Passive income is kind of the dream, right?
You set it up and then you just let the money roll in without much upkeep or maintenance.
I’ve done some research and testing, and I’ve found over 20 phone apps that you can use to create some passive income sources for yourself.
For the most part all you need to do is download the app and signup, but there are some that may have a few steps.
I’ll give you all the details on these apps, including where you can download them, what you need to do to get setup, and how much you can expect to earn.
You should be able to make an extra $100 a month EASILY with these passive apps!
How do passive income apps work? (Different Types of Passive Income)
There’s a few different ways that these passive income apps work:
Cashback / Shopping: These are apps where you can get cash back for making your regular purchases, they also may have special coupon codes.
Saving and Investing: These apps will helps you save money automatically or give you access to investment options (where you could invest with as little as $1 in some cases).
Data Collection: You can get extra money for sharing your data with certain companies / apps.
Other Apps: There are other other apps like lockscreen apps where you can earn some extras cash.
We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
Passive Income Apps
Shopping Apps
Birch Finance
Want to maximize your credit card rewards? Birch Finance can help!
Birch Finance analyzes your spending and will help recommend which rewards card to use, Birch will also recommend other cards that could get your more rewards.
Dosh
Dosh is another app where you can get money for shopping!
Just link your card and the cashback will be added automatically. *The card that is attached to Dosh must be a credit card though.
You can earn cashback at places like:
- Walmart
- Asos
- Instacart
- Pizza Hut
- Proactiv
- Disney+
- Dunkin’ Donuts
- GNC
- Sephora
What makes Dosh different from something like Drop, is that Dosh gives you actual CASH back, not points!
Drop App
Drop is a free app (and Chrome extension) that helps you earn rewards for shopping at your favorite places!
With the app you first pick your 5 favorite stores / sites, and every time you make a purchase from those 5 places you earn points.
And with the Chrome extension, you can earn points from a variety of places.
What makes Drop interesting is that you have the ability to earn cash from places that don’t normally offer cash back! This includes:
- Starbucks
- Mcdonalds
- Uber
If this sounds interesting, you can use my link to get a bonus $5!
Paribus
Paribus is a very interesting shopping app! It monitors your past purchases and if there’s ever a drop in price, Paribus will try to get a refund for the difference.
Paribus will also monitor purchases for late / delayed delivery. I’ve actually gotten free months of Amazon Prime because Paribus detected that I received my orders outside of the two day prime delivery time.
This is all monitored passively, all you need to do is signup with the email that you use the most.
Think about how much money you could make if you stacked this with other shopping apps!
Rakuten (Formerly Ebates)
Rakuten (formerly Ebates), is one of the most popular shopping apps!
Rakuten has a Chrome extension and an app, and both give you the opportunity to earn cashback from shopping online!
There are over 2000 stores that you can earn cashback from!
With Rakuten you can earn actual cash. Not points or giftcards. Cashhh!
All you need to do is join and shop through the Rakuten portal or use the Chrome extension. It’s totally free to use, and each quarter they send you the cash through PayPal or via check!
When you use our link you can get a bonus $10 on your first $25+ purchase.
Seated
Do you love dining in restaurants? You could start using the Seated app!
First, you find the restaurant and make a reservation through the app, then you dine-in, take a picture of your receipt and you will be given a cashback reward that can be used at places like:
- Airbnb
- Amazon
- Delta
- Nordstrom
- Sephora
- Uber
Wikibuy
Tired of shopping apps yet? We have one more to talk about! It’s Wikibuy!
Wikibuy is different from any of the other apps we mentioned so far.
Wikibuy actually helps you find better prices on items that you want to buy, Wikibuy will also help you find coupon codes automatically.
Saving and Investing Apps
Saving Apps
Digit
Digit is an app that will help you save money automatically.
Digit rounds up your purchased and will put them towards your savings goals, you can also do recurring savings.
There are also some really neat Digit-specific features:
- 0.5% savings bonus every 3 months you save
- Unlimited withdraws
- No account minimums
- Overdraft protection
Qapital
Qapital is another app you can use for automatic savings.
With Qapital you can set up specific rules to help your savings (like saving money when you get a certain deposit). You can also have shared goals and save with a team!
Investing Apps
Acorns
If you’re just getting started with investing apps, Acorns is the perfect one to start with!
Acorns will “round-up” your purchases and invest the difference! For example, if you buy something and the total is $5.75, Acorns will round-up the purchase to $6, and invest the $0.25 for you.
This is basically like a robo-adviser for beginners. You can also set up automatic and one time transfers to your Acorns account.
You can get a $5 bonus on Acorns for signing up!
Dividend Apps
Robinhood
If you’re interested in trying out dividend investing, Robinhood is the perfect place to start!
There are no fees, and they offer DRIP (dividend reinvestment), Robinhood also has fractional shares, so you can invest in a stock with as little as a $1!
If you use my link we can both get a free share of stock!
Bond Investing Apps
Worthy Capital
Worthy offers $10 bonds that have a 5% yearly interest!
The bonds are actually secured by small businesses (Worthy offers small businesses loans using money from the bond sales).
I’ve been using Worthy for a few months now, and I absolutely love it! I love that I can get a bond with just $10!
If you use my link you can get a free bond!
Real Estate Investing Apps
Fundrise
If you have a good chunk of money to start with, and you’d like to grow that money in some way, you can use Fundrise to do it.
Fundrise let’s people invest into real estate (through investment trusts) with just $500.
With Fundrise, if you’re just looking for something very hands-off, you can pick from the starter plan (minimum $500) or the “core” plan (minimum $1,000).
Peer-to-Peer Lending Apps
Lending Club
Lending Club is one of the most popular peer-to-peer lending apps in the US.
You can “purchase” a portion of someones personal loan for just $25!
**Lending Club is only available in certain states.
Prosper
Prosper is another peer-to-peer lending app that’s INCREDIBLY similar to Lending Club.
You can also purchase pieces of personal loans for $25 (just like Lending Club).
Rent Your Stuff
Airbnb
If you haven’t heard of Airbnb, it’s a service where people can rent a room or an entire living space (condo, house, apartment, etc).
You can use Airbnb to make some extra money by renting out your room or even your entire house.
There are people that have made $500+ in a month just from renting out a spare room. Financial Panther has made over $700 just from Airbnb.
Data Collection
Honeygain
Honeygain is my favorite passive income app in this post!
It’s completely passive – seriously it requires ZERO effort on your part (just install).
Here’s how it works: you download the app and it uses your unused internet as a gateway. This gateway is used by scientists for their work. Honeygain acts as a middle man and keeps your information (and the scientists’ information) safe.
You can download the app on your phone and on your computer to help maximize your earnings.
The app doesn’t slow down my computer or phone, and I love using it!
If you’d like a free $5 just use my affiliate link.
SurveySavvy / SurveyConnect
SurveySavvy is another company that will give you money for your data.
When you signup for SurveySavvy, you will have the ability to download their app called SurveyConnect. This app will give you $5 for every month you keep it installed (you can download this app on tablets, phones, and on computers).
If you just want to keep the app running, you will earn $5 a month passively pretty easily. If you want to make a bit more money, you can also make money by taking surveys and by referring friends.
Other Data Collection Apps:
- Mobile Performance Meter
- MobileXpression
- Nielsen Mobile & Computer Panel
Other Apps
S’more Lockscreen App
The S’more app is a great option for making passive income from your phone, and I HIGHLY recommend you download it if you have an Android!
S’more lets people make passive income by putting ads on their phone’s lockscreen. You can get between 5-10 points a day just for having the app installed and letting the app place ads on your lockscreen.
You can also earn money with S’more by taking surveys, referring friends, completing offers, and watching videos!
Inbox Dollars
Inbox Dollars has quite a few ways to make money passively, and also some more active ways to make money.
They have a website and a mobile app (woo!). And on both you have the ability to make money by watching videos, shopping online, and searching the web (all things you do probably do anyway!).
If you’re interested in trying them out, you can use my link to get a $5 bonus!
Swagbucks
Swagbucks is very similar to Inbox Dollars – you can earn money by watching videos, searching online, and shopping online!
There is also a Swagbucks phone app that you can use to make some extra money while on the go.
Swagbucks also has more active ways you can make money, including trying out products and taking surveys.
They also give you a $3 bonus for signing up!
Trim
Trim is an incredibly helpful financial management app that will help you overhaul your expenses and will save you money.
Trim tracks your expenses and will help you cancel subscriptions you don’t use, and can help you negotiate your internet, cable, and phone bills so you can get a lower rate!
The best part is that Trim is free to use!
Mistplay
Love playing mobile games? Have an Android? You can use Mistplay to make some extra money!
When you download the app, you can select games to play and earn points from playing those games, and then you can redeem those points.
You can read our full Mistplay Review here.
Frequently Asked Questions About Passive Income Apps
How can a beginner make passive income?
You can start making passive income by investing your money (you can start with just $1)! Or you can use passive income apps.
What are some examples of passive income?
Some examples of passive income are: capital gains from stocks, dividends, royalties from books, peer-to-peer lending, investing in REITS, interest from a savings account, and investing in a high-yield CD.
Which investment will generate passive income?
You can earn passive income from various investments like stocks, REITS, savings, and real estate investing.
Conclusion
If you want to dip your toes into passive income and creating other income streams, trying some of these passive income apps is a great way to get started!