Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Online surveys: easy cash for paid surveys
Reading Time: 9 minutesPaid online surveys can help you make money while you’re in front of the computer.
If you have some free time in your lunch break or a spare half an hour in the evenings, why not fill in a few online surveys for money?
Paid surveys are simple, effective ways to make some cash, and some online surveys even let you win prizes every now and then.
Use these handy links to skip ahead to the part of the article that interests you. Otherwise, read on…
- Online surveys for money: is it worth the hassle?
- MoneyMagpie’s three online survey golden rules
- Online surveys for money: How to get started
- Online surveys for money: Our recommendations
- Make money from your smartphone or tablet
-
We Rate the Top (paid) Online Surveys.
- Branded Surveys
- Swagbucks
- InboxPounds
- Valued Opinions
- Opinion Surveys
- Ipsos i-Say
- Panel Base
The Top Online surveys FOR MONEY
The online surveys that pay are the ones we’re discussing, and that we think are worth your time.
ONLINE SURVEYS FOR MONEY: IS IT WORTH THE HASSLE?
Whilst doing online surveys for money won’t provide you with a steady, substantial income, paid surveys are a great way to make cash for very little effort. Lots of our readers find the best paid online surveys are the ones they can put towards the bill for their summer holiday – not bad coming from the odd half an hour in front of a computer.
Online surveys could be right for you if:
You’d like to make in excess of £50 a month for very little effort
You’d like the chance to win large cash prizes, vouchers and holidays
You spend a lot of time in front of your computer anyway
You’d like a fun and flexible way to make money from home
Moneymagpie’s three golden rules for online surveys
Rule 1: NEVER pay to join online surveys. Use our list of recommended sites below, and let us know immediately if you come across any paid surveys that ask you to pay to join them (you can leave a post at the bottom of this page). The list also includes some of the best paid online surveys.
Rule 2: Set up a separate email account just for emails from online surveys. That way your personal account won’t be flooded with online survey related emails (which can get frustrating!).
Rule 3: Be aware that you won’t qualify for all online surveys. Companies that offer paid surveys are often after a ‘sample group’, which means they only look for a particular number of people within a specific age range or area, or who use a certain product. This means you won’t be able to complete some online surveys simply because you’re too young, too old or simply the wrong sex! So don’t take it personally, but do sign up to lots of online surveys to increase your chances of being selected.
ONLINE SURVEYS FOR MONEY: How to get started
Step 1: Register with several online survey companies 
You can sign up to as many sites offering online surveys for money as you like. In fact, the more sites that offer paid surveys you sign up to, the more money you’ll make. See our list below of recommended online survey companies.
Step 2: Check your inbox in your free time
Most paid surveys are sent to you via email at random times. If you have online surveys for money waiting for you, keep in mind that some will close by a specified date or when enough people have taken part so get your skates on or you’ll miss out!
Paid surveys can take anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes to complete. When you receive the email it’ll tell you roughly how long the online survey will take and give you a link to a new window where the survey will begin.
Step 3: Trade your points for cash or vouchers
With most online survey for money companies you earn reward points as you go. Obviously the more active you are, the more points you will earn. Depending on the site, you can convert your points into vouchers or cash. You may also get entered into prize draws as well.
Step 4: Start enjoying your little pot of extra cash and goodies each month!
ONLINE SURVEYS FOR MONEY: OUR RECOMMENDATIONS
Here are the sites offering online surveys we approve of. They’ve all received a thumbs-up from online survey users, but if for any reason these paid surveys fail to impress you then please do let us know at the bottom of this article. And always remember our number one golden rule: NEVER PAY TO JOIN AN ONLINE SURVEY SITE!
Online survey sites
Make money from your smartphone or table
Swagbucks
With online surveys that pay, you can make money from the comfort of your sofa just using a smartphone or tablet. For example, you can download the Swagbucks app and start making money by completing surveys (as well as all the other fun ways Swagbucks lets you make money.)
MobileXpression
MobileXpression provides one of the easiest ways possible to make money. All you have to do is download their software onto your phone/tablet and you’ll immediately start earning points you can redeem for a reward.
The goal of MobileXpression is to get a better idea of how people use the mobile internet and determine the rank of certain websites, much like TV uses ratings.
If you fancy getting easy rewards on top of doing online surveys for money, then sign up for MobileXpression here now.
Paid online surveys reviewed…
Branded Surveys
Facts
- Available to people based in the United States, Canada, and the UK
- Age requirements 16+ years old
- Average earnings of $0.50 to $5 per survey
- Payment method is via either Branded Pay (direct deposit in the United States), PayPal cash, gift cards, prepaid Visa card, or charitable donations
- Need a minimum 1,000 points to cash out
Good
+ It has a 4.5 out of five ‘star rating’ on Trustpilot
+ When you register as a new member, you’ll earn 50 points, then another 50 points will be credited to your account after filling out your profile (a $1 sign up bonus in total)
+ Once your account is created, you can immediately start taking surveys, which can be worth up to $5 each
+ Branded Surveys’ loyalty programme, Branded Elite, offers the opportunity for anyone to earn bonus points on a weekly basis
Bad
– The website design isn’t as straightforward as other survey sites
Sign up with Branded Surveys here.
Swagbucks
Facts
Points redeemable for gift cards or for cash through PayPal.- Get five points for signing up
- Earn ‘swagbucks’ (SB) by answering surveys and polls, watching videos, playing games, searching the web with the SB search engine and with cashback shopping
- At 450 SB, you can get a £3 Amazon Voucher; 720 SB gets you a £5 Amazon voucher. You’ll need 800 SB for £5 in cash; top prize of £100 cash will cost you 16,000 SB. To earn a £100 Amazon Voucher = 14,400 SB, while £100 at M&S = 13,600 SB.
- Polls earn you 1 SB
- One-minute surveys earn you 4 SB
- 15-minute surveys earn you 70 SB
- 20-minute surveys earn you 80 SB
- Earn 10 SB for signing up to promotional emails
Good
+ Lots of surveys to take
+ Earn SB by just answering quick questions about your preferences/lifestyle
+ Prize redemption is straight forward and you have the option of getting points converted into cash and not just gift cards
+ Loads of well known brands and shopping sites to earn cashback with, such as eBay, Iceland, Dunelm and Notonthehighstreet.com
+ Didn’t receive any emails (these can be turned on for extra Swagbucks)
Bad
– Sections of the site encourage you to place gambling bets in exchange for high payout swagbucks but you ultimately spend more money placing the bet than you would get for your bucks
– Most of the offers in the “Offers” section cost you money or require you to subscribe to something; most free offers are only worth 1-2 SB each
Inbox Pounds
Facts
- You’ll receive rewards for activities such as reading emails, taking surveys, playing games and signing up for offers
- You can earn rewards from using the site’s web search facility
- Joining and engaging with other sites can also earn you rewards
Good
+ You earn 40p for completing your profile (took less than two minutes)
+ You earn cash, not points
+ Presented with five surveys to complete on activation of account
+ Received a few emails within the first 15 minutes just telling us how much we’ve earned and encouraging us to go to the site to earn more
Bad
– Layout is a little messy, but not too difficult to navigate
– To earn rewards from joining a game site and taking part in competitions you are required to deposit money first
Valued Opinions
Facts
- Allows you to work towards gift card for popular retails (like M&S, Amazon and Argos)
Good
+ Easy to navigate
+ Lets you earn up to £5 per survey
+ A new feature on their website allows people to find a survey for themselves from their dashboard
Bad
– Like all online surveys, you have to wait for a survey that is appropriate for you, which is often luck
Opinion Surveys
Facts
- Surveys take anywhere between five and 30 minutes
- You earn an entry into a £1,000 prize draw for each completed survey
Good
+ Easy sign-up with simple personal questions such as age, gender, nationality and education
Bad
– Sometimes you don’t get entered because you weren’t what they were looking for
– Some of the surveys are quite slow to load
– We haven’t been emailed with further survey opportunities since signing up
Ipsos i-Say
Facts
280 to 980 i-Say points gets you a £2, £4 or £7 donation to “Help Nepal” charity- 1,380 i-Say points earn you a £10 leisure voucher (redeemable at Beefeater, Bella Italia, Café Rouge, Pizza Hut, London Eye, Hastings, Marriott, Chessington Park, Legoland, Madame Tussauds, Sea life, London Pass, and many others); a £10 compliments voucher (redeemable at retail stores such as Argos, WHSmith, Topshop, Accor Hotels, Interflora, TGI Friday’s, and many more); or £10 gift vouchers for either John Lewis, Amazon, iTunes or Zalando
Good
+ Short sign-up with very few questions
+ Profile completion takes only a few minutes and includes lots of lifestyle questions
+ Colourful, easy-to-navigate website with clear information
Bad
– We were rejected as “not the right demographic” after completing our first survey. No other surveys were offered.
Panel Base
Facts
You have to wait for surveys, and will receive a notification by email when one becomes available- Rewards range from £0.25 – £10.00 for a successfully completed survey
- Once you have reached the redemption threshold of £10 you will be able to withdraw your rewards
- Rewards can be withdrawn by having them paid directly into your bank account, as vouchers sent to your address, or as charitable donations
Good
+ Easy sign-up with normal personal questions (name, age, location, house details, income, employment)
+ Good rewards with a threshold which isn’t too high
Bad
– Fully completing the profile questions will take a few hours
– After spending several hours on the site we were only offered one survey
Which one are you going to try? Do you agree with our reviews? Have you had a different experience? Let us know in the comments below.
Useful links
If you enjoyed this article we think you’ll also like:
I don’t mind doing surveys but only if they don’t last too long and also if I get something out of it like being entered into a prize draw etc
I use Pinecone and Mingle and they have easily paid for all my friends’ Christmas presents the last two years, with a decent amount of money left over (some of which I’ve donated to charity as you have that option too). I earn a good three-figure sum every year between them both.
I’ve just started doing online surveys with swagbucks. Its simple to do, but it would be better if there was a brief description of the survey, before you start, so you can decide whether that particular survey is suitable for you. Otherwise the survey’s are straightforward to do.
I have managed to make quite a lot of money from i-Say and Global Test Market, its just getting the time to do the surveys. Some can be long winded but that can lead you onto being a product tester etc which is what I do now too. I think if you have the time and can focus on.
The very best on line survey group is You Gov’ who usually now give 50 points for each survey (used to be 50p)–get 5000 points and that can be claimed as £50 cash. Their surveys always interesting and not boring like the majority of others. I wont do any surveys that just offer tokens or minimal points. The other really good survey is ‘InCompass’ –complete a very quick survey everyday for a week & you get a £5 Marks and Spencer voucher.
How is it cookies remember everything about me, whereas these surveys require the same information from me every time. I often have to fill in lots of information, only to be told I’m not suitable!
The surveys are gennerally too long winded without sufficient reward to entice me any longer to fill them in, I used to. But these days I just think I’m either satisfied or not, as the case maybe, not fairly, very, extremely etc etc. They go on and on and make you lose interest, especially if they don’t display how much % of the survey has been completed so far – so these days if they don’t show this, I simply don’t do the survey and as soon as they ask more than 1 Q with 10-12 varying ways of saying… Read more »
I am a member of around 20 survey panels. I mostly do online surveys but also participate in focus groups, website testing and web communities when the opportunity arises. Few panels pay well – I’d recommend Populus Live and Pinecone as being the best for pay. People for Research are good for in person website testing if you live in a major city and they pay well. The worst panel I have ever belonged to is Toluna – terrible rates of pay and high screenout rates plus really slow to pay out, I left them quite a while ago. You… Read more »
I used to do you gov and one poll but it got so that it really wasn’t worth it.
A few years ago I’d easily earn £100+ a month but I was in the golden demographic, working, young child, under 40. These days I just concentrate on a handful that rarely or quickly screen you out and just make a few hundred a year. Populus, Opinium and Yougov are my favourites. Swagbucks is good for £20-£30 a month if you use the video apps on your phone but the surveys are very frustrating, often getting screened out 20 minutes in