Recent surveys and statistics have shown that people spend almost all day with the phone, and we know this is true. Think of the last time you forgot your phone at home while going out, how did you feel? Well, this shows the importance of our phone play in the day to day activities.

Because of this importance, some companies and businesses have found different ways to help you make money while spending time with your phone. You can perform different tasks on your phone and get paid for these tasks.

This article will bring all the earning opportunities to your attention. We will also let you know how to get started as soon as possible.

30 Legit Ways to Make Money With Your Phone
What Apps Earn Most?

30 Legit Ways to Make Money With Your Phone

The methods and options to earn money with your phone will vary and you will have to choose which of them is right for you. You can take surveys online, perform micro tasks, or even sell some items online, all of this can be made possible with just your phone. Let see how.

1. Make money from Investment Apps

Investment Apps

The investment apps have provided a lot of earning opportunities in recent times. You can get:

• Automatic savings without having to give anything up
• Free investment trades
• Automatic investing for your entire portfolio

By getting a few of the right apps in place, you can set up an entire investment system that takes care of your future. Check out some investment apps you can take advantage of:

Read Also: How to Make Money Fast: 31 Quick Ways to Earn $100 Now

Acorns: Allows you to invest as little as $1 per month. The app rounds up purchases to the next dollar and invests the difference automatically. It helps you to start investing with such small amounts that you won’t even notice the money missing.

There are no account minimums and no overdraft fees. Additionally, Acorns partnered with over 300 companies that offer cash bonuses when you shop at their online store. The money is applied directly to your investment account.

Robinhood: If you’re interested in something a little more complex, Robinhood allows you to trade stocks, funds, and other financial products from your phone. And there aren’t any commission fees on self-directed accounts.

This user-friendly option lets you invest as little as $1 in more than 5,000 stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrency. If you’ve been looking to trade from your phone for free, get this app.

Betterment: Betterment is a combination of investing and savings. You’ll create personal goals (buying a home, paying for a wedding, saving for college, etc.) and Betterment will help you create a personalized investment plan that works for your lifestyle. You can track your investment and make deposits on the app.

Betterment charges a .25% annual fee. This is a fantastic option if you want an investment account, plan to set up an automatic monthly deposit, and then never want to think about it again. You’ll be shocked with how much money you made after a few years.

2. Use an App to Sell Stuff

One of the fastest ways to earn some extra cash is to sell things you’re no longer using. There are a lot of apps that allow you to sell everything from electronics to clothing, books, and even unused gift cards. Here’s the most popular one’s:

Poshmark: Poshmark allows users to list their items on the website. Once you sign up for an account, snap a photo of the item you want to sell, include a description, and set a price.

The app even lets you host a party so your friends can list like-items together. Poshmark supplies the box and postage free!  It allows you to list items free but charges a $2.95 fee for items under $15 and a 20% fee on items over $15.

Letgo: When you’re spending time decluttering or cleaning out your garage, you may as well earn a little bit of money while you’re at it. Letgo is akin to an online thrift store. Letgo works a bit like Craigslist, with a more modern platform and app capabilities.

The app is free to use and you can negotiate prices if you really want to get rid of something. You are restricted to selling in your area and you can’t be paid through the app, so you’ll have to work out payment arrangements with the buyer (typically cash or Venmo).

Decluttr: Decluttr lets you sell media items like DVDs, CDs, books, electronics, and gaming items. Decluttr also accepts phones. The Decluttr app is particularly helpful because you can use it to scan the barcode of the items you want to sell and they will give you an instant valuation.

Once you get your estimate, just request a kit, and send your items in the mail. Once they receive and review your items, they pay. They guarantee their first valuation (within 30 days) or they’ll send your item back.

3. Sell Your Photos on FOAP

Your obsession with the amazing phone cameras could pay off. FOAP allows creators to sell stock photos from their phones. The app is completely free and you can upload photos right from your phone. You can sell and resell the same photo as many times as you want. Photos sell for $10 and they keep 50% of each sale.

In addition to creating a portfolio of work, you can also submit photos to “missions.” The missions are created by big-name companies looking for a stock image. The pay on these are typically much higher, and companies may even purchase the work of photos that don’t “win.”

If you enjoy taking photos and don’t mind spending a bit of time adding keywords and descriptions to garner attention, this could be a good option. Think of it as Instagram that pays you for photos.

Make sure to look through popular photos to see what type of images are selling, and keep in mind most buyers are companies or small business owners trying to find an image for their website or blog.

4. Work as a Customer Service Agent

You may be able to make money working as a customer service representative on your phone. Major companies like U-Haul, Upwork, Getty Images, Dollar Flight Club, Delta Airlines, and JetBlue hire people to answer customer service calls from the comfort of their own home.

Working as a customer service agent from your phone will provide a more steady stream of income, but the jobs can be a bit more difficult to come by. You may also be required to go onsite for some training before you can work from home.

5. Work as a Language Tutor

If you have a smartphone and you’re fluent in English, you could make money working as an ESL tutor on NiceTalk. After you download the app, you can submit your registration form to the company.

Once you’re approved, you can log on to your app whenever you want and take requests from students. You’ll need to be able to video chat with students.

You may be assigned a random student or students could choose you from a list of available tutors. Your sole responsibility is to have conversations with students. They are trying to learn English through conversation.

You get paid for each full minute you spend talking to your students. NiceTalk pays $10 per hour. The company only pays via PayPal. While the pay isn’t great, if you have a few extra hours to help a student learn English, it could be a fun way to earn some pizza cash.

6. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a near-universal favorite for getting paid to do small tasks.

Some tasks only take five minutes to complete. These tasks include daily surveys, watching videos and playing games. And, Swagbucks pays you to search the web too! Sometimes, it will feel as if these tasks aren’t even “work.”

You will receive points for each completed task. You can redeem your points for PayPal cash or gift cards. For gift cards, your redemptions start at $3 for your favorite restaurants and stores. And, you can earn your first $5 as a sign-up bonus!

7. Work for a Driving Service

If you have a smartphone and you don’t mind driving around town, consider using your cell phone to pick up a side hustle as a driver for Uber or Lyft. The average driver makes between $8.50 and $11.70 an hour. If you’re comfortable driving in bad weather or during rush hour, you could make even more.

Uber and Lyft apps notify you when there’s a rider nearby and you can accept or deny a fare at any time. You are responsible for your car and having the proper insurance.

Uber:  To snag a gig at Uber, you need to have your driver’s license for at least one year, and a reliable 4-door vehicle. If you’re under 23 years old you need to have at least three years of driving experience.

Uber runs a background check and you’ll need to submit copies of your driver’s license, car registration, and insurance. Once you’re approved, you can open the app and start scheduling rides. Uber takes 25% of each of your ride fares.

Lyft: Lyft has a similar system, but they also allow drivers to rent a car to use on their routes, for an extra fee. Lyft takes 20 to 25% of all fares, but drivers get to keep all of their tips. Lyft provides extra insurance for drivers, free, and drivers get to rate passengers.

Lyft requires a vehicle inspection and runs a background check. Drivers can withdraw cash from their account immediately through Express Pay.

8. Work for a Delivery Service

If you’ve got a bit of extra time on your hands, a cell phone, and a reliable car, try working for a grocery delivery service. Once customers place their order, you go shopping for them, then deliver the groceries to their home. Since you get to choose the orders you take, you can maximize your earnings with a bit of planning.

The most well-known grocery delivery company is Instacart. If you’re not comfortable delivering to people’s homes, you could sign up just to do the shopping. Ather company that may work in your area is Shipt. The average shopper makes $15-$20 an hour.

Since you’ll receive notifications on your phone, you can take trips that work best for your schedule and earn a little extra cash when you have time.

9. InboxDollars

InboxDollars is probably the next largest “get-paid-to” platform after Swagbucks. There are many different ways to make money with InboxDollars. Some of these include reading emails, taking surveys, and watching videos.

To double your daily earning potential, you might consider joining two platforms. Besides InboxDollars, you might join Swagbucks. Or, you can join one of the other platforms on this page.

If you prefer earning cash to gift cards, InboxDollars can be a better option. Plus, you receive a $5 bonus for joining.

10. Mechanical Turk

Do you want to earn free gift cards? You should consider Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) as an income stream. To be honest, MTurk is best for tablets and computers. This means your iPhone might not be MTurk-friendly. But, there are some mobile-friendly tasks (HITs) as well.

You will need to determine what works best for your phone. Two options include taking surveys and entering data from images.

12. Ibotta

Ibotta is a mobile app that helps you earn cashback every time you visit the grocery. Before you check out, activate the cashback offers within the app. With Ibotta, you can get cashback at nearly any grocery store. Plus, the app also works at discount stores like Walmart and Target too.

There are two different types of cash back offers to activate. For example, you might get $2 back buying a 12-pack of Coca-Cola. Or, you can earn cash back when you purchase a loaf of bread, regardless of the brand. Most importantly, you don’t have to clip paper coupons to enjoy the savings.

When you cash out, you can request payment by PayPal, Venmo, or gift cards.

13. Surfing the web and watching videos online

A good number of websites and apps pay good money for being on their site, either by watching adverts, short video clips, and so on. Some of these apps are listed below:

• Swagbucks: This is one of the most popular apps where you can make money by shopping, watching videos, and answering paid surveys. In the end, you can redeem your money through PayPal or use of gift cards.
• Fronto: this is another app that allows you to read news articles, product deals, and reviews, as well as watch adverts to earn points. You can also earn bonus points for downloading free apps.

14. Freelance

This is one of the surest ways to make money with the use of your smartphone. All you need a good smartphone and good internet connection, if you have a laptop it is an added advantage for you.

You can get writing jobs online, data entry jobs too. Sites that pay for such works are Fiverr, Guru.com, Peopleperhour and so on. These sites pay very good rewards for your work.

15. Make YouTube videos

YouTube has been known to be a good site where one can make extra cash. You can either make short skits for fun, online tutorial classes on how to make cake, tie gele, make a simple dress and so on and thereby earn a good amount of money.

All you need is to own a YouTube channel where you can post your videos and get people to subscribe to your channel and get paid. It is a good source of making money just with the use of your smartphone.

Make Money From Mobile Apps

Mobile apps come in all shapes and sizes. For instance, you probably have a half dozen apps you use on a regular basis. Maybe, you use these apps to listen to podcasts, bank online and get driving directions.

16. Paribus

It doesn’t get any easier to make money shopping than with Paribus. All you have to do is link your email address or Amazon account to Paribus. And, when a price drops, you can get a price refund! With Paribus, you get cashback at over 30 online stores.

You can file price protection claims yourself and receive the price difference as a refund. And, let’s be honest, how many times have you taken the time to request a partial refund? Probably never.

If you’re like me, you probably never knew about this hack. So, Paribus helps you get free money with minimal effort.

17. Clarity Money

Clarity Money is an app that works similarly to Mint, at least in part. First, you can hook up your accounts to the app so it can help you analyze your spending data.

Clarity Money will also make suggestions for how you can save more money. The best part is, you can use these suggestions and take action right there, within the app.

Finally, Clarity Money has an in-app savings account. With Marcus by Goldman Sachs, your deposits earn 2.05% APY. If you don’t follow bank interest rates, this is one of the highest current rates. You can also schedule automatic deposits so you can easily save your extra income each month.

And, Clarity Money is free to use.

18. Rakuten

Rakuten is one of my favorite apps! Here’s why. You and I can get up to 40% cashback on nearly any online purchase.

Even though Rakuten is accessible on a tablet or computer, the Rakuten app offers bonus cash back. For select retailers, you get special in-app bonus cashback.

Each calendar quarter, Rakuten will send you a “Big Fat Check” in the mail. Or, you can also get PayPal cash or a gift card. As a new Rakuten member, you get $10 bonus cash by making your first $25 purchase with Rakuten.

19. Jobs2Shop

Jobs2Shop will pay you to mystery shop. After shopping “incognito” at a store or restaurant, you leave your feedback on the Jobs2Shop app.

Of course, you can also make money with these other online activities:

• Mobile surveys
• Playing games
• Shopping online
• Redeeming digital coupons

You will get paid in cash and will earn a $5 sign-up bonus.

20. Receipt Hog

Receipt Hog is one of the most flexible receipt-scanning apps for in-person purchases.

All you have to do is snap a picture of any receipt. For many purchases, you earn coins that can use for prizes like PayPal cash and Amazon gift cards. You can earn bonus cash by taking surveys and entering contests too.

21. Shopkick

No purchase is necessary to earn points with Shopkick. Shopkick is an app available for iOS and Andriod. Although, you will earn more points when you make a purchase.

To make money with Shopkick, you first need to download the app, then enable your phone’s location services. First, you will earn points for walking into the store. Then, you can earn more points by scanning product barcodes.

This can be a fun way to get your exercise and interact with the public. Plus, you might be able to earn a free gift card each time you leave the house!

22. Slidejoy

At this time, Slidejoy is only available for Android users. If you have Droid, you can get paid each time you unlock your phone. This is because Slidejoy displays an ad or video on your lock screen.

Whether or not you explore the ad further, you earn points that you redeem for gift cards.  According to Slidejoy, the average user spends 10 minutes per day on the app. Like anyone, you can easily find 10 minutes to make money looking at ads.

23. EasyShift

The EasyShift app pays you to mystery shop. When you shop, you check prices and take pictures of products and storefronts. With each shift (job), you receive a checklist within the EasyShift app. To get paid, check each task checkbox that you complete in real-time.

Jobs are available in most U.S. cities. And, you will earn PayPal cash within 48 hours of completing the job.

24. Mobee

Mobee will pay you to mystery shop at your favorite stores. When you are on a time crunch, most missions take five minutes or less to complete.

While you are inside the store, you simply answer between five and ten questions on the Mobee app. As you complete each mission, you earn points for cash, gift cards and prizes.

25. National Consumer Panel

National Consumer Panel only requires one hour of your time every week.

Right before you go to bed one night, share your shopping activity for the week. To get paid, scan the receipts of products you buy with the NCP app. For each product, share the purchase price and the place of purchase too.

With each scan, you earn points that are good for cash, gift cards and prizes. And, NCP also increases your point payout the longer you remain an active member. To get the bonus, share your shopping history every week.

26. Nielson Digital Voice

With Nielsen Digital Voice, you earn points for every hour you use your smartphone. This is because Nielsen gauges how the average person uses their phone.

Is it used to make calls, send text messages, surf the web, or interact with downloadable apps? Join Digital Voice so they can find out. And, you’ll have the chance to earn cash prizes for your efforts.

27. Qmee

Qmee pays you to search online at with your favorite search engine. Next to the regular search engine results, Qmee shows product listings that might interest you. With a single search, Qmee doubles the results!

It’s possible to earn bonus points by using Qmee in three ways:

• Redeeming digital coupons
• Taking the daily survey
• Watching videos.

Even better, there isn’t a minimum payout threshold. So you can request PayPal payment every day if you’re an active searcher!

28. AppNana

AppNana will pay you to download and test apps. Since new apps constantly launch, you get paid to be one of the first testers. With AppNana, you find the next best app before it becomes popular.

For each test, you earn points that are good for gift cards and game downloads.

29. Music Xray

If you enjoy listening to music, you can get paid to listen to new music and rate it at Music Xray. During the application process, list your favorite bands to hear new music. Then, Music Xray recommends similar songs and bands. This way, you can discover new music to add to your playlist.

As a matter of fact, you will earn 10 cents per song that you listen to. Plus, you can get free gear from the bands you follow

30. My Likes

Is a great money-making app you need on your smartphone. This app allows you to participate in various advertising campaigns and rewards you money for likes and shares of the posts on Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels. People with large followers can make a large amount of money with the My Likes app.

What Apps Earn Most?

With all the apps available online to earn from, you might be confused as to which of them to choose, we will tell you. Although some of the apps mentioned above have huge potentials, there are others that offer more earnings for you. Here are some of them.

Money App

The Money App (available for iOS and Android) is a market research app that earns you rewards for completing tasks, which include offering opinions, playing games, checking store displays, mystery shopping, testing services and participating in free trials.

You open an account on the Money App and start completing tasks to accumulate rewards, which you can, in turn, redeem for cash using a PayPal account.

The beauty of this app is that you can get paid within two to three working days of redeeming rewards — which is unusual in the world of market research apps that typically pay once a month or don’t offer cash rewards at all.

What’s more, the app scores highly (4.8 out of 5) on both Google Play and iTunes. One reviewer wrote: “I got my first 10 dollars within 5 days. That’s pretty good for not getting up off the couch.” Couch potatoes, rejoice; you now have options.

iPoll

The iPoll app (available for iOS and Android) is a customized market research app that allows you to earn money through taking market surveys, writing down diaries (of dairy consumption over three days, for example) and completing missions around retail (e.g. going to the grocery store). 

You register and are asked some basic information, such as your preferences and consumer habits, to determine your fit for missions, and then you receive alerts when there are new missions available based on your preferences and location.

The beauty of this particular market research app is that it’s customized, so you get alerts for tasks and missions that are suited to your interests and what you may actually enjoy. 

Users like iPoll, too: It’s rated 4 out of 5 stars on iTunes — and less glowing 3.1 out of 5 on Google Play. One reviewer wrote, “I like that there’s usually not any technical difficulties or ‘glitches’…and that the selection of topics is interesting and fun. … Most of the time, surveys [are] easy to start and complete; also they’re not exceedingly long!” 

For each survey, mission, or diary completed, you earn rewards that can be redeemed for gift cards, or you can cash out using PayPal. You need only have accrued $10 to do so. Another perk: You’re automatically entered into quarterly sweepstakes to win $10,000 in cash.

Fluid Market

Not everyone has a vehicle and many of us own vehicles that sit idle for the majority of days. Good news: This sharing economy app, Fluid Market (available for iOS and Android), allows you to rent out your cargo van, box truck, pickup truck, car, and/or SUV by the hour, day, or week.

According to the company’s website, you can make up to $24,000 per year by renting your truck on Fluid. You can also rent out your tools, such as drills, saws, hedge trimmers, as well as items that fall into the “Other” category, which have included miscellaneous things, such as platform shoes, a rowboat and a tandem two-person bike. 

Users generally like the app. It’s rated 4.5 out of 5 on iTunes and 3.5 out of 5 on Google Play. One Fluid Market user said, “I love this app. I make money letting my neighbors use items that just sit around my house. It’s so easy and I get peace of mind with the insurance.”

The vehicle rental system is set up for convenience for both parties. You, the rentee, can set up a lockbox on your vehicle so you can rent out your car and not have to be present to hand over the keys. 

Bookscouter

“Great way of getting rid of books,” wrote one user of the Bookscouter app (available for iOS and Android). “I got $170 from selling four books. The highest buyer is automatically put at the top so you can get the most for your books. I will definitely use again.” 

The Bookscouter app allows you to earn money by selling your new and old books. Once you download the app, it’s easy to register (using your email address or through Facebook or other social networks).

Then, start scanning book barcodes (using your phone’s camera) and see an aggregation of buyback prices from book-buyers, with the highest buyer at the top. Shipping is free. 

Reviewers have given Bookscouter their endorsements on iTunes (3.3 out of 5) and Google Play (3.9 out of 5). However, keep in mind, not all the books scanned will produce price codes and some of the offers to buy your books disappear when you follow up.

However, as one reviewer said, “Getting paid even $15 for books I was going to give away seems worth it to me! Clear clutter AND get some cash.”

Toluna

As a market research app, Toluna (available for iOS and Android) stands out in the crowd, because users can get paid in cash using PayPal, and also the app offers rewards for more than just taking surveys — you can also create your own surveys (e.g. based on current events, shampoo habits or opinion on latest tech gadget) that can earn you bonus points. 

Registration is simple, and to get a feel for how you can make the most out of Toluna, you can watch a webinar on ways you can milk the app. (Look for the next webinar in your notifications, on the upper-right-hand side of screen, which tells you about new surveys available.) 

The app is rated 3.8 out of 5 stars on iTunes and 3.3 out of 5 stars on Google Play. 

“Be patient and persevere! I’ve been here just a bit over a year and it’s been wonderful. When you get enough points, go to the rewards center and choose what you like! If you go for cash, I like the PayPal advantage over waiting on a paper check,” wrote one user on the Toluna community blog. 

Userfeel

The Userfeel app (available for iOS and Android) allows you to participate in usability tests, meaning you get paid to visit and explore new websites, perform various simple tasks on the site, and offer recorded feedback and critiques.

Each test lasts 10 to 20 minutes, and you’re paid $10 a test in cash via PayPal or Payoneer. 

One of the standout features of this app is that you take an initial “qualifications test,” which records your voice and your screen as you walk through given tasks.

This is a version of what you’ll be doing, but it’s unpaid and meant to not only test whether the app is working, but also to give you a rating by the UserFeel team. The better your rating, the more tests that will be assigned to you. 

The app scored 3.2 out of 5 on Google Play. One UserFeel reviewer wrote, “I had few issues uploading my video, but their support team was able to help me recover it, and I got paid for my test. Very easy way to make some extra money. I can’t wait to [do] another test.” Some of the reviews mentioned the app crashing as the user was trying to upload the test video, however, the Userfeel support team was responsive in trying to resolve these issues.

Musely

Musely (available for iOS and Android) is an online community and marketplace app for eco-friendly beauty and home products, as well as a social platform for women to share and receive healthy lifestyle advice and tips ranging from parenting to skincare to fitness.

Read Also: 50 Legitimate Ways to Earn Money Online Without Paying Anything

On Musely, you can shop for organic, up-and-coming brands and eco-friendly products, such as toxin-free nail polish or all-natural lipstick. 

The way to earn money on the app is to become a “Muse” (basically an influencer) on the site and create your own store to earn a 20 percent commission on the sales of the products you recommend. Musely automatically pays out the 1st and the 15th of each month. 

The app is rated highly on both iTunes (4.7 out of 5)  and Google Play (4.2 stars out of 5). One reviewer wrote, “Loads of DIY tips! It’s a great app for health, beauty, crafts, and much much more! I’m obsessed!”

Finally

From all we have discussed in this article, you can see that are a lot of earning opportunities for you with just your phone. If you have been spending a lot of time on your phone without getting paid for it, now is the time to reward yourself.

Just pick one of the methods mentioned above, and start making money with your phone.