The Best Money-Making Apps
Everything here runs from an app on your phone, from gig and delivery work to paid surveys, resale marketplaces, and spare-change investing. No laptop required.
The Best Money-Making Apps: Quick Answer
The short answer: 16 ways on this site fit "Money-making apps", spread across 5 categories. Poshmark, StockX, and Mercari rank highest for earning potential here.
16 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.
Drive passengers with your own qualifying 4-door car (or a rental through Uber's own car-share programs, which cut into pay). Sign-up is free but a background check and vehicle inspection take a few days before you can go online.
Shop and deliver grocery orders with your own car, or pick in-store orders with no car needed at all. Full-service shoppers who both pick and deliver tend to earn more per batch than in-store-only roles.
Uber's main rideshare competitor, with its own vehicle-year and 4-door requirements to qualify. Driving for both apps at once and switching between whichever has more demand is a common way to raise hourly pay.
Deliver food and groceries by car, bike, or on foot in bike-friendly cities, so a car isn't strictly required everywhere. No passengers to worry about, and you can dash for as little as 30 minutes at a time.
Deliver restaurant orders by car, bike, or scooter depending on your city, on the same driver account as Uber. A good option if you already drive rideshare and want to fill quiet hours.
Pick up one-off hospitality, warehouse, and event shifts near you and get paid quickly after each one. No commitment and no interview for most gigs, though shifts are in person and physical work is common.
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.
A resale marketplace built specifically for clothes and accessories, with a social, follow-and-share feed that helps closets get discovered.
A resale marketplace for sneakers, streetwear, and collectibles where every item is authenticated before it ships. Good for flipping in-demand releases, though fees and the need to source hyped inventory eat into margins.
List clothes, electronics, toys, or almost anything from around the house and ship it with a prepaid label. Fees are low and there's a big built-in buyer base, though you handle packing and the occasional return yourself.
Sell clothes and accessories with no seller fees at all, since buyers cover them. It leans casual and secondhand fashion so pricing is competitive, but keeping the whole sale price is a real edge over other apps.
Sell furniture, electronics, and bulky items to local buyers for cash, or ship smaller items nationwide. Local pickup means no fees and same-day cash, at the cost of meeting strangers to hand things over.
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.
Get hired nearby for tasks, errands, pet care, or home help through an app that handles the matching and payment. Most need no license or experience to start.
Get hired locally for furniture assembly, moving help, mounting, and small home tasks, priced at your own hourly rate per category. Assembly and mounting tasks go much faster with your own basic tools (drill, level, dolly).
Dog walking, boarding, and pet sitting booked through an app. A simple way to earn if you already like animals and have some free time at home.
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.
Earn points for surveys, watching videos, and shopping through their links, redeemable for gift cards or cash. Realistically pocket-money, not an income.
Put idle cash to work over months and years instead of leaving it earning nothing. General information only, not personalized financial advice, and values can go up as well as down.
Rounds up everyday purchases to the nearest dollar and invests the spare change automatically. A low-friction way to start investing small amounts without thinking about it. General information only, not advice; the money is invested, so its value can go down as well as up.
Frequently asked questions
Are these legit ways to make money?
Yes, every one of the 16 ways here is a real platform people genuinely earn on, hand-picked and reviewed by hand.
What's the best one to start with?
Poshmark has the highest earning potential here, 50/100. A resale marketplace built specifically for clothes and accessories, with a social, follow-and-share feed that helps closets get discovered.