway.
Biscuit
Dog owners can earn rewards for walking their dog and completing different activities, based on your dog’s breed and age.
For example, it suggests 60 minute walks each day a week for a two-year-old miniature dachshund to earn 25 points, or ‘biscuits’. Your points can then be redeemed for discounts and gift cards. When I checked the app you could get a £10 Costa giftcard for 795 points and a £10 M&S card for 1,168 points.
Again, it’s a long game. If I earn the maximum number of points each week for this dog, it’ll take just under five weeks to get enough for a £10 Costa gift card. It’s worth noting, to get the voucher rewards you need to enter your dog’s microchip information – so don’t think you can do the steps yourself and pretend you’ve got a pooch!
Game playing apps
There are sites which will also pay you for playing online games. You might need to complete certain tasks or reach certain levels to trigger the rewards. Watch out for any additional in-game purchases that could cost you more than you make.
I’m not a gamer, but if you are they’re worth a look. Just keep an eye on how much time it’s taking you. I’ve seen people recommend:
- Mistplay
- Swagbucks
Receipt apps
There are a few different types of apps that pay you to scan receipts. First up the generic ones.
Amazon Shopping Panel
This is invite only, though you can download the app to join the waitlist. You scan receipts from outside Amazon, and will get 10p per receipt you upload. The most you can make from receipts is £5 a month in Amazon credit. Alternatively you can donate your reward to charity.
There are also surveys you can take for additional rewards, plus you can opt into “ad verification”, where you allow Amazon to see what ads are displayed on your devices.
Other receipt apps
- Shoppix (currently oversubscribed so you can only sign up for its waiting list)
- SnapMyEats
Get the best of our money saving content every Thursday, straight to your inbox
+ Get a £20 Quidco bonus (new members only). More details
Supermarket receipt apps
These other receipt apps are product specific, so it’s unlikely you’ll get the money back on things you already buy (though you never know). More often than not it’s new items that brands what you do try. Many of these are like cashback apps, but you claim the money back after purchase.
We’ve written a full analysis here that’s worth checking out. The main apps are:
- CheckoutSmart
- Shopmium (get a welcome bonus)
- GreenJinn
You can also get a welcome offer for Shopmium at the moment – details can be found here.
Cashback apps
These are the best apps to download as they’ll earn you money with very little effort.
Quidco and TopCashback
These two apps are essentials if you do most of your shopping on your phone (you can use your browser as well if you shop on your computer/laptop).
Click on these first before opening up a shopping site or app and you will hopefully earn some money back from your purchase. Be careful with your click opening up shopping apps as the tracking might not work (it’ll say in the Ts&Cs). If so you might need to delete that extra app to force the shopping to happen in your phone’s browser app.
Get a welcome bonus
Both TopCashback and Quidco offer new users a decent bonus via their first shop. Sign up for both and get two lots of £20 cashback when you spend £10.
Editor’s pick: 5.1% savings
Easy access ISA from Trading 212 paying 5.1%
Airtime
This cashback app works slightly different to Quidco and TopCashBack. This one is app only and you need to connect your Visa and Mastercard cards.
Then if you use one of your cards instore or online at a participating retailer, you’ll earn money back. Big brands include Boots, Argos and Primark.
Money earned will go towards your mobile bill – though not all networks have signed up. Here’s our full review of Airtime.
Airtime welcome bonus
Sign up with the code FGUHNUQH to earn £1, and then another 50p if you use a connected card within a week. This is sometimes boosted.
Other cashback apps
There are more you can use to earn cashback, mainly on gift cards that you can use for your everyday shopping. They’re particularly good for supermarkets. The main ones are listed below, though we’ve written in detail about them here.
- Cheddar
- HyperJar
- JamDoughnut
Selling apps
A great way to earn some cash is to sell off items you don’t need, and apps can really help you. There are a few options here.
You’ll be familiar with some, and they can be operated on the app or on your desktop:
- eBay
- Vinted
- Depop
Each have strengths for different items, and each have different charges – so the one you use will depend on what you’re selling.
For selling old books, CDs, games and DVDs it can be really hit and miss. Some titles will earn you 1p or nothing at all. Others, especially text books and special editions, can earn decent amounts. We’ve compared the different apps in detail here, but the main ones are:
- Music Magpie
- WeBuyBooks
- World of Books
Are money making apps worth the time?
Amelia’s analysis
As you’ll have seen, the different types of app require a variety of effort and payout different amounts. The best ones are relatively low maintenance or reward you for what you’re doing already. Once you’ve signed up you can keep making money with just a couple of extra taps. So cashback apps are a must here.
Others will need you to put the time in. User Testing and mystery shopping apps are worth giving a go to see if the payments justify the hours.
But others can be frustratingly picky about whether you’ll be eligible on each visit. Or they pay very little each time you use them. I personally don’t have the time or patience for these, but these small amounts can add up, which is why they are so popular.
Just remember to cash out as soon as you can. Your money isn’t protected in any of these apps so if they were to go bust you’d lose all your earnings.