10 Best Walking Apps That Pay in 2025 (Tested & Ranked)

Key takeaways:

• You can earn real cash from apps that track your walking or other physical activity.
• Walking apps use a combination of smartphone features to track your movement and convert the data into rewards for you through various partnerships.
• StepBet, Evidation, Sweatcoin, WinWalk, and Biscuit are the top five apps that pay for reaching step goals.
• Setting realistic expectations, using multiple apps with a fitness tracker, and being consistent and active are some of the ways to earn rewards more efficiently.

Out of all the side hustles that modern smartphones create, apps that pay you to walk are some of the least believable. Fortunately, yes, they aren’t scams, and you can earn money by simply walking around your town with the app turned on.

To know how much you’ll get paid for such activities requires understanding how they work and which ones are actually worth your time. Before we dive into this, it’s important to set your expectations straight –walking apps are a motivation to stay active first and a money source later.

How Walking Apps That Pay Actually Work

Each fitness app is different in how it counts steps, but all of them use a combination of smartphone sensors and connectivity devices to track and verify the number of steps you take each day.

• Accelerometer: the main sensor for counting steps, as it detects movement and orientation by measuring acceleration forces.
• Gyroscope: used to add data about rotational motion to improve accuracy.
• Pedometer: newer smartphones have a dedicated hardware sensor to count steps with lower battery usage.
• Barometer: might be used in some phones to measure atmospheric pressure for detecting elevation gains, thus helping to determine the number of steps you take.
• GPS systems: help to estimate pace and distance more precisely to confirm data from other sensors.
• Wi-Fi and mobile data connection: aid in syncing data with the cloud and other devices, determining routes, and providing additional information.
• Bluetooth: useful for connecting to external devices like fitness bands or watches to aid in tracking steps.

An accelerometer is the main way walking apps track steps, but other sensors might be used as well. If you trust the app and want to get paid for walking, all these sensors on your smartphone should be allowed for the software.

Apps that pay you to walk collect a lot of your data, and the more you use them, the more of it they gather. Collecting and aggregating data about your activity levels, habits, routes, and anything else related to fitness can be extremely valuable.

Some apps that pay for walking profit from selling anonymized data from their users to data brokers. Others use access to display ads on the app. Usually, they are relevant fitness ads, often from affiliate partnerships with brands that might want to target you.

This is a privacy concern for many users who avoid such apps and instead opt only for those that require subscriptions for premium features. Of course, in such a case, you are unlikely to earn more in gift cards or PayPal cash than you spent on subscriptions.

It’s up to you to decide whether you want to get paid for your fitness data. The choice doesn’t seem so difficult, considering that many apps already aggregate your data without paying a penny to you.

Best Walking Apps That Pay in 2025

The best way to protect yourself and your data is to use well-known apps that pay you to walk. We gathered ten popular apps that have a track record of people earning from them.

1. StepBet

StepBet has an innovative take on motivating users to reach their fitness goals. As the name might suggest, you can bet real money to challenge yourself to reach step goals. It could be a number of active days or a specific number of steps. Once you reach the goals, you split the pot with other users who also made a bet.

Most bets are around $40, and games last for at least six weeks. While there is a no-loss guarantee for games you win, StepBet itself takes at least a 15% cut from the pot, and you aren’t guaranteed to always win. Be sure to use StepBet as a way to motivate yourself and not to make money.

Pros

• Works well with popular fitness trackers
• Goal personalization

Cons

• No free games
• Syncing issues might lead to losing

2. Evidation (formerly Achievement)

Evidation is a fitness app that pays real cash, not just for walking but also for running, cycling, or even answering health-related surveys. The tasks you need to complete vary each day and allow you to earn up to 40 points daily. Once you reach 10,000 points, you can redeem them for rewards in the app.

You can exchange the Evidation points for PayPal cash, various gift cards, or bank deposits to your account. Depending on how active you are, you can expect to earn $10 per year just by using your phone.

Pros

• Supports most fitness trackers
• User-friendly Android and iOS apps

Cons

• Inconsistent tasks
• Limited to the United States only

3. Sweatcoin

Available for Android and iOS, Sweatcoin rewards users for walking or running by tracking their movements using a smartphone or Apple Watch. The app then verifies movements and converts them into cryptocurrency of the same name – Sweatcoin (SWEAT). Currently, one SWEAT is equal to $0.002720 or a thousand steps on the app.

For reference, an active person makes 10,000 steps a day on average, so it’s reasonable to earn around 300 Sweatcoins monthly just by walking. Sweatcoins can be traded for other cryptocurrencies or in the in-app marketplace for rewards.

Pros

• Accurate step counter
• Pays real cryptocurrency

Cons

• Marketplace lacks options
• No PayPal or bank transfers

4. WinWalk

WinWalk is a free step counter for Android and iOS devices that have a pedometer and accelerometer. For each 100 steps, you receive one coin up to a maximum of 100 coins. Additionally, there are various “missions” that will challenge you to improve your fitness or answer health surveys.

Then, you earn rewards by redeeming WinWalk coins for various gift cards from the app. While there’s no payout threshold officially, most gift cards will require you to collect around 20,000 coins. One such reward per year is possible even if you aren’t particularly active.

Pros

• Saves batter (no GPS required)
• Apple Health and Google Fit integration

Cons

• No cash rewards
• Earning cap limits

5. Biscuit

While not a fitness app, Biscuit adds another layer to motivating you to walk – your pet. Available on all major platforms, the Biscuit app gives rewards for walking your dog or completing other pet wellbeing challenges, called badges, to collect biscuit points. You can expect to earn around 25 Biscuit points per hour of walking your dog.

The rewards store in the app gives you an opportunity to exchange points for various gift cards and discounts. Most worthwhile rewards start from at least 1,000 biscuit points, which is once per half a year approximately.

Pros

• A possibility to earn money
• No cash rewards

Cons

• You must upload your dog’s microchip
• Heavy battery and data usage

6. Macadam

Macadam is quite a popular walking reward app in the Apple and Android stores. It gives users various challenges and health surveys and converts up to 20,000 steps per day into coins. 10,000 steps are equal to 100 coins, and the minimum payout threshold is 30,000 coins (around $15), depending on your membership level (crown status).

If you also participate in additional activities, such as watching paid ads and referring friends, you can expect to reach the threshold once per year. The coins can be exchanged for PayPal money, various gift cards, promo codes, bank transfers, or charitable donations.

Pros

• User-friendly app
• Additional earning possibilities

Cons

• Best rewards require a higher membership level
• Low coin value to dollars

7. CashWalk

CashWalk uses the built-in sensors in your Android or Apple smartphone to track your step goals. For each 100 steps you take, you receive stepcoins, which can be used to redeem gift cards, PayPal cash, participate in prize draws, or make charitable donations.

Technically, there’s no payout limit, but you’ll need from 3,000 to 4,000 coins to earn rewards that are worthwhile. The app will require some daily attention to collect daily rewards after you’ve completed them.

Pros

• Works well as a general fitness app
• Great referral program

Cons

• Quite a lot of ads
• Tedious coin collection process

8. Charity Miles

As you might already have guessed, Charity Miles makes your every step count towards a contribution to a charity of your choice. The iOS and Android app covers the best-known charities for donation and even hosts various challenges to multiply your impact.

While you won’t earn anything from Charity Miles, users report that you can donate around 25 cents per mile walked. The exact amount varies based on various promotions of sponsors on the app, but your impact grows with activity, which is what matters for motivation.

Pros

• Connects well with Strava
• Accurate activity tracking

Cons

• The Android version has some bugs
• The parent company isn’t a nonprofit

9. WeWard

The WeWard app for iOS and Android devices allows users to gain points, called Wards, for various rewards. It heavily relies on the pedometer to count steps, which earns you at least 25 Wards per day or up to 88 Wards once you level up.

Various challenges, such as reaching a specific number of steps, can boost your earnings. However, the exact steps-to-dollar ratio remains unclear. You can expect to earn rewards such as Venmo and PayPal transfers, various gift cards, or make charitable donations starting from around 3,000 Wards.

Pros

• Supports most fitness trackers and software
• Additional earning methods

Cons

• A complicated step to the dollar conversion
• Unclaimed Wards disappear after midnight

10. BetterPoints

BetterPoints gives points for various exercises that the iOS and Android app can track, including walking. The app advertises as giving one point for every minute of walking. Points can be exchanged for various rewards (gift cards and donations) or BetterTickets prize draws.

1,000 BetterPoints is equal to around $1, which would make BetterPoints one of the most profitable walk-to-earn apps, but unfortunately, user consensus is different. Many users, especially on Androids, report movement tracking issues.

Pros

• Potentially profitable
• A variety of gift cards

Cons

• Some negative reviews
• Poor integration with fitness trackers

Tips to Maximize Your Earnings

While many apps can work in a set-it-and-forget-it manner, you are likely to increase earnings by following a few simple practices. Here are some tips to get you going:

• Set realistic expectations. Your motivation for pay-to-walk programs may falter if you expect it to be a get-rich-quick scheme. Most apps will earn you the equivalent of a cup of coffee every once in a while, and that’s okay. Motivating you to walk more should be the main goal.
• Use multiple apps. Trying out and sticking to a few trusted apps can double or even triple your earnings. However, be sure to check the terms and conditions of each app you use simultaneously, as they might interfere with one another.
• Be active in competitions. Checking the ongoing challenges and promotions will bolster your earnings. Spend some time proactively using promotions, invite friends to earn referrals, watch ads, answer surveys, and take advantage of other opportunities.
• Stay consistent. The points you earn in most apps have a tendency to accumulate over time. Ensure that your phone or fitness tracker is always charged and properly paired. Make a habit of walking that your health and wallet can benefit from.
• Use a fitness tracker. A smartphone alone might not be accurate, so you might need a smartwatch or a fitness band. Providing more accurate tracking for each step you take will give you more rewards.

Final Thoughts

None of these apps will make you rich, but they reward healthy habits that will help you to stay active. They all work differently, but will challenge you to get out and move a little. So set modest earning expectations and try out at least a few of them to see how it goes.

Frequently Asked Questions