Financial Advice

Free Financial Advice

Ways to Save Money, Make Money and Get Out of Debt.

Paid Online Surveys - YES, You CAN make money.

We're sure you've heard of, seen ads for, or gotten emails about filling out online surveys for cash.  Well, here's a list of paid online survey websites that will pay you for your opinion and your time. Don't expect to get rich overnight, but if you stick with it and sign up for lots of sites, you can make dozens to hundreds of dollars per month.

We've visited and registered at hundreds of survey sites and then written brief reviews for you.  We've excluded most of the sites that promise big bucks but don't deliver.  We recommend you start at the top of the list, as these sites are the best of the group.  Also, if you are looking for survey sites from other countries than the U.S., check the bottom of the list.  And because many sites offer only a few surveys per week or month, you'll want to sign up for as many of the recommended sites as you can. Be patient and wait for the survey sites to send you invitations. Many surveys close quickly so there may not be a lot available when you sign up. 

Update: It's been several months since we've signed up and the surveys are pouring in. Don't get too impatient and the same will happen to you.

Be sure and this page so you can come back and sign up for all the survey sites you want to.

Free Online Survey Sites:

NFO MySurvey.com (US Only, see below for other countries) - We have tested this site and it is our most recommended paid survey site.  Don't expect to make a lot of money overnight, but you can make hundreds of dollars per year.  And the rewards are redeemable in cash.  This site is one of the most legitimate because it only offers paid surveys.  Many "survey" sites offer disguised surveys that are really ads that they get paid for when you click on them.  This site makes money because it charges businesses for the survey results.  In fact, the surveys are designed for and by businesses, and they are willing to pay you for your opinions. We recommend this site.
Nielsen/NetRatings (US Only, see below for UK, Italy and Spain) - Similar to the Nielson TV ratings, this website has an internet panel that you join simply by signing up and downloading software that runs in the background of your computer.  All you have to do is fill out a profile and download the software.  As long as you run the software, you will be entered into their sweepstakes entry each month.  We've tested the software and found no negative effects on computer performance, so we would recommend using this panel as another way of increasing your odds of winning a sweepstakes prize.
Synovate (US Only) - This site is easy to sign up for and the surveys are legitimate.  For each survey you receive sweepstakes entries and they award over 200 cash prizes per month.  We received our first survey invitation just minutes after signing up and we were able to complete the survey in less than one minute.  You can also earn cash if you are invited to fill out a survey for money.  We recommend this site.
ZoomPanel (US Only) - We like this site because it offers a lot of chances to fill out surveys.  Each survey is worth zoom points and the zoom points are actually worth a fair amount of cash and gift card rewards.  We recommend this site.
Greenfield Online (US Only, see below for Canada) - This is one of the well-respected survey sites out there.  You begin by filling out a profile and creating an account.  After that, you can login to your account and view all of the surveys available to you.  You can also fill out several more specific profiles about yourself to increase the number of paid surveys available to you. A lot of the surveys you'll have access to will be for sweepstakes entries, but they are legitimate and award tens of thousands of dollars every month, plus other cool electronics.  This company makes money by the businesses conducting the survey, and shares the money earned with you. We recommend this site.
Opinion Outpost (US & Canada Only) - We recommend signing up for this paid survey site.  There are no advertisements and they keep your confidentiality.  You start by creating an account and profile, then after confirming your account you fill out five other profiles (short surveys).  These profiles are used to match future surveys against your profile.  When they match, you will get an email with an invitation to fill out the survey.  All surveys are paid for by businesses and therefore cost you nothing. We recommend this site.
NFO MySurvey (US New and Expecting Mothers Only) - One of the most respected and well paying sites.  They need women survey candidates who are expecting or who recently had a baby.
Ispos (US & Canada Only) - We found that this website is easy to sign up for and offers chances to win a sweepstakes for each survey filled out.  Also, there are sometimes surveys that will pay you cash for your participation. We recommend this site.
Lightspeed (US Only, see below for Australia, Japan and UK) - This is another online survey site that we recommend.  The signup process is easy and they keep all of your information (and email) confidential.  Begin by signing up for an account, then be sure to fill out the extra profiles they provide so that you are more likely to be invited to future surveys.  Then, fill out surveys as they become available to earn Lightspeed points, which are redeemable for cash or gift certificates.  Also, each survey qualifies you for a sweepstakes entry. We recommend this site.
MyPoints  - This site has surveys that pay but you can also build points by reading emails, shopping and referring your friends.  We've been a member of this site for over 8 years and have earned gift cards worth at least $1,000.  We recommend this site.
Survey Spot (US, UK and Canada) - This survey site offers legitimate surveys of their own.  Sign up to win cash rewards via sweepstakes entries.  Each survey gets you an entry in the sweepstakes. Last year they paid out about $3.8 million so there is a lot to win.  Also, when we signed up, we received a lot of surveys via email.  We recommend this site.
Inbox Dollars (US Only) - For its survey content, all surveys are links to other survey sites, like the sites reviewed on this page.  However, it also pays you to read emails, where each email is really just an advertisement that you need to click on.  The other ways to earn money on this site are by signing up for "free trials" that require credit cards and charge you if you don't cancel right away, and by registering at other sites (e.g. loan, insurance, and auto quotes) that require your email and phone number. This is not the best site but they send you emails almost every day to earn money.
Opinion Surveys (US Only) - This site is easy to sign up for and it offers legitimate online surveys.  They don't give you an account to log into, but they email you with surveys that match your profile.  When we signed up, the survey they sent us to was from Greenfield Online (see above).  This isn't the best survey site but we still recommend you sign up for it to increase your odds of winning cash and sweepstakes.
Survey Savvy (Worldwide) - This is one of the most popular free survey sites out there.  They have a patented referral system that allows you to earn money from surveys, but more importantly, you get to earn money from the friends and family that you refer too.  The site has original survey content and is easy to register for.  They won't send you spam emails, but you'll want to add additional profiles so you can get more surveys to earn money.  Also, after you sign up and start getting invitations, be quick to respond or the offers close.  Of all the sites, we've received more highly paid offers from this site than any other.  However, we've also missed more of them because they close fairly quickly.  We recommend this site.
American Consumer Opinion (Worldwide) - ACOP is also a well respected consumer opinion survey company. Complete surveys for points that can be redeemed for cash and for sweepstakes entries.  Their sign up form is free, easy to fill out, and they won't send you spam or sell your private information.  Once you sign up, you'll also have the option to join the Technology Advisory Board, which pays between $5 and $200 per survey.  Once you sign up, you'll need confirm your email and then wait for surveys to become available. When a survey matches your profile, you'll receive an email with a link to the survey. We recommend this site.
Your 2 Cents (US Only) - Sign up and fill out some of your profiles to instantly earn some money.   Then, wait for surveys to become available. You'll earn cash for your opinions, plus get entries into the $50,000 sweepstakes for each action.  We recommend this site.
Global Test Market (Worldwide) - Another very legitimate paid survey site that is available worldwide.  Sign up is easy and you can fill out several profiles to increase the number of surveys you qualify for.  Surveys pay you in MarketPoints, which are redeemable for cash.  When we signed up, there were 5 surveys ready for us to take, which is better than average.  We recommend this site.
E-mail Pays U (US Only) - The site is kind of unique.  They don't offer their own content, but they pay you to read emails (a few cents for each email), and you can earn more money by clicking on some of their ads.  More importantly, you can refer your friends and earn money whenever they read emails.  You will also earn money when their referrals read emails.  When we signed up we received several emails each day to get paid by, so we recommend you try this site. They also give you a $10 bonus when you sign up.  After signing up and clicking on an email link to get paid, make sure you wait for the top of the page to tell you that you have been credited (takes 15-30 seconds).
E-Poll (US Only) - Another recommended free paid survey site.  After signing up we were requested to fill out a 15 minute profile.  After that, they use your profile to match future surveys to you.  Surveys take 5-10 minutes on average, and are worth 500 - 1000 points each, which translate to about $0.75 to $1.50 each.  Reward points can  be redeemed  for gift cards to major retailers like Target, iTunes, Starbucks, etc.  We recommend this site.
Surveys.com (US Only) - Fill out the one page information profile and confirm your email address.  Then, you'll occasionally receive emails with survey invitations.  Completed surveys result in an entry for their cash drawings.  Surveys are quick and easy to complete and your privacy is guaranteed.  We recommend this site.
Ispos (Mom's Only) - This i-Say network paid survey site is for Mom's only.  It is a well respected site and will not sell your information to anyone, or try to market to you.  Each month you are on their panel (meaning you haven't canceled your account) you are entered in the drawing for cash and prizes.  Also, each survey that you complete will give you another entry, and sometimes surveys will pay you in cash. We recommend this site.
Spider Metrix (Worldwide) - This site is a very unique way to get paid for your opinion.  They pay in cash and you make dollars, not cents for your participation.  Instead of filling out surveys, you are asked to review websites and give them ratings.  In return, you get points for your ratings, which are convertible into cash.  Furthermore, you can refer your friends and earn cash from their ratings too!  If you sign up, please enter "freefa" as your referrer, and you will be our referral. We recommend this site.
Opinion Square (Worldwide) - We recommend signing up for this site if you don't mind installing their software.  Their software monitors your internet usage (confidentially), and provides the information back to Opinion Square so that they can compile market research data.  In return, they sell this market research data and with the money are able to pay you back in the form of cash and prize rewards.  If you are uncomfortable with installing the software, you can still sign up for an account and fill out surveys for money.  About a week after we installed the software, a window popped up on our machine and invited us to fill out a survey that paid us 200 points. With the points you earn, you can redeem for gift cards or merchandise.
MemoLink (US Only) - This website is a rewards program more than it is a survey site.  When you sign up you are credited with 100 points, you then accumulate points through several ways, including online shopping, signing up for advertisements, playing games, or by simply clicking on links to view ads.  It's not a bad idea if you do a lot of online shopping, but the surveys offered are really just used to target ads toward you.  The nice thing about this site is that you can login to your account to view reward points and to find offers to increase your rewards.
Survey Networks (US Only)- This site doesn't offer any surveys of it's own, but if you enter it, you can win a Lexus RX330 or $50,000 in cash by filling out the information.  Be careful which boxes you check "yes" to or you may end up with a lot of unwanted emails.
Snap Dollars (US and Canada Only) - This site is a portal site that credits you with $5 after you sign up, and then credits you with money if you sign up for any of their ads.  Their surveys are all links to other survey sites, so they offer no original content.  They do send you emails that you earn money for reading.  You'll earn a few cents with each email, but you need to collect $30 for them to process a check for you, which they then deduct a $3 fee for processing.  We recommend this site only if you've already signed up for all of the sites above.
Panda Research (US Only) - This site is another portal site that does not offer any surveys of its own.  It disguises a lot of ads and links to other survey sites as its own surveys.  The only good thing about the site is that it does pay you to accept the offers it provides.  And sign up isn't very tough.
Send Earnings (US Only) - This site is identical to Inbox Dollars (see above). When you sign up you can fill out your profile to get a $3.00 bonus.  Then, you can get paid a few cents for each email you read.  You can sign up for this in addition to Inbox Dollars in order to maximize your earnings.
TikTikCash (US Only) - A paid to read email site that is similar to many of the others listed here.  You get paid a few cents to click on ads.  They send you emails almost every day so you have a chance to earn some money.  Plus, you get paid more if you sign up for the products or services they are selling.  We recommend you sign up for this site along with all the other similar sites, but only to click the daily ads they send your way.
Survey Mountain (US & Canada Only) - This site is really just a survey site portal.  When you sign up it tells you that you have to join all three survey sites that it recommends before you can go forward.  It gets paid by each of these offers you complete.  Then, you are taken to a page listing most of the other survey sites that are listed on this page.  It, like us, gets paid if you sign up for those sites.  On its own, the site offers no surveys but only links to other sites.
Global Survey Group (US Only) - This website is not very straightforward.  To sign up, you must go through several pages of ads.  The site makes money by referring you to other "survey" sites, getting you to accept ads, and by selling your email address to anyone that you check "yes" to on their form.
Survey Club (Worldwide) - This site is also just a portal to other survey sites.  It offers no surveys of its own so we are not recommending this site.  In fact, after signing up we received a lot of emails full of ads for other survey sites.
Survey Payoff (US Only) - This site is another site that has no unique content or surveys.  When you sign up you have to sort through several pages of "click yes or no" to join these sites.  Once finished, there are no original surveys to complete, only links to other survey sites.
National Survey Search (US Only) - This site is not a survey site at all, but an advertising portal that tries to get you to join their advertising products.  If you go through the sign up and choose "no thanks" to everything, you then get redirected to Opinion Surveys (see above for description).
ECN Research (US & Canada Only) - This is the least recommended site of all the free sites we've reviewed.  To register, you need to go through pages and pages of ads, and in the end, there is no account to login to, and no surveys to take.  The only surveys they offer are from the other sites listed on this page, as well as from other pseudo survey sites that are really just spam sites.  We'd avoid this site unless you have already exhausted all of the other survey sites.
Home Business Surveys (Women Only) - We're a little unsure about this site.  To sign up, they require a telephone number and "the best time to call".  We were unwilling to complete the sign up process because it sounds too much like a marketing ploy to us.  If you want to sign up for it, feel free.  Our guess is that it is not a survey site in itself, but rather a marketing company that refers you to the same survey sites we recommend above.
PaidSurveys.com (Worldwide) - This is also a portal site.  When you sign up, it asks you to check yes or no to a bunch of other survey sites, then to a bunch of advertisements.  There is no unique survey content on this site.  You are best off joining only the companies we recommend above.
Survey4Profit.com (US Only) - This site is also a portal site.  After signing up, you are asked to choose yes or no to a bunch of ads and survey links.  They have no unique survey content of their own.
SurveyEveryone.com (US Only) - This site was so bad that we couldn't even figure out what the heck it was trying to accomplish.  It definitely is not a survey site.  In addition, they try to make you enter your home phone number and ask for a best time to call.  It also won't let you go forward unless you select one of their deals (and they only had one to choose from).  Sounds like a marketing gimmick to us.  We do not recommend this site.
Internet Survey Group (US Only) - This site is a joke!  When we signed up for it, they actually made it sound like we were filling out a survey when in reality we were clicking "no" to about 6 pages of ads, each with 20 or so ads on them.  The site offers no surveys and no value whatsoever.
Net Panel (US Only) - This site is absolutely ridiculous!  It asks you to register and there are at least 8 pages of "click yes or no" ads, with dozens of crappy ads per page.  They even try to make you sign up for some of the ads.  Then, when you get all the way through it they say "congratulations, you qualify for the following" and send you to cool savings website.  This site should be avoided at all costs.
Viva Research (US Only) - This might be the most ridiculous site yet.  To sign up, you need to fill out a page of personal information, and then THREE pages of ads!  On top of that, we had trouble filling out the first page because it kept giving us errors.  This site should be avoided at all costs.
Survey Explosion (US Only) - This site has no unique surveys to fill out.  They make money by referring you to other paid survey sites.  We don't recommend this site.
Signature Surveys (US Only) - Another site that makes you click through a full page of ads just to sign up.  They don't offer unique surveys so we don't recommend them.
 

Free Survey Sites Outside the US:

Opinionistic (UK Only) - A site offering paid online surveys for residents of the United Kingdom.  We couldn't register since we are located in the US, but it appears to be a site that will send you to many other survey sites that accept UK panelists. We recommend this site.
Ispos (UK Only) - Similar to the Ispos site above, but for UK residents only.  We couldn't sign up for the UK version because our IP address is from the US, but if it's anything like the US version of the site, we recommend it.
Ispos (Canada Only) - Same as Ispos US (see above) but for Canadian residents.
Surveys.com (UK Only) - A reputable site in the US.  We recommend this site if you are in the UK.
Neilsen NetRatings (UK Only) - Similar to the US version, this is a legitimate opinion panel that is worth trying.  Try it if you are in the United Kingdom.
Neilsen NetRatings (Italy Only) - We recommend this site if you are from Italy.
Neilsen NetRatings (Spain Only) - We recommend this site if you are from Spain.
Neilsen NetRatings (Germany Only) - We recommend this site if you are from Germany.
Greenfield Online (Canada Only) - One of the most respected online paid survey sites, this site is for Canadian residents only.  Sign up is easy and you can earn cash and sweepstakes entries for lots of cash. We recommend this site.
LightSpeed (Australia Only) - Just like the Lightspeed reviewed above, this is a very reputable survey site that lets you accumulate points toward earning cash or other rewards of your choice.  It is only available to people in Australia. We recommend this site.
Lightspeed (Japan Only) - We recommend this site if you are from Japan.
Lightspeed (UK Only) - We recommend this survey site if you are from the United Kingdom.
填問卷!換禮品!立即加入 NFO MySurvey (Hong Kong Only) - Similar to NFO MySurvey (see above), but only for residents of Hong Kong. We recommend this site. We recommend this site.
NFO MySurvey (Canada Only) - We recommend this paid survey site if you are from Canada.
NFO MySurvey (French Canadian Only) - We recommend this Canadian paid survey site if you are from French Canada.
NPD (French Canadian Only) - A very reputable online survey site that we recommend if you are French Canadian.
E-Mail Pays U (Outside US) - Like the US version (see above), but for anyone outside the US.
UK Survey Panel (UK Only) - We're not sure what this site is all about since we can't visit it from the US.
Ciao (Japan Only) - We recommend this Japanese online paid survey site if you are in Japan.
Ireland Survey Panel (Ireland Only) - This site looks like it is the same as Global Test Market (see above), but for the Irish.  We recommend you try it if you are in Ireland.

Online Survey Sites That Require a Payment:

PaidSurveysOnline.com (Worldwide) - This site promises to reward you with over 700 sites that make you money through online surveys, telephone surveys, focus groups, offline surveys, product trials and more.  They also claim that you can make over $20,000 per year. We do not know whether or not this site is worth the money it costs to join.  If you are motivated enough to join, let us know your experience so we can update our readers.
Survey Scout (Worldwide, although according to comments from one of our visitors, it is mostly for US) - This site also promises big returns - as much as $10,000 per month.  This is by far the most popular paid survey site on the web. They offer proprietary information on how to find offline and online surveys, preview movie trailers, participate in paid focus groups and try new products (paid product trials).  Again, we don't know how much this site can really offer, but if you have the guts to join it, let us know your experience so we can share it with others.  UPDATE: One of our readers told us that this site only offers links to the free survey sites that we list above. They have asked for a refund and are still waiting for their money back.
Survey Annex (Worldwide) - This site also requires a payment to access the information.  It promises online focus groups, paid product trials, paid online surveys and even getting paid to watch movie trailers.  We didn't pay the money to join, so we're not sure what they really offer.  If you try them out, be sure and let us know what you thought.