Swagbucks won’t make you rich, but you could earn extra money for a couple of movie tickets or a free gift card each month.
The key is to let Swagbucks reward you for what you already do: online shopping, buying gift cards, surfing the web, and watching videos.
Sure, you can put in some extra effort by answering surveys, signing up for free trials, and taking the daily poll. But Swagbucks shouldn’t be your main gig—it’s just not built to pay out that much.
We’ve done a full Swagbucks review and detailed all the tricks and tips to earn you the most money for your time.
What Is Swagbucks?
Swagbucks is a rewards site and mobile app. You can join for free and earn Swagbucks points (SB points) by completing simple online tasks. These points can be redeemed for cash or gift cards.
The easiest way to earn these SB points is by using the Swagbucks search engine for your daily web browsing. This way, you’ll earn rewards without even thinking twice about it.
But this isn’t the only way to earn extra cash. There are many other ways to earn SB points.
Is Swagbucks Legitimate?
Yes, Swagbucks is legitimate and safe. The Better Business Bureau gives Swagbucks’ parent company, Prodege LLC, a B rating, and Trustpilot scores them at a 4.1 out of 5 with over 36.8k customer reviews (over 80% of those reviews being either “Great” or “Excellent.”)
Some people think it is too good to be true. They wonder how you could earn free money or a free Visa, Apple, or Amazon gift card just for shopping, taking surveys, and watching videos, but it is legit and not a scam.
How Does Swagbucks Work?
To begin, create a Swagbucks account for free using the mobile app or at Swagbucks.com. You’ll receive a $10 bonus just for signing up!
Once your account is ready, you can start completing tasks to earn SB Points.
These points can be redeemed in two different ways:
- Gift Cards: Cash in your SB Points for a free Amazon gift card, Visa gift card, or gift cards to places like Target, Starbucks, Walmart, Home Depot, Old Navy, Kohl’s, and other leading retailers.
- PayPal Cash: Deposit your SB Points as cash via your PayPal account—which you can then use to shop online just about anywhere—or transfer your cash into a bank account (PayPal will charge a transfer fee).
You can start using Swagbucks when you’re 13. You’ll also get a 💰 $10 Bonus 💰 when you sign up here:
How To Earn Swagbucks Points (SB Points)
You shouldn’t think of Swagbucks as a job in the traditional sense. The power of Swagbucks comes from its ability to turn what you’re already doing into extra cash.
Here are the many different ways you can start earning SB Points:
- Take Surveys
- Use the Mobile App
- Watch Videos
- Shop Online
- Search the Web
- Buy Gift Cards
- Play Games
- Discover Deals
- Enter Swag Codes
- Refer Friends
- Upload Receipts
- Print Coupons
1. Swagbucks Surveys
You may already know about Survey Junkie, which pays cash for your time answering surveys for product research. Swagbucks has a similar service. Every day, your dashboard will include a list of surveys for money you could take in exchange for SB points.
You’ll see an estimated completion time and the number of SBs you could earn. You shouldn’t expect to make more than 100 SBs ($1) for a single survey.
2. Swagbucks App
Swagbucks has a sleek app for iOS and Android users to take online surveys. The app allows you to track your SB points, take surveys, and buy gift cards. In short, it gives you mobile access to everything on the Swagbucks website.
I’m listing the app here because you can now find app-specific ways to earn SBs. Swagbucks LIVE lets you earn SBs for correctly answering trivia questions and watching movie trailers.
Swagbucks has one of the sleekest mobile platforms of all the best survey sites, which is one reason it’s earned a 9.6 out of 10 in this Swagbucks Review.
Occasionally, someone posts a fake Swagbucks app in the Google Play store. Be sure you’re downloading the real thing!
3. Swagbucks Video
If you watch random YouTube videos and realize a couple of hours have slipped by, Swagbucks Watch could help you turn your time watching videos into a little spending money. Your cash flow won’t be impressive. Watching a half-hour or so of video content will earn 1 or 2 SBs—only 1 or 2 cents, and if you tab away from your Swagbucks Watch screen, the videos will pause.
But you could use a split-screen to keep the videos going while you work on something else. If you sit at a computer all day and appreciate a little background noise, you can make this work.
4. Shopping Online
The Swagbucks cashback program can generate a better return on your time. It works a lot like Rakuten (formerly known as Ebates). Just click from your Swagbucks shopping page to an online retailer such as Amazon.com. Swagbucks will get a commission from what you buy and return part of the commission to you in the form of SB points.
A typical purchase gives you 3 SB Points for every dollar you spend. Your SBs can stack up much faster the more you shop. Along with Amazon, Swagbucks connects to eBay, Walmart.com, Best Buy, and various specialty stores.
Swagbucks also has a browser extension, the Swagbutton, that detects when you’re on a page participating in this rewards program. It’s pretty convenient!
5. Swagbucks Search
Swagbucks has its own search engine, and if you use Swagbucks Search instead of Google, Yahoo!, or Bing, your routine searches can generate a little cash. Installing the Swagbucks browser extension in Chrome, which makes Swagbucks Search your default search engine, can help you get into the habit.
Typically, you will get 1 SB Point each day you use the search engine, and the Swagbucks button will display if there are SB Points available for the site that you are actively on.
6. Buying Gift Cards
Here’s an even simpler method for earning SB points while shopping: Use the Swagbucks gift card exchange and earn up to 10 SB points per dollar you spend—that’s 10% cash back!
And you can multiply the cashback effect by using the gift card you bought from Swagbucks to shop online through Swagbucks.
7. Playing Games
If you love playing games on your smartphone while standing in line or during movie previews, you could earn SB Points while playing. You could get paid for playing free games or earn cash back on in-app purchases through games like Bejeweled, Deal or No Deal, or Casino.
In some cases, you can generate 12 to 15 SBs per dollar spent on games. However, you will need to turn off ad blockers and keep your Flash Player updated.
8. Swagbucks Discover
Some of the more lucrative ways to earn SBs require more time and thought. The “Discover Deals” program rewards you for trying new products or opening new credit card accounts. With programs like this, you have to be sure you’re not buying something only for the rewards.
But if you’ve already been considering a new credit card or trying a new meal delivery service, Swagbucks can turn these choices into some cash back. Some offers generate a few thousand SBs, translating into some noticeable cash in your account.
9. Entering Swag Codes
Frequent Swagbucks visitors will occasionally encounter a Swag Code. The site hides these little strings of codes here and there, like little bonus points in a video game. Just enter the codes to cash in free bonus SB points.
10. Referring Friends
My favorite way to earn money on Swagbucks requires very little of your time. By referring a friend, you could earn a 10% commission indefinitely on that friend’s SB points!
This is where passive income—a favorite topic for any personal finance blogger—enters the discussion. If you referred a handful of friends who really got into earning extra money online with Swagbucks, your total points could rise without you logging in. You’d log in only to cash in.
So, why not get on social media and invite everyone you know to join? Because this wouldn’t earn you any extra SB points. Your friends would need to use your referral code to connect to your profile.
You’d have to invite friends, one at a time, using the “Refer and Earn” tool on your account page to get credit. Yes, it’s more time-consuming, but worth it if you can get a few friends to earn extra points for you!
11. Upload Receipts
Swagbucks Magic Receipts program allows you to upload receipts from your shopping trips at popular retailers such as Target, Walmart, Kroger, and Walgreens and earn SB points.
You will need to buy certain everyday products at specific stores, upload a scan of your receipt, and get the SBs added to your account. Some offers are small (2 SB for broccoli), but some are much more substantial, such as 1,000 SBs for eggs or laundry detergent.
This is the ultimate example of earning SBs from doing the things you already do!
12. Printing Coupons
Swagbucks also offers printable coupons that you can use at your favorite retailers. You can earn 25 SB for every coupon you redeem but only 1 SB for every coupon you print. The offer is minimal; you can max out at only 50 SBs a day for printing them.
You save a lot more through the coupons themselves, so why not take advantage of both?
Learn More:
Earning Potential
So, what’s the exchange rate between Swagbucks and Real Bucks? Most of the time, 1 Swagbuck or SB point equals $0.01. You’d need at least 300 Swagbucks to cash out your account for $3 PayPal cash or gift cards.
To put matters in perspective:
- You may earn 40 to 100 SB points by answering a survey that takes 5 to 10 minutes.
- In terms of labor, this could conceivably rival the federal minimum wage: It’s possible to make 100 SB Points ($1) in 10 minutes, which would become $6 in an hour ($1.25 short of the federal minimum wage per hour). But this earning potential isn’t always likely.
Is Swagbucks Worth It?
Stringing together enough surveys or tasks to pay out a steady flow of income isn’t really possible. In reality, you’d be spending time browsing for surveys or considering product trials—and that’s time you wouldn’t be paid for.
This is true for just about any survey site. The time you spend answering surveys doesn’t pay off efficiently.
You may spend a few minutes reading about a survey before discovering you don’t fit the demographic, thus not qualifying. Or a study you do qualify for might fill up before you get going on it. These are both common complaints among Swagbucks members. Either way, that’s time wasted from an earning perspective.
All this translates into a low return on your investment of time. Often, you may earn only a dollar an hour or less. But it’s still worth doing in your spare time when you have nothing else going on and want to earn a little extra money from home.
Alternatives to Swagbucks
There are a handful of paid survey apps similar to Swagbucks to make extra cash, but most haven’t been around as long as Swagbucks.
Earning potential varies, and you may find you like some better than others.
If you’re specifically interested in online surveys, check out this list of the best surveys for money sites. And you might also want to look at our list of the best money-making apps for quick cash.
Learn More:
- Sites Like Swagbucks
- Swagbucks vs Rakuten
- Swagbucks vs Survey Junkie
- Swagbucks vs InboxDollars
- Swagbucks vs MyPoints
Is Swagbucks for You?
Swagbucks has about 10 million users and has paid out more than $430 million in rewards. The company started in 2008 in El Segundo, CA, and has grown steadily. It’s been around almost as long as the iPhone.
As I said earlier, being a Swagbucks user can’t replace your main gig, but if you’re looking for a low-key side hustle that can make $40 to $60 extra cash a month, give Swagbucks a look.
One of my favorite things about the platform is its variety. With so many ways to earn bonus SB points, you should have an easier time fitting the platform into your daily routine.
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