Item: Apex Focus Group
Rating: 2.3
Author: Tom Blake

Taking part is focus groups can be a lucrative side hustle. But have you ever wondered how you even find paid focus group opportunities?

Enter Apex Focus Group, a legit platform that helps everyday people find relevant focus groups that they can take part in to make extra money.

However, after signing up for Apex Focus Group to test it out, it's clear that this site is just a middleman and is a waste of time. After poking around, there's a few things you should know before signing up. Hopefully, my Apex Focus Group review helps you decide if it's the right platform for you.

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Is Apex Focus Group Legit?

Apex Focus Group is legit and helps people find paid focus groups, clinical trials, and online surveys. However, Apex Focus Group doesn't actually pay you or run focus groups itself. Instead, it's just a middleman that connects participants to open studies.

I made a video covering how Apex Focus Group works after trying it out. In this video, I explain how the platform is legitimate but why it's a waste of time.

I also though the entire process was a bit confusing while testing it out. This website appears to offer focus groups or even paid online job opportunities themselves, but in reality, it's just listing what others have available. And its advertisements about making $750 per week are extremely misleading.

What Is Apex Focus Group?

Apex Focus Group is a marketing research group that claims to connect users to thousands of different focus groups. It's completely free to join, and according to its website, it offers “a wide range of market research groups that fit your interests, background, lifestyle and location” to help you make extra money.

In other words, Apex Focus Group is basically a middleman, connecting people who need a new side hustle to market research groups, survey panels, clinical trials, and online or offline focus groups.

According to its website, the company has 1,000+ market research opportunities, over 800 active participants right now, and has opportunities in 41 states.

Once you create an account, you can browse Apex Focus Group to find open studies and focus groups. The company also sends you email invitations when there's a study you might match.

How Does Apex Focus Group Work?

I joined for purposes of this Apex Focus Group review, and signing up was pretty simple and only took a few minutes. All-in-all, the platform is very simple, and it's really just an online portal that helps you find paid focus groups and studies. Here's a breakdown of how it works.

1. Sign Up

Signing up for Apex Focus Group is free and easy. I visited their website at apexfocusgroup.com and entered my information in the little pop up box that appeared when I hit apply.

Some of the questions I was asked when signing up included my:

Age
Email
Employment status
Household composition
Phone model
State and Zip code
Gender
Date of birth
Interest in additional education

Once you complete this questionnaire, you get an email from Apex Focus Groups to confirm your email address. It also has instructions for how to apply to your first panel assignment so you can begin making money.

2. Find Focus Groups

Once you complete the sign-up process, the main way to make money through Apex Focus Group is to apply to focus groups from its partners.

There's a list of available focus groups on the website, and here's some of focus group topics I found as well as how much they pay:

Business Travel: $125 payout for men and women between 20 and 55.
Pet Products: $250 payout for men and women between 21 and 65.
Alcoholic Beverages: $125 payout for men and women between 22 and 39.
Home Financing: $300 payout for men and women between 18 to 55.
Woman's Clothing: $150 to $200 payout for women 16-25.

As you can see in the screenshot I took above, there's a range of focus group topics, and most are for men and women. Additionally, most focus groups are available nationwide, while only a few are city-specific.

The payout per focus group is also around $150 to $300 on average. Many groups pay cash as well, while some offer prepaid Visa cards of free Amazon gift cards.

However, you have to apply to these focus groups; you can't just jump right in and make some quick money.

The application process varies, but it usually involves completing a pre-screening questionnaire from the focus group. This is done off of Apex Focus Group, and there's no guarantee that you qualify.

In fact, you might not qualify for any focus groups since they're often looking for some specific type of consumer to research.

3. Find Clinical Trials

In addition to focus groups, Apex Focus Group also says they offer clinical trials and paid survey panels as well.

While I didn’t see any clinical trial opportunities to apply for, they possibly might have listings at a later date. And the company might email you if there's a local clinical trial or opportunity that you can qualify for.

Pro Tip: Find high-paying trials near you with Trial Search!

4. Find Paid Survey Panels

One last way you can potentially make money with Apex Focus Groups is to complete paid surveys it connects you to. Again, I didn't see any surveys in my dashboard, but it might email you if there's any available.

However, focus groups are really the main way to make money with Apex Focus Group. If you want to make money online with paid surveys, you're far better off using gpt sites like Branded Surveys and Prolific since these companies are more consistent.

How Much Does Apex Focus Group Pay?

Most of the opportunities Apex Focus Group connects you to pay between $125 to $300 at most. But there's no guarantee that you qualify for these studies, so the earning potential is very inconsistent and impossible to predict.

If you can qualify for a study or focus group and everything goes according to plan, you can make a decent bit of cash.

However, I found that Apex Focus Group is a bit misleading when I signed up. It reads as if you can and will make up to $750 a week. This is not the case, and you will only be paid when you participate in groups, which isn't guaranteed.

You could possibly earn this much money one week, but then not earn any more until your next focus group which could be days, weeks or even months later.

And remember: you need to apply separately for these other companies and then qualify for those focus groups. Apex Focus Group isn’t really the one hiring or paying you, it's just a middleman.

Extra Reading – The Best Ways To Make Money Online For Beginners.

Is Apex Focus Group A Scam?

Apex Focus Group isn't a scam, and the site connects you to focus groups and clinical studies. However, it's pretty confusing to use, and many users report getting a lot of spam emails after they sign up. Plus, it doesn't actually pay you directly, which is a bit scammy.

I would encourage you to think of Apex more as a job board, that might help some, but that you could probably skip.

There are so many same day pay jobs out there, or online side hustles you can try. And most of them pay you directly and aren't just a middleman.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

Features lots of opportunities
Some opportunities pay a few hundred dollars
Many focus groups are available nationwide and for men and women

Cons:

Apex Focus Group doesn't provide direct opportunities, and merely shares focus groups from others
Website and emails are confusing
May collect and sell your data
Excessive spam to your email after you sign up

Other Apex Focus Group Reviews

I found Apex Focus Group to be pretty confusing while I was testing it out. And I couldn't qualify for any income opportunities. However, it's always good to see what other users have to say about a platform as well so you have as much information as possible.

Currently, Apex Focus Group currently has 2.5 out of 5 possible stars on Trustpilot. Common complaints about Apex Focus Group include lack of real opportunities, excessive SPAM and limited earning potential.

Here's what a few other Apex Focus Group reviews are saying from Trustpilot:

Mrs Agye says: “I wouldn't recommend them to anyone, you sign up and constantly get bombarded with emails from ‘partner' companies who are also a waste of time. You can probably make about £5 in a year if you're lucky!”
Islandlife says: “If you like spam and junk mail this is the company to go to. In the month I was with them I earnt a giant £1.75. Didn't even bother claiming it. Stay away from them.”
Dave Sloan says: “Avoid – scam – 100% not safe, asking for all personal details, requesting full address date of birth and bank details.”

As you can see, these users are very unhappy with the spam emails from Apex Focus Group and basically think it's a scam.

That said, there are some positive Apex Focus Group reviews. For example, in this Glassdoor review, one user explains how they earned $250 in PayPal money for completing some Zoom calls and had a good experience. Although, they had to apply to about 8 focus groups before getting in one.

Ultimately, reviews are pretty mixed, but it's clear you have to deal with a lot of spam and apply to a lot of opportunities with the hope of getting paid.

Best Apex Focus Group Alternatives

There are plenty of ways to get paid for your advice and opinion. And while Apex Focus Group has some high-paying opportunities, it's very spammy and inconsistent. I didn't enjoy using the site when testing it and definitely don't recommend it.

In my opinion, some of the best alternatives you can use to get paid for your opinion include:

Branded Surveys: This leading survey website lets you earn free PayPal money and gift cards, and you can cash out at only $5!
Swagbucks: Another leading rewards platform that pays you to answer surveys, download apps, shop online, and play trivia for money.
Trial Search: One of the easiest ways to find high-paying trials in your area to participate in.
Pinecone Research: A premium survey panel that pays you $3 every time you complete a survey.
InboxDollars: Another way to share your opinion for cash, and there's also a nice $5 sign up bonus!
Ipsos iSay: A leading market research company that's been in business for 50+ years.
Respondent: A more legit way to find online and in-persona focus groups and clinical trials that pay well.
Kashkick: This gpt site pays you to play games and answer surveys, and you can cash out at only $10.
User Interviews: Another way to get paid for participating in research studies.
FocusGroup.com: Another great alternative that's free to sign up for.

Respondent is probably the best site like Apex Focus Group. But you can use the other beermoney sites if you want to make some faster money.

None of these will let you quit your day job. But they're an easy, fun side hustle you can try out.

Is Apex Focus Group Safe?

From what I can tell, Apex Focus Group is safe. It doesn't ask very in-depth personal questions. Other than the potential for spam emails, I don’t see any harm in joining.

Do I feel like Apex is going to help me make up to $750 a week like their site sort of claims? Definitely not. Even though it lists focus groups from multiple sources, there just isn’t enough opportunity here to make any kind of money.

You have to keep in mind that you will not be chosen for every focus group, even those you meet the basic requirement for. Doing focus groups as a side hustle pays well, but most of the time does not provide enough regular work to make an income from it.

Is Apex Focus Group Real Or Fake?

Apex Focus Group is a real company, but it's somewhat misleading and doesn't actually pay anyone directly for participating in studies. It's really just an online job board for finding these types of paid research opportunities.

Is There Customer Support?

You can reach customer support by emailing [email protected] or by using the contact form on the company website.

Extra Reading – The 20+ Highest Paying Apps.

Final Thoughts

I’ve participated in focus groups for several years, and they're an interesting and easy way to make extra money. Some focus groups are online via Zoom or video chat and others are in person, and either way they typically pay well for an hour or even a full afternoon of your time.

Personally, I've found that applying directly to focus groups and studies is the best way to get started. But an aggregator like Apex Focus group can theoretically help you find opportunities as well.

However, I don't think Apex Focus Group is worth it for most people. It's a bit confusing to use, and it's just a middleman to opportunities.

If you're okay with lots of spam emails and applying to potentially dozens of studies and groups before landing one, check it out.

But remember, this is just a source of extra money, not a full-time job opportunity. And there are plenty of other legit online jobs and side hustles that you can try as well that are more consistent.

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