The best side hustle apps can help you earn extra cash in your free time by completing various tasks online or locally. You could be a rideshare driver, freelancer or walk dogs.
It’s even possible to boost your income by selling items you create or cleaning out your closet. You can use these apps to reach clients and receive income-producing offers.
Top Side Hustle Apps
These platforms can help you make money from a diverse range of activities. Consider trying several to obtain multiple income streams.
Note: These recommendations are listed alphabetically but have different income potential and paid activities.
1. Airbnb
Opening up a guest room or an in-law suite to short-term visitors through Airbnb can help you pay your bills. Owning a second home or a guest house can also help you attract guests who prefer a private place to stay.
Making money with Airbnb is an excellent option when you live in a popular area for tourism, business trips or parents visiting their children in college. These situations can provide consistent demand for a place to sleep.
You can estimate your income by entering your property details and ZIP code on Airbnb to see how much current hosts earn. While you must clean up between guests, it can be less labor-intensive than a part-time job.
2. Capital One Shopping
You can get paid to shop by using a cash back app like Capital One Shopping. It’s possible to earn rewards points by shopping at participating online retailers. These points are redeemable for gift cards to your favorite restaurants and merchants.
Additionally, this shopping app provides several ways to save money before you check out. You can compare prices between online retailers, and the app also applies known discount codes for instant savings.
Capital One Shopping is available as a browser extension and mobile app.
3. Decluttr
Consider Decluttr to sell your used electronics, video games and books. Downloading the mobile app is the easiest way to start since you can scan the product barcode and receive an instant buyback quote based on the item’s condition.
These items can earn the most money:
- Cell phones
- Consoles and games
- Macbooks
- Tablets
- Textbooks
Shipping is free via UPS, and you will receive a prepaid label to box up your items. Decluttr performs a final inspection upon receiving your shipment and processes a next-day payment by direct deposit or PayPal.
4. DoorDash
Delivering meals is one of the best ways to make money as a delivery driver since the vehicle requirements and minimum driving age are lower than driving people. You can be at least 18 years old in most cities and deliver by car, bike or scooter.
DoorDash is one of the busiest delivery apps in most cities because they partner with many national and mom-and-pop restaurants. You will earn a fixed amount for the delivery plus an (optional) customer tip.
The platform offers a registration bonus and extra pay during peak hours. These promotions help you earn more money while getting to make a flexible schedule instead of working a shift.
Learn More: DoorDash Driver Review: Is It Worth It?
5. eBay
It’s possible to sell most items on eBay, which is one of the oldest online marketplaces. You could even declutter your house or flip items for a profit.
Some of the bestselling products include:
- Books
- Clothing
- Collectibles
- Electronics
- Jewelry
- Home goods
- Sporting goods
When selling on eBay, you might earn more money than you would if you received an instant quote for used electronics since you can charge a higher price. However, the eBay seller fees are approximately 13{1652eb1ffa4184925f6a63a9c04ea6b421acb7a78117241e7d4325cdca8339fa} of the final sales value.
In addition, shipping fees may apply.
6. Etsy
Consider using Etsy to sell handicrafts, printables and vintage items. Most sellers ship physical goods, so your profit margins may not be as high as other tasks. Nevertheless, it’s a fun way to make money if you’re creative.
Some of the most popular categories include:
- Clothing
- Furniture
- Home decor
- Jewelry
- Personalized gifts
Digital items are also popular and a great option to consider since you won’t pay shipping costs.
When selling on Etsy, you can create a shop for free to attract customers and promote your listings. However, service fees apply to sold items.
Purchasing shipping directly from your seller account lets you qualify for discounted rates. This increases your take-home pay.
7. Fiverr
Freelancing online is a fun money-making idea since your startup costs are typically minimal and usually only require a computer and basic software. You can advertise your services and connect with clients for one-time gigs and ongoing projects.
Some of the highest-paying activities include:
- Data entry
- Graphic design
- Music
- Photography
- Programming
- Social media
- Translation
- Voiceovers
- Website design
- Writing
Fiverr is an excellent freelancer platform to advertise your services. It’s free to join, and you can connect with clients from all over the world. You’re able to create several packages to offer different services and earn more from advanced skills.
8. Honey
The Honey rewards shopping app lets you earn cash back from online merchants. Your redemption options include cash, gift cards and PayPal shopping credits.
This app and browser extension can perform these tasks for upfront savings:
- Apply coupon codes at over 30,000 local and online stores
- Compare prices between Amazon sellers
- Track the price history of items you want to buy
- Receive price drop alerts for goods on your wishlist
With Honey, it’s also possible to save money by purchasing a discounted gift card for partner stores. Instead of paying with a credit card or debit card, you apply the gift code balance first to maximize your savings.
9. InboxDollars
InboxDollars is one of the most popular get-paid-to (GPT) sites. It pays you to complete short online tasks.
These tasks include:
- Answering online surveys
- Playing games
- Reading sponsored emails
- Redeeming grocery store coupons
- Shopping online
- Watching short videos
There are many free activities, but several require a purchase to earn rewards. New users receive a $5 signup bonus after creating their account and can redeem their earnings for PayPal cash and gift cards.
The redemption minimum for InboxDollars is $15 for the first cashout request and $30 for follow-up requests.
10. Instacart
As an Instacart Shopper, you shop for grocery items and deliver them to customers. You can choose delivery requests in the app and start filling orders at your local supermarket.
Like other delivery apps, you may receive customer tips in addition to the base pay rate. This is an excellent idea if you’re familiar with picking fresh produce and can quickly walk the aisles for packaged and frozen items.
You only need to be at least 18 years old to join Instacart Shopper, but you’ll need a vehicle big enough to haul grocery orders that can be rather large. Additionally, you must be able to lift at least 50 pounds.
In select cities, you can be an in-store shopper who works an hourly shift and doesn’t need to deliver items.
11. Lyft
Driving for Lyft lets you make money by transporting people around town or from the airport. It can pay more than delivering food or merchandise, but the vehicle requirements are stricter.
Additionally, you usually need to be at least 21 years old to start driving.
You can set your own schedule, with weekends and rush hour being the busiest times. It’s possible to earn bonuses during peak hours and with limited-time promotions.
12. MyPoints
There are a variety of paid tasks on MyPoints that you can complete to earn gift cards or PayPal.
The most common options include:
- Games
- Shopping offers
- Surveys
Most redemptions require a minimum $5 balance. New MyPoints members can earn up to $10 in bonus rewards after completing their first qualifying purchase.
13. Neighbor
You may not have a spare room to rent out to overnight guests, but you might have an empty garage or basement for self-storage. Neighbor lets you rent out your unused storage space month-to-month.
In addition to helping others store their belongings, you can also offer outdoor parking spots for vehicles, campers and boats. You can estimate your monthly earnings by entering your location on the enrollment page.
Learn More: Neighbor.com Review: A Way to Make Money Storing Stuff
14. Postmates
As a Postmates driver, you will deliver restaurant and small merchandise orders. Depending on your city, it’s possible to make deliveries by bike and scooter instead of by car.
You can deliver in your free time and choose which orders you want to accept. This service operates in most cities and can be an excellent supplement to other food delivery apps to have more paid opportunities.
New drivers can potentially earn a signup bonus by completing a minimum number of orders. This bonus cash is in addition to customer tips.
15. Robinhood
Investing for short-term gains, long-term gains or a combination of the two is easy with Robinhood.
There are no minimum deposit requirements or trading commissions. Plus, you can buy fractional shares of stocks and ETFs starting with a $1 vestment.
The trading app offers taxable brokerage and tax-advantaged retirement accounts. In addition to stocks, you can also trade a handful of cryptocurrencies.
This free investing app is easy to use, but you should thoroughly research each potential investment and practice risk management.
16. Rover
Do you love working with animals? If so, Rover is your best option since you can get paid for various pet care tasks.
Opportunities include:
- Dog walking
- Doggie daycare
- Drop-in visits
- House sitting
- Overnight boarding
With Rover, you can select which breeds and sizes you want to avoid. Simply set your rate with your biography and wait for pet owners to contact you.
17. Shopify
Shopify makes it easy to create your own online store to sell items that you make, flip or dropship. The platform helps you build a customizable website, collect customer payments and coordinate shipping.
This service integrates with online marketplaces, including Amazon and eBay, making it easier to post a single listing on multiple selling sites.
You can enjoy shipping discounts and other membership benefits that help make retail arbitrage profitable and time-efficient.
Unlike most platforms that are free to join, this one incurs a monthly fee. Fortunately, it makes e-commerce notably easier.
18. Steady
If you’re not exactly sure what’s the best side hustle or you’re open-minded about how to make money, Steady is worth checking out. This side hustle app lists online and local jobs needing full-time and part-time help.
Sometimes, the app has special signup bonuses when you pursue a particular side gig.
You can find other ways to earn a few extra dollars on Steady, including downloading new apps and completing product offers. Some of these activities require a purchase but can help you manage your money and improve your productivity.
19. Swagbucks
Swagbucks offers many quick ways to earn spending money with paid activities.
Opportunities include:
- Games and apps
- In-store coupons
- Online shopping
- Product trials
- Surveys
- Videos
Online paid surveys, games and shopping offers are the most frequent and best-paying options. A daily trivia game is also a fun and unique way to earn bonus points.
Redemptions start at $1 for Amazon gift cards and $5 for PayPal or other gift card brands. New users can earn up to $10 in bonus cash by completing qualifying activities.
20. Uber
Driving for Uber gives you the flexibility of earning income by delivering passengers or food orders on the same platform. You can also deliver Uber Eats orders exclusively if you’d prefer not to transport strangers in your car.
This delivery platform can be one of the busiest in many places since it’s one of the oldest and has an expansive footprint. You have the flexibility to set your delivery hours and can earn bonuses during certain periods.
Related: Lyft Versus Uber: An In-Depth Comparison
Methodology
When evaluating different side hustle apps, there were key factors we analyzed to determine the best options in the space. In-depth research was performed to identify the top competitors that can help you find a side hustle.
We focused on apps that met one or more of the following criteria:
- Apple App Store rating of 4.0 or higher
- Reputation among industry leaders
- Ease of use
- Low or no fees
- Available in the United States
We chose this methodology to ensure we’re doing our due diligence as we determined the best side hustle apps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are you still not sure which side hustle apps are best for you? These answers might be able to help.
Summary
There are many side hustle apps to help you make money fast. Whether you are looking for an opportunity that doesn’t require any special skills or want to use your expertise to bring in cash, there are options out there for you.
Consider trying a few of the apps on this list to see which one you like best. Regardless of which one you use, you will walk away with some extra money in your bank account.