As I explained in the guide on how to start a blog, I used to take online surveys to make money. Things were very difficult then as I had just quit my job with no knowledge of how the online venture would work out.
That aside, I ended up taking surveys using different survey building tools, from free ones to paid ones. Most of them involved market research surveys and business-related topics. I didn’t earn a substantial amount and that’s why I am no longer doing it to earn an income. However, I have developed a deep knowledge and have tested various survey tools in their development/beta testing phase.
If you are interested in making money by taking online surveys, below are some top ones you can sign up with:
- American Consumer Opinion
- InboxDollars
- Swagbucks
- Pinecone Research
- Harris Poll Online
Others are Survey junkie, OneOpinion, VIP Voice, Opinion Outpost, Say So4 Profit, PanelBucks, Paid Surveys, and Prize Rebel.
Table of Contents
Review of Top Paying survey Tools
1. American Consumer Opinion
American Consumer Opinion is a worldwide network of people who get paid to participate in surveys and research projects on products. It was launched by Decision Analyst in early 1986 is just a small survey panel. Members were asked to participate by telephone and answered the surveys by mail.
With the era of the internet, the panel went online and spread from the US where it first started to Canada, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Today, American Consumer Opinion has a membership of over 600 million including men, women, and children.
Is American Consumer Opinion legit?
First of all, there is no membership is free to join. They assess you and members of your household from the information you fill in the registration form when signing up, to determine if you qualify to participate in a particular survey. They guarantee that your personal information and opinions will remain confidential and never be used for any other purposes without your explicit permission.
How to Sign Up and use
- Go to American Consumer Opinion and select the ‘Sign Up’ tab
- Fill in the required details correctly.
Once you fill the details you get a membership account. This is where your surveys will be sent.
How to use:
You will be receiving short surveys (screener) several times a year about your household usage of certain products and services and will be expected to give honest answers on the survey regarding your experience with the products or services.
Ways of Earning
- Surveys
The screener usually takes a few minutes to answer and you get paid between 5-50 points, or you will be entered into a drawing for electronic gift cards.
You can also get a follow-up survey which takes 5 minutes or longer to complete, you always receive Points. These points will accumulate in your Member Account, and you can redeem them once you have fulfilled all the terms of this Agreement.
Pros
- A fun way to make money
- Membership is free
- Your opinion counts and influences the future development of the products
- The sign-up process is easy and fast
- You get to evaluate new products
- You get to test new advertising
Cons
- Limited to just surveys
- Rewards are small
How the company pays
- Points
- Electronic gift cards.
#2. InboxDollars
Inboxdollars is an award-winning company recognized by Inc. 5000 for outstanding growth. They have been featured in Forbes, Bustle, Mashable, and other news outlets as a top way to earn money online.
Since 2000, InboxDollars has paid over $59 million in cash rewards to its members for doing everyday online activities like taking surveys, watching TV, playing games, etc.
Is InboxDollar legit?
Aside from being featured by top news outlets like Forbes, they are also A+ Rated and Accredited with the Better Business Bureau, so one is able to have confidence in them before joining.
How to Sign up and use
- Go to Inboxdollars and click on the ‘Sign up’ tab
- Fill in the required details correctly
- Once you have read and agreed to the terms of membership Click ‘Sign Up for Free’
Ways of earning with InboxDollars
- Participating in online surveys
You get paid from $.50-$ 5.00 and takes you 3-25 minutes to complete. You can also get $10, $20, or more for the online survey if you match the demographic profile they are looking for.
- Watching videos
You get paid to complete a survey from watching short clips of movie trailers or a new product feature by big brand companies.
- Playing Games
InboxDollars pays you 18% cash-back for every dollar you pay for their games like Monkey Bubble Shooter, Mahjong Solitaire, Outspell and more as well as games from GSN casino.
- Online Shopping
You get free samples and discounts from top brands and as well as earning cashback when you shop online. As a member, you receive their insider tips for where to get free items online and regular posts for new offers.
- Reading emails
InboxDollar pays you to read emails from your email account
- Coupon cash rewards
You get free coupons for groceries, beauty, home and more enabling you to save money. Also, when you redeem your coupons you get cashback in your account.
Pros
- You get $5.00 free for signing up
- Many available options for you to make money
- You get free samples and discounts from top brands
- They pay you to do everyday things
- A fun way to make money
How much you can make
From $ 0 .5 to more than $20 for surveys.
How does the InboxDollars pay?
- Cash
- Gift cards
3. Swagbucks
Swagbucks has its headquarters in California and is a subsidiary brand of Prodege, LLC a leading media company that operates multiple customer engagement brands. They are one of the most popular web rewards programs; they give you free cards and cash for things you do every day online. They are popular and legit.
How to sign up
Their sign-up process is easy
Just go to Swagbucks and fill in the correct details in Sign Up form
Once you have completed filling you get a membership account.
Ways of earning with Swagbucks
- Shopping online
You get cash back when shopping at over 1500 retailers including Amazon, Walmart, and Starbucks. You earn points for every dollar you spend and also get access to exclusive deals and coupons.
- Answering surveys and polls
You earn free gift cards and earn SB points
- Watching videos
When you watch videos in their playlists you earn SB point and free gift cards
- Discover offers
When you check out exclusive deals you get free gift cards and SB points when you sign up for new services. You also get to check out free samples.
- Searching the web
You earn SB point when you use Yahoo to search the web.
- Playing Games
You get free gift cards when you play games and SB points when you buy custom games through their partners like GNS or their free original games.
- Using Mobile App
You get free gift cards when you shop, watch videos, and answer surveys on the go
Pros
- You get paid to do every day things online
- You get to sample new exclusive products from brands
- Many ways for you to earn
How they Swagbucks pay
- Gift card coupons
- Cash-back by PayPal
4. Pinecone Research
Pinecone Research is an exclusive survey website and product testing platform that voices consumer opinions to companies regarding their products. They conduct surveys from members and pay them for their opinions. These surveys are important to determine which product actually gets to the market. Pinecone Research is legit.
How to sign up and use
- Go to Pinecone Research, You will get a Sign-up form.
- Fill in the details and submit.
The company will determine if you qualify to join depending on the details you gave on the Sign-up form.
If you qualified you will get a membership account.
Pinecone Research will be sending you survey notification, which you are to answer honestly. The survey normally takes 15-20 minutes to complete. For every completed survey you earn points.
Ways of earning
- Surveys
- Product testing
Pros
- You earn points for every completed survey
- You get to test new products before they enter the market
- Your opinion influences which product gets to the market
- You can redeem points for cash or prizes
How much you can earn
You get $3-$5 for a survey and product test up to $6
How Pinecone Research pays
Pinecone rewards you in points which after accumulating to the set limit you can redeem for cash or prize.
5. Harris Poll Online
Harris Poll Online is a survey-conducting company based in the US but its surveys are open to people all over the world. Their surveys are mostly focused on young people and kids. Only one member of a household can join. You are paid for every survey that you complete in points (HiPoints). Harris Poll is a legit survey website.
How to Sign up and use
- Go to Harris poll and submit your email address. They will send you a link on your email.
- Click on the link to get started.
Upon completing the required details you will be registered. Harris Poll will send you a survey after about two weeks from registration, answer the survey and you will receive Hi Points. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and is easy.
Pros
- Very easy to join
- No registration fee required
- Even teenagers and kids can participate
- People from all over the world can join
- You get free gift cards
Cons
- Their rewards are slightly lower in comparison
The amount you can earn
For every survey completed you get points, after your third poll you will be having 200 Points which you can redeem for a gift card or let them accumulate for a bigger prize.
Points that can be redeemed to gift cards for shopping in stores like Target.
6. Survey Junkie
Survey junkie is a popular survey company that was started in 2013. It is a legit online community of over 10 million members airing their opinions and suggestions to company brands on their products. It accepts members from the US, Canada, and Australia. Anyone above 13 years with an email address can join and make money by participating in surveys and focus groups locally or virtually. The company uses your demographic info and matches you to a survey that fits your profile.
How to Sign up and use
The sign-up process is easy.
- Go to Survey Junkie and click ‘Join Now’
- Fill out the profile questionnaire
- You will need to verify your identity through text or email verification.
Ways to earn with Survey Junkie
- Answering survey questions – You get points for every survey you complete.
- Focus groups – If you fit a target group you can participate in a focus group and earn higher than you would in an ordinary survey.
Pros
- A fun way to make money
- Teenagers can participate
- Free e-gift cards
- You get many surveys
Cons
- Survey junkies tend to fill up fast
- The pay is really small
- The listings of surveys do not have subjects so you aren’t able to offer an informed opinion
How much you can earn
The amount you can make depends on a survey. You will always know before you answer a survey. 100 points are equal to $1. Once you get 1,000 points you can redeem as cash through PayPal or bank transfer, or get an e-gift card for stores such as Amazon, iTunes, Walmart and more.
How Survey junkie pays
Once you have accumulated to 1000 points, you can redeem your points in any of the following ways:
- Cash through PayPal or bank transfers
- e-Gift cards
7. OneOpinion
OneOpinion is owned by Dynata and was founded in 2011. It is open to people living in the US, UK, Canada, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands, and Australia. They conduct surveys on behalf of the world’s leading marketing research companies. By joining the panel, you will be able to test new products and services and influence their development by sharing your opinion, while earning great rewards. Anyone above 13 years can join as well as multiple household members. They are also legit.
Ways of earning
You can earn by participating in the following
- Online surveys
- Product testing
- Diary surveys
- Teen surveys
- Mobile Surveys
You earn points for every survey you complete, and different surveys earn you different points.
How to Sign up and use
The process is easy and fast
- Go to OneOpinion and fill out the registration form
- Follow the instructions once you receive your confirmation email until the registration is complete and confirmed.
You will be able to start taking surveys and earn rewards.
Pros
- A simple way of earning cash or gift cards
- Teenagers and multiple household members can join
The amount you can earn
1,000 points are equivalent to $1.00, once you reach $25 you can redeem as cash by PayPal or as gift card either physical or virtual that will be sent to you instantly ready to use.
OneOpinion also has a ‘One Rewards Program’, which allows you to trade your points for diverse rewards if you prefer rewards over cash or pre-paid debit cards.
OneOpinion pays via:
- Cash
- Gift cards
My name is Nate Reiner and I am the editor here at 10Webtools. I have 8 years of experience using 50+ different web tools ranging from podcast, web hosting, email marketing, and much more. I previously managed a team offering support services to a large conglomerate that utilized tens of software solutions. I now run this blog full-time and when I am not reviewing or testing software, I enjoy riding bikes and supporting my clients achieve internet success. You can reach me directly at [email protected]