I Tested 17 Money Making Apps For Android – Here Are My Favorites
It goes without saying that I absolutely love making money with phones. I mean, WebMonkey started because of phone farming, a unique experiment in turning old smartphones into a passive income stream.
And during my time in college, I've experiment with dozens amount of Android apps that make money. In this post, I'm covering some of my all-time favorites that you can use to begin earning today.
So, if you're looking for a fun new side hustle and have an Android, this is absolutely the post for you!
The Best Money Making Apps For Android
If you want to make money with your phone and you have an Android, you're in luck. It's time to dive into the top money making Android apps so you can start a new side hustle right from the palm of your hand:
1. Cash Giraffe
If you enjoy mobile games, then Cash Giraffe is an excellent Android app that pays you real money.
I've been testing out this cash gaming app for the last few months. And I like that it has a wide variety of games you can play and offers PayPal cash rewards starting at just $0.20.
You can also redeem a variety of free gift cards. And Cash Giraffe keeps adding new games so there's always something different to try.
Overall, Cash Giraffe is one of my favorite pay to play apps. And its low cash out minimum is what really makes it stand out.
2. Survey Apps
If you want to get paid for your opinion, another category of money making Android apps you can try are paid survey apps.
These days, most of the leading survey sites have Android apps or let you complete surveys from the web on your phone. This lets you make money while on the go or in your spare time at home.
Several leading survey apps for Android you can try include:
- Swagbucks: This popular gpt site lets you answer surveys, download apps, play games, and shop online to earn.
- Branded Surveys: One of my favorite survey sites that also has a new Android app.
- Ipsos iSay: A global survey panel with a low $5 cash out minimum.
- Survey Junkie: Share your opinion to get free PayPal money and gift cards.
- InboxDollars: A versatile rewards platform with an instant $5 sign up bonus.
- Toluna Influencers: Another popular survey site that also has an Android app.
- Google Opinion Rewards: Lets you redeem your earnings for free Google Play credit.
You won't get rich by using any of these apps. But it's a nice way to make money online as a beginner, and you can usually cash out in a day or two after using a few sites.
3. Nielsen Mobile Panel
If you want to make money on autopilot, one excellent app to try is the Nielsen Mobile Panel.
This passive income app pays you for selling your data about how you browse and use the web. Nielsen is a massive market research company, and its mobile panel is available for Android and iOS.
Nielsen's Mobile Panel pays you $50+ per year for sharing your data, and you can cash out for a variety of gift cards, merchandise, and PayPal cash. There's also a computer panel you can use, but this panel just lets you earn sweepstake entries for cash rewards.
Get started with Nielsen Mobile Panel!
4. Food Delivery Apps
While food delivery apps aren't only for Android devices, gig apps are generally your best option if you want to make serious income.
It doesn't matter if you drive for DoorDash or Uber Eats; if you work smart, most food delivery jobs pay at least minimum wage or slightly more.
Some popular food delivery apps you can deliver for include:
- DoorDash – Make money delivering food for the leading food delivery service in North America.
- Instacart – The leading grocery delivery service that pays you to shop and deliver groceries.
- Uber Eats– Another leading food delivery app that you can use for a flexible side hustle.
- Shipt – Shipt is a U.S. grocery delivery service where you can earn up to $22 per hour!
- Cornershop – A popular job like Instacart that pays you for delivering groceries.
There's no single best company to work for; how much you earn really depends on your market, how efficient you are, and if you work during surge pricing.
However, this category of Android apps that pay you is one of the more lucrative ones. And the fact you set your own hours and work as much or little as you want is a selling point.
Start making money with Uber Eats!
Extra Reading – The Best Apps That Pay You To Drive!
5. Mistplay
Mistplay is a leading gaming app for Android pays you real money, and it brands itself as the loyalty program for gamers.
On Mistplay, you earn points for downloading new games, playing them, and leveling up. Once you earn enough points, you can redeem a variety of free gift cards to stores like Amazon, Best Buy, Starbucks, and others.
Thankfully, Mistplay has a decent variety of games, including genres like strategy, action, adventure, card, and puzzle games.
You can also redeem some gift cards at just $0.50, so it's an excellent way to get quick money while having some fun. And if you want even more options, you can try similar apps like Money Well and JustPlay.
Download Mistplay and start earning free gift cards!
6. Mobile Performance Meter
Mobile Performance Meter is one of my all-time favorite ways to earn passive income and that's because it's reliable.
Once you install Mobile Performance Meter, you start earning meter points for running the app in the background of your phone. Most users earn 10 points, or $0.10, per day, which works out to an easy $36.50 in free money each year.
To date, I've earned over $50 from Mobile Performance Meter, so I know it's legit:
Only certain Android models work, but if you have a fairly new phone, there's a strong chance you get into the program. And if you qualify, you basically get paid to do nothing, and $0.10 per day adds up pretty quickly.
7. Rewarded Play
Another Android app you can use is Rewarded Play, a popular gaming app like Mistplay.
With Rewarded Play, you earn points for playing new Android games just like Mistplay. You then redeem those points for dozens of different free gift cards starting at only $5.
I like Rewarded Play since it has excellent gift card variety, and it adds new games all the time as well. Overall, if you already play video games, Rewarded Play is one of the best Android apps that pays you since it pays you for doing something you're doing anyways.
Get started with Rewarded Play or read my Rewarded Play review!
8. S'More
Lockscreen apps that pay are another popular category of money making apps for Android. And out of all the lockscreen apps, S'more is definitely the highest-paying one.
S'more essentially pays you to put advertisements on your lockscreen. In exchange for doing so, you earn $0.10 per day for unlocking your phone.
You don't have to interact with ads, and unlocking your phone multiple times doesn't change how much you earn. So, you're looking at the easiest $36.50 in passive income you've ever seen.
You can boost your earnings by answering surveys, but that's not required. And the best part is that you only need $1.50 in points to cash out, so you actually benefit from the app. Reward options include gift cards to Amazon, Target, CVS, free Google Play credit, and many other retailers.
9. Cash Magnet
If you have an old Android phone laying around, you can turn it into a $15 per month passive income device by running CashMagnet.
CashMagnet turns your phone into an autosurfing device that crawls different websites around the web. In exchange for running in the network, your phone earns meter points, which are redeemable for PayPal cash, free gift cards, and Bitcoin.
You can actually run 4 CashMagnet phones per month, for a total of $60 in potential monthly earnings.
I ran CashMagnet in the past during my phone farming days and earned about $100 in passive income for my efforts.
This beermoney app is legit, but note that payments can take a few weeks to process. Installing also has some quirks, so check out my CashMagnet app review to learn all the details!
10. MobileXpression
MobileXpression is a data collection app that pays you with credits for running in the background of your device. I've been using it for years, and it's a legit app that lets you earn free gift cards in exchange for your data.
Credits are redeemable for free gift cards to Amazon, Best Buy, Starbucks, and other retailers. Plus, you get a $5 bonus after running the app for your first week.
Realistically, you can earn about $30-$40 or so by running this app consistently throughout the year.
I've always had trouble running MobileXpression for more than a few months without having to create a new account. However, the app is legit and pays out users. Plus, you can run it alongside apps like Panel app and Mobile Performance Meter, turning your Android into a decent source of pocket money.
11. Current Rewards
The Current App is another nifty passive income earner that actually lets you get paid to listen to music.
Once you download Current Rewards, you can start earning points for listening to thousands of different radio stations online and offline.
Current Rewards actually claims you can make $600 per year with their app. This is probably a bit high, but plenty of Reddit users report making an easy $20+ per month from the app.
You can also earn points by answering surveys, playing games, and shopping online. However, music is where Current Rewards shines. Also note that the app has rebranded to Mode Earn for Android devices.
12. Cash Cow
Cash Cow is essentially a carbon-copy of Cash Giraffe, but for avid gamers, this just means you have more earning options at your disposal.
This is also an Android-only app because it needs to request permission to track the usage times of your apps, which Apple dislikes. There's a decent selection of games, and reward options include free gift cards, Google Play credit, and free Steam codes.
I like this app since it has a low $0.50 cash out minimum. And you can also earn referral bonuses by inviting your friends to join the app.
13. Drop
Drop is a leading rewards app that is available in Canada and the United States. It's basically a mobile version of Rakuten, and lets you earn Drop points for shopping online at dozens of Drop partners.
You can also earn points for answering surveys, playing mobile games, and shopping in-store for special deals.
Plus, Drop also has some insanely lucrative signup bonuses ranging from $50 to $100+ for trying new services from their partners.
I've earned more than $50 from using Drop on and off over the years, and I barely shop online. And the app has dozens of gift card reward options, so enjoying the fruits of your labor is the easy part.
Extra Reading – The Best Sign Up Bonus Apps.
14. Dosh
If you want a more passive approach to earning cash back rewards, the Dosh app is another excellent app to test out.
Once you connect your credit and debit cards to Dosh, you earn small amounts of cash back for shopping at Dosh partners. Since Dosh has plenty of partners, this is a zero-effort way to earn cashback as you regularly shop.
Some popular Dosh partners include Walmart, Dunkin, Pizza Hut, Sephora, and Instacart. You can redeem your cash back rewards once you reach $15 through direct deposit, PayPal, or Venmo. If you want to earn cash instead of gift cards, this is the app for you.
You can also try out similar apps like Pogo and Bridge Money to earn even more when shopping.
15. McMoney
Out of all texting apps, McMoney is probably the most popular option for Android phones.
McMoney states that they want to “test and improve mobile operations,” and that's why they send test messages to your phone. Companies also send SMS messages to verify new users or suspicious logins, and may use McMoney to test out their service.
Every text you receive earns a couple of pennies, and in most countries, it takes $6 to cashout through PayPal. Some countries let you redeem your balance at $1, however.
Like other passive income apps, the idea here is to earn small bits of income without having to lift a finger.
Will you get rich? Absolutely not, but that's definitely not the point of these Android apps. And McMoney is a very popular and easy way to get paid to text. Plus, you can stack it with similar text-for-money apps like Money SMS.
16. Bingo Apps
These apps let you play in competitive one-versus-one Bingo games against other players. You spend money to enter tournaments, and if you perform well, you walk away with some of the cash prize pool.
Some of the most popular Bingo cash apps that pay include:
Personally, I don't like this category of Android apps that pay you since you have to risk your own money to make money. And I think there are plenty of free online jobs and apps out there that pay more.
But if you love Bingo, you can consider some of these apps and test your skills against other players.
Extra Reading – The Best Apps That Pay Real Money Instantly.
17. Honeygain
I've talked about ways to sell internet bandwidth before. And, out of all the methods, Honeygain is probably one of the most popular.
With Honeygain, you can turn your Android device into a node in a VPN network. As people from around the world use Honeygain's services, they might connect to your particular node and use your IP address to conduct their business.
According to Honeygain, you earn $1USD per 10GB you share. If you don't live in a popular country where people want to connect, don't expect too much. You can also test out Pawns, another bandwidth sharing app, for even more earning potential.
Extra Reading – The Best Apps Like Honeygain.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Android Apps Pay The Most Money?
The Android apps that pay the most are generally food delivery gigs like DoorDash and Instacart. But paid survey sites like Survey Junkie, Branded Surveys, and others can also pay you a decent amount of PayPal money.
Just note that most Android apps that pay won't let you quit your day job. But you can use them to earn a bit of extra cash in your spare time to help cover expenses.
Which Passive Income Android Apps Are Best?
In my experience, I've made the most money with passive income apps like Mobile Performance Meter, Cash Magnet, and MobileXpression.
Apps like Nielsen Panel are also high-paying. And as long as you're comfortable with sharing your data, it's an excellent way to get free money each year.
You can also consider looking into other options, like investing apps, if you're mostly interested in passive income.
Final Thoughts
I hope this list of money making apps for Android helps you turn your smartphone into a money-making machine.
I've been making money with various Android apps for years. In fact, I've probably earned well over $1,000 from testing out a bunch of apps over the years.
You probably won't quit your day job anytime soon with Android apps that pay. But if you want to make money online, these apps are a reliable starting point.
Looking for even more money-making methods? Checkout:
