Free money. The idea sounds scammy, but it’s not. There are numerous ways to get free money online. You won’t become wealthy, but they will provide extra cash to supplement your income.
If you’re skeptical, this article will show you 20 ways to get free money fast.
Table of Contents
How to Get Free Money Fast
It may sound impossible to earn free money. It’s not. Many sources of free cash online come by doing something you’re already doing, or in the form of an account opening bonus.
Here are 20 ways to get free money right now.
1. Swagbucks – $10 Bonus
Swagbucks is one of the top places to get free money. The platform is a get-paid-to (GPT) site that pays you to perform simple tasks online.
For example, you can switch to their search engine and earn points. You can also earn points for completing surveys or watching sponsored videos. Those points can be converted to cash or gift cards
You can redeem once you reach 2,500 SB points, which equals $25.
Learn more: Swagbucks Review
Get started: Claim your $10 bonus
2. Make Money Taking Surveys
Paid surveys are a terrific way to earn cash in your spare time. Survey Junkie is the best site to make money as they pay up to $45 per survey, though most range from $1 – $3.
Survey Junkie has a low redemption minimum of only $10. You can redeem earnings for cash or free gift cards.
Learn more: Survey Junkie Review
Get started: Earn up to $45 per survey
3. InboxDollars – $5 Bonus
InboxDollars works similar to Swagbucks. There are various choices to earn free money on InboxDollars, including:
- Watching sponsored videos
- Downloading coupons
- Reading sponsored emails
- Using their search engine
InboxDollars gives new account owners a $5 bonus. The platform has paid out close to $60 million since its inception, according to their site. You can redeem earnings via PayPal or free gift cards.
Learn more: InboxDollars Review
Get started: Claim your $5 bonus
4. Sign Up for A New Credit Card
If you want to know how to get free money, a credit card may seem like an odd choice. However, credit cards are an excellent way to earn money for something you’re already doing.
There are numerous credit cards that offer sign-up bonuses for getting a new card and meeting a spending requirement. You can often redeem these for cash, travel rewards, or merchandise.
Keep in mind this only works if you stay debt-free and pay your cards in full each month.
Learn more: Best credit cards
Get started: Here’s a list of some of our favorite card options
5. Ibotta – $5 Bonus
Ibotta is a cash rebate app that gives you free PayPal money for scanning your grocery receipts. Before going to the store, you check out available offers in the app.
When you’re done shopping ,you take a picture of the receipt through the app and it credits your account. Ibotta gives you $5 after your first purchase, and you can redeem for cash or gift cards once you reach a $20 balance.
Learn more: Ibotta Review
Get started: Claim your $5 bonus
6. Rakuten – $10 Bonus
Rakuten (formerly known as Ebates) is an online shopping portal that nets you rebates on your shopping. Instead of going to the online store for a purchase, you go to Rakuten.
The shopping portal works with thousands of retailers, and you earn a rebate of two to ten percent on your shopping. Plus, you receive a $10 bonus with a new account, after your first purchase of $25.
Learn more: Rakuten Review
Get started: Claim your $10 bonus
7. RebatesMe – $30 Bonus
Similar to Rakuten, RebatesMe helps you earn cash back while shopping. Each online purchase from any of their 4,000 stores earns you money.
While you browse, you’ll get pop-up reminders if there are coupons or cash back available for that store. With some stores you can even earn double cash back, but it changes daily.
You can redeem a $30 sign up bonus once you reach $10 or more in accumulated cash back.
Get started: Claim your $30 bonus
8. Acorns – $5 Bonus
Acorns is a micro-investing app that rounds up purchases to the nearest dollar and invests the difference. The app has several investment portfolios to choose from, depending on your age and appetite for risk.
When you open an account and link a debit card you receive a $5 bonus in your investment account to start growing. The best part of this source of free money is that you can continue to grow it.
Learn more: Acorns Review
9. Stash – $5 Bonus
Stash works similar to Acorns, except for rounding up purchases. With Stash you can buy fractional shares of stocks. For example, Amazon is trading at close to $3,200 as of this publication.
If you have $5, you can’t buy an entire share, but Stash lets you buy a portion of a share. Like Acorns, Stash gives you a $5 bonus when you open an account – you have to deposit at least $5 to receive the bonus.
Learn more: Stash App Review
Get started: Claim your $5 bonus
10. Pinecone Research
Pinecone Research is another survey site that’s available on an invite-only basis. You can also get paid to test products through the platform.
Pinecone Research pays $3 per completed survey, and has no minimum redemption amount, so you can claim earnings after your first survey. Like other survey sites, you can redeem earnings via cash or free gift cards.
They also have bi-weekly and quarterly cash drawings for additional earnings, up to $500 and $4,500, respectively.
Get started: Pinecone Research Review
11. MyPoints – $10 Bonus
MyPoints is another site like Swagbucks and an awesome choice to earn free money fast. You can receive cash back shopping online, as well as playing games online, as well as other options.
Each opportunity pays a different point amount, and you can redeem earnings for cash or gift cards once you reach 3,500 points, which equals $20.
MyPoints gives you a $10 bonus once you purchase at least $20 within 30 days of account opening.
Get started: Claim your $10 bonus
12. Capital One Shopping
I hate searching for coupon codes when buying something only to learn one I’m using is expired. The Capital One Shopping browser extension solves that problem.
When you’re shopping online the extension provides helpful notifications letting you know if the item is available for cheaper elsewhere. You also earn loyalty credits when shopping through the Capital One Shopping portal.
Those can be redeemed for gift cards to various retailers, not cash. But, hey, that’s still free money.
Learn more: Read our review of the online shopping assistant to learn more.
Get started: Start saving
13. Capital One Shopping Price Protection
Capital One Shopping Price Protection, formerly Paribus, works to save you money after a purchase. When you sign up for a free account, the service monitors your inbox for receipts from online shopping.
Capital One Shopping works with 25+ retailers, and when it catches a price drop it works to reclaim that difference for you.
Learn more: Capital One Shopping Price Protection Review
Get started: Start saving
14. Dosh – $5 Bonus
Dosh is a newer cash rebate app. When you link a credit or debit card you save between two and five percent at supported retailers.
The site claims to work with over 100,000 retailers. All you do is link your card and it reclaims a percentage of each purchase, directly to your linked account. And, you receive a $5 bonus after opening an account.
Once your balance reaches at least $25 you can transfer the balance to your bank account, PayPal, or Venmo.
Get started: Claim your $5 bonus
15. Drop – $5 Bonus
Drop works similar to Dosh, but with a twist. It’s a cashback app, but when you connect your credit or debit card you select five retailers to get rebates from your shopping.
When you shop at those stores, you earn points based on the total purchase. You can redeem those points for free gift cards, or enter Drop’s free cash drawings. Like Dosh, Drop gives you a $5 bonus when you open an account.
Get started: Claim your $5 bonus
16. HealthyWage
Losing weight seems like an odd way to earn free cash, but it’s possible with HealthyWage. The service is a weight loss app based on the idea that money increases the chances of success.
There is an upfront cost of placing the bet, and you must bet losing at least ten percent of your body weight. However, you have the chance to win up to $10,000. The average prize for users that reach their goal is $1,400.
*Now through July 12, Better Finance Info readers can take advantage of the HealthyWage Prize Boost and have $100 automatically added to your prize for hitting your weight loss goal!
You can see how much you can win through their prize calculator.
Learn more: HealthyWage Review
Get started: See how much you can win
17. Cut A Bill
An overlooked way to get free money is by reducing expenses. We all have subscriptions we don’t use, or monthly bills we can lower. However, how often do you cut the fat on these bills?
Trim is a service that does the work for you. When you open a Trim account, the service connects to your bank account to find ways to save you money.
It never cancels a service without first contacting you, but they actively work to negotiate lower bills. The service doesn’t cost anything, though they do keep 33 percent of any savings they gain.
Learn more: Ask Trim Review
Get started: Start saving
18. Earn Free Money with Your Car
Does your car sit unused a large portion of the day or week? You can turn that idle time into cash with HyreCar. You can set up an account and list your car for free through their app.
Depending on the make, model, and age of your car, you can earn up to $1,000 per month renting your vehicle, according to their website.
HyreCar does keep a portion of the rental fees as commission, though they offer rideshare insurance at no extra cost to you.
Get started: Rent your car
19. Sell Your Old Textbooks
Are you a recent graduate and want to get free money? You can sell your old textbooks to earn some fast cash.
BookScouter is an awesome resource to use to sell all of your books. BookScouter is price comparison website that compares prices at over 40 different sites. You input the ISBN of the book and they search their database of sites to find the best price.
If you accept their price, they send you a shipping label. Each site works differently, but most offer Paypal as an option within several days of receiving the book.
Get started: Sell your books
20. Donate Plasma
A classic way to get now for free and fast is donating your plasma. Blood plasma is in high demand for many individuals. It’s possible to earn up to $400 per month selling your plasma to a plasma donation center.
This is something I did a lot when paying off debt to make extra money to pay towards the debt.
Learn more: How to make money donating plasma
How to Avoid Free Money Scams
There are numerous opportunities to get free money. Still, there are plenty of scammers that like to take advantage of unsuspecting individuals.
You should approach any chance to earn money for free with suspicion.
Not all choices are bad, but it’s critical to do your due diligence before pursuing any opportunity. Here are several things to watch out for before attempting to earn free cash:
- Do not pay any upfront fees
- If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is
- Guard your Social Security Number and only provide it to trustworthy individuals
- Make sure you only use .gov and .edu domains when searching for government assistance
The best way to avoid free money scams is to trust your gut. Scam artists thrive on making themselves look legitimate.
However, if something doesn’t feel right, it’s likely best to forego it.
Can You Truly Get Free Money Right Now?
There are opportunities to earn money for free all around you. However, it’s necessary to know where to look.
Countless businesses give out digital gift cards to earn your business or to learn about your preferences. Others provide bonuses to do something you’re already doing.
Before pursuing any opportunity, consider the time and effort it requires. Some may require too much time and not worth the effort.
Discernment is your best friend when researching any offer.
Below are several common questions readers have when pondering free cash opportunities.
How Can I Make Money Right Now?
The best choices to make money immediately are through a signup bonus, a bonus to buy a product, cutting a bill, or selling an item.
You can read our guide on ways to get money today for other choices.
How Can I Get Free PayPal Money?
If you want to know how to get free money on PayPal, most options on our list make that possible. Apps like Ibotta are excellent for this, as are most survey sites.
Once you reach a redemption level with a particular app, transfer the money to your PayPal account. You can then move it to a bank account in one business day or just pay for items directly from your PayPal account.
How Can I Get $20 Right Now?
Need a little extra spending money, or have a bill to pay? There are numerous ways to get $20 right now.
Most of the shopping apps listed above are good choices, as is selling an item. If you can’t afford to wait, use one of the sites like Craigslist to sell your items locally and get money today.
How Can I Earn Free Money Online?
There are countless ways to earn free money online. Pick a few of the above options and find what works best for you.
Our favorite choice is Swagbucks, as they offer multiple ways to make money, plus they offer a signup bonus.
Just remember, use a discerning eye when pursuing any opportunity.
Bottom Line
Each situation is different. You may need extra money to pay off a debt, or you want to pad your budget. The reason doesn’t matter as there are plenty of ways to make money.
Remember, free money often comes for doing something you were already planning to do. In most cases, it makes sense to take advantage.
Be realistic with any option. None of them will radically change your life, but they can bring added freedom or fun, and that’s never a bad thing!
*Capital One Shopping compensates
What ways are you using to get free money fast? How would adding several hundred dollars to your budget per month change your life? What do you look for in a chance to earn money for free?
Leave a Reply