Earning a little bit of cash on the side is a good way to tackle debt or just amass a little play money, particularly if you’re studying full-time. But the thing is, free time is rad for doing shit you actually enjoy, so getting a second job or driving an Uber can seem like too much of a drag to consider.
Luckily, there’s other ways for you to make extra cash, and the ways I’m talking about here can all be done while sitting at home on your ass. Hell yeah I’m talking about doing some menial tasks or participating in research studies for cash. Get pumped about it.
Ok, yes, the pay won’t be astronomical, but these sites are actually decent in that they don’t just award you “points” or coupons, they pay you in cold hard cash.
Prolific.ac
Based in the UK, Prolific asks you a few questions and uses those responses to offer studies you qualify for. The pay will vary depending on the study you do, but according to folks who use a bunch of these kinds of sites, Prolific is one of the better ones.
They pay in British pounds and you can only cash out once you hit £5 ($9) which goes into your PayPal account.
I signed up for this one while writing and have completed about 10 minutes worth of qualifying questions but still haven’t been matched to a survey, so I can’t really speak for the frequency of work on this one just yet, but I’m assured it’s great.
Respondent.io
This one’s similar to Prolific, but requires you to sign up for specific studies rather than answering generic prescreening questions. The pay is impressive, too, with one asking respondents to download an app and use it to manage their fitness for three days for $US120 ($159.48).
Some of the work will be survey-based, but others might request a focus group or one-on-one interview, but these can usually be completed via webcam. Like Prolific, the cashola is paid into a PayPal account.
You can check out Respondent.io here.
PlaytestCloud
This one is by far the most entertaining. PlaytestCloud lets you earn money for play testing video games, including mobile games.
All you have to do is sign up, list the devices you have (choices are smartphone, iPad, PC, and Mac) and the games you like to play, then they’ll send you a tutorial that teaches you how to test. Each test will get you between 9 and 11 US dollars ($12 – $15) and you can do three to four tests per month. They’ll record your screen as you play, so you have to be alright with that.
Payment goes into your PayPal. It’s not the hugest earner on the list, but you’ll have the most fun with it.
Mturk
Mturk is an Amazon service that lets users complete simple tasks that robots can’t do very well. Surveys are included, but things like choosing the best photo from a list or collecting data from a website are also available.
Prices vary pretty widely, but the tasks are quite small and easy to complete, so it adds up pretty fast. The only downside to this one is that you need to be invited to complete work and from what I’ve gathered, it’s hard to do outside of the US. I’ve signed up myself, but am yet to receive an invite.
Money is paid into your Amazon account and you have to wait a week for your first payout, but after that you can request one payout per day.
Usertesting.com
This one works kinda like PlaytestCloud, only you review websites and apps rather than games. Like the former, Usertesting will record your screen and pay around $US10 ($13.29) per test with each one lasting around 10 to 15 minutes.
They pay via PayPal one week after the test is completed.
Look, we’re not talking massive amounts of money here, but if you do a little bit for each of these sites every month, it all adds up. I mean, let’s say you make just $10 from each of these per week, that’s a tidy $200 per month on top of your regular pay.
Not bad for answering a couple of questions in your spare time.
