Several reasons could be behind your wanting to know how to make money online without paying anything. Maybe you don’t have spare cash to invest at the moment or want to avoid the risk of losing your money. Whatever your case, there are numerous investment-free moneymaking ideas that can suit you.
It’s true to say that investing money is perfect for growing your income faster. But you don’t always have to spend money to make money if you prefer it that way. You’ll still need to invest time and put in the effort to see good results.
There are various simple activities you can do on your phone or computer for free and get paid. It’s also possible to start a side hustle or business without money and only invest to scale up what’s already working.
I’ve put the ideas into three categories as follows:
- Doing simple tasks
- Starting an online side hustle or business
- Offering remote services
Related: Work-from-Home Jobs Without Experience Required
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How to Earn Money Online without Investment by Doing Simple Tasks
The easiest way to make money without paying anything is to do some tasks online. This is possible through online rewards platforms.
Many legit apps and websites to get free money online exist. You’ll find a variety of offers to complete at no cost and get paid instantly.
1. Get sign-up bonuses
If you want quick money for free without investing, you can take advantage of sign-up bonuses on various rewards apps and sites. Most of them would really use new members. That’s why they’re willing to pay you a specific amount for simply joining their community.
Remember, you can’t just register somewhere to get a welcome bonus without doing something in return. In most cases, there are bonus requirements to prevent this from happening.
For instance, you may have to do something like completing your profile, taking a survey, or shopping online to access your bonuses. Other places require you to reach the minimum threshold for cashing out. It shouldn’t be a problem because you’ll be making more money after all.
Here are a few of the best “get paid to sign up” platforms:
- InboxDollars ($5 sign-up bonus)
- Tada ($20 sign-up bonus)
- Upromise ($30.29 sign-up bonus)
2. Do paid surveys
Doing paid surveys is a great way to earn online without paying a dime. You simply share your opinion on various topics.
Many surveys aim for your perspective about a product or service. This can be before the product goes into the market or involve already existing products. The brands can then make what they’re selling better for their consumers.
Surveys shouldn’t take longer than several minutes. Just one hour of your time is enough to complete multiple surveys.
In many cases, lengthy surveys usually come with higher rewards. The same goes for surveys that focus on a highly specific user in terms of demographics.
Here are the most legit surveys sites to use:
- Swagbucks ($5 bonus for joining and completing offers)
- InboxDollars ($5 bonus for registering and activating your account)
3. Test websites and apps
Want another legit way to make money without spending? Testing websites and apps could be something you like.
What you do as a web and app tester is simply go to a site or app and use it as usual. Unlike a normal user, you do this to test the usability.
You then give feedback after the test. The developer will use your opinion to improve the experience of other users on the site or app.
Remember, you don’t need special education or experience to do such work. But you have to be honest and reliable to successfully do tests and get paid online.
Here are some top web testing platforms to join:
4. Play games
This idea is quite simple. You earn money by playing games without investment. But why would a company pay you to play as if having fun isn’t enough?
The reason is that most gaming companies can’t get enough when it comes to new players. So, they would give you an incentive to become a member of their gaming community.
The good thing is that you can find new exciting games. That’s whether you’re a fan of strategy games, puzzle games, word games, or any other.
You don’t have to play a game you don’t like. However, playing more games that are available on an online platform is the best way to increase your rewards.
Here are some places to play games for money online:
Related: Apps to Get Gift Cards by Playing Games
5. Submit receipts online
If you didn’t know, it’s possible to submit receipts online for money and other rewards like free gift cards. That’s the case with online cashback platforms.
You simply shop online or in-store and claim your cashback after the purchase. You can earn cash back on products like groceries or even services like flights.
Your receipt is the proof that you actually bought an item or many from a specific store. Finding a store you like or normally buy from won’t be an issue as most of them partner with cashback platforms to get new customers.
While you’ll be spending money here, it’s for the things you need and not an investment. If you use a shopping rewards app, you’ll be saving money as most of them have daily deals and discounts.
Here are some popular cashback platforms for receipt submission:
Online Side Hustles and Businesses to Make Money without Paying Anything
Now we move on to the best side hustles and businesses online that don’t require investment.
6. Find pet sitting jobs
You don’t need to spend anything to work as a pet sitter. This kind of work can be suitable for you if you like the company of pets such as cats and dogs.
You’ll find that many pet owners get quite busy with things like work. It could also be that they’re traveling and can’t go with their pets. For such reasons, they have to hire a sitter to look after the cute animals.
Lots of pet sitting jobs are available online as it’s easier for pet owners to just list a job on the Internet. Social media sites are the perfect places to look for one-time and part-time pet sitting jobs. For instance, it can be a Facebook group about cats or a subreddit about dogs.
If you need an app that connects you with local pet owners, Rover may interest you. It allows you to choose the pets you’re able to handle and when to work. You get paid for each job you complete.
7. Rent out storage space online
If you have unused storage space, you can make money online starting with nothing. All you need to do is list it somewhere on the Internet for people to see. Online renting platforms like Neighbor make the work easier for you.
You can become a Neighbor host and post any space there regardless of the size. Whether you have a spare room, garage, basement, or any other space, it’s possible to find renters for it on Neighbor.
All you have to do is create a listing with your charges, respond to renting requests, and schedule a date for storage. You can meet potential renters for more discussion before storing items for them. You earn money for every month someone keeps their stuff in your space.
Related: Best Things to Rent out for Cash
8. Start a YouTube channel
Starting a YouTube channel can be a profitable online business that requires no investment. That’s if you already have a good phone or camera, to begin with.
You can invest in better equipment after making some money. However, it’s also possible to create faceless YouTube videos depending on the video category and thus won’t need video shooting equipment.
You’re free to make videos about almost any topic you can think of. Just make sure it fits YouTube guidelines.
You can earn ad revenue from YouTube when you reach 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours within the previous 12 months. Other ways to make money on YouTube with a small channel include promoting affiliate products, selling your own stuff, and offering services.
9. Become an influencer on Instagram
Influencer marketing is a great way to make money on Instagram without spending a dime. An influencer is simply someone that gets paid to promote a brand on their posts.
Brands can hire you for this kind of advertising if they think your audience is good enough. You need a significant number of followers and good engagement rates to land such collaborations with businesses. The good thing is that you can boost your numbers for free if you put in some time and effort.
If you want to start out, be the one to reach out to relevant small businesses. Tell them what you can offer and why they should agree. You could be paid per post or on a contractual basis.
Another idea to get paid as an influencer is by promoting affiliate products and services. In this case, you get a commission for each user you bring to perform an action like purchasing from a brand.
10. Publish an e-book
Have valuable information that you think people can pay to get their hands on? If that’s the case, you can package it all in an e-book and make money for free.
Your knowledge could be about almost anything. It doesn’t matter if that’s health, parenting, or pet care. It’s possible to even write about something you’re learning or just learned yourself.
Knowing your target audience well before writing for them is essential. Understand their worries and struggles and work hard to answer their questions in your e-book. Unlike the old days when you needed books and encyclopedias, you can now do this research on Google and social media.
When it comes to designing your e-book, various free tools for that are available. As for publishing, feel free to use an online platform like Kindle.
11. Sell printables
Selling printables is yet another no-investment online side hustle and business. You just create an item people can print and sell to them. However, it’s not just any item.
It can be something that allows a person to organize and plan effortlessly. People always buy things that make their work easier. Some examples are meal planners, financial planners, and checklists.
You can learn to make such stuff quickly online by checking tutorials on YouTube. You then have to apply your uniqueness to give potential buyers a good reason to buy from you.
One of the best places online to sell printable products is Etsy. You can even find ideas on what to create plus the best pricing strategies there.
12. Sell print-on-demand products
This is a perfect way to make money if you can create designs to place on products. That includes digital art and texts that a specific group of people can relate to.
You can target young parents, dog people, or coffee lovers, just to name a few. Some products that you can sell your designs on include t-shirts, mugs, and phone cases.
There are free online tools you can use to make the designs. However, the ones you pay for always give the best results. You can opt for free trials if you’re sure about not spending at all.
An example of such designing tools is Placeit. Pre-made designs are available there and you just need to modify them.
The other thing is to upload your art on products and list them online. You just need to use an online marketplace that deals with print-on-demand, like Redbubble. You get royalty payments after a sale occurs.
13. Sell home services
There are tons of tasks at home that homeowners can’t handle themselves. Some are busy while others may not have the proper tools or skills for the job. These are some of the reasons why they can hire someone else.
A few examples of home services to offer include helping in moving, hanging shelves and pictures, and cleaning.
You can easily find such odd jobs online on social media if you know where to look. Another idea is to use an online services platform like TaskRabbit.
Such a platform allows you to choose the type of jobs you can do and your availability. Similar to most other side hustles, working more hours a day or week can be a great boost to your income.
Best Ways to Make Money without Paying while Working Remotely
There are various types of remote work you can do and earn cash without spending a dime.
14. Content writing
If you’re looking for one of the best ways to start out as a remote worker, this is it. Lots of websites and pages are available online and they all need new content from time to time. It can be a blog post or other web content for users to read.
One important decision to make as a newbie is your preferred niche or topic. It has to be something you have knowledge of or are able to learn quickly and write about.
You can always work on a variety of topics as a content writer. But when it comes to big projects, many clients prefer writers with an authority in the topic.
Go to LinkedIn and other social networking sites to find content writing jobs. Be sure to have a resume and some work samples.
Other places to look are freelance sites like Fiverr. You can get paid per hour, project, or even number of words.
15. Transcription
This is another great remote service to offer and get paid online. It’s simply about converting audio into text. All you do is type what you hear into a well-formatted document.
This means that you need great listening skills. Remember, some transcription work may involve people speaking with particular accents. It goes without saying that your typing skills matter too.
The best online platforms to find transcription work are transcription sites. These are places where buyers go to post jobs and find transcribers.
One of them is Scribie. You get a chance to transcribe podcasts, YouTube videos, interviews, and more. Scribie pays you per audio minute, depending on your skill level and other factors.
16. Proofreading
Proofreading is a service that’s in demand. Writers need proofreaders to check their work for grammar and other errors before publishing them online.
It might appear like easy work. But you need an eye for detail to spot mistakes and correct them accordingly.
Tools like Grammarly have made it easier to detect various types of errors in writings. Plus, you get suggestions that you can instantly apply and improve the quality of the written content.
You can check proofreading sites for jobs. These are established sites offering proofreading services to clients and hiring new proofreaders frequently. Also, you could launch your own site with your services and promote it to reach potential clients online.
17. Social media management
Did you know that many brands on social media need someone to manage the pages for them? You can become a social media manager on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest and make money with no investment.
One reason a brand would hire a social media manager is to improve its social media marketing efforts. This means reaching more people with great content. As a social media manager, you can also answer customer queries, interact with other brands, and more.
All of these mean that you need specific skills like marketing, communication, and customer service. While starting out, you could reach out to specific businesses and see if they would like your services.
Establishing a presence online yourself is essential. Brands can notice you this way and propose some work.
18. Virtual assistant
Here comes yet another great online job that doesn’t require you to spend. As a VA, all you do is offer remote services to clients depending on their needs.
The list of VA services to offer is endless. It can be checking and sending emails, scheduling meetings, running ads, among others.
Your clients are likely to be people with a well-established business online. A few examples are big bloggers, online sellers, and digital marketers.
You can reach out to such people via social networks like LinkedIn to know if they may need a VA. You’re also free to contact other VAs as some of them have teams you could join. Above all, have social media pages and even a website about you as a VA.
19. Tutoring
If you know a subject well, tutoring is something that may be perfect for you. This kind of work suits students, teachers, professors, and other professionals.
One basic thing you need to know is how to operate video communication tools and platforms. Your communication and listening skills are useful as you’ll be dealing with students looking to learn.
An easy way to find tutoring jobs is by going to online tutoring platforms. It makes your work simple as everything is already laid out and all you need to do is be available to teach.
Tutor.com is one of the best ones to use. You can tutor from anywhere when you’re free and get paid on a regular schedule.
20. Consultation
It’s possible to work as a consultant online if you know more about something than most people. You may be surprised by the things people are struggling to find answers about on the Internet.
You’ll need to build an authority for people to trust that you can advise them well. Some ideas are to set up social media pages or a blog with informational content.
Grow these pages and then offer consultation services when you have a significant amount of followers or readers. You won’t have much problem getting requests because you’ll have acquired the trust of more users.
21. Translation
Maybe you can understand, speak, and write two or more languages. If that describes you, translation is what you need to do and make money for free.
Well, there are translating tools online that can do the job. Still, translators aren’t out of demand. Many clients hire translators because of the difference between human and computer work.
Visit employment and job search sites to find the available translation jobs that you can do. Previous work experience goes a long way in this type of job. You may need to highlight some translating you’ve done in the past or prove your understanding of the involved languages.
Final Thoughts
It’s safe to say that you now have several ideas of how to make money without paying anything. You just need to set aside time to work on making your income goals come true by taking on one or two no-investment online jobs.
While starting out, it can be wise not to spend money first. But it’s always good to invest in your knowledge and boost your skills using various resources online. Some jobs require specific paid tools online too.
Also, investment is a good strategy to take your side hustle or business to the next level. So, when the money comes, don’t hesitate to scale up.
