Is Swagbucks legit and worth it? Our Swagbucks review shows you the best ways to earn money and get rewards from Swagbucks, including the signup bonus.
Swagbucks is the definition of “easy money”. It doesn't promise to earn a lot of money, but it's easy to earn points for everything from watching videos to taking surveys.
At the time of writing, Swagbucks has paid out over £362 million to members. They have been rated Excellent by over 23,000 reviewers on Trustpilot.
This review explains how Swagbucks works and how to maximize your time to earn the most money. All from the comfort your home.
Get started by creating a free account and you'll be earning Swagbucks and rewards in no time. Click below to claim a special Swagbucks bonus
What is Swagbucks and how does it work?
Swagbucks is a portal that offers users reward points for completing simple online tasks. Things like searching the web, watching videos, and taking paid surveys.
You'll be “paid” in Swagbucks Points (“SB” for short), which can be redeemed for gift cards or cash. The gift cards they offer come from over 1,500 retailers including Amazon, iTunes and Tesco.
If you prefer to earn extra money with Swagbucks, you can convert points directly to your PayPal account as cash. Or you can donate to charity
How much can you earn on Swagbucks?
To give you an idea of what SB points are worth, a £5 Amazon gift card will set you back around 850 SB, and you'd need to pay 18,125 SB with £100 cash (via PayPal).
But they add up faster than you think. There are so many tasks and activities associated with Swagbucks, many of which you probably already do.
Swagbucks often runs sales with their rewards as well, meaning fewer SBs are needed to redeem coupons. Example: £100 PayPal credit with 20% off the normal price.
Is Swagbucks legit?
Yes, Swagbucks is rated 4.3/5 by over 23,000 users. But given how easy it is to make money on the site, we wouldn't blame you for asking if Swagbucks is legit.
swagbucks trusted pilot rating
When we asked members of our Facebook Offers group for their thoughts on Swagbucks, many said it was worth it.
Many people said they were able to claim gift cards from their time on Swagbucks. Common complaints included the time it took to earn rewards and being left out mid-survey. This is when your answers show that you don't fit the type of respondent the survey company is looking for.
ways to earn money on Swagbucks
The best ways to earn money on Swagbucks are:
Make Swagbucks your default search engine
Swagbucks comes with options to earn more swagbucks
The easiest way to start earning is to change your default search engine to Swagbucks (instead of Google or Bing).
You'll start accumulating points automatically just by surfing the web like you normally would, but using your browser instead.
You can expect to collect around 10 SB – 20 SB points for every 10 to 20 searches. The final amount will depend on the search queries. After six months of daily searches, this could add up to around £300.
Complete surveys and polls
Rich in time but poor in money. Taking a few short surveys each day with Swagbucks can earn you a really nice little.
They usually take three to 20 minutes to complete and you'll earn around 40 SB – 100 SB depending on the survey. There's also a daily survey to complete that takes literally two seconds and will earn you extra SB.
Download apps and games to your phone
You can earn lots of points for downloading, installing and opening certain apps on your phone, tablet or computer.
While sometimes you'll be rewarded simply for installing the app, usually you'll need to perform some type of action.
Sometimes these features will be available through one of Swagbucks' partners (all of whom are also legit). You will still pay in Swagbucks, usually a few hundred SB if not more depending on the offer.
But as always, we recommend sticking to free apps first. There's no point in paying to download or use the app just to earn Swagbucks, as you'll likely earn far less than you spend.
If you're especially keen on the survey route as a way to make cash, we've got a whole guide to the best paid survey sites.
Shop online and earn cashback
Now obviously we wouldn't recommend buying online just to get more points. But if you are planning to buy something online, visit the Swagbucks site and earn some points (similar to regular cashback sites).
Get easy SBs from online stores like Adidas, ASOS and eBay. So before you part with your cash, do a quick search to see if you're a participating Swagbuck winner.
For example, recently you could earn 4 SB for every pound spent on Expedia. Because vacations often cost a lot of money, you can earn hundreds of points to convert into rewards or cash later.
Tell your friends
Collect SB points while you sleep by letting your friends sign up for Swagbucks with your referral code.
Not only will you and your friend get 300 SB when you sign up, but you'll also get 10% of your friends' SB earnings for as long as you're a member.
This is a great way to earn passive points and your friends will benefit too. Plus, you'll get another 100 SB if someone you refer adds a SwagButton to their laptop or desktop (using your invite link).
Watch out for Swag Codes
Download the SwagButton browser extension to receive notifications of new Swag Codes.
Swag Codes are keywords or phrases that a company throws out to create a bit of buzz on the site and drive members back to the homepage.
Notifications from the browser extension will tell you where to go to find the code. Then enter it in the “Swag Code” box in the sidebar on the left side of the page. Super easy instant SB points!
Complete daily goals
At the top of the screen you will see a button labeled “Daily Bonus”. Here's a “to-do list” with a number of daily tasks that the site recommends doing.
You'll earn points for each task you complete and earn bonus points for checking everything off your list in one day.
Activate Swagbucks' “daily goal” option (the button in the header) and the site will set you a target amount of SB for that day. If you manage to reach your goal, you will be awarded additional bonus points.
Don't spend real money on the Deal of the Day unless you really care. The Swagbucks you'll get in return are worth far less than the cash you'll part with.
Enter competitions
If you find yourself lucky enough to enter contests, enter Swagbucks' regular limited-time giveaways (or “Swagstakes”).
Prizes can be anything from tech gadgets like Apple products to a bigger SB package. This is a bit risky as you have to spend SB to enter each contest.
So, for example, you may enter a contest to earn 50 SB, but it may cost you 2 SB to enter.
Play games online and on mobile
Your addiction to playing games on your phone will finally pay off.
In addition to paying you to download and play games, Swagbucks also hosts several games of its own. You'll know what they are because they all contain the word “Swag”.
You can earn up to 10 SB per game just for spinning it. But since some games rely on you reaching a certain level before you can earn SBs, it pays (literally!) to be good at these things.
If general knowledge is your thing, try Swagbucks Live.
The game is free and all you have to do is download the app. As with most live quiz apps, your goal is to answer a few multiple-choice questions correctly. Make it to the end and you'll win a share of the total prize pool ($1,000 paid out in Swagbucks every week). But as soon as you get the answer wrong, you're out.
Some questions from the experience may be inappropriate, so we recommend recommending the app to your friends. Every time you get someone to check in, you'll get a free “reunion” that will get you back in the game if you get kicked out.
Sign up to services
Signing up for free trials and subscribing to services like TV and online games can earn you significant rewards.
However, as with refund options, use this option only if you plan to use the service anyway. This is because some of them require you to pay some cash to sign up.
But if they're free (like a credit report or a streaming service trial), it might be worth it because they tend to pay pretty decent points.
Watch videos
Yes, you really can earn Swagbucks points just by watching a few videos.
It is important to note here that Swagbucks Watch is not as affordable as it used to be. Most days it will not be available to most users. But since it's still an option, we thought it's still worth mentioning.
The payouts here aren't that high, but you get paid to have fun. The type of content you'll see varies widely, from ads to news content and viral clips.
If you're not really inspired by the content you send, you can let the videos play in the background while you go about other things and not watch them.
Expect to earn 2-3 SB per playlist (each usually lasts 15-30 minutes). There is a limit of 150 SB per day for this particular task.
