Are you interested in learning how to make money online without paying anything? Here are 25 top recommendations to help you start earning money today!
1. Join Opinion Outpost and get paid for doing surveys
Opinion Outpost is one of the best paid online surveys sites. The site is very user-friendly. Even if you are a beginner, you will find it easy to navigate. Signing up is completely free!
2. Complete short tasks with Swagbucks
Swagbucks is another one of my favourite platforms to make money online. You can earn points, called SBs, by completing short tasks. They include shopping at your favourite store, searching the web, answering surveys, watching videos, or playing games. Yes, you read it right. You can play video games and make money at the same time!
The payouts of the tasks differ based on the difficulty of the tasks. You can then use the points to redeem for retailer gift cards or cash via PayPal.
You can also do online paid surveys with Survey Junkie. Not only can you earn some cash, but you can also share your opinions to help brands deliver better products and services. Survey Junkie is a well-established community with over 10 million members. I highly recommend that you join the community and start making some money.
4. Use Drop to earn cash awards
Drop is a free app that rewards you for shopping at your favourite brands. So far, Drop has helped over 3 million users earn cash awards at stores like Amazon gift card, Netflix, and Starbucks.
For every purchase you make, you get Drop points. The earlier you start using the app, the more Drop points you can accumulate.
5. Use Fetch to earn cashback on your everyday grocery runs
Fetch Rewards is a free grocery savings app that rewards you just for snapping pictures of your receipts. That’s really it. Free rewards on groceries on thousands of products every day, no matter where you get your groceries. Just scan your receipts and let the app do the work!
This app works anywhere you buy groceries, from big-box stores to drug stores, liquor stores hardware stores, and mom-and-pop corner stores.
An extra benefit of this app is that you can cash out rewards as low as $3. That’s what immediate gratification is!
6. Earn free gift cards with MyPoints
Another online money making site for you to get paid shopping online is MyPoints. Whenever you shop online at the over 1,900 top retailers, including Walmart, eBay and Amazon, available through the platform, you can earn points to be redeemed for gift cards! There are over 75 retail and restaurant partners that collaborate with MyPoints, including Amazon, Starbucks and Walmart. I am sure you will find at least one place that you shop at regularly.
7. Park your emergency fund in a high-interest savings account
A high-interest savings account is an awesome way to make some money online without paying anything.
If you are a Canadian resident looking for a great savings account, you will want to check out EQ Bank, which offers one of the best high-interest savings accounts, TFSA and RSP!
8. Investing your spare change with Acorns
Acorns is the leading micro-investing app in the U.S. It is a super easy-to-use app that enables you to invest your life’s spare money. You only need under 5 minutes to sign up, and there is no minimum investment required. You will be investing in a low-cost, diversified portfolio of exchange-traded funds, and watching your money grow effortlessly. Acorns is particularly suitable for beginners who are looking for a relatively easy solution to grow their money.
9. Invest with Moka if you are in Canada
If you are like me living in Canada, then you will want to check out Moka. Moka is the Canadian version of Acorns. Again, setting up your account is super easy and hassle-free.
10. Invest with SoFi Active if you are into active trading
If you want to venture into the investing land a little deeper, you may want to try SoFi Active. This platform is designed for higher amounts of active investing. It also provides many useful tools and features to help you invest what you have. With no commission fees, management fees or account minimums, SoFi Active is a great platform for those of us who want to be in the driver’s seat of our investment portfolio.
11. Create a free blog
If you want to make money online, starting a blog is a great choice if you have good writing skills. Many platforms allow you to start a blog for free. For example, I started my first blog with a free WordPress account. Once you have started a blog, there are many ways (I will touch on a few below) that will allow you to start earning money online.
Of course, as you go along your blogging journey, you may find that the free platforms can no longer meet your needs. For example, many free platforms have severe restrictions on how you can monetize your site. When that happens, I recommend that you self-host with Bluehost. It is the power engine for my site, and should be yours, too!
12. Generate income from affiliate marketing
If done well, affiliate marketing can be a lucrative way to make money online without paying anything.
What is affiliate marketing, you may ask? Well, it is the process by which an affiliate (aka, you and me) earns a commission for marketing another person’s or company’s products. If you enjoy a certain product and service, it doesn’t hurt to let more people know about them, and get paid at the same time, right?
Of course, when it comes to affiliate marketing, you want to be selective about the vendors that you choose. Your reputation is on the line, so you want to make sure that you only advocate for the products and services that you truly believe can bring value to your readers.
A great place to start is to turn your blog into an Amazon affiliate site. You can earn a commission on basically anything that someone buys on Amazon through your link.
13. Join an ad network
Once you start seeing some traffic to your blog or website, you should consider joining an ad network.
Google Adsense is usually the first step for any new bloggers. You can get approved relatively easily as long as you have a functioning site that you update regularly.
Once you go through a simple approval process, you can start placing ads on your site. Any time a visitor views or clicks on an ad, you will receive some revenue.
The ability to join an ad network was one of the key reasons why I decided to self-host with Bluehost. Most free blogging platforms don’t allow third-party ad networks.
14. Start a YouTube channel
Starting a YouTube channel is a fun way to make some extra money on the side. Many success stories have inspired me. For example, Markiplier has accumulated almost 30 million dollars of net worth thanks to his YouTube presence.
Of course, to be solely dependent upon it for your living takes a ton of hard work and dedication, but that shouldn’t deter you from making a small step forward today!
15. Become a social media influencer or brand ambassador
Are you good at connecting with people on social media? Are you familiar with the most popular social media platforms today? If you answer “Yes” to both of these questions, then becoming social media influencer can be a very good side hustle for you.
Speaking of social media, if you haven’t already, please follow me on Twitter or Instagram!
16. Become a virtual assistant
Virtual assistants are in demand nowadays. They are here to help business owners with general administration, customer service, sales, cold calls, and scheduling. If you are highly skilled in tasks like data entry and social media marketing, you should leverage these skills by applying for virtual assistant jobs. Who knows, you may turn it into a bonafide career!
17. Become a freelance writer
Freelance writing is also hot, hot, hot right now. I myself am a freelance writer for a few publications and sites. I love the flexibility, both in terms of workload and the people that I choose to work with.
You can search for freelance writing gigs either through your existing networks or through platforms like nDash and Fiverr.
If you are good at writing, don’t be shy. Advertise your skills and start looking for freelance writing jobs today!
18. Become a freelance graphic designer
If you are great at creating visual content to communicate messages, then you should consider becoming a graphic designer. You can advertise your work through freelance platforms like Upwork and Fiverr. If you have a great portfolio, then chances are you will land some clients.
19. Become a transcriptionist
What is a transcriptionist? Well, he/she is a professional typist who listens to recorded or live audio files and converts into text format what he/she hears. Given the nature of the job, being a transcriptionist offers plenty of flexibility: you can choose when, where and how much you want to work. The best transcription jobs can be found on sites like TranscribeMe, GMR Transcription, and GoTranscript.
20. Become an online tutor
If you excel academically, you can get paid very decent money through online tutoring. This is especially true if you can prove your credentials, such as awards won and advanced degrees earned.
You can advertise your service on sites like Kijiji or Craiglist, or join a site like tutor.com.
MTurk is a crowdsourcing marketplace that makes it easier for individuals and businesses to outsource their processes and jobs to a distributed workforce who can perform these tasks virtually.
By signing up for MTurk, you can work on various online jobs include conducting simple data validation and research, survey participation, content moderation, and more. This is a great way to make money online without paying anything.
22. Work for a food delivery service
If you have a car and some spare time, working for a food delivery service may be a great option for you. Places like UberEats, DoorDash, and SkipTheDishes are constantly looking for people to provide service to their customers.
23. Sell pre-owned stuff on Kijiji/Craiglist/Amazon
Selling unused stuff is a great way to make money selling online. If you have items sitting on your shelves collecting dust, then these are the perfect vehicles for you to make some money online without paying anything!
Of course, you want to make sure that you trade in a safe environment.
24. Sell your clothes on Poshmark
Poshmark is the #1 place to buy and sell fashion. If you have a closet that is a bit too full to close, you should sell the ones you haven’t worn in over a year on this platform.
In addition to selling pre-owned clothes, you can also flip clothes on the platform. If you have a pair of good eyes for fashion in your local thrift stores, you can turn this into a lucrative side hustle!
Do you know that you can earn money online while losing weight? HealthyWage gives you exactly that!
HealthyWage is such an interesting and innovative tool that ties financial incentives to your personal health goals. The concept is simple: you make a bet on how much weight you can lose. When you achieve your goal, you win real money!
Of course, keep in mind that you should lose weight in a healthy manner. Never go to the extremes to win prize money. It is never worth it.
Final Words
See, making money online isn’t as daunting and impossible as it may seem to be. Whether you are a teen or not, There are plenty of ways to start making money today. If you are dedicated, it is not impossible to make several thousand dollars a year, a month, or even a week!
Start working online today!
Bella Wanana is a freelance writer. She is the owner of bellawanana.com, a personal finance and lifestyle blog. She loves sharing with her readers the best tips and tricks on personal finance and how to live a balanced but fulfilling life. She has been featured on sites like MSN.com, Reader’s Digest, The Financial Diet, Yahoo Finance, and GOBankingRates.
