Most of the money you’ll make throughout your life will come from the daily grind, the 9-to-5, the cubicle farm, the … well, you get the point. You’ll have to earn it. But sometimes, it’s nice to earn a little cash with little to no effort—and despite those who say “you don’t get something for nothing,” there are quite a few ways to get free money.
In some cases, you can earn free money by participating in activities or signing up for products you were already interested in. And in a few select cases, you can earn free money by sitting around and having fun.
Whether you want some extra spending money, want help saving money for retirement, or just hate the idea of missing out on some free money, I can point you in the right direction. Today, I’ll highlight several sign-up bonuses, cash-back rewards, and other ways to nab some extra cash—ranging from little sums to, in a couple instances, truly substantial monetary freebies.
So, check out the strategies below. Need a little cash? Try one. Need more? Try a few. The sooner you get started, the sooner that free money can hit your account!
Editor’s Note: All sign-up bonus offers are as of Aug. 20, 2025.
Can You Get Free Money (And Is It Really Free)?
Yes, there is indeed such a thing as free money.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t any strings attached. In many cases, offers of free money are one-time deals that involve, say, signing up for a new account. In other cases, it might involve you continuously committing money to something that you already planned on dedicating funds toward. And in still more cases, the money might not be technically “free,” but that money will be paid for spending a little time doing something that requires little or no effort.
How to Get Free Money [Online + Offline]
Like I said earlier: You have a wide range of strategies at your disposal to earn free money, both online and offline. They range from signing up for accounts to taking advantage of workplace benefits to extremely low- to no-effort side hustles.
Let’s dig in!
1. Investment Account Sign-Up Bonuses
First up: Sign-up bonuses for starting an investment account. This is a very common way for online stock brokers to attract fresh customers—most brokers offer some sort of giveaway, though they often change over time. Below are some of our favorite brokerage sign-up bonuses.
Robinhood ($5-$200 Toward Fractional Stock)
- Available: Sign up here
- Platforms: Web, mobile app (Apple iOS, Android)
- Promotions: $5-$200 to be spent on fractional shares
Robinhood is a pioneer of commission-free trading, jumping into the investing public’s consciousness in 2013 when they rolled out commission-free trading. They remain a standout option for cost-minded investors thanks to their continued $0 commissions on stocks, ETFs, and options, as well as for its fractional trading, which allows people to invest with as little as $1.
Robinhood’s other noteworthy investing features include IRAs and Roth IRAs (with matching funds no less), advanced charts, options strategy builders, 24/7 commission-free cryptocurrency trading, extended-hours trading, and stock lending.
→ How to get your free money to put toward stock at Robinhood
While several other media outlets refer to Robinhood’s offer as “free stock,” that’s a little oversimplified. The bonus is a randomly selected cash amount of between $5 and $200 that can be put toward fractional shares of certain U.S. stocks. Here’s how to get your bonus:
- Use our link to start the account opening process.
- Link your bank account.
- Fund your account with at least $10.
(Note: You must wait three trading days to sell your gift stock. Once you’ve sold your stock, you can use the money to buy other stocks right away. But if you want to withdraw the funds for cash, you have to wait at least 30 days.)
Related: 15 Best Investing Research & Stock Analysis Websites
Moomoo (Up to $1,000 in NVDA Stock)
Related: 15 Best Stock Research & Analysis Apps, Tools and Sites
2. 401(k) Matches
A 401(k) match, if offered by your company, is one of the easiest ways to get a notable amount of free money. Remember: These employer-sponsored retirement accounts already help you financially because of their tax advantages. But many employers also will match your 401(k) contributions, up to a predetermined percentage or dollar amount.
Let’s pretend your company offers a 100% match on contributions up to 3% of your annual income. If you make $70,000 per year and contribute 3% to the account, you would be contributing $2,100. Your company would then contribute an additional $2,100 to your account—with no extra work needed from you. So while you might not always max out your 401(k), I suggest at least contributing up to what your company will match.
After all: It’s free money!
3. Bank Account Sign-Up Bonuses
It’s also very common for banks to offer modest sign-up bonuses, typically on checking and savings accounts.
SoFi® Checking and Savings Account (Up to $300 in Free Cash)
- Available: Sign up here
- Platforms: Web, mobile app (iOS, Android)
- Promotion: Earn $50 to $300 in free cash
The SoFi Checking and Savings Account sounds like your run-of-the-mill bank account, but it’s more: It’s also a high-yield savings account that earns 10 times the national average percentage yield (APY) and more than the average high-yield account. Better still, it boosts your ability to save right off the bat by rewarding you with $50 to $300 upon sign-up.
Sofi Checking and Savings covers all of the basics: No monthly account fees, no minimum balances, and website and mobile app access. But it also has several perks that match or top the competition. Features include:
- Early paycheck reception when you sign up for direct deposit
- FDIC insurance of up to $2 million (vs. $250,000 for most bank accounts)
- Up to 15% cash back when you spend with local retailers
- No-fee overdraft coverage up to $50
- Round-ups on debit card purchases, which are deposited into your savings “Vault”
And right now, you can get a head-start on your savings with qualifying direct deposits. You’ll receive $50 in bonus cash if $1,000.00 to $4,999.99 is sent to your bank account within a 25-day period, starting from when you receive the first direct deposit. That number jumps to $300 when you receive $5,000 or more. The higher cash bonus requires you to hit an admittedly high threshold, but the $50 is a reasonable bonus for a much more manageable threshold.
Want to get started on your cash bonus? Sign up with SoFi today.
4. Shopping Rewards
If you’re going to shop anyways, why not earn some free money online while you’re at it? Let’s look at apps that dole out shopping rewards.
Rakuten ($30 Bonus)
- Available: Sign up here
- Platforms: Web, mobile (iOS, Android, Galaxy Store)
- Promotion: $30 bonus
Rakuten (formerly known as Ebates) has become one of the most popular apps among shoppers because of the rewards and savings it offers when you buy through the app. To date, it has paid members more than $2 billion via cash-back rewards.
To take advantage of the shopping savings, you can either shop through Rakuten’s online platform or install the Rakuten Chrome browser extension, which identifies potential shopping savings as you browse online retailers. Rakuten leverages its massive scale to extract affiliate revenue from more than 2,500 retailers—when you use Rakuten to get shopping savings, brands pay Rakuten a commission, which it then shares with you every three months (an admittedly infrequent payout schedule) via PayPal or check.
Currently, if you sign up with Rakuten using our link and spend at least $30 in your first 90 days, you’ll earn a bonus $30.
Related: 13 Best Apps That Give You Money for Signing Up [Free Money]
5. Passive Income: Interest on a High-Yield Savings Account
If you want to receive a continuous stream of free money, you’ll want to look into earning passive income—money that just trickles in without you having to do anything.
One of the most basic, easiest-to-access forms of passive income comes from a high-yield savings account. As the name suggests, these accounts earn far more money than a standard savings account. And as long as you’re not paying any monthly fees, any income you earn from the account is effectively free money.
Save + Earn a High Yield With Bread Savings
- Available: Sign up here
- Platforms: Web, mobile (iOS, Android)
Bread Financial (formerly Comenity) is a financial tech platform offering spending, lending, and savings solutions, including the Bread Savings High-Yield Savings Account.
Bread Savings’ HYSA is a free, FDIC-insured account that offers an extremely competitive APY that currently beats the national average by a decent margin. You’ll also get to save a lot more of your money thanks to Bread’s wallet-friendly fee policies. Bread doesn’t charge a fee for monthly maintenance, online statements, ACH transfers, or incoming wire transfers. You can also make unlimited ACH and mobile check deposits.
Because Bread Savings is a tech service, not a bank, you won’t have access to brick-and-mortar locations. Instead, you access your account via the web or its mobile app, which is available on both iOS and Android. Bread also offers live-chat customer service seven days a week.
Bread Savings requires a $100 minimum deposit. Put your money to work with Bread via our link.
Related: Best Savings Account Alternatives [9 Other Ways to Save]
6. Survey Sites
Get cash just for sharing your thoughts through paid survey sites. It’s not exactly the most lucrative side hustle, but it is a way to earn money with virtually zero effort.
Survey Junkie (Paid Surveys)
- Available: Sign up here
- Platforms: Web, mobile app (iOS, Android)
Survey Junkie is a paid-survey service that’s trusted by millions of users. The platform matches users with surveys that are most relevant to them. You complete surveys on your own time and earn points for doing so.
Each point earned through Survey Junkie is worth 1¢. Once you have at least $5 worth of Survey Junkie points, you can redeem them for virtual gift cards from popular merchants including Starbucks, Target, and iTunes. You can also get Visa gift cards or even receive cash back via PayPal or bank transfer.
Use our link to sign up with Survey Junkie.
Branded Surveys ($1 Bonus)
- Available: Sign up here
- Platforms: Web, mobile app (iOS, Android)
- Promotion: $1 sign-up bonus
Branded Surveys has paid out more than $72 million to its more than 3 million users.
The surveys made available to you will depend on your interests and profile information, as well as what research partners currently need. Each survey earns points; you can cash out once you’ve accumulated at least 500 points. Depending on survey length, users make anywhere from 50¢ to $5 per survey.
You can use your points toward gift cards from more than 100 brands, receive cash in your PayPal or bank account, or even make a charitable donation.
Use our link to sign up with Branded Surveys.
Swagbucks ($10 Bonus)
- Available: Sign up here
- Platforms: Web, mobile app (iOS, Android)
- Promotion: $10 sign-up bonus
Making money online through Swagbucks is simple. Swagbucks lets users earn Swagbucks points (SBs) by completing simple tasks—that includes taking surveys, yes, but also shopping online, playing video games, or even just doing web searches.
Users can redeem SBs for gift cards from popular retailers, such as Apple, Amazon, and Target; the website awards more than 7,000 gift cards every day. However, if you just want cash, you can redeem points that way, too, and receive the money in a PayPal account.
You can typically earn a free bonus for signing up for Swagbucks via our link. You can also earn additional money by referring friends to the app.
7. Online Games
Companies need to conduct user testing, and they’ll pay to have it done. All you need to do is find paid gaming opportunities through a website that connects companies to players.
Scrambly (Play Games, Try Apps, Earn Money)
- Available: Sign up here
- Platforms: Web
Scrambly rewards you for a number of tasks, including completing online surveys, testing companies’ products, and playing games on their phones.
In exchange for completing tasks, you get coins that can be exchanged for cash back to a PayPal account, Visa gift cards, or gift cards to a small number of vendors, including Amazon, Google Play, and Apple. And if users invite friends, they earn a commission on their friends’ lifetime earnings.
The survey aspect of the site is pretty straightforward—you’ll receive questionnaires similar to what you get with other paid survey sites. But what makes Scrambly stand out is the ability to earn money by trying out products and services from the likes of AARP, Cash App Taxes, and Disney+.
There is no minimum or maximum amount of time you have to spend. You can do this occasionally for just a bit more spending cash or more frequently to rack up rewards faster.
Use our link to sign up with Scrambly.
8. Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses
Many premium credit cards offer sign-up bonuses for new users who spend a minimum amount of money within a predetermined time frame. Assuming users only make purchases they would have regardless of the new card, the sign-up bonus is free money.
However, some credit cards have a potential catch: Namely, those with generous sign-up bonuses often charge an annual fee. While this fee is usually waived the first year, it can eat up one’s sign-up bonus later. My advice? Ignore great promotional freebies on annual-fee cards, and instead seek out simply good bonuses on no-fee cards.
Chase Freedom Unlimited ($200 in Free Money)
The Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card has no annual fee. Its current sign-up bonus is a healthy $200 in free money as long as you spend $500 on qualified purchases within the first three months. That $500 threshold is quite low compared to many other credit card sign-up bonus requirements, which can range into the thousands of dollars—putting you at risk of drowning in credit card debt just to nab a bonus.
Chase Freedom Unlimited also offers generous cash-back rewards:
- 5% cash back on travel purchases booked using the card through the Ultimate Rewards program.
- 3% cash back on purchases at drugstores and restaurants
- 1.5% cash back for every $1 spent in all other categories (excluding gambling).
Points never expire as long as the account remains open.
Related: 50+ Best Money-Making Apps That Pay You Real Money
9. Utility Energy Efficiency Programs
Utility energy efficiency programs try to help people use less energy while still fully meeting their energy needs. Consuming less energy reduces energy bills, lowers greenhouse gas emissions, helps utility planners manage energy supply, and more.
The programs available to you depend on where you live, as states have their own programs that often complement federal energy efficiency programs. I suggest checking with the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency—an excellent resource for finding policies and incentives (including any free money opportunities) that your state offers.
10. Cash-Back Apps
Cash-back apps are simple: Spend money, then get some of it back.
Upside (Earn Cash Back)
- Available: Sign up here
- Platforms: Mobile app (iOS, Android)
Upside lets users earn cash back on purchases with minimal extra effort.
Upside can provide cash back at grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, and more, and it can work alongside other discounts, coupons, and loyalty programs. And there’s no limit to how much you can earn.
Here’s how it works: You claim an offer through the app, then pay as you normally would with a credit card or debit card. From there, you either “Check In” your purchase (or upload a photo of the receipt), and cash back will be deposited into your Upside account. Finally, you can cash out as you wish via e-gift card, PayPal cash, or bank transfer.
Use our link to sign up with Upside.
11. IRA Matches
Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are another type of retirement account that enjoys certain tax benefits. However, unlike with 401(k)s, which are run through employers and often offer a match, you directly open up an IRA through a broker, and brokers typically don’t offer matches on IRA funds.
Robinhood, which is known for being ahead of the curve in offering new features, now offers a match for users. Robinhood matches up to 1% of your contributions (or 3%, if you subscribe to Robinhood Gold) on its own—allowing you to save money for retirement even faster!
Robinhood Retirement (1% or 3% IRA Match)
- Available: Sign up here
- Platforms: Web, mobile app (Apple iOS, Android)
- Promotion: 1% match on IRA contributions (3% match with Robinhood Gold)
Robinhood has evolved from a bare-bones app appealing to mostly beginner investors to a fuller-featured account suitable for a wider range of experience levels. For instance, Robinhood now offers individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and Roth IRAs via Robinhood Retirement.
And Robinhood is back to innovating by becoming the first IRA to offer a match on contributions.
→ How to get your free money in an IRA on Robinhood
If you open up an IRA with Robinhood Retirement, Robinhood will match 1% of any IRA transfers, 401(k) rollovers, and annual contributions to your account—and 3% if you pay for the Robinhood Gold service ($5 per month)—typically almost immediately after you make your contribution. Better still: Any matches made on annual contributions don’t count toward your contribution limit. So for instance, if you’re under age 30 in 2025, and contribute the maximum allowable $7,000 …
- If you have a Robinhood Retirement account, Robinhood would match 1%, giving you an additional $65 in IRA funds.
- If you have a Robinhood Retirement account and subscribe to Robinhood Gold, Robinhood would match 3%, giving you an additional $195 in IRA funds. (That’s $130 more than the normal account, more than paying for the $60 per year you’d spend on Robinhood Gold.)
(Friendly message from your Young and the Invested tax expert: The reason the IRA match doesn’t count toward your annual IRA contribution limit is because Robinhood treats it as interest income in your IRA.)
Robinhood’s IRA itself doesn’t offer as many investment options as other brokerages’ IRAs (for instance, you can’t get mutual funds through Robinhood), but if all you need is stocks and exchange-traded funds, it will get the job done. Also, you can choose your investments yourself, but Robinhood’s Portfolio Builder can also provide you with a custom recommended portfolio made up of five to eight ETFs.
Get your free IRA money by signing up for a Robinhood retirement account with our link today.
Related: 10 Best Stock Picking Services, Sites and Subscriptions
12. Refer Friends to Various Services
Have a service you love using? That service wants more customers—and many will happily pay you for referring others to use them. (Don’t believe me? Well, services like Uber and Airbnb grew in popularity in large part because of their referral programs!)
Interestingly, service referrals involve free money not just for you, but whoever you’re referring. For example: Let’s say you refer a friend to your favorite hair stylist; you and your friend might both receive $20 coupons. (Just make sure you’re only referring people to services you actually enjoy; otherwise, you’re going to annoy your friends.)
Related: How to Make Money as a Kid [25 Ways For Any Age]
13. See If You’re Due a Refund / Check Eligibility for Tax Credits and Deductions
Millions of tax refunds go undelivered or unclaimed each year. If you were expecting a federal tax return that never arrived, use the government’s Where’s My Refund? page.
It’s also worth checking to see if you’re eligible for various tax breaks for the current tax year, such as the earned income tax credit or various educational tax credits and deductions.
How to Get Free Money: FAQs
Do I need to pay taxes on free money?
I wish I could give you a one-size-fits-all answer to whether you need to pay taxes on free money—but it depends on the type of free cash you’ve received.
For instance, you’re supposed to pay taxes on sign-up bonuses. However, free money in the form of college scholarships is typically tax-free as long as the student uses the funds to pay for qualified educational expenses at an eligible institution.
So, whenever you receive free money, always check to see whether that specific type of money is taxable.
How can I find unclaimed money?
Unfortunately, there is no singular government database for all unclaimed funds. However, there is a USA.gov page that provides you with links to various databases or agencies where you can find unclaimed money that you might be owed for a variety of reasons. (You might be owed unclaimed money from employers, insurance companies, investments, bank failures, savings bonds, bankruptcies, and more.)
Is there a catch when you get free money?
All of the ways to get free money that I’ve listed in this article are crystal-clear about what you need to do to receive that money. So as long as you understand what’s required of you, there is no catch.
But if you’re looking at other ways to earn free money, read the instructions and fine print carefully. Many scams promise that you’ll win money but end up having you send sensitive information (or even money!) to disreputable companies or individuals.
How else can I earn extra money?
You can always work more, but I suggest trying to layer the free money you’re able to earn. For instance, one of the best ways to get extra money is through passive income streams and investments, such as high-yield savings accounts and dividend stocks. The best aspect of passive income streams is that they aren’t a one-time deal—they can continuously make you money.
Can I redeem gift cards for other money?
Yes! Don’t let gift cards you’ll never use go to waste! Whether a relative got you a gift card for a store you don’t enjoy, or you have too little left on a gift card to make good use of it, you can still make use of your unused balance.
Related: 24 Summer Jobs for Teens [Start Your Job Search Here]
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Moomoo’s parent company is Nasdaq-listed Futu Holdings Ltd (FUTU). Their subsidiaries are licensed and regulated in the United States, Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong.
