Looking for an easy way to make some extra cash in 2023?
Survey Junkie is a popular survey site and mobile app that pays users to complete easy, fun tasks in their spare time. It’s not a way to get rich – but it is the easiest way to earn a little spending money when you would just be sitting around anyway.
The question is: is this survey site legit, or is it just another scam?
I had my doubts about Survey Junkie, so I looked into it. Here’s everything you need to know about this site, including where it came from, how it works, and if it’s worth your time in 2023.
REPUTATION
Trustworthy leader in the online rewards space.
EARNING OPTIONS
Wide variety of surveys.
PAY
Points to cash conversion. Can be redeemed by Paypal or Giftcards.
The overview: What is Survey Junkie?
To understand what Survey Junkie really is, you have to understand paid survey sites and their role in market research.
A survey site is a platform where users can log on and fill out surveys for cash or prizes. The information from those surveys goes back to the brands and retailers that the site is partnered with, so they can learn more about their consumers.
A top-quality survey site charges no fees for signup, and offers genuine opportunities to earn money. If the site has good reviews, is partnered with major brands, and has a lot of users around the world, you can be sure that it’s legitimate.
Survey Junkie is one of the most popular survey sites out there. It was founded in 2013 by DISQO, a branding and market research company. It’s free to sign up, easy to use, and runs on a points-for-cash system that lets users make easy money.
As you’ll see in the rest of this article, users love Survey Junkie for its simplicity and straightforward earnings system. It also offers a browser extension and referral program to keep earning passive money, even while you aren’t logged on. While it does have plenty of competitors, this site gains more popularity every year.
Is it legit?
I’m always a little doubtful of websites that advertise a free and easy way to make money. Unfortunately, there are some scams out there. So, the first thing I wanted to find out about Survey Junkie was: is it legit, or just another scam?
I can say with full confidence that Survey Junkie is a completely legitimate website. Not only is it free to sign up, you’ll never be hit with any hidden charges or fees while you’re using the site. In other words, there’s no way you can lose money by signing up for Survey Junkie.
Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll get rich taking surveys. It means that this is a safe, trustworthy way to earn a little cash in your spare time.
Who is it for?
Like any survey site, Survey Junkie is for people who have some time on their hands and want to earn a few easy bucks.
It’s important to note that not everyone will be eligible for all surveys on this site. The people who get access to the most surveys are generally between 18-35, with lifestyles that make them target consumers for most brands (they’re active, enjoy shopping, eat out often, etc.)
Of course, anyone can sign up and start taking surveys! There is no age limit, and it’s available for people all over the country.
Who is Survey Junkie not for? It’s not right for someone looking for a profitable side-hustle, freelance job, or reliable way to pay the bills. This is a fun way to earn cash while you’re bored, not a dependable way to generate income.
How it works
We’ve established that you can actually make money with Survey Junkie. But how does that work, exactly?
Well, the basic concept is pretty simple: fill out surveys, earn points on your account, then exchange those points for cash or prizes.
Here’s what that looks like in more detail:
Step 1: Sign up for Survey Junkie
To get started with Survey Junkie, you have to make an account. Like I said, this is totally free – it’s also crazy fast!
Just go to the website on your desktop browser and click “sign up”. You’ll have to enter some basic information, such as your name, address, date of birth, and gender. It takes less than 30 seconds – and you’ll earn 25 points right off the bat.
Once your account is set up, you’ll be asked to familiarize yourself with your dashboard and get to know some of the features. You’ll see where you can find your available points, surveys you’re eligible for, and more.
To finish up the setup process, take the “complete my profile” survey. This will ask you about some of your interests, career, lifestyle, etc. That’s how Survey Junkie knows which surveys you’re eligible to take, so you’re never wasting time on surveys that aren’t relevant to you. You’ll earn another 50 points as soon as you complete this stage.
On top of that, you can earn 5 points by taking a virtual tour of the site, and 10 points each for additional profile surveys. It might seem silly, but the more information you provide about yourself, the more surveys you’ll be able to take for points later on.
Step 2: Start taking surveys
Now that your profile is all set up, you’re ready to start taking surveys and earning points.
You’ll see the surveys you’re eligible for on your profile. You can also get email notifications every time a survey is available to you.
Each survey notification will show a point value, and the approximate amount of time it will take – so you know what you’re getting into before you start. To take one, all you have to do is select it and hit “start.”
If for some reason you aren’t eligible for that particular survey, you’ll see a notification telling you so. Sometimes you might get a couple of questions into the survey before the site registers that you aren’t eligible – when that happens, you get paid points for your effort, anyway.
Each survey ranges from 10 to 200 points in value, and can take anywhere between a minute and half an hour to complete. In general, the longer surveys will earn you more points.
Unfortunately, there isn’t an unlimited amount you can take every day. Otherwise, we would never stop taking surveys!
That said, there should be a survey or two available to you every day when you log in.
Step 3: Earn points
As soon as you finish a survey, you’ll see the points you earned in the “Lifetime Points” column on your dashboard.
On other survey sites, the value of a single point can vary – but with Survey Junkie, each point is worth exactly 1 cent. In other words, when you’ve earned 100 points, you’ve earned $1.
That may seem low, but the pay rate is fairly standard for most survey sites out there. Plus, all it takes is some very simple math to know the dollar value of the points you’ve earned.
Step 4: Cash out
You can redeem your points for gift cards or PayPal cash through your Survey Junkie account. Since 100 points is worth $1, you can exchange 2,500 for a $25 value – whether that’s direct cash or a gift card to one of your favorite retailers.
There are a couple of catches to this system: the first is that you have to have earned at least 1000 points ($10) to cash out for the first time. Most survey sites have a minimum payout threshold like that; it’s how they make sure their users stick around.
The second catch is that whenever you cash out, you have to cash out all of your points at once. So, if you have 1100 points, you can’t buy a $10 gift card and save the rest for later. You would have to add on that $1 in PayPal cash.
Your points don’t expire, so you can wait to cash out whenever you’re ready.
Step 5: Repeat!
If you enjoy taking surveys with Survey Junkie, you can keep on going for as long as you like!
You won’t be charged at any point in the process, and you won’t see any huge change in the number of surveys available to you each week. Just keep on clicking, keep answering questions, and keep earning for as long as you like.
Survey Junkie earnings
Now that you know how Survey Junkie works, let’s get to the important question: how much can you actually earn by taking surveys on this site?
The exact amount obviously depends on how many surveys are available to you and how much time you spend on the site each week. If you’re in their target demographic (that’s mainly active Gen Z and Millennial consumers), you should be able to take at least 5 surveys a week, or more. Your earnings for those surveys can range between $0.10 and $3.
To put it another way, you shouldn’t expect to earn more than $15 – $20 in a good week with Survey Junkie.
So, you’re not going to get rich or even pay your bills just by taking surveys. But remember, the work you’re doing for that spare cash is so ridiculously easy, it shouldn’t even be considered “work.” You can take surveys while you’re watching TV, on your morning commute, or sitting in a waiting room.
In other words, Survey Junkie is an easy, safe way to earn the cash for your next coffee or beer with friends. If you’re just going to be sitting around anyway, why not make a few bucks?
Survey Junkie Pros and Cons
In my experience, Survey Junkie is one of the best survey sites out there. It’s safe, dependable, easy to use, and pays well compared to some of the alternatives.
Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. There are benefits and drawbacks to using Survey Junkie, like with any popular survey site.
Below are some of the key pros and cons of Survey Junkie that users have noticed.
Pros
There’s a lot to love about Survey Junkie – here are a few of the highlights:
1. It’s easy to use
Out of all the top survey sites, Survey Junkie has one of the clearest interfaces. Both the website and the mobile app are clean, readable, and super easy to use.
Beyond the great interface, Survey Junkie’s rules and guidelines are also very straightforward. There’s never any confusion about how many points you’re earning, which surveys you can take, or how to convert your points into cash.
Where other sites will try to scam you with wordy language and confusing points conversion systems, Survey Junkie keeps it simple.
2. It’s free
Every great survey site is free to sign up and start using, and Survey Junkie is no exception.
This site is backed by a legitimate, well-established market research company. They’re not looking to make money off their users – in fact, they’re paying their users for their opinions. You’ll never be charged a sneaky fee for signing up or cashing out.
3. There’s a huge points boost at sign up
As soon as you sign up for Survey Junkie, you’re earning points left and right. That makes it so much easier to reach that initial 1,000-point threshold so you can cash out.
Within the first 30 minutes or so that you spend on the site, you’ll have the opportunity to earn:
- 25 points for signing up.
- 50 points for completing your profile.
- 25 points for confirming your email.
- 5 points for taking a virtual “how it works” tour of the platform.
- 10 points each for additional profile surveys – up to a dozen or more available.
That flood of points is a great way to get users hooked on the site, and encourage you to keep coming back and taking surveys. By the time you finish signing up, you’re already well on your way to earning your first $10.
4. The initial threshold to cash out is low
This might seem like a little thing, but it’s one of the factors that makes Survey Junkie so great.
Most other survey sites require you to reach $25, $30, or even more before you can exchange your points and cash out. It makes it really easy to lose interest in the site, and it generally means you have to wait weeks – or even a month – to actually see your earnings.
With Survey Junkie, you only have to reach $10 to cash out for the first time. Most users reach that point within the first week or two, and get to receive their gift card or PayPal cash right away.
5. You can earn gift cards or cash
A lot of people prefer to receive their earnings directly in cash, but I think the option to earn gift cards through Survey Junkie is pretty cool. You might earn around $25 to a restaurant or store you never usually go to – it’s the perfect excuse to treat yourself.
The important thing is that Survey Junkie lets you choose how you want to earn. You can select your gift cards from a variety of major brands and retailers, or see cold hard cash in your PayPal account. It’s up to you!
Cons
Here are the main things about Survey Junkie that users think could be better:
1. Surveys are your only option
One major downside to Survey Junkie is that surveys are all they offer. (At least, on the dashboard – there are a few other ways to earn with the site that I’ll get to later).
Some other survey sites offer opportunities to test mobile games, mystery shop, or stream videos to earn points. The variety can make it a little more fun to spend time on the site. Unfortunately, with Survey Junkie, you’re limited to just answering survey questions.
2. There’s a limited number of surveys to take
Every user will only have a certain number of surveys available to them each day. Some users might be restricted to 2 or 3 surveys per week – and the points value on those available surveys can really vary.
The number of surveys available to you will depend on the information you provide in your initial signup questionnaires. Sadly, if there aren’t any surveys you can take at a given time, there isn’t anything else you can do to earn points.
3. The points system can be annoying
It’s great that Survey Junkie offers a clear conversion rate for the points system: 100 points = $1.
However, a lot of users would prefer it if there weren’t any points at all. Sometimes it’s just easier to know exactly how much you’re earning in a dollar value, without any tricks or conversions.
Is it worth it?
Considering all the pros and cons of this website, is Survey Junkie really worth your time and effort in 2023?
If you ask me, yes – depending on what you’re looking for.
If you’re looking for a fun, easy way to kill an hour or two of free time and make some cash while you’re at it, then Survey Junkie is absolutely worth it. The surveys are so easy, it’s practically free money.
On the other hand, if you’re incredibly busy and looking for a reliable way to supplement your income, Survey Junkie might not be worth it for you.
That said, it’s important to remember that Survey Junkie is free to sign up for, and your points stay in your account for as long as you need until you can cash out. In other words, there’s no need to waste time on this site. You can hop on whenever you feel like it over the course of the year.
You don’t have to make any kind of financial or time commitment to Survey Junkie. With that in mind, it’s totally worth a try.
Other ways to earn
On top of taking surveys, there are a few other ways you can boost your earnings with Survey Junkie. Here are three methods you can use to gain more points without much extra effort, and make the most out of your Survey Junkie account.
1. Install the Pulse browser extension
First, you can install the Survey Junkie Pulse browser extension. This is not necessary if you only want to earn by taking surveys – it does track your browsing data, so you should only install the extension if you’re comfortable with that.
If you do choose to install the browser extension, it will track your data as you’re shopping online, for further market research. You’ll earn points as you shop, without having to actually do anything. For someone who does a lot of online shopping, this can be a great way to boost your Survey Junkie earnings.
The extension can be easily uninstalled at any time, if you’re not shopping or don’t want your web activity monitored.
2. Join the referral program
Taking your first steps into becoming an influencer? The Survey Junkie referral program is a great place to start.
You’ll get points every time you refer someone to the website with your personalized link. If you have an active social media account with a lot of followers, this is an awesome way to spread your influence and earn passive points.
3. Never miss a survey
Finally, you’ll get the most out of your Survey Junkie account if you make sure to never miss a survey.
To do that, I recommend opening a separate email account just for Survey Junkie and turning on notifications. You’ll receive an email every time there is a survey available for you – but if you don’t take the survey in time, the offer won’t last.
It will also help a lot to download the mobile Survey Junkie app. That way, you’re prepared to take a quick survey whenever you get the notification, wherever you are.
The bottom line: Survey Junkie is safe, fun, and worth a try
If you’re interested in earning money in your spare time through a survey site, Survey Junkie is one of the best places to start.
It’s totally legit, free to sign up, and incredibly easy to use. You can take surveys anywhere with the convenient mobile app, and you can earn whenever you have a few free minutes. With a low initial threshold and options to cash out via gift card or PayPal, you’ll be able to actually use your Survey Junkie earnings in a real, practical way.
Taking surveys isn’t going to make you rich. But if you want to make a little extra cash for basically no effort at all, you should give Survey Junkie a try.