Question: Are there still legitimate online surveys that pay cash in 2022?
Answer: Yes!
Follow-up Question: Are there a ton of crappy, spammy, terrible online survey sites out there that send you a million emails, sell your personal information, and generally aren’t worth your time?
Answer: Also yes!
Before I go on a rant about why I think most paid survey sites are a waste of time, let me cut to the chase…
My Top 2 (Yes You Only Need 2) Online Survey Sites for 2022
I recommend signing up for both of these at the same time. Between the two, you should be able to easily make $100 per month if you do a few surveys every day!
Survey Junkie – This is my favorite survey company, and also one of the largest. There are always surveys available, which is a problem with some of the other survey companies.
With Survey Junkie, you earn points for each survey you complete. You can then convert your points to cash directly in your PayPal account, or trade them in for gift cards. They even give you points just for signing up and filling out your profile.
Swagbucks – I like Swagbucks because there are a ton of different ways to earn points. They also offer surveys, but you can also make money by watching videos, playing games, or even browsing the web.
As you earn points (“swagbucks”), you can redeem them for gift cards or cash in your PayPal account. Right now they are also giving you a free $5 just for signing up for an account!
Read on if you want the full details…
So how do you find the legitimate online survey sites that pay you money?
Well, you could read all the reviews online, and go through all the articles touting the “50 Best Online Surveys That Pay Cash – How to Make $5,000 A Month!!!”
But I will let you in on a little secret…
Most of those articles will give you a huge list of survey sites and tell you that you should download all of them. And you know why?
Because they get a commission for every single one of them! Even though a lot of those survey sites are a waste of time at best, and a scam at worst.
The Honest Truth About Paid Surveys
I don’t hold it against other bloggers that they want to get paid for what they do. Blogging takes a lot of work, and affiliate commissions from survey sites help pay the bills.
But sometimes the truth gets stretched a bit. Have you ever heard things like:
- Here are the 50 best online survey sites that pay cash! (Really, I’m supposed to keep up with 50 different survey sites just to make a few extra bucks?)
- Sign up for at least 5/10/20 paid online survey sites so you have the best chance of earning the most money!
- You can make $1000+ a month taking online surveys for cash while in your pajamas on the couch!
I have news for you. Taking online surveys is not a ticket to endless wealth. Sure, you could probably make $1000 a month if you made it your full time job (and worked a little overtime).
But if you have that much time to fill, there are a lot of better ways to make money. Go drive for Uber, or mow lawns in your neighborhood, or heck, working at McDonald’s is probably a better option than taking surveys for money full time.
Legitimate Online Surveys That Pay Cash
Let me set some more realistic expectations:
Online surveys typically pay about $4-7 an hour. There are certainly some outliers (if you get lucky and get picked for the right survey you can make $20-50, but it is rare).
You’re probably not going to do more than an hour of surveys a day. If you’re the typical busy professional or student, you only have little bits of time during the day.
Here is my absolute best advice (and the only reason I recommend online surveys at all):
You have a lot of dead time during the day.
Heck, I’m so addicted to my phone, that even while I’m standing in front of the microwave for less than a minute waiting for my lunch to heat up, I pick up my phone to check my Facebook feed, or email, or whatever.
The best way to use paid online survey sites is during those little bits of downtime during the day – while you’re on the train on the way to work, or standing in line at the grocery store, or waiting to pick the kids up from school.
Even better, you can multi-task while you’re watching TV. It doesn’t take a lot of brain power to answer survey questions, so if you watch an hour of TV at night to wind down, you can earn a little money while you’re sitting on the couch.
The Only 2 Best Survey Sites You Need in 2022
So if taking surveys isn’t your full time job and you want the highest-paying, most flexible, and easiest to use paid online survey sites, these are my recommendations.
Don’t bother with all those other sites, just download these two and start earning money! I have tested both, and they are legit, and offer pretty much all the surveys I’ll ever want to take.
- Survey Junkie – This is one of the biggest survey providers out there, and the one I recommend everyone try. There are always surveys available to take (unlike some other sites), so you’ll always have an opportunity to make some extra money. One thing I like about Survey Junkie is that even if you answer a few preliminary questions and don’t qualify for a particular survey, they’ll still give you a few points just for trying.
- Swagbucks ($5 sign-up bonus) – Swagbucks is much more than just a survey site, but one of the main ways to make money is through surveys. I like that you can also earn points through watching videos, playing games, or surfing the web through the Swagbucks portal. Sometimes it’s nice to have a little variety.
Disclaimer: If you sign up with my links, I will get a small commission. But like I mentioned above, I’m trying to give you the BEST sites out there, not get you to download 50 apps and collect 50 commissions.
Top 2 Survey Sites to Earn $100 This Month
I recommend signing up for both Survey Junkie and Swagbucks at the same time. Between the two of those, you should be able to easily make $100 per month if you do a few surveys every day!
- Click here to sign up for Survey Junkie and get started now
- Click here to get started with Swagbucks and get a $5 bonus
Andrew Herrig is a finance expert and money nerd and the founder of Wealthy Nickel, where he writes about personal finance, side hustles, and entrepreneurship. As an avid real estate investor and owner of multiple businesses, he has a passion for helping others build wealth and shares his own family’s journey on his blog.
Andrew holds a Masters of Science in Economics from the University of Texas at Dallas and a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University. He has worked as a financial analyst and accountant in many aspects of the financial world.
Andrew’s expert financial advice has been featured on CNBC, Entrepreneur, Fox News, GOBankingRates, MSN, and more.
Awesome advice, I think there are far too many survey sites out there. You simply need to find one or two that you can make some extra cash with and focus on those. These two are the largest with the most volume and optionality.
Hey, I Love this article of yours. Really helps and giving an idea about online surveys.