9 Brilliant Apps That Pay You To Do Nothing
You are looking for apps that pay you to do nothing but you are not sure what apps to use, am I right?
Luckily for you, I put together a killer list of the best money making apps you can use right now to make money doing nothing!
I have to tell you something though, there are a lot, I mean a lot, of horrible apps out there so please be careful about which apps you choose to download and use.
The apps on this list are legit money making apps that have great reviews from their users and I highly recommend that you try them out!
You will learn how to make money doing nothing with these apps.
Let’s get straight to these awesome apps that will help you get paid to do nothing…
Apps That Pay You To Do Nothing
Before we get into this awesome list of apps that will help you to make money doing nothing, just know that I have tested these apps personally and continue to use them to make money.
Here are my favorite apps that pay me to do nothing, with some sign-up bonuses!
Ibotta
If you buy food (which I’m sure you do) then Ibotta is the app for you!
Ibotta is one of the highest paying cash-back apps which gives you money for simply buying groceries that you are already getting.
Plus, if you sign up with my link you will get up to a $20 bonus!
They also give you cash-back for other items such as clothing, cosmetics, hotels, electronics, etc…
All you have to do is search for the item you are purchasing on the app or scan the barcode and activate the offer.
You might have to answer a question or watch a short ad to unlock the offer but these are easy and quick to complete.
Then after you activate all the offers and complete your shopping you will have to upload the receipt to the app by taking a picture.
So, yes there is some work you to do but Ibotta can help you save $100’s on groceries and other items as well!
Once you reach a $20 threshold, you will be able to cash out to Venmo or PayPal!
Since you are shopping for items you are already getting, ibotta is one of the best apps that pay you to do nothing! Also, Ibotta is one of the few apps that pay you through PayPal.
Let’s get to the pros and cons of Ibotta:
Pros
- Up to $20 bonus if you signup
- Super easy and simple to use
- Cash-back on everyday items
- Cash-out with Venmo or PayPal
Cons
- $20 cash out threshold
- Might have restrictions on items, such as size or quantity
- Questions and ads might be bothersome
As soon as I learned that ibotta will pay me to do nothing other than shop like I normally do, I signed up right away!
Rakuten
One of the best cash-back apps to make money is Rakuten, which will give you money for your everyday purchases!
Rakuten is similar to ibotta but Rakuten usually pays more in cash-back for items such as clothing, electronics, accessories, etc…
I personally use ibotta for groceries and then use Rakuten for pretty much everything else. Rakuten is definitely one of the highest paying cash-back apps out there.
Plus, if you sign up to Rakuten with my affiliate link you will get $10! Do nothing and get cash with Rakuten now.
Rakuten works with in-store purchases as well as online shopping and with the Ebates browser extension, getting cash-back is easy as a click of a button.
The Rakuten browser extension is available for Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox.
Once you get $5 in cash-back you can withdraw the cash to your PayPal account or choose to get a physical check. So, Rakuten is one of the few apps that pay you real money!
Let’s check the pros and cons of Rakuten:
Pros
- Free and simple to use
- $10 sign up bonus
- Low payment threshold
- Many partnered retailers that offer cash-back
Cons
- Have to activate offers
- Some store limitations (read the fine print)
I have used Rakuten for a while now and I continue to use Rakuten since it will pay me to do nothing other than shop for items I was already going to buy!
Swagbucks
You might know Swagbucks as an app that pays you to complete surveys but did you know that Swagbucks also gives you cash-back for everyday purchases just like Ebates?
Yup, that’s right, Swagbucks is one of those apps that pay you to do nothing else than purchase your everyday items.
Plus if you sign up to Swagbucks with my link, you will get $5!
All you have to do is go to the shop section in the Swagbucks app and then select the store you want to shop in.
You will be redirected to the store and just shop like you normally would and get that sweet cash-back in your Swagbucks account.
The best and easiest way to get cash-back is to use the Swagbucks extension for Chrome or Firefox to activate your cash-back with the click of a button. (also known as the Swagbutton)
I use the Swagbutton along with the Rakuten extension so I can choose the one that gives me a higher percentage in cash-back at the time.
This is what you will see if you have both the Swagbucks extension and the Rakuten extension:
Cash-back rates change all the time so I highly recommend signing up for Swagbucks and Rakuten.
You can also use Swagbucks to make money watching videos, this requires a bit more work but you can let the videos play while you watch Netflix and make some money!
Swagbucks only pays out in the form of gift cards but you can redeem PayPal gift cards, Amazon gift cards, Visa gift cards, etc…
Let’s check out the pros and cons of Swagbucks:
Pros
- Free and simple to use
- Passive income through cash-back rewards
- Multiple ways to make money
- Sign up bonus of $5
Cons
- One Swagbuck is only worth $0.01
- Slow process to build up Swagbucks points
- Can only redeem gift cards
Robinhood
If you are looking to invest and get daily passive income, Robinhood is the app for you!
Robinhood is the best beginner stock trading app to make passive income without doing anything other than buying stocks and letting them grow over time.
Matter of fact, if you sign up with my link, you will get a stock for absolutely free!
Robinhood is one of my favorite apps because it lets you buy and sell stocks for free, that’s right, no commissions at all.
You can invest your money in the stock market with Robinhood and just watch your money grow thanks to compound interest.
Remember to get your free stock with my affiliate link!
Here are the pros and cons of Robinhood:
Pros
- Free stock trading
- Supports Cryptocurrency
- SIPC insured
- Easy to set up and use
- Free stock bonus
Cons
- Limited securities
- No web-based version
- Restricted to U.S citizens only
- Limited research tools
Dosh
Cash-back apps are awesome and they technically pay you for doing nothing more than your day-to-day activities.
But…
They can be a real hassle sometimes, right? Sometimes it can be annoying to go into the Rakuten app or Swagbucks app to activate the cash-back offers.
So, enter Dosh which is an awesome cash-back app that gives you cash-back automatically when you pay with your linked card at participating retailers.
Also, when you sign up to Dosh, you will get $1 for just linking your first credit card or debit card!
When you have $25 in cash back, you can cash out via direct deposit to your bank account or to PayPal.
Dosh is an awesome cash-back app and along with ibotta, Ebates and Swagbucks you can be a cash-back machine! You can do nothing and get cash with cash-back apps.
Sign up to Dosh with my link and then link your card to get $1 immediately!
Pros
- Automatic cash-back
- Direct deposit and PayPal withdrawals
- Easy to use
- Many retail partners
Cons
- Limited to the United States at this time
- Security concerns when linking cards/bank accounts (Dosh uses encryption to keep your information safe)
I highly recommend checking out Dosh and get paid to do nothing right now!
Earny
Have you ever bought a product and then a few days later you see the price drop? Yup, like WTF!
Well, this is where Earny comes in…
Earny is a free app that analyzes your purchase history and provides you with cash-back for price changes on items you already bought!
Certain companies and credit cards have price protection policies that allow you to get refunds when the price of your purchased item drops within a certain time period.
Like most people, you probably never do this because it’s a real hassle keeping an eye on prices and then calling companies to get your refund.
Why not let Earny do this for you?
Earny works by scanning your emails, bank account, and even your Amazon account for price changes and then reaches out to these companies on your behalf to get a refund if eligible.
It’s like your own personal assistant!
Most people (myself included) worry about connecting their email to Earny because you are giving full access to your email account to Earny which can be scary.
Also, connecting your credit cards, bank accounts, and Amazon account can be worrisome as well but Earny is safe and uses security measures to keep your information safe.
To overcome the email issue, I simply set up a new email account to be used for email receipts and connected Earny to this account.
This way I know there is no sensitive information being accessed by Earny via email.
Also, Earny does take 25% of your cash-back refund as a fee for getting a refund for you.
But…
It’s money you didn’t have before!
For retailer refunds, Earny will automatically refund the card used for the purchase, and for credit card refunds, you will receive a check from your credit card company for the amount of the refund.
Earny is awesome because it is one of the few apps that pay you to do nothing other than a few initial steps to set up the app.
Sign up to Earny now and start getting those refunds automatically!
Here are the pros and cons of Earny:
Pros
- Free to use and simple to setup
- Automatic cash-back
- Partnership with many retailers
Cons
- 25% fee for refunds
- Privacy concerns (Earny does use high-level security measures to keep your information safe)
Update: Unfortunately Earny is not completely free anymore. Earny still has a free version but it is now limited in its price protection policies.
To get all the features Earny offers you will have to pay for their service which costs $3.33 a month if you pay yearly or $4.99 a month if you pay monthly.
Luckily for you, there is another price protection app, it’s called Paribus and it’s completely free to use. I recommend checking it out.
Wealthfront
If you are looking for a safe and passive way to invest your money then Wealthfront is the go-to app!
Wealthfront is a robo-advisor that lets you invest in index funds with the click of a button.
You will be able to set up automatic transfers so you can set it and forget it!
Wealthfront is one of the best apps that pay you to do nothing other than invest your money, which you can set up automatically.
Also, if you sign up to Wealthfront with my link, you will get your first $5,000 managed for free!
Wealthfront is truly awesome, it is one of the highest paying apps due to its passive investing nature.
Let’s see the pros and cons of Wealthfront:
Pros
- Simple and easy to use
- Passive investing
- SIPC insured
- Low fees ($5,000 managed for free with my link)
Cons
- No human advisors
- $500 minimum investment amount
Drop
The reason why Drop is a great app is due to the fact that you can set it and forget it!
Drop is truly one of the apps that pay you to do nothing because all you have to do is link your bank accounts to the app and choose 5 stores you shop at frequently.
Now, just shop like you normally would and you will start to earn drop points for just purchasing items you were already buying!
For example, you can link Drop to the bank account you use to shop at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts and get Drop points for your everyday purchases.
Drop won’t make you rich but it will give you points for doing nothing more than what you are already doing.
1,000 Drop points equal $1 and you need a minimum of 5,000 Drop points to cash out to a $5 gift card.
It might take a while to get to the 5,000 Drop point threshold to cash out to a gift card.
But…
It’s money you didn’t have before.
Let’s get into the pros and cons of Drop:
Pros
- Easy and simple to use
- Get points for everyday purchases
- Set it and forget it rewards app
- The encrypted bank login process
Cons
- Limited to 5,000 points a week
- Redeem points to only gift cards
- Limited to choosing only 5 brands
Get paid to do nothing with Drop now!
S’more
No, you won’t be eating S’mores for money, S’more is an app that displays ads on your cellphone lock screen so you can make money for pretty much nothing.
All you have to do is sign up to S’more here and you will get 25 points for just signing up!
In the S’more app, 1 point is equal to $0.01, so you’re not going to get rich off this app but you are making money by just having some ads on your lock screen.
S’more pays out 10 points a day ($0.10) for displaying ads on your lock screen, not much at all but the ads aren’t irritating.
However, it might be annoying to unlock your lock screen with the ad first and then use your fingerprint or passcode to unlock your phone.
There is a second or two added to the unlock process but you should definitely try S’more before making up your mind because it is one of the best lock screen apps that pay you to do nothing!
At $0.10 a day, you will make $36.50 a year by just having some ads on your lock screen, you don’t need to click on anything or watch anything, it’s just there!
You can also make money by watching videos or taking surveys in the S’more app but it isn’t necessary to make money with the ads on your lock screen.
S’more might be a good way to make some pocket change if you don’t mind ads on your phone lock screen.
Definitely try the S’more app out to make some money, if you sign up with my link you will get 25 points ($0.25) for just signing up!
Note: there are a few more of these ad apps out there but they seem pretty sketchy. So far S’more is a legit app that pays you to display ads on your lock screen. These ad apps seem to pop-up and disappear frequently so use this app with caution.
Here are the pros and cons of S’more.
Pros
- Very easy to set up and use
- 25 bonus points for signing up with my link
- Unobtrusive Ads
Cons
- Low pay
- Can only cash-out to gift cards
- Only available in the U.S
- Points expire after 30-days of inactivity or after one year when they were rewarded
It might be a bit annoying to have ads on your phone but S’more will pay me to do nothing at all and it is one of the best lock screen apps that pay!
Conclusion
If you were looking for apps to make money doing nothing other than carrying out your daily activities, these apps got you covered.
I have personally tested all of these apps to see if they are legit and I stand here to tell you that all 9 of these apps are the real deal!
Of course, you won’t get rich with these apps with the exception of Wealthfront and Robinhood (possible, not guaranteed).
But…
It is money you didn’t have before and in my books that is a win!
If you are really serious about making money then you will have to put in some work, I’m sorry to break it to you but that’s just how life goes!
However, there is one way to make money passively without having to do anything but it requires money upfront… Investing!
If you have some money to spare then I highly recommend you start learning to invest your money in the stock market.
Here are 5 awesome places where you can invest and get daily returns on your money!
What are your favorite apps that you use to make money passively? Have any other ideas on how to make money doing nothing? Let me know in the comments below!
Hello, Michael. Such a great list of apps that pay to do nothing. Really interesting.
I think Paribus and Bounts apps would also be a good fit in the post. I really loved them. Otherwise, the post is simply fantastic.
I have gained some knowledge through this article in which I also learned, and I will inform others about the apps that you have posted. I am definitely looking forward to reading more such blog posts from your end in the future.
Thanks for sharing.
Hello Emma, thanks for commenting. Paribus is a great app and I have a few other posts about Paribus. I haven’t used Bounts before but I’ll be sure to check it out. Have a great day!