July 26, 2024
Editorial GuidelinesHolly is a freelance writer with 8 years of experience and six-figure yearly earnings. Her client base includes major...
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VariesYou want to make money as a teen, but finding a job that you’re qualified for and fits in with your busy school schedule is far easier said than done. Luckily, there are several job apps for teens to make money.
As a simple and convenient solution, we’ve rounded up the best money-making apps for teens—plus a few apps for finding jobs so you can get that real-world experience on your resume.
Find out which apps you can use to make money as a teenager
Money-making apps vary drastically. You could be taking surveys, playing games, or doing other small tasks for money. Some have particular age requirements or pay via gift cards, not cash. In most cases, the pay is low—but at least you’ll be making money.
Here’s everything you need to know about today’s most widely used apps to make money as a teenager.
Mistplay pays you for doing something truly fun and easy that you may already doing: playing mobile games on your phone. Just note that the app is only available on Google Play.
Simply download the Mistplay app, then download app-based games that Mistplay recommends to you. The more you play those games, the more “units” you earn in the app, which you can then redeem for gift cards.
Redeemable gift cards include options from brands such as Amazon, Google Play, Uber, and Spotify. How much you earn for your game play time will differ according to the games you play. Users report earning anywhere from $25 over the course of months to hundreds of dollars over a period of years.
Age requirement: 18 years old.
With the Swagbucks app, you get paid in the form of “Swagbucks” (SB) to perform a variety of tasks, such as playing games, taking surveys, and watching videos. Once you’ve accumulated enough Swagbucks, you can redeem them for actual cash via PayPal or gift cards, like Amazon gift cards or prepaid MasterCard gift cards.
You can cash out for gift cards once you’ve earned $1 worth of Swagbucks, but you can only cash out your Swagbucks via PayPal once you’ve earned the equivalent of $250. For reference, 100 SB = $1.
You can set up your profile so that Swagbucks only sends you the types of surveys and tasks that match your preferences. Users report that the tasks are easy and that there’s enough variety that you can use the app often without getting bored.
Age requirement: 13 years old.
Find out more: Swagbucks review.
If you love sharing your opinion, then you’ll love Slicethepie, which pays you for just that. This money-making app for teens asks you to review new music, clothing items, commercials, voice overs, and more—and you don’t even need to buy a thing.
The app feeds you images and tracks, and you review. You can choose what type of product you want to review, and your pay will be based on the quality of your review. You’ll get paid more for detailed, varied, and constructive reviews.
You can cash out via PayPal once you reach $10. Payments are generally sent out on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and they can take up to 5 working days to reach your PayPal account.
Age requirement: 13 years old.
Shopkick is a money-earning app for teens that’s designed to pay you for purchases. However, you can also use the app to make money without buying anything. You’ll get reward points (known as “kicks”) for scanning barcodes, physically visiting stores, or watching videos.
Once you have enough kicks, you can redeem them for gift cards with a range of brands, such as Best Buy, Starbucks, Google Play, Ulta, Walmart, and more. It’s an easy way to earn side money. Generally speaking, $1 = 250 kicks.
Note that even though you can use Shopkick to earn money as a young teen, you’ll need parent approval if you’re under the age of 18 years old.
Age requirement: 14 years old.
Toluna is a money-making app for teens exclusively focused on surveys and polls. It’s fast and incredibly easy to use. Surveys vary in length, but you can earn up to 500 in-app points for taking surveys that take under 5 minutes. Based on your profile, Toluna will send you surveys that best fit your interests.
Each survey will give you between 15 and 50,000 points. While the value of points may change periodically, under Toluna’s current model, 3,000 Toluna points = $1.
Once you’ve earned a certain number of in-app points, you can redeem them for vouchers or get the cash value sent to your PayPal account.
Age requirement: 16 years old.
Find out more: Toluna review.
Qmee is a unique survey-based app that doesn’t use in-app points and doesn’t have a minimum cash-out threshold. In other words, you see how much you’re earning as you go along, and you can get paid whenever you want.
You can get paid via PayPal or Venmo, or you can redeem your earnings in the form of gift cards—though you may have to meet a minimum threshold amount for gift cards. Frequent Qmee users report making a few hundred dollars per year.
Beyond just paying users for taking surveys, Qmee also offers cash back on any online shopping you do through affiliate links in the app. Affiliate brands include a few big names, like Nike and The Body Shop, as well as some lesser-known brands. Additionally, Qmee will give you bonuses if you reach a survey streak.
Age requirement: 16 years old.
Humanatic will pay up to $4.50 per hour for a very specific task. Humanatic is a software company that helps clients analyze their phone operations and then improve their sales or customer service. Your job is to listen to clients’ recorded calls and help categorize them.
It’s an easy job that you could technically consider a market research role for your resume, although in order to qualify, you’ll need to demonstrate that you have adequate English and grammar skills and no conflicts of interests.
Notably, Humanatic is only available on the App Store, and you need to have a PayPal account to qualify. You’ll get paid according to how many calls you listen to and what categories they fall under.
Some categories pay more than others, but you have to work a certain amount before you’re bumped up to the higher-paying categories. Once you’ve made at least $10, you can cash out your earnings to PayPal. Humanatic will pay you every Thursday.
Age requirement: Unspecified.
Survey Junkie is one of the many different survey apps out there that you can use to make money taking surveys. The process is very simple. You take surveys you’re matched with, and then you get a certain number of in-app points.
Points are worth roughly $0.01 each, and you’ll usually get under $1 for each survey. You can redeem your points for cash via PayPal or gift cards from various brands.
Age requirement: 18 years old.
Ibotta is a cash-back app, meaning it pays you money for making qualifying purchases. All you need to do is upload your receipts.
There are hundreds of featured retailers and products on Ibotta, so finding ways to capitalize on your existing shopping habits shouldn’t be difficult. You can have your earnings sent to your bank account or PayPal account or redeem them for gift cards.
Age requirement: 18 years old.
Want to cull out your closet or get rid of those old DVDs you never watch, now that everything’s available for streaming? You might think of using Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, but you’ll have very limited protections with that route. This is where Decluttr comes in handy.
As one of the most popular selling apps currently available, Decluttr allows you to safely sell unwanted items. They accept CDs, DVDs, games, books, phones, consoles, laptops, tablets, wearables, and more.
All you have to do is scan your items’ barcodes. Decluttr will then make you an offer. If you accept the offer, you’ll get info to ship the items to Decluttr for free. Once the company has received your items, you’ll get paid via PayPal or direct deposit (though a next-day payment option is also available).
Similar to a pawn shop, Decluttr has one notable downside: You might not get great compensation for your goods. Moreover, if you send an item and the company decides it doesn’t meet their quality standards, they’ll discard it rather than return it to you.
Age requirement: 18 years old.
Poshmark is the perfect money-making platform for fashion-obsessed teenagers. It’s the go-to place for buying and selling new and used clothing and accessories.
You can sign up as a minor, as long as you have permission from a parent or guardian. Once you’re registered, you can create listings and set your own prices.
When someone buys one of your items, Poshmark will take a small fee. For sales under $15, you’ll need to pay a flat fee of $2.95, and for all other sales, you’ll need to sacrifice a 20% cut of your earnings. You’ll get paid by direct deposit or check.
Poshmark offers a range of resources for sellers to make the most of the platform. If you’re social media savvy, you can also use features like Poshmark Posh Shows, which you can use to sell your items live via a video feed. The company also provides store insights to help you better fine-tune your listings.
Age requirement: 13 years old.
Instead of using apps that pay you, you can use these apps to find jobs for teens
You don’t just have to rely on money-making apps to earn cash as a teen. You can also use online apps and job platforms to find jobs open to teenagers.
Regardless of whether you want a traditional job with an employer or a platform that will allow you to find freelance work or start your own business, these apps and websites are a good place to start.
Snagajob is a platform specifically designed to help you find hourly work—think seasonal jobs, part-time gigs, or work in the food or hospitality industries. These are jobs that are perfect for teens with limited availability and limited experience.
Since these are traditional employers posting on Snagajob, they’ll pay you just like any employer: via check or direct deposit. To get started, just get your resume ready and download the app.
Handy app features include personality quizzes to match you with potential jobs as well as search features that allow you to look for jobs in specific locations or with specific schedules. You’ll also get daily emails with relevant job opportunities.
Age requirement: 16 years old.
If you don’t really like the idea of working in a traditional employment setting, try freelancing using a major online platform like Freelancer.com.
You can sell a variety of services, from social media management to art commissions to virtual assistant work. You’ll also be able to set your own rates and availability.
The platform will manage payments for you, so you don’t need to do any invoicing, billing, or payment processing. As clients pay you, Freelancer compiles those payments and sends you the money via direct deposit.
Age requirement: 16 years old.
Care.com is one of the nation’s most popular job sites for caregiving roles, including babysitting, nannying, and pet sitting. You can really only use the platform as a legal adult, but if you’re a college student or older teen looking for a caregiving side gig, Care.com is a great place to start your job search.
As a care provider on the site, you get to set your own rates and negotiate directly potential clients or employers. You then have the option to take the job completely off the platform or accept “bookings,” where payments are processed by the platform for a small fee (often 10%).
Age requirement: 18 years old.
Find out more: Care.com review.
There are plenty of general job boards you can use if you’re a legal adult, but what if you’re still a minor? This is where JobGet stands out. It’s a job site and app that you can use to find local jobs as a teenager.
JobGet is a relative newcomer to the job hunting scene (having only been around since 2019), but it’s growing fast. Its aim is to revolutionize the way job seekers and employers connect by bringing the entire process to a single app.
Most job hunting platforms are primarily online job boards, but JobGet is first and foremost a mobile app. You can even use the app to message and video call hiring managers.
The app isn’t specific to a certain employment field, but it is designed for hourly workers. You can find jobs in a wide range of industries, from retail and hospitality to accounting and finance. As such, it’s a good solution for all teens, whether you want a part-time job you can do during school or your first career job.
Age requirement: 16 years old.
Do you like the idea of freelance work but you know your skills really lie in hands-on work, not tasks that require you to sit behind a computer all day? Maybe you just want to make a little cash doing, more or less, chores—like helping someone sort and organize their office, pack up their home before moving, or even mow their lawn?
If that all sounds like you, you may want to look for task-based jobs on TaskRabbit. The platform will connect you with local clients who need help with manual labor tasks. Clients pay you through the platform, and TaskRabbit sends the money to you via direct deposit.
Age requirement: 18 years old.
Find out more: TaskRabbit review.
Once upon a time, Fiverr was known as a website where you could hire a freelancer for as cheap as $5. But that’s not the case anymore.
Now, freelancers use the platform to offer all sorts of services, at all sorts of prices. Writing, web design, programming, social media work, and creative and technical services are all examples of work you can do on the site.
Uniquely, you can sign up for Fiverr as a minor, making this a great freelance option for any teenager. The only stipulation is that you need a parent or legal guardian to set up the account for you. Clients will pay you through the platform, and Fiverr will send you the money via direct deposit.
Age requirement: 13 years old.
Find freelance work from a variety of sources. Both individuals and large corporations (think Kraft, Hotels.com, etc.) use Upwork to find freelancers who can offer a range of services.
For example, you could work as a freelance writer, personal assistant, marketing assistant, social media manager, and more. If you sign up as a recent high school graduate or college freshman, you can make a fair amount of money on Upwork, all while building up your resume.
The main drawback is that Upwork will take 10%–20% of your earnings. However, they do handle the whole payment process for you and offer some protections to ensure that you’re compensated for the work you do. After clients pay you, Upwork will transfer the money to your bank account.
Age requirement: 18 years old.
Handshake is an app designed exclusively for students. You can only use it if you have a college email address and your school is registered with the app, so this is really only an option for older teenagers, and not everyone will be able to use it.
With that said, if your school is partnered with Handshake, you’ll be able to use it to access loads of job opportunities. Simply download the app and create a profile. After that, you’ll receive personalized job recommendations.
You can use Handshake to connect with potential employers and find out more about the working culture at different companies, and you can apply for jobs directly in the app.
Age requirement: None (parent/guardian consent required for students under 16 years old).
Lastly, if you’re broadening your employment search and want to consider all sorts of positions, in all sorts of industries, look for jobs near you on Indeed.
Indeed compiles job listings from all over, so while some opportunities might not be a good fit for you, others definitely will be, including jobs that will hire employees that are 16 years old or older. Part-time jobs, seasonal jobs, internships, and more await.
Since Indeed is just a job listing aggregator and not an employer, you’ll work with your individual employer to nail down wages, schedule, and payment method.
Age requirement: 16 years old.
To find the perfect side hustle, you'll need to do some prep and planning beforehand
Whatever type of work you’re looking for, there are a few things you can do to increase your chances of making money as a teenager. These tips will help you find less-than-obvious options and avoid beginner mistakes when making job decisions:
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