Getting paid to take pictures of your receipts may be one of the world’s easiest ways to make extra money.

It won’t make you rich, but the income can add up, especially if you use multiple receipt scanning apps. 

And if you’re comfortable sharing your purchase data with one, it’s not that big a stretch to share the same information across a few different apps.

I compiled this list based on:

My personal experience with receipt scanning apps
App store reviews
Feedback from the 50,000-member Side Hustle Nation community

Ready? Let’s do it!

App Name
App Rating*
Minimum Receipt Value
Max. Receipt Value
Estimated Annual Earnings**

Fetch Rewards
4.8 ⭐
$0.02
$3.00
$10-25

Swagbucks
4.4 ⭐
$0.02
$0.15
$5-10

Ibotta
4.8 ⭐
$0
$5.00+
$20-$100

ReceiptPal
4.5 ⭐
$0.06
$0.06
$10-25

Receipt Hog
4.7 ⭐
$0.025
$0.10
$10-25

CoinOut
4.6 ⭐
$0.01
$0.05
$20-36

Pogo
4.9 ⭐
$0.01
$0.05
$5-10

*Apple App Store rating at press time.

**Many of these apps have other ways to earn. For the purposes of this table, I’ve only estimated the earning power from the receipt scanning portion of the app.

1. Fetch Rewards

The Fetch Rewards app is a favorite of mine because it’s super easy. You earn points by snapping pictures of your grocery receipts, which you can cash in for gift cards.

Each receipt is worth at least 25 Fetch Rewards points, worth around 2 cents.

Plus, if you purchased any products from Fetch’s 300+ partner brands, the app will automatically credit you bonus points. For example, we’ve earned bonus cash back for buying:

Annie’s macaroni and cheese
Jif peanut butter
Mott’s fruit snacks
and more

This is stuff we would have bought anyway, so it feels like getting free money by scanning the receipt into Fetch.

You can cash out once you earn 3000 points. Fetch has a variety of gift card rewards to choose from, including popular options like:

Amazon
CVS
Kroger
Nike
Nordstrom
REI
Target
Walmart
Whole Foods
and more

You can also choose to donate your earnings to charity if you prefer.

Pro Tip: Use referral code FETCH300 when you sign up to get 300 free bonus points added to your account.

2. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is primarily known as an online survey app, not a receipt scanning app, but they do pay you for pictures of your receipts. 

Most grocery, warehouse club, drug store, and dining receipts are worth $0.02, and receipts from select clothing retailers pay $0.15 each.

Swagbucks makes this list because the app has so many other ways to earn, including getting paid to play mobile games. The company has been around since 2008 and has paid out over half a billion dollars to users!

At press time, the app had a 4.4-star rating from over 110,000 reviews on the Apple App Store.

Join with our referral link to score a $10 sign-up bonus.

3. Ibotta

I still use Ibotta every week to check for extra cash back on our grocery purchases.

The drawback is you still have to scroll through each store’s listing and choose the products you bought. Then, you snap a picture of your receipt and watch the cash back hit your account.

Sometimes you’ll find the things you bought turned out to have a big offer on them. For example, I’ve earned as much as $5 back on a single item (some kind of protein bar from Costco). 

The most common offer I redeem is a $0.10 “any grocery item” offer. Simply scan your receipt from the participating store and you’ll see the credit.

But what’s frustrating is a lot of your shopping trips will have zero value in Ibotta. You’ll spend the time selecting the store and scrolling through the offers only to end up empty-handed.

Still, according to the app, Ibotta Savers who use the app every month earn over $130 a year! (You can cash out via gift cards or PayPal.)

In my experience, that seems a little high, but Ibotta is definitely still worth checking. 

4. ReceiptPal

With ReceiptPal, receipts are worth about $0.06 each, the highest among the apps we tested.  Depending on your shopping habits, that could add up to $10-25 a year.

You can cash out your ReceiptPal points for an Amazon gift card or a gift card to other select retailers. There is no option to redeem for PayPal credit, bank deposit, or Venmo or Zelle transfer.

The biggest drawback is you’ll need to give ReceiptPal access to your email before you can cash out. 

Another thing to be aware of: your points expire if you forget to upload a receipt for 90 days.

Check out our full ReceiptPal review to learn more.

5. Receipt Hog

Receipt Hog is another receipt-scanning app, where our independent app tester reported earning $25 a year. 

The points you earn in the app are based on the total amount of each receipt:

Less than $10 = 5 coins
$10-$49.99 = 10 coins
$50 – $99.99 = 15 coins
$100+ = 20 coins

It takes 1000 coins to earn $5, so every coin is worth $0.005 (half a cent). If your your average receipt is worth 10 coins, that would be $0.05 —better than many on this list.

Here’s our full Receipt Hog review for more.

6. CoinOut

CoinOut won’t replace your day job, but could pay you up to $36 a year for uploading your shopping receipts.

The app first appeared on Shark Tank in 2017 and originally only worked with certain merchants. Now you can earn from receipts from any store.

CoinOut is available on iOS and Android. 

When you first sign-up, your account will be at the basic Bronze level, and receipts are worth 10 coins ($0.01) each. But as you use the app more, every receipt is worth more.

On top of that, CoinOut has several bonus options that can help you earn more coins.

It’s easy to use and you can cash out for an Amazon gift card as soon as you earn your first $3 worth of coins.

Check out our full CoinOut review to learn more.

7. Pogo (iOS)

Pogo is an interesting newer cash back app, with several different ways to earn.

On the receipt scanning side, each receipt you upload is worth $0.01, with bonuses for sharing multiple receipts in a week.

But you can earn more with Pogo by sharing your location and credit card transaction data.

For example, you’ll earn $0.07 worth of Pogo points as you go about your day and approach certain stores. I’ve gotten these location bonuses at Target, Safeway, Costco, Fred Meyer, and others.

The other easy way to earn bonus cash back with Pogo is by linking your bank account and credit card transaction history. Each credit card purchase shared earns an additional $0.01-$0.10 apiece.

The only downside is you have to remember to open the app occasionally to hit the “claim” button next to each of them.

You can cash out your Pogo points once you’ve earned 3,000 points ($3) to PayPal or Venmo.

Based on my results so far, I expect Pogo to be worth around $5-20 a year.

Check out my full Pogo app review to learn more.

Choosing The Best Receipt Scanning App for You

While ReceiptPal paid the most for each receipt on average, Ibotta can earn you the most cash back if you buy the right products.

Since most of these apps make money by selling your shopping data, if you’re going to use one, you might as well use them all. The incremental time it takes to scan a receipt into multiple apps is minimal, and can translate into maximizing your cash back from every purchase.

Still, it’s important to remember than even when you add up the results from all the apps, the total income is unlikely to be a lifestyle-changer for you. 

I’m all for collecting all the easy, free money out there, but you’ll need to turn your attention to higher paying side hustles if you’re really trying to make an impact on your budget.

Alternatives to Receipt Scanning Apps

Receipt scanning apps are examples of apps that pay you real money, under the broader category of monetizing your data.

Caden (iOS)

I’m earning around $10 a month in passive income with Caden, an app that pays you for your data.

The app itself is a little slow and buggy, but may be worth those small headaches for super easy automatic earning power.

At press time, it was iOS only. Check out our full Caden app review to learn more.

Flip Products for Profit

Since you’re already maximizing the value of every dollar you spend, you might be good at finding items to flip for a profit.

How this side hustle works is you go bargain hunting at local stores, garage sales, thrift shops, or Facebook Marketplace, and resell those products at higher prices.

For example, Stacy Gallego broke down how she was earning thousands of dollars a month flipping products like motorcycle sidecars, skateboards, and even Sleep Number Beds.

Remote Bookkeeping

If keeping your own receipts in order is more than just a hobby, maybe you could offer the service to others. Bookkeeping is usually one of the first roles a business hires for, and can pay $60 an hour or more.

Here’s a free training on how to get started.

Grocery Delivery

As a savvy shopper, you probably already know your way around the aisles of your local grocery store. That knowledge can help you become an expert Instacart shopper and get paid to delivery groceries. 

For example, Kevin LaCombe reported earning $10,000 in his first 6 months as an Instacart Shopper–all on the side from regular 9-5.

You can choose which orders to accept based on the estimated earnings and delivery distance. 

Serious About Making Extra Money?

Start Your Free $500 Challenge. My free 5-day email course shows you how to add $500 to your bottom line.
Join the free Side Hustle Nation Community. The free Facebook group is the best place to connect with other side hustlers and get your questions answered.
Download The Side Hustle Show. My free podcast shares how to make extra money with actionable weekly episodes.

One of the most common questions I get is, “What if I don’t have any skills? Can I still start a side hustle?”

On the one hand, I totally get that feeling.

If you’re a teacher, tutoring might seem like an obvious side gig. If you’re an accountant, you could freelance or start a bookkeeping business.

But not everyone’s skills neatly align with a natural side hustle. So what do you do if you don’t think you have any marketable skills? Is there still a path to earning extra income on the side?

Yes, there absolutely is! And that’s what I’m breaking down in this post: four frameworks to start a profitable side hustle, even if you think you’re skill-less today.

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The Curse of Knowledge

Before we get into those four frameworks, I want to emphasize the “think” part of that last sentence. The curse of knowledge is very real—once you know something, it’s hard to imagine not knowing it.

To test if you’ve fallen victim, ask yourself: If you had to give a presentation teaching something tomorrow, what would it be on? I’ve given talks on podcasting, SEO, email marketing—none of which I learned in school, but certainly know enough about to help others.

You’ve probably picked up some valuable knowledge too after living for decades. Think about what people tend to ask you for help with—that’s an area where you have some perceived expertise.

Still not sure? Ask a few friends “What skill do you think I know more about than the average person?” You might be surprised by their answers. The big idea is to recognize that you’re probably not as skill-less as you might think.

Framework 1: Plug and Play Side Hustles

First up, “plug and play” side hustles. These are often app-based gigs that you can start pretty much immediately and they usually don’t require any specialized skills.

1. Driving and Delivery Apps

You could sign up to drive for Uber or deliver groceries with Instacart. If you can drive a car and follow basic instructions, you’re qualified!

The downside to these apps is that they’re not that difficult—meaning your earning power is limited by the hours you can put in. Still, they can be a quick and easy way to start boosting your income. 

2. Online Surveys

Jackie Mitchell recommended the online survey site Prolific, which specializes in academic research. Check out our full Prolific review to learn more.

If you like filling out surveys, here are some other popular options:

3. Mobile Game Testing

Jackie also mentioned making money playing mobile games through the Swagbucks app. How this works is you download a new game through the app — hopefully one that looks fun and interesting to you — and you get paid for reaching certain milestones in the game.

Some of these offers can pay $100 or more, which can be a fun way to monetize an activity you may already be doing in your spare time.

4. Paid Market Research

Paid focus groups and market research is one of my favorite side hustles. It pays well ($50-200/hr), and is usually pretty interesting. 

For example, I’ve gotten paid to talk about travel credit cards, video editing software, investing, business banking, and more. 

Here are some of our top picks to get matched up with higher paying market research opportunities.

5. Data Annotation

Sites like DataAnnotation and Remotasks are paying people $15-25/hr to help train the next generation of AI tools. While the work itself is somewhat tedious, it does use your brain and you can do it from anywhere.

I actually tested out Remotasks myself and earned $15 for my first hour of work.

6. Sharetown

Another plug and play side hustle is Sharetown. With Sharetown, you pick up and resell returned mattresses and furniture. 

You would need access to a truck or van and a place to store the items, but you don’t need to put up the initial cash to buy inventory. Instead, Sharetown takes care of the payment processing and you keep the spread between your selling price and what you owe the company.

Check out our full Sharetown review to learn more.

Framework 2: “Business in a Box” Side Hustles

“Business in a box” side hustles aren’t as simple as the “Plug and Play” side hustles listed above, but they do allow you to follow a specific playbook. You’ll have to do a bit more of your own marketing, but you won’t be reinventing any wheels here.

7. Vending Machines

For example, the recent vending machine business episode outlined how you can:

source a modern vending machine
find a busy location with 100+ people
keep it stocked
generate semi-passive income

8. Equipment Rentals

The equipment rental business is another plug-and-play model. Rent out mobility scooters like Lenny Tim, or follow the path of listener Brian Rautenberg who listed his rental inventory on CloudOfGoods.com to access existing demand.

9. Product Flipping

Product flipping is a side hustle you can start with the skills you already have. Look for undervalued items on Facebook Marketplace, at thrift stores, etc., and flip those for a profit.

For example, Stacy Gallego shared how she was making $7k a month from her flipping business.

10. Litter Clean-Up Service

Finally, a parking lot litter cleanup service is another “business in a box” side hustle.

If you can walk and operate a broom, you can start picking up litter from local parking lots and retail plazas like Blademir Hernandez outlined.

You can also check out Brian Winch’s Cleanlots training to learn more.

Framework 3: Learn a New Skill

The third side hustle framework is probably my favorite because it’s all about betting on yourself and increasing your earning power over time. And that is to proactively learn a new skill.

This could be a skill that’s closely related to what you already know, or something completely brand new.

11. Knife Sharpening

For example, Matt Rowell was on active duty in the Navy, deployed overseas, and basically learned knife sharpening from YouTube. He invested a small amount of money in some professional equipment and practiced his way to proficiency.

Within a few months, he was earning $200-500 a month from this side hustle, and it continued to grow from there.

12. Mobile Notary Service

Another example is Brian Schooley, who was working a low-paying weekend job to make ends meet. Brian discovered the loan signing agent side hustle, a job that helps real estate buyers and sellers complete the mountain of paperwork required at closing.

He completed the Loan Signing System training, which taught him everything he needed to know about each document in the stack and how to navigate the closing process. Within a few months, Brian was earning $1000 a month from this side hustle, and during the refinance boom, his peak month was over $8000!

13. Web Design Service

We’ve seen people use platforms like Coursera and Udemy to learn all sorts of freelance skills, like web design, proofreading, and bookkeeping.

In web design, Chris Misterek used free and inexpensive online training to land freelance work averaging $3k a month. Later he pivoted into a full-time career at more than double his previous salary.

14. Salesforce Consulting

Finally, I want to highlight Anita Smith, who completely reskilled after getting laid off from her hospitality job during the pandemic. Anita discovered the Salesforce training platform Trailhead.com and eventually joined a program called Talent Stacker to help fast-track her career pivot.

Within a few months, she landed a new remote job, doubling her old salary! If Salesforce sounds interesting to you, Brad Rice has a free 5-day Salesforce challenge you can check out.

Framework 4: Play Matchmaker

Our fourth and final framework is to “play matchmaker” — find people with problems, connect them to people who can solve those problems, and take a cut in the middle.

This is similar to an agency model, where you’re not doing the actual work, but handling the marketing, sales, project management, and quality control.

Here are some examples.

15. Residential Cleaning Service

Anthony and Jhanilka Hartzog built a residential house cleaning business, finding cleaners and customers but not doing the work themselves. When we spoke, they were booking around $25k worth of work a month. They’d pay their cleaners 60% of the revenue and take 40% for their own marketing, overhead, and profit.

16. Graphic Design

Russ Perry played matchmaker connecting people who needed graphic design to a workforce of designers at Design Pickle. In three years, the little side project was a multi-million-dollar a year operation.

17. Video Editing

Justin Tan started Video Husky, a video editing service, but didn’t do the editing himself. Instead, he built a team of qualified editors who could keep up with the workflow from clients.

The matchmaker model requires more work in terms of acquiring customers and managing your workforce. But you also avoid the trap of trading dollars for hours which plagues many freelancers.

Are you selling your time or results? Playing matchmaker lets you sell results, with more leverage and scale.

No Skills? No Problem!

Hopefully these four frameworks show there ARE viable side hustle options, even if you struggle putting your finger on any marketable skills today:

Plug and Play Gigs
Business in a Box Models
Learn New Skills
Play Matchmaker

To dive deeper on any of these side hustles mentioned, I’d encourage you to check out the full podcast episodes with these guests.

And if you’re ready to start your own money-making project, head over to hustle.show and take the quick quiz. It’ll build you a personalized playlist of Side Hustle Show episodes tailored to get you started based on your goals and interests.

That way you can add them to your device, learn what’s working for other hustlers, and actually go out and get paid!

Share Your Thoughts!

What’s holding you back from starting a side hustle?

Episode Links

Uber
Instacart
Instacart Shopper Review
Prolific.com
Prolific review
Swagbucks
DataAnnotation
Remotasks
Remotasks Review
Sharetown
How Sharetown Works
Episode 580 with Chris Torres
Episode 591 (The 10 Best Side Hustles of 2023)
Episode 564 with Lenny Tim
CloudOfGoods.com
Episode 522 with Blademir Hernandez
Episode 266 with Brian Winch
Cleanlots
Episode 308 with Matt Rowell
Episode 286 with Brian Schooley
Coursera
Udemy
Episode 388 with Chris Misterek
Episode 497 with Anita Smith
Free 5-Day Salesforce Challenge
Trailhead
Episode 441 with Brad Rice
Episode 438 with Anthony and Jhanilka Hartzog
Episode 248 with Russ Perry
Episode 540 with Justin Tan

Serious About Making Extra Money?

Start Your Free $500 Challenge. My free 5-day email course shows you how to add $500 to your bottom line.
Join the free Side Hustle Nation Community. The free Facebook group is the best place to connect with other side hustlers and get your questions answered.
Download The Side Hustle Show. My free podcast shares how to make extra money with actionable weekly episodes.