12 Best Apps and Websites to Sign Up and Get Money [Best Instant Bonuses]

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Everyone needs quick cash once in a while. Thankfully, all businesses want more customers — and they’re often willing to pay to acquire them.

That’s why many apps and services offer cash bonuses for signing up, even if signing up is free; companies hope you’ll find their service valuable and stick around.

Most of the time you’re under no obligation to do so — your bonus is yours to keep regardless of whether you become a regular user.

Below, we’ve put together a list of the top sign up bonuses offered today. You can also scroll past the table to read more details about each offer.

Best Bank & Investment Account Sign Up Bonus Offers

Financial institutions like banks and investment brokerages are known for offering some of the most generous sign-up bonuses around. These are our favorites.

#1. Fundrise: Get $10 After Investing $10

The popular crowdsourced real estate platform Fundrise gives you a $10 bonus after investing $10. 

Specifically, you’ll get $10 worth of shares in the Fundrise Real Estate Interval Fund, the platform’s flagship investment product. To qualify, you must be new to Fundrise and make the initial $10 investment within 30 days of signing up. 

You can learn more about the platform in our in-depth Fundrise review. Overall, I view it as an excellent way for beginners to get low-cost diversification into real estate.

At the same time, be aware that Fundrise is best-suited for long-term investors. While the Interval Fund offers penalty-free quarterly withdrawals, other Fundrise investments have a flat 1% fee for selling before five years.

Visit Fundrise.

#2. Public: Get Up to $300 in Free Stock

Public is an investment platform that offers free stock trading. There are no costs or fees to sign up and use the service, nor are they any account or investment minimums.

Learn more in our Public review.

To get your free stock, just sign up and get approved for a new Public account. From there, you’ll be asked to select from one of nine stocks, and you’ll get a random amount (between $3 and $300) of that stock. (If the price of a share is more than your bonus, you’ll get a fractional share.) 

The majority of users report getting a bonus valued at around $10 or so.

Join Public and get your free stock.

#3. Cash App: Get $5 Instantly

While not the largest sign up bonus on this list, getting a free $5 from Cash App is one of the easiest opportunities available. Plus, you can instantly withdraw your $5 welcome bonus to your linked bank account. 

To get the $5 Cash App bonus, enter the code BWSPWFR or sign up through this link. You’ll then get your $5 deposit bonus upon linking a bank account or credit card and sending $5 to any other user through the app. 

In my case, I sent $5 to my wife after linking my bank account. Once complete — the transfer appeared instantly — the $5 bonus was credited to my account balance.

#4. Venmo: Get $10 In Cash

Venmo has a limited-time offer that gives new users $10 in cash for signing up and completing the registration process. To get the bonus, you have to register with Venmo’s $10 promotional link. 

Requirements include the following:

• Be a resident of the United States.
• Be 18 years old or older.
• Have a PayPal account (Venmo is owned by PayPal).

There is no deposit or transaction required to earn the bonus. Once signed up, you can earn additional free money through the Venmo referral program, which pays you and your referral $5 each.

Get your $10 bonus with this link.

#5. Credit Cards: Up to $1,000 In Welcome Bonuses

Credit card companies are known for offering lucrative sign-up bonuses. In fact, it’s possible to earn up to $1,000 in cash (and more if redeemed for travel) with a single promotional offer. 

Yes, it sounds great. But keep the following in mind:

• There’s almost always a minimum spending amount required to earn the welcome bonus, and you’re typically required to hit that minimum within the first two or three months. 
• If you don’t pay your credit card bill in full every month, you’ll pay far more in interest than you’ll make by earning the welcome bonus. 

Check out CardRatings.com for the top credit card sign up bonuses currently available. Bonuses change constantly and CardRatings does a great job of keeping their “best of” list up to date. 

Some of my favorites right now include:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, which gives you 60,000 Chase Ultimate Reward Points that can be redeemed for $600 in cash or $750 in travel. 
• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, which gives you 75,000 points that can be redeemed for travel or gift cards.

The goal is to pick a card you’re going to use over the long-term (remember, closing accounts can negatively impact your credit score). So, beyond the sign-up bonuses, review the rewards you’ll earn and aim to find a card that aligns with your spending habits (as some cards offer more or fewer points for spending in particular categories.)

It’s one of the best times ever to apply for a new credit card, as many of the top cards currently have the highest-ever welcome bonus attached. 

Visit CardRatings.

#6. Acorns w/ Swagbucks Hack: Earn $50 Fast 

Acorns is one of the most popular investing apps, with hundreds of thousands of positive reviews on the App Store. 

Currently, Acorns offers new users a $5 sign-up bonus for linking a bank account.

But aside from that generous $5 sign-up bonus, Acorns’ best feature is that you can invest spare change automatically. So if you spend $4.25 at Starbucks, Acorns will set aside 75 cents to invest. (The actual deposit is made once your spare change reaches $5.)

But don’t head over to Acorns just yet.

First, sign up for the popular rewards site Swagbucks (more on them below).

Once signed up, do a search for Acorns in the search bar. You’ll find an offer for $50 when you sign up through the Swagbucks affiliate link. 

See the photo below.

This is a nice trick for earning an extra $50 for a minute or two of your time. 

If Acorns isn’t for you, make sure to cancel your account, as there is a monthly fee (starting at $3).

Sign up for Swagbucks.

3 Legit Paid Survey Sites That Offer Sign Up Bonuses

Survey sites are a popular way to earn extra income.

Most sites offer a small sign-up bonus. However, one downside is that many sites have a minimum withdrawal amount. That means you might not actually have access to your bonus unless you continue using the service.

That’s why the best sites are the ones that give you the ability to earn money in a variety of different ways. This allows you to hit the minimum cash-out threshold much more quickly than by only completing surveys.

Here are the top sites to consider.

#7. Swagbucks: Sign Up and Get $10 Effortlessly

Swagbucks is one of the most respected companies in the online survey industry, with over $740 million paid out in rewards. 

In addition to surveys, you can earn money by playing games, watching videos, shopping (both online and in-store) and completing an array of other tasks.

Cash-back shopping is typically the best way to make money with Swagbucks. Just remember to only spend money on what you were going to buy anyway.

They also have a large inventory of surveys to complete, which are updated daily.

Requirements:

• To qualify for the $10 bonus, you have to use this link and spend $25 via the shopping portal within the first 30 days of membership.
• You can also get a $5 bonus if you sign up with this link and earn 2,500 SBs within the first 60 days of membership — a better option if you don’t do much online shopping.

Learn more: Check out our in-depth Swagbucks review to learn more about how the platform works, and read through our list of the best Swagbucks hacks.

Swagbucks ($10 Bonus)

Put cash back in your wallet

Get paid to shop online, watch videos, take surveys and play games with this all-in-one rewards site. Redeem your points for gift cards and PayPal cash starting at just $3.

Visit Swagbucks.comRead Swagbucks Review

#8. InboxDollars: Sign Up and Get $5 Instantly

InboxDollars is an online survey and rewards site — similar to Swagbucks — that has paid out over $80 million so far, and has a 4.5/5 rating from 142,000+ reviews on the App Store. 

For new users, InboxDollars offers a $5 welcome bonus.

Here’s how it works:

1. Sign up for InboxDollars.
2. Click the activation link in your email.
3. $5 will be deposited into your InboxDollars account.

You need to accumulate a minimum of $30 in your account before you can request payment.

Learn more: See our complete InboxDollars review to learn how to best use the site.

#9. MyPoints: Get $5 Today 

MyPoints is another of the top money making apps. 

You can make money on MyPoints by completing surveys, watching ads and even printing coupons (you’re paid around 1 cent for printing the coupon, and then around 25 cents for using it).

So, you can save money on your grocery bill plus earn a few bucks for using the coupons.

The site has a low minimum payout of around $3, depending on the rewards option you choose, and offers a variety of ways to earn (including surveys, videos and searching the web).

Tip: It’s worth checking for high-paying surveys, but your focus should be on using the paid coupons (which you can stack with other apps, like Ibotta). Also, read through our MyPoints review to learn more about how the site works.

Cash-Back Sites and Apps With a Bonus

Cash-back sites and coupon apps are two fast-growing markets, and companies in these spaces are competing aggressively for new customers. As a result, many offer lucrative sign-up and referral bonuses.

Here are the top three sites to get started on.

#10. Rakuten: Earn $30 After a Qualifying Purchase

Rakuten is one of the top cash-back sites, and a reader favorite.

To get the $30 bonus, sign up through this link with your email address. Then, make a $30 online purchase (which can be from any of their thousands of partnered stores) within 90 days.

Rakuten also has one of the most generous referral programs around. You’ll earn a $30 bonus for referring just one friend (this could be your spouse, sibling or parent). Since you’ll both save, it’s an easy win for each of you.

Rakuten is known for consistently offering some of the highest cash-back rates for online shopping, but be aware that the company pays quarterly, so you’ll have to wait to get your earnings.

Learn more: Read our Rakuten review to learn how to make the most of your time on the site.

#11. Ibotta: $5 Welcome Bonus

Ibotta is one of the top apps for saving money on groceries. It started out as solely a grocery coupon app; you’d take a picture of your receipt and scan the product barcode to earn money. However, the service is quickly expanding beyond grocery stores and now offers both retail and online cash-back in addition to coupons.

To get the $5 bonus, sign up through this link and then upload your first receipt.

Ibotta credits the bonus instantly as soon as you complete the required activities, but the window for earning it is just 30 days.

Learn more: Check out our Ibotta review for more info on how to get the most out of the app.

#12. BeFrugal: $10 Instant Sign Up Bonus

With BeFrugal, you can earn up to 40% cash-back from 4,000+ stores. Along with offering a $10 sign-up bonus, there’s a generous $15 referral bonus.

Requirements: You have to earn $10 in cash-back to activate the $10 sign-up bonus.

Payment method: BeFrugal offers one of the widest ranges of payout options among cash-back sites, including direct deposit, PayPal, Venmo, gift cards and more. The minimum withdrawal starts at just 1 cent and varies depending on the option you choose.

Learn more: Check out our BeFrugal review for more tips on earning.

Best Sign-Up and Get Money Sites: Final Thoughts

Taking advantage of the offers on this list is a great way to make personal finance fun. 

After all, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of getting free money — especially when you’re on a tight budget. 

But it should go without saying that you’ll never pay your rent with these types of deals. At the same time, I think they’re valuable because they can help you build your money-making muscle. 

It can be hard to make progress on your financial goals when you’re struggling just to make ends meet, and it can feel like there aren’t any good options for improving your situation.

But the reality is that today, there are more ways to make and save money than at any time in history. You just have to know how to leverage them. And sometimes, getting started is the hardest part.

That’s where offers like these come in: they’re small wins that can take some budget stress off of your shoulders or boost your spirits with a little extra spending money, which can in turn help you focus on the next step in your financial journey. 

Want more sign-up bonuses? Check out our articles on how to get free Bitcoin and the best crypto sign-up bonus offers to learn about sites that will give you crypto just for becoming a member.

R.J. Weiss

R.J. Weiss is the founder and editor of The Ways To Wealth, a Certified Financial Planner™, husband and father of three. He's spent the last 10+ years writing about personal finance and has been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, MSN Money, and other publications.

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