Can You Actually Make Money Answering Surveys?

Surveys are the ultimate marmite side hustle. Either you absolutely hate them or you secretly love them. There is a special place in my heart for surveys as they were my gateway hustle into this crazy world of making money online that I now find myself fully invested in. Let me take you back to March 2020 when you might have guessed it, I didn’t have much else going on. So what did I do? Like any rational human who had just lost their job I googled “how to make money online” and hey presto making money answering surveys became something I did.

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I vividly remember making £5 one day and thinking “why didn’t I start this earlier”. Now I know £5 isn’t going to allow me to retire at a ridiculous early age but up until this point I had only really made money in various hospitality roles. Therefore the idea that I could make anything from the comfort of my sofa without having to get out of my pjs was MIND BLOWING!

Plus that was just the start. See the minute I had proof that it was legit – ie I actually made money answering surveys and the money was in my bank account – it opened my eyes to all the other possibilities out there. Once the world started opening up again and I was able to secure another part time job (two actually 😏) and it didn’t make sense to sit in bed making £5 on surveys in a day when I could do a four hour shift and make £40 plus tips. Yet I always seem to come back to them when I’m feeling a lack of motivation to hustle or have spare time. Why? Because they’re an easy win!

Unlike market research questionnaires where you answering seemingly random questions in the hopes you get picked for an interview paying £150 per hour, you know immediately if you’re getting rewarded or not. The great sites out there even pre-screen you for the study so you’ll hardly ever get screened out. My personal favourite survey site is Prolific as they are primarily academic studies – read: actually interesting. Plus they pay well. I know it is very likely that if I have the Prolific tab open on my laptop whilst I’m doing other things I will answer enough little studies to cash out that day. That’s an easy fiver in my back pocket.

However, not all survey sites were made the same and some are genuinely shite but there are a few hidden gems out there. I have also not by any stretch of the imagination tried every single site/app out there and often if it looks like too much effort I just won’t. Sounds lazy right but in reality I already have the sites that work for me and as this is no longer my only way to make money I don’t feel the need to fully diversify.

So which sites have I tried and what’s the verdict? Can you actually make money answering surveys? Keep reading to find out…

*the star ratings are out of five. 5 being the best.

Swagbucks – ⭐️

I had a little bit of luck with the Swagbucks surveys when I first joined the site in 2020 but I found them to be stupidly long, repetitive and I screened out more times than not. It didn’t take me long to ditch the surveys and make the most of the other features on the site – the game and discover offers. I have given it one star because they have a daily poll and a “easy question” section where you can get 2SB (=2p) for answering 10 questions. These are fab for boosting your balance that little bit when you are super close to a cash out threshold.

1SB = 1p so in total since May 2020 I have made £68.59 on Swagbucks taking surveys and answering the daily poll. I actually didn’t realise I had earned that much just from surveys until I looked it up for this post. Not a total flop then.

Opinion Outpost – ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

One of my preferred sites back in the day, I found the surveys on here were ok-ish paying and the £2.50 payment threshold often didn’t take long at all to reach. Now the data history on this site only goes back 365 days so I had to dive into my transaction history to see how much I’ve made from this site. From May to August 2020 I cashed out 9 times totalling £37.50 from this site and haven’t cashed out since.

LifePoints Panel – ⭐️ ⭐️

I quite liked this one back in the day but when I’ve been on there recently it seems to have stagnated a little bit. I used to be able to focus on the site for a few hours and be able to power through a few surveys and cash out quite quickly. However, when I went on a few weeks ago I found the studies all very repetitive and annoyingly long – my pet peeve with answering surveys. I do think it is a good site for those starting out though!

Like Opinion Outpost this site didn’t have a full earnings breakdown so I had to consult my master spreadsheet. It turns out from July 2020 to Feb 2021 I cashed out 15 times from LifePoints and made £100 even.

Branded Surveys – ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I just to really love Branded Surveys and would spend a good bit of my time on there. Plus I found they were the best site for the chance to discover “bigger and better opportunities”. Like off a 10p Branded Surveys survey I was accepted onto a project that paid me £45 to watch two episodes of a new show – amazing right! They also have the best paying daily poll I’ve found which is a lovely little boost. And they recently reduced the payment threshold from $10 to $5 making the site much more appealing.

Total made from just the Branded Surveys platform was £54.95 since I joined. Plus this figure does not include the bonus studies the site lead me to.

Prolific – ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

My FAVOURITE survey site of all times! I genuinely think I would have ditched surveys as a side hustle years ago if it wasn’t for this site. They do currently have a waitlist for new participants which I’d recommend joining because once you do get on there it will be worth it. Because you are pre-screened for studies I find I only get screened out of studies if I haven’t properly read the description. The pay rates are very good and the studies get approved quickly which makes reaching the £5 payment threshold very easy. Although, I have docked it one star because the site doesn’t work for me when I’m not in the UK, even with a VPN. Which means I can’t use it when I’m travelling – very annoying.

Since completing my first Prolific study in June 2020 I have completed 458 studies and earned a whopping £749.41. Insane!

Amazon Shopper Panel – ⭐️

I like this app but not for surveys. I downloaded it 9 months ago and have been given a grand total of 4 surveys to answer. So not sustainable but the surveys I was offered were like 2 questions long so super simple. Plus I hate not being paid in cash so only being able to get this money in the form of an Amazon balance is kinda annoying. I’ve made a grand total of £1.25 off the 4 surveys I’ve answered on this app.

Survey Pop/Survey Spin/Eureka – ⭐️

I’ve clubbed these three together as they are literally the same app under a different name and with a different colour scheme – it’s the most bizarre thing ever. I joined these after seeing them tonnes on instagram and people raving about how easy they are and the low cashout threshold. My opinion is the 20p refer a friend bonus you get is the main reason they were able to cashout on them. I don’t think I’ve completed a single survey on any of them as the ones I tried to answer have screened me out. I simple keep them for the daily polls.

Although I have a combined total balance of £5.88 across these three apps I haven’t actually been able to cashout on any of them yet so I’ve earned a grand total of £0 from these three.

YouGov – ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

People absolutely slate YouGov because you need to hit 5000 points (=£50) to cashout but I quite like it. Some of the surveys are really interesting and they have this feature called ratings where you rate people, things, programs etc. which I find fun. Plus I have never been screened out on a study which is a rarity in the survey world. And whilst the surveys are not plentiful they are sent straight to my inbox which makes this a good slow burn, in the background sort of site. Plus when you combine answering the odd survey with their data sharing features you can reach that £50 threshold very easily.

I have cashed out from YouGov twice since joining the site in May 2021 so I’ve been paid £100 in total from the site. Although most of these earnings were from sharing my data so I’ve deep dived a little further and found that only £46.55 of this £100 paid out was actually from answering surveys. So bottom line if I had stuck to just answering surveys on this site I still, 3 years on, wouldn’t have reached the cashout threshold.

Grand Total

Drum roll please!!!

Since finding surveys in 2020 I have cashed out a grand total of £1058.25 – crazy! How insane is that! It truly shows how the little things do add up over the years and can make a massive difference. In my case the doors making money answering surveys opened for me are sooo valuable that the thousand pounds is the cherry on top of the cake.

I clearly haven’t tried all of the surveys sites out there but I’ve tried a fair few and clearly had decent success with making money answering surveys in my spare time.

Are you making money answering surveys? Have you tried any of these sites? What are your thoughts? Any you love that I haven’t tried?