Here’s a phrase you don’t hear very often: “free money!” Sounds like a scam, right? But fear not! There are actually quite a few ways to get free money online right now using a variety of different services.
These aren’t meant to become your primary source of income, but they will supplement your earnings nicely and allow you to pay off a couple of bicaptialls or take a night out on the town.
Many of these promotions simply pay you for signing up or using their service—and more often than not, they pay free money almost instantly!
While most of these ideas are one-off bonuses to pay you cash right now, some are money hacks that you can repeat over and over for extra income.
Desperate for Free Money NOW?
You should consider getting a cash advance if you need free money fast.
Here are three of my favorite cash advance apps to help you get by until your next payday:
- Cleo: You can get as much as $250 ($500 for members with direct deposit). You can expect the money to hit your account in 3-4 days or pay a minor fee for instant funds.
- Chime: If you have a Chime account, you can access a feature called SpotMe. SpotMe automatically deposits $200 into your account when you overdraft on withdrawal or debit card purchases.
- Empower: Empower offers cash advances for as much as $250, and they won’t charge any interest as long as you repay the loan on your next paycheck.
13 Real Ways to Get Free Money Now
Here’s how to get free money online now:
- Unclaimed Money
- Free Money from the Government
- Survey Sites offering Free Money
- Cash Back Apps offering Free Money
- Investing Apps offering Free Money
- Bank Accounts offering Free Money
- Free Money from Bill Negotiation Apps
- Play Games for Free Money
- Free Money with Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses
- Free Money for Your Junk Mail
- Free Money for Reading Emails
- Free Money to Get Healthy
- Free Money with 401k Matching
1. Unclaimed Money
Believe it or not, there are websites dedicated to helping you find cash that was never given to you. Simply take a few minutes to search your name, free of cost, and it will let you know if there are any outstanding funds that you can claim.
If you are in need of money right now, these sites are the best place for you to start.
- Unclaimed.org: Unclaimed.org is run by NAUPA (National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators). You can search your name and state on the site and it will match you with any unclaimed funds that you may have, from uncashed checks, security deposits, overpayments, and more.
- MissingMoney.com: MissingMoney.com is similar to Unclaimed.org. The site allows you to search for lost property that has been turned over to the government that is due to you. It could be any type of property from uncashed paychecks, stocks and bonds, safe deposit contents, and more.
2. Free Government Assistance
If you are in desperate need of free money, there are government assistance programs that exist to help those in a financial bind. You will need to meet certain qualifications but are worth your time looking into to help you get by in a pinch.
- Benefits.gov: The most frustrating part about receiving government assistance is figuring out what you actually qualify for. With Benefits.gov you can complete a questionnaire and it will guide you in the right direction for benefits that you and your family may qualify for with less hassle.
- Child Care Development Fund: If you have young kids needing child care, the Office of Child Care helps low-income families with financial assistance to help cover the cost of childcare to improve the quality of early care and education.
- Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP): LIHEAP is a federal program that helps low-income households with heating and cooling costs. Requirements vary by state, so check the site to see if you qualify for assistance.
3. Survey Sites Offering Free Money
There is no shortage of rewards sites to start earning points redeemable for free cash or free gift cards that you can start using today:
MyPoints
💰 $5 Free Money For Signing Up
If you have spare time and need cash now, you can start answering surveys, taking daily polls, or watching videos with MyPoints to start earning points redeemable for free gift cards.
The best part? You get a free $5 welcome bonus just for signing up. Not too shabby!
Branded Surveys
Originally called Mintvine, Branded Surveys is another survey site that can help you earn free money in your free time. It is lesser known than sites like Survey Junkie and Swagbucks, but it is still a legitimate way to stack some cash. Plus, they’ll reward you your first dollar just for signing up.
Branded Surveys will reward you points for taking surveys and reward you for your loyalty to the platform. Users can qualify for different badge levels – bronze, silver, and gold – based on how many surveys they take per month. The badge levels act as a multiplier so that you can earn more points per survey the higher you rank.
Users can earn points in several ways. You can earn points by taking surveys and polls, but you can also earn points by maintaining a daily streak, competing on the leaderboard, or referring friends to join Branded Surveys. Once you reach 500 points worth $5, you can cash out with direct deposit, gift cards, or charity donations.
Swagbucks
Swagbucks is one of the original legit ways to earn free money online. Simply use the Swagbucks search engine instead of Google, and you’ll earn points for each search.
It’s not life-changing money, but you may as well get paid free cash for search activities that you’re doing every day anyway, right?
You can also earn points by watching videos and completing online surveys. This is also a free-money idea that you can do while you’re lounging around.
Once you have enough Swagbucks points saved up, you can redeem them for cash back via PayPal money, or for an iTunes, Walmart, or Amazon gift card, among other major retailers.
Survey Junkie
With more than 10 million users worldwide, Survey Junkie is one of the most popular options for people who want to get free money online. You can earn free cash through Survey Junkie in one of two ways: taking surveys and sharing your online behaviors.
Taking surveys through Survey Junkie is a surefire way to earn money through the platform. Each survey typically takes around 20 to 30 minutes to complete and rewards between 10 to 200 points.
You can also earn by sharing your online behaviors through Survey Junkie’s add-on program, SJ Pulse. This extension learns from your browsing habits and shares those insights with marketing research companies. You will be given SJ points through their rewards program for your participation.
The best part about Survey Junkie is that you don’t need to do anything to make your first $10. They will credit $10 worth of SJ points to your account just for signing up. While the points system is subject to change in value, you can expect 10 points to be worth roughly $0.10. You can redeem your Survey Junkie points for retail gift cards or cash.
InboxDollars
InboxDollars is an online portal for earning free money quickly. On the site, you can complete online surveys, watch videos, read promo emails, and shop through their online shopping portal to earn cashback—basically, it’s easy money for completing rudimentary tasks.
When you sign up for InboxDollars, you’ll receive a $5 bonus. So there’s no harm in signing up and checking out some of the activities to see if it suits you.
The site has paid out over $60 million in cash, free PayPal money, and gift card rewards to members, making it one of the most reputable places to earn free money on the web!
4. Cash Back Apps Offering Free Money
Cash back sites and apps are one of the easiest ways to make money by saving money on your everyday purchases. You will not only save money with these apps but you will earn points redeemable for free cash and gift cards.
Capital One Shopping
With Capital One Shopping, you will create a free account and add the browser extension to your computer and download the app on your phone.
It will work in the background to try and find you better deals while you shop online.
Rakuten
💰 $30 Free Money For Signing Up
Rakuten, formerly known as eBates, is a cash back site that will help you earn cashback on your online purchases. Your cash back is payable via cash through paper check or PayPal.
The best part is that once you create an account and spend $25 within the first 3 months, you will earn a $30 bonus! Who doesn’t spend $25 in 3 months on online purchases?
Dosh
Dosh is a new cash back app. Just link your credit or debit card and shop at a supported retailer, and you’ll earn anywhere between 2% and 5% cash back on each transaction.
Some supported retailers include Mobil, CVS, Mattress Firm, and tons of local coffee shops, so it won’t be hard to earn cash back at the places you already shop. The app will jumpstart your savings and give you a $5 bonus when you sign-up and link a new credit card.
Another cool thing about Dosh is it has a referral program, so you can earn an additional $5 for other people you refer. You get a referral bonus, your friend gets a welcome bonus… It’s a true win/win.
Fetch Rewards
The Fetch app has made it easier than ever to get free money simply by scanning your receipts. You are not limited to certain stores, you can scan any receipt and earn a minimum of 25 points.
When your receipt contains a purchase that is part of their special promos then you will earn even more points. You can redeem your points for free gift cards. How easy is that to get free money?
5. Investing Apps offering Free Money
There are several great apps that offer you free money to start investing. Believe it or not you do not have to have thousands of dollars to start investing. You can start with as little as $5.
Acorns
💰 $20 Free Money to Invest
Acorns is an automated investing service that can track your credit and debit card purchases and rounds them up to the nearest dollar. It takes your “spare change” and invests it across a number of stocks, bonds, and other investments.
Here’s an Example: Let’s say you’re at the coffee shop and you buy a latte for $3.25. You swipe your credit card and pay for the coffee. Acorns will see the transaction, round up the purchase to $4 flat, and invest the additional 75 cents for you. It’s a really cool way to keep saving and investing on the regular without always thinking about it.
Sounds awesome, right? It is, and to make matters even better, Acorns will add $20 to your investment account for signing up and linking a funding source. This $20 will be invested too, so it will grow with the market!
Creating an account takes just a few minutes, making this the quickest ten bucks you’ll earn all week. On top of that, each week they offer large referral bonuses (up to $1,500!) when you share Acorns with your friends!
As much as I like helping people get free money right now, my true passion is actually to help people save, invest, and build long term wealth. It all starts with establishing good financial habits and saving small amounts of money on a regular basis. Acorns really helps with this so I encourage you to keep using it after sign-up and learn more about investing over time.
Public.com
Public is a popular investing app that is especially useful for beginner investors. Even the best investment platforms can make you feel like an island. You often find yourself learning about investing and the stock market all on your own. With Public, you can engage with other investors through the app to help you learn more about investing to help you become a more seasoned investor.
Public makes it worthwhile when you transfer your account from another brokerage. If you move your investments from one brokerage to Public, they will reward you with as much as $10,000. The amount you’re rewarded depends on the value of your portfolio transferred, but this is a great way to earn as much as ten grand simply by choosing Public.
Robinhood
💰 Up to $200 Worth of Free Stocks
With Robinhood, there is no minimum investment amount to get started. When you create your account, you will get up to $200 worth of free stocks. The stock you get will be chosen at random and will be valued between $2.50 and $10.00
You can start commission-free trading with Robinhood for as little as $1.
Webull
Webull is a commission-free trading platform that will appeal to the on-the-go investor. It is a sleek, easy-to-use platform that offers advanced tools to help you understand your investments and the market at large. In 2021, Webull introduced fractional shares to the platform, allowing you to invest in ETFs and stocks for as little as $5.
If you don’t have money immediately available to invest, Webull can help you out through their instant funding feature. Webull will send you instant funding of up to $1,000 to help you begin investing through the platform immediately. You may not see the funds in your account for a few business days, but it’s still a great feature to help you acquire investments ASAP.
6. Bank Accounts offering Free Money
Some of the best banks are constantly offering free cash for opening a new account. Most of them do not require much to earn the bonus offer, but you need to make sure to read the fine print so you do not miss out on the deal.
Chase Total Checking
💰 $300 Free Money for Opening a New Account
Chase Bank is currently offering $300 free money just for opening a Chase Total Checking account. If you are comfortable opening a new checking account, you can easily get $300 for free, and fast!
Open the new account online, set up a direct deposit of at least $500 within 90 days of opening your new Chase account and Chase will send you your free $300 sign-up bonus within 15 days!
*must setup direct deposit within 90 days to earn bonus cash.
A complete list can be found at BankBonus.com.
7. Get Free Money with Bill Negation Apps
Rocket Money
Subscriptions are part of all our lives. From Netflix to Spotify, we all have essential programs that renew monthly or annually to give us the service we need. But what about the subscriptions you don’t need or even know about? Rocket Money is an app that tracks all your subscriptions in one place and can even cancel the ones you don’t need at a touch of a button.
Rocket Money is a financial management mobile app that connects to your bank account to track all your subscriptions. They have a free version and a premium version of their app, depending on whether you want to be able to cancel your subscription from the Rocket Money app.
Unwanted subscriptions can be a drain on your finances and a contributor to credit card debt. You may be surprised at how much money you’re throwing away each month just by paying for subscriptions you don’t use. Whether you use the free version or the $12 premium version, Rocket Money can be a tool to help you cut down your spending, freeing up money for you to use however you like.
Trim
Finding and canceling unwanted subscriptions is a service that can save you countless hours of perusing bank statements and calling customer service. Subscription cancellation is only one of the valuable services that Trim offers.
Trim can help you unsubscribe from unwanted services, negotiate for lower bill payments, organize your budget, personalize alerts for payments, and much more. They claim that their customers save an average of $620 each year. The best part? Trim is totally free.
With all these fantastic free features, you’re probably wondering, what is the catch? Like many bill negotiation services, Trim collects a commission from the amount they help you save, except for subscription cancellation. If you want more features from Trim, like their credit monitoring system, you can purchase their premium subscription for $6.95.
8. Play Games for Free Money
I know it sounds crazy, but yes, there are apps out there that will give you free money for playing games. You won’t be able to make a living off of it, but if you enjoy sitting around and playing online games, this might work just fine for you.
Swagbucks LIVE
If you never miss a trivia night, you will love Swagbucks LIVE. Swagbucks LIVE is a free mobile app that lets users win free money by winning trivia tournaments. Swagbucks LIVE is a sub-brand of Swagbucks, the most popular digital platform. Since its founding, they have paid over $200 million in SB points redeemable for gift cards or PayPal deposits.
Winning money through Swagbucks LIVE is simple. Each trivia game enters you into rounds with other players of your same skill level. You are given a few seconds to answer questions that flash up on the screen, and you move further along in the tournament for each question you answer correctly. Grand prizes for each game can be anywhere from $50 to as high as $1,000.
Blackout Bingo
If you’re a fan of the classic game bingo, you’ll love the chance to win cash through Blackout Bingo. Formerly known as Blackout Blitz, Blackout Bingo is a mobile gaming app that allows you to win real money by playing bingo against other players. You may have to pay to play in the high-earning tournaments, but you can also play for free by using the coin rewards (called z coins) to buy in.
Solitaire Cash
Solitaire is a popular card game and digital pastime, but did you know you could win money by playing it on your phone? Solitaire Cash is a free app for iOS and Samsung Galaxy devices that lets you play against other players of similar skill to win cash. The game has 4 million downloads worldwide and boasts users’ ability to win as much as $83 per win.
Like other apps that let you win money, Solitaire Cash has two options for gameplay: pay-to-play tournaments and free tournaments. Solitaire Cash rewards users who upload cash to the platform to play games. For every $1 you deposit, you will earn two additional gems to use in the app. You will also earn bonus cash depending on how much you upload:
- $2 bonus for a $15 deposit.
- $3 bonus for a $25 deposit.
- $7 bonus for a $35 deposit.
If you play your cards right (pun intended), you can use your bonus cash and gems to earn even more money. There’s no harm in giving it a shot.
Bingo Cash
Bingo isn’t just a retirement home favorite. It can be a great online game to help you win free money.
Bingo Cash is a popular mobile app owned and operated by Papaya Games, a mobile app development company responsible for other popular games like Solitaire Cash and Bubble Cash. It has been downloaded over 17 million times globally and has over 10,000 5-star ratings on the App Store.
It is easy to get started on Bingo Cash so you can start winning free money. You will be automatically assigned a username and avatar so you can go from downloading the app to playing games in as little as two minutes.
You can choose to play in free tournaments or deposit cash into your account to play in tournaments with higher earnings. Tournaments have cash winnings as high as $83 per player.
9. Get Free Money with Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses
Citi Custom Cash
The Citi Custom Cash card is excellent for those who want to earn cash-back rewards for things they are already spending money on. Their cashback program allows you to make up to 5% cash back on purchases in a top eligible spending category per billing cycle. Plus, its no annual fee means you don’t have to pay extra to benefit from these features.
You can earn a $200 welcome bonus when you sign up for and spend on the Citi Custom Cash card. Citi will reward you 20,000 ThankYou Points – worth $200 – for spending $1,500 on your Citi Custom Card over six months. This spending threshold is attainable over six months, so you should have no problem earning the welcome bonus.
Citi Double Cash
Suppose you plan on using your credit card to make purchases across various spending categories. In that case, the Citi Double Cash card is a card that could turn your purchases into valuable cashback rewards. The Citi Double Cash card offers 2% cash back, 1% on eligible purchases, and 1% after you pay your credit card bill.
Historically, the Citi Double Cash card has not offered welcome bonuses. However, they now offer a welcome bonus to new cardholders who spend at least $1,500 within the first six months. You can earn $200 in ThankYou Points rewards, which can be redeemed on your statement, a check or direct deposit, or a gift card to one of your favorite retailers.
One of the best parts about this reward is that you will have earned cash back on the purchases that helped you reach the $200 bonus. Because of this, there isn’t any downside to signing up for the Citi Double Cash card.
10. Get Free Money for Your Junk Mail
Here’s a fun one, did you know you can actually make money off of all of that pesky junk mail you get every day? So start stacking it up and saving it instead of tossing it in recycling.
Small Business Knowledge Center (SBKC)
The SBKC will pay for you to forward them your physical junk mail and spam emails. Mail is collected for research purposes, and all postage is prepaid. And don’t worry: SBKC ensures that your personal info is kept confidential.
According to their website, you can expect to earn $20 every 6-10 weeks—pretty awesome considering there’s little-to-no effort on your part. The website also notes that small business owners will earn even more quickly because they receive a bunch more junk mail and targeted offers.
11. Get Free Money for Reading Emails
Check your email often? Well, there are apps where you can earn free money just for reading emails, check them out.
Branded Surveys
Branded Surveys tops our list of the best survey sites, but you get free money for more than just taking surveys. The app will send you simple surveys to your email from various companies that you can earn free money for.
Vindale Research
We all spend hours at our desks each day, reading email after email. What if I told you that you could get paid for reading emails? Vindale Research is a legitimate market research company that will pay you to receive and review marketing emails. They are among the most popular platforms to get paid for reading emails because of their high rewards.
You don’t have to read a bunch of emails to earn money through Vindale Research; they pay you just to get started. You can make $1 to sign up and $2 to subscribe to Vindale Research marketing emails. From there, you will earn based on how many emails you read and give feedback on. You can cash out through PayPal once you accrue $50 in rewards.
12. Get Free Money to Get Healthy
HealthyWage
It’s easy to lose motivation while losing weight. You may struggle to stay on track when the going gets tough and throw in the towel. If you are ready to commit to losing weight, HealthyWage is a service that lets you put your money where your mouth is and bet on your success.
HealthyWage is a weight loss app that lets you set a weight loss goal and then wager a monthly bet on if you think you can accomplish your weight loss goal. If you achieve your weight loss goal, HealthyWage will return all the money you bet as well as the money you won. If you fail, you lose everything you bet. Depending on how much weight you plan to lose, you can stand to earn as much as $10,000. Overall, HealthyWage is a great way to ensure that you stay on track and make a bit of cash along the way.
SweatCoin
If you’re the person constantly checking your step count, then SweatCoin is a must-download for you. SweatCoin is a free app that rewards you for getting your steps in. For every 1,000 steps you take, you will earn roughly 1 Sweatcoin. If you accrue enough Sweatcoins, you can redeem rewards from over 160 brands. You can also cash out with PayPal in some cases.
One drawback of SweatCoin is that it tracks your steps using a GPS navigation system. This means that if you walk on a treadmill or a walking pad, your steps won’t count. If you get your steps in by walking your dogs, getting around town, or even strolling around the neighborhood, SweatCoin can help you earn cash on the side.
13. Employer 401k Matching
This is one of the most overlooked strategies on how to get free money. If your company offers a 401k plan, there’s a chance they also match the first few percent of your salary contributions. For every $1 dollar within the limit you put into your 401k retirement plan, your company also invests $1. It’s free money. Really.
Apparently, 1 in 5 people aren’t taking advantage of this free money from their employer. One of the reasons is that people are scared to invest money long-term and would prefer to get paid cash right now. But, doubling your money is a much smarter move for your financial future.
Another reason people are worried about investing in their 401k plan is that they think the money can’t be accessed until retirement age, like when they are 67 years old. But, you certainly can withdraw money early if you need it, you just have to pay a penalty.
Paying a penalty isn’t ideal, but, if you are doubling your money in the first place, it still works out better than if you’re not contributing to your 401k plan at all.
I really hope everyone with a workplace 401k plan match is taking advantage of as much free money as possible. If you’re not sure about your company’s retirement offerings, ask your HR department at work. You can also learn a lot more about 401k plans, their advantages, and other investment strategies here.
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Avoiding Free Money Scams
There are tons of ways to earn free money on the internet. Unfortunately, there are also tons of people waiting to take advantage of people looking for free money. Here are three ways that you can prevent yourself from falling victim to free money scams online.
Research Customer Reviews
One of the best ways to find out if something is a scam or not is to look up the reviews online.
Begin by looking up the company on the App Store or Google Store and reading what customers have to say. Are people happy with their experience? Or have they reported fraudulent charges and missing funds? Scrolling through reviews can reveal a lot about the customer experience and the legitimacy of a company.
Be Wary of Uploading Your Bank or Credit Card Info
Many free money apps and companies will allow you to earn points or funds in the app and cash out through a trusted third party, such as PayPal or Zelle. If a free-money app insists that you input your credit card or bank account information, this is a pretty good indication that they are a scam.
If it Sounds too Good to Be True, it Probably is.
Always trust your instincts. If an app or company promises huge rewards with little or no effort, this is a red flag that you should pay attention to. There are many companies and apps that will offer a welcome bonus, but it usually comes with something in return. Any app that promises a significant amount of free money without anything in return is worth avoiding.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is free money really possible?
Yes! But you’ve got to be willing to exchange a little bit of time and effort. You can make free real money by downloading apps, doing online surveys, testing products, referring friends, and simply just creating online profiles and new accounts for companies trying to grow their user base.
Learn More:
Are free money hacks legit?
Every money hack and service we recommend on Millennial Money has been well-researched and tested by us personally. We do our best to update our content often and be as honest as possible about the cash you make and how much effort goes into getting paid.
Beware of sites that make it sound a bit too easy or are very vague with their information. If it sounds blatantly too good to be true (like getting a $1000 sign-up bonus for 10 minutes of work) then it usually is a scam. There are a bunch of sites taking advantage of people searching for how to get free money, so stick to the legit reviews and trusted websites.
How do I get paid my free money?
For the most part, the ideas that we recommend are paid out via PayPal cash or via cash-value gift cards for stores of your choosing. It’s real money. Each free money hack or app has its own set of guidelines for payment, as well as time to get paid. We recommend checking out the terms and conditions, as well as our individual reviews to get more information on how quickly you can get paid.
Free Money!? Are there any strings attached?
Nope. Making free money from the ideas listed above is a matter of putting in time and effort. Some basic personal information is needed to sign up, but there’s no catch or strings attached. For almost any app you sign up for you’ll need to at least provide your email address and name. Many apps will also ask for your date of birth to verify your age to meet their qualifications. Apart from that, not much other personal information is requested.
If you sign up for something and you don’t like it, deleting the app and disconnecting your account is quite easy.
Can you just sign up for the welcome bonus, then cancel?
You’ve probably noticed that the best bang for your buck with most of these free money ideas is taking advantage of the welcome bonus. Most of these apps allow you to cancel directly afterward, without any penalties. But, some apps have a minimum amount of money you need to earn before they allow you to claim cash out. They call this a minimum threshold. So you need to use the service a little bit to earn the extra money and meet the minimum threshold sometimes.
Be sure to check out our individual reviews for more tips on each service. The minimum thresholds should be listed on each of the specific company websites too.
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