16 Best Ways To Get Paid For Your Data
In this day and age, pretty much every app and service we use is interested in our data in some way.
This can honestly feel a little overwhelming at times. After all, it seems like there are so many privacy and data rules these days, yet apps and companies constantly ask us for more of our information all the time.
But, what if it was possible to get paid for your data if you're willing to give it up? Well, the great news is that with the right stack of passive income apps and data collection apps that pay, this is possible. Let's dive in!
How To Get Paid For Your Data
Table of Contents
1. Pawns
Pawns app is an easy way to make money with your data by selling unused internet bandwidth. And it's also a globally-friendly option that I suggest starting with.
The app pays you $0.20 USD for every gigabyte of data you share. You only need $5 to cash out, and Pawns offers PayPal cash, Bitcoin, and gift cards and payment.
The site also lets you answer surveys for money, so it's easy to earn with. And I like that it has a low $5 cash out minimum. Plus, you can always stack Pawns with other data collection apps like Honeygain to earn as much as possible.
2. Nielsen Panel
Nielsen Panel is my favorite way to get paid for data, and the platform is run by one of the world's largest market research groups.
With the Nielsen Mobile Panel, you earn credits for downloading the app and having it run on the background of your phone. From there, Nielsen collects data about the types of sites people visit and creates anonymous research reports based on the data.
The panel pays about $50 per year worth of credits. You can cash out with a variety of free gift cards, including ones to retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Starbucks, and Target.
This is a very easy passive income idea to start out with. And if you don't mind running an app on your phone, it's one of the more lucrative options to get paid for your data.
Also note that Nielsen has a computer panel you can join, but this just pays you with entry tickets for monthly cash sweepstakes.
Sign up for the Nielsen Panel!
3. Pogo
Pogo is a popular rewards app that lets you get free PayPal cash in exchange for selling your shopping data.
The app is free and is available in the United States. Once you download it, you connect your bank account to the app and then earn small amounts of points whenever you shop with a linked card.
You typically earn a few pennies worth of points per purchase. But you can also answer occasional in-app cash surveys to earn more. And you can also enable location rewards to earn even more by sharing location data.
Pogo lets you cash out after you earn 3,000 points, which is $3. You cash out with PayPal or Venmo, so it's real cash as well.
Try out Pogo or read my Pogo review for more details!
4. MobileXpression
MobileXpression is one of the most popular ways to get paid for your data, and it's also an app I've used for years and have cashed out plenty of times.
Once you install MobileXpression, it pays you with credits for running the app on your phone. It collects data about how you use the web, as well as your smartphone's connectivity to mobile towers.
You earn about $5 worth of credits per month. And there's also a nice $10 sign up bonus if you download the app and run it for a week.
You need $10 to cash out. MobileXpression lets you redeem gift cards to companies like Amazon, Macy's, Nike, Home Depot, and Sephora.
5. OneMeasure Perks
OneMeasure Perks is a U.S and UK passive income app that pays you $0.16 per day that you have the app installed.
The app collects data about the types of apps you use and mobile network strength in your area. It then anonymizes the data and uses it for market research purposes.
Earning $0.16 per day is about $5 per month, which isn't too bad for some free money. And you can cash out for a variety of gift cards after earning just $5.
If you stack this app with something like MobileXpression, that's a quick $10 just for having two apps on your smartphone. Not bad!
6. Honeygain
If you're still wondering how to get paid for your data, one app and platform you can try is Honeygain.
With Honeygain, you get paid for selling unused internet bandwidth to people. You basically turn your IP address into a node in a massive VPN network Honeygain runs.
I've tested out Honeygain in the past, and it's a pretty easy way to earn passive income. And it lets you cash out with PayPal money after you earn $20.
How much data you sell depends largely on where you live and how long you run the app for. But apps like Honeygain can make about $5 to $25 per month or more if you live in North America or Europe.
Try out Honeygain and get a $5 sign up bonus when you use my link!
7. NCP Mobile
Do you do most of the shopping for your household? If the answer is yes, one easy way to make money with your data is to use NCP Mobile.
NCP Mobile, which stands for National Consumer Panel, is a shopping rewards app that's actually run by Nielsen. It pays you to buy products and then share data about them and your shopping experiences.
The app is available on both Android and iOS. All you have to do is download it and then scan barcodes of products you buy and input the information into the app.
From there, you complete short surveys and earn points for the info you share. You can then cash out for different gift cards starting at around $10 or various merchandise.
Overall, this app is a fun way to get paid to shop and to sell your data about the products you enjoy.
8. Mobile Performance Meter
Mobile Performance Meter is another way you can get paid for your data. And this app was actually one way I made passive income as a student when I was in college.
The Android money app pays you $0.10 per day that you have it installed. Like some other data collection apps on this list, the app wants to test network connectivity and stability.
You can cash out to PayPal once you earn $5. The app also has a variety of gift card rewards, but I always cashed out with PayPal or Amazon gift cards and got paid in a few days, as you can see in the screenshot above.
Earning $0.10 per day might not sound like much, but this is over $35 per year in free income!
9. Dosh
Dosh is another popular shopping rewards app that's available if you live in the United States.
The app is similar to Pogo and lets you sell your data for money by linking your bank account to the app. When you shop with a linked card, Dosh gets that data and pays you for it.
You can cash out to PayPal after earning $15. Dosh used to require $25 to cash out, so this is a nice step for this money-making app to take.
I also like Dosh since it has a pretty lucrative travel rewards section that lets you earn cash back. So, you can stack this app with shopping extensions like Rakuten to maximize earnings.
My Dosh review has even more information if you want to learn more about this app.
10. CashWalk
Did you know that one way to get paid for your data is to share data about your fitness routine?
That's right: there's actually apps out there that pay you to walk or to workout and share that data with them. And CashWalk is the perfect example.
This app pays you with points for sharing data about how you walk. The more steps you make in a day, the more you earn, and you can cash out for different gift cards once you earn $5.
There are plenty of other fitness apps that let you make money from your data as well. Sweatcoin and Evidation are two more examples, and the same goes for Miles and PK Rewards.
All of these apps let you earn free cash and gift cards for sharing data for how you move. So, you can make a quick buck while getting some motivation to stay active!
11. Permission Research
If you want an easy $10 per month by selling your data, Permission Research is worth downloading.
This software runs on your computer to collect data about how you browse the web. Comscore is the company behind Permission Research, and it studies internet trends and does market research.
You get a $10 sign up bonus and $10 for every month you keep running the software. It's a pretty easy way to make money with your laptop or desktop as long as you're comfortable selling your data.
This app is similar to UpVoice, another app I used to use that paid me whenever I browsed the web on my computer.
And you don't have to change your regular browsing behavior either. This is really just a way to get paid for doing nothing except using the web like you normally do.
12. Reklaim (Killi)
Reklaim, formerly known as Killi, is another app you can use to get paid for your data.
The app's entire mission is to empower people to reclaim rights over their data and to earn from the data they give to corporations. If you opt-in, you can share your data with brands so they deliver better ads to you, but you get paid for this data.
Reklaim also lets you earn by answering short polls and through referral bonuses. You can then cash out with gift cards, prepaid Visa cards, crypto, or through bank deposit after you earn $1.
This app won't make you rich, but you can earn a few dollars per month by sharing your opinion and data with brands.
13. Drop
Drop is another leading rewards app that's available in the United States and Canada.
I've used this app for years, and it's a pretty easy way to make money from your data. All you have to do is download the app, link your bank account, and then shop for sponsored Drop offers.
Many Drop shopping offers pay $5 to $25 or more, so there are some lucrative cash-back deals. And you can also get paid to play games with the app's new mobile gaming section.
If you don't want to spend money, this isn't the best data collection app that pays. But if you do a lot of online shopping, you might as well earn some cash back by using Drop.
14. SavvyConnect
SavvyConnect, which is run by the company SurveySavvy, is another way to sell your data and make money online in your spare time.
All you have to do is install its software on your laptop, phone, or tablet. You then earn $5 per month, per device, up to $15 that you have the software installed.
This is up to $180 per year in free money, making SavvyConnect one of the highest paying apps on this list.
You can also earn money through surveys that occasionally become available. SavvyConnect lets you cash out after you earn $1 and pays via check.
Just note that SavvyConnect is only available in the United States at this time.
15. Tapestri
Tapestri is a newer way to get paid for your data that's available on both Android and iOS devices.
The idea behind the app is to let people earn for their location data since they share so much of this info for free already with various apps and companies.
Tapestri says you can earn up to $25 per month by enabling location rewards. You get paid small amounts of money passively as you sell your data. But you can also earn more by answering location-specific surveys as you go about your day.
At the time of writing, Tapestri is available in dozens of countries. However, North America, Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain, Germany, and the UK earn the most.
It takes a while for your earnings to be verified. But you can cash out with Stripe after you earn at least $10 in most countries.
16. OnMyWay
One final way to get money for your data is you use the OnMyWay app.
This driving app pays you with points for every mile you drive without using your phone. The idea is to encourage safe driving and to reward distraction-free driving.
You get paid $0.05 for every safe mile you drive. However, the only reward options you can get are discounts to places like hotels, restaurants, and travel agencies.
You can redeem cash if you refer enough people to the app, which is what apps like Sweatcoin do as well. I find this a bit misleading, but if you drive a lot or use gig apps like Uber Eats or DoorDash, this app could be worth downloading.
Plus, you can stack it with similar data collection apps like Safe2Save and Mobilio which also pay you for driving safely.
Extra Reading – The Best Phone Side Hustles.
How Much Money Can You Get For Your Data?
In my experience, earning $10 to $20 per month by selling your data is very realistic. If you stack a few apps on your phone and computer and live in North America or Europe, it's quite easy to earn small amounts of passive income every month.
People living in other areas typically earn less. This is because the bulk of market research money is in North America and Europe, so companies are willing to pay consumers more.
At the end of the day, this is completely autopilot cash. You just need to be comfortable with selling your data for this side hustle idea to work.
Extra Reading – How To Get Paid To Download Apps.
Tips For Getting Started
Now that you know how to get paid for your data, I want to wrap up this post with some useful tips I've used over the years to make more money from my data:
- Always Stack Apps: Personally, I use Nielsen Panel, MobileXpression, and Mobile Performance Meter right now. You can create a nice side hustle stack of apps if you're willing to sell your data.
- Understand Privacy Policies: Always read the privacy policies of these apps and websites so you know what data is being collected and how it's handled.
- Use A Spare Phone/Device: When I was phone farming, I had about 10 devices I was earning with. You don't need to take it to this extreme, but an old phone can likely make $5 to $10 per month without much effort.
Extra Reading – The Best Apps That Pay You To Install Them.
Final Thoughts
I hope this guide on selling your data for money helps you reclaim some ownership from your data.
Data is really the new currency of the modern, online world. So, why shouldn't you get paid for your data if you're sharing it every day?
Ultimately, this is a nice way to earn money online without paying anything. Just make sure you understand how your data is used and that you're comfortable with this hustle.
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