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Apps, surveys and small tasks: what they really pay

Real apps pay small sums for real tasks. The fake ones show big balances you can never withdraw, and Amazon Mechanical Turk closed on 30 September 2026.

✓ Checked 5 Nov 2026 against company pages and the FTC · Next check 5 Feb 2027
A young woman on a bus looking at her phone

This is pocket money, not an income. Serious research panels pay cash for your time, but the work comes when there is a study for you. The big warning here is the task scam: an app that pays small sums first, then asks you to deposit money.

Ways to earn here

A family on a sofa watching TV, the father holding the remote
VOLTIXPay slip
60%
of the full price, every renewal
✓ Checked 10 Nov 2026

VOLTIX referral program

Share your link and keep 60% of every full-price plan your people buy, every time they renew.

A woman in a headset typing at a keyboard
ProlificPay slip
$8
an hour minimum
✓ Checked 5 Nov 2026

Prolific

A published pay floor, and cash, not points.

A man on a sofa looking at his phone
SwagbucksPay slip
100
SB to $1
✓ Checked 5 Nov 2026

Swagbucks

Real points, small sums, and the bonus catch.

A woman in headphones trying something on her phone
User testingPay slip
$10+
per study
✓ Checked 5 Nov 2026

User testing

Real cash per test, but only when you are picked.

Hands typing on a white keyboard
MicrotasksPay slip
Per task
pay, no hourly rate
✓ Checked 5 Nov 2026

Microtasks

Paid per task, and Amazon Mechanical Turk closed on 30 September 2026.

A woman looking closely at a product in a shop
ShoppingPay slip
$0
fee, ever
✓ Checked 5 Nov 2026

Mystery shopping

Real, part-time, and copied by a well-known fake cheque scam.

Compare the real numbers

Way to earnYou needYou keepPaid out at
VOLTIX referral programA free account60% of the full price, on every renewal (30% with a discount code)From $20
ProlificOver 18, in a listed countryStudies must pay at least $8 an hour, cash$6 or £6
SwagbucksTime for small tasksPoints: 100 SB = $1From about $1 in gift cards
User testingA device, and tests that fit you$10 to $50 a study at UserlyticsBy PayPal at UserTesting, usually 14 days after a test
MicrotasksA computer or phonePaid per taskWeekly at Clickworker
Mystery shoppingTime, and money to pay firstReimbursed, sometimes a little extraSet by the company
Amazon Mechanical TurkClosedPermanently closed on 30 September 2026Closed

Spot the task scam

  • About 20,000 task scam reports reached the FTC in the first half of 2024, up from about 5,000 in all of 2023.
  • If an app asks you to deposit money to finish tasks or withdraw, the FTC’s description of the scam fits.
  • The earnings shown in those apps are not real, and deposits do not come back.
  • Never pay to get paid.

Truth checks

“Apps that pay $100 a day”An honest panel’s floor is $8 an hour. Here is what that means.
Walk away
“Get paid to watch videos”The real version pays in points. The big-money version is a scam pattern.
Mostly pennies
“Get paid to like videos”About 20,000 task scam reports reached the FTC in six months of 2024.
Scam pattern
“Paid surveys are easy money”Pocket money at best. Here is what the panels we read pay.
Pocket money
“Games that pay real money”You pay to enter, so you can lose. And one maker was found using bots.
You can lose
“Get paid to listen to music”It exists, at cents per written review. We did the sum.
Do the maths
“Get paid to drive with an ad on your car”Real firms do this. So does a fake cheque scam.
Check first
“Get paid to walk”The apps are real. The cash is a few dollars.
Pocket change
“Apps that pay real money”Some do. Here is what each one really pays out.
Some do
“Get paid to chat online”Real work exists. So do adverts that hide what the chat really is.
Check first
“Make money with a pickup truck”GoShare’s own pages give $46 to $52 on one and ‘up to $60’ on another.
Check first
“Get paid to donate plasma”US plasma centres do pay donors, but you go in person, and federal rules cap it at twice in 7 days.
Real, not online
“Earn money doing tasks on Telegram or WhatsApp”Singapore police counted at least 215 task, online business and survey job scam cases between October and late November 2025.
Scam pattern

Sources

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