Read any money making blog on the internet and chances are, somewhere they will have spoken about survey sites as a way of making extra money. I’m not really a money or a finance blogger but I have been using various survey sites for years now and personally I think they’re a really good way to make some extra cash which requires pretty low effort and can be done on the side of well, almost anything really!
Now, call me cheap or call me cautious (either one, I don’t really mind) but I’ve never been willing to take part in these survey style websites which require you to use your own money to sign up for a subscription of some sort then you’ll get £20 back later. I just don’t trust them and it’s not worth the risk IMO. So today I’m going to share with you the 4 survey sites I use on a regular basis and how much I’ve earned from them in a month.
Over the course of March, I kept track of my earnings from all 4 of these sites very closely for the sake of this post. And just for reference:
- I checked these sites every day that I was able to
- I took part in / tried to take part in every survey that was sent to me
- I was on holiday twice with no internet, so there were a few days that I did miss
But without further ado, here are the survey sites I use to make some extra money throughout the month, what I think of them, how much I earned over the course of March and links for you to sign up too!
Prolific
Prolific is definitely my favourite of the bunch as the surveys are generally much more interesting and are more research based than anything (i.e professors may use the results of these surveys in their classes).
Pros and cons: Prolific benefits me because I work from home, I can keep the tab open and see instantly when any new surveys come in. Each survey only has a limited number of spaces and this site tends to work on a 9-5 basis. So if you can’t get online during the day, this one might not be for you.
How much does it pay? Each survey is totally different. Some might pay you £1 for 3 minutes of your time, others may pay you £5 for longer. You can cash out at £5 via PayPal or Circle.
What I started the month with: £0
Amount earned in March: £21.28
YouGov
YouGov is definitely the one I’ve used the longest and I’ve had 2 or 3 cash outs from it, so it’s definitely worth it. It’ll take a while but it’s an extra £50 for little effort.
Pros and cons: Some of they surveys are a bit boring and repetitive. You won’t believe the amount of times I’ve been asked about who I voted for in the election! But they’re not normally too long and you can set your preferences so you receive as many surveys as possible. The website is also quick and easy to use.
How much does it pay? It works on a points basis. So each survey completed will give you anything from 25 to 75 points. When you’ve reached 5,000 points, you can cash out £50.
What I started the month with: 665 points
Amount earned in March: 570 (1,235/5,000)
PopulusLive
This is a relatively new one I’ve started using but it’s becoming one of my favourites. I’ve just had my first pay out and again, this one works in points rather than money.
Pros and cons: Surveys are fairly frequent and can range from 5 minutes to 20 minutes. You’ll be eligible for almost all surveys so as long as you check your emails regularly then you could get a fairly quick payout from this one. Cons? Erm, sometimes they’re a little repetitive.
How much does it pay? Surveys range from £1 to £5 but are added up as ‘points’ on your account. So £3 = 3 points. And when you reach 50 points, you get a payout of £50. All payments are made by cheque.
What I started the month with: 36 points (£36)
Amount earned in March: 15 points (£15)
As you can see, I did have some success with these throughout March and earned a little extra which is always helpful. Unless you’re a member or hundreds of survey sites all at once and are able to check them all multiple times a day, you shouldn’t expect to make loads from them but the money you do make is a nice extra which is always helpful around birthdays and Christmas!
Bonus addition:
After publishing this post I came across another app to make some extra cash by doing surveys. I don’t have any results like the above but I did want to mention this new app I’ve found because I’ve enjoyed using it over the month and thought you’d like it too!
Curious Cat
Pros and cons: Pros is that it’s an app, it’s free to download and it’s incredibly easy to use. You usually get a fair few surveys every day of varying payments and money goes straight into your app when they’re complete and you can clearly see how much you’ve earned. You also get 1 point for every survey you attempt but don’t qualify for. So it’s a good extra incentive. Cons is that you don’t qualify for every survey. There’s been occasions where I’ve attempted 6 surveys but not qualified for any of them.
How much does it pay?: Surveys vary from around 10 points (1 point = 1p) to over 100 points. I’ve managed to earn about £11 in a couple of weeks.
Are you a member of any survey sites? Do you have any others to recommend?
* Some links within this post may be affiliate links