Get Paid for Small Tasks: Surveys, Microtasks and Testing Compared

Small online tasks pay, but most pay little: a study of 2,676 Mechanical Turk workers found a median of about $2 an hour. The better-paid small tasks are academic surveys on Prolific, which requires researchers to pay at least $8 an hour, and user testing or research interviews that pay $10 to $400 per session. Start with those, and treat classic microtask and points sites as spare-minute money.

How to choose

• Skills. Surveys and microtasks need only reading and care. User testing needs you to think aloud clearly in English or another in-demand language. Paid interviews often want a specific job, product or background.
• Startup cost. Nothing beyond a computer or phone. Testing sites usually need a working microphone, and some want a webcam.
• Time to first payment. Prolific lets you cash out from $6. UserTesting pays about 14 days after each test. Swagbucks redemptions can take up to 10 business days.
• Where you live. Survey and testing demand is strongest in the US, UK, Canada and Europe. Many survey panels accept few countries, while microtask sites such as Clickworker and Microworkers accept workers almost worldwide.
• Risk. The main risks are low effective pay and scams that ask you to pay first. Screen-out surveys, where you answer questions and are then rejected unpaid, can waste a lot of time.

Microtasks: Mechanical Turk, Clickworker and similar sites

The work: short tasks such as tagging images, checking data, transcribing receipts or answering short questionnaires, each paid a few cents to a few dollars.

Realistic earnings: this is the lowest-paid option, and the evidence is clear. The CHI 2018 study by Hara and colleagues analysed 3.8 million tasks and found a median wage of about $2 an hour, with only 4% of workers earning more than $7.25 an hour. The same study found the average requester paid more than $11 an hour, but lower-paying requesters posted far more work. A 2016 Pew Research Center survey found that 52% of Mechanical Turk workers earned less than $5 an hour and only 8% earned $8 or more. Amazon charges requesters a 20% fee on top of worker pay, so workers keep the full listed reward.

Payout speed: Mechanical Turk transfers earnings on a schedule of every 3, 7, 14 or 30 days.

Platforms: Amazon Mechanical Turk, Clickworker, Microworkers. Compare them in best microtask sites for beginners.

Surveys: Prolific versus points sites

The work: answering questionnaires for academic researchers or market research panels.

Realistic earnings: Prolific is the standout. Researchers must pay at least £6 or $8 an hour, and Prolific recommends at least £9 or $12. You can cash out once you have £6 or $6, and after your first four cashouts payments reach PayPal instantly, always as cash rather than points. Points sites such as Swagbucks pay in points you redeem for PayPal cash or gift cards, from 300 SB. Pawns.app lists surveys at $1 or more for 5 to 10 minutes. On points sites, screen-outs and slow surveys usually push real hourly pay below Prolific's floor.

Website and app testing: UserTesting and Userlytics

The work: using a website or app while recording your screen and voice, explaining what confuses you.

Realistic earnings: UserTesting shows the reward for each test on your dashboard, varying with test type, length and demand. Payment arrives about 14 days after each test, by PayPal only. Userlytics lists $10 to $50 per study, paid every 15 days once the client approves your test. Tests arrive unpredictably and not every one will match your profile, so income is lumpy. Testbirds and uTest pay for finding bugs and suit people with a technical eye.

Research interviews: Respondent, User Interviews and dscout

The work: 30- to 60-minute video calls, diary studies or focus groups where companies ask about your job, habits or products you use.

Realistic earnings: the highest pay among small tasks. Respondent says most studies pay $50 to $400 or more, with a $75 average payout, and most participants are paid within a few days through Tremendous. User Interviews says most incentives are issued within a day or two of a session, though researchers have up to 10 business days to release payment. dscout says participants average $1 per minute on its missions, paid by PayPal. Google User Experience Research sends thank-you gifts three to five business days after a session, adjusted by country, though not every participant receives one. The catch is volume: you might qualify for one study in twenty.

In-store missions: Field Agent and similar apps

The work: photographing shelves, checking prices or completing mystery shopping visits near you.

Realistic earnings: Field Agent tasks generally pay $2 to $12 each. Travel time and fuel count against that, so these work best when a task is on a route you already take. See best field work apps.

A step up: AI training work

If you write well or have a degree, AI training platforms pay far more than microtasks. DataAnnotation lists $25 to $50 an hour for general roles. Entry requires passing an assessment, and work availability varies. See the AI training platforms section for details.

What a realistic month looks like

Most people combine two or three of these rather than relying on one. Five hours a week of Prolific studies at the $8 an hour minimum comes to about $160 a month, if studies are available for your profile. A single research interview at Respondent's $75 average pays about as much as 37 hours of microtasks at the $2 median from the Mechanical Turk study. That is why it pays to build strong profiles on interview and testing sites and use microtasks only to fill spare minutes. None of this replaces a job, and income depends mostly on how often your profile matches open studies.

Compare the options

First steps this week

1. Sign up for Prolific and complete every "About you" question, since studies are matched on those answers.
2. Join two testing sites and take their practice or qualification test with a quiet room and good microphone.
3. Create a Respondent or User Interviews profile listing your real job title, industry and software you use.
4. Keep a simple log of minutes spent and money earned per platform, and drop anything averaging under your local minimum wage after two weeks.
5. Set up a PayPal account in your own name, because most of these platforms pay only through PayPal.

What to avoid

• Task scams. Messages offering pay to "like" videos or "rate" products, then asking you to deposit money to unlock bigger tasks, are scams. The FTC says reported job scam losses rose from $90 million in 2020 to $501 million in 2024.
• Paying for access. The FTC warns that honest mystery shopping companies do not charge for certifications, job directories or guarantees.
• Fake checks. Never deposit a check from a "mystery shopping" job and send part of it back, even if the funds show in your account.
• Lying in screeners. Answering to fit a study you do not match wastes the researcher's money and can get your profile removed, along with any unpaid balance.
• Multiple accounts or VPNs. Read each site's terms before signing up, since breaking account rules can cost you your balance.

Sources

• Hara et al. (CHI 2018): A data-driven analysis of workers' earnings on Mechanical Turk
• Pew Research Center (2016): Research in the crowdsourcing age
• Amazon Mechanical Turk: pricing
• Amazon Mechanical Turk: worker help
• Prolific: participants
• Prolific: researcher pay guidance
• Swagbucks: redemption times
• Pawns.app: home page
• UserTesting: get paid to test
• Userlytics: paid UX testing
• Respondent: participants
• User Interviews: incentive payments
• dscout: participate in research
• Google User Experience Research: FAQ
• Wikipedia: Field Agent)
• DataAnnotation: home page
• FTC: job scams
• FTC: 2024 fraud loss data
• FTC: fake check scams