“The only free cheese is in the mousetrap.” We all have this notion that there’s always a catch ingrained in us since childhood. It’s a great way to teach vigilance and avoid Ponzi schemes right away.
But all folk knowledge has its limits. In this case, you might be missing good opportunities to earn some extra money on the internet.
Is there such a thing as free money online, and if so, where’s the catch? More importantly, you must learn to avoid the traps and take the cheese anyway.
Let’s take a look into various sign-up bonus rewards, small tasks, games, and other almost effortless side hustles with opportunities to earn cash.
Understanding Free Money
The concept of free money may refer to a few different things. So, let’s get the terminology sorted out first. We aren’t talking here about handouts or charity donations, although it can be considered free money for the receiver. What we mean by free money here is this:
Free money (or free money earning online) is a set of methods for earning additional income online with minimal capital and without much skill.
Free money isn’t about a Nigerian prince who will transfer a million in inheritance because you answered his email. These are just blatant scams.
You will need to invest some time, money, or other resources. But you won’t need to invest a lot, and you won’t need any specific education to earn extra cash.
That’s the biggest misconception about free money – it’s not completely free. It’s just that your initial investment is so small you barely even notice. It’s essentially effortless.
But whether you can earn money and consider it “free” depends on your situation. Your region and available tools will impact your opportunities. No one would earn money online without a smartphone in a remote jungle.
It also takes resilience. Many think free money online is non-existent after trying out one or two methods. You must embark on a longer path of trial and error. Test different platforms, adapt to your situation, and drop what isn’t working.
The list of free money methods below is a great starting point for finding extra money sources online. After you earn your first $50, you won’t want to stop.
Quick Wins for Free Money
1. Sign-up Bonuses
Companies are willing to do a lot to attract new customers, and sometimes it’s giving away free cash as sign-up bonuses. Well, it’s not exactly free money, but you can earn rewards and convert them to cash easily.
Most good sign-up bonus schemes dry out rather quickly, so you’ll need to be on a constant lookout.
- Coinbase – a cryptocurrency exchange platform, offers new users the opportunity to “spin the wheel” as a sign-up bonus and win from $3 to $200 in cryptocurrency or direct deposit.
- Robinhood is a commission-free stock trading and investing app. If you’re invited by a friend and link your bank account, you’ll get a sign-up bonus in fractional shares worth from $5 to $200.
- Swagbucks, a survey and cashback platform, offers a $5 sign-up bonus for every new user, and if you spend at least $25 on the platform, you get $10 back in the in-app currency (Swag Up) immediately.
2. Cash Advance Apps
Cash advance apps provide you with a small direct deposit ahead of your payday. Repayment is typically deducted from your next salary, while apps might also offer other functions for smart budgeting. It can be considered free money because there is little to no interest. Note that subscription fees might apply.
- Cleo is an AI assistant that helps you keep track of personal finances to save money and provides cash advances without a credit check or interest.
- Klover helps people access up to $200 weeks before their payday. There’s also a cash bonus program for points you earn.
- Chime provides fee-free mobile banking services with built-in money management, overdraft, and credit-building resources.
3. Cashback and Rewards
Cashback refers to a rewards program returning a percentage of your purchases. Rewards come in discounts, gift cards, direct deposit, or other benefits. It’s a way to get free money by adjusting your spending habits. Typically, you are required to link your payment card, scan receipts (that’s called receipt cashback), or make purchases on a free app.
- Rakuten is one of the largest cash rewards programs, returning 20%-40% of your monthly spending when you buy from affiliate vendors.
- Monetha can return up to an impressive 70% of your monthly spending, but there are no PayPal cash or direct deposit options.
- Ibotta allows users to earn money from daily purchases with up to a 30% cashback rate at top retailers.
4. Survey Sites
Paid online surveys might be the most profitable way to earn free money with only some spare time. Companies pay survey participants cash rewards for sharing their opinions about fashion, business, politics, and many other topics.
Top survey sites encourage users to participate in referral programs, sign-up bonus contests, and other opportunities to earn free cash.
- Pawns.app is an instant cash survey and internet sharing app. With a low payout threshold and convenient payment methods, you can start answering surveys and earn free money immediately.
- Freecash is a source of multiple free cash possibilities, including paid surveys. There are also games to play, ads to watch, and contests to win money.
- LifePoints gives an opportunity to earn points for filling out surveys, which can be used as a reward to save money when buying from popular retailers or PayPal cash.
Smart Strategies for Earning Free Money
5. Investing Apps
You can make money with stocks, but you can also find free cash opportunities. Investment apps and platforms want you to get the ball rolling as fast as possible.
Many popular stock trading apps give a hefty sign-up bonus in valuable stocks or as free cash. You can also earn rewards for referring new users.
- Acorns helps users to invest and save money with micro-investing and automated financial advice. You can get a $10 cash bonus just by creating an account.
- Public aims to be the most straightforward platform for investing in stocks, bonds, crypto, and more. You get $10 worth of free stock as a sign-up bonus after your account is verified.
- M1 Finance provides tools that help invest, borrow, spend, and save money. Registering brings you up to a $500 sign-up bonus into your new brokerage account.
6. Government Assistance Programs
Many people are entitled to extra cash from the government. They just don’t know it. While government assistance is more of a support for necessities, it is free money in such cases. You can avoid this mistake by heading to various government websites and checking whether you qualify.
- Benefits.gov is an all-encompassing platform of the U.S. government that helps citizens find benefits programs for which they are eligible. You should start your search here.
- Child Care Development Fund is highly likely to provide assistance if you need child care assistance due to work.
- Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) helps virtually all students enrolled in colleges, universities, or other educational institutions.
7. High-Interest Savings Accounts
Keeping money without a high-interest rate means losing it slowly to inflation. If you have some savings and know that you won’t spend them for some time, consider a high-yield savings account. At the time of writing, a good savings account can passively earn money with up to 5.5% APY.
It’s best to check your local bank account for savings options. Alternatives, such as bonds and U.S. treasures, may also be considered a safe saving option equal in rates to high-interest bank accounts.
Unique Ways to Earn Free Money
8. Playing Games
Somewhat unexpectedly, playing online games can also get you free money. We’re not talking here about competitive esports or gambling. These require a lot of skill and luck. Platforms pay to play games as a promotion or as a chance to show ads. If you game on your phone anyway, this is an excellent way to earn cash while having fun.
- Blackout Bingo is a bingo-style game where you can win money and other rewards for playing.
- Mistplay packs over 400 games you can play to earn cash or other free gift cards.
- Swagbucks LIVE is a trivia game where you earn rewards and even PayPal money after answering questions correctly.
9. Watching Videos
Just as with games, watching videos is a great way to earn money without much skill and effort. Advertisers pay platforms to show ads, and they share the profit with you. Usually, there are other free money opportunities involved as well. Sign-up bonus and referral programs, cashback, surveys, or similar.
- InboxDollars is an all-around free money platform that has video watching as one of its most profitable features.
- MyPoints rewards users points for every video and commercial they watch on the platform. Although there’s a cap, it’s still one of the best ways to earn money from watching.
- Netflix Tagger is for those who are serious about cinema. If you have some experience, you can land a job categorizing Netflix’s library.
10. Reading Emails and Managing Junk Mail
With a reliable source, you can get free money by reading emails. The idea is simple – companies pay for email promotions, and you can earn cash to read them. Most of the time, you only need to read the email. Sometimes, you’ll need to answer a quick survey, categorize or forward the email, or collect a sign-up bonus.
- Clicks Genie pays participants a fixed fee for every email read. There’s also a referral program with a sign-up bonus.
- Small Business Knowledge Center provides a unique opportunity to turn your junk mail into gift cards. All you need to do is forward your junk mail to them and assign it to categories.
- Paid to Read Email does what it states very well. It pays in gift cards for reading emails or other associated tasks.
11. Bill Negotiation Apps
Dealing with every provider to get the best price takes a lot of time, and even then, you aren’t guaranteed to get better prices. Bill negotiation apps help people reduce bills from various services. You can get free money, or, rather, regain it, by securing a better deal.
- Rocket Money is a savings and budgeting app that excels in lowering bills or cutting unnecessary subscriptions.
- Billshark helps negotiate deals and cancel unnecessary subscriptions, saving you hundreds of dollars each month,
- Trim finds rarely used subscriptions, tracks spending, and negotiates for lower utility bills on your behalf.
12. Fitness and Health Apps
Not every method to get free money must be sedentary or rely on a sign-up bonus from referrals. If you live an active life, you can earn free money with apps that pay for steps or other physical activities. Some only require you to turn on the app. Others will challenge you to reach new goals.
- Sweatcoin tracks your movement and converts each step to the in-app currency that is exchangeable for gift cards and other benefits.
- Dietbet is an online weight loss game that allows you to bet on your weight loss goals and win money when you reach them.
- Runtopia converts miles you walk or run into money while also providing real-time guidance for training.
13. Internet Sharing
The way you connect to the internet is valuable. Companies and individuals are looking for ways to bypass various restrictions on their end and might use your IP address to help. The best part is that you get free money for simply keeping your device connected. Now that’s truly passive!
- Pawns.app is the most straightforward internet-sharing app there is. Install an app on a smartphone or PC and get paid by direct deposit, gift cards, or cryptocurrencies.
- Peer2Profit monetizes your unused internet connection on a Windows or Linux PC.
- Mysterium Network allows you to sell your bandwidth as a VPN for others and earn cryptocurrency for it.
Maximize Free Money through Referrals and Reviews
14. Referral Programs
The best advertisement is a recommendation from a friend. Most free money platforms already mentioned here have some sort of referral program. If you consider them to be worth recommending to a friend, a referral program will help you get free money out of it and a sign-up bonus to your friend.
- Pawns.app has an effective referral program that allows you to create unique referral videos and QR codes to get a $3 sign-up bonus from each invite faster.
- Acorns gives a $5 sign-up bonus to both your invited friend and you. The amount you earn with referrals grows if you use referral bonuses.
- PayPal gives each friend invited to the platform an opportunity to earn $10 after they make their first transfer.
15. Product Reviews
Even if you would want to, you can’t avoid trying out new products every now and then. If you are going to do it, you might as well get paid for it. All you need to do is to put a little bit of effort into giving your feedback. Plenty of platforms offer a free money opportunity to try out new things and share your opinion on them.
- Amazon Vine allows selected testers to review physical or digital goods and get paid for it.
- UserTesting is one of the most popular platforms for testing websites, apps, and other products for easy extra money.
- Product Report Card is a platform for user reviews and opinion surveys that gives away prizes and cash rewards.
Free Money from Banks and Financial Institutions
16. Bank Account Bonuses
Setting up a new bank account can give you considerable sign-up bonuses. Discounts, better rates, or even a direct deposit are almost free money. The competition between banks is fierce, so the sign-up bonuses are substantial. That’s especially true when switching banks with a mortgage or other long-term commitments.
- Citibank offers up to $2,500 sign-up bonuses after all the required paperwork is in place.
- Chase Total Checking runs a $300 checking account promotion. The sign-up bonus grows (up to $3,000) if you deposit a larger sum into the bank account.
- Discover Online Savings frequently has promotional campaigns that offer various rewards (from $150) for new bank account holders. The cash bonus depends on the size of your savings.
17. Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses
A credit card isn’t just a tool to borrow extra cash. It also functions as a way to earn money effortlessly. There are plenty of options – cashback, discounts, better insurance rates, and more. But the best part of a new credit card is a sign-up bonus.
- American Express has a membership rewards points program that gives various sign-up bonuses for inviting friends or getting a new card.
- Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card allows new bank account holders to earn a $200 cash bonus after spending $500 on purchases.
- Bank of America credit cards include various benefits for new users, such as travel, business, and daily expenses. Most notably, there’s a cashback of up to 75%.
Wrapping Up
There are so many options to get free money that it might seem overwhelming. The best strategy is to choose a path that’s most accessible to you and test what brings that needed extra cash.
It’s also important to manage your expectations. No free money method will make you rich or allow you to quit a steady daytime job. Instead, consider them as a side gig to bootstrap your budget.
Competition is fierce. Others have already found ways to earn free money. The sooner you start, the better your chances will be.
Earning Free Money Online: FAQ
Is earning free money online safe?
Yes, you can earn free money safely online, but you must take some precautions. Research the platforms before trying to earn free cash. Set yourself realistic free money expectations. Don’t provide your payment card information or pay yourself unless you trust the platform fully.
The internet has no shortage of bad actors trying to scam those who look for extra money. You must stay vigilant and protect your personal data.
How can I tell if an offer for free money is legitimate?
It all boils down to the company’s reputation, reflected in the available reviews. Key red flags are platforms that hide information about themselves, require payment to participate, and ask for personally identifiable information.
Lastly, you must ensure that you will get paid. Look for legitimate payment methods (gift cards, direct deposit, PayPal cash) and payment proofs from past users.
How do I safely manage and access my earnings from online platforms?
Plan ahead for when your extra cash will be spent so you can get free money the way you need it. For example, if you want to save on food, look for free gift cards from grocery stores.
Sometimes, it makes sense to spread your earnings. In such cases, keep in mind that the withdrawal thresholds and fees involved in each payment method may differ.
