Top 27 ways you can make money online

Discover how to make money online with our definitive list of the best ways you can quickly earn serious cash without leaving your home. Whether you want to generate a passive income, earn some fast cash or launch a multi million-pound (or dollar) business idea, the internet is the perfect place to do it. Making money online gives you the option to work from home, abroad or even on the move. Ready to get started? Find your ideal earner with our definitive list of the best 100 ways to start making money online.

1. Test and review products Brands and businesses are always in need of people to test and review their products and provide feedback before they launch to the public. Electronics, toys, food, and beauty companies are among the many that require frequent product testing. Most sites will allow you to keep the product for free and in some cases will pay you for your feedback. In some cases, you can sell on tested products for a profit, depending on the company’s terms and conditions. To get started reviewing products, you can sign up to market research sites such as ProductTestingUK. You’ll need to fill out a questionnaire to determine which target markets fit your demographic. You can also get paid to test digital products, known as usability testing. Here you’ll have to check online products such as websites and apps and may have to record yourself using the products. You can find digital product testing opportunities on sites such as UserTesting, Webusability and TestingTime.

2. Create a killer app The brains behind today’s viral apps earn millions every year. Amateur coders are now in abundance, but creating a killer app is a lot trickier. For an app to go viral, it needs to be something innovative, exciting and most importantly, universal. Take TikTok, for example. In 2019 the online video sharing platform became the most downloaded app on the Apple Store, surpassing its far older predecessors like YouTube and Instagram. The app allows users to create short, entertaining video clips using filters, background music and audio from films. It’s funny and addictive and appeals to a vast audience with all kinds of interests. Your best bet at creating a trending app is to target a younger audience. Increased phone use is still strongly associated with the younger age bracket – 41% of TikTok’s users are aged 16 – 24. To hit maximum download potential, create an ethical concept that appeals to youngsters first.

3. Become a white hat hacker If you’ve got the technical skills and enjoy a high-pressure job, white-hat hacking could be for you. White hat hackers, sometimes known as ethical hackers, are responsible for carrying out penetration testing: testing a company’s security on all their computer systems and networks. You’ll need to be an expert in coding and encryption and have good judgment. All businesses rely on trade secrets to a certain degree, some far more than others. Sensitive information needs protecting from cyber-attacks. Your job will be to attempt all the hacking methods of criminal hackers to expose any weak links in a client’s system. Your clients need to be able to trust you – it can seem alarmingly counter-intuitive to pay somebody to breach your company’s firewalls. One way to build the trust of prospective clients is to complete an Ethical Hacking course through EC-Council or itgovernance.co.uk and gain certification. Due to the specialist skillset required, white hat hacking is both high in demand and well-paid. Although you can carry out the job entirely remotely, it is a good idea to have a face-to-face first meeting with clients to build their trust before you begin.

4. Complete paid online surveys Businesses are continually looking to get an insight into the opinions and demographics of their customers so that they can hone their products, services and marketing campaigns. For this purpose, many companies are using online surveys as a market research method to gather public opinion. Businesses often work with third-party market research platforms to publish their surveys and attract participants. To start earning money with paid surveys, sign up to Swagbucks, Onepoll, Lifepoints and Toluna. Swagbucks is one of the largest survey sites in the world and has paid out over £400 million to survey completers. Be sure to use reputable survey platforms like the ones listed above, as many scam websites promote paid surveys. Before you use a website, check out its reviews online. Once you have found a survey site you like, it’s quick to sign up and get going. Payment varies – some offer cash, while others pay with vouchers or rewards. Websites usually have a cap on the amount of paid surveys you can complete per month, so sign up to as many sites as possible to maximise your earnings.

5. Become a Youtuber Do you fancy yourself as a YouTube sensation? Getting started is easier than you think. The practicalities are straightforward: you’ll need a camera, a computer, some editing software and a high-speed internet connection to upload videos. Becoming a successful YouTuber takes hard work. You’ll need to be consistent with uploading content and choose a popular niche such as daily vlogs, gaming and tech videos. There are over 31 million channels on YouTube – what’s going to make yours stand out? Make sure you’re doing something unique. Engage with your audience to maintain regular viewers. It’s a good idea to grow a following on other social media accounts such as Instagram, where you can promote your YouTube channel.

6. Create and sell stock photos Are you a passionate photographer? Selling stock photos is a fantastic way to turn your hobby into a profit. Individuals and companies purchase stock photography to save time and money in place of arranging a photo shoot. Writers of blogs, news stories and website owners also need stock imagery to use on their pages. Companies will usually purchase a subscription to a stock agency, where they have the rights to use any stock image on the site for the duration of their subscription.

7. Start an eCommerce store Creating an online shop, known as an eCommerce store, is a lucrative way to make money online. An online shop is far more profitable than its brick-and-mortar counterpart as it eliminates the need for expenditure on rent and property insurance. ECommerce stores also offer scope for massive growth as you can target customers from anywhere in the world.

8. Start trading online Trading online can be a lucrative money-maker: online trading involves buying and selling stocks, shares and currency, typically through an online broker, to make a profit. In recent years there has been a boom in the number of people trading online. The FOREX market alone, a market which trades different currencies, sees a daily trading volume of 3.9 trillion pounds. The best advice for any wannabe trader is research, research, research. Scrupulously studying the market is critical to becoming a successful online trader. You’ll need to be hot on the different types of trading and be aware of market trends. Once you’re clued up on the market, you then need to decide on the kind of trading you want to engage in: cryptocurrency, for example, has proved a popular medium in recent years. Next, decide on a broker to use for buying and selling. Popular platforms include Etoro, Plus500 and IG. Many trading platforms provide trading simulators for new traders to practice on; take advantage of the option to trade with no money in play before entering live trades. No matter how much research you do, online trading will always be a risky venture. Only 5% of online traders are successful. The trick is to start investing small amounts and scale up as you gain experience. Remember, always keep your trades to low percentages of your overall available capital. That way, one bad deal won’t clear you out.

9. Start dropshipping A rapidly growing branch of eCommerce is dropshipping, a retail method of selling online without ever physically handling the stock. Instead, you’ll only order products from your supplier when you receive orders from customers. Crucially, the products are delivered directly from the supplier to the customer, saving on upfront investment and storage for stock.

10. Get paid to test websites and apps Before launching a website or app, companies employ usability testing to evaluate how easy a service is to use and to expose any bugs or glitches. You can earn money as a user tester with just a computer and a microphone. For many tests, you’ll need to record yourself so that the company can evaluate an authentic user experience. With an endless amount of software providers, new apps and websites, user testers are always in high demand. Web testing covers user experience, user interface testing and development testing. You can find lots of products and services to test on third-party websites such as TryMyUI, Webusability and Enroll. Signing up takes a matter of minutes. You’ll then receive some training material and guidance on how to use the testing software. Once you’ve set up your account, most platforms will provide a list of testing opportunities from which you can choose. Companies may also contact you directly to test products. Payment differs per provider, but you can earn anywhere from £1 to £36 per test. If you want to increase your income per test, consider taking a course in UX or UI development. Specialist testers with coding or design knowledge can take part in better-paid testing opportunities.

11. Get paid to search the web Getting paid to search the web has never been easier. Browser add-ons such as Qmee enable you to earn quick cash by simply searching in browsers such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, Amazon and eBay. It works bringing up sponsored results next to the usual results list when you type something into your search engine. Most of us already spend vast amounts of time searching the web. If you’re one of these people, using this add-on is a no-brainer to bring in a passive income. There’s no minimum cash-out amount, meaning you can withdraw your earnings whenever you like. To get started, download an add-on such as Qmee. It’s straightforward, merely requiring you to sign up and follow a step-by-step tutorial on how to download their software. You’ll earn a cash reward every time you click on one of the Qmee sponsored results. Typically, the cash reward per result is about 15p.

12. No-risk matched betting Also known as the risk-free betting method, no-risk matched betting is where you use bookmakers’ free bets, bonuses and additional promotions to make a profit. Most betting sites offer promotions and special offers, particularly to new customers. These promotions usually come in the form of a free bet after you’ve placed your first bet, to encourage first-time gamblers. You can capitalise on this by placing your free bet and cancelling out the risk by betting against yourself, at the same odds, on a different betting site. Most failed no-risk betting comes down to human error other than the method itself, so it’s essential to familiarise yourself with the processes of lay betting and back betting.

13. Become a virtual assistant As a virtual assistant, you’ll offer a range of remote services to businesses. Tasks usually include appointment scheduling, marketing and event management, among others. Many business executives don’t have time for small tasks, but these tasks are essential to the smooth operation of a company. This is where you step in – working as a remote virtual assistant offers ample freedom. You can work from home, on holiday or in a café. You can set your hourly rates, and the initial investment is low. You can also determine the tasks you’ll offer, meaning you can do what you enjoy. One of the biggest challenges for remote workers is working productively. It can be difficult to avoid distractions when working at home. We suggest putting together a work schedule as well as setting up a work station, to separate work and play. To reach clients, you’ll need to set up a website to market your business. One of the most beginner-friendly platforms to use for this is WordPress. Alternatively, take advantage of platforms such as LinkedIn, which is an excellent tool for reaching out to specific people in different companies and industries.

14. Fiverr gigs Providing gig on Fiverr is where you offer your services for a fixed fee. This service can be anything, like video editing, graphic design, market research, to name a few. Anybody who needs these services can place an order with you, whether that’s an individual or a company. Gigs start from £3 but can reach anywhere up to £500, depending on how specialised the service is that you’re offering. With 5.5 million buyers on Fiverr and an average of 50 million transactions monthly, offering freelance services on this site is a fantastic way to make money online. The site provides you with excellent exposure, meaning there’s no need to spend money on marketing. Getting started on Fiverr is straightforward. Sign up as a seller and create your profile. This page will be the first thing prospective customers see, and when competing with hundreds of other similar services, a sleek profile can be the make or break in closing a sale. To stand out against the competition, make sure your profile appears as professional as possible and include a portfolio of your work if you can. Concisely explain what it is that you’re offering and provide an overall estimate of the price.

15. Write and publish an eBook 72% of publishers now publish books digitally. Electronic books, or eBooks, are available on any electronic device, from tablets, phones and computers to specifically designed eBook readers, such as a Kindle. eBooks have made publishing a book far more accessible. It’s an easy way to make a passive income: websites such as Amazon allow you to self-publish and sell eBooks for free. If you enjoy writing or want to share a passion for a particular subject, you can write an eBook yourself and publish it online. Writing an entire book can be tricky. It’s easiest to stick to a topic you know – non-fiction tends to be a more accessible category than fiction. Once you’ve written your text, choose appropriate formatting. It’s best to use a sans-serif text such as Verdana or Ariel in size 11 or 12 to enable easy reading. Next, you’ll need a professional book cover. Despite the well-known saying, consumers really will judge the content by its cover, and a catchy design can go a long way in selling your eBook. If you don’t have experience in graphic design, you can outsource this task to a designer on eBook launch, where covers cost £75 on average. Alternatively, you can find a designer on Fiverr, which tends to be a cheaper option. Once you have a book and a cover, you will need to convert your text into an appropriate format. Different selling platforms require varying forms, so be sure to check the conditions for the site you choose. The best places to sell an eBook are Blurb, Amazon Kindle and Payhip as they attract high traffic volume – perfect for a passive income.

16. Clickwork Clickworkers carry out small, digital tasks on the internet for individuals and businesses. It’s a quick and straightforward way to earn money from home, requires no experience and you’ll need nothing more than a computer and the internet. is a platform which provides such tasks to interested workers. It’s free to sign up, and you can complete the work from your computer, tablet or mobile and start earning money wherever you are. When you sign up, bear in mind that the more information you add, the more tasks the site will offer you. Different jobs require different skills, so be sure to list as many as you can. Before you can start, you’ll need to complete an assessment to determine your eligibility for different types of task. You’ll also receive a brief online training session, to familiarise you with the workplace interface. Once your profile is complete and verified, you can choose from a range of available tasks based on your skills, interests and past work experience. On average, a clickworker can earn anything above £7.50 an hour, depending on their skills and experience. Working as a clickworker is ideal for generating some extra cash or for topping up your income – due to the unstable nature of the work, Clickworker insists that it is not a suitable substitute for full-time employment.

17. Sell your notes Are you a student looking to make some quick cash? If the answer’s yes, an excellent method is selling your studying material online through sites such as Stuvia. Over 175,000 students use Stuvia to gather notes to help them study subjects such as law, chemistry and medicine, to name a few. Some student sellers make over £2000 a year on this platform alone. Selling on Stuvia couldn’t be more straightforward. Simply sign up to the site, upload your notes and set a price for each. You can sell anything from lecture notes and revision notes to case studies and essays. For maximum downloads, make sure your notes are well presented, preferably in digital form, and provide a free preview so that buyers can see what they’re getting for their money. Include a detailed description so that people know exactly which subjects are covered. You should experiment with your prices to determine what pricing structure works best. Remember that your target audience is other students who may be strapped for cash. Charging a lower amount for each download tends to increase your sales, providing you with a better overall.

18. Start your own website If done right, websites can bring in a lot of money. There are several ways to monetise a website. Accepting paid ads is the easiest way to generate an income, although you’ll have to demonstrate high website traffic to make money from ads. Another way is to create a membership site, where you offer some information or content for free and premium content for paid members. First off, you’ll need to create a website. A popular and simple way to make a website is to use WordPress, which also offers an added membership plugin should you wish to monetise your website that way. To boost your website’s traffic and search engine ranking, you should be familiar with SEO and understand how it can help increase traffic to your site. Once you’re achieving consistent website traffic, you can start making money from advertisements. Affiliate marketing is one of the most lucrative options – use your website to endorse products and provide an affiliate link to the vendor’s webpage. When customers purchase through the affiliate link, you’ll earn a commission. Pay Per Click advertising can also be a profitable option: apply for Google AdSense which will choose relevant ads to your website, and you’ll earn money every time someone visiting your site clicks on the advertisement. There are numerous opportunities to make money from a website, but they all rely on visits to your site. Creating a website within a particular niche can help attract paid ads from companies that share your target audience.

19. Become an affiliate marketer Affiliate marketing is a sales technique used by companies to increase their brand exposure and to generate more traffic to their website. Becoming an affiliate marketer is an easy way to earn money, particularly if you already have a significant online presence. Your role will be to endorse a product or service in any way you like on the internet and provide an affiliate link to the merchant’s website – any sales generated through your link will earn you a commission. Affiliate marketing is a no-brainer for brands and businesses as a marketing method, as it generates sales they wouldn’t otherwise receive for a comparatively small price. It offers enormous potential for growing brand awareness and expanding the target audience. Many brands give out affiliate links to social media influencers, who will endorse a product on their Instagram profile or YouTube channel, for example. For individuals with large followings, it can be a lucrative way to earn money. With that in mind, the best way to earn a significant income through affiliate marketing is to grow your audience. You can reach a broad audience through a blog, website or your social media accounts. Affiliate marketing is an ideal money-maker if you already have a website with high volume traffic. If you share a target market with a brand, they’ll be particularly interested in working with you. Approach brands that operate in a similar niche to your own. For example, if you have an online photography community, a camera equipment start-up will be far more interested in marketing with you than with a makeup brand. Businesses that you work with will ask you to link their products in your posts, video descriptions or blog articles in exchange for a commission per sale. The commission varies depending on the brand, but most affiliate marketers can negotiate a figure between 5% and 20%.

20. Start a clothing brand For fashionistas and talented creatives, starting a clothing line is a fun way to earn money. You can get a clothing line off the ground with as little as £200, and there’s no better way to reach prospective customers than by selling online. To minimise your start-up costs, start your business off with a print-on-demand model. Printing to order is an excellent method for people to get going with a low budget, as a third-party company will only produce your clothing when you receive an order, preventing the need for large orders or the need to store vast amounts of stock. A downfall of this method is lower profit margins, as prices for one-off items tend to be higher than for bulk orders. To reach a wider audience, host your clothing store on platforms such as Shopify and Printful. They’ll also take care of much of the business side of things.

21. Set up a daily deals site Creating a daily deals site is an ingenious way of making money without dealing with the end-to-end sales process. You won’t have to deal with product manufacture, storage or delivery – you’re merely matching customers will products and taking a cut of the profits. A daily deals site offers discounts and offers on products and services for one day only. Finding merchants is relatively easy – they need only provide discounts for a day, and they will often experience a boost in sales, making them likely to return. To get going, all you need is a website. After this, you’ll need to find merchants who can offer credible products and services with attractive discounts.

22. Manage social media presence A social media manager is someone who curates a business’ online presence through social media to grow brand awareness. They’re responsible for running and monitoring the accounts as well as measuring the overall performance of a brand’s social media platforms using social media analytics. As a social media manager, you’ll post content, respond to private messages and monitor follower engagement. You’ll have to produce content such as photos, articles or short videos, as well as define marketing strategies and implement automation tools. It’s helpful to have experience in copywriting, SEO, market research, customer service or visual intelligence, as well as a background in social media. Of course, the best place to market your social media management business is on social media itself. Make sure you have an online presence on the leading platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Spend time getting to know how to maximise your accounts before you offer your services to other people. To grow your skillset, sites like Hootsuite, ConstantContact and Buffer provide training courses which cover topics like social media advertising, marketing and scheduling training. rate, though you can also charge an hourly rate for smaller clients. Once you have a selection of packages to offer, you can grow your clientele by posting on B2B sites, pitching to businesses via email and signing up to platforms such as Flexjobs. Social media managers can earn up to £200 per hour for high-profile clients – the average annual salary for a social media manager is £45,000.

23. Edit videos If you enjoy editing videos, there’s no reason you can’t turn your hobby into a side-hustle. You’ll need some editing software and a computer, after which you’re good to go from the comfort of your own home. Video editing involves manipulating and arranging video shots to create one whole video. 65% of the population are said to be visual learners, which makes videos an effective medium to catch the interest of customers. As a result, many businesses are turning to video media as a means of engaging with their audience, meaning video editors are in high demand. To offer a video editing service, you’ll need to brush up on your grasp of editing software. YouTube and Udemy are useful places to find tutorials and how-to videos to get you up to speed. To edit videos, you’ll need a good computer or laptop with relatively high processing power. It’ll also need a decent amount of storage to be able to store content and your editing software, such as Adobe Premiere Pro. You can easily find clients through freelance platforms such as Fiverr or Valoso. The average hourly rate for video editing is about £15.

24. Buy and sell websites Buying existing websites and improving their overall functionality, performance, appearance and traffic before selling them on can be a very profitable earner. For companies, buying a pre-existing webpage is a fantastic way to get instant access to a broad audience through an established brand, saving them time and money on advertising and brand exposure. You can start flipping websites without any specialist knowledge of programming. That said, a basic understanding of web design and coding is beneficial for increasing the value of a site. You can buy websites through FEinternational.com, Wesellyoursite.com, Flippa.com and WebsiteBroker.com. Once you’ve purchased a site, look at improving the overall content and layout and work on SEO. You can then list the site on auction platforms such as BuySellEmpire, or the ones mentioned above. Flipping websites works much the same as flipping houses, except you’ll also earn a monthly profit in the meantime. Any website you’re working on will generate a monthly income before you sell it, making it a super-profitable venture that you can get going from home.

25. Conduct market research for businesses. Do you have a background in sales, advertising or market research? You can offer to carry out market research for companies for a fee to help them define their target audience and market their products and services. Market research is essential but time-consuming and requires analysis of the current market, target audience and competitors. Many businesses will outsource this role to a professional. You’ll need to be familiar with compiling and analysing data in a given industry. You’ll need knowledge of quantitative and qualitative market research methods, including surveys, one-to-one interviews, focus groups, observation and field trials. You’ll then need sufficient industry experience to interpret the research and produce reports for your client, breaking down the results into information on the target market and the competition, to assist in building an effective marketing strategy. Create a website to market your services and make use of networking platforms such as LinkedIn to reach out to businesses in your chosen industry.

26. Rent out your spare room on Airbnb Do you have a spare room or vacant property and are you in need of extra income? Renting your surplus space out online is an easy and effective way to earn extra cash. With the launch of websites such as Airbnb, HomeToGo, FlipKey and HomeAway, listing your room or property has never been easier. There are over 257,000 active listings on Airbnb in the UK, a platform which has hosted 400 million guests since its launch. Renting on Airbnb is a highly profitable way to make income from an asset you already own (you can also use websites like Stashbee to rent out your garage for storage purposes, driveway or parking space).

27. Become an online coach As an online coach, you’ll provide mentoring and guidance on a range of subjects such as careers, business and health, through interactive mediums such as Skype, Google Hangouts and GoToMeeting. Online coaching has become more and more popular in recent years as it fits neatly into a busy schedule. Not only does it cut out travel time and cost, but it allows clients to access advice wherever they are, or on the move. First off, you’ll need to determine the type of coaching you’d like to offer. Life coaching and business coaching are two popular markets which are always in high demand. That said, the more popular the market, the more competition you’ll experience. Define your USP (unique selling point) and sell what makes your service different. Your USP could be anything from teaching style, background experience or personal experience.