Swagbucks has many daily opportunities to make some extra cash. It is fairly easy to use, it has great payout options, and it is one of the biggest Get-Paid-To sites available, so it is definitely worth checking out.
Swagbucks is one of the biggest and most popular survey and GPT sites (Get-Paid-To). But being a big company is not always a sign of quality.
So is Swagbucks legit and really a great free way to make money online or a scam to stay away from?
I have used the platform for several years myself, and let me just reveal right away that it is legit, and I have been paid by it many times myself.
However, it is not necessarily a site for all, and in this 2024 Swagbucks review, I will give you all the details about what the site has to offer, what you can expect, and what to be aware of so you have all the information you need to decide whether it is the right site for you or not.
I will also show you how to get a great joining bonus if you decide to join.
What is Swagbucks, and what does it offer?
Swagbucks is owned by Prodege, which is a provider of digital services, including reward portals like Swagbucks.
It now has millions of registered users, so it is definitely one of the biggest and most popular rewards sites out there. At the time of updating this Swagbucks review, it has paid out millions of dollars in cash and gift cards.
So let me, right away, make it clear that Swagbucks is legit and it actually does pay – I have been paid many times by it myself and will also show you Swagbucks payment proof later in this review.
It has a lot of opportunities and ways to earn – just be aware that not all of them are available in all countries, but I will explain more about that later. But let’s look into exactly what it offers so you can see if it is for you or not, as it is important to do it with the right expectations.
1 – Swagbucks paid surveys:
I personally think paid surveys are a great way to make some extra money and have your opinion heard at the same time, and Swagbucks surveys is one of the best ways to earn on the platform, in my experience.
Usually, there will be many daily opportunities. Because Swagbucks has so many members, it is also a popular platform for the companies that need to have surveys done to go, and that will lead to a good amount of survey opportunities.
You can find quite a lot of paid surveys on Swagbucks.
When you log in to the site, it might not be clear right away where to find the surveys. Contrary to most of the sites that offer paid surveys, Swagbucks does not have a section that is called “surveys”. The section where you find the surveys is instead called “Answer”.
In this section, you can also find the daily poll. It is a short question that will only take a few seconds to answer, and you will get paid to participate.
Like with most other survey sites, you just have to be aware that you will not be able to qualify for every survey that is offered. That is just how it is with survey sites, but it can be good to be reminded about once in a while not to give up after having tried a couple of surveys that we do not qualify for.
There will definitely be many you qualify for, and after a while, you will figure out what type you most often qualify for, and then you just focus on trying out those.
And Swagbucks offers a very good number of paid surveys, and it is a section on the site that is definitely worth checking out.
You can right away also see the reward you will get for each survey and the estimated time (see image above) it will take to complete, which makes it easy to plan your time the best possible way.
Be aware that you can also, at times, find what is called “Swag Ups” in the side menu. These are bonuses you can activate that will give you a certain percentage of bonuses for the surveys you take for a certain period of time.
These are great to keep an eye on, as they can really boost your earnings.
Option 2 – Cash back when shopping:
Swagbucks has cooperation with a long list of companies, where you will earn Swagbucks rewards (called SB = Swag Bucks) when you shop online.
This applies to thousands of online stores and includes brands like Gap, Nike, Amazon, and Walmart, so if you ever do online shopping, you will likely find some familiar shops here. And there is also cash back for services and different local activities depending on where you live.
The cashback you will get is between 1%-50%. Luckily, most companies give more than 1%, and you can make some good deals this way.
So, if you like to do some of your shopping online anyway, doing it through Swagbucks’ shopping portal can be a great and fast way to earn rewards and, that way, make some good online deals.
Be aware that the pictures below are just a few examples, and the offers are updated all the time, so the exact deals shown in the picture might not be available when you go to the website, but then there will be plenty of others.
Examples of cashback from Swagbucks’ shopping portal
If you are interested in the Swagbucks cashback option, make sure to also check out the part about the Swagbutton (Swagbucks Chrome extension) later in this review. This is very useful for keeping up-to-date on the online saving you can get.
Overall, if you ever do online shopping, it can be worth joining Swagbucks just for this option, as you will then earn while spending money you are going to spend anyway.
Also, one of the newer options Swagbucks has introduced in some countries is in-store cashback offers.
This means that if you link a card with your Swagbucks account, then you will automatically earn cash back every time you shop at selected stores with that card.
There are not many sites that offer in-store cashback offers like this, and it is definitely a great way to earn a bit extra without any effort, in my opinion.
However, you need to be aware that in some countries, you will find very few cashback offers, while in others, there will be a lot of options. So whether this is a great opportunity for you or not really depends on your country.
Option 3 – Searching the web:
Swagbucks Search Engine is a section where you can go and search online. It also has it as an extension for Chrome browsers. If you are using this, you will get a chance to win rewards every time you do a search.
You can earn by using the Swagbucks search engine.
If you win, you will see it immediately on the screen. You can win between 1-1000 SB, and the winners are picked randomly. It does not say anything about how big the chances are of winning, but Swagbucks is making it clear that they will not use any search information to sell your information or collect personal information.
So, if you are searching the web anyway (as we probably all are), it might be worth giving it a try.
Option 4 – Watch videos:
You can earn some rewards by watching videos on Swagbucks.
Let me say right away that it is not a lot you can make from this. Also, they used to have a separate section for this, but that has been removed, and for that reason many people think you can no longer earn by watching videos on Swagbucks.
But you still can, but you have to go to the “Discover” section and find the videos on one of the offerwalls (Adscend Media is one of the offerwalls that has this option).
Overall, you should, however, not use this feature only for the money, but only if you find the videos interesting anyway, in my opinion, as the rewards are very low.
But if you find videos you will like to watch anyway, then why not get paid a little to do it?
Option 5 – Earn by playing Swagbucks games:
There are a couple of ways to earn rewards by playing games. One is to play one of Swagbucks’ own free games, and the other is to play a game on an external site.
Swagbucks has a few games you can play on their site, and win up to 10 SB by playing. It is, for example, a memory game or similar nice little games.
You can earn by playing free games on Swagbucks.
The games on external sites are also games you can mostly play for free, or you can choose to play real cash games. It is, for example, games like playing slots, poker, wheel of Fortune, Angry Birds, and more. You will, however, only earn SB if you make in-game purchases while playing. So it is more of a cash back option you get here.
But if you like playing these games anyway, it can be a great way to get some cash back for purchases you would have made anyway.
Option 6 – Deals/offers:
Swagbucks has a lot of offers/deals you can get access to. You can find them in the section they call “Discover”.
It is offers where you will get points for taking a certain action. It can be to sign up for a certain website or service, visit a website, download an app, sign up for a free product sample, sign up for a newsletter, etc.
Compared to other GPT sites that have offer sections, Swagbucks has a really good selection, in my opinion.
Usually, you will mostly find what is called offer walls that are offered on many different sites. You can definitely find some good offers here, but Swagbucks has even more opportunities.
It offers many deals that are more or less only offered through Swagbucks. And if you keep an eye on them, you can find some amazing deals and make some really easy money. Let me give you a couple of examples of the kind of deals you can find there.
Example of one of the great offers I found on Swagbucks.
The image above shows a service you can sign up for. By signing up and depositing $5, you will get another $5 into the investment app you will sign up for. In addition to this, you will get 1000 SB as a bonus for signing up. That is equivalent to $10.
So by investing $5, you will get $10 to invest for in the app + $10 into your Swagbucks account.
Another great offer I found was this charity you can donate to.
Another great offer – here, you get $25 by donating $20 to a charity.
Here you will get $25 into your Swagbucks account as a bonus if you donate $20 to the charity. So you basically earn $5 by making a positive difference and donating to a charity. That is, in my opinion, a great deal.
Be aware that new offers come and go all the time. So, the above are just a few examples I found.
The exact offers might be different for you, but as you can see, there are some really good opportunities and easy ways to make money by using the offers.
Option 7 – Upload receipts / in-store deals
Also, you can find in-store deals and get access to coupons on Swagbucks, which is something I have not seen on many GPT sites.
This means that you can get coupons you can use in-store in a lot of different stores.
You can also find in-store deals on Swagbucks.
When you use these to buy certain items, you will get cashback into your Swagbucks account.
They also have the opportunity for you to earn by buying certain items in physical stores and then uploading a receipt to Swagbucks and earning cashback rewards like this.
Some of the rewards for this are quite high, and new items are added all the time, and it is items you are likely going to buy anyway, like coffee, magazines, cereals, bread, mayo, and a lot more.
So it can definitely be worth keeping an eye on this section as it can be an easy way to save a lot of money when saving.
If you do not buy any of the items listed, you can still earn just by uploading any receipt for a shopping trip to a grocery store or if you have bought fast food.
Just be aware that this is also one of the earning options that is not available in all countries.
Option 8 – Invite friends:
You can invite your friends to join Swagbucks, and that way, make a bit extra. If you invite somebody that joins, you will get a 10% commission of everything they earn.
This 10 % will not be taken from your friends’ rewards but be paid by Swagbucks as thanks for inviting somebody else to join.
How do you get paid?
You get paid in SB (Swag Bucks), which is basically Swagbucks points, every time you do an activity.
These SB can then be exchanged into Swagbucks rewards – They have a big variety of gift cards, cash through PayPal, or sweepstakes, you can choose from.
You can get paid in cash or choose between many different gift cards.
In general, 100 SB is worth $1. Sometimes, there are, however, gift cards with discounts, so you, for example, only have to spend 1900 SB to get a gift card worth $25.
If you want to get paid through PayPal, the payout threshold can vary from country to country, but in general, it is only around $5/$5/€5 depending on the country you live in, so it is a nice low threshold.
Can your points expire?
Yes, your points can expire at Swagbucks. If you have not logged in to your account and made any points or redeemed any rewards for 6 months, then your account will become inactive. The points (SB) you earn will expire after 2 years from the day you earn them.
I assume that most people would want to get their rewards out sooner anyway, but if you like collecting as many points as possible before cashing out, just be aware that they can expire if you wait too long.
As you can see, my overall impression of Swagbucks is very positive.
It has many ways to earn money, and the Swagbucks rewards you can choose from are very good, whether you want cash or free gift cards.
Because of the many opportunities, it can, in the beginning, take a bit of time to find your way around the platform, but it is not too difficult.
The downside is that it has quite limited options in some countries, but they have recently opened up, and you can join from more or less any country, which is great.
And especially if you live in the US, the UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, or France, it is a great site to join and one that I would highly recommend joining.
How to sign up for Swagbucks and get your joining bonus?
It is easy and only takes a minute to sign up for Swagbucks. You just click the button below, and you will go to Swagbucks’ sign-up page, where you can register with your email or your Facebook account.
If you have any comments, questions, or have any experiences with Swagbucks yourself, I would love to hear from you in a comment below.
