7 Legit Ways to Make Money Online (And 7 That Won't)
Hey all, I wanted to share 7 legit ways to make money online. (And 7 that won't)!
This post does not include:
❌ "AI side hustles" — I do not support AI. ❌ Scams — I am sick and tired of side hustle posts that promote a bunch of crap. It's exhausting. You won't see that here.
This post does include:
✅ Side hustles I have tried myself ✅ Hustles that are legit ✅ Unbiased reviews on each one ✅ Referral links — I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. This helps me keep writing these breakdowns, however; you're not obligated to use them! :')
Let's get into it.
1). Freelance Writing — Medium, Substack, Beehiv, Simily, Vocal, Scripted, and Textbroker will pay you to write articles.
My Personal Review: ★★★★☆ (4 Stars)
I would only recommend freelance writing if you're seriously passionate or personally motivated. Despite hundreds of thousands of views, I have a mere 60 followers across three platforms (and not a penny to show for it). But I enjoy writing. I enjoy the comments I get, no matter how few. Writing online can infinitely scale and make you anywhere from $10 to $10,000. It's all about consistency.
Speaking of pennies: join my Patreon for exclusive articles!
2). Attapoll — An app that pays you to fill out surveys.
Payouts range from $0.01 to $10 per survey. Some surveys take 1 minute, some take 30. The longer the survey, the better the payout.
My Personal Review: ★★☆☆☆ (2 Stars)
I would recommend Attapoll if you have some extra time to kill. It's great during your downtime—coffee breaks, slow evenings, a bus ride, etc. The only downsides are the low payouts and the mind-numbing repetitive work, which is why I recommend Attapoll in moderation. I would not rely on it as a main source of income.
With minimal effort, I usually average $3-$5/day on Attapoll. I haven't had any problems with cashing out.
Join using my referral link and we'll both get a $0.50 bonus! https://attapoll.app/join/sobth
3.) Sell Printables — Create sellable planners, trackers and templates online.
My Personal Review: ★★★★☆ (4 Stars)
Better than Attapoll, and about the same as freelance writing. You can sell anything you want to any audience on your own schedule. You have a plethora of fantastic websites to choose from: Shopify, Etsy, Payhip, Itch.io, or even your own website.
The only downside: it's competitive as hell. Everyone's doing this.
The solution? Pick a niche you're knowledgeable in—this could be anything. Ask around and see what problems your audience have, then create a solution. This could be a PDF guide, a convenient tool, a list of solutions, etc. Honestly, sky's the limit!
4.) Swagbucks — Get paid to play mobile apps and fill out surveys.
Each survey/game gives you "SB" (Swagbucks) with a conversion rate of ~1 SB = $0.01. Surveys typically pay 100 SB (equivalent to $1), while mobile apps pay up to 100k SB ($1,000).
My Personal Review: ★★★☆☆ (3 Stars)
As someone who's tried a lot of survey apps, let me be perfectly blunt with you:
Swagbucks is much, much better than Attapoll, but for completely different reasons. Both apps pay you to fill surveys and play games. But while Attapoll is solid for survey-taking, Swagbucks is the best for mobile games.
Their tracking system has never failed me. When I complete a level, I'll always get my SB as soon as I log into the Swagbucks app. Mobile games can be grindy, but payouts are enormous.
I've been paid $100 for playing a puzzle game up to Level 100!
The only downside is the sheer grind it takes to get there. As soon as you accept a mobile game offer, Swagbucks usually puts a 60-90 day limit, which means you have to grind through the grindiest of games to get your reward. Overall? Solid for downtime. Even better than Attapoll.
Sign up for Swagbucks!
5.) Prolific — Academic surveys with extremely high-quality pay and screening.
Prolific is better than Swagbucks and Attapoll put together.
My Personal Review: ★★★★☆ (4 Stars)
Prolific is hands-down the best survey site if you hate getting rejected. Compared to Attapoll, it feels like a luxury experience.
Payouts are fair. Often $6–$15/hr depending on the study. Some longer academic surveys even pay $20+. The layout of the website is clean and modern, like the developers actually cared.
You only get surveys you're pre-qualified for, meaning no more wasting time answering 20 questions only to get kicked out.
Overall, it's elite for survey-takers and blows Attapoll out of the water.
(This would've gotten 5 stars, but the excessive waitlist brings it down one.)
6.) ModSquad — Freelance community moderation and customer support gigs.
My Personal Review: ★★★☆☆ (3 Stars)
You apply to projects, and if accepted, you moderate chats, handle tickets, monitor communities, or provide text-based support. It's extremely flexible. You work from home, pick your hours, and apply to projects that fit your interests.
Pay ranges wildly though. Some projects start at $10/hr, others up to $20+. It really depends on the client.
Still, if you want at-home work with great hours, this is one of the better side hustles.
7.) Prime Opinion — Fast-paying surveys with minimal screenouts and consistent earnings.
My Personal Review: ★★★★★ (5 Stars)
This is my favorite survey-app of all time. It's terrible for mobile games (inconsistent tracking), but for surveys? It's the best of the best. Only second to Prolific. Payouts are fast and reliable. I almost never get screened out compared to other platforms.
It doesn't have a confusing digital currency system like Swagbucks. It has more variety than Attapoll. And it doesn't have an excessive wait-list like Prolific.
I can easily earn $10-$20 a day using just Prime Opinion. Once, I even made $30! I love it.
Sign up for Prime Opinion and get a 24-hour bonus!
And now…
BONUS: 7 Side Hustles I Do NOT Recommend!
1.) HoneyGain — Spyware that doesn't pay out.
HoneyGain is a company that promises to pay you $10-$15/month if you install a tracking software on your laptop/phone. Sounds easy enough, right?
Except payouts are inconsistent. The minimum payout is $20, and most redditors make less than $10/year using HG. Some report suspicious activity, such as devices acting strange/slow, getting IP banned from random websites, or realizing their sensitive info was being sold off. Not to mention that HG borrows your IP address to browse websites. (Websites that may or may not be illegal).
2.) RealityMeter — Another Spyware (that doesn't pay out).
Like HoneyGain, this company promises $10/month if you install their tracking software. It's a blatant scam that sells your data, and will potentially land you in legal trouble.
3.) Freecash — Ehhh…
To be blunt, I have not tried Freecash, but the amount of Freecash bot comments is sus. For that alone, I will never try it. Sounds like a scam.
4.) CPA Grip — Obvious scam is obvious.
Ever seen those "Spin a Wheel for a Burger King Gift Card!" scams? CPA Grip wants to pay you to spam those links on forums and elderly Facebook groups. Except, news flash: CPA Grip doesn't actually pay you, and spamming scam-links is wrong (and also illegal???).
5.) AI Slop Shorts — You will never succeed doing this.
Monetizing AI slop will never work because, statistically, most people are fed up with seeing it. It's causing more problems than it's solving. Make something that actually matters instead.
6.) Dropshipping with POD (Print on Demand) — Too much work for too little pay; highly competitive.
It used to be solid income. Now it's oversaturated and overrated.
If you price your apparel reasonably, then your profit margins will be extremely low ($1-$2 per sale, if even). You could raise your prices, but why bother when your customers can shop cheaper on Amazon?
I quit POD after six months. I spent more time dealing with fussy customers than actually making money.
And speaking of Amazon…
7.) Amazon Associates — Laughably low payouts (1-3%).
Affiliate programs are great for extra income, but Amazon Associates has to be the worst program out there. The commission rate is usually 1%, which is a big slap in the face considering Amazon pulls in 637bn a year. I wouldn't bother.
And those are 7 side hustles I recommend, and 7 I wouldn't!
I hope this helped. If it did, throw some change at my Tip Jar so I can keep making these!
This post was proudly written without generative AI.
