Most 'earn cash from home' ads are cons. Yet if you've a computer or smartphone, there's a host of small ways to boost your coffers. Committed MoneySavers can earn £1,000s a year, often with no special skill required.This guide lists over 30 top sites and apps for making money online. You can get paid just to watch videos, write, search on Google, make your own YouTube clips and much more.
In this guide
Top picks:
How to make money online - quick tips
Before you become a online earner, there are a few things worth knowing. The key is while some of these sites pay small amounts, add them all together and it can turn into an annual bonanza of £1,000s.
Don't store cash in online-earning accounts
Set up a dedicated email address
Don't expect to be instantly rolling in it
Spend gift vouchers ASAP
Don't forget the taxman'll want his share
Get paid to click
01SwagbucksWATCH VIDEOS, PLAY GAMES AND EARN
QUICK STATS
- Who's it good for? People who want to grab quick cash for fun tasks.
- Typical earnings: £25/month.
- Payment method: Cash via PayPal, Amazon vouchers & more.
- Amount you need to earn before it pays:1 point (depends on reward).
- Feed back: Swagbucks
With a cult following on our forum, Swagbucks* gives 'swag points' for doing fun web activities. You can get paid for watching videos, searching via its page instead of Google and even playing free online games.
Advertisers pay it to publicise their wares or do market research, and Swagbucks passes a cut onto you. It lets you spend points on rewards in its Reward Store. For example, 850 points equals a £5 Amazon voucher.
For motivation, join other points chasers in the forum's popular Swagbucks Challenge 2013 thread.
Advertisers pay it to publicise their wares or do market research, and Swagbucks passes a cut onto you. It lets you spend points on rewards in its Reward Store. For example, 850 points equals a £5 Amazon voucher.
For motivation, join other points chasers in the forum's popular Swagbucks Challenge 2013 thread.
See a full list of ways to earn Swag points
Some rewards are better value than others, so always compare a few. On the rewards page, there are gift cards in US dollars too - always choose those marked GBP.
One committed 'swagger' from the forum, cally6008, says: "Swagbucks is one of several online earning sites I use, but it's one of my favourites. I know for a fact that you can earn £25 a month using the site, because I do so nearly every month."
One committed 'swagger' from the forum, cally6008, says: "Swagbucks is one of several online earning sites I use, but it's one of my favourites. I know for a fact that you can earn £25 a month using the site, because I do so nearly every month."
02Online survey sitesEARN UP TO £800/YEAR TO GIVE YOUR OPINION
Willing to give views on One Direction, washing-up liquid or whether we should quit the EU? If so, it's possible to earn £100s a year, without any special skill or talent.
It's all about stashing cash by filling in online surveys. All you have to do is sign up, wait for survey alerts to land in your inbox, then zip through the questions.
Polls are often fun. You get to vent about everything from video games to your sex life. For a full rundown of the top 20 free sites, plus tips to max your income, see theOnline Survey Sites guide.
Committed survey-doers can get £200ish a year, but if you max it like MoneySaverfunnyguy: "It takes a few years to build up enough to cash out, but I earned £800 last year in cash and vouchers. Comes in very useful."
It's all about stashing cash by filling in online surveys. All you have to do is sign up, wait for survey alerts to land in your inbox, then zip through the questions.
Polls are often fun. You get to vent about everything from video games to your sex life. For a full rundown of the top 20 free sites, plus tips to max your income, see theOnline Survey Sites guide.
Committed survey-doers can get £200ish a year, but if you max it like MoneySaverfunnyguy: "It takes a few years to build up enough to cash out, but I earned £800 last year in cash and vouchers. Comes in very useful."
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03QmeeGET PAID TO GOOGLE
QUICK STATS
- Who's it good for? Folks with patience to click ads for a few pence each time.
- Typical earnings: £5/month
- Payment method: Cash via PayPal
- How much you need to earn before it pays: No minimum
- Feed back: Qmee
It's possible to get paid hard cash just for searching the web with Qmee*. It just involves downloading an add-on that sits on your internet browser. You then search online as you normally would on Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo! or Bing.
Qmee will show extra results or adverts alongside normal search results (see picture). Some companies pay Qmee to appear in these ads, and Qmee gives you a cut of the cash. If the Qmee result interests you, click it and you'll earn few pence, usually 7-15p.
The service is fairly new, but we have good feedback from MoneySavers so far. Forumite The_Jakal says: "I've been using Qmee for three weeks and I'm on £14 now. I'm keen to see how much I can really make from this. I reckon at least £150 by Christmas."
Qmee will show extra results or adverts alongside normal search results (see picture). Some companies pay Qmee to appear in these ads, and Qmee gives you a cut of the cash. If the Qmee result interests you, click it and you'll earn few pence, usually 7-15p.The service is fairly new, but we have good feedback from MoneySavers so far. Forumite The_Jakal says: "I've been using Qmee for three weeks and I'm on £14 now. I'm keen to see how much I can really make from this. I reckon at least £150 by Christmas."
How to sign up
Can I boost earnings by repeating searches?
What does Qmee do with my data?
Why does Qmee sometimes pay for clicks to MoneySavingExpert?
04Gift Hunter ClubEARN HARD CASH FOR FUN TASKS
QUICK STATS
- Who's it good for? Folks who already use Swagbucks & want to join a similar site.
- Typical earnings: £7/week.
- Payment method: PayPal, Amazon vouchers and more.
- How much you need to earn before it pays: £7ish.
- Feed back: Gift Hunter Club
Online earning site Gift Hunter Club doles out points for watching videos, doing polls, entering competitions and completing other easy tasks.
You can convert these into cash through PayPal, Amazon vouchers and more. Just sign up and check the Earn Points section, which shows tasks available and how much they pay.
MoneySavers reckon the site's fun, payment is quick and they earn a decent amount each week. Forumite mizzame says: "I made £10 in Paypal cash very easily last week, £8 the week before. From videos and easy tasks mainly. My best earning site at the moment!"
MoneySavers reckon the site's fun, payment is quick and they earn a decent amount each week. Forumite mizzame says: "I made £10 in Paypal cash very easily last week, £8 the week before. From videos and easy tasks mainly. My best earning site at the moment!"
Aim to redeem your points on rewards giving better value
A £10 Amazon gift card costs 1,500 points. But 10 US dollars in cash (£7ish) via PayPal is 1,000 points, which can be better value, depending on the exchange rate. While Gift Hunter Club lists cash payments in US dollars, Paypal converts the cash into pounds.
A £10 Amazon gift card costs 1,500 points. But 10 US dollars in cash (£7ish) via PayPal is 1,000 points, which can be better value, depending on the exchange rate. While Gift Hunter Club lists cash payments in US dollars, Paypal converts the cash into pounds.
05MaximilesGET PAID TO WATCH VIDEOS
QUICK STATS
- Who's it good for? Folks who like watching quick ad videos on their PC.
- Typical earnings: £10 every two months.
- Payment method: Vouchers, incl Waitrose and Debenhams.
- How much you need to earn before it pays: Varies by reward.
- Feed back: Maximiles
It's possible to earn high street vouchers just for watching videos though Maximiles. Clips are short adverts, for example, Andrex promos or Cherryl Cole videos.
New vids come up every day, so visit often, plus forumites post the latest ones in theMaximiles thread. One thing to watch out for: make sure you're logged in when you rate the videos, or you won't get points.
You can cash in points for gift vouchers. For example, 3,000 Maximiles equals a £10 Waitrose voucher. See available vouchers.
New vids come up every day, so visit often, plus forumites post the latest ones in theMaximiles thread. One thing to watch out for: make sure you're logged in when you rate the videos, or you won't get points.
You can cash in points for gift vouchers. For example, 3,000 Maximiles equals a £10 Waitrose voucher. See available vouchers.
Stick to free points offers
06Gift HulkGET PAID TO WATCH VIDEOS, SEARCH & MORE
QUICK STATS
- Who's it good for? Fans of fun web tasks who don't mind a cheap 'n' cheerful site.
- Typical earnings: £5/month.
- Payment method: Rewards include Amazon vouchers.
- How much you need to earn before it pays: Varies by reward.
- Feed back: Gift Hulk
Similar to Swagbucks above, Gift Hulk pays for a host of web activities, including watching videos, answering polls and searching via its site instead of Google.
While the site looks a little basic, many MoneySavers are fans. You get paid in Hulk Coins, which you then convert into rewards including Amazon vouchers (ensure you select vouchers in GBP, rather than US dollars).
Look out for special codes for extra points - forumites post them in the Gift Hulkthread.
While the site looks a little basic, many MoneySavers are fans. You get paid in Hulk Coins, which you then convert into rewards including Amazon vouchers (ensure you select vouchers in GBP, rather than US dollars).
Look out for special codes for extra points - forumites post them in the Gift Hulkthread.
07GetJamBAG CASH FOR WATCHING VIDS ON YOUR MOBILE
QUICK STATS
- Who's it good for? Smartphone owners who can watch vids while making cuppas.
- Typical earnings: £5 every two months.
- Payment method: Cash via PayPal.
- How much you need to earn before it pays: 420 berries (£2.50).
- Feed back: GetJam
If you've a smartphone, mobile app GetJam pays you cash to watch adverts, movie trailers and games previews. Advertisers pay it to spread the word, and it passes a cut of this on to you.
You bag berries (berries, jam – geddit?) every time you watch a video. Then you can exchange these for PayPal cash - 840 berries equals a fiver via PayPal. The app works on Android, iPhone and Blackberry. Always log in before watching to ensure berries get credited.
It's easy to fit in around normal life, as forumite star2007 says: "It's no hassle, I watch in odd moments like waiting for your computer to boot or kettle to boil. You can earn £5 per month."
MoneySavers have reported that recently videos are not as plentiful as they once were, so this is probably just to add to your list for belts and braces.
MoneySavers have reported that recently videos are not as plentiful as they once were, so this is probably just to add to your list for belts and braces.
How do you sign up?
Warning! This is best done over a wifi connection
0840+ insider comping tipsENTER CONTESTS AS A CASH-BOOSTING HOBBY
From cars to £20,000 cash, five-star USA holidays to £10,000 of Tesco gift cards, MoneySavers have won it all. It's all about 'comping', a potentially profitable online hobby for the lucky.
Comping's about systematically sourcing and entering hundreds of the right contests. Committed forumites use web gadgets to fill in forms at speed, answer questions and come up with tie-breakers. There are also tricks to enter TV premium phone comps free via the web. For full help, see our 40+ Insider Comping Tips guide.
Check out the forum's Competitions Time board, a reciprocal community of devoted compers. The idea is you post contests and cheer others when they win.
"I won a Vegas trip & £26,000 of gadgets"
While big success isn't certain, it does happen. Among the luckies is MoneySavermrsrobertson. She says: "I started comping in May '11 and I've won a £3,000 Las Vegas trip and gadgets worth over £26,000. I'm hooked."
Comping's about systematically sourcing and entering hundreds of the right contests. Committed forumites use web gadgets to fill in forms at speed, answer questions and come up with tie-breakers. There are also tricks to enter TV premium phone comps free via the web. For full help, see our 40+ Insider Comping Tips guide.
Check out the forum's Competitions Time board, a reciprocal community of devoted compers. The idea is you post contests and cheer others when they win.
"I won a Vegas trip & £26,000 of gadgets"
While big success isn't certain, it does happen. Among the luckies is MoneySavermrsrobertson. She says: "I started comping in May '11 and I've won a £3,000 Las Vegas trip and gadgets worth over £26,000. I'm hooked."
09FREE cashbackGET CASH FOR CLICKS - NO NEED TO BUY
Cashback sites work by giving you a cut of the cash they earn for channelling web traffic. Yet you don't have to buy anything to earn cash via these sites - they often pay you just for for clicking links on the internet.
For example, Topcashback* pays £2ish when you click through to get a Gocompare car insurance quote or 5p when you search for flights on Fly.com. Its free cashback section lists the top offers. For a full explanation, see Top Cashback Sites.
10QustodianGET PAID TO READ ADVERTS ON YOUR MOBILE
QUICK STATS
- Who's it good for? Patient people with a smartphone.
- Typical earnings: £10 every six months.
- Payment method: Cash via PayPal or BACS.
- How much you need to earn before it pays: £10.
- Feed back: Qustodian
Free smartphone app Qustodian pays you to read adverts. Simply download the app, and plug your likes and dislikes into your profile. It then sends adverts matching your interests to your Qustodian inbox. You get paid cash when you view messages, respond to questions or watch videos.
It pays cash via PayPal or via BACs into bank account when you earn £10. Forumites report the slow trickle of messages means it takes a while to hit this, so this app's just one for committed online earners.
Warning! Watch videos over a wifi connection
What does it do with my personal data?
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