Last Updated on August 9, 2024 by Katie
Making money with little effort is the dream right? Well, this list of the highest-paying passive income apps is going to help you do just that.
While you won’t be able to ditch your 9-5 and live off these passive income apps. The money they bring in will help to ease the financial strain and pay for a few extra luxuries.
Learning about the best side hustles you can do from your phone is a way to put your spare time to good use.
And, thanks to the internet there are hundreds of ways to make money from home, without even leaving the sofa.
All the passive income apps below are easy and free to use. For extra ways to make money online, read 46 simple ways to make $100 a day you can start today.
Overview of the Highest Paying Passive Income Apps
- Survey Junkie
- Sweatcoin
- Acorns
- Nielson Computer and Mobile Panel
- MobileXpression
- Drop
- Mistplay
- Fundrise
- Inbox Pounds
- Dosh
- Truebill
- Getupside
- Shopkick
- Honeygain
- Upvoice
- Earny
- Seated
- Airbnb
- Turo
- PrizeRebel
- Stash
- Rocket Money
- Ibotta
- Rakuten
- Paribus
- OnMyWay
- Native
- SavvyConnect
Related reading:
28 Highest Paying Passive Income Apps to Make Money Effortlessly
Are you ready to find out about the highest-paying passive income apps?
This list isn’t exhaustive, but it gives you a good amount of free apps to get started with.
Each one can make you a little bit of extra money. And, every dollar adds up and can help towards the bills.
Here are the best passive income apps to make money effortlessly:
1. Survey Junkie
Survey Junkie is an online marketing research company that rewards users for taking surveys and joining online focus groups.
Members can also earn by sharing their digital browsing behavior and giving their opinions on new products, which helps companies improve their websites and products.
Surveys are paid in points and you can see how much each survey earns before you take it, so you can decide if it’s worth your time.
The majority of surveys pay between 20 and 200 points and can be completed in around 2 or sometimes up to 20 minutes, for better-paid surveys.
Survey Junkie oints can be redeemed for gift cards or PayPal cash.
Sign up to Survey Junkie now to start earning.
2. Sweatcoin
Sweatcoin is on a mission to build a healthier planet, one step at a time.
They will pay you sweatcoins for walking every day, which you can redeem for gadgets and cool items such as shoes, watches, workout clothes, iPhones and money in your PayPal account.
You earn 5 sweatcoins for every 5,000 steps a day and 20 sweatcoins translates to $1. You can also bump up your earnings by referring friends for a commission.
The Sweatcoin app is available for download on Google Play and the App Store.
Related read: Top 7 Legit Apps that Pay You to Exercise in 2024
3. Acorns
If you’re on a tight budget, it may seem impossible to find any spare cash to save or invest.
The Acorns app helps to change this by finding spare change from your purchases and putting this aside in a savings account.
Each time you buy something, the Acorns app rounds it up to the nearest dollar and puts the difference into your Acorns account.
You can even deposit into your Acorns account at any time.
As your balance grows, it’s invested in the stock market by the expert Acorns team. To use this service, you will have to pay $1 a month for portfolios under $5,000.
But, if you have zero knowledge about investing yourself, this is well worth the tiny cost to get started.
Sign up for Acorns here and get a FREE $20 bonus Investment.
4. Nielson Computer and Mobile Panel
If you’re looking for the highest-paying passive income apps to make money easily, the Nielson Computer and Mobile Panel app is well worth your time.
All you have to do is sign up, answer a few questions, install the app and start earning rewards for doing what you normally do.
Alongside earning money just by using the internet, you’ll be entered into a sweepstake which gives away an extra $10,000 a month.
Why does Nielson pay you for using the internet?
Nielson is a professional research company and uses the information they gather to improve future products.
5. MobileXpression
MobileXpression is not one of the highest-paying apps to make money, but you can earn a $10 Amazon gift card in just two weeks.
All you have to do is download the app and it will track your mobile usage.
This really is passive income at its best. You get paid for doing what you already do anyway.
And, don’t worry, your data is not shared with any third parties and the app won’t slow your device down. The intent is to study patterns of behaviour to improve the future of the internet.
MobileXpression is currently available for iPhones, iPads and Android phones.
To sign up, visit the site on a mobile device and follow the simple instructions.
6. Drop
Drop is another quality cashback app paying you whether you’re reserving flights, ordering a takeaway or shopping online at your favourite store.
Just download the app and start earning points for every purchase you make.
These points add up fast and can be redeemed at popular retailers such as Amazon, ASOS, Starbucks, Netflix and more.
Over a million people have already downloaded and started earning with Drop.
Sign up today and you even get a $5 bonus after you’ve linked your credit card.
7. Mistplay
If you love to play games, Mistplay is well worth checking out on this list of the highest paying apps to make money.
Just download the Mistplay app from Google Play, discover new games and earn rewards for playing.
This is a game lover’s dream because the longer you play, the more you earn!
Rewards can be redeemed for gift cards to Amazon, Visa and PayPal.
According to the platform, they’ve paid out over $19,199,264 to date!
8. Fundrise
Fundrise allows you to invest in a low-cost, diversified portfolio of real estate even with zero knowledge.
This is one of the highest-paying passive income apps, helping you to invest the right amount, at the right time.
All you have to do is sign up for free with your email. Answer a few questions and choose an investment plan that suits you.
You can even get started with as little as $10 and earn annual passive income.
9. Inbox Pounds
Inbox Pounds is another top money-making app allowing you to make extra cash from home or in your lunch break.
All you have to do is sign up and start earning through simple tasks such as watching videos, reading emails, taking surveys, searching the web and more.
You even get a £1 bonus just to sign up. Rewards are given in PayPal cash or Amazon gift cards.
10. Dosh
Dosh is a popular cash-back app available to download on the App Store and on Google Play.
All you have to do is download the Dosh app and link your cards.
Every time you shop with your card, the Dosh app deposits cash back into your wallet immediately.
Over 10,000 big brands are signed up including Pizza Hut, GNC, ASOS, Walmart and many more.
You can also get money back using your card at over 600K hotels worldwide. Just download the app and earn $1 after adding your first card.
11. Truebill
It can be hard to take control of your finances alone.
And this is why the Truebill app was made – to empower you to save more and spend less.
Truebill helps out by automatically cancelling unused subscriptions, lowering bills and putting your savings on autopilot.
It can also help create a budget that works for you and help you understand and grow your net worth.
It’s kind of like a financial advisor in your pocket!
Some users report saving over $200 in the first week of using it and they’ve helped sign-ups save $15 million since it started!
12. Getupside
Getupside is one of the best passive income apps paying you for things you do already like shopping, eating out and buying gas.
This app has partnered with over 30,000 businesses so you can get money back from many of your normal purchases.
All you have to do is download the app, search for local offers, pay as usual and cash is credited back into your account.
It’s such a simple way to earn passive income and a nice way to reduce monthly expenses.
13. Shopkick
Shopkick is a great platform that rewards its users with gift cards, just for walking into certain stores.
If you love shopping, why not get rewarded for doing what you love.
You earn kicks (points) by walking into a partner store and scanning a barcode on selected products or making a purchase.
If you don’t fancy leaving home, you can still earn ‘kicks’ by watching videos and browsing content in the Shopkick app.
Download Shopkick from the App Store or from Google Play. Redeem your ‘kicks’ for gift cards for thousands of your favourite brands.
14. Honeygain
Join Honeygain today and receive a free $5 gift immediately!
This platform offers an easy way to make passive income, asking you to share your internet data for research purposes.
How does seeing your data help Honeygain? Your devices act like view towers for big businesses, allowing them to use what they learn for improvements.
Rewards can get up to $61 a month for every 20GB of daily traffic shared.
Your location, the number of IP addresses your devices are connected to and the speed of your internet will vary earnings.
15. UpVoice
Join the UpVoice research community and start earning gift cards just by visiting social feeds on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
If you’re on social media every day, it makes sense to use this platform and earn.
All you have to do is sign up, install UpVoice and continue browsing through your social media feeds.
You earn just by doing this and can also sign up for the UpVoice panel and complete specific actions for rewards like filling out surveys.
Earnings can be redeemed for gift cards with BestBuy, Amazon, Adidas and many other big retailers.
16. Earny
If you already make a lot of purchases online, you can get up to 20% off by using the Earny app.
Earny tracks billions of items online and gives you access to the price history.
You can add items to your Earny watch list and get notified when prices change. The app also tracks your purchases and gets you money back if the price drops.
It even gets you a refund if an Amazon order is delivered late.
According to Earny, they save users over one million on their purchases each month!
17. Seated
Another one of the highest-paying passive income apps is Seated.
If you dine out frequently or love to order takeaways, this app can get you up to 30% off.
Just download the app and browse through over 1500 curated restaurants.
Book a table through the app, scan your receipt after eating at the restaurant and receive money back.
You can redeem your earnings for gift cards from many popular retailers such as Uber, Amazon, Nordstrom, Delta, Airbnb and many more.
18. Airbnb
If you have a spare room in your home or vacation property, you can rent it out and earn passive income.
How much you earn will depend on a few variables such as location, how many people can you host and whether you’ll be using the property yourself.
Check out this Airbnb income calculator to find out what your spare room or property is worth.
Airbnb is an extremely popular app with many people worldwide using it to book rooms when they travel.
While usage dropped a little in the pandemic, 2018 statistics state that it had 150 million users.
To make extra cash, sign up to Airbnb, list your spare room and interested parties will book through the app.
Payments are made via PayPal 1 – 2 days after the guest’s arrival.
19. Turo
Do you have a car sitting in the garage that isn’t used much? Put it to work earning money by sharing it with others.
Turo is one of the largest car-sharing marketplaces that allow you to list your car for free and customise when it’s available.
One of the highest paying passive income apps, Turo users reportedly earn around £442 per month.
Earnings are paid via direct debit and you’ll earn 65% – 75% of the trip price unless you opt to use your own rental insurance.
Fuel and any mileage beyond your limit are also reimbursed.
20. PrizeRebel
Prize Rebel pays you points to take a range of different surveys or to complete simple offers.
Your feedback helps businesses and brands to improve their products and services.
The points you earn can be redeemed for PayPal cash or gift cards from hundreds of big retailers such as Amazon, eBay and Apple.
You can also make extra money by referring your friends to Prize Rebel. Once your mates sign up, you then receive 30% of what they earn for life.
Earn on average $1 for every survey completed.
21. Stash
Stash is one of the best, highest-paying passive income apps for beginners.
It’s an investing app helping you build long-term wealth. You can choose from four accounts and start investing with any dollar amount.
Through the app, you can invest in fractional shares, which basically means you buy portions of different shares.
This is ideal for those new to investing. You can even automate your investing with a Smart Portfolio that’s managed by experts.
By using the Stash app, you get a Stock-Back card. This is a debit card that earns you 1% in stock, every time you spend with the card.
Your passive income earnings will vary, depending on how much you regularly invest.
22. Rocket Money
Rocket Money is an app that helps you manage your money by saving more and spending less.
While this app won’t actually help you earn passive income, you will be able to:
- Get control over your subscriptions
- Stay in control of your spending with a breakdown of your finances
- Put your savings on autopilot
- Track and understand your credit score
- Get the best rates on your existing bills
- Create a budget that works for you
- Understand and grow your net worth
This app is basically like having a financial advisor in your pocket!
Reportedly, Rocket Money users save $500+ annually.
You can download for free today on the IOS and Google Play stores.
23. Ibotta
Ibotta is a popular app helping you get cashback every time you shop.
One of the highest-paying passive income apps, you can use it while shopping in-store or online.
New Ibotta sign-ups get $5 after spending $15. After that, you get 30% cashback after shopping at thousands of major retailers.
You even get a $5 bonus for each friend you refer to the app.
After shopping in-store, you need to upload photos of your receipts to get your cash back.
When online, access cashback offers by shopping through the Ibotta app or using the Ibotta extension when on a laptop.
24. Rakuten
Rakuten is an online shopping platform that helps you get cashback while shopping at your favourite stores.
They’re partnered with over 600 stores, including some big brands such as Lego, Nike, Amazon, Macy’s, Sephora and more.
To earn cashback with the Rakuten app, you need to:
- Sign up for a Rakuten account
- Log in and activate cashback in a store
- Buy a product that you want
- Your cashback will be added to your account
- Funds can be withdrawn to your bank even if you have $1
- Or you can receive points for your cashback which can be used for gift cards
If you earn $25 cashback in the first 90 days, you get a $10 bonus.
25. Paribus
Paribus, which is now Capital One Shopping, is a price protection app that helps you get money back after purchasing an item if the price drops.
We all know how annoying it is to buy an item and then see weeks later that it’s selling at a lower price!
This app assists you in getting your money back, by monitoring the price of items at many of the leading retailers.
All you have to do is sign up with the email you use for online shopping receipts. They will then scan your inbox for receipts from the stores they monitor.
It can even tell you if extra rewards are available, that wasn’t available when you purchased.
A few of the retailers that Capital One Shopping monitors, include:
- Target
- Costco
- Best Buy
- Walmart
- Home Depot
To get started, download the app and link your card.
If any of your purchases drop in price after you have bought, the app will negotiate with the retailer to get you the difference back.
26. OnMyWay
OnMyWay is one of the best passive income apps to use if you drive regularly.
This apps mission is to improve road safety, by paying drivers NOT to text and drive. If you find yourself reaching to look at a text while driving, this app is for you.
It pays users $0.05 for every safely driven mile where they didn’t use their phone.
To get started, download the OnMyWay app, and activate your account and the app will start tracking your drive when you’re going over 10 mph.
27. Native
Native is an app you can use on the go to get paid for completing simple tasks.
Tasks can include things like:
- Snapping photos
- Conducting interviews
- Checking a product price in-store
To get started, you can find nearby available tasks by using the location map.
After you’ve completed the task and submitted the data, the information will be verified.
Earnings from verified entries will get put into your digital wallet. This can be withdrawn to your bank or PayPal account.
28. SavvyConnect
SavvyConnect is one of the highest-paying passive income apps worth checking out.
You get rewarded for sharing your internet browsing habits and data. This information is then passed on to businesses so they can improve their sales and marketing.
You can install SavvyConnect on your smartphone, tablet and desktop device.
And, the good news is that you can earn $5 per device, each month! You may also receive additional research opportunities that pay even higher.
To get started, you need to:
- Install the SavvyConnect app on your chosen devices
- Surf the web as you normally would
- Take part in extra surveys that match your criteria
- Earn more by referring friends to the app
- Request payment when you have $1 or more
- Payment is made by cheque
The SavvyConnect app is available on Google Play and the App Store.
What Are Passive Income Apps?
Passive income apps are applications available to download on iPhone and Android devices.
They usually offer an easy way to earn cash or rewards, just by performing simple tasks in the least amount of time.
Examples might be earning $5 or more just for downloading the app, earning money for clicking ads, watching videos, browsing the internet or getting money off a bill.
How Do Passive Income Apps Work?
Passive income apps allow you to make a small income each day or month in return for very little work.
You might get money or points, just for downloading the app or sharing your browsing habits.
And, some apps might offer extra ways to earn such as by referring friends to the app or completing surveys.
However, after you’ve downloaded the app and signed up, the work you’ll have to do to earn will be minimal and easy.
Are Passive Income Apps Legit?
All the passive income apps listed in this article are legit.
Each app uses smart safety features to keep your data safe.
But, it’s always a good idea to do your own research before signing up for and downloading an app.
Read user reviews and if the bad outweighs the good, think twice before using it.
How Else Can I Make Passive Income with No Money?
To increase your passive income earnings, try using more than one of the apps listed above.
The cash-back shopping apps are a no-brainer because you earn for doing things you’re already doing anyway.
To make more passive income, try these beginner methods:
- 15 Passive Income Ideas for Artists to Boost Earnings
- 15 Passive Income Ideas for Moms to Make Extra Cash
- Top 25 Passive Income Ideas for College Students
- How to Make $100 a Day Passive Income (25 Simple Ways that Work)
Final Thoughts on the Highest Paying Passive Income Apps
Now you know the highest paying passive income apps to make money effortlessly.
All these apps require little effort and can be used virtually without thinking.
Your smartphone is a tool that can waste your time or make you money.
So, why not make it work for you a bit and earn money?
Have you tried any of the passive income apps listed above? What passive income apps did I miss? Let me know in the comments.
*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.
