Ever wondered how much you might be able to earn completing surveys for money? Want to give it a go but not sure where to start?
More and more people are clocking onto the side hustle potential of doing online paid surveys.
For starters, they can be a very easy way to make extra cash in your spare time. If you spend your evenings in front of the TV scrolling through TikTok, why not turn that screen time into money-making time?
By answering a few survey questions, you can earn cash rewards which will quickly add up. It really is as simple as that.
This guide won't just tell you the best survey sites in the UK. Read on further for in-depth tips on completing surveys for money to maximise your profit and make your free moments even more worthwhile.
What are online surveys?
Online surveys are an easy and relatively fast way to make money from home without too much effort.
Our opinions are incredibly valuable to a wide range of companies and brands. Collecting feedback from a range of different people can help these companies understand their target audience better and develop future products.
Because of this, market research companies (and companies in other areas like academic research) are willing to pay you for your opinions. Some of them pay very well.
Answering online surveys for money is often about more than multiple-choice and agree/disagree questions. A survey provider may collect survey responses in the form of written answers, or interactions with charts and sliders.
Your surveys may also involve watching videos or concept testing, which is when you’ll be asked what you think about a certain idea, project or campaign.
You may also be invited to take part in focus groups (which will most likely involve more in-depth questions about your opinions and experiences and can be conducted online, over the phone or face-to-face), as well as things like product testing.
How you get rewarded for your time can vary from website to website. You may earn points for completing surveys, or your account balance might be shown in pounds and pence earned.
When it comes to redeeming your rewards, these can come in the form of a bank transfer, PayPal payment, or gift cards for a range of online retailers. Some sites even reward you with entries into prize draws.
How we've rated these survey sites
So, you’ve decided to give filling out online surveys for money a try, but where on earth do you start? Well, the TopCashback team is always looking for interesting new side hustles, so we're here to help.
I’ve turned myself into what can essentially be described as an online survey guinea pig over the past few months.
As an avid survey-taker, I’ve been using some of these sites for years. There were others I’d never even heard of, but I’ve tested them all. I tried them out to see which were the most rewarding. Money is an important part of doing online surveys, but not the only thing to keep in mind.
Other worthy things to consider include how long the surveys take to complete and how many surveys you can expect to receive in the average week. Let’s not forget the importance of how enjoyable or interesting the surveys are too.
In this guide, you’ll find a breakdown of my winning survey sites. They’re winners in my eyes due to a whole range of different factors.
Some are the best rated by the public on Trustpilot (and I agree with their scores based on my own experience), while others are all-round great sites with very low cash-out thresholds.
I found some sites simply more enjoyable to use than others, so I’ve included those in my final list too. Have a read so you can get a good idea of the best survey sites for making money online, so you’ll know where to start.
My survey site recommendations
Before we get started, it’s worth noting that I’m comparing overall survey sites here and not necessarily the content of the surveys themselves.
This is because many survey sites take you to external webpages, so you’re not actually completing the surveys on their site. This means it can be hard to compare websites’ surveys directly.
In fact, you may even end up doing the same survey multiple times through different platforms. As a result, my comparisons refer more closely to things like dashboard layouts, cash-out processes and ease of use. With that said, some of the survey sites I encountered had distinctly unique and enjoyable surveys. I’ll let you know if that’s the case as we go on.
So, have a read of my top sites for online paid surveys and get clued-up before making money from home.
Best rated survey site on Trustpilot
Trustpilot is a great resource if you want to find out what people think about services, websites and brands. I had a look at which survey sites had the best review ratings on Trustpilot. Of those, there was one clear standout survey website.
Branded Surveys
Branded Surveys is a high-quality and engaging survey site. It has a dashboard that's very easy to navigate and there’s usually a decent number of online surveys to do at any given time.
Trustpilot rating: 4.1 (101,000+ reviews)
Why users like it: Branded Surveys is praised as one of the top survey sites for being a genuine and offering genuine payouts. Users seem to find the surveys interesting in content and rewarding too.
Survey length: medium
Minimum payout threshold: £3.95/£5
Payment method: gift vouchers (£3.95) or PayPal payment (£5)
Screen-out reward: 1-3 points
First week email invites: 12
Reward for registering: 50 points (plus 50 points for completing an extended profile survey)
Pros of Branded Surveys
Branded Surveys tend to give me at least one survey invite each day. On occasion, I’ve had as many as four to complete. With this many opportunities, I’ve been able to get 297 points (out of 500 to cash out) from just two visits.
When you reach the 500-point payout threshold for Branded Surveys, you can get your payment as a PayPal payment or gift card. Available retailers include Amazon, H&M, and Tesco.
Branded Surveys also stands out from other paid survey sites with its loyalty rewards. When you complete at least 12 surveys a week, you earn a bonus to your points total that week. I’m on Bronze, which gives a 5% bonus. However, I’m only six surveys away from Silver status, which gives 10%.
Completing lots of surveys boosts this bonus further. Reaching Gold boosts your survey reward points by a whopping 19%, which is pretty impressive and helps get paid faster.
I also like Branded Surveys’ screen-out rewards. If your answers disqualify you from a survey, you get a few points. One to three may not be many, but it helps with frustration and the feeling you’ve wasted your time.
Potential downsides
Despite the minimum cash-out threshold being just £3.95, I’m still not at that level after a few visits. It feels like you don’t get a huge number of points per completed survey, but maybe this is an incentive to do more so I can move up to Silver/Gold level.
Most enjoyable survey site experience
Choosing a survey site or app that you actually enjoy using is very important if you want to stick with a site long enough to earn some decent money. The Curious Cat app was the most enjoyable survey experience for me.
Curious Cat
Curious Cat stands apart from all the other paid survey sites I’ve tried. It’s a mobile-only online survey tool with no desktop version.
The mobile dashboard is displayed in a really engaging way and the surveys are generally quite short, meaning you can earn money quickly.
Survey length: very short to short
Minimum payout threshold: 100 points (£1)
Payment method: PayPal payment
Screen-out reward: 2 points
First week email invites: 0 (they don’t send emails but there were always multiple surveys to do when you checked the app)
Reward for registering: 6 points
Pros of Curious Cat
Curious Cat is an app-only survey platform that’s really simple to use, full of fun graphics and short, enjoyable, paying surveys.
As it’s a mobile app, I feel like I always have a survey at my fingertips. Thanks to this, it’s the one online survey platform I really want to use in my spare time. It’s the perfect way to earn some pennies while watching TV or sitting on the train.
Every time I’ve opened the app, there have been at least a few surveys or activities to make money with. Their mobile surveys range from five points to 150 and each point equates to 1p, so I really feel like I’m being rewarded well for the small amount of time I put in.
It took six short visits and just ten surveys to make 203 points, far more than enough for a payout. With one tap, and ID confirmation, I got the £2.03 in my PayPal account. Zero complaints.
In other major benefits, Curious Cat estimates how long each survey should take and your likelihood of being screened out. If you’re strapped for time or just dislike getting partway through surveys, this is a must-have feature.
Speaking of being screened out, Curious Cat always rewards you if that happens. Two points may not be much, but it adds up quickly when you only need 100 to cash out.
Potential Downsides
The Curious Cat cash-out limit is very low (just 100 points/£1), which means your rewards can feel quite low (just a couple of pounds at a time, unless you let them build up).
Users without mobile phones also won’t be able to sign up as you can’t complete Curious Cat surveys on a desktop.
Great paid online surveys covering a range of interesting topics
Nobody wants to be stuck answering the same old boring questions over and over again. Unfortunately, some sites can get rather repetitive with the types of surveys you're asked to complete. These two sites stand out from the rest due to their interesting survey subject matter.
YouGov
YouGov is a British market research company that samples the British electorate with online paid surveys. UK residents can sign up to give their opinion on a wide range of subjects. Despite the name, YouGov is totally independent of the UK government.
With that said, the government does sometimes commission YouGov to conduct polls (alongside many other organisations that do the same thing). Around 10% of the work YouGov does fits under the realm of political research. This means you’re likely to be asked lots of questions about political figures and events.
Other things you might get asked about include education, business, trending news topics and more personal things like your shopping habits.
Survey length: very short to medium
Minimum payout threshold: 5,000 points (£50)
Payment method: bank transfer or gift cards
Screen-out reward: nothing, but it’s very rare that you’ll ever get screened out.
Pros of YouGov
YouGov typically send me at least one survey invite per day. 5,000 points is a high payout threshold to reach, but the regularity of surveys helps.
Even with the high threshold, I have had YouGov pay out once in June 2019, after joining in 2018. When your reward is £50, it makes the effort feel worthwhile.
On top of that, YouGov surveys are both interesting and surprisingly fast. 50 point surveys often cover topics like current affairs and sometimes take as little as a minute. Knowing that your answers on important topics are being used for genuine research feels very rewarding.
You can also complete thirty-second activities, often rating TV shows or public figures, that pay out 10 points per survey.
On top of that, YouGov rarely screens you out mid-survey. When they do, there unfortunately isn’t any payout, but they select their surveys so well it almost never happens.
Potential downsides
The 5,000-point (£50) cash-out threshold will definitely take you a long time to reach, as you can only earn around 100-200 points maximum per day.
So, if you’re looking for a quick buck, YouGov probably isn’t for you. But if it’s engaging discussions you enjoy, I think you’ll be a big fan.
Pureprofile
While some survey sites are a little bland looking (and sometimes pretty difficult to navigate too), the Pureprofile feed works in a similar way to your social media feed.
When you log in, you’ll see a sidebar where you can navigate between available surveys and other profile questions, as well as see your transactions and rewards. Scroll through your feed and you’ll find posts advertising survey opportunities, as well as short question posts that you can answer to help build up your profile.
Pureprofile offers paid surveys on a range of unique and often surprising topics, from questions about palliative care to virtual shopping exercises.
Survey length: short to medium
Minimum payout threshold: £10/£20
Payment method: bank transfer (£10+) and gift vouchers (£20+)
Screen-out reward: 5p (or prize draw entry)
First week email invites: 10
Reward for registering: 65p (for completing three short welcome surveys)
Pros of Pureprofile
Pureprofile stands out for its unique and engaging surveys, including the single most interesting one I’ve completed during this experience. Pureprofile asked my thoughts on palliative care and how I would feel about having several life-altering conditions.
Pureprofile also goes out of its way to be easy to use. Its dashboard and layout make for easy navigation, ensuring you’ll never struggle on your way to the next interesting survey.
Like other online survey reward sites, Pureprofile lets you cash out via bank transfer or with gift vouchers. However, you can also use your points to enter prize draws and potentially get many times their value. Of course, this does come with a risk of getting nothing in return for your effort – so choose wisely.
If you do go for cash, individual Pureprofile surveys can pay surprisingly well. There are short polls that pay out 5p for a few seconds’ work. Alternatively, full polls pay anywhere from 35p to £1.50 – letting you reach payout in relatively few surveys. Screening out of a longer survey also gets you 5p.
Potential downsides
Survey invites are often infrequent. My first visit saw me earn £2.15, thanks to a range of short welcome surveys and my first proper survey, which rewarded me with £1.50 for completing it. There were no opportunities to earn extra points on my second visit and only a couple of small surveys on my third.
As a result, it can be slow to make money online with Pureprofile.
I’ve also suffered a few technical issues. Some surveys have screened me out for allegedly completing them on another device, or for my device being incompatible with them.
Other survey website front runners
Some of the paid survey sites I tried didn't have particularly unique features, but they were high-quality sites all the same. The following survey sites are strong, reliable sites that consistently deliver.
OnePoll
OnePoll gets a place on this list due to being an overall solid and reliable paid survey site. OnePoll has a very simple, bare-bones survey dashboard.
While this could sometimes have a negative effect on my enjoyment of using a site, OnePoll is different because it’s clear and easy to navigate, despite being quite plain.
OnePoll is an all-round reliable survey site where you’ll nearly always have market research surveys to answer.
Survey length: medium
Minimum payout threshold: £25
Payment method: bank transfer or PayPal payment
Screen-out reward: nothing
First week email invites: 6
Reward for registering: 500 points
Pros of OnePoll
I’ve been delighted by the number of paid surveys I’ve gotten from OnePoll. Every time I log in, there are around five waiting for me. While one or two usually screen me out, this is a better hit rate than many sites. Sometimes I'd log in and find 10 on my dashboard!
It also saves time on this high volume of surveys by remembering some of your basic information. You won’t need to answer your age for the 43rd time, OnePoll will do it for you. It’s a simple feature, but the time savings add up.
Potential downsides
A potential drawback of OnePoll is the relatively high cash-out threshold of £25, which means you need to earn 2,500 points before you can redeem your reward.
However, I was rewarded with a 500-point sign-up bonus and received six survey invites in my first week of being a member, so the 2,500-point target doesn’t feel a million miles away.
There are also no rewards for being screened out of a survey. This is less of an issue with the sheer number of activities OnePoll offers. Even then, however, it can still feel like a waste of time.
Opinium
Opinium is another paid survey site with a very clear dashboard that’s easy to understand and navigate around. It has huge earning potential with regular use, covering very general topics for any user.
Survey length: medium to long
Minimum payout threshold: £25
Payment method: bank transfer, gift voucher or charity donation (part or full)
Screen-out reward: nothing
Pros of Opinium
I’m a long-term user of Opinium, and I prefer it for the sheer amount of money you can make for relatively little effort. Between April 2020 and November 2021, when I used Opinium most frequently, I reached the £25 threshold five times. £125 for reasonable effort isn’t something to complain about.
Opinium sends survey invites every couple of days. They’re very consistent, but not so frequent that they’re irritating. Each activity you complete pays between 25p and £1, so the rewards for surveys add up quicker than you think.
You can redeem your rewards as a direct bank transfer or gift voucher. Payout times are pretty quick too, once you make it to the £25 required.
I’m a long-time Opinium fan, having signed up in early 2020. Over the last year, I’ve become less consistent with my survey participation, which is why I haven’t cashed out an Opinium reward since November 2021. I do currently have £6.85 sitting in my account though, but this is a fair way off my next £25 cash-out.
Potential downsides
The surveys on Opinium can be quite long, which can sometimes make it a bit of a slog to get through them. As with some other sites in this guide, the main drawback is the £25 cash-out threshold, which might be too high for some.
The length of these online surveys also makes the lack of screening-out compensation a drain. You can spend a long time answering questions and end up with nothing to show for it.
Pros and cons of 13 other UK survey sites (some great, some not so great)
As you’ve probably guessed by now, there are a huge number of sites that are willing to pay money for your online survey responses.
All of the sites mentioned above are my favourites based on their legitimacy, generosity and ease of use, so I’d recommend choosing from that list if you’re after the very best.
However, it could be worth signing up for multiple sites in order to have the best chance of earning some decent cash. The following table shows the majority of other main UK survey sites.
Some of them are very highly reviewed, but I haven’t been able to try them for a variety of reasons. Others I have tried and didn't enjoy them at all. Have a look through and see if there are any you’d be interested in trying.
Pros and cons of other survey sites |
|---|
Prolific Academic Cash-out: £5 Reward: PayPal Rating: |
Valued Opinions Cash-out: £10 Reward: gift vouchers or charity donations Rating: |
Survey Friends |
Swagbucks |
Crowdology |
LifePoints |
IPSOS i-Say |
Qmee |
NewVistaLive |
Y Live |
InboxPounds |
Opinion Bureau |
Opinion Outpost |
Things to remember before completing surveys online
If you’re going to be a successful survey participant, there are a few things you should be aware of before you get started.
Know how your data will be used
Is it safe to take part in online surveys? Well, all of the paid survey websites mentioned in this article are reliable platforms where you can complete legitimate paid surveys for money.
In terms of the information a company will collect from you, it’s important to understand that you won’t ever be forced to answer a question you don’t want to. It may mean you can’t progress with the survey and earn your reward. It’s entirely up to you whether to press on or keep your information to yourself.
With that said, make sure you check the privacy policy and terms and conditions of each survey site. How they use your information is important, and worth checking before you try out different paid survey sites.
Your answers will nearly always be anonymised and things like your address and contact information shouldn’t ever be passed on to a third party. But make sure you check with the individual survey provider if you’re not sure.
Don’t waste your time on any survey companies that ask you to pay a fee. All of the online survey sites mentioned in this article are free to join and use. Sites that ask for money should not be trusted.
Manage your expectations
Taking paid surveys online is a great way to earn a bit of extra money here and there. However, even with the best online survey sites, it’s not really something that can be relied on as a main source of income.
Firstly, there’s no guarantee you’ll receive a consistent number of surveys to answer. While in one week you might receive 10 invites, the next week could see you get none at all.
You can never be sure how many survey invites you’ll be sent each week. Even if you are selected for a survey, you might not make it to the reward stage. If you’re signed up to a few decent sites though, you should always have at least one invite. This means there will always be an opportunity to earn points and make money online from surveys.
Annoying as it is, it’s very common to get ruled out of surveys midway through. Even though you may have seen a survey opportunity offering £5 upon completion, you can’t always be certain you’ll get your hands on that £5. When your rewards do start to add up, payout times for online survey sites can sometimes be slow (although it really depends on the site).
But don’t let me have you believe it’s all doom and gloom… as long as you manage your expectations, taking online surveys can be a fantastic way to earn some extra spending money.
I’ve been pretty passionate about the value of online surveys for earning extra money for almost a decade now. I’ve earned hundreds of pounds over the years and have no plans to stop answering surveys online.
At its core, taking surveys can be very profitable if you’re willing to put the time in, but knowing which sites are worth your time can be hard. Use the guide above to judge which survey sites suit you best for and give you the best chance to earn money online.
My quick tips for survey success
It doesn’t have to be a challenge, completing surveys for money. UK sites can offer reasonable rewards for very little effort. However, you have to be smart about how you use your time and answer questions properly.. Here are some quick tips to keep in mind as you start signing up for survey sites.
1. Tell the truth
If you’re inconsistent with your responses or you don’t answer the questions properly, you may be screened out of the survey you’re on and maybe even future surveys too.
Most paid surveys have systems in place to spot users misusing their site and you may end up having your account deactivated.
Don’t feel like you have to twist your answers in order to qualify for, or continue progressing through, a particular survey. Another one will always come along and you’ll have a much easier time answering questions about relevant surveys you actually want to discuss.
If you’re not comfortable answering a particular question, you can usually decline to answer. Some surveys may not let you continue if you refuse to answer a certain question, but I’d recommend shutting the survey down rather than answering the question untruthfully.
2. Keep quiet about the content of your surveys
Just as you want your privacy respected when it comes to storing your survey responses, survey sites have their own rules about privacy.
Some surveys may involve you being shown things like TV adverts or film trailers that haven’t yet been released to the public. You may sometimes be shown products that aren’t yet on the store shelves.
Screenshotting or taking photos of your survey screen is generally prohibited on survey sites. If you share information or content you’re not supposed to share, your account may be suspended.
3. Set up an email account specifically for your online surveys
If your email inbox looks anything like mine, I’d really recommend taking a couple of minutes to set up a new email address specifically for your surveys.
It’ll stop all your survey invite emails from getting lost in the sea of other stuff in your personal email inbox.
I’ve recently started sending my online survey invitations to a specific inbox, and it’s been really handy. Having them all in one place, not mixed with a dozen other things, is ideal.
Don’t forget to check your inbox regularly, otherwise, you may miss survey invites. Another thing to bear in mind is what you choose to name your new email address. My email address features the word ‘surveys’ and I suspect that’s why I didn’t get through security checks for setting up an account on some sites.
4. Don’t ever pay to take surveys
There are a huge number of legitimate survey sites that you can join for free online, so don’t waste your time and money on any sites that ask you to pay to join.
None of the sites mentioned in this article will ever ask you to pay money in order to earn rewards. You're providing a service, it should be completely free on your end. If you pay, you risk falling prey to scam survey sites.
Your next steps…
So, now you're armed with everything you need to know about how to get paid for completing surveys from the comfort of your own home.
Whether you’re looking for a platform with a low payout threshold so you can earn cash quickly, or you’re more concerned about finding surveys that are enjoyable to take part in, there’s something out there for everyone.
Still not sure which site is best for you? Here's a round-up of some top choices:
- Curious Cat: fun mobile-first survey platform
- YouGov: great for those interested in politics
- Pureprofile: stand-out site for unique and interesting surveys
Whatever your preferences are, I’d recommend you pick at least a few different survey sites to sign up for. This way, you can be sure you’ll always have at least one survey to answer at any given time.
Have you had a particularly great experience with any of the survey sites mentioned in this article? Or maybe you think we’ve missed your favourite site out? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.