Best Passive Income Apps That Actually Pay in 2026

Rakuten is the largest and most established cashback platform in the US, with over 15 million members and partnerships with over 3,500 stores including Amazon, Walmart, Target, Macy's, Nike, Sephora, and virtually every major retailer. Cashback rates range from 1% to 15% depending on the store and current promotions, with flash sales occasionally offering 20% or more. Rakuten paid out over $4 billion in total cashback to members since its founding, with the average active user earning approximately $120 to $360 per year according to the company's public reports.

The platform works through a browser extension (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) that automatically activates cashback when you visit a partner retailer's website. For in-store purchases, you link a credit or debit card in the Rakuten app and the cashback is applied automatically when you use that card at partner stores. Payments are sent quarterly via PayPal or physical check, with a minimum payout threshold of $5. The browser extension also surfaces coupon codes at checkout, providing additional savings beyond cashback. Rakuten's referral program pays $30 per referred friend (after the friend makes a qualifying $30 purchase), which can significantly boost earnings for people with active social networks.

Ibotta specializes in grocery and everyday purchase cashback, making it complementary to Rakuten (which focuses more on online retail). The app partners with major grocery chains including Walmart, Kroger, Target, Costco, Albertsons, Publix, and hundreds of regional stores. You earn cashback by activating offers before you shop, then scanning your receipt or linking a loyalty card. Ibotta has paid out over $1.5 billion to users since launch.

The average active Ibotta user earns $10 to $25 per month from grocery cashback alone, according to user reports aggregated on Reddit's r/beermoney community. The app added online shopping cashback in recent years, expanding beyond groceries to include retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Home Depot. Ibotta Pay, the app's mobile payment feature, works at select retailers and provides instant cashback at checkout. The pay-any-brand feature gives cashback on generic products in specific categories (like any brand of bread or any brand of milk), which makes it useful for budget shoppers who buy store brands.

Earnings vary significantly based on your grocery spending habits and the current available offers. Families spending $600+ per month on groceries will earn more than single individuals spending $200. The key to maximizing Ibotta earnings is checking the app before every grocery trip and activating all relevant offers -- this takes about two minutes and can save $5 to $15 per trip.

Upside pays cashback on gas station purchases, grocery stores, and restaurants. The gas cashback is the most popular feature -- the app shows nearby gas stations with cashback offers ranging from $0.05 to $0.25 per gallon. For someone driving an average of 12,000 miles per year and filling up roughly twice per month, the gas cashback alone adds up to $5 to $15 per month. The app requires you to claim an offer before pumping gas, then either pay through the app or scan your receipt afterward.

Upside's restaurant and grocery cashback offers range from 5% to 35% at partner locations. Coverage varies significantly by region -- urban areas typically have more partner locations than rural ones. The app has over 50,000 gas stations, 25,000 restaurants, and 15,000 grocery stores in its network as of early 2026. The referral program is generous, paying a bonus for each referred user plus a percentage of their earnings for the lifetime of the referral.

Acorns automatically invests your spare change by rounding up everyday purchases to the nearest dollar and investing the difference. Buy a coffee for $4.35, and Acorns invests $0.65 into a diversified portfolio of ETFs. The app has over 10 million users and manages over $15 billion in assets. In addition to round-ups, Acorns offers recurring investments (you can set automatic daily, weekly, or monthly deposits), an IRA for retirement savings, a checking account with a debit card, and "Found Money" -- a cashback program where partner brands (including Nike, Walmart, and Chevron) deposit bonus investments when you shop through the app.

The average Acorns user invests approximately $30 to $75 per month through a combination of round-ups and recurring deposits. Based on historical market returns (approximately 7% to 10% annually for diversified portfolios), this compounds over time. After one year of $50 monthly contributions with average market returns, you would have approximately $620 to $640. After five years, approximately $3,500 to $3,900. The portfolio options range from conservative (mostly bonds) to aggressive (mostly stocks), and Acorns recommends a mix based on your age, income, and goals.

Acorns charges $3/month for the Personal plan (investment account + IRA), $5/month for the Family plan (adds kids' accounts), or $9/month for the Premium plan (adds a checking account and bonus rewards). The fee structure means Acorns is not cost-effective for very small portfolios. If you only have $100 invested, a $3/month fee represents 36% annually. The app becomes more cost-efficient as your balance grows past $1,000+.

Robinhood offers commission-free trading of stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrency. The passive income angle comes from two features: dividend-paying stocks and Robinhood Gold's interest on uninvested cash. If you invest in dividend ETFs like VYM (Vanguard High Dividend Yield, yielding approximately 2.8% annually), SCHD (Schwab US Dividend Equity, yielding approximately 3.4%), or individual dividend stocks, you earn quarterly dividend payments without selling any shares.

A portfolio of $5,000 invested in dividend ETFs yielding an average of 3% annually would generate approximately $150 per year ($12.50/month) in dividends. A $10,000 portfolio at 3% yields $300/year ($25/month). These dividends can be automatically reinvested to compound over time (DRIP -- dividend reinvestment plans). The standard Robinhood account is free with no commissions and no account minimums. Robinhood Gold ($5/month or $50/year) offers 4.5% to 5% APY on uninvested cash, higher interest on margin, and professional research tools. For Gold members with significant cash balances, the cash interest alone can outweigh the subscription cost.

Robinhood also offers a cash card (debit card) with weekly rotating cashback categories and bonus offers at select retailers. While not a primary income source, these features add incremental passive earnings. The platform now serves over 23 million funded accounts and offers IRA accounts with a 1% match on contributions (3% match for Gold members).

M1 Finance combines the best elements of robo-advisors and self-directed investing. You create a "pie" (a custom portfolio of stocks and ETFs with percentage allocations), and M1 automatically invests your deposits according to those allocations. This is a set-it-and-forget-it approach: deposit money weekly or monthly, and M1 handles buying, rebalancing, and dividend reinvestment automatically. There are no trading commissions and no management fees on the basic plan.

The platform is particularly strong for building a dividend income portfolio. You can create a pie focused entirely on high-dividend stocks and ETFs, set up automatic deposits, and let M1 reinvest dividends automatically. Over time, this creates a compounding dividend income stream. M1 Finance offers fractional shares (buy $10 of a $500 stock), making it accessible to small investors. The M1 Plus plan ($36/year) adds a high-yield savings account (currently around 4.5% APY), a credit card with cashback, and additional borrowing features.

Swagbucks is the most versatile rewards platform, offering multiple ways to earn: surveys, watching videos, online shopping cashback, playing games, searching the web, and completing offers. The platform has paid out over $900 million to members since 2008. You earn "SB" points (1 SB = $0.01) and can redeem for PayPal cash, Amazon gift cards, Walmart gift cards, and dozens of other options.

Surveys are the primary earner, paying 50 to 500 SB each ($0.50 to $5.00) and taking 5 to 25 minutes. The qualification rate for surveys is frustrating -- expect to be disqualified from 30% to 50% of surveys after spending time on screening questions. The daily poll pays 1 SB, the search function randomly awards 5 to 50 SB a few times per day, and the shopping cashback feature works similarly to Rakuten. Swagbucks Gold Surveys and partner survey routers (Peanut Labs, Theorem Reach) provide the highest-paying opportunities. Setting a daily goal of 100 to 300 SB ($1 to $3) is realistic with 15 to 30 minutes of daily activity.

Prolific stands apart from other survey platforms because it connects participants with legitimate academic researchers from universities and institutions. The studies are better designed, the pay is higher, and the experience is more respectful of your time. Prolific enforces a minimum pay rate equivalent to approximately $8/hour (GBP 6/hour), which is significantly better than most survey apps. Many studies pay $10 to $15 per hour equivalent.

The tradeoff is availability. Studies are limited by researcher budgets and participant quotas, so you may only receive two to five studies per day depending on your demographic profile and location. Setting up the Prolific Assistant browser extension sends notifications when new studies are available, which is important because popular studies fill up within minutes. Monthly earnings of $30 to $100 are realistic for users who respond quickly to available studies. Prolific pays via PayPal with a minimum withdrawal of $5 (GBP equivalent). The platform has built a strong reputation in the research community and among participants for fair pay and transparent practices.

Fetch Rewards is the most popular receipt scanning app in the US with over 17 million active monthly users. You scan any receipt from any store -- grocery, pharmacy, gas station, restaurant, hardware store, clothing store -- and earn points. Every receipt earns a base of 25 points, with bonus points for purchasing partner brand products (hundreds of brands including Coca-Cola, General Mills, Nestle, P&G, and Unilever). Special offers can award 500 to 5,000+ points per qualifying purchase. Points convert to gift cards at a rate of roughly 1,000 points = $1.

The average Fetch user earns approximately 3,000 to 8,000 points per month ($3 to $8), with power users who scan every receipt and stack brand offers reaching 10,000 to 20,000 points ($10 to $20). Fetch also offers eReceipt linking -- connect your email account and the app automatically scans digital receipts from Amazon, Instacart, Walmart Pickup, and other online retailers. This feature adds passive earnings with zero manual effort. Gift card options include Amazon, Target, Starbucks, Walmart, and dozens more, with minimum redemption starting at $3.

Amazon Shopper Panel pays up to $10 per month in Amazon credits for scanning up to 10 receipts from non-Amazon purchases. The math is straightforward: scan 10 receipts per month and earn $10 in Amazon credit. That is $1 per receipt, which is dramatically higher than any other receipt scanning app. The catch is that the app is invite-only -- you request access through the Amazon Shopper Panel app, and Amazon grants access based on availability. Wait times for approval range from a few days to several months.

Once you have access, the app is the simplest passive income earner on this list. Take photos of 10 receipts from grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, or any non-Amazon retailer, and you earn $10 in Amazon credit deposited into your account by the 10th of the following month. The receipts must be from the current month and must show items purchased. Amazon uses this data for market research purposes, which is why the payout is higher than competitors. Combined with Amazon Prime benefits and Amazon's product ecosystem, the $10/month credit is effectively free money for Amazon shoppers.

Microsoft Rewards pays you for using Bing as your search engine and completing daily activities. You earn 5 points per Bing search on desktop (up to 150 points/day), 5 points per mobile search (up to 100 points/day), and 5 to 50 points per daily activity set (quizzes, polls, trivia). Points redeem for gift cards and sweepstakes entries at approximately 5,200 points per $5 Amazon gift card. The program is available in the US, UK, France, Germany, and several other countries.

A disciplined user who maxes out daily searches and completes daily activities earns approximately 8,000 to 12,000 points per month, equivalent to $7 to $12 in gift cards. The effort is minimal if you switch your default search engine to Bing -- searches you would normally do on Google now earn points. The daily activity sets take one to two minutes. Xbox Game Pass subscribers and Microsoft 365 users earn bonus multipliers. The program has been running since 2010 (originally Bing Rewards), making it one of the most established and reliable rewards programs available.

Honey, owned by PayPal, is a browser extension that automatically finds and applies coupon codes at checkout on over 30,000 online stores. While primarily a money-saving tool rather than a money-earning one, Honey Gold rewards points add up. You earn Honey Gold on purchases at partner retailers (typically 1% to 10% of the purchase price), and points redeem for gift cards at $10 increments (1,000 Gold = $10).

The extension runs silently in the background and activates automatically at checkout. The coupon-finding feature saves an average of $4 to $8 per transaction according to user reports, while the Honey Gold rewards add another $2 to $10 per month for regular online shoppers. Combined savings and rewards for an average online shopper total $10 to $25 per month. Honey is free to install and use, with no premium tier. The extension is available on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.