Apps to earn money: 30 real options, grouped by how much work they take

The short answer: the apps to earn money that pay the most are the ones where you do real work: delivery, driving, local tasks, pet care, freelance and selling apps. Survey and rewards apps are easier to start but pay small amounts.

• Work apps: DoorDash, Uber Eats, Instacart, Uber, Lyft, TaskRabbit, Rover
• Selling apps: cash for items you own, find or make, minus fees and shipping
• Starter plan: one work app for income, one selling app for clutter and one saving app for shopping you already do
• Before you start: check real pay per hour, watch for red flags and set aside money for taxes
• Next step: Get the free Holiday Budget Starter Kit (we email it to you); want more? The Business Income & Expense Tracker is $7.99.

The apps to earn money that pay the most are the ones where you do real work: delivery and driving apps, local task and pet care apps, freelance marketplaces and selling apps. Survey, testing and rewards apps are easier to start but pay small amounts for your time, and cash back apps don't pay you to work at all; they give back part of what you already spend. Pick one work app for real income, one selling app to turn clutter into cash and one saving app for the shopping you do anyway.

Whatever you earn, track it from the first dollar. The Business Income & Expense Tracker ($7.99) logs your app payouts, costs and miles, then shows your real monthly profit and how much to set aside for taxes. Browse all of our Spreadsheets for more money tools.

This guide groups 30 well-known apps by how much effort they take, so you can see at a glance which ones fit your schedule. If you'd rather make money at a computer, our how to make money online guide covers more ways, and our side hustle ideas list goes beyond apps.

How money-making apps actually pay

Every app on a phone that promises money falls into one of four types. Knowing the type tells you more about the likely pay than any ad does.

A fifth group, cash back apps, saves you money on purchases rather than paying you for time. They're useful, but they only "earn" when you spend.

The full list: 30 apps to earn money, grouped by effort

These are well-known, widely used apps. Pay, rules and availability change, and many depend on your city, so open each app's own requirements page before you sign up.

Group 1: Delivery and driving apps (most effort, most pay)

These pay per trip or delivery, and tips can be a big part of it. You need a reliable vehicle (or a bike in some cities), a smartphone and usually a background check. DoorDash, for example, requires Dashers to be at least 18, or 19 in some states.

1. DoorDash: deliver restaurant and store orders.
2. Uber Eats: food and grocery delivery on the Uber platform.
3. Instacart: shop for and deliver grocery orders.
4. Shipt: shop for and deliver orders from partner stores.
5. Amazon Flex: deliver packages in scheduled blocks.
6. Spark Driver: deliver Walmart orders.
7. Uber: drive people for booked rides.
8. Lyft: drive people for booked rides.

Driving apps look the best on paper, but your car does a lot of the work. Fuel, wear and insurance come out of every dollar, so track miles from day one.

Group 2: Local tasks and care apps (steady work, set your own rates)

You offer a service near you and clients book you. Ratings and repeat customers matter a lot here.

9. TaskRabbit: furniture assembly, mounting, moving help and errands.
10. Rover: dog walking, pet sitting and drop-in visits.
11. Wag: dog walking and pet care.
12. Care.com: babysitting, senior care, tutoring and housekeeping jobs.

Group 3: Freelance apps (skill-based, highest ceiling)

If you can write, design, edit, keep books, build spreadsheets or do admin work, freelance marketplaces connect you with clients. Platform fees come out of what you earn, and the first few jobs take the longest to land.

13. Upwork: hourly and fixed-price projects from clients who post jobs.
14. Fiverr: you list set "gigs" with set prices and buyers come to you.

Group 4: Selling apps (fastest one-time cash)

Selling what you already own is often the quickest money an app can bring in, because the item is already paid for. Every app takes a fee or charges for shipping, so check its fee page before you price.

15. Facebook Marketplace: local pickup for furniture, baby gear and household items.
16. OfferUp: local and shipped sales of everyday items.
17. eBay: shipped sales of almost anything, including collectibles and parts.
18. Poshmark: clothes, shoes and accessories.
19. Mercari: shipped sales of household items, toys and clothes.
20. Decluttr: trade in phones, tech, games and media for a set price.

Group 5: Testing and research apps (at-home, small but real)

You give feedback on websites and apps or take part in research studies. There are more people than tests, so expect to qualify for some and not others.

21. UserTesting: record yourself using a website or app and talking through it.
22. Prolific: take academic and market research studies.
23. Respondent: paid interviews and studies, often for specific jobs or industries.

Group 6: Survey and rewards apps (least effort, least pay)

These pay in points for surveys, offers and small tasks. They suit waiting rooms and car-line minutes, not rent money.

24. Swagbucks: surveys, offers and shopping rewards.
25. Survey Junkie: surveys for points you cash out.
26. InboxDollars: surveys, offers and email rewards.

Group 7: Cash back apps (save on what you already buy)

These don't pay you for time. They give back a slice of money you were going to spend anyway, which makes them worth having alongside a work app.

27. Rakuten: cash back for shopping online through its app or extension.
28. Ibotta: cash back on specific grocery and household items.
29. Fetch: points for scanning receipts, redeemed for gift cards.
30. Upside: cash back on gas, groceries and dining nearby.

Our full guide to cash back apps covers how to stack them for Black Friday and Christmas shopping.

Starter version: 3 apps to start with this week

You don't need 30 apps. Most people do best with three, one from each job below.

Then run it for 30 days before you add anything else:

1. Week 1: sign up for your work app and finish its onboarding and checks.
2. Week 1: list five things you no longer use on one selling app.
3. Week 2: set up your cash back app and use it on one regular purchase.
4. Weeks 2 to 4: log every payout and every cost the day it happens.
5. Day 30: work out your real hourly pay and decide which app stays.

How to tell what an app really pays per hour

The number an app shows you is not what you keep. Use this four-step check on any work app.

1. Add up gross pay for a week, including tips.
2. Subtract costs: fuel, phone data, supplies, platform fees and shipping.
3. Count all your hours, including waiting, driving back and packing.
4. Divide what's left by your hours.

Here is the math with made-up numbers, just to show the method. Say a delivery app paid you $300 in a week, and you spent $60 on fuel and $10 on extra phone data. That leaves $230. If you were logged in for 20 hours, your real pay was $11.50 an hour before taxes, not the $15 the gross number suggests. Run the same math on your own numbers before you decide an app is worth it.

Red flags: how to spot a fake money-making app

Most of the apps above are household names, but the category draws copycats. The FTC's advice on fake job offers warns that a job promising a lot of money in a short time with little work is almost certainly fake. Watch for these signs:

• You have to pay to start or to cash out. Real apps pay you; they don't charge a deposit, a "training" fee or a withdrawal fee to release your money.
• Huge promises for tiny tasks. "Earn $500 a day watching videos" is fiction.
• Odd permissions. A survey app doesn't need your contacts or your banking password.
• Reshipping or check "jobs." Receiving packages to repack and send on, or depositing a check and sending part back, are classic fake jobs.
• No clear payout terms. A real app lists its minimum cash-out, its payment methods and who can join.
• Pressure to recruit. If the money mostly comes from signing up friends, walk away.

Before you install anything new, search the app's name plus "complaints" and read reviews from several places, not just its own store page.

Taxes on app income: what to know before you start

Money from apps counts as income. The IRS gig economy tax center says you must report gig income even if it's part-time or side work, and even if no tax form is sent to you. That includes delivery, driving, tasks and selling goods online.

You may also get a Form 1099-K. The IRS guide to understanding Form 1099-K explains that payment apps and online marketplaces must send one when your payments for goods or services go over $20,000 in more than 200 transactions, though they may send one for less. The IRS notes that this includes personal items, like clothing or furniture, sold at a gain, so keep what you paid for bigger items if you know it.

Simple habits keep tax time calm:

• Log every payout the day it lands, by app.
• Keep receipts for costs like supplies, shipping and phone data.
• Track your miles if you drive for an app.
• Move a share of each payout into a separate savings account for taxes.
• Ask a tax professional what applies to you, especially in your first year.

How to budget money from earning apps

App income goes up and down, so don't plan your bills around your best week. Budget on your lowest typical month and treat anything above it as extra. Our guide to budgeting with irregular income walks through that method step by step.

A simple plan for each payout:

If you want to see exactly which paycheck covers which bill, the Paycheck Budget Spreadsheet ($5.99) maps every bill to the paycheck that pays it, which makes it easy to slot app income in as a bonus. Saving app income for something specific, like Christmas or car repairs? The Sinking Funds Tracker ($4.99) tells you how much to set aside each month to hit each goal on time. Want all of our budget spreadsheets at once? The Ultimate Budget Bundle is $19.99, down from $46.42 for the items bought separately.

If your goal is holiday money, start with our free Holiday Budget Starter Kit: 3 printable US Letter pages, emailed to you when you join our list.

Which app type fits your life

Quick checklist before you download a money app

• It's free to join and free to cash out
• Its payout minimum and methods are written down
• Its permissions match what it does
• Recent reviews mention real payouts
• You know what it costs you to earn (fuel, fees, time)
• You have a place to log payouts and costs
• You know where the money goes when it lands

Apps to earn money work best when you choose them on purpose: one for real income, one for quick cash and one for savings. Track every payout, do the hourly math after 30 days and keep only the apps that are worth your time.