Scrambly

Apps That Pay You Real Money Without Investment: Top 7 Options

by Mehal Rashid
Feb 12, 2025
10 min. read
Image showing the text "7 apps that pay you real money without investment."

Are there apps that pay you real money without investment? Sounds too good to be true? It did to me, too, but it’s true nevertheless.

We all have moments of downtime while waiting for a friend, standing in line, or scrolling aimlessly through our phones.

What if you could turn that spare time into something productive? Better yet, what if you could earn real money while doing it?

Let’s be honest here, who wouldn’t want a little extra cash flow?

So, I decided to put a variety of free money-making apps to the test.

After sifting through the clutter of apps that either wasted my time or promised too much, I narrowed it down to the best and legit options that actually pay you well and deliver on their promises.

Here's my curated list of the top apps that actually pay you real money without investment.

Top 7 Apps that Pay You Real Money Without Investment

The following apps offer real opportunities to earn cash by playing games or completing quick and simple tasks.

Many of them let you earn free money through PayPal, bank transfers, or gift cards, sometimes even instantly.

1. Scrambly

Image showing Scrambly's app images.
Image showing Scrambly's app images.

If you like exploring mobile apps and games, then you’ll love Scrambly!

With over 2 million users and a minimum withdrawal threshold of just $1, Scrambly is one of the legit apps that pay you real money without investment.

Scrambly offers tons of ways to earn.

Through Scrambly’s app, you can use 150+ apps and games across different categories, such as:

Finance apps, in particular, can get you quick wins with simple tasks.

The app is designed around short milestones, so you’re rewarded for small achievements without spending hours on end.

When you invite your friends to Scrambly, you’ll earn $10 after their first cashout plus 10% of their future earnings forever.

Your friends also get a $5 bonus when they hit their first milestone.

On top of that, Scrambly drops promo codes through their social media for extra coin boosts and quick bonuses.

Scarmbly is among the very few apps that pay you instantly.

As soon as you rack up 1,000 coins ($1), you can instantly cash it out.

Payment options include:

Visa card withdrawals come with a 2% bonus.

Try Scrambly!

2. Swagbucks

Image showing Swagbucks app images.
Image showing Swagbucks app images.

Since its launch in 2008, Swagbucks has become a go-to for millions of users who want to get paid for everyday online activities.

It is among the best free gift card apps where you earn points, called SB, for things you probably already do, like:

  • Taking surveys
  • Shopping online
  • Playing games
  • Searching the web

Let’s say you shop at one of Swagbucks’ 7,000+ partnered stores. You’ll earn cash back and sometimes a score up to 1000 SB ($10) bonus just for spending $25 or more.

For more ways to earn, upload your grocery receipts, install their browser extension for automatic coupon alerts, and get rewards by simply watching videos.

Once you rack up enough SB (100 SB = $1), you can redeem them for PayPal cash or free gift cards from top brands like Amazon, Walmart, etc.

3. FreeCash

Image showing FreeCash's app images.
Image showing FreeCash's app images.

Freecash connects advertisers with users like you so that brands get exposure, and you get paid.

To make real money on FreeCash, head to the “Earn” page and choose from high-paying offers from advertisers.

Some tasks, like downloading an app or signing up for a service, take just 5-10 minutes and can pay anywhere from $1 to $75.

If you want to make money gaming, you’re in luck. Game developers pay you to play and earn anywhere from $0.50 to $120 per game.

Every completed task earns you coins (1,000 coins = $1), which you can redeem for PayPal cash, cryptocurrency, or gift cards. And unlike other apps that make you wait days to cash out, Freecash approves most withdrawals in under 2 minutes.

For extra earnings, climb the daily bonus ladder, join streaks, and compete on leaderboards for bigger rewards.

4. Google Opinion Rewards

Image showing Google Opinion Rewards app images.
Image showing Google Opinion Rewards app images.

Google Opinion Rewards is an official Google app where you earn Google Play or PayPal credits upon taking quick market surveys.

The purpose of the surveys is for advertisers and market researchers to get authentic customer feedback facilitated through Google.

Each survey takes just a few seconds to a couple of minutes, and you earn $0.10 to $1.00 per survey.

The frequency varies, some users get them weekly, others less often, but the payouts add up quickly.

Android users earn Google Play credits to spend on apps, games, movies, or even subscriptions like Disney+.

iOS users can also get paid via PayPal once they hit the $2 payout threshold (which happens automatically).

5. InboxDollars

Image showing InboxDollars app images.
Image showing InboxDollars app images.

Most money-making apps focus on surveys or cashback to services like Apple Pay, but at InboxDollars, you can get paid for reading emails in addition to these.

Advertisers pay InboxDollars to promote their offers, and in turn, InboxDollars pays you real cash just for opening and reading those emails. It’s easy money at its finest.

You can redeem your earnings via PayPal, gift cards, or a physical check.

InboxDollars has eliminated processing fees, so you keep 100% of what you earn. Previously, there was a $3 processing fee, but that’s now gone for good.

Additionally, Scratch & Win rewards let you earn extra bonus cash on top of your withdrawals, with top-tier prizes reaching $100.

The downside is that first-time users must accumulate at least $15 in their account before requesting a withdrawal.

For subsequent withdrawals, you can cash out with up to $10 or more. The payment processing time is 3 business days for PayPal and gift card redemptions.

6. MistPlay

Image showing MistPlay's app images.
Image showing MistPlay's app images.

Mistplay is hands down one of the best ways to make money from gaming. It partners with game developers who want more players.

When you download and play money earning games through Mistplay, you get "Units" (Mistplay’s currency), which you can redeem for gift cards or PayPal cash.

Your Units accumulate based on how much time you spend in a game and your in-game achievements.

The longer you play, the higher your earning rate becomes.

You can cash out starting at $5 for gift cards or $10 for PayPal, with payments processed in 1-2 days.

However, you can only earn on games you’ve never played before, and each game has a level cap of 20, after which you’ll need to switch to a new title to keep earning.

7. Brave Rewards

Image showing Brave Rewards app.
Image showing Brave Rewards app.

Brave is a proxy browser that blocks intrusive ads and trackers by default.

However, if you opt into Brave Ads, you’ll start earning Basic Attention Tokens (BAT) tokens whenever you view privacy-friendly ads like images on the new tab page or push notifications.

Through Brave rewards, you keep 70% of the revenue Brave earns from these ads.

Here’s what you can do with BAT:

  • Transfer it to a crypto wallet like Uphold and exchange it for fiat currency
  • Redeem BAT for gift cards via the TAP Network marketplace
  • Contribute BAT to your favorite websites, YouTubers, and streamers
  • Spend BAT on NFTs, in-app purchases, and decentralized applications (DApps)

Brave processes payouts on the 5th of each month.

The downside is that to cash out, you’ll need a crypto wallet like Uphold with a minimum of 25 BAT.

Once your BAT is transferred, you can swap it for fiat currency through your wallet’s exchange platform.

FAQs

Which App Gives Real Money Instantly Without Paying?

There are many apps that pay you real money without investment, and Scrambly is one of them.

You can cash out as soon as you reach $1 through PayPal, bank transfers, or gift cards. Payouts are processed instantly, with no delays or approval wait times.

Join Scrambly Now!

Which App Gives Real Money Instantly?

Scrambly is one the legit apps that pay instantly to PayPal, bank transfers, and gift cards for Amazon, Google Play, Visa, and Walmart.

It rewards users for testing out the 150+ apps and games and doing simple tasks like using Uber Eats for the first time.

Which Money Earning App Is Real?

Apps like Scrambly, Swagbucks, FreeCash, Mistplay, and InboxDollars are real and free money earning apps.

On these apps, you spend your leisure time playing games, taking surveys, watching ads, or completing quick tasks while your input helps the developers or researchers.

Use Scrambly to Earn Without Investment (And Withdrawal Headaches)

There’s no shortage of apps that promise to pay you real money, but not all of them live up to the hype.

Thankfully, there are a few standout apps that pay you real money without investment and with minimal effort. Scrambly is at the top of that list.

Just create an account (or sign up with your Google account for even faster access), and right after registration, you’ll receive a 500-coin bonus ($0.5).

Complete your profile to earn 100 coins and verify your identity to get another 100 coins, which brings your total to 700 coins before you’ve even started earning.

So Join Scrambly Now!