20 Highest-Paying Survey Sites and Apps

There is no one highest-paying survey site or app. Earnings will depend on a number of factors—notably, how long it takes you to complete surveys on a platform and how much these surveys pay.

You’ll also find that surveys frequently disqualify you, which is another factor affecting how much you earn. In our experience, surveys disqualified us at least 50% of the time when we attempted them; often, our disqualification rate was even greater than this.

If you get disqualified from surveys repeatedly, and if they waste several minutes of your time before booting you out, it can really dampen your earning potential (and, indeed, your motivation).

Finally, in the short term, another important factor affecting your survey earnings will be whether you get a signup bonus. This won’t matter after you cash out for the first time, but it’s a major consideration when you’re choosing a new platform to register on.

We’ve tested numerous apps and platforms and chosen 13 of the best-paid ones to help you get started earning with surveys.

Most of the platforms on this list have both web and app versions available. However, a few offer only a mobile app or only a website.

1. InboxDollars

InboxDollars is a platform that features surveys and is run by a company called Prodege, which also runs several other online platforms with surveys.

InboxDollars allows you to earn PayPal cash, prepaid cards, or gift cards (or to give away your earnings to charity) by completing various paid tasks. These tasks include surveys plus others like:

• Signing up for special offers and deals
• Playing games
• Searching online with the Swagbucks search engine
• Taking daily polls
• Scanning receipts
• Looking for promo codes online

Websites and apps like InboxDollars, which have many different ways to earn, are sometimes referred to as microtasking platforms (where microtasks are tasks that can be completed quickly—often in just a few seconds or minutes). They might also sometimes be referred to as get-paid-to (GPT) platforms or rewards platforms.

InboxDollars has been among the best experiences we’ve had using microtasking platforms, including for earnings. When we used it, we earned an hourly rate of $4.28. There were a few reasons we earned more on this platform than others we used, but one important reason was the generous bonus of $5 we got when we signed up.

However, the downsides of this platform included a relatively high redemption threshold of $10–$15. A high bar like this makes it more challenging to accumulate enough rewards for redemption. All the same, we were able to cross the finish line and withdraw our InboxDollars earnings relatively quickly, within 3–4 hours.

Notably, we also had a pretty bad time with InboxDollars surveys, as we failed to qualify for most of the ones we took. Of the 12 surveys we attempted, not including the profile survey, we only qualified for one. However, you may have better luck if your demographic is among those InboxDollars wants to target at a given time.

2. MyPoints

MyPoints is run by the company Prodege, which is the same company that runs InboxDollars, as well as several other similar platforms (including Swagbucks, which also appears on this list).

MyPoints is similar to InboxDollars (and Swagbucks) in several ways. It has a web version for your laptop or PC, and it also has apps (Android or iOS) for your mobile devices. In addition, it features the same types of tasks (e.g., games, offers, and online searches) and options to redeem via PayPal, gift cards, prepaid cards, or charity donations.

When we used MyPoints ourselves, we managed to earn between $2 and $3 per hour, although, as with InboxDollars, this rate was boosted by the generous $5 signup bonus we received. Sadly, the signup bonus has since gone down to just $2.

Like InboxDollars, MyPoints is likely to require $15 worth of rewards before you can make your first redemption. After the first payout, you may get access to lower-denomination redemption options.

3. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is similar to InboxDollars and MyPoints, as it’s yet another Prodege platform. As we’ve already mentioned, it has a variety of tasks similar to the ones on InboxDollars and MyPoints (e.g., games, offers, and online searches) and much the same options for redemption.

Like these other Prodege sites and apps, Swagbucks shares the disadvantage of a high redemption threshold, initially (as this will likely be around $15 the first time you cash out). This means it may take time to accumulate enough rewards for your first payout on the platform.

Although, during our first few hours using Swagbucks, we got a lower hourly rate (which worked out at around $2) compared with on InboxDollars and MyPoints, this was partly down to the inferior signup bonus Swagbucks gave us. It’s possible that the hourly rate calculations would have been more similar if we had continued using the platforms for a longer time.

4. LifePoints

This platform is simpler than the other ones we’ve seen so far. It’s mainly for surveys, although there are also quick polls, prize draws, and giveaways (at least in theory, as we didn’t see any current opportunities to enter prize draws or giveaways during the week we spent testing LifePoints ourselves, so this feature may not be available very often).

LifePoints only offers a small signup bonus of $0.13–$0.14, which is one reason you may find it less rewarding, initially, than platforms like the Prodege ones we’ve mentioned. When we used LifePoints, we earned an hourly rate of $1.95—which still compared quite favorably with the rates for many other platforms we tried.

The other advantage of LifePoints is that you only need $5 worth of rewards to redeem, so you may be able to get a fast cashout (as this only took us 3–4 hours).

5. Ipsos iSay

Ipsos iSay is another survey-focused platform we tested and found to yield a comparatively high hourly rate. We managed to earn $1.88 per hour taking surveys on Ipsos iSay, even though we didn’t get a bonus when we signed up.

For prepaid cards and gift card redemptions, Ipsos iSay is one of the relatively few survey platforms that pay instantly. However, it doesn’t offer instant payments if you redeem your survey earnings via PayPal; in fact, it warns that you might have to wait up to 4 weeks for PayPal payments—a notable downside of the platform.

With that said, when we used Ipsos iSay and redeemed via PayPal, it only took a couple of days for the payment to arrive, so they might be hedging by providing an overly pessimistic prediction for PayPal redemption speeds.

6. Branded Surveys

Branded Surveys is yet another very basic platform for taking surveys online. It only has surveys and a quick poll you can complete each day (plus a $1 bonus for signups and additional referral bonuses).

We had a reasonable experience with this platform, as we found that the surveys didn’t boot us out as much as some other platforms’, although they still did this in over 50% of cases. However, many other survey platforms disqualified us even more frequently.

Partly because of this success with survey qualification and partly because we received a $1 bonus when we signed up for the platform, we were able to earn an hourly rate of $1.47 in our first few hours on Branded Surveys. This doesn’t look like a large amount, but it was still among the better rates we saw during our time testing platforms with surveys.

7. Toluna Influencers

Toluna Influencers, formerly known as just Toluna, is a well-established platform that has been around since 2000. Surveys are the main way to earn, although there’s also a poll, a few games, and a smattering of other tasks.

An important drawback of this survey platform is that the minimum redemption threshold is fairly high at $10, and the signup bonus of $0.14–$0.17 is underwhelming.

However, even with this small signup bonus, when we used Toluna Influencers, we were able to earn an acceptable hourly rate of around $1.28–$1.50 (where the exact value of our rewards depended on the denomination we wanted to redeem and the method we chose for doing this).

8. Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is another fairly simple affair, focusing mainly just on surveys. However, it also allows you to earn extra rewards by installing the Survey Junkie browser extension and desktop app, enabling you to get paid just for surfing the web (although you’ll have to opt in via the Survey Junkie app or keep Survey Junkie’s browser extension active as you browse online). In this sense, it doubles up as a passive income app, which is a major plus.

When we signed up for Survey Junkie, we got a bonus of $0.85, and we managed to earn $1.09 per hour, overall (including the signup bonus). As such, this platform wasn’t exactly a goldmine for us, but we still found it better than many others we tried.

One opportunity we didn’t get to test out was focus groups (i.e., discussion groups for sharing opinions and insights on products or services). Survey Junkie says it will sometimes pay users to join these, but we weren’t invited to join any such groups after using the platform ourselves for several hours, so we can’t vouch for the focus groups feature.

9. Opinion Outpost

Once again, Opinion Outpost focuses mainly on surveys, and doesn’t feature quick polls, games, offers, or other tasks like those you can find on some apps and websites from this list. It also has no apps for mobile devices.

When we tested Opinion Outpost, our hourly rate worked out at around $1.73, which included a signup bonus of $0.50 received for completion of their “Welcome Survey”. This was a decent result compared with some other platforms we’ve tested.

Opinion Outpost is also a good option for quick cashouts, partly thanks to its relatively attainable redemption threshold of $5 (although you’ll need at least $10 worth of rewards for PayPal redemptions). As such, we would probably recommend this platform for earning with surveys.

10. Forthright

Forthright is one of our favorite places to take online surveys, thanks to the relatively high hourly rate of $2.94 we earned on it, as well as other advantages it boasts.

Like Opinion Outpost, this platform is exclusively for surveys. However, Forthright’s redemption process is better than many similar platforms’. It allows you to cash out with any amount of rewards (i.e., you don’t need to reach a specific threshold to redeem), and it also has instant payouts, both of which are unusual features.

Because of the speed and flexibility you get with Forthright redemptions, this platform stands out as a great way to earn with surveys.

11. Prime Opinion

Prime Opinion is another good platform to use if you’re looking for speedy payouts. When we used it, we had a $5 redemption threshold, and we were able to reach this in less than 3 hours—partly thanks to the $1 bonus we got to help us along.

After your first cashout on Prime Opinion, you can withdraw as little as $1 at a time, making it even easier to get fast payments.

When we used the platform, we netted a decent hourly rate of $1.88, which isn’t bad compared with some apps and websites we’ve tested, so we don’t mind recommending Prime Opinion for earning with surveys. Bear in mind, though, that it doesn’t have any paid tasks besides surveys, so don’t expect much variety from your Prime Opinion experience.

12. KashKick

KashKick is another platform that offers a variety of paid tasks, including surveys, offers from partners, and games.

We didn’t earn a great hourly rate on this platform compared with many others we tried, as we netted just $0.82 per hour. This was with a signup bonus of $1 factored in.

However, we wasted a lot of time on games and offers that didn’t yield many rewards, so you may find you do better if you stick to surveys, which tend to pay more than other tasks.

Bear in mind, though, that this platform has a relatively high redemption threshold of $10, so it’s quite a bit higher than the $1–$5 requirements for many platforms on this list. This means that you may find that it takes you a while to reach the redemption point and claim your money.

13. PrizeRebel

PrizeRebel is another platform with a more general microtasking focus. Unlike many other sites on this list, it doesn’t have accompanying apps for mobile devices, so it’s less suitable for microtasking on the go.

As usual, surveys are among the top ways to earn, but there are also a few other paid tasks. For example, you can enter raffles, sign up for offers, and watch ads and videos.

Notably, video-watching is a less common task on these types of platforms, so it may be a selling point for some (although we have generally found that this task yields poor rewards when we’ve used it on various microtasking or GPT websites).

Our earnings from PrizeRebel weren’t very impressive, as we only made around 50 cents an hour on the site (including a signup bonus of 15 cents, which didn’t boost our rate much). However, we wasted a lot of time on offers that didn’t work, so you may earn a better hourly rate if you focus on surveys only, since these tend to be more lucrative.

Despite PrizeRebel’s low earning potential, you may find it’s good for quick redemptions. We saw gift cards we could redeem with just $4 of rewards. However, the redemption options will depend on which offers happen to be available at the time you’re using the platform.

We haven’t yet tested the apps and websites on this list. However, they’re often recommended as good options for earning with surveys.

14. Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk)

If you’re looking for a way to earn Amazon gift cards with surveys and other tasks, the most obvious choice will probably be Amazon Mechanical Turk, also known as MTurk.

MTurk is a platform where businesses can hire people to complete tasks. These are mostly microtasks, including surveys plus other activities like data entry, image labeling, and transcription (although there are also larger-scale and more complex assignments).

You can use the platform via web browsers on your computer or laptop, or there’s an Android app for your mobile devices.

Unless MTurk’s rates have improved recently, reports online suggest that you won’t make more than a couple of dollars per hour on this platform. You can receive your earnings as a transfer to your bank account or in the form of Amazon gift cards.

15. Google Opinion Rewards

If you’re worried about finding a reputable survey platform, ease your mind by downloading Google’s own survey app, Google Opinion Rewards, which is available for both Android and iOS devices. This app allows you to fill out surveys, opinion polls, and reviews in exchange for either Google Play credit or cash (paid out via PayPal).

Google says you’ll receive between $0.10 and $1.00 for each survey you complete and that this should typically take less than 20 seconds. We are skeptical about this claim. In our experience, surveys that take less than a minute are like unicorns.

Regardless, Google Opinion Rewards is a very popular platform. It has over 100 million downloads on the Google Play store.

16. American Consumer Opinion

American Consumer Opinion is another platform focused on surveys but this time offering only a website and an iOS app (with no app for Android devices). It claims to have over 7 million members, so it’s another very popular destination for online surveys.

Alongside surveys, it offers paid research projects, which might entail product testing, group discussions in person or online, or other assigned tasks (e.g., visiting businesses like stores or restaurants). As with most similar platforms, these types of tasks will likely be by invitation only.

American Consumer Opinion says it pays $1–$50 per survey or research project, depending upon the time it takes. We suspect that the majority of their surveys will pay something toward the lower end of that scale (or possibly even less).

The predicted payment speeds for this platform are surprisingly lethargic. American Consumer Opinion predicts an 8–12 week wait for payments to go through, which is longer than we’ve seen for any other platform.

17. Crowdtap

Crowdtap describes itself as “a market research panel platform that rewards you for your opinions,” and it claims to have 2 million users.

This platform allows you to earn with surveys and also with interviews and product reviews. If you become a product reviewer, you can get free products as well as the usual rewards for your time; however, as with the other product-testing opportunities mentioned in this list, you have to wait to receive an invitation for tasks like these.

Crowdtap is one of many survey sites you can use to earn gift cards. However, one of its downsides is that you can’t get paid in cold hard cash via PayPal or prepaid debit cards, for example, as with many similar platforms.

18. YouGov

YouGov is a market research company that is based in the UK but also operates in the US and other countries around the world. It features polls on politics, public affairs, products, brands, and other topics, and it does a lot of high-profile work for governments as well as for major corporations and other organizations.

As with some other platforms we’ve mentioned, YouGov also has passive earning opportunities, which involve tracking your use of apps and internet browsing activity on your device. To earn rewards in this way, you must join the YouGov Pulse market research study.

YouGov says that its short, simple surveys pay around $3–$10 (depending on how you redeem the points you get). Once you have 25,000 points, you can redeem these for $15 worth of prizes on YouGov.

Redemption options include cash (via direct deposit to your bank account) or gift cards from retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Target.

19. Pinecone Research

The penultimate platform on our list, Pinecone Research, is another one offering online surveys and also, potentially, opportunities to test products and participate in focus groups.

One downside of this platform is that it offers far fewer surveys compared with other sites and apps on our list. Instead of providing a selection of surveys that all users can attempt, it emails you survey invitations each month. This will limit your earnings.

Pinecone Research doesn’t provide information about how much its surveys pay. However, reports online suggest that the pay per survey is relatively good.

Another drawback with this platform is that it may not always be open for registration. If you find it’s not accepting new users, try a different platform in the meantime, and check back until the website says it’s recruiting again.

20. Eureka Surveys

Eureka calls itself “the top-rated” and “most trusted” money-making app. We’re not sure about these claims, but the Android and iOS apps have a decent number of downloads (in the hundreds of thousands) and high ratings in the App Store and Google Play Store, so it’s a relatively popular app.

Eureka Surveys also claims that it has 4 million users and that 48% of new members get paid with $5 sent to their PayPal within the first day of downloading (with redemption via bank transfer or gift cards also available).

When you sign up for the app, it starts you off with $1 for your first survey. You then have just another $4 to earn before you can redeem.

If you fancy a break from surveys, the platform also features games and a few other small tasks.

We’ve suggested survey sites and apps that we think will yield the best earnings. However, you shouldn’t expect big bucks from them. Our experience suggests that you’ll probably be able to make a few dollars an hour at most by taking online surveys.

With that said, the exact amount you’ll earn will vary a lot, depending on factors like those we’ve previously mentioned, such as signup bonuses and your demographic profile (as you’ll qualify for more surveys if you’re a popular target for survey providers).

There are also some tips you can follow to get the most out of a survey platform.

Tips for earning more with survey sites and apps

Here’s how to maximize your earnings from online surveys:

• Answer honestly: Many platforms quality-check respondents’ survey responses. If they decide that your answers are inconsistent or inaccurate, they might disqualify you from surveys or even completely ban you from their platform.
• Look for signup bonus apps: Many survey platforms will give you a welcome bonus when you sign up, and free rewards like these will boost your earnings—at least initially.
• Seek high-paying surveys: Apps and websites with surveys usually provide estimates for how much surveys will pay you and how long they’ll take, so you can look for the most lucrative opportunities to target.
• Monitor how often surveys disqualify you: As we’ve already mentioned, it’s common for surveys to disqualify you. If this happens too much, it can waste your time and lower your hourly rate. If you notice that a website or app boots you out of surveys a lot, it may be worth switching platforms.
• Note how long surveys take to disqualify you: In our experience, you can sometimes spend several minutes answering questions before getting disqualified, which not only lowers your earnings but also gets irritating after a while. If a platform does this frequently, again, it may be worth trying a different one.
• Check whether failed surveys pay you: Some surveys will give you a small reward for attempting surveys that disqualify you. You’ll usually waste at least a minute or two answering screening questions before surveys eject you, so it’s certainly preferable if you can get a little compensation for your efforts.
• Look for daily polls and other easy bonus tasks: Not all platforms with surveys feature other tasks you can complete to earn rewards. However, many will offer a quick daily poll (usually comprising one multiple-choice question you can answer to earn 1–5 cents) and, potentially, other easy tasks you can complete to boost your survey earnings.
• Beware of scams: It’s important to stay safe when you use online survey sites and apps. The ones on our list are legit, but there are other scams designed to steal your money or personal information. Be careful about the details you share on survey platforms, especially with anything bank-related. Also, be wary of platforms with fees.