10 Best and Legit Surveys That Pay Cash Instantly in 2022 – with golden nuggets you would love!
“What’s more fun than just giving your opinion and getting paid!” This was the first thought that came to my mind when I heard about paid surveys, not knowing what lies ahead.
No doubt, completing surveys is one of the easiest ways to make money online – but after investing a lot of time and much effort, I learned one thing for sure, and that is taking best paid surveys doesn’t mean that you just sign-up, complete surveys, and start earning cash.
There’s a lot more to it that I learned the hard way and now I am sharing this here in this post.
The first most important learning is that completing paid online surveys is not going to make you rich. You may earn some extra cash as a side income, but you won’t be able to leave your job and do this full-time.
Consider it a great way to use up some free time that would otherwise be wasted at home.
- Why Companies Offer Surveys That Pay Cash Instantly?
- PART 1. GOLDEN NUGGETS FOR BEST PAID SURVEYS
- 1. Join As Many Paid Survey Sites As Possible
- 2. Complete Your Profile in Full
- 3. Pre-Survey Screening Hack
- 4. Get Best Paid Surveys With Multiple Earning Sources
- 5. Spotting The Bad Apples
- 6. Setup Separate Emails
- 7. Earn Rewards
- 8. Anti-Malware Software
- 9. Get Paid And Don't Pay
- PART 2. 10 BEST SURVEYS THAT PAY CASH INSTANTLY
- 1. Survey Junkie
- 2. Swagbucks
- 3. Branded Surveys
- 4. Inbox Dollars
- 5. MyPoints
- 6. Prize Rebels
- 7. Life Points
- 8. Pinecone Research
- 9. Opinion Outpost
- 10. Ipsos I-Say
- PART 3. HOW TO MAXIMIZE EARNING FROM SURVEYS?
- Conclusion
Why Companies Offer Surveys That Pay Cash Instantly?
You may ask how is it possible that a company would pay for your opinion – and that too instantly.
The fact is that today companies rely heavily on consumer feedback. Some companies don’t have the capability to run consumer surveys and analyze the results, so they outsource this work to survey companies for them.
This helps companies generate even more money and profits by tweaking products and advertisements before they are released to the public.
This feedback could be the difference between a successful product launch and a failed product.
PART 1. GOLDEN NUGGETS FOR BEST PAID SURVEYS

At first, taking online surveys for money seemed simple to me, but with the passage of time, it dawned upon me that how paid survey sites earn more profit and get more benefit, and pay very less amount to their members.
So, I started experimenting different strategies and finally devised some hacks to get a sizable slice out of their profits. Here are some golden nuggets that you can enjoy too to increase your earnings from surveys.
1. Join As Many Paid Survey Sites As Possible
If you can spare 1 to 2 hours daily for completing surveys, then join the maximum number of paid survey sites (better if join all the10 legit paid surveys given below). By doing this, you’ll never fall short of surveys and can earn multiple times more.
2. Complete Your Profile in Full
Make sure you make each profile as complete as possible. Since surveys that pay cash are targeted to a particular demographic, the company won’t send you a survey unless you are from that specific demographic.
3. Pre-Survey Screening Hack
Most of the best survey sites ask you to complete a pre-survey to confirm that you are part of the demographic that they target. In most cases, you get a disqualification notice, and getting this, again and again, is a source of frustration.
The solution to this problem is to select best survey sites that don’t require you to fill out a pre-survey questionnaire or select those companies that offer some points even if you are disqualified.
4. Get Best Paid Surveys With Multiple Earning Sources
Some paid survey sites offer only surveys that you complete and earn rewards, while other companies offer points for watching videos, using their browser, shopping online, taking polls, etc. Obviously, you’ll choose companies that offer multiple sources of earnings.
You can play video on the back end at one tab and complete the survey on another tab. This hack saves your time and doubles your earnings.
5. Spotting The Bad Apples
While there are plenty of legit survey sites online, this market is also full of scams. Some companies which are in this space will sell your personal information.
So how do lookout for scam companies?
Once you are on some paid survey sites, navigate to the privacy policy, that is usually located on the footer (bottom) of the page.
Click to open this privacy policy, press CTRL+F to find the term “information”. You will now be able to check easily if a company keep your information secure or reserve the right to sell your information.
6. Setup Separate Emails
The moment you join paid survey sites, your inbox gets bombarded with a number of emails, and your personal and official emails may be lost somewhere. So, the best practice is to set up a separate email and use it specifically for signing up for surveys that pay cash instantly.
7. Earn Rewards
The process of earning rewards vary from one survey company to another. Some companies will give you points, which you can then convert into cash or other rewards.
Some other companies offer to transfer money immediately and directly to your PayPal or designated bank.
We have also seen companies that will enter your name into a sweepstakes style drawing, although this could potentially earn you more, we don’t recommend it as you could end up taking lots of paid surveys and then never actually be awarded for your work.
As these steps vary from one survey company to another, be sure you understand how the payout process works when you sign up to avoid wasting time.
8. Anti-Malware Software
To protect your system and data, install anti-malware software, just in case you stumble upon a spammy website.
9. Get Paid And Don’t Pay
Like most things in life, never pay a survey company upfront. Even if the paid survey sites seems legit, there are so many scams out there that it’s better and safer just to steer clear.
Just remember, you are essentially the product of these survey companies, meaning you get paid, this does not go the other way. You should NEVER be paying to take surveys!
PART 2. 10 BEST SURVEYS THAT PAY CASH INSTANTLY
There are hundreds of survey companies that could easily be worth checking out, however, we will show you who we believe are currently the top 10 paid survey sites to get started with.
As mentioned above, you should sign up for multiple paid survey apps and sites to maximize your earnings. This will generate more paid surveys that will be available to you and help boost your earnings from taking surveys online.
Below is the list of the 10 best and legitimate surveys that pay cash instantly:
1. Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie was founded in Glendale, California in 2010. It is a legit market research company with 11 million registered users and a Trustpilot score of 4.4 out of 5. Out of 33,587 reviews on TrustPilot, 87% marked it as an excellent and great company.
For completing a survey, you earn 5 – 10 points. For every 100 points, you get $1.
Pros
Free to sign up. Sign up bonus is $5.
Survey Junkie is never out of stock and always has surveys available for you.
The amazing thing about this company is that it awards you points for answering pre-survey questions, even if you don’t qualify later for a survey.
They pay $0.50 to $3 per survey, with a minimum payout of $5.
SJ pays you cash (to your Paypal account) or redeems points for gift cards from big companies (Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc).
Friendly customer support
Cons
The profile survey is very extensive. SJ claims that it helps to find surveys according to your demographics.
Many surveys are redirected to third-party sites, and you have to provide basic information for each survey.
2. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is owned by the Prodege LCC. The company is launched in El Segundo, Southern California in 2008, and it holds an A rating with the BBB (Better Business Bureau).
It’s rating on Trustpilot is 4.3 / 5 and on App Store, it earns 4.4 / 5. 83% of 25,840 reviewers appreciated it as an excellent and great company.
Swagbucks is best in the sense that the company is not limited to making money doing surveys only. It offers multiple sources of earnings to its members from watching videos to probably the best company online because you can earn cashback rewards or gift cards for all your online activities.
Swagbucks measure points in SB (Swagbucks). 100 SB = $1. You can demand payout when earned 40 to 200 SBs (means $0.40 to $2).
Pros
Swagbucks is free to signup, with a $5 sign-up bonus.
Swagbucks allows you to select surveys, so you can sort the ones that pay more in less time, giving you the best value of time.
It rewards you for watching videos, shopping online, taking surveys, searching the web, voting in polls, or in some cases playing online games!
The unique feature of Swagbucks is that you can earn twice saving your time. At the backend, you can play a video and at the same time continue taking surveys. So your earnings will be doubled easily.
The average earning of completing a survey is from $0.40 to $2 and the minimum payout is $3. It’s amazing to earn money using their mobile app.
Cons
Swagbucks takes 2 weeks to process your payment to Paypal account.
Not a very high earning potential.
3. Branded Surveys

In 2012, Branded Research Inc. was established in San Diego by Matt Gaffney which started operating under the name of MintVine. Then in 2017, it was rebranded as Branded Surveys.
Branded Surveys holds a 4.3 / 5 rating on Trustpilot with the highest amount of reviews (47,408 reviews) and 85% showing it as a great and excellent company.
The average earning per survey is $0.50 to $3; while the minimum payout balance required is $10. Plus, you get a 50 bonus point on first-time registration and another 50 points as a bonus on completing your profile. This 100 point equals $1 as a signup bonus.
Just after signing up, you start getting paid surveys. After completing a survey, the money is sent to your Paypal account instantly. Branded Surveys offers ‘Branded Elite’ a program where you can earn bonus points on a weekly basis.
This is one of the legit paid surveys sites that pays you through gift cards, bank transfers, Paypal, or donations to charity. Branded Pay is a unique payout option for US residents which is a kind of bank transfer. It takes a day or two to process payments.
Pros
It has a record-breaking processing time and truly publishes surveys that pay instantly.
There are multiple sources of earning. This includes:
- Leaderboard bonuses
- Refer friends
- Complete the daily poll
- Survey streak
- Promo codes
Your bonus points increase with the number of surveys you complete.
Cons
Very low signup bonus of $1.
Many times it happens that you receive notifications of being disqualified for surveys.
Common complaints of lack of surveys, not receiving the proper amount of points, and problems with prompt payments.
The minimum payout rate is $10 which is comparatively higher than others.
>> Related Post: How to Make Money Instantly – 13 Easy Ways to Earn Money Online Fast
4. Inbox Dollars

Inbox Dollars, one of the top survey sites, is founded by Daren Cotter in 2000, and from its launch, the company has paid $59 million to its members.
On on Apple Store a 4.5 rating; on Trustpilot, it shows a 4.3 / 5 rating; and a 3.9 rating on Google Play Store. The company is not accredited with BBB, however, Prodege LCC, the parent company of Inboxdollars has a B rating on BBB.
When offering multiple earning ways to users, Inbox dollar is a clear winner. It offers the following varieties to make money:
- Taking paid surveys
- Using Inbox Dollars’ search engine
- Shopping online
- Trying offers
- Reading Emails
- Watching videos
- Playing games
- Scratch cards and win
The company pays on average $0.50 to $5 per survey, which takes up to 20 minutes to complete.
The minimum payout is $15 for the first time. For your next payments, you should have at least a $10 rewards balance.
Pros
Free signup with $5 signup bonus
InboxDollars is also available as a mobile app, so you can earn online while walking your dog, waiting in line, or traveling by bus or train.
It is easy to check your actual earnings as the company keeps track of your earnings in cash, and not in points.
The company offers a variety of earning sources like taking surveys, watching ads, redeeming cashback offers, reading their emails, and other minor tasks that don’t take much time.
With Scratch and Wins, WinIt codes, and by referring friends you can earn bonus rewards
Cons
Inbox offers many surveys that pay money but you later found that you aren’t get qualified.
The minimum payout of $15 is very high as compared to other survey companies.
5. MyPoints

MyPoints is the oldest one and was established back in 1996 in partnership with United Airlines. Then in April 2016, Prodege LLC, the parent company of many market research brands including Swagbucks, acquired MyPoints.
With a Trustpilot rating of 4.4 / 5, MyPoints is one of the most trusted survey websites around. Prodege, LLC, holds an A rating from the Better Business Bureau:
The research company gives you points for filling out surveys, shopping online, playing video games, reading emails, watching movies, and more. These points can be converted then into gift cards that can be used at a variety of stores such as Walmart, Amazon, Starbucks, and PayPal.
Plus if you download the MyPoints browser extension, you’ll get extra 100 points. They also offer a referral program and you get 25 points for each referral.
The average payout for each survey is $0.50 to $5 and the minimum amount to cash out is $5 or 700 points.
Pros
Free signup with $10 Amazon card (signup bonus).
For completing the first 5 surveys, MyPoints gives a $10 bonus.
Make purchases online through the MyPoints portal, and you earn points for nothing.
The company offers diverse ways to win points. In addition to answering surveys for money, you can also play games, take polls, watch videos, shop online, and more.
Cons
A limited number of surveys that pay cash instantly are available.
Low payout rate as compared to sister company, Swagbucks.
When you redeem points to gift cards, it will take long processing time.
6. Prize Rebels

PrizeRebel was founded in California in 2007. The company is legit and has a Trustpilot rating of 3.9 out of 5.
Like other companies, you have to complete paid surveys and then get paid in points. These points are then redeemed into cash or gift cards.
Other than online surveys for cash, PrizeRebels also offers games, videos, sign up with third-party websites, refer family and friends (earn 20% of the referral’s earnings).
Here at PrizeRebels, when you earn 100 points then it means you earn $l; 1000 points equals $10, and so on. This means 1 point = $0.01
The company pays $0.50 to $1 per survey and the minimum payout is $5.
The company offers 5 account levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. The more surveys you complete, the more you’ll be eligible for the next level, earning more points for tasks.
Pros
The platform is user-friendly and easy to navigate.
PrizeRebels offer multiple sources of earnings and so you can never get bored. If you are tired of filling up surveys, switch to playing games or watching video games.
Take multiple surveys daily as the number of surveys never depleted.
The company has a reputation for fast payout. You can receive your payment within 15 to 20 minutes. So it is a good addition to our list of surveys that pay cash instantly.
Cons
No signup bonus
Must complete a screener for each survey attempt.
If you don’t qualify for a survey, you’ll not get any points but only get sweepstakes entries.
You can’t shop online and can’t earn points.
7. Life Points

Trustpilot rating of Lifepoints is 4 / 5 which is great and shows its legitimacy.
Signup for free and then you can earn in three ways. Doing surveys for money, testing products, and tracking consumer behavior.
When you complete any task, you win points. 100 points equal $1 on this site. The average earning is $0.5 to $1 per survey, with a minimum payout limit of $5.
When you earn 550 points (equals $5 ), you can redeem your earnings as an Amazon gift card or directly to your PayPal account when you have earned the equivalent of $10 in points.
If you decide to donate an amount to UNICEF, the points will be redeemed faster. You need only 205 points (equals $1.80) to donate to UNICEF.
Pros
Most of the paid surveys at Lifepoint are short and can be completed within 10 minutes.
For each survey, the estimated time and the rewards rate is mentioned so you can decide the cost-benefit ratio.
You can also win points by filling online diaries and recording your habits or behavior to a specific product or service.
Cons
You have to attempt a lot of online surveys for cash only to find that you are qualified for a couple of them. Why is that?
Survey companies are looking for opinions of targeted customers so there are some pre-survey questions that may take up 5 to 10 minutes to confirm your demographics. In most cases, you get disqualification notice and screened out and all your time and energy got wasted.
Take about 10 days to receive gift cards or Paypal credit.
The company is limited to surveys and other earning options are not available as other companies do offer.
The mobile app is not there so a huge number of people missed this earning opportunity.
8. Pinecone Research

Pinecone Research is owned by The Nielsen Company, Cincinnati, USA and it has been operating successfully for over 21 years now. It is one of the highest paying survey sites that offers its members to complete paid surveys for cash and rewards.
Earning on this site is relatively better as every survey gives you 300 points. Every 100 points equal $1, which makes earning super convenient.
If you become a member of Pinecone Research, a side benefit is that you also get paid to test products.
The company pays a flat rate of $3 per survey so it is a great way to earn a stable income from taking surveys.
Pros
The company has a long history in research and surveys.
A flat rate of $3 for each completed survey is unprecedented and no other company offers such a high rate to its members.
Offer many redemption options; you can redeem points with gift cards, use Paypal, or can even get paid by check.
Cons
Poor 1.7 rating at Trustpilot and also F at BBB.
The hardest thing with PineCone Research is to sign up. New members can join when they are invited by other members or find sign-up banners somewhere around the web. Also, there is no sign-up bonus.
There are many reports that accounts got banned due to inactivity of less than 12 months.
A limited number of surveys (1 to 4 surveys per month) are offered to users.
Recently the company changed its policy and Paypal has been removed as a payment option.
Some users complained that customer support is not quite responsive.
9. Opinion Outpost

The company Dynata LLC, a big player in the market research niche, owns Opinion Outpost. Imagine how much the company is powerful that it also owns QuickThoughts, OneOpinion, and Vindale Research.
The Opinion Outpost Trustpilot rating is 4.3 which is quite impressive, plus the company has 2 million registered members worldwide and it enjoys a solid reputation among the surveys that pay cash instantly.
Payout is $0.50 to $5.
The minimum points required to cash out are 100 points for Paypal (equals $10) or 50 points ($5) for gift cards. Payment is made through Paypal or by gift cards (Amazon, iTunes, HomeDepot, etc.)
Based on your activity on the platform, loyalty badges (bronze, silver, gold, platinum, and diamond) are offered, and with these levels, you can earn more points.
When you refer your friend, you’ll get $1 per referral. It is required that your friend must complete at least 1 survey before you can get paid.
Within 15 minutes to 48 hours, Opinion Outpost sends your money through Paypal, so it is a survey that pays cash instantly.
Pros
High qualification rate.
The average survey pays 10 points and it’s possible to complete surveys that offer anything up to 250 points
Cons
No mobile app
Random account suspensions
10. Ipsos I-Say

Ipsos owns I-Say is a London-based company and is operating since 1975. The company offers many surveys to earn and send pay you instantly to your Paypal account when you cash out.
When you sign up and complete your profile, you’ll start receiving in your inbox the best surveys for money. After you finish a survey, you’ll earn some points which can be converted to reward cards
Earning per survey is $0.45 to $0.90 and the payout limit is $5. The payment is made in points, and 500 points is the minimum required for payout.
Pros
You get bonus points when you complete a specific number of surveys in a year. 5o surveys earn you 150 extra points and 100 surveys reward 300 bonus points.
If you answer presurvey questions (for screening purposes) and then disqualify, even then you earn 5 points for every screen out.
Cons
Paypal is not listed as a payment option.
The company doesn’t give multiple earning options and is limited to paid surveys only.
The payment process takes more time (1 to 3 weeks) as compared to other companies.
A random number of surveys is offered each month. You may receive 12 surveys one week, and 2 surveys next week.
PART 3. HOW TO MAXIMIZE EARNING FROM SURVEYS?
As mentioned earlier, you will not make a killing from taking surveys that pay cash instantly, but you can make some very easy cash for just a few minutes of your time.
Your next step should be to invest this money in other passive income ideas, meaning you should brainstorm money making projects that can potentially earn you hundreds of dollars.
For example, rewards from paid surveys can vary from less than $1 to over $20, however, the average seems to be between $1, and $5, this means that if you take 10 surveys for $5 daily in your extra time, you will get $50, which is enough to get you started flipping domains or writing and publishing an ebook.
So with a range of rewards, each earning between $1 and $5, if you can dedicate an hour or 2 per day to taking surveys, then over a month it would be possible to earn quite a lot of money per month.
Some top survey sites, such as Swagbucks, offer prizes, cash, or points for referring ‘friends’ to the service, so to maximize earnings you can also try to bring more people you know into the service and boost your earnings.
There are companies that do not give you cash, but they help you save money. This is because they offer free products in exchange for surveys, often these are full-sized products. This can be a great way to get free household products, stationery, personal care products, and very useful items such as diapers for those of you with young kids at home!
The best part of taking paid surveys online is that it is time that would otherwise be wasted. For example that 10 or 15 minutes you just spent looking at Twitter, you could have just made yourself as much as $20.
If you can somehow build surveys into your daily schedule, it is a great way to add a top-up to your monthly earnings and add an additional revenue stream to your portfolio.
Conclusion
Make money doing surveys is a good pastime. But what if there are other options available where, by investing the same amount of time (1 – 2 hours), you can start a legitimate online business and earn at least $500 per week?
In my opinion, you should consider paid surveys as the first step of your online earning journey as you start working online, get used to certain systems, understand payment processing, and also make some extra money on the side (and save this cash for future projects).
But I don’t recommend to limit yourself to surveys only. It’s hard to imagine that even after 2 or 3 years, you are still busy in doing surveys and earning cents and pennies for your time.
You should spare some time (1 hour or even 30 minutes daily) to learn online skills that can be more helpful in earning hundreds of dollars.
Below is the list of skills you should learn and then start earning online. Select the method that resonates with you and you are most comfortable with).
- Freelancing
- Print on demand
- Website Design
- Amazon
- Social media marketing
- Shopify
- Writing and publishing eBook
- Affiliate marketing
- Creating videos
- Facebook advertising
- Graphic designing
- WordPress
- Digital marketing
- Photoshop
- Video editing
- Amazon KDP
- Creating gigs on Fiverr
- Google and YouTube ads
Select the skill that you are interested in and focus on learning ONLY that one skill. Show some dedication and commitment and within a couple of months, you would be earning more than you ever imagine doing paid surveys.
It’s Guaranteed!
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