13 Money Making Apps to Turn Your Phone into an ATM

Before we dive into the best money making apps, let me first ask you…

How much time per day do you spend staring at your phone?

If you’re anything like me, you’re glued to your phone all hours of the day.

In fact, you’re probably reading this article on your phone right now. And if you aren’t you probably glanced at your phone at least twice already to see if there were any new notifications.

There probably wasn’t, but you still looked anyway.

Truth is, we’re addicted to these damn things. But wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to turn that addiction into a little extra cash?

Advertisers are spending more money on mobile ads than any other platform, coming in at around $70 billion per year.

You can get a little slice of the pie just by using the right apps.

I did the research for you and found 13 apps that make you money.

All you have to do is download them and get to work.

You might also want to look at this list of selling apps. These are apps that will pay you money for things you have sitting around your house.

13 Highest Paying Money Making Apps

If you’ve read any other “money making app” list, you’ve probably come across a lot of the same apps or premises.

Answer surveys, shop online, or do mindless stuff on your phone for a few pennies.

Some of those are in here, but I really wanted to explore new avenues for making money off of your phone and I certainly didn’t want any repeat tasks.

The opportunities below are “best in show” meaning these apps pay the most amount of money in their category.

I broke down each section with the app name, what you need to do to get paid, and a screenshot or two of the app in action.

1. nielsen: Get $50 to Download an App

Want to make $50 just for downloading an app? Nielsen has you covered.

Nielsen is a consumer research agency and they want to know how you use your phone, meaning where you shop, what kind of music you listen to, what websites you visit etc.

They do collect all of this data anonymously and keep your information private.

Why collect it at all? They use your demographics to figure out what people who are similar to you may be interested in or what they may want to buy.

All you need to do is download their app, install it, and you will earn $50 per year.

2. Google Opinion Rewards: Answer Questions About Yourself

Let’s be real.

Google already knows pretty much everything there is to know about you.

This doesn’t mean they don’t want to know even more. This app will send you a notification to answer a few questions about yourself, your spending habits, your travel habits, or just where you’ve been recently.

The short surveys are usually 3 questions long and will net you anywhere from ten cents to a dollar. A survey will usually take less than 30 seconds to answer.

It’s an incredibly quick and easy way to pocket some extra cash. The only drawback is having to wait for the next survey.

3. Foap: Take Pictures

How many images and videos do you have on your phone?

You probably have more than your phone can even store.

Foap has built a platform for advertisers to connect with phone photographers.

You add your photos to Foap’s portfolio and get paid any time an advertiser wants to use your images.

Your images will have to be enticing to advertisers. It’s unlikely candid snapshots are going to net very much money, if any at all.

So make sure you think about things like composition, lighting, and the subject.

The right photo could be worth quite a bit of money.

4. DietBet: Lose Weight

You know how losing weight sucks?

Do you also know how much it sucks to lose money?

Well, DietBet has taken the two ideas and combined them into one hellish app that will help you get fit and make money at the same time.

You join a pool and bet a certain amount of money that you will lose a certain amount of weight in a certain amount of time.

Everyone who hits their goal, gets a percentage of the prize pool.

Everyone who fails, well, doesn’t.

This app will require you to do a little more work than the others, but you may also live a longer, healthier life.

For the true masochists there is also RunBet, StepBet, and SweatBet.

Download all 4 to slim out your waistline and fatten up your wallet.

5. ShopTracker: Share Your Amazon History

How many Amazon Prime boxes arrive at your doorstep each week?

Probably a lot.

You can fuel your Amazon shopping addiction and get paid $36 per year just to share what you buy with the ShopTracker app.

ShopTracker will automatically send you a gift card each month that you have the app installed.

Installing an app, forgetting about it, and getting paid each month sure beats having to work out for money.

I’m looking at you DietBet.

6. ibotta: Get Paid to Save Money

ibotta is a shopping app that keeps money in your pocket.

(They’ll also give you $10 just for creating an account.)

Instead of paying full-price for items, ibotta will find coupons or discounts for you.

You scan your phone at checkout, or take a picture of your receipt, and ibotta will deposit CASH back into your account.

You were already going to buy this stuff already. Ibotta just gives you the chance to pay a little bit less than you would have.

Plus, the rewards come in cash money.

Meaning dollars in your account, not points or credits or Schrute bucks.

Deposit your money into a Paypal account, Venmo, or cash out in gift cards.

7. Roadie: Deliver Packages

Planning a roadtrip? Going out of town? Just enjoy driving?

Roadie connects businesses with drivers.

You simply download the app, input your route, and Roadie will let you know what options there are for pickup and delivery along the way.

You can earn anywhere from $60 for a local delivery to a whopping $650 for a long-haul drop off.

Best part is, this isn’t Uber.

You are picking up and dropping off packages, not people. You don’t have to entertain strangers or worry about someone throwing up in your back seat.

Roadie drivers get added perks at restaurants and discounts on car services as well.

8. Gigwalk: Complete Local Tasks

Open up the Gigwalk app and you’ll instantly see a list of tasks that need to be done around you.

Most of the tasks revolve around making sure a product is being properly displayed in the store.

You walk to the store, verify the display is being show appropriately and the product is priced correctly, then snap a picture, then get a payout directly to your Paypal account.

You pick the gigs that interest you the most.

Pay ranges from $3 to $100 per task completed.

9. SlideJoy: Rent Out Your Lock Screen

How many times a day do you unlock your phone?

It’s okay, you can round down to the nearest hundred.

It’s a lot right? And you probably don’t even need to look at your phone to unlock it.

Well, SlideJoy will pay you to put a few ads there.

The ads are unobtrusive and it’s wasted space anyway.

Now, you can get cash every time you unlock your phone.

You can cash out your earnings directly to a Paypal account or exchange them for gift cards.

Either way, you’re making money by utilizing a screen you would otherwise be ignoring.

10. Swagbucks: Watch Videos

I’ve been a huge fan of Swagbucks for a few years now.

In fact, I’ve cashed out well over $1,000 since I first joined.

(They also pay you $5 just to sign up!)

Swagbucks gives you the opportunity to make money just by watching videos on your phone.

You login, watch the videos that interest you, then you get paid.

You can also answer surveys and get cash back when you shop.

You are basically getting paid to Youtube.

11. Acorns: Invest Your Spare Change

Acorns is a pretty cool app that works entirely in the background to help you grow your savings account.

Every time you make a purchase, Acorns will round up the total to the nearest dollar, and take your spare change and invest it into the market on your behalf.

So that $3.40 coffee now “costs” $4.00 even, but the extra 60 cents gets added to a stock portfolio and grows silently in the background.

It’s a great way to save up for retirement or even a vacation without even realizing you’re doing so.

(Take notes, DietBet. Someone else doing all of the work for you is way cooler than getting paid to move around.)

12. Userfeel: Test Out Websites

Userfeel is looking for people to open up websites on their phone and narrate their experience using the site.

They want to know what you think, how you interact, what can be improved, and any information you can share about a page.

You will be helping website owners identify and fix problems with their sites.

Each test will run about 15-20 minutes and you will earn $10 for each test completed.

This gives you the opportunity to make up to $40 per hour just by testing website.

Not bad at all.

13. Rover: Walk or Board Dogs

You can get paid to play with dogs.

Seriously.

You can even get paid up to $25 per hour.

How much time have you spent playing with dogs for free!?

Rover connects pet owners with pet lovers. If you have extra time during the day, you can find local dogs that need daily walks, play time, or cuddles and get paid for your services.

The real money is in overnight stays. Pet owners don’t want to drop their animals off at kennels any more. If you can provide a safe, friendly space for someone else’s pet, you can make quite a bit a money.

I would suggest signing up for Wag! as well. The premise is exactly the same, play with or board other people’s pets and get paid.

The more sites you join, the better chances you have of getting paid to play with animals.

Finding the Best Apps That Make You Money

I hope this list helps put a few extra dollars in your pocket each month.

Sure, you aren’t going to get rich, but you already use your phone a ton, you might as well have a little extra spending cash at the end of the day.

If you are looking for some quick cash, be sure to read my guide on how to make money online fast. There are 5 tasks in there that if you complete them all (takes about 30 minutes) you’ll make $126.

Let me know if any of the above apps work out for you.

(Am I really going to end this post using the words “work out” and not make another DietBet joke?)

(Yes.)