What legit game apps allow you to cash-out to PayPal instantly?
Dozens of apps promise to pay you real cash rewards. Unfortunately, many of these are either outright scams or pay pennies per hour (making it all but impossible to withdraw your earnings).
We found only six options that are worth your time, based on our team’s experience with the apps and factors like app store rating and minimum withdrawal amount.
These apps are divided into two categories:
- Free-to-play gaming apps. Earn money through activities like providing feedback on a new game, reaching a certain level within a game, or winning a trivia contest.
- Pay-to-play gaming apps. These skill-based games require you to pay a small sum (usually a minimum of 60 cents) for a chance to win cash prizes by competing against other players.
Best Game Apps that Pay to PayPal
To get this list we used a combination of our team’s experience with the apps, as well as factors like app store rating and minimum withdrawal amount.
Note: The user review data cited throughout this article was collected on October 7th, 2023. We update this article periodically throughout the year to keep the data current.
#1. Mistplay
A free app that allows you to earn rewards by playing games and providing feedback to developers.
| Google Play Rating | iOS Rating | Minimum Payout | Minimum Age |
| 4.1 with 397,401 votes | N/A | $3 | 13 |
Mistplay, which is only available for Android devices, is a standalone get paid to play games app. In other words, there’s no cash-back shopping or survey aspect — it’s 100% a gaming app.
The app is commonly used by game developers to get feedback on games they’re working on. You then earn points for playing the game and sharing valuable feedback.
Not all games have a feedback requirement, however. Often, it’s as simple as logging time playing the game. The more experience you have playing an individual game, as well as with the app overall, the more you earn.
Your points (which Mistplay refers to as Units) can be cashed out for PayPal money or used to purchase gift cards to major retailers.
The games available to you are dependent on your location. Raid, Words With Friends 2 and Yahtzee games are some of the more popular options on the platform.
#2. Swagbucks
A comprehensive rewards app with the ability to earn points by playing games (when you reach certain milestones within those games).
| Google Play Rating | iOS Rating | Minimum Payout | Minimum Age |
| 4.3 with 127,933 votes | 4.4 with 97,561 votes | $3 | 13 |
Swagbucks is one of our favorite overall reward sites. In our in-depth Swagbucks review, we found 20+ different ways to earn money on the platform. This includes making money with surveys, cash-back shopping, watching videos, and of course, playing games.
Users earn points that can be redeemed for PayPal cash, prepaid Visa cards and gift cards to major retailers.
There are multiple ways to earn money by playing games on Swagbucks. The most popular is by achieving a certain milestone within a game.
For example, you can earn 8,000 points (equal to $80 in value) through the game Evony: The King’s Return, if you’re able to upgrade a general’s star to level five (as shown in the screenshot below).
Games that allow you to earn rewards like this are located in the Swagbucks Discover section.
Swagbucks does have the option (but not the requirement) to earn points by making in-game purchases. This is very similar to earning cash-back. But as we mentioned above, this is not a recommended way to actually earn money playing games.
#3. Swagbucks Daily Trivia
A free live trivia game that allows you to win cash prizes.
| Google Play Rating | iOS Rating | Minimum Payout | Minimum Age |
| 4.2 with 16,419 votes | 4.8 with 29,559 votes | $3 | 17 |
Formerly called Swagbucks IQ, Swagbucks Live is a real-time trivia game that’s open to the public. You need a Swagbucks account to play.
How it works is that contestants try to answer a total of 10 questions correctly. Those who answer all 10 correctly split the day’s pot, which can get up to $1,000.
If you guess an answer wrong, you’re kicked out of that game and must wait until the next day’s show to play again. Fortunately, you still earn a few points (credited to your Swagbucks account) for participating and getting answers right.
#4. InboxDollars
Very similar to Swagbucks (above), in that it’s a general rewards site that includes the ability to earn money by playing free games.
| Google Play Rating | iOS Rating | Minimum Payout | Minimum Age |
| 4.0 with 136,720 votes | 4.5 with 182,218 votes | $30 | 18 |
InboxDollars is owned by Prodege, the same company that owns Swagbucks (listed above). There are a lot of similarities between InboxDollars and Swagbucks, in that they’re comprehensive reward apps with multiple ways to earn.
One of the biggest differences — which is especially important for those who plan to earn only through games — is the $30 minimum cash-out.
While $30 is attainable if you take advantage of all the ways to earn on InboxDollars (e.g., surveys and cash-back shopping), it will take you many hours to reach that mark by only playing games.
There are two ways to earn by playing games on InboxDollars.
First, the platform has many free browser-based games that you can play on your smartphone. These free games include titles like Solitaire, Monkey Bubble Shooter and Candy Jam. InboxDollars shows you ads while you’re playing these games.
With these browser based games, you can make money in that each time you reach a certain milestone within the game, you’re entered into guaranteed scratch-and-win sweepstakes with prizes ranging from 1 cent to $100.
The second option is to download specific gaming apps. You’ll learn about these opportunities inside the InboxDollars app. At the time of publication, the app has an offer to earn $25 for downloading Clockmaker and reaching a certain in-game milestone. No purchase is necessary.
*For those in the U.K., there’s InboxPounds. The Canadian version of InboxDollars is Daily Rewards. These three apps are owned by the same company and function nearly the exact same.
Best Pay-to-Play Game Apps That Have a PayPal Cash-Out Option
While these apps are free to download and offer a free-to-play version, our testing shows that earning a cash prize is only possible if you’re willing to pay a small fee to enter tournaments.
Note: Cash tournaments are not available in AZ, AR, CT, DE, LA, MT, SC, SD and TN.
#5. Blackout Bingo
A popular pay-to-play Bingo game with entry-fees for cash tournaments starting at 60 cents per card.
| Android Rating | iOS Rating | Minimum Payout | Minimum Age |
| Direct download only | 4.5 with 89,561 votes | 1 cent | 18 |
The premise of Blackout Bingo is traditional bingo with a twist. You’re given a 5X5 grid of numbers. Bingo games run for two minutes each. The goal is to get as many bingos as possible within two minutes.
Whenever a number on your card is called, you must tap it (called a daub). Tapping the numbers faster gives you the ability to potentially daub more numbers within a game, plus earn bonuses that allow you to daub any square on your card.
In our testing of Blackout Bingo, we found the maximum potential prize for entering a cash tournament is $330.
Cash tournaments are not enabled in the following states: AR, CT, DE, IN, LA, ME, and SD
#6. Solitaire Cube
Enter solitaire tournaments for 60 cents and compete against others for cash prizes.
| Android Rating | iOS Rating | Minimum Payout | Minimum Age |
| 3.1 with 861 votes | 4.6 with 618 votes | 1 cent | 18 |
Solitaire Cube is a pay-to-play gaming app that offers cash prizes for winning games of digital solitaire. Like traditional solitaire, the goal is to move all your cards into the stack at the top of the screen.
The goal is to finish the game as fast as possible while shuffling through your deck as little as possible. If you shuffle through your deck more than three times, you’ll begin to lose points.
With Solitaire Cube, instead of playing in live tournaments, you’re playing in a league. Leagues run for a few days at a time, and those who finish with the most points at the end split the pot.
During our testing of Solitaire Cube, the total cash prize for the league was $72,792.
Cash tournaments are not enabled in the following states: AR, CT, DE, IN, LA, ME, and SD
Game Apps That Didn’t Make The List
Although many of the game apps below appear on other lists around the web, they didn’t make the cut for us based on our own research and testing. Some of these apps don’t have a PayPal option, while others require you to pay to play. And some have confusing business models where you can actually lose money by playing.
- Drop. It’s a cash-back app with the occasional ability to earn a few cents by playing games like Snake. However, there’s no option for cashing out via PayPal. Learn more in our Drop app review.
- FusionCash. While mentioned on many “best game apps” lists, FusionCash doesn’t offer any gaming opportunities within the platform (and there’s also no mobile app).
- Long Game. While the app is legit, it’s not a way to earn PayPal cash. Instead, it’s a banking app for U.S. residents only, with the ability to earn coins playing games and entering sweepstakes. Games, however, take coins to play — which are earned through banking activities like making a direct deposit or reaching a certain savings milestone. You have to open a bank account with Long Game to play.
- Lucktastic. A sweepstakes app that gave players the ability to earn by playing scratch-and-win games. There was an overwhelming number of negative reviews from users of this platform, which shut down in March 2022.
- MyPoints. While MyPoints is solid as an overall reward app, earning money playing games is limited to earning cash-back by making in-app purchases. You can learn more about the site in our MyPoints review.
Legit Game Apps That Pay Real Money FAQ
Mistplay is a legit app that allows you to win real-world rewards in the form of PayPal payments or gift cards to major retailers.
While reward sites like Swagbucks and InboxDollars are legit, games are among the lowest dollars-per-hour tasks on those sites. So, while you can win real money, go in with the expectation of earning about $1 per hour. And understand that to cash-out, you’ll likely need to add in other activities (such as taking surveys or cash-back shopping).
Blockchain gaming platforms (also known as play-to-earn) aren’t game apps per se, but rather sites that give you the ability to earn cryptocurrencies.
While game-playing is involved, your ability to cash-out usually requires a whole other set of skills and knowledge about blockchain technology.
If you’re interested in innovation, these games are worth checking out, as early adopters have sometimes made significant money.
You can learn more in our in-depth guide on all the ways to get paid to play games.
Looking at the reviews of these games (such as Lucktastic), users have not had a great experience. While there is an occasional winner, most report never getting enough to actually cash-out, while they’re fed a constant stream of ads.
These apps are legit in that many pay out real cash prizes to winners. Yet, just like a real casino, it’s the app companies themselves that are walking away the winners. There are better options to make money from your phone.
Final Thoughts on Game Apps to Win Real Money
If you enjoy playing games on your phone, there are some legit opportunities that exist.
However, we classified most of those we reviewed in the “too good to be true” pile.
And even with those that offer real opportunity, you have to go in with the expectation of earning very little.
Fortunately, there are some legit ways to make money playing video games, such as user testing, making money with a Twitch channel, competing in cash tournaments and starting a YouTube channel.
Of course, these all require much more work than downloading an app and playing free games. But long-term, they’re the better avenue to a successful side hustle or career in the gaming industry.
Great informative article; however- found a questionable rating.
There is a “iOS Rating” for MistPlay of 4.2 by 80k iOS users; but then goes on to say it’s “only available on Android devices?” How does that rating work? On what device did “80k iOS users” ascertain their rating?
Just curious. Thank you.
Thanks for the head’s up. This was a mistake and it has now been corrected. Mistplay does not have an iOS app.
Mistplay no longer pays PayPal gift cards and the minimum to redeem is five dollars in gift cards not three
Misplay no longer has PayPal
Thanks, Julia. My understanding is PayPal is available only within the U.S.
On their homepage, it mentions PayPal as an option. However, I messaged them to confirm this is still the case.
Unfortunately, I don’t have an Android phone to check. I will update you when I learn more!
You can withdraw to PayPal from mistplay , I just did a few days ago , but I am in the US and also a beta tester so I don’t know if I was able to cash out to PayPal because of location or because I’m running the beta version but I was able to get my payout via PayPal the other day .
That’s great to know Sean. Will check back in with Mistplay to see what’s up.