There are a ton of paid survey sites out there. Many of them look like they were made in 1990 and shady as all get out.
How do you know if a company is legitimate or a scam? How do avoid the ones that keep asking you qualification questions, that look like survey questions, and DQ you? It’s hard.
You have to dig a little deeper and here at Wallet Hacks, we love digging. We dug deeper when we showed how market research and advance cashiers check scams work. We dug deeper when we learned how survey sites scam you by asking you to “pay to join” them.
So we’re going to dig into five survey sites that are legit. They will pay you (they’ve paid me and countless others), they’re backed by major market research corporations you’ll recognize, and they don’t play games.
Table of Contents
1. SurveyJunkie [BEST OPTION]
SurveyJunkie is the online survey arm of ActiveMeasure and they are a survey company that only does surveys – no points for answering emails, watching videos, or fulfilling offers you have to cancel.
They offer all kinds of market research surveys from those you complete in a few minutes online to those that involve a journal, a phone call, or testing out a product. You get to choose what you’re interested in so if you want a phone survey, you can take a phone survey (if you qualify).
They have a huge supply of surveys at any one time and they will pay you even if you do not qualify for a survey. There is a points system but it translates directly to cash, 100 points is worth $1 and you can cash out at $10. You can get cash via PayPal or opt for an e-GiftCard.
2. Swagbucks – $5 bonus
Swagbucks is probably one of the well-known reward sites today. Born out of an era of paid-to-surf sites and cashback portals, Swagbucks is different in that they have nearly every single way to earn money interacting on the internet.
You can get cashback through their shopping portal, you earn points for searching the web (Yahoo search), answering surveys, watching videos, playing games, printing coupons, fulfilling offers, installing their toolbar/extensions – you name it.
Surveys are just a small piece of the puzzle. The best part about the surveys is that the qualification questions are typically short, there to confirm you’re not breezing through it, and you can still earn points if you don’t qualify. You will not answer 30 questions and then get denied, with zero to show for it. As of May 2017, they’ve paid out $191.5 million. They give out 7,000 free gift cards every single day.
Run by Prodege LLC, Swagbucks is a sister company to some other familiar names, like MyPoints. Prodege has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and has been in business since 2005, so they are not a fly by night company. (read our Swagbucks review)
Did I mention they give you a $5 bonus from the start?
3. InboxDollars
InboxDollars is a “competitor” to Swagbucks but you can sign up for both! The biggest difference is that with InboxDollars you earn cash directly – no need to wonder how many points turn into what. (we say competitor in quotes because they recently merged!)
You can earn cash by shopping online, watching videos, answering surveys, fulfilling offers, and clicking on links in emails (you don’t have to sign up for anything, but you earn more if you do). They tell you how much you earn per task and then pay you that amount. (here is a more detailed review of InboxDollars)
You won’t get rich doing these things but it’s legitimate and you’ll get paid in the end. For example, you get a penny for each email you click. You get a penny for a video stream. You can earn dollars for fulfilling offers but those aren’t nearly as quick as reading an email. They are upfront in what you get paid so you can decide if it’s worth it.
InboxDollars is run by CotterWeb Enterprises, which has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and they’ve been at this since 2012.
4. Pinecone Research
Pinecone Research is one of the oldest market research firms and one I used to do nearly two decades ago. Back then, they would mail you a paper check before each survey so that you had the money in your pocket before you completed it!
Nowadays they’ve streamlined their process so you get an electronic payment of $3 for each survey. The surveys are pretty quick and can lead to larger product tests that pay even more. They’re free to join, though they are only open for enrollment every so often, and one of the most straightforward in the business.
Here is our review of Pinecone Research if you’d like to learn more.
5. MyPoints
MyPoints has been around for two decades. For years, they operated solely as a cashback portal and were one of the biggest in the industry. If you shopped at stores through their portal, you earned points. Those points could be converted into gift cards.
While they started as a cashback portal, they’ve added so many new ways to earn since being acquired by Prodege (which makes them sisters with Swagbucks):
For a limited time, you can get a $5 bonus when you take $5 surveys.
6. LifePoints
It’s possible to take multiple surveys each day with LifePoints. As one of the largest online survey communities, there are many daily opportunities.
Most successful survey completions earn between 50 and 150 points and take up to 25 minutes. Gift card redemptions start at $5 (550 points) for digital Amazon gift cards. Cash via PayPal costs a bit more – $5 via PayPal costs 600 points.
You will need to pre-qualify for the full survey for answering a handful of screener questions. LifePoints award two reward points as compensation if you don’t pass the initial interview.
Survey topics mostly ask your opinion on certain consumer brands and online retailers. It’s also possible to watch and review commercials, share your shopping habits and rate your cellphone provider.
Some surveys award more points if you’re willing to participate in an extended focus study. You may keep a daily diary of your eating habits for 30 days, for instance.
Another example is using your webcam or phone camera to record your facial responses as you watch a TV ad.
It’s possible to win bonus points by entering giveaways. Some examples include guessing a winning soccer game score, a nation’s flag or commenting on a LifePoints social media post.
Unlike several other survey sites, LifePoints isn’t a “get-paid-to” site. If you only want to take surveys for points, this platform can be a good option.
You only need to be 14 years old to join LifePoints and receive 10 bonus points. Membership is open to many nations if you live outside the USA.
Best of luck!
radhika says
well the article was really useful for me as it really saved me from scammers because of you
You’re welcome!
Linda Schacht says
I do not think MySurvey is a legitimate survey site anymore. I used to think so but lately you need to “beg” for the points awarded for surveys taken. If you ask for help looking into these, you get a standard reply message that basically tells you, “they are looking into this and if you don’t hear back from them in six weeks, you will not being receiving the points.” This has happened multiple times to me. I also know someone who questioned why they were no longer receiving survey invitations, only to be told that their account was found to be fraudulent. They are not fraudulent. And they were only told this after contacting My Survey. So…..
Gerald calvert says
I agree. Have been with MySurveys for several years. Last 6 months have had problem receiving credit for surveys completed. Most recent was 1 hour 30 minutes for 300 points. When finished, got a blank page and no points. I now have three inquiries for missing points. 1 is 3 months old, 1 is 2 months old and 1 is 1 month old. All show status as open, have not received any type of reply, or points, on any of them.
David says
Are there any surveys that pay more than $1-$2.00 per survey? I need to make $300-$500 a month to supplement my Social Security. But most of the surveys only pay $1.00 or less for a 20 minute survey. At that rate I’ll spend all my time taking surveys and not making any real money.
Unfortunately survey companies don’t pay out too much per survey and these should be seen as supplemental ways to earn a little extra money with downtime, say if you’re watching TV or waiting for something.
Another company that might be of interest, but you won’t get a ton of surveys, is Respondent.io.
Virginia Senyk says
I’ve been doing i-Say surveys for a long time. I use Chrome as my browser.Lately, when I get a survey invitaton from i-Say, i’m told there are no current surveys at the moment for me to do. But when Ii clicck on “next”, i bring up surveys for be done. When I click on one of the survey links, I bring up the phrase”there are no current surveys at the moment for me to do!” Whey does i-Say survey have them out if there are no current surveys for me to do?
Hmmm… I didn’t personally experience that but perhaps it’s because the survey was filled?
David says
I agree! Never ever pay to join any survey sites or it’s definitely a scam. Swagbucks is one of my favorites. Haven’t joined SurveyJunkie yet so will definitely give it a go! Thanks!
John Johnson says
You missed one, Cashcrate, they pay cash directly and it’s pretty easy to earn up to $50 per month with just a little time invested.
I am not a big fan of CashCrate – you can read my review to see why.
Barbara Karr says
I just recently started doing surveys. I like doing them. One issue i have is what I think is age discrimination. Surveys that start with age and sex usually get me cut off 80% of the time. I feel that they are geared toward an younger group. Seniors buy groceries, alcohol, TV’s, kitchen appliances, phones, all kinds of electronics, etc. And what is this bull about the survey is full? You do the start up and in 3 or 4 questions it is suddenly full. For further information Swagbucks is a rip off. They never have surveys but always have a “deal” for you. Sign in to a few and say you are 65 or older and see the results.
Nick says
Hi Jim,just a quick one.l just had a call from Liberating Research. My son had responded to an earlier advert. They sounded very nice,and we’ve both booked interviews for next Thursday,1 hour each. They’ve offered £50 Amazon vouchers. Which we accepted. It was only later l read they expect 10% of your earnings. They didn’t mention this on the phone. You can donate to a registered charity. Which l don’t mind,of they told me. Please don’t get me wrong,l do what l can,when l can. But l’m a pensioner on a very basic pension with a disabled son,so l do struggle most weeks. So really don’t want to be taken for a ride. What do you think,is it a
ok to proceed?
I hope this question isn’t too trivial and wasting your time.
Thank you for reading this.
Best wishes.
Nick
The 10% thing seems a little weird – I don’t understand why that’s necessary. If they want to donate, they can just pay you less and donate.
As for Liberating Research, the site looks legitimate but I don’t know much more about them.
RON says
I recently received and completed a survey from Simmons National Consumer Survey. There was $5 in the initial letter and $10 in the thank you letter asking me to do more. Do you have an opinion about them?
Randy Stern says
If there’s one survey site I’d say to keep away from it’s Productreportcard.com. The problem is you’ll rarely qualify for surveys on that site. And when it does happen the survey is very long and all you’ll walk away with is maybe $1 or $2
Cj says
In regards GCJ Research opinion survey. I always seem to get these requests during a major election year. Always via snail mail. Addressed to me via my legal first name, which I only use for state, federal and medical documentation. All other times I have gone by my initials. The surveys I have taken from them have always been political in nature. The only difference this time around is they are providing payment via a digital Amazon gift card(code email to you immediately) instead of sending “cash” to the address they already had. Last time around I received two additional surveys that paid $10.00 each. Those surveys questioned If I had come any closer to making a choice in the candidate that I would vote for on election day.
NONE of the questions asked pertained to ANY Personal Identification Information. The one letter sent to the house also included the name of a non-family member that also shares the residence. The only way this company would know that the person resides here would be via state or federal public records. Like automobile registration or voter registration.
The letter received (“Florida Opinion Survey”)had a return address of GCJ Research, LLC 7557 W. Sand Lake Rd, Suite 1175 Orlando FL 32819) When Google Mapping the address, It was discovered it was a “PostNet Store”(a chain retailer that provides business services including but not limited to printing, copying & shipping.)
I guess they use one service location like this in every state to outsource the printing and mailing operations.
I never have found out much information on the company other than they did payout and never asked for information that would harmful.
Judy Ostrom says
Sadly, both Swagbuck sand Inbox Dollars seriously lack any customer service. I signed up years ago and no longer have access to that email and have tried getting my email changed with both companies with no success, very disappointed!!!