When you’re starting your foray into the world of online surveys and side hustles, Swagbucks is usually the first website you come across. Swagbucks is one of the oldest and most well-known GPT (‘get paid to’) websites, launching in 2008 and paying out over £350 million to its users since then.
Through partnerships with researchers, game developers, and online brands, Swagbucks rewards users with points (known as ‘SBs’) which can be exchanged for gift cards or PayPal withdrawals.
It may sound too good to be true, but it’s a safe and legitimate source of income that many side-hustlers swear by. I’ve been a member since around 2009, and for a long time its advantages made it my go-to money maker. But, in the last 15 years, I’ve also come across a few reasons why I don’t recommend it to mums or anyone looking for online paid surveys. Let’s dig into those today, and decide whether Swagbucks is the right platform for you.
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4 reasons why I recommend Swagbucks
1. It’s one of the most trustworthy side-hustle sites out there
Just because a website’s been around for a while doesn’t automatically mean it’s legitimate, or worth your time. You need to look at their user base, and see what they’re saying – and in the case of Swagbucks, it’s consistently voted one of (if not the) best websites for paid surveys out there. Swagbucks has amassed millions of users, and testimonials from independent review websites consistently deliver five-star ratings.
Swagbucks is owned by Prodege LLC, a well-known and respected company in the market research industry, and, as mentioned, have paid out over £350 million to their user base. Swagbucks may not be for everyone, but rest assured it’s not a scam, and is completely safe to use.
2. Swagbucks offers a wide variety of payment methods, with low payouts
After accumulating a certain amount of SB points, you can choose from an array of options to redeem your rewards, available in your local currency. You aren’t locked in with high minimum redemptions, either – most options offer a minimum withdrawal of just £5.
What’s available?
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Gift cards: Swagbucks offers gift cards to a vast number of retailers, such as Amazon, Starbucks, Tesco, and more. Many of these can be used both online and offline, and you can split your earnings across different gift cards and amounts to best fit your preferences and needs.
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PayPal: For the mums who prefer cash, you can redeem your SB points as a cash withdrawal directly into your PayPal account, with no fees. This is a great alternative if you’re looking for a side-hustle to earn some extra cash – perhaps to give you some holiday spending money, or even to build up your emergency savings.
- Charitable donations: Swagbucks also allows users to donate their points to various international charities – a great option if you’re looking to give something back.
This is a huge advantage for Swagbucks and their users. A lot of other online surveys websites have far less choice of gift cards, and PayPal isn’t always an option at all, particularly for the smaller paid surveys sites who can’t afford to swallow the PayPal fee on behalf of their users. Such a wide choice means you aren’t boxed into gift cards when you want cash, or vice versa.
3. It isn’t just a survey site – there are lots of ways to earn points
While Swagbucks is often referred to as a survey site, it’s actually a GPT site that offers so much more. This makes it far more exciting when you start to get bored of the ‘survey slog’, and far quicker to make money online, as there are multiple options if you run out of another. While most people find Swagbucks while looking for surveys, the biggest and most popular earners tend to be the games and cashback offers.
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Surveys: Completing surveys is one of the primary methods to earn points on Swagbucks. The platform partners with various market research firms to provide users with a steady stream of surveys. There tends to always be a survey to do, and if you’re quick to catch them, invitations for user research sessions pop up on the survey list, too. These will tend to require an hour or two of your time, but are much higher-paying; you could earn £70 or more from one of these sessions.
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Shopping: Swagbucks also has a cashback system. It’s similar to websites such as Quidco and TopCashback, although it doesn’t tend to feature as many brands (at least for the UK market). If you’re buying something online, always check to see if cashback is available, and compare Swagbucks to see if their cashback offering is any higher than other websites. This is a great way to earn passive income simply while doing your regular online shopping!
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Watching videos: Users can earn points by watching short video clips. This used to be a much more profitable way to make money online, and nowadays it doesn’t hold up as your primary source of points as the payouts are much lower. That said, it can be an easy way to rack up points during your downtime.
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Playing games: Earning money for playing games may sound too good to be true, but it’s entirely possible. This is often voted as users’ best and most favourite way of earning money on Swagbucks, and the site tends to be the highest-paying GPT site out there. You’ll be rewarded for reaching certain levels of certain games, which, admittedly, is easier said than done. As we’ll get onto later, the games aren’t always easy, and your hourly rate of pay will often be shockingly low. But, if you enjoy playing mobile games and would play them regardless of the reward, it’s a much more fun and interactive way to make money online.
- Daily goals and bonuses: Swagbucks rewards you for daily activity through bonuses and hidden codes, both of which earn you extra points. It’s not a huge amount, but does add up, making it worthwhile to visit Swagbucks on a regular basis.
4. There’s a huge community for help and support
Getting into the world of side hustles and earning money online can be daunting. Being such an expansive website, Swagbucks itself can be overwhelming when you first log in, and you might want some extra help to know where to start. As one of the most well-known GPT sites, there’s a huge community of users online who are happy to share tips, ask questions, and maximise their earnings. This sense of community can be incredibly valuable and reassuring if you’re looking to learn the ropes quickly to start building your income.
4 Reasons Why I Don’t Recommend Swagbucks
1. You don’t always get paid (yes, really)
One of the biggest drawbacks of Swagbucks is that all of the games and offers are provided by third parties. While this is the case with most paid surveys and ‘get paid to’ sites, Swagbucks has a much higher rate of survey screen-outs, and denied game payments. Surveys want to collect responses from certain demographics, so if you don’t meet those, you won’t be able to complete the survey. The issue lies in that Swagbucks seemingly doesn’t pass on your demographics to the third-party survey provider in advance – meaning you can find yourself entering basic information about your age, gender, and income band over and over again, only to be kicked out of each and every survey. You could easily waste 30+ minutes of your time trying to successfully enter surveys, only to get declined from all of them, earning you zero points. Other paid survey sites tend to conduct some pre-screening, so while screen-outs still happen, they’re far less common.
When it comes to getting paid to play games, Swagbucks relies on app tracking to collect data about your performance. With the rise in smartphone privacy rules and tracking blockers, this tracking becomes much more likely to fail – something you might not realise until you’ve already invested ten hours into the game. Because this is all happening through that third party game developer, both you and Swagbucks are at their mercy. If they can’t see the tracking, they may not pay Swagbucks, who then may decide not to pay you.
In some cases, resolving these issues can be time-consuming and frustrating. While Swagbucks’ customer service is generally responsive, it’s not always a guarantee that disputes will be resolved in your favour.
2. You can be waiting 2 weeks for your payout
If your earnings are successful, you’ll then need to be prepared to wait for your payout. Other survey websites will instantly send your PayPal payout or gift card, but with Swagbucks, you can find yourself waiting up to two weeks for it to arrive. It does tend to be quicker, usually around 2-5 days, but at busy times of the year (such as around Christmas), it can take those full two weeks. This can be frustrating if you want a gift card for an upcoming shopping trip, or need to earn money today. You can’t rely on Swagbucks for instant access to your funds, so you need to plan your reward choice carefully.
The waiting period is noticeably worse with PayPal cash withdrawals, where the processing time can vary. Additionally, Swagbucks conducts verification checks to prevent fraud, which can further extend the waiting period. While this process is understandable for security reasons, it can be inconvenient if you’re used to immediate payouts from other platforms.
3. It’s easy to get banned
Swagbucks has strict rules about accessing their platform. This policy is in place to prevent fraud and ensure the integrity of their data. But this can cause a problem for those using VPNs, or even those living with other Swagbucks users.
In today’s digital world, a growing number of us use VPNs to protect our online privacy, or earn money through smartphone tracking. You may simply have one installed on your work computer if you take part in surveys on your laptop over your lunch break. Sadly, if you leave your VPN on when redeeming your payout, you’ll get an instant, automated ban. They may also detect your VPN when simply taking surveys, and manually ban your account.
Getting banned for using a VPN, even unintentionally, can be frustrating. Swagbucks often takes a hard line on this policy, and regaining access to your account can be difficult, if not impossible – meaning you’ve lost any SB points you had accumulated, and you won’t be able to return to Swagbucks in future (even under a different email address) to resume your Swagbucks side hustle.
Bans can also occur for fairly minor occurrences, such as if they detect another user living at your address (which is supposed to be allowed, but users often report getting banned because their partner started using the platform, for example). Sadly, bans can also often occur without reason, and they won’t always elaborate. In my 15+ years of online side-hustling, I’ve never come across another site that results in more random bans.
4. Surveys and games often result in a very low hourly wage
While playing games on Swagbucks can be entertaining, the points earned from this activity usually translate to a very low hourly wage. The games are often time-consuming and, despite being a fun way to earn points, they often result in a shockingly low hourly wage.
You’ll often come across games that will pay you £70, £90, or even £150+ for reaching certain goals in certain games. That’s enough to pull anyone in, but you’ll quickly see why they’re able to offer such high amounts: they’re often incredibly hard, and more people than not will end up failing.
You may see a game that’s offering to pay you £50 to reach 50 levels in 30 days. You’ll download the game, and fly through the first ten in an hour, thinking you’ve stumbled upon a great way to make money online. But with the large majority of these games, the levels get exponentially harder, to the point where it could take three days to move from level 40 to 41, for example. Most of these game offers have time limits, and sometimes it’s actually impossible to complete the game within that time frame without spending money on in-app purchases. There’s no payout for almost reaching the level, and the Swagbucks are strict with their time limit, so you could have invested time and money only to miss out by a hair.
Even if you did successfully complete the offer, you may be shocked to tally up how long it took you to play, resulting in an equivalent hourly wage of maybe £2 an hour or even less.
Of course, if you enjoy the game and would play it anyway during your downtime, that £2 an hour is better than nothing. But in most cases, you’ll be much better off focusing on other side hustles that earn you a much greater wage (user research groups often pay £70-£100 an hour, for example).
The verdict’s in… is Swagbucks the best site to help mums earn money?
Ultimately, this decision is up to you. We all prefer different websites for paid surveys, and while Swagbucks will be someone’s favourite, someone else will hate it with a passion.
It’s important to try a few different side-hustles, and see what you enjoy most. This is where I’d vote yes, Swagbucks is worth it – IF you’re a beginner. It’s a great, easy-to-use site for those new to paid research to explore different ways of earning money online, trying out surveys, games, and cashback. Its expansive user base means there’s plenty of help online from other users to help you maximise your income, and you know Swagbucks is a safe and legitimate way of earning money.
But… if you’re not a beginner, know your way around ‘get paid to’ sites, and/or want to maximise your income, my answer is no. There are tons of other survey sites out there with lower screen-out rates, higher payments, and instant payouts. I don’t believe anyone should stress themselves out spending 70 hours of their life to earn £70 in an ad-ridden mobile game, not when you can schedule a paid user research session and earn £70 in an hour, all while your kids are in bed.
I personally don’t bother with Swagbucks myself anymore – you’d be hard-pressed to find a ‘seasoned side-hustler’ who does, I think. Even if you’re looking for a simple survey website, there are much better alternatives out there, which I’ve listed in my free Money-Making Toolkit.
Let me know what you think – are you a Swagbucks superfan, or a shunner?
