Is Panel Bucks Legit Or A Scam? (My Honest Review!)

When you search for ways to make money online, one of the most common suggestions you come across is to use survey websites that pay.

Survey sites are extremely popular. And if you want to make some quick money on the side without much effort, they're a flexible and effective side hustle.

Panel Bucks, an online website that says you can earn $150+ per hour with its platform, is a perfect example.

But is PanelBucks legit? And does this site actually pay you real money?

I signed up for Panel Bucks and tried it out to learn more. And my Panel Bucks review is sharing how the platform works, if it's legitimate, and what you need to know.

Let’s get to it!

Looking for more legit money-making ideas? Checkout:

• Ipsos iSay: A global survey panel that lets you cash out at just $5!
• Branded Surveys: A fun way to earn gift cards and PayPal cash!

What Is Panel Bucks?

PanelBucks is an online paid survey site that rewards you for sharing your opinion and completing other at-home income opportunities. The company began in 2004, and it's completely free to join.

Currently, Panel Bucks is only available in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

The site also advertises plenty of other ways to earn besides surveys.

For example, Panel Bucks says it has free discount coupons, exclusive offers, product testing gigs, focus groups, and even mystery shopping where you can answer questions about in-person reviewed products.

On top of that, Panel Bucks advertises a $25 sign up bonus for new members. And it says you can earn $100+ per hour with some of its opportunities.

This all sounds too good to be true out of the gate. And as I found out, there are plenty of red flags when it comes to getting paid with Panel Bucks.

Is PanelBucks Legit?

No, Panel Bucks isn't legit. The site claims you can earn hundreds of dollars by answering surveys, but it's just a survey aggregator that redirects you to other survey sites to make money from you. And its $25 sign up bonus is misleading since Panel Bucks doesn't actually pay you.

Additionally, a lot of information on Panel Bucks' website is vague and doesn’t provide any transparency about what it actually does.

This is a similar system survey aggregators like SurveyCompare and Apex Focus Group use. Ultimately, Panel Bucks is just an advertising funnel for a bunch of different survey sites.

Granted, some of the survey sites Panel Bucks promotes, like Survey Junkie and Branded Surveys, are legitimate. But a lot of them are not the best. Plus, the other suspicious offers and promotions on their site aren't worth it.

And if you try to contact Panel Bucks support, you’re very likely to never get a response, even if your questions weren't answered on their FAQ section.

How Does PanelBucks Work?

I signed up for Panel Bucks to test out the platform. It's pretty easy to use and works in just four steps:

1. Sign up at panelbucks.com
2. Find survey partner sites
3. Get the $25 bonus
4. Cash out

1. Sign Up

To sign up for Panel Bucks, head over to panelbucks.com and fill out your name and email in the homepage form. From there, you should get an email that lets you sign up for the website.

When I tested out Panel Bucks, it took hours for this email to reach me, which was annoying. And unfortunately, Panel Bucks doesn’t have an Android or iOS money-making app, so you have to stick to your computer.

Also note that Panel Bucks isn't always accepting new members for whatever reason. But if your registration does go through, you can complete the signup process through your email and continue onto your main Panel Bucks dashboard.

2. Find Survey Sites

Once you login to Panel Bucks, you can explore a list of its survey partners and sign up with these partners to begin making money.

Again, Panel Bucks is a survey site aggregator, not an actual survey company. This means it just connects you with other survey panels and gpt sites, so it doesn't pay its members anything.

Some of the survey sites Panel Bucks suggested I join include:

• Survey Club
• Kashkick
• Opinion City
• YouGov
• Dollar Goblin
• AttaPoll

Some of these are legit sites, but many aren't. And Panel Bucks has plenty of suspicious offers that are scams to get you to use your own money and sign up for subscriptions.

There are options to take part in studies, product reviews, and other shopping offers. However, those are only accessible through certain third party survey sites if you happen to find them.

And don’t expect any earnings to show up on your dashboard either. PanelBucks itself doesn’t pay you anything, which is never a good sign, so don’t waste your time when there are much better survey sites out there.

3. Get The $25 Bonus

Panel Bucks advertises a nice sign up bonus of $25 for new members, but like the rest of this site, this is basically a scam.

According to the fine print on Panel Bucks' website, it doesn't pay you anything. But if you sign up for enough of its offers, you can get $25 in free money as a bonus from doing so.

This is technically true since many survey panels have $5 bonuses or even $10 bonuses for new members. But again, this isn't Panel Bucks' paying you, and you often have to do some work to earn survey site bonuses.

In other words, PanelBucks doesn’t actually pay you a bonus or a fixed $25 amount for taking a survey. It’s merely an opportunity to earn from other sites, which is very misleading and suspicious.

4. Cash Out

Before we discuss cashing out, it's important to note that you don't actually get paid on PanelBucks.

Nothing about the platform allows you to take surveys or cash out through their platforms. Instead, the cashout options are through other survey sites that they are redirecting you to.

Depending on the survey platform, this can be completely safe, but every cashout option is different.

In my opinion, there are so many legit online jobs and easy ways to earn money online that pay you directly. So, don't waste your time with Panel Bucks.

Is PanelBucks A Scam?

No, Panel Bucks isn't an outright scam, and some of its survey recommendations are legitimate. However, Panel Bucks is incredibly misleading, and it's just a middleman in the paid survey space.

Overall, I don't suggest using Panel Bucks as your next online side hustle, especially when there are so many better survey sites out there to take advantage of.

PanelBucks doesn’t collect any harmful personal information or share information with third party users (aside from third party sites that you consent to joining. But again, I don't think it's worth signing up for whatsoever.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Easy to sign up for
• Connects you with other survey sites

Cons:

• Panel Bucks doesn’t actually pay
• Unclear descriptions about site before joining
• Lots of ads and unwanted promotions
• Doesn’t offer its own sign up bonus
• Very misleading
• There's no mobile app

Other PanelBucks Reviews

I signed up for Panel Bucks, and after a minute or two, I realized the site isn't worth using since it doesn't pay its members.

But one of the best ways to learn if a side hustle idea is legit or not is to see what other real people have to say about it online.

So, here are some other Panel Bucks reviews from real users on Quora for a bit more context:

• Emin The Cheater says: “Panel Bucks is not interested in connecting you to legit survey panels. Otherwise, the links would work and take you to the right places. So, until the owner of this site decides to play fair by using the right links, I have no option but to call it a scam.”
• Marc Roger says: “Carefully review the terms and conditions, and be aware of any red flags before providing any personal information or participating in surveys.”

As you can see, these Panel Bucks reviews are quite negative. And the site also has a low TrustPilot score and mostly negative complaints about the lack of transparency within the site.

This Panel Bucks review from Paid From Surveys also shares information about how Panel Bucks works and why it's a scam.

Ultimately, I think you're better off using real money making apps and websites, not wasting time with Panel Bucks.

The Best Panel Bucks Alternatives

After testing out Panel Bucks, I don't think it's worth using.

But the great news is that there are plenty of high-paying apps and websites you can use instead that actually pay you. Some of my favorite Panel Bucks alternatives include:

• Ipsos iSay: Earn free gift cards and PayPal cash and redeem your earnings at just $5.
• Branded Surveys: One of the leading survey panels with cash and gift card prizes.
• Swagbucks: Get paid to answer surveys, download apps, watch ads, shop online, and play games for money.
• Toluna: Another versatile rewards website with plenty of gift card prizes.
• Survey Junkie: A popular survey panel with a low $5 cash out minimum.
• InboxDollars: Another leading U.S. survey website that has a $5 bonus.

Tom also made a YouTube video that shares some of his favorite paid survey sites and apps you can use instead of Panel Bucks.

None of these sites will make you $300 a day or some full-time income. However, they actually pay users and don't waste your time like Panel Bucks.

Extra Reading – The Top Passive Income Apps.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Panel Bucks Worth It?

No, Panel Bucks isn't worth it if you’re looking to earn money by taking surveys online. The platform tries to connect you to other paid surveys sites and spams you with ads and promotions while doing so.

On top of that, you can’t actually earn money through the Panel Bucks site. The earnings it claims to reward you with are from the third party survey sites that are not guaranteed to pay you either.

Does Panel Bucks Pay Real Money?

No, Panel Bucks technically doesn’t pay you any real money directly from its site. Instead, it redirects you to other survey sites where there is a chance you’ll get paid from their platform.

However, there are no cashout methods on PanelBucks specifically.

Extra Reading – How To Earn Money Online For Beginners.

Final Thoughts

I hope my Panel Bucks review lets you stay clear of this website and understand why it's not worth using.

There are plenty of aggregator websites out there like Panel Bucks. And while they can help you find legitimate income opportunities, they're just a middleman you don't need.

There are so many ways to make money with your laptop or phone these days. Hopefully, a few of the alternatives I mentioned in this post work out well for you.

Thanks for reading!

Want even more ways to make money? Checkout:

• The Top Jobs You Can Do With A Phone.
• The Best $50 Sign Up Bonus Offers.