Is there really such thing as free money? Well, it depends on what you consider “free.”
Over the past few years, I’ve discovered a bunch of ways to make extra money with very little effort.
We’ll call it “almost free” money.
Now I want to be upfront. Individually, these ideas won’t make you a ton of extra cash, but when you combine several of them, the results can start to add up.
Here are a few ways to get some free money for yourself today.
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1. Survey Websites and Apps: Up to $140/Hour
Don’t expect to earn an amazing hourly rate with most survey sites, but you can earn gift cards, cash, and other rewards by answering surveys, watching videos, playing games, and shopping online with several reputable apps and services.
I hesitated to include them on this list because you do have to do a little work to earn the money, but the work isn’t usually very hard.
Earn $50-150/hr, with thousands of new studies added each month.
Earn an average of $75 per project, and get notified of upcoming studies you may qualify for.
Patients and caregivers can earn $120/hour while helping advance medical research.
User Interviews
User Interviews is a great resource for connecting with online consumer research studies. So far, I’ve made $105 in about an hour and a half, and typical rates range from $50-200 an hour.
For more, here’s my full User Interviews review.
Respondent
Respondent facilitates high-paying consumer and professional interviews and remote focus groups. According to the site, the average payout is $140 an hour.
Other Online Survey Options
- Swagbucks – Earn up to $35 a survey with this mega-popular app, and get a $10 bonus just for signing up!
- Product Report Card – Get notified about higher-paying product tests, clinical trials, and online focus groups.
- KashKick – Get paid to answer surveys, test games, and try new products.
- Survey Junkie – Take 3 surveys a day and earn up to $40 a month.
- InboxDollars – Get a $5 bonus just for signing up!
- American Consumer Opinion – Join millions of free members and earn up to $50 per survey.
Related: Paid Research Companies that Pay Up to $100 an Hour for Your Opinion
2. Max Out Your Company’s 401(k) Match: $1000+ Per Year
Your employer’s 401(k) matching program is probably the single best source of free money in existence.
How this works is your company adds money to your retirement account when you contribute. Most companies offer some sort of retirement plan matching, with the most common structure being 50% of every dollar, up to 6% of your salary.
That means if you make $50,000 a year, and contribute 6% of your salary to your 401(k) — $3000 a year — your employer would add an extra $1500 on top of that for free!
It’s a deal that’s tough to beat … but doesn’t really help you if you need money quickly. For faster options, read on.
3. Get Free Money From the Government
Is it really free money if they’re just giving you some of your own tax dollars back? Jokes aside, check out what programs might be available at Benefits.gov.
Even if there isn’t another stimulus check coming, I found over 100 other federal, state, and local financial assistance programs.
And if you run a business or organization of any kind, you owe it to yourself to become familiar with Grants.gov. This is the official database of government grants (free money!) you can apply for.
Down Payment Assistance
Several state and federal programs offer down payment loans — and sometimes even grants — to prospective homebuyers.
If you’re in the market, it definitely makes sense to see what programs might be available in your state.
Childcare Assistance
As someone who’s paid over $2,000 a month for childcare, I know firsthand kids are expensive!
Thankfully, the government has a number of income-based assistance programs to help offset the cost of childcare. Drill down to your city and state to see what may be available.
4. Switch Banks: Up to $500
According to Bankrate, switching banks could pad your account with an extra $50-500!
Why do they give you free money just to move your money around?
Because they know switching banks is a pain! And once you do, you’re likely to be a customer for a while.
Just make sure to check the fine print to make sure you can meet the minimum deposit and monthly balance requirements.
5. Find Missing Money
Did you know there is over $42 billion in unclaimed funds in the United States? This is according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA).
Search databases at sites like Unclaimed.org and MissingMoney.com to see if you’re owed any unclaimed money.
Totally random, but I found $35 in Nevada from an older company of mine!
Related: “Secret” Websites to Make Money
6. Check Gift Card Balances
If you have unused gift cards lying around, those could be another source of free “found money.” It’s always nice to score a free meal from a gift card you forgot you had.
And if you don’t want to redeem it, you can try and sell it on eBay or through a gift card marketplace like Raise.
7. Check Your Current Rewards Balances
Many programs, including Capital One and Chase, let you redeem your points for gift cards or cash. For me, this is the virtual equivalent of finding money in the couch.
For example, Chase Ultimate Rewards now ties directly in to your Amazon account, where you can use them to pay for new purchases.
The redemption values often aren’t as strong as they would be when exchanged for travel, but can be a great way to offset more pressing expenses.
8. Refinance Your Debt: $200+ Per Month
Even though interest rates have risen, you may be able to consolidate or refinance your existing debt.
Credible is a great resource to shop for student loan refinancing options, while LendingTree may be worth a look for your mortgage rate options.
If you can score a lower interest rate and reduce your payments, that adds cash to your bottom line every month.
9. Get Free Stock: Up to $200
Robinhood is an online brokerage that gives new customers a free stock when you sign up.
You get $5-200 worth of a fractional share. (Limitations apply.)
I got Groupon (worth about $11), but apparently Microsoft, VISA, and Johnson & Johnson are options.
10. Credit Card Rewards: $200 in 3 Months
This is by far my favorite way of earning free money. By taking advantage of the various sign-up bonuses doled out by banks, my wife and I have earned thousands of dollars in free money and travel over the last few years.
(Please just promise to do this responsibly and don’t spend money you don’t have on crap you don’t need.)
What’s the easiest way to get started? Try a new cash back card on for size.
Credit cards like the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card offer a $200 sign-up bonus after you spend $500 in your first 3 months — with no annual fee. That's up to 40% cash back!
If you know you’re gonna spend $500 in the next 3 months, that’s #freemoney. This card also gives you one of the highest cash back rates, with unlimited 1.5% back on every dollar you spend.
(If you’re worried about your credit score, don’t be. I’ve opened probably a dozen credit card accounts in the last few years and still have a 750+ credit score.)
The Next Step: Check out my free course, Credit Card Rewards 101: How to Earn Free Cash and Travel by Spending Smarter
11. Get Free Money for Using the Internet: Up to $350/Year
Surprisingly, there are a few companies that will pay you to just to install their apps and run in the background on your devices. These are low-maintenance, low-overhead options to earn from what you’re already doing.
Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel
Nielsen — the company that’s been reporting TV viewership data for decades — will reward you for sharing your Internet usage behaviors.
All you have to do is download the app to your devices.
As they track your usage you’ll earn up to $50 per year.
The app runs in the background and doesn’t slow down your phone or computer.
MobileXpression
MobileXpression is a market research panel that pays you in exchange for data from your mobile phone.
Download their app and allow it to work in the background recording your browsing habits while on your phone. You’ll earn weekly credits redeemable for gift cards to popular retailers.
Get a free $5 Amazon gift card after your first week (if you’re in the US).
Pogo (iOS)
The free Pogo app is one of my latest finds. You’ll earn points by linking your bank and credit card details and sharing your location data.
Based on my results so far, I expect Pogo to be worth around $5-20 a year. You can cash out to PayPal or Venmo.
See my full Pogo app review for more.
SavvyConnect
The SavvyConnect VIP program “uses safe, cutting-edge technology to collect data as you surf the web.”
In exchange, they’ll pay you for your data — up to $5 a month per device.
That means when you connect your smartphone, tablet, and desktop/laptop, you can earn $15 a month or $180 a year.
Permission Research (Desktop)
Permission Research will send you a $10 Visa gift card after you install their software and keep it on your Windows computer for a week.
Safety in numbers: More than 2 million users share their computer usage and browsing habits through this service.
12. Cut Your Insurance Cost: $489+ Per Year
Want to know the dirty secret of the car insurance industry?
Here it is: your cars are worth less every year due to depreciation, but you keep paying the same amount!
Check out Insurify for a quick and painless quote process to find the best rates on car and home insurance. It’ll take just a few minutes (you can even do it on your phone) and users save an average of $489 per year!
13. Sell Your Excess Bandwidth: Up to $30 a Month
I’ve seen a lot of buzz lately around a new app called Honeygain. According to the site, you can earn up to $30 a month when you share 10 GB a day of “your unused net traffic with data scientists.”
Just install the app (available on Windows, MacOS, and Android), connect it to the Internet, and earn rewards passively. On average, it takes users 48 days to reach $20.
Before you get started though, make sure you’re truly on an unlimited plan as it sounds like this could chew through a lot of bandwidth in hurry!
14. Get Paid to Store Other People’s Stuff: Up to $10,000 a Year
The Neighbor self-storage platform connects people with storage needs with those who have extra space. If you’ve got some excess storage capacity in your garage or elsewhere, list your space here to fill it and get paid.
According to the site, hosts are earning up to $10,000 a year running their own mini self-storage operations.
15. Tap Into Your Home Equity
Since refinancing isn’t for everyone, there’s another way to turn your home equity into cash quickly. If you’re comfortable assigning a portion of your ownership stake over to Hometap*, you can get cash upfront without any new loans.
*Currently available to homeowners in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.
How it works is Hometap becomes an “investor” in your property, buying a stake today in exchange for the future value. You have 10 years to buy back their share, either with cash savings, proceeds when you sell the property, or through another bank loan.
Too Many Choices?
Start here instead. Punch in your name and email below I'll show you step-by-step how to add $500 to your bottom line.
Join the Free 5-Day $500 Challenge
You're in! Want to supercharge your challenge? Grab the companion workbook and earn $125 more (on average).
You'll also receive my best side hustle tips and weekly-ish newsletter. Opt-out anytime.
16. Get Free Cash Back: $150+ Per Year
Fetch
Just snap a photo of your grocery receipt with the Fetch app and earn points for every item you purchase from the 250+ popular brands in the app.
I’ve been cashing in my points for free Amazon gift cards, but lots of other options are available as well.
Use referral code FETCH300 for a 300-point sign-up bonus, or check out our full Fetch review to learn more.
Ibotta
Download the free Ibotta grocery savings app and start earning cash back on the shopping you’re already doing. Use the app to find offers and claim them by snapping a picture of your receipt.
Inside my actual account:
You can cash out your savings to PayPal, your bank account, or a gift card once you hit the $20 minimum.
Ibotta Savers who use the app every month earn over $130 a year! I’ll take it.
Rakuten (formerly Ebates)
If you shop online, consider doing it through Rakuten. The long-running site offers cash back at thousands of stores, including:
- Target
- eBay
- Walmart
- Nike
- Kohl’s
- and more
The average cashback offer is roughly 5%—not necessarily a huge saving, but it adds up, especially if you’re shopping online anyway.
I used the site to get over $200 back on my new laptop from Dell, and love getting my “Big Fat Checks” every few months.
Sign up through my referral link for a $30 bonus, or check out our full Rakuten review to learn more.
Upside
Use the free Upside app to get up to 25¢/gallon cash back on gas at thousands of locations all around the country. Plus, get a 25¢/gallon bonus on your first fill-up with promo code SHN25.
Upside is a popular cash back app for gas, groceries, and dining. Consistent users earn an average of $270 per year in free money. Get a $0.25/gallon bonus with referral code SHN25 when you sign-up.
- Easy to use
- Strong cash back offers
- Variety of payout options
- You have to remember to "activate" your offers
- Participating locations may be limited
- Tight time limits to claim (usually 4 hours)
Many major brands like Shell, BP, Exxon, Marathon, 76, Valero, and Sunoco are available, and you just have to tell the app where you’re filling up and what credit card you’re using.
Upside also gives you cash back at participating restaurants and grocery stores, too!
CoinOut
CoinOut won’t replace your day job, but could pay you up to $36 a year for uploading your shopping receipts.
It’s easy to use and you can cash out for an Amazon gift card as soon as you earn your first $3 worth of coins.
Check out our full CoinOut review to learn more.
Receipt Hog
Receipt Hog is a similar receipt-scanning app, where our independent app tester reported earning $25 a year.
Here’s our full Receipt Hog review for more.
17. Negotiate Your Bills: Up to $300 a Year
Call up your TV, Internet, or mobile service provider and see if they have a better rate plan for you. I find doing this with Comcast every couple years nets quite a bit of cash back to our bottom line.
If the prospect of negotiating is intimidating, services like Rocket Money will do it on your behalf. You only have to pay them a portion of your savings if they’re successful.
Rocket Money also analyzes your spending history and can help you cancel forgotten subscriptions and recurring charges.
It’s an easy way to start spending less.
18. Earn More Interest: 5%+
If you have cash sitting around in checking or savings accounts, you’re losing purchasing power to inflation.
Where can you earn more interest? Look for high yield savings accounts that pay 4% or more.
19. Get Paid to Get in Shape: Up to $10,000
Interestingly enough, there are companies that will pay you to lose weight and get in shape. If this is a goal of yours anyway, these options might make sense!
HealthyWage
HealthyWage is an interesting concept that allows you to win money (up to $10,000!) by betting on your own weight loss goals.
Check out their little betting tool to see how much you could win, and read our full HealthyWage review to learn more.
The downside is you have to put up the money first, and then win it back plus your prize when you reach your goal weight.
CashWalk
CashWalk is an app that pays you to walk, up to $5 every 6-8 weeks.
You earn money by tracking your steps and claiming them each day.
Check out our full CashWalk review to learn more.
20. Put Ads on Your Phone: Up to $36/Year
Download the S’more app (Android only) to get paid to watch ads. You can essentially “rent out” your cell phone lock screen to advertisers.
That sounds obnoxious to me, but the app pays $0.10 per day for every day you unlock your phone at least once. You can swipe to unlock your phone normally and ignore the offer.
That adds up to around $3 a month for not a lot of effort. Just make sure to cash out your points before they expire.
21. Clinical Trials
Also not exactly free money, but you can use websites like CenterWatch.com and ClinicalTrials.gov to find paid clinical trials in your area.
Be sure to check the requirements before applying. The money you can earn depends on the type of trials available.
22. Donate Plasma: Up to $300 a Month
A friend of mine reported earning up to $300 a month donating plasma when she was in college. This can be a time-consuming process, but can help save lives.
23. Get Free Stuff: $20+
Free stuff isn’t quite as good as free money, but if you were gonna have to buy it anyway, it’s pretty close!
When I first heard about RebateKey from a Side Hustle Show guest, I was pretty skeptical.
How it works is companies offer to refund a portion of your purchase on certain products — up to 100% — when you buy through RebateKey.
What’s in it for them, I wondered?
Well, they’re building sales proof, gathering user feedback, and collecting emails. I tested it out and sure enough, a month later, I had a check for the full amount of my $21.95 purchase.
Pretty crazy, but definitely worth checking out to see if they have any products you’re in the market for.
24. Get Money for Your Junk Mail? $50+ Per Year
The Small Business Knowledge Center pays people to send them their junk mail. What they do with it, I’m not entirely sure, but participants earn as much as $20 (in a gift card) every couple months.
The company provides postage-paid envelopes and it sounds like an interesting way to get rid of your junk mail instead of just recycling it!
25. Declutter Your House: $500 or More
Again, these aren’t really “free” since you’re getting rid of some items around the house. But if the stuff is just sitting around collecting dust, it can be an easy win.
Suggested Playlist: Flipping Profits
Buying low and selling high is the fastest way to multiply money. Here's how to get it done.
Bookscouter
Do you have books lying around your house gathering dust? If so, you can sell them using Bookscouter.
Find out how much your old books are worth and use the free app to search buyback vendors to get the best deal. The best part is that you can ship your books for free!
One Side Hustle Show guest took this to the next level, and reported earning up to $4000 a month flipping books.
Decluttr
If you’re like me, you probably have some items to sell on eBay, but hate how long it takes to list them all individually.
With Decluttr, you simply scan items you are selling, let Decluttr give you a price, and then ship everything in one box. Not only is this convenient, but Decluttr also pays for shipping.
(The convenience comes at a price; you’d get way more selling the stuff directly yourself.)
26. Get Free Money with Your Car: $100+ Per Week
Your car is probably a giant depreciating purchase. Between car notes, insurance, and gas, vehicles are expensive.
Here are a couple innovative ways to offset those costs.
Wrapify: Turn your ride into a mobile billboard
If you don’t care what your car looks like, sign up to have your car covered with a wrapped advertisement with Wrapify.
The money you earn with Wrapify is based on how far you drive so commuters in popular areas can earn $100 a week.
Download the app and as you drive, Wrapify tracks your mileage.
Lyft’s Destination Mode
Now shuttling your neighbors around as a Lyft driver is anything but free money, but one cool “hack” is a feature called “Destination Mode.” A Side Hustle Nation community member pointed this out to me at a meetup, saying it basically makes his regular commute free.
Destination mode lets you specify where you’re headed and Lyft will only match you with ride requests along your route.
27. Review Products and Websites: $5-60 Per Test
UserTesting
If you spend a lot of time online or on your phone, UserTesting gives you an opportunity to get paid for doing just that. UserTesting pays people to test websites and apps.
You can make as much as $60 per test if you qualify, though the standard payout is $10 via PayPal for every 20-minute video you complete.
Intellizoom
Become a tester through Intellizoom and make money reviewing websites and products from various companies. Sign up and you’ll receive an email any time there is a test available.
Audio and video studies pay an average of $10, while shorter surveys pay $2 apiece.
Make Money Today
With all of the ways to make some “free” or “almost free” money listed above, I’m positive there are a few ways that stuck out as possibilities for you.
Check them out and see if they work for you! Some of them are more labor intensive than others, but for the most part, you won’t have to do too much to start earning money today!
Too Many Choices?
Start here instead. Punch in your name and email below I'll show you step-by-step how to add $500 to your bottom line.
Join the Free 5-Day $500 Challenge
You're in! Want to supercharge your challenge? Grab the companion workbook and earn $125 more (on average).
You'll also receive my best side hustle tips and weekly-ish newsletter. Opt-out anytime.
Serious About Making Extra Money?
- Start Your Free $500 Challenge. My free 5-day email course shows you how to add $500 to your bottom line.
- Join the free Side Hustle Nation Community. The free Facebook group is the best place to connect with other side hustlers and get your questions answered.
- Download The Side Hustle Show. My free podcast shares how to make extra money with actionable weekly episodes.
The award-winning Side Hustle Show is a
Top 10 Entrepreneurship podcast
with over 1,200 5-star ratings!
Listen in your favorite podcast app or directly in your browser.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there such a thing as free money?
It depends on what you consider “free.” Money is almost always an exchange for value. But over the past few years, I’ve discovered a bunch of ways to make extra money with very little effort.
How can I get free money now?
Some of the more interesting ways to earn free money include installing certain apps, advertising on your car, finding unclaimed money, reviewing websites, and even getting free stock.
How can I make money right now?
The fastest ways to make money are to sell something you already own, or offer some freelance service. In either case, you have no upfront expenses and can get paid today.
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Stock photo by Malochka Mikalai via Shutterstock
I have been waiting for a blog like this. Very informative! There are many people that look for different ways to make money online including me. This article is very informative and full of different websites. I personally use user testing and I just started and I have made around 100 bucks.
I love different ways to make money online and I love this article.
These ideas are not bad. I would recommend investing the money you make from these things into the stock market, which makes you more free money. I recommend the app Robinhood because it’s free, and they will give you a free stock when you sign up (I know everyone likes free money).
I really like Honeygain app. It’s my most favorite one from the all you’ve mentioned here. I love the fact that it doesnt require any effort. As I’m a freelancer and I create movies, I spend a lot time being online, so I have this app installed on my laptop and it generates income just when I’m being online. really cool, in a month I get about 38$.
Streetbees app, shopmium app , coupons app, Alexa shopping list for cashback, cashwalk app, receipt apps Merryfield (like Fetch but organic brands ) receipthog, receiptjar, receiptpal,
coinout, amazon shopping panel free $10 gift card by scanning 10 receipts every month, qmee app, heypiggy survey site. I’ve got paid with these the last months. Please add these newer apps.
Thank you for this information, and thank everyone for adding their comments. This was very informative, and I will definitely look into this. Thanks for taking the time to share.