TLDR: Apex Focus Group is a legit resource to find paid market research studies. But there are enough red flags that it wouldn’t be my first choice in this field.

Still, paid focus groups are a fun and easy way to make extra money. That’s one reason why we’ve been covering them for years on Side Hustle Nation.

In this post, I’ll break down:

How Apex Focus Group really works (hint: it’s not a market research company)
How much you can earn with them
Better alternatives to consider 

Ready? Let’s do it!

What is Apex Focus Group?

Apex Focus Group is a free email service that sends you paid market research opportunities. It is not a market research company itself, nor a facilitator of any paid focus groups.

That disclaimer is found in the footer of the website:

“Apex focus group (AFG) does not own or operate any paid opportunities. AFG matches subscribers with potential paid clinical trials, surveys, and focus groups from other providers. AFG may receive compensation from providers of opportunities it sends to subscribers.”

In short, it’s an affiliate business that makes money referring focus group participants to other research companies.

Nothing wrong with that, and they’re pretty upfront with how it works, even explaining as much on the homepage:

“Our team gathers focus groups from around the web … to bring you legitimate paid focus group opportunities.”

Cool. Done right, that’s definitely a valuable service.

Is Apex Focus Group Legit?

Apex Focus Group is legit, but there are some red flags to be aware of, and better alternatives for paid focus groups (see below). 

Apex was founded in 2019 and started to grow rapidly in 2021:

If you sign-up, just know what you’re getting into. It’s an email service that occasionally sends money-making opportunities.

The company isn’t BBB accredited, but they are responsive to customer complaints on Better Business Bureau.

All the complaints relate to customer service issues with Apex’s 3rd-party partners. And to their credit, Apex’s responses are quite thoughtful and caring. 

For example, here’s part of one response:

I appreciate you sharing this experience with us though so we can address it with them, too. While we are ultimately not responsible for transactions that consumers have with these third party partners, that does not mean I am unwilling to help.

I would like to personally provide you with the $20 that you were owed by [3rd-party partner] because they are one of our third party partner.

How Apex Focus Group Works

After you join Apex, you’ll start to get emails with paid market research opportunities. (And other semi-related offers — more on that below.)

With each of those, they’ll tell you the project incentive upfront (how much you’ll get paid), and approximately how long it will take.

Here’s an example email I received:

If the study sounds like a fit, complete the separate pre-screening process and hopefully you’ll get selected. 

After the study, you’ll receive your reward — not from Apex, but from the 3rd-party market research company.

One thing that’s misleading about the Apex site is their list of “Available Focus Group Studies.” At press time, this list hadn’t been updated in at least 12 months.

Since most studies are time-sensitive, none of these are actually available.

On the positive side, they list several of their focus group referral partners, so you can easily go sign-up directly with those companies:

Schlesinger Group (now called Sago)
Focus Pointe Global (acquired by Sago)
Fieldwork
L&E Research
Probe Market Research
Canvas Marketing (no obvious way to join as a panelist)

How Much Can You Make with Apex Focus Group?

Apex claims you can earn “up to $750/week.”

While that is definitely possible through multi-session studies, don’t bank on that being a consistent source of income.

I keep a pretty close eye on paid research and may make $750 a year from this type of side hustle.

As an aggregator of paid research studies, the pay range with Apex will vary quite a bit. A typical range is $50-150/hour, depending on the study.

For example, here are some of the studies they sent me:

$650-1,000 for a study on new technology products
$100 for a 60-minute study on social media
$150 for a 45-minute study on beverages
$100 for a 60-minute study on pets
$200 for a study on grocery shopping

Who is Behind Apex Focus Group?

Apex Focus Group emails from from Justin Jones from “Full Circle Media.”

Several employees report working for the company on LinkedIn, but Justin isn’t one of them.

There is no Google listing for Apex Focus Group or Full Circle Media at either of the US addresses given:

14350 60th St North, Suite #46131 Clearwater FL (appears to be a virtual address)
2160 Kingston Court SE Ste E, Marietta GA

The domain registration is also private.

All that said, it’s not uncommon for affiliate website owners to try and remain anonymous.

Getting Random Emails from Apex Focus Group?

In addition to the paid focus group emails, Apex tends to send other affiliate offers related to saving or making extra money.

Those have included:

A car insurance quote service
A Zantac class action settlement??
A scammy-looking debt evaluation service
A car-wrap advertising service that many reviewers called a scam

As always, do you own due diligence before giving your personal information to any of these 3rd-party services.

The selection and vetting of the partner offers Apex sends via email is definitely hurting the company’s reputation. At press time, Apex had earned a solidly-mediocre 2.4-star rating on Glassdoor.

The most common complaint is that they send too many emails promoting scammy offers.

That’s unfortunate — and unnecessary — because there are plenty of legit ways to make extra money.

Apex Focus Group Sign Up Process

The sign-up process for Apex is very simple. All you have to do is complete a short form with some basic information.

It asks questions like:

Your name
Email address
Zip code
Date of birth
Gender
If you have kids
What kind of phone you use
Your employment status
Your education

Compared to other market research companies, this is a pretty short onboarding form. But again, Apex isn’t a market research company; it’s an email list.

Another misleading thing on the Apex Focus Group site is the false scarcity on one of the sign-up pages. It says “Only 3 Positions Left.”

This is complete BS. 

That would be like me saying, “Sign up for the Side Hustle Nation email list. There’s only 3 spots left!”

The more people who join the Apex Focus Group email list, the more money they’ll make. Some of the individual studies will have participation caps, but not the general Apex email list.

The other interesting thing is depending on which “Register” link you click on, you can get estimated hourly rates that are cut in half, to $35-75/hr:

All else being equal, I’ll sign up for the $75-150 version 🙂

Apex Focus Group Alternatives

While Apex may help connect you with some paid research opportunities, there are better options. Here are some of our top picks.

The most similar aggregator service was FindFocusGroups.com, but unfortunately it doesn’t look like it’s been maintained in several months.

User Interviews

User Interviews helps you get paid for your opinions in one-on-one market research interviews, mostly done over the phone or online.

The average rate of pay is in the ballpark of $100 an hour. I’ve earned $105 for about an hour and a half worth of “work” so far.

Check out my full User Interviews review for more.

Respondent

Respondent also specializes in one-on-one market research interviews, mostly done over the phone or online.

According to the site, the average payout is over $100 an hour. Check out our full Respondent review for more.

(I’ve earned $395 so far — $190 of which was for a focus group that involved playing with Legos!)

Rare Patient Voice

A leading source for medical research, Rare Patient Voice pays patients and caregivers $120 an hour. Most of the studies are phone or webcam interviews, and you can browse a full list of available studies on their site.

If you suffer from any sort of medical condition (even if it’s not super rare), I think this one is worth a look.

FocusGroup.com

FocusGroup.com is run by Sago, a long-running research company. They offer nationwide phone or webcam research opportunities that pay between $75 and $200.

I earned $115 for a 45-minute online survey — check out my full FocusGroup.com review to learn more.

Fieldwork

Fieldwork is a company the runs (mostly) in-person focus groups. I took part in one of their studies in San Francisco, and earned $150 for a 2-hour focus group, plus a $50 bonus prize for showing up early.

They have locations throughout the US.

Fieldwork focus groups normally last 1-2 hours, and pay starts at $75.

Check out my full guide to Online Focus Groups for more money earning opportunities.

Other Online Survey Options

Most of the consumer-facing survey options below won’t have hourly rates nearly as strong as the more industry-specific studies that the options above do, but they can still add up and you can knock them out in your spare time.

Here are some of Side Hustle Nation’s top picks:

Serious About Making Extra Money?

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What are the best ways to make money without a car?

Whether you don’t have a car, don’t want to spend more money on gas, or just want to stay home, we’ve got a side hustle for you.

(Uber and DoorDash aren’t the only games in town!)

These car-free ideas were selected based on:

Making a full-time living from home since 2008
Interviews with over 500 side hustlers and entrepreneurs
15+ years of my own side hustle experience

Ready? Let’s do it!

1. Customer Interviews

Many companies use customer interviews to get feedback on new products.

User Interviews and Respondent.io are a pair of cool services that facilitate those interviews online and over the phone.

The best part? The average compensation is $50-150 an hour!

Here are some other companies that facilitate focus groups and paid research studies.

2. Online Surveys

These won’t make you rich, but can be an easy way to supplement your income and you can do them in your downtime at home.

If you love this stuff, check out:

3. Find a Virtual Job

FlexJobs is the leading work from home jobs site.

With over 50 career categories, FlexJobs has jobs ranging from entry-level to executive and freelance to full-time.

There is a nominal monthly fee to access their listings, but you’ll earn that back (and then some!) with one job.

4. Remote Real Estate Investing

You might not think of being a landlord as being a work from home side hustle, but there are ways to get it done.

For example, my friend Dustin Heiner manages his portfolio of rental properties from several states away. He just has a team of property managers and contractors “on the ground” to help out should the need arise.

Alternatively, you might take a look at a platform like Arrived, which lets you invest in cash-flowing rentals for as little as $100.

The company pools money to buy rental properties, manages them, and then distributes the cash flow every month.

This is a great way to make money without leaving the house.

5. Make Extra Money Playing Online Games

KashKick

KashKick is a newer app that pays you to answer surveys, test new games (up to $150 each!), and redeem money-saving offers.

With the slogan “get paid to have fun,” KashKick is rated 4.2-stars in the Google Play store.

Rewarded Play (Android)

With over 180,000 reviews and a 4.4-star rating in the Google Play store, Rewarded Play is another free, legit, and fun, “get paid to play” app.

Rewarded Play is your one-stop app for casual games like Solitaire, Mahjong, Wheel of Fortune, Yahtzee, and more. As you play, choose your rewards and get your gift cards within 48 hours.

6. Virtual Bookkeeping: Up to $70/hr

Remote bookkeepers can earn $20-70 an hour and up for their work. This is a great option for people with accounting experience from school or your day job.

And because the work can be done online, there’s no commute required.

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

7. Self-Publish on Amazon

Thanks to Amazon’s Kindle platform, you can publish your work and tap into a massive audience of book buyers.

Self-publishing is one of my favorite and longest-running side hustles. I remember my first royalty payment from Amazon of something like $42 and being thrilled, thinking “I did it! I’m a professional author!”

Since then I’ve earned over $75,000 in author royalties, and I think books are a pretty awesome way to both build authority in your niche and earn passive income along the way.

Related: My Amazon author profile and book listings

8. Knife Sharpening

Matt Rowell taught himself how to sharpen knives on YouTube, and turned it into a $250-1500 a month side business.

If you have customers drop off and pick up their knives, this is an excellent way to make money without a car.

9. Online Tutoring

Tutoring and test prep is more than a billion dollar a year industry!

You can start your own tutoring business to earn extra cash and help students at the same time. Bonus points if you were a decent student or have some subject matter expertise!

For example, Matt Fuentes charges $100/hour for remote college admissions test prep tutoring.

As a tutor, you set your own schedule and rates. For example, when I searched Wyzant for math tutors nearby, I found several tutors charging $40-60 an hour.

10. Teach an Online Class

While one-to-one tutoring can be rewarding and even pretty lucrative, it’s still trading time for money. One side hustle with a little more scale is to teach an online group class through a platform like Outschool.

The peer-to-peer education marketplace focuses on students ages 3-18, and has courses on nearly every topic imaginable.

On The Side Hustle Show, Jade Weatherington shared how she was earning $10,000 a month on the platform, primarily teaching middle school English writing classes.

I even connected with an Outschool teacher with a series of popular video game classes!

11. Virtual Assistant Service

Virtual assistants are remote administrative professionals that help business owners (or even just busy individuals) with a variety of tasks.

Check out companies like BELAY, Time Etc, or Zirtual for potential openings, or set up shop on your own, like Abbey Ashley did.

She started her business while on maternity leave, and found it only took a handful of clients to not have to go back to her old job — and the commute.

If you work through a virtual assistant company, expect to earn $12-18 an hour to start. Freelance VAs charge $20-40 an hour — or even more for specialized skills.

12. Freelance Writing

Content is a booming industry and has been for the last several years. With more and more businesses engaging in content marketing, it’s creating a demand for writers.

Freelance writing is a great way to share your expertise and make money. You have full control over your schedule (in most cases) and can fit the work in when it works for you.

To learn more, check out this free guide from the American Writers and Artists Institute:

After that, you can set up shop on your own, or apply with any number of companies actively hiring freelance writers.

13. Customer Service

Think about all the different websites you visit on a given day or week? It’s probably quite a few. Pretty much any website you visit on the internet is going to have some kind of customer service in place. The bigger the business the more likely they hire people to help serve their customers.

Customer service can come in the form of phone, email, or live chat support. Most companies are willing to train you in their processes so while some experience may be necessary, it may not also be a deal-breaker.

The downside to this role is that you will most likely have a pretty regular schedule to stick to. If you don’t mind and want regular work at regular times, this could be a great opportunity. If you are wanting a job that you have more control over the flexibility to work, then this might not be a great fit.

Customer service representatives make an average of $10 to $19 an hour, though this will depend on the company.

14. Web Design Service

You might be surprised, but many businesses have a really outdated-looking site — or they don’t have one at all.

Thankfully, web design is a learnable skill, and it still has great earning power when you need to make money without a car.

My advice: pick a niche to specialize in, and become the go-to provider for businesses in that space.

For example, Ryan Golgosky from 180sites.com primarily builds sites for pressure-washing companies. (Really!)

When we spoke, he shared how this strategy — and a unique pricing plan — built his web design business to $100,000 a month.

15. Build a Helpful Website

While building websites for clients is a great remote side hustle, it may be even better to build one for yourself.

Now to be totally upfront, there’s a lot to learn to make this business work, but when it does, it can be extremely lucrative.

For example:

Scott earns 6-figures a year from his bird-watching blog
Shelley earns $50k a month from her travel blogs
Andrew earned over $1.2M from his gift ideas site

Their sites are monetized with advertising and affiliate partnerships, which scale as your traffic increases.

Want to start a blog of your own? Check out my free 6-part video course on how to start your own site.

16. Start a YouTube Channel

Another way to make money without a car is by posting content on YouTube.

Once you’ve built up a following, you can monetize your videos with Youtube’s built-in ad platform.

Lately, I’ve been earning around $500 a month from my YouTube channel, but some YouTubers make millions from their content!

To get started, I’d recommend choosing a niche and creating “question and answer” content. Examples might include:

how to do _______?
what are the best ______?
how does _______ work?

Those types of videos give a new channel the best chance of ranking in YouTube’s search to start getting views.

17. Test Websites

As a website tester, you record your computer screen and your voice as you use a certain site or app. You may also need to write survey responses as part of the job or use a webcam.

Essentially, you’re giving your opinion about the usability of a website or app with the goal of improving the user experience. You discuss your likes and dislikes, suggest improvements, and discuss any difficulties you have with the site or app.

Learn more about remote website testing jobs at these sites:

User Testing – Rewards vary based on the assignment, but average in the $20-30/hour range.
TestingTime – Earn up to $65 per every 30-90 minute study.
Trymata – Earn $5-30 per test.

18. Sell Printables and Spreadsheet Templates

One of the most interesting side hustles I’ve come across is selling printables.

These are digital files you upload to a marketplace like Etsy. Think:

budget templates
chore charts
habit trackers
meal planners
intake forms
wall art
and more 

And the best part? When someone orders, the file delivery happens automatically.

On The Side Hustle Show, Rachel Jones explained how she earned $10,000 a month from her portfolio of printables.

If you have an eye for design and can be quick to act on trends, this can be a great side hustle without needing to leave your home.

Similarly, Emily McDermott built a cool remote side hustle selling spreadsheets on Etsy. She specializes in budgeting templates, and has sold over $250,000 worth of them!

19. Microtasking/Micro Jobs

Microtasking is getting paid to perform brief online tasks from home. Some examples are data entry, creating product descriptions, research, surveys, and copy editing.

You decide which tasks you want to tackle and when. These don’t pay particularly well, but the results can add up if you don’t have anything better to do.

In fact, one reader reported earning over $50,000 on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk.

Here are some other microtasking sites:

ClixSense – Get paid to do simple online tasks.
Clickworker – Earnings vary based on the task.
Appen – Help companies train, test, and tune their machine learning and artificial intelligence programs. 

20. Online Arbitrage

With online arbitrage, you buy inventory from one website to resell on another (usually Amazon). It’s amazing to me that this is a thing, but it very much is.

When I sat down with Chris Grant, he described selling $75,000 worth of products in a typical month! 

Online arbitrage is a beginner-friendly work-from-home side hustle because you can start with any level of inventory investment you’re comfortable with, and scale up as you learn more and see results.

21. Search Engine Evaluator

Search engines may seem magical in that they know all the answers to our questions, but there’s a reason they’ve gotten so good.

Yes, programming obviously has a lot to do with it, but they also have real people evaluating the searches that are being brought back to make sure they are relevant.

There are a number of different companies that hire search engine evaluators. Most have a bit of a hiring process so this isn’t something you can start doing immediately. It can be a great job to work from home without a car though if you can get hired.

Expect to earn $12-16 an hour.

22. Data Entry

Data entry work isn’t the most exciting gig in the world, but it’s not overly complicated. If you have an attention to detail and can follow directions, this can be an easy way to earn $10-20 an hour.

Check out Indeed.com for up-to-date openings, where you can filter by part-time, full-time, and even remote opportunities to find a gig that can be done at home.

23. Drop Shipping

With drop shipping, you can sell physical products online without having to buy any inventory upfront. Instead, you work out deals with the manufacturers or distributors to ship the items directly to customers on your behalf.

On a popular episode of The Side Hustle Show, Ben Knegendorf shared his method of “high ticket dropshipping” that allowed him to quit his job as a forklift driver.

This is a great side hustle in which you don’t need to leave your house!

24. Voice Over Acting

I think we can all agree that getting paid to talk is a pretty sweet gig, and Voices.com is the #1 marketplace for voice over talent.

Otherwise, ACX, the Audiobook Creation Exchange, is an interesting platform to connect authors with professional narrators to — like the name suggests — create an audiobook version of their book.

25. Sell Your Data

Nielsen pays you for sharing Internet usage behaviors. Just download the app to all of your registered devices and earn up to $60 per year.

The app isn’t intrusive and won’t slow down your devices.

Similarly, MobileXpression is a market research panel that pays you for data from your mobile phone.

After you download the app, it works in the background recording your browsing habits. You’ll earn weekly credits redeemable for gift cards to popular retailers.

Realistically, this is an un-intrusive background app that will probably earn you around $20 a year in passive income. And you’ll earn a free $5 gift card after your first week.

26. Mock Juror

Companies like Online Verdict pay $20-60 per hour to review case information and say how you’d rule. That sure beats real jury duty, but gigs are most likely one-off assignments rather than a consistent weekly schedule.

You must be over 18, be a US citizen, and have a felony-free past.

27. Review Products on Amazon

One of the newest ways to make money on Amazon is as an Amazon Influencer. This is an offshoot of the Associates program designed for content creators with a following on social media.

Once your Influencer account is approved, you’ll be able to upload short product review videos.

In turn, Amazon displays those on the relevant product pages, and rewards you a commission when someone makes a purchase after watching your video.

I made over $1000 doing this in under a year, with very little effort!

Making Money without a Car: Your Turn

The good news is there are lots of ways to make money without car. 

The best thing you can do is to take action. Pick an idea or two from this list and get started today!