Best Money-Making Apps of 2024

If you’re shopping online, why not do what you can to save some of your money? There are many good cash back and coupon sites, and Rakuten is both worth your time and one of the best money-making apps out there.

You can think of Rakuten as an online shopping mall. Instead of going directly to an online store and buying something there, you can go to Rakuten and then (often) find the online store you were planning on shopping at. Generally, if all goes as planned, you’ll then get some cash back from Rakuten (they send cash back to shoppers every three months). The cash back is often 2% or 3% of the sale price and sometimes up to as much as 20%. So if you’re buying a pair of socks, and you get 4% cash back three months later, you won’t feel wealthy. But it may be another story if you also get 4% cash back after buying some airline tickets or a big-screen TV through the Rakuten website.

While Rakuten is probably primarily known for online shopping, if you link an eligible rewards credit card with Rakuten, you can get cash back when shopping at some stores in person.

Upwork is a big, reputable company—maybe you’ve seen its numerous TV ads—and if you’re in the freelance gig economy, it could be a good money maker for you. Upwork is a marketplace for businesses and freelancers to compete and apply for freelance work. If you write, do web design, graphic art, consulting, accounting or have any number of professional skills, you may find clients here. Note, Upwork takes a 10% commission from freelancers, so if you earn $500, you’ll only take home $450.

If you drive a lot, you’re probably familiar with GasBuddy, which has been around since the summer of 2000. Since then, the company has been on quite a ride. The website started by simply offering a way for consumers to share gas price information. That’s still the main mission for those who use the app: helping drivers save on what they spend on gas. If you see saving money as making money, then this is a money-making app that may work well for you.

If you’re really into GasBuddy, you could always join their free Pay with GasBuddy program, in which you’ll save up to (note: up to) 25 cents a gallon. If you’re really into GasBuddy, you may elect to join the GasBuddy Plus program for $7.99 a month, in which case you’ll save between 20 and 40 cents a gallon. You may also be interested in the GasBuddy™ Mastercard® Credit Card. Then, you can make purchases on virtually anything and earn rewards to go toward lowering your gas bill.

The name says it all. Decluttr is a resale app, and if you have a lot of old tech cluttering your closet or drawers, like smartphones, tablets or DVDs, this could be a good way to make money off of what’s become junk. It’s junk to you, but maybe not to somebody else.

Once you download the app, you can search for the type of tech item you want to sell and get a price quote (provided your tech is in as good of quality as you think it is). If you want to sell your item, Decluttr will send you a free UPS shipping label, so you can send it to them. Decluttr will then try to sell your tech and make a profit.

It’s also worth noting that, while Decluttr specializes in tech, they also accept books, particularly college textbooks.

Everybody has old clothes. Poshmark is more or less known for selling and buying used fashionable clothing, but it’ll look at just about everything you might find in a home—from pet supplies to books to knickknacks. (A few exceptions that it won’t buy from you include perfume and underwear, furniture, appliances and most electronics.)

You can think of Poshmark as your agent. Like an actor or author would, you’re the one doing most of the work. You’ll set up a Poshmark account, take photos and write descriptions of whatever you’re selling. You’ll also send it in a package (with a Poshmark mailing label) to whoever buys what you’re selling. But just as an agent finds a writer or actor their gigs (and takes a commission), it’s Poshmark, with its reputation and website and app, that attracts any customers. Poshmark also takes a commission on your sale, usually 20%.

With Swagbucks, you can earn a currency—unsurprisingly called Swagbucks—by taking surveys, voting in a single-question poll, playing games on your phone or PC or answering trivia.

Depending on the task, you can earn anywhere from $0.50 to a few dollars for answering a short survey. Surveys often ask about advertisements you may have seen or discuss popular brands. Like Rakuten, you can also earn Swagbucks when shopping online at popular retailers like Amazon, BestBuy or Kohl’s.

Each Swagbuck is worth $0.01, and you can redeem once you’ve earned 100 Swagbucks. Redemption options include gift cards and deposits to a PayPal account

Everyone needs to eat. Groceries are one of the largest spending categories for most Americans, with the average consumer unit (a family, single person living alone or living with others but financially independent or two or more people living together but sharing finances) in the United States spending $5,703 on food at home in 2022.

That’s a lot of money spent on food. Ibotta offers grocery shoppers a way to put some of that money back in their pocket. Once you download the app, you can add offers to your shopping list. These offers could be specific—such as giving you cash back on a particular brand of yogurt—or more generic, offering some cash back if you buy any type of produce.

Once you finish shopping, upload a photo of your receipt and Ibotta will add the cash back to your account. You can withdraw the cash once you earn at least $20. Ibotta also lets you earn cash back when shopping online, boosting your potential earnings.

Most money-making apps require adult users—meaning if you’re under 18, you’re out of luck. HeyPiggy is different, allowing teens who are at least 14 to sign up with a parent’s permission.

Once you’ve signed up, you can earn money by taking surveys. Each survey gives you an estimate of how long it will take and tells you the amount you’ll earn from completing it. There are more than 150 redemption options, and redemptions start at $1—though you’ll need to earn at least $5 to cash out to PayPal or Venmo, for example.