8 Ways on How to Make Money as a Teenager
Every entry here is something a 13-17 year old can genuinely do, no 18+ terms of service, no background checks, no driver requirements. Where a platform needs a parent's help to cash out, the description says so instead of pretending otherwise.
How to Make Money as a Teenager: Quick Answer
The short answer: 8 real ways on this site fit here, spread across 5 categories. YouTube, Twitch, and DistroKid rank highest for earning potential in this group.
Of those, 6 cost nothing to start, and 3 need no prior experience at all.
8 ways, by category
Drive, deliver, or shop for other people through an app. Pay is per job or per hour, hours are flexible, and most only need a phone and (for driving gigs) a car and a clean background check. Here's how to make money as a teen in this category:
Sweden-only gig platform connecting teens and young adults aged 15 to 24 with local jobs like babysitting, tutoring, and garden help. Requires BankID for identity verification, and better-paid jobs unlock through a leveling system.
Turn things already sitting in your house, closet, or garage into cash. The fastest category here for same-day money, since you're selling something you already have. Here's how to make money as a teen in this category:
List furniture, electronics, or anything else lying around your house for local pickup. No shipping, no fees, and cash can land the same day you post.
Small paid tasks like surveys, data labeling, and website testing. Genuinely low pay per hour, but zero barrier to entry and cash out fast, so they're honest pocket-money options rather than an income. Here's how to make money as a teen in this category:
Earn points for surveys, watching videos, and shopping through their links, redeemable for gift cards or cash. Realistically pocket-money, not an income.
Build an audience on video, streaming, or newsletters and get paid through ads, memberships, or sponsorships. Highest ceiling on this whole list, but it takes months of consistent output before it pays anything. Here's how to make money as a teen in this category:
Ad revenue, channel memberships, and sponsorships once you clear the Partner Program thresholds. You'll need to learn filming, scripting, and editing (or pay someone who can), and most channels earn nothing for months before the ceiling gets huge.
Live streaming with income from subscriptions, bits, and ads. You need to be genuinely entertaining or skilled at what you're streaming, plus a decent mic, webcam, and stable internet, and building a real audience takes consistent, scheduled streaming over a long stretch.
Puts your music on Spotify, Apple Music, and the rest for a flat annual fee and passes on the royalties. Streaming pays fractions of a cent per play, so this is only meaningful with real listener numbers.
Package what you know into a template, ebook, or course and sell it over and over with no shipping and no inventory. Needs real work up front to create, then scales without much added effort per sale. Here's how to make money as a teen in this category:
Upload art once and it goes onto prints, phone cases, and home goods that Society6 makes and ships. Royalties per item are small, so this is pocket money unless a design really catches on.
A t-shirt and sticker marketplace with its own shopper traffic, which is the real reason to use it over a plain print on demand store. Base royalties are low and the site discounts heavily, so per-sale earnings are modest.
Frequently asked questions
Can a teenager actually make money with these?
Yes, all 8 ways here are genuinely open to a 13-17 year old, across 5 categories, with no 18+ terms of service or background checks in the way.
What's the best one to start with?
YouTube has the highest earning potential in this group, 90/100. Ad revenue, channel memberships, and sponsorships once you clear the Partner Program thresholds. You'll need to learn filming, scripting, and editing (or pay someone who can), and most channels earn nothing for months before the ceiling gets huge.