Swagbucks is one of the most popular reward apps for earning free gift cards. There are so many different ways to earn on Swagbucks, it’s hard to keep up with the best tasks and tips to make the most money. To help you make more money, we’ve put together the top Swagbucks hacks.
We’ll also cover some Swagbucks “hacks” that don’t really work, and common FAQs people have about earning money online.
8 Swagbucks Hacks to Maximize Your Earnings
Here are the top Swagbucks hacks you can start using today:
- Follow Swagbucks on Social Media
- Use the Swagbucks search engine
- Claim cash back on all your purchases
- Play all the featured games
- Explore the top Swagbucks offers
- Be strategic with how you cash out
- Read the blog and help articles
- Invite friends
1. Follow Swagbucks on Social Media
Make sure to follow Swagbucks on social media: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Here, Swagbucks will share updates about the best new offers, cashback shopping increases, contests, giveaways and free Swag Codes.
Swag Codes are strings of letters that you can use to earn Swagbucks points or SB. Look for Swag Codes on social pages, in blog articles, and in other ways, the brand communicates with you.
Redeem Swag Codes in your Swagbucks account:
- Go to account settings.
- Select “Redeem Swag Code.”
- Enter the string of text.
A free SB reward will get added to your account, typically in the range of 1 to 3 SB.
While Swag Codes are usually daily (you can find one code per day), this is not a guarantee. There could be days when a code is not available.
2. Use the Swagbucks Search Engine
You can set Swagbucks as your search engine to make an extra $50 or more every year.
It takes less than a minute to set this up so you can earn rewards each time you search the web. You can even make Swagbucks your default search engine.
Every time you search the web, you earn up to 15 SB. The SB is rewarded at random intervals (i.e., every fifth search). The idea is to reward you for staying active on Swagbucks.com and to offer you additional ways to earn cash beyond doing surveys and completing offers.
If you don’t want to make Swagbucks your default search engine, you can earn SB for making internet searches directly from the Swagbucks.com website. Just go to the “Search & Earn” box at the top of the page.
The reward structure is the same; you’ll earn SB at random for using the search bar to search the web. However, you have to remember to use this function every day. If you set Swagbucks as your default search engine, it’s automatic.
And you can feel confident in the Swagbucks’ search results. The Swagbucks search feature is powered by Yahoo!.
3. Claim Cash Back on All Your Purchases
If you’re not claiming cash back on all your online purchases, including groceries, you’re missing out.
Swagbucks’ online shopping portal has over 10,000 popular stores, including gobs of national and regional chains. From eggs to electronics, you can earn cash back for whatever you buy. Cash back rebates range from 1% to 25%, with percentages regularly updated for different holidays or sales promotions.
There are two ways to earn cash-back rebates for your purchases:
- Visit the Swagbucks shop page and select the store where you’re going to make a purchase. You can use the keywords search feature too, by entering the merchant’s name in the search bar.
- Install the free Swagbutton. You can add it to your web browser with just a few clicks. The Swagbutton will automatically alert you whenever you’re on a website with a cash back reward. Then, with just one click you can get the cash back bonus for shopping on the website — no need to remember to begin your visit from the Swagbucks website. The Swagbutton will also alert you to new surveys and new Swag Codes.
Also, make sure to get your free $10 cash for making your first cashback purchase through Swagbucks.
Spend $25 or more at any featured store, including Best Buy, Walmart, or Macy’s, and get a free $10 gift card. This bonus promotion is good for your first purchase made through Swagbucks. The bonus is applied as 1,000 SB to your account. The SB can be redeemed as PayPal cash or a gift card to Amazon or other popular stores of your choice.
4. Play all the Featured Games
One of the most fun and under-used ways to make extra money is by playing games. You can use Swagbucks as your main hub to discover fun, new games that will pay you cash.
Visit the “Games” section on the Swagbucks “Discover” page. Here, you’ll find several dozen free games you can play in exchange for rewards ranging from 25 cents to $171.
These games pay you cash because popular game developers, like Skillz or Tether Studios, want more players. They pay Swagbucks a reward for sending them new users, and then Swagbucks shares a cut of the earnings with you to encourage you to check them out. There are a few different ways to earn these gaming rewards.
You will need to complete one or more of these items in order to get paid:
- Install the free app on your phone.
- Open the game app and register for a free account.
- Reach a certain level of the game within a certain amount of time.
- Watch videos (promotional ads) within the app.
- Log into the game and play every day for a certain number of days in a row.
- Make an in-app purchase (of any amount, even a couple of dollars) within the game.
The more involved the offer, the higher the reward.
Make sure to read all the terms and conditions of any game offer so you understand exactly what it is you need to do to earn the reward.
If you were to complete all of the free, eligible offers at any given time, that’s an extra $500 to $1,000 in free money you could make.
As many of the games are quite involved, you will need to focus all of your gameplay on one game at a time for the time-based rewards. If you’re looking at multiple games that will pay you for reaching a certain milestone within 7 days, for example, do not pay two or more of those games at once. Focus on just one game at a time.
5. Explore the Top Swagbucks Offers
Make sure to explore all the free Swagbucks offers on the “Discover” page. You can earn extra cash for trying a variety of money-saving or money-making offers.
Some of these offers include:
- Personal finance: earning a $1 to $5 bonus for checking your free credit score from a featured partner is a common offering. Other personal finance offers include credit card or fintech related deals.
- Free money-saving quotes: most of us have been pitched before to save money on new windows or new auto insurance. But did you know you get paid to be pitched? Insurance companies and home builders want the chance to save you money and win your business. You can submit your information for free quotes and earn 25 cents to $8 in the process.
- Get free e-books and e-recipes: You can earn rewards (ranging from 2 cents to 50 cents) when you sign up for e-books, e-recipes, and e-brochures.
- Sign up for e-newsletters: Earn rewards (ranging from 1 cent to 50 cents) for signing up for e-newsletters or even print newsletters mailed to your home address.
- Sign up to get free samples in the mail: Earn rewards ranging from 10 cents to $5 when you sign up to try free samples, like deodorant, detergent or other consumer packaged goods delivered to your doorstep.
- Sign up for other survey sites: You can earn 25 cents to 2 dollars for signing up for other survey sites. Swagbucks knows that its members like to have multiple online hustles, and will partner with other market research outfits to have more earning opportunities to share with their members.
- Mobile app discovery: Get paid for installing new apps (i.e. Box Tops for Education) — these rewards can vary from 5 cents to $1.
6. Be Strategic with How You Cash Out
Did you know that for only $22, you can get a $25 gift card to Amazon each month? Amazon gift cards are on sale for 12% off on Swagbucks every month — for the first gift card you cash out up to $25 in value. That’s like getting $36 in free Amazon money every year. And it’s not just Amazon.
You can save 12% off your first $25 gift card redemption every month for a number of other popular rewards too, including:
- Prepaid Mastercard gift cards.
- Prepaid American Express gift cards.
- Electronic gift cards (delivered to your inbox) for dozens of popular stores, including Target, Walmart, Apple, Starbucks, Lowe’s, Apple, Home Depot, Uber, or Sam’s Club.
Beyond the 12% discount off your first $25 gift card each month, Swagbucks has other ways you can get redemption deals.
- On the gift card rewards page, select the amount you want to redeem: $1 to $5, $10, $15, $25, $50, or $100 and up.
- Then use the filter to sort results by “Highest Discount.” You’ll see prizes and other gift cards on sale for anywhere from 2% to 17% off.
Regardless of how or when you like to cash out, make sure that you’re taking advantage of these savings.
If you wanted to cash out a $100 Best Buy gift card now, you would want to do that in two redemptions:
- Cash out a $25 gift card using 2200 in SB points.
- Then cash out a $75 gift card using 7500 SB points.
For just $97 worth of Swagbucks, you’ll have redeemed $100 worth of rewards. Or, you could choose to withdraw $25 in rewards each month and let the other earnings continue to build indefinitely.
7. Read the Blog and Help Articles
Many rewards apps have blog posts and help articles about how to make the most money using their app, but this is where Swagbucks especially excels.
Swagbucks has a number of blog articles, social posts, and Help Desk articles about how to be successful at Swagbucks. These articles share the best hacks and latest product offerings.
Some of the tips you’ll find:
- Step-by-step guides on how to earn your first $50 on Swagbucks or how to earn $500 for completing the current month’s best free offers.
- Reminders about small (often forgotten) tasks to earn daily rewards, like the daily goal list, answering the daily poll question, or uploading your grocery store
- Limited-time bonus SB If there’s a limited-time increase in SB payouts for select retailers, trivia, or the referral program, Swagbucks will share all the details in the blog and help articles.
8. Invite Friends
Swagbucks is more fun with friends and inviting them to join Swagbucks is the easiest way to earn rewards. Referral income is basically passive income. After you get your friend to sign up, you can keep reaping the benefits long after.
To do this, share your Swagbucks referral code or referral link with your friends and family. Earn $3 upfront for each qualifying referral, and then 10% of their earnings for life. This is an especially generous referral program — most only offer a small one-time bonus.
Note that to get the $3 sign-up bonus, your referral must earn $3 within their first 30 days — but this is extremely easy for beginners to do.
For the 10% earnings, that’s a commission that Swagbucks will share with you for as long as you and your friend remain active members. You’ll earn this 10% commission off their revenue-generating activities, like searching the web, answering surveys, or installing the SwagButton browser extension. You won’t earn 10% off their prize winnings (i.e., Swag Codes) or any friends they refer to the program.
If you consistently share Swagbucks with your friends and social followers, you could earn an additional $25 to $100 a year.
Swagbucks Hacks That Don’t Work
We’ve discussed some great Swagbucks hacks that can help you make more money, but let’s look at some Swagbucks hacks, or scam hacks, that don’t work.
- Sending your referral code to yourself at multiple other email accounts. Swagbucks will flag this. Your additional accounts will be closed and your original account could be banned or permanently restricted.
- Creating multiple accounts. To prevent fraud, only one Swagbucks account per member per household is allowed.
- Completing an offer that you have already done before — prior to becoming a member of Swagbucks. For example, many game offers are for individuals who have never before installed and/or played that game. The game can track new vs returning users by your app store profile.
- Answering survey questions inconsistently. Some members will answer Swagbucks’ survey profile questions dishonestly in an effort to try and qualify for as many surveys as possible. When you answer profile questions inconsistently, you will receive fewer and fewer surveys. The Swagbucks algorithm won’t understand who you are, or how to match you correctly to the right survey opportunities.
- Using a VPN. Swagbucks doesn’t explicitly ban VPNs, but we recommend against using them. Why? Even if you do use a VPN, you will run into issues when you try to cash out. Member eligibility is vetted before you can redeem any account balance. If you are not based in an eligible country, you will not be able to cash out your earnings and will feel extremely frustrated. Even if you are based in an eligible country, if you have misrepresented your location (i.e., said you lived in the U.S. to gain access to more offers), you will not be able to cash out rewards unless you reside where you have claimed to in your profile.
- Returning your cash back purchases. You cannot get or keep cash back rebates for purchases that you return. There is a long window (up to 42 days) for cash back rewards to credit to your account to avoid this. But if a cash back purchase is returned, the earnings will be adjusted (removed) accordingly.
Alternatives to Swagbucks
There are other sites like Swagbucks that you can have fun with too, here are some of our favorites:
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I get 10000 Swagbucks instantly?
To make money fast on Swagbucks, your best bet is to head to the Swagbucks offers page. You’ll find a number of high-paying offers that pay $25 to $125 or more.
As of the date of this article’s publication, some of the highest-paying Swagbucks offers include:
- Make one trip as a new Uber driver, and earn a $250 bonus.
- Refinance your student loans for a lower interest rate through Credible and you’ll unlock a $250 cash bonus from Swagbucks.
- Change up your direct deposits this month. Get two qualifying direct deposits made in your new Chime account and get a free $175 cash bonus.
- Deposit just $5 with the Webull investment app and get $30 free.
How can I get 1000 Swagbucks in one day?
1000 Swagbucks points, or SB, in one day is the equivalent of $10 and there are many ways to reach that sum.
- Answer surveys. By qualifying for and completing 10 surveys, you could reach $10 or more in earnings. (This could take a little time as you will not qualify for every survey you attempt.)
- Answer the “Survey Profile” questions on the survey dashboard page. You can earn 2 cents for every quick set of 10 questions (multiple choice) you answer.
- Complete the daily “To Do” list, a list of tasks to complete on Swagbucks, and earn bonuses of 7 cents to $2.
- Swagbucks Search. Use the Swagbucks search feature every day.
- Visit the “Discover” page every day and look over the newest offers. There are many free, easy offers like daily “Click & Earns” where you can get paid for visiting featured websites.
- Play Swagbucks trivia every day — both live games (on weekdays) and daily games (one game per 24 hours) in the Swagbucks trivia
- Scan all of your grocery and supermarket receipts; earn SB for submitting any receipt and for purchasing select items. You just need to take a picture of your receipt with your smartphone to get this reward.
Reaching 1000 SB in one day is about consistency and variety. You need to return to the Swagbucks site or app often and complete a range of high and low-paying activities.
How do you get more Swagbucks hacks?
You can get more Swagbucks hacks in a number of different ways, including:
- Keep reading Millennial Money. We will continue to share with you the best hacks to earn gift cards and PayPal cash for Swagbucks — as well as other survey apps like InboxDollars and Survey Junkie.
- Follow Swagbucks on social media where social media managers continually update followers about the latest product changes and limited-time prizes.
- Join Swagbucks user groups and forums on Reddit, Quora, and Facebook. In one especially popular Facebook group, members talk about Swagbucking their way to Disney. Users share how they save and use their Swagbucks earnings to pay for the entirety of their family vacations to Disneyland and Disney World.
How do you get big Swagbucks fast?
To get big Swagbucks fast, you’ll need to complete some of the highest-paying activities quickly. This could mean:
- Complete several of the highest-paying offers. It can take time to credit, so visit the Swagbucks offer page now.
- Book your next vacation on Swagbucks. Save money using OTA (Online Travel Aggregator) sites like Expedia, Priceline, or Travelocity — and earn 1% to 4% cash back rebates on your total purchase. With travel being a big-ticket expense, it’s easy to clear a tidy sum in cash back travel rebates.
- Buy gift cards on Swagbucks. You can earn cash back rebates of 3% to 35% for buying gift cards to hundreds of popular stores on Swagbucks, including Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines, H&M, Macy’s, Old Navy, and more. If you’re already shopping at these stores, stock up on gift cards and cash back rebates.
Can you make a living off Swagbucks?
No, you can’t make a living off Swagbucks. Any Swagbucks review telling you otherwise is fake. Swagbucks provides its users with a fun range of ways to earn PayPal cash and gift cards in the app or on the Swagbucks.com website.
Most active members (logging in at least 4 or 5 times a week) can earn an extra $50 to $250 a month. Some extremely dedicated members do manage to achieve “Diamond” status, earning at least $20,000 in total lifetime earnings.
Is the Swagbucks app real or fake?
Swagbucks is very real. Based in El Segundo, Calif., Swagbucks has paid over $700 million in cash and gift card rewards to members around the globe. Most of Swagbucks’ user base is in the U.S. though.
Swagbucks has been regularly featured in reviews and news stories as a top way to earn cash from your home, and their members are extremely satisfied.
Overall, Swagbucks has excellent user ratings and reviews:
- Swagbucks has an average rating of 4.3 (out of 5) stars on TrustPilot, based on over 33,795 real member reviews.
- Swagbucks has an average rating of 4.3 (out of 5) stars on Google Play, based on over 122,000 reviews.
- Swagbucks has an average rating of 4.4 (out of 5) stars on iTunes, based on 90,800 reviews.
Additionally, Swagbucks’ parent company (Prodege) is accredited by the Better Business Bureau where it has a “B” rating.
Is Swagbucks a good side hustle?
Yes, Swagbucks is an excellent side hustle for consumers looking for a casual way to earn extra money during their spare time. You won’t get rich using Swagbucks, but you can realistically earn a few thousand dollars a year by doing surveys, playing games, and completing other offers from your phone or your laptop.
If you’ve got an Internet device and WiFi connection, and are looking for a sideline (not a FT job), Swagbucks is a lot of flexible fun.
Should You Use Swagbucks Hacks to Make the Most Money?
Already a lucrative cash-paying app, using the best Swagbucks hacks will ensure you make the most of your time using this outstanding rewards program.
We’ve shared the best hacks to maximize your rewards: from direct insider tips to how you can continually find the latest deal news. Staying up-to-date will earn you more money, keep things ultra fun and help you see new possibilities for what you can accomplish with your Swagbucks earnings.
No comments yet. Add your own