17 Paid Online Survey & Research Sites to Pay You Cash & Gifts

Updated on July 2nd, 2018 by Quertime Writer in Make Money Online

You won’t get rich. But if you can squeeze some extra time in between your classes and college writing assignments, then you can generate some extra cash taking online surveys.

Opportunities for survey taking are all over the Internet, and many of them are legitimate. These survey companies are hired by big enterprises for market research – they want to know the details about how consumers are relating to their products or services. And survey companies have gotten quite sophisticated about selecting the right survey takers from their big pool. You can become a part of these pools too.

A couple of tips up-front:

You won’t always get cash – some survey companies give gift cards or rewards points toward things you can buy.
If you want pretty steady work, you will have to sign up with a lot of survey sites and then access them every day to see what is available. The more sophisticated ones will contact you via email if your profile matches a survey they are taking.
Never pay a fee to get access to survey sites. They are all over the Internet – “Sign up now for just $14.95 and get access to the highest paying survey sites – earn $100 days or more!” No.
Most survey sites will take certain personal information and most will have you agree to receive promotional emails. Best advice? Set up a separate email account just for the survey sites you use – you can then go through the offers when you feel like it.

That said, there are legitimate sites that will pay you to take surveys and take care of your personal information at the same time.

1. Swagbucks

This is probably the most popular site for taking surveys, polls and getting cash back for purchasing certain items. As far as taking surveys is concerned, you will receive rewards points which can be used to buy gift cards from the likes of Amazon, Walmart, PayPal, etc. They also tell you up front how your personal information will be used and that they will periodically send promotional offers to you.

2. Global Test Market

The name sounds pretty official, but it’s kind of a clearing house for lots of other third-parties. You will know up front that they are going to provide your information to lots of third-parties. Some of these parties just want to flood you with offers; others look at your demographic and actually contact you to take surveys and/or test products/services. The company has been around for a long time – since 1999 – and they are legit. You earn points you can redeem for gift cards from Amazon and other major retailers.

3. Toluna

This is not a high-paying site, but it is legit, and you earn rewards points to get gift cards and such. Some estimates are that you get the equivalent of about $1.50 per survey you take. On the other hand, if you can get a free Starbucks for taking a few surveys that is money you can keep in your wallet for other things. They have really perfected their apps for mobile devices, so you can take surveys anytime and anywhere. You can also product test.

4. My Survey

Another site that pays in rewards points that can then be used to buy either gift cards from places like Amazon, PayPal, Macy’s, etc. or actual products that are offered. Registration is really easy and you can begin right away. It won’t put cash in your pocket, but the next time you need to buy a gift, you’ve got a card to do it with.

5. Panel Station

This one has been around since 2008 and lives up to its promises. You register and earn rewards for taking their online surveys. The company is based in India but has partners among research companies all over the world, so their legitimacy is well established. They will send you to survey opportunities based on your profile and you can earn up to 5,000 points per. Most surveys, however, are the hundreds of points range. You can start redeeming at 3,000 points, by purchasing products.

6. Harris Poll

Most everyone has heard of this one – it has a great reputation. If you sign up and qualify for surveys, you earn rewards points for gift cards or e-vouchers. You can even donate your earnings to charity. Sometimes they get “full” and cut off registrations until some drop-off, so keep checking back if they are full.

7. My Points

OK. This site is owned by the same people as Swagbucks, so it’s legit. You can take surveys for cash payments or other rewards, such as gift cards, travel points, etc. they have lots of other perks too – you can get discounts on both online and on the ground retailers and bonuses for other stuff, like signing up for Amazon Prime. When you shop at their featured retailers, you also earn points that can be used to buy other stuff.

8. NiceQuest

NiceQuest is about the same as most survey companies you find – again, you redeem rewards points for the surveys you take for gifts, divided into categories. This is a good way to earn products for holiday and birthday gift giving – again, keeps more money in your wallet when you need paper help from a writing service to meet an assignment deadline. NiceQuest doesn’t have as many surveys as some of the “big boys” but what they do have pays an average amount.

9. Ipsos I-Say

Ipsos is a huge market research firm and “I-Say” is one of its online divisions. It has a great reputation, and it pays actual cash for the surveys you take. Sign up for free, provide your profile information, and then set up alerts, so you get notified when new surveys become available. You may not qualify for huge numbers of surveys, but if you take advantage of the few that come your way, you can add to your wallet.

10. YouGov

If you have strong opinions about political and social issues, then you will want to sign up for this site. Most surveys take about 30 minutes. You receive invitation emails to take part. You will earn rewards points and then redeem for cash prizes.

11. Pinecone Research

Another company that has been around for a long time – reputable and they payout. They used to pay cash but now have gone to a rewards points system. The average value of a survey is $3, but it can add up over time. The other nice thing about this company is that they won’t sell your information to others, so your inbox won’t be filled with “offers”.

12. Opinion Outpost

This is becoming an increasingly popular survey site, because of its fun surveys and because it has a low threshold for cashouts. Once you take 5 surveys, about 10-15 each, you can redeem your money or an Amazon voucher. Again, make sure you fill out your profile well, so you get plenty of invites. And hop on them quickly, because they do fill up fast.

13. Vindale Research

A very reputable site, although they do exaggerate how much you can earn in some of their advertising. There are all sorts of surveys to take and they don’t clutter up the site with lots of promotions. Pay is pretty average for the industry. They only pay cash, so if you are looking to earn just cash to buy some writing help for an essay or paper, you can start here. You fill out your demographic information and they match you with the right surveys.

14. Cash Crate

While this site has lots of different types of offers (e.g., buying products at discounted prices), they also give points and rewards for to things – trying out new products and services and taking surveys. Payments are in the low range, but you always know this up front. Also, be aware that they will give your information to third parties.

15. SurveYeah

Another relative newbie in the industry, but a pretty good one. Payment is about average. And they have survey research opportunities geared just to students too. Based on your profile, they will send you about 2-4 surveys a month, each paying around $1. But they aren’t long ones for the most part. If you can commit to checking your email often, this is a low-pay resource. Longer surveys can pay up to $5. Right now, the earnings are redeemable in gift cards.

16. OnePoll

These are really short polls about all sorts of serious and fun topics. They use their surveys to report to the media but also work for specific brands, and the average survey takes about 3 minutes to complete. It takes a while to earn enough to redeem your money, and if you get stuck, you can always refer someone else and pick up a bit more cash.

17. Vivatic

Here’s a site where you can earn money taking surveys (cash) but also through a lot of other ways too. You can write reviews or even do data entry. Who knows? You could even become one of their top writers. The surveys are generally short, about 15 minutes, so it takes a long time to earn good money, but you can do some of the other things too. You need a PayPal account for payment.

These are only 17 of thousands of online survey opportunities. But they are reputable, and that’s the important thing. Start with these if this is something you think you have time to do. It takes time to check for invites every day, but, hey, you can do it on any mobile device wherever you may be. The pay is not great for any one or even several of these surveys. But if you stick with it, you can accumulate cash and great gift cards – always usable!

Author: Angela Baker

Angela is currently working as a freelance writer in a professional writing service SmartPaperHelp.com and trying to improve herself in the blogging career. She loves to discover new trends in her field and is a big enthusiast for reading and writing latest news.