15 Best Money Making Apps For College Students

Anybody who knows me knows that I am OBSESSED with money-making and cash back apps. I seriously try them all out and try to get all my friends and family to download them so they can save money too. Since I love money making apps, I have rounded up the best money making apps for college students in 2020.

Money Making Apps For College Students

Freebird

This is one of the best money making apps for college students if you take a lot of Lyfts or Ubers! Freebird gives you points for taking Uber and Lyft rides, and these points convert to cash. Freebird also gives you a cash reward when you Uber or Lyft and use your card linked to the account at a specific location, such as a restaurant or supermarket. Also, you get money for each friend you refer! If you sign up using my code i1518 you will get $5 cash back from your first two rides!

Achievement

Achievement rewards you for health related activities. You can earn points based on your number of steps, tracking your food through My Fitness Pal, and a number of other activities. Once you reach 10,000 you get $10 in your bank account. The only downside to Achievement is that it takes a long time to earn money, but it is literally free money for just doing your regular exercise.

Ibotta

Ibotta is my personal favorite money making app for college students. I have gotten $190 cashback in less than a year from this app! My favorite thing about Ibotta is that you can have the money sent straight to your Venmo or Paypal account, you do not need to redeem the cash in gift card form.  

There are number of ways you can use Ibotta to optimize your cash back opportunities. The main way is adding grocery items in the app to your list, and then scanning your receipt at the end. You get cashback for certain brands, so it is always good to check the app prior to shopping, as a simple brand change could save you a lot of money. You can also earn cash back by paying through Ibotta in select stores, and making online purchases through the Ibotta app.

Sign up for Ibotta with this link to get started!

Fetch

With Fetch you can earn points just by scanning your grocery receipts. Fetch is one of the easiest money making apps for college students, as you literally just take a photo of the receipt and Fetch gives you points. It could not be easier! You can redeem your points for a number of different gift cards including Amazon, American Eagle Outfitters, and Walmart. If you download Fetch, use my code DF2BT to give you 2,000 points once you scan your first receipt.

Drop

I love Drop because I can get points just for doing my regular shopping! When you join Drop you choose five retailers, and each time you shop with them with your linked card you automatically earn points. I chose Uber and Lyft as two of mine, which I use so often.

Drop also has some amazing first time offers. For example, I got $30 worth of points for making my first Crest teeth whitening order. The order cost $35, so I literally got my whitening strips for $5! Drop also has surveys which you can take to earn some extra points.

Get $5 by joining Drop through this link!

Google Opinion Rewards

Google Opinion Rewards runs in the background on your phone, and then will offer quick 3-10 question surveys, based on your Google search results and locations you have visited. The surveys take less than 30 seconds, and you earn cash for each survey. Once you have $2 in your account, the money is automatically transferred to your PayPal account.

Panel

Similar to Google Opinion Rewards, Panel runs in the background of your phone. It tracks your location, and you earn points just for going places. There are also short surveys you can take to earn more points, and points can be exchanged for gift cards.

Rakuten

Rakuten is another fantastic app for saving you money on online shopping! I always check Rakuten before making a purchase online. When you shop through the app or with Rakuten on your laptop, you earn cash back for your purchases. The cash back rate varies from 1% to over 15%, so you can definitely earn a ton of money!

Sign up for Rakuten and receive $10 with this link!

Get Upside

If you drive frequently, Get Upside is the perfect app for you.Get Upside gives you cashback on gas purchase, and you can earn over 20 cents a gallon. I also use it to help me find the cheapest gas in the area, to make sure I am getting the best deal! If you use my invite code HRYHK, you will get $7 cash back on your first gas purchase, that’s literally free money just for signing up and getting gas!

YouGov

YouGov is an app where you take surveys. The surveys range from 2-10 minutes in length, and in return you earn points. These points can be converted into a gift card or cash! I typically receive 1-4 survey invitations a week, and I take the survey when I am bored and have nothing to do. I have made over $100 from this app, and I would highly recommend downloading it.

Seated

Seated gives you cash back on your dine in food orders. If you are anything like me, this could save you huge amounts of money! I have gotten meals almost completely for free which is amazing. One of the best things about Seated is that there are so many promo codes for it, so you can earn a lot of bonus cash back from these. At the moment Seated is allowing cash back on takeout orders as well, seeing as we cannot dine in at the present time. Unfortunately, Seated is not available in all cities just yet, only New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Atlanta.

Sign up for Seated and receive an extra $5 with this link

ReceiptPal

With ReceiptPal you just photograph your receipts in the app and you earn points! It is one of the quickest and easiest money making apps for college students. You can also link your Amazon account and email to automatically get points for online purchases. Points can be exchanged for Amazon gift cards.

Dosh

By linking your card with Dosh you can automatically earn cash back! Forever 21 is one of the retailers that gives instant cash back, which I love! Dosh also has a lot of online and mobile offers which can give you cash back too, making it one of the best money making apps for college students. 

You can join Dosh by clicking this link

Influenster

Influenster technically doesn’t make you any money, but you can score free products with it, which is just as good right? Influenster gives you a free product, or several, in exchange for a product review and social media posts. It is literally takes less than five minutes to do all the tasks Influenster asks you to complete.

I have gotten a number of free products to review from Influenster from some amazing brands, including Garnier dry shampoo, Milk concealer and primer, and Laura Mercier eyeshadow.

Honey

Honey is another one of my favorite money making apps for college students. Not only does Honey save you money by finding you the best coupons on the internet, it also gives you Honey Gold with each purchase. Honey Gold can be used to redeem gift cards from all the best stores including Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Macy’s.

Join Honey with this link to earn $5 with your first purchase

I know I listed a lot of apps that are very similar. The reason for this is that I find not all retailers are available on each app. I often search each app to see if the particular retailer is available, and work out which app will give me the most money. I always use Honey to see if there is an available coupon, as the coupons on Honey can save you so much money!

I hope you enjoyed the best money making apps for college students, and are able to save some money. As always, thanks for reading.