10 Legit Ways to Make Extra Money Online in Your Spare Time

"Make money online" is a phrase scammers love, which is a shame, because there are real ways to do it. They just pay like part-time work, not like the ads. Below are ten we'd actually suggest to a friend, each run by a company that says in writing what it pays or what it takes, so you can do the math before you give up an evening.

You won't be alone. Pew Research found that 16% of American adults had earned money through an online gig platform at some point, though that survey counts delivery and ride apps too, not just desk work.

How we picked them

Each way on this list had to meet four conditions: free to join, a named company behind it, pay or fees published on the platform's own pages, and payment through ordinary channels such as PayPal or a bank transfer. We didn't open accounts to try them. We read the pay and fee pages, dated what we read, and left out anything we couldn't confirm.

Two things we left out on purpose. Amazon Mechanical Turk, for years the default answer to this question, will permanently close on September 30, 2026, as Amazon announces on the service's home page. And anything that asks for money before paying you, including "task" apps that pay you to like videos, is covered in our scam guide rather than here.

What the ways with published rates pay

Only some platforms publish a rate. These are the numbers they give, lowest first. Read the note under the box before you read the numbers.

What you can really earn

Rates each platform publishes for its own work, for adults in the US. They pay for the task itself: time spent waiting, qualifying or getting screened out is not paid.

Research study on Prolific (platform minimum to recommended rate)

$8–$12 per hour of study time

Unmoderated online task or survey, 5 to 25 minutes (Respondent)

$5–$25 per task, if selected

Remote research interview, 30 to 90 minutes (Respondent)

$40–$150 per interview, if selected

One-on-one research interview (User Interviews)

$20–$300 per interview, if selected

AI training tasks, general projects (DataAnnotation)

$25–$30 per hour, starting rate, if accepted

General transcription (TranscribeMe)

$15–$22 per hour of audio, not per hour worked

The bottom of each range is the realistic one. Invitations depend on your age, job, household and location, and none of these platforms promises a steady flow of work.

Verified by the editorial teamPay and help pages of Prolific, Respondent, User Interviews, DataAnnotation and TranscribeMe, Sep 24, 2026

1. Academic research studies

Prolific connects university and company researchers with participants for surveys and short experiments. What makes it stand out is that it sets pay rules for researchers: a minimum of $8 an hour and a recommended $12 of study time. You can cash out to PayPal once your balance reaches $6 (or £6). The catch is supply: studies fill up fast, so the people who earn most are the ones who check often.

2. Testing websites and apps

Companies pay to watch ordinary people use their websites, so they can see where people get stuck. On UserTesting you record your screen and voice while you follow a set of tasks. It doesn't publish a fixed rate: pay varies by test type, length and demand, and your dashboard shows the amount before you accept. The platform says most participants get one or two tests a week, and each payment reaches PayPal 14 days after you upload the test. You'll need a computer or a recent phone and a microphone, and you have to pass a practice test first.

3. Paid research interviews

A step up from tests: a researcher talks to you, usually by video, about a product or a habit, and pays more for it: User Interviews publishes ranges by study type on its sign-up page. Respondent, which leans toward professional audiences, publishes typical amounts by study type (they're in the box above) and pays them minus a 5% processing fee. Its screening questions are unpaid. You apply for each study with a short screener, and most applications don't lead to a session: studies look for specific profiles, so how often you're picked depends on your job, your household and the tools you use.

4. Training AI models

AI companies need people to write, check and rate model answers. DataAnnotation publishes starting rates on its FAQ page and asks for a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience plus fluent English, with an assessment before any paid work. Expect the work to come and go by project. Be wary of look-alikes: a real platform of this kind never charges you to "unlock" tasks.

5. Small freelance jobs

If you can write, design, translate, edit spreadsheets or fix a website, you can sell those hours. On Upwork, the fee taken from freelancers ranges from 0% to 15% per contract, and sending proposals uses Connects, which cost $0.15 each. Fiverr works the other way round, with you listing fixed-price services: sellers receive 80% of the payment, after a 14-day clearing period. The first few jobs are the hardest to win, so this one pays off over months, not weekends.

6. Online tutoring

If you know a school subject, a test or an instrument well, tutoring pays for expertise rather than for time spent qualifying. On Wyzant you set your own hourly rate and keep 75% of it. Tutors must be over 18 and eligible to work in the US. It's the most "job-like" option here: students expect regular slots.

7. Selling things you no longer use

Probably the best money per hour on this list, for as long as your closet lasts. What changes between platforms is the cut:

• eBay: for most categories, 13.6% of the total sale plus $0.30 or $0.40 per order.
• Mercari: 10% of the item price plus buyer-paid shipping.
• Poshmark: a flat $2.95 under $15, 20% from $15 up.
• Facebook Marketplace: local pickup is free; for shipped orders, individual sellers pay 10% per transaction, with a minimum of $0.80.

Photograph in daylight, measure everything and be honest about flaws. Returns eat margins faster than fees do.

8. Selling handmade or digital goods

Etsy suits crafts, printables and templates. Each listing costs $0.20, and Etsy takes 6.5% of the order total, shipping included, plus US payment processing of 3% plus $0.25. Digital products have no shipping and no stock, which is why so many people try them, and why the popular niches are crowded.

9. Pet sitting and dog walking, booked online

Not strictly done online, but found and paid online, and it fits around a day job. Rover keeps 20% of each booking, so you take home 80% of the rate you set (California works differently), and sitters must be at least 18. Your first reviews matter more than your price.

10. Transcription

Turning audio into text needs a good ear, fast typing and patience. Rates are quoted per minute or hour of audio, not per hour of your time, and an hour of audio can take several hours to transcribe cleanly, especially with accents or background noise. Rev lists $0.40 to $1.10 per audio minute for general transcription but says it currently has a waitlist; TranscribeMe requires an entrance exam.

Before you start any of them

Pick one or two, not all ten. Every platform has a learning curve, and spreading yourself thin means you never get past the slow start. Keep a simple note of what you earn and when: the IRS says side income must be reported even if you don't get a 1099, and self-employment tax applies once your net earnings reach $400 in a year.

And keep the FTC's rule in mind for anything not on this list: someone who claims you can make a lot of money in a short time with little work is almost certainly running a scam. The honest options sound modest because they are.

You asked

Which of these pays fastest?

Research studies and website tests usually pay within days to two weeks through PayPal or a gift card service. Selling items and freelancing depend on when the buyer or client pays and on the platform's clearing period.

Do I need to pay anything to get started?

No. None of the ten ways here charges you to join. Selling platforms take a fee when you sell, and Upwork charges for bids, but no legitimate platform asks for money before it pays you. If one does, read our guide to spotting scams.

Do I have to pay tax on small amounts?

In the US, yes: income from side work is reportable even if you never receive a 1099 form. If your net self-employment earnings reach $400 in a year, you also owe self-employment tax. For anything beyond pocket money, a tax adviser is worth the fee.

Can I do these from outside the US?

Some, not all. Prolific accepts participants from around 50 countries; others, such as Wyzant, require that you can work in the US. Each platform's help pages list where it operates.