Many of us like to take online surveys for money as it is the most straightforward alternative. It is no doubt the best way to make some extra cash in your spare time. However, you will need to choose the right ones for maximizing your earning potential. Here I make a list of the most recommended paid survey sites to save your time from trying each of them.

Online Surveys for Money – Choose the Right Ones

Although I am not a big fan of paid survey sites, they are still the most popular alternative to making extra pocket online as it does not require special qualifications. You just need to be you.

A dedicated survey taker can earn up to $250 a year in cash and vouchers. Some hardcore survey takers earned up to $900 a year, in which it is a rare case.

From here, you could see earning money by taking surveys can be easy but the amount is limited as you need to trade your time for commissions.

As I always recommended in my posts, you should join more than five online survey sites if you are keen to make extra cash in your spare time. I included a list of reliable survey sites you can consider joining.

#1 Pinecone Research

The holy grail of survey sites, Pinecone Research is my preferred choice. However, you can only become a member of PR by invitation only.  Unlike other paid survey sites, they do not seek for new members constantly. That simply means the existing members have higher chances to earn their commissions through PR.

You can earn up to $2 per survey that takes only 15 to 20 minutes. PR offers relatively higher commissions as compared to many other paid survey sites in the market.

You can redeem your rewards via e-vouchers or PayPal. The payout processing is normally done within a day, in which it becomes the fastest paymaster in this field.  Most importantly, there is no minimum cashout threshold set by PR.

#2 PaidViewpoint

PaidViewpoint is also a US based paid survey site. You can earn money through their standard online surveys, referral program, sign-up bonus and some short questions.

It allows everyone around the globe to join PVP as a member and earn money. Unlike some other paid survey sites, PVP sends out survey invites that you are qualified. That means you will not be screened out in the middle of the surveys.

PaidViewpoint pays their members within 72 hours upon request. The cashout threshold is set at $15, in which it is relatively low as compared to many other programs.

#3 Opinion Outpost

What I like about Opinion Outpost is that you can earn air mileage under the MileagePlus Award program through survey participation.

Opinion Outpost outlines the survey lengths and credits clearly on every tasks before you take part. You can also recruit your friends and family members to join Opinion Outpost. Every recruitment earns you $2.

You just need to accumulate $10 before cashing out your rewards.

The other thing that is worth mentioning is they do not send spammy emails to their members.

#4 Swagbucks 

Swagbucks is also a US based reward site that pays points (SB) to answer daily polls, watch videos, play games and search via its page. There are many fun ways to earn money with Swagbucks. You can spend your points in its rewards store.

They have a referral program that allows you to boost your earning potential by recruiting your friends and family members. Upon signing up, you will be earning 10% (SB) of their joining bonus (100 SB). Other than that, you will also be rewarded 10% of every earning your referral earns (throughout their lifetime)

#5 iPoll

iPoll is based in the US and can be found at iPoll.com. It pays you $5 just for signing up to their site! The sign-up process is easy and the sites really easy to use. Register in seconds with any social account and start getting paid immediately!

With iPoll, you will receive tons of invites when you first join, but you might not qualify for all the invites. iPoll cares about their members and the customer support is responsive. What I really like about iPoll is their mobile surveys, in which people can even earn money when they commute to work.

Other than that, your points will never be expired, unless you unsubscribe. That simply means you never need to worry about losing your earnings! The minimum payout threshold is set at $10.00. You can request payout through PayPal, e-voucher, and gift cards.

iPoll goes the extra mile to predict your chance of participating in their surveys. For newbies, you will be earning $8.20 just by signing up as a member of iPoll – $5 as a welcome bonus and $3.20 upon completion of the profile surveys. Making money with iPoll as a starter is easy!

#6 Vivatic

Vivatic is a UK based company, but they have been operating in more than eight countries in the world and counting.

Referring friends is always one of the best ways to make money with paid surveys sites like Vivatic. By referring others via your unique link you can earn up to £2.00 for each one who sign up and earns £10.00.

Not only that, there are several alternatives you can earn money within Vivatic, such as:-

1. Competition, there are three different competitions you can enter. A £5 daily competition a weekly £25 one and a monthly competition for £100.
2. Paid To Search, Complete at least 50 searches a month and get paid £1.50 at the end of each month.
3. Standard survey and micro jobs.

What I like the most about Vivatic is their clear cash out date. There are always confusions when it comes to the payment processing duration with other paid survey sites. You will never know when you will be receiving your next payment. With Vivatic, you will not encounter this problem!

#7 Global Test Market

It is a US based survey site that you can earn points and redeem them via PayPal or e-vouchers. You have to accumulate 1,100 points before you could cash out the rewards.

In average, you get two to three survey invites per day. Although you might be screened out from taking online surveys, Global Test Market still rewards you 5 points for your effort of trying the pre-qualification test.

Vouchers and Paypal payments can take five to six weeks, but the payments are always guaranteed.

#8 MySurvey

MySurvey is one of the most trustable paid survey sites in the world and it is one of the pioneers in the market.

Other than standard online survey and referral program, you can earn money via product testing. This is probably the best earning source in most of the paid survey sites, and it is available in MySurvey. Although you are required to pay the shipping fee, the reward point is sufficiently high and manage to cover the expenses.

MySurvey has low cash out threshold – $10. They send out survey invites frequently. In average, I received four invites per week and the surveys are simple and straightforward.

#9 iPanel Online

The main reason why iPanel is included in my list is almost everyone in the world can participate and join them as a member. It focuses mainly Asia, in which most of the other paid survey sites are only opened to the US, UK, and Canada. Residents from Asia has, at least, an option now to go for iPanel Online.

No doubt iPanel is one of the most popular paid survey sites in Asia Pacific region as it pays regularly and it pays on time. So far, I have not seen many complaints about iPanel and most of the people are happily earning money via iPanel due to the volume of online survey invites they send.

#10 Ipsos

Ipsos survey is legit. There is no question about that. Ipsos gives you a good level of online surveys as they send out more than 70 million surveys across the globe each year.

It works on Point system, 1 point = 1 cent basis. The number of points required for PayPal redemption is less as you get into the higher tier. For $100 in PayPal, you are only required to redeem 9,600 points.

They offer members loyalty scheme, of which you could earn extra points just by being active, for each 5 surveys you respond to, you will get an extra 30 points, for responding to 100 surveys you’ll net 300 additional points (worth $3). In addition, you are entered in their monthly draws after completing almost every survey, whether you qualified for the survey or not.

They will pay cash directly to Paypal, or e-vouchers. It takes a little long to receive payment but they are honest and you will get paid, for sure!

So there you have it. My list of the best online surveys. If you have any questions about online surveys or about any one of these companies, let me know in the comments so I can help.