Finding the best apps to make money online can be a time-consuming process. To make this easier, we've rounded up the best Google Play gift card-earning apps to help you make money the way you want to. You can earn these gift cards by taking surveys, playing games, or even scanning receipts.
And while we often prefer to redeem rewards for cash when using get-paid-to (GPT) apps, a gift card to the Google Play store is a good bet if you've got an Android phone and want to receive your winnings quickly.
All of these apps have their own benefits, and you can use more than one to maximize your potential earnings. However, they also have drawbacks, like potentially taking a long time to earn money or being limited to specific platforms. But as long as you don't count on apps like these to replace your full-time income, they can be a great way to make extra money.
The recommendations we chose for our list of the best apps for earning Google Play gift cards may be current or past FinanceBuzz partners. We did not review or test all get-paid-to apps on the market, but we have evaluated dozens. When researching these companies, we considered earning potential, methods for earning rewards, user friendliness, fees and payout restrictions, mobile app ratings and reviews, and our own user experience during testing.
How we evaluate products
Featured app for earning Google Play gift cards
Compare apps for earning Google Play gift cards
App | Best for | Minimum withdrawal amount |
Google Opinion Rewards | Quick rewards | $2 for PayPal |
Rewarded Play | Gift card variety | $5 |
Swagbucks | Multiple ways to earn | $3 for gift cards; $25 for PayPal |
Mistplay | Playing games | $5 |
Fetch Rewards | Scanning receipts | $3; $10 if it's your first withdrawal |
Google Opinion Rewards
- Tasks: Taking surveys
- Platform: Apple and Android devices.
- Mobile app reviews: The Google Opinion Rewards app earned 4.7 out of 5 stars on the Apple App Store with more than 184,000 reviews, and it earned 4.5 out of 5 stars on the Google Play Store with over three million reviews.
Google Opinion Rewards is an app that pays you to take short surveys, and we chose it for this list because of how fast and easy it is to earn rewards. After you download the app and answer some personal questions, Google Opinion Rewards may send you surveys around once a week. This differs from how other platforms work, which require you to seek out surveys. However, how often you receive surveys can vary, and you're not guaranteed to receive any.
If you use the app on an Android device and link your Google payment profile, you'll receive Google Play credits with a confirmation of how much you've earned to your payment profile. The amount offered varies, depending on the length of each survey. You'll earn between $0.10 and $1.00 per survey, which is pretty low compared to the best survey sites. But these surveys are relatively short.
If you use the Apple app, you'll receive cash via PayPal. You'll need to earn at least $2 in your Google Opinion Rewards account before you can receive a payout.
- Earn credits to the Google Play Store for answering surveys
- Free to sign up
- Surveys are relatively quick
- Earnings per survey are relatively low
- Apple devices can only cash out via PayPal
- Credits expire one year from the date earned
Rewarded Play
- Tasks: Downloading and playing games, taking surveys
- Platform: Android only
- Mobile app reviews: The Rewarded Play app earned 4.3 out of 5 stars on the Google Play Store with over 236,000 reviews.
Rewarded Play is an Android-only app that pays you to download and play games, and it occasionally offers surveys. As you play and complete various levels in the games, you'll receive points. You need at least 75,000 points to cash out, which translates to $5. You can redeem points as gift cards, with the Google Play Store being one of many options.
This is also one of the best apps for earning Amazon gift cards. If you want to earn a Google Play gift card today but might want to earn another gift card tomorrow, this is the app for you. Plus, Rewarded Play sometimes offers new-user promotions and referral bonuses. Rewarded Play isn't always the most lucrative money-making app long-term, but it's worth signing up for.
- New users may receive a sign-up bonus
- Gift cards are generally available within 24 hours
- Large selection of merchant gift cards, including Google Play
- Cash payouts not available
- Limited available tasks
- Only available for Android
Learn more in our Rewarded Play review
Swagbucks
- Tasks: Playing games, uploading online shopping receipts, fulfilling in-store offers, taking surveys, answering daily polls, completing trivia, activating special offers, and more
- Platforms: Web browser, iOS, and Android app
- Mobile app reviews: The Swagbucks app earned 4.4 out of 5 stars on the Apple App Store with over 146,000 reviews and 4.4 out of 5 stars on Google Play with more than 439,000 reviews.
Using Swagbucks is one of the best ways to make extra money from your phone, in our experience. The app has many options for earning rewards, including playing games, taking surveys, scanning receipts, and getting paid to shop, among other tasks. It's nice to have multiple ways to earn through the app so you can switch between tasks if you get bored.
You earn Swagbucks (worth roughly $0.01 each) for every task you complete. While you can buy a Google Play Store gift card with your rewards, you can also earn Google Play credits. Once you have at least 300 Swagbucks ($3), you can redeem them for a gift card from the Google Play Store or other retailers. If you prefer PayPal, you'll need to wait until you earn at least 2,500 Swagbucks ($25) before you can cash out.
- Wide variety of tasks
- Cash out gift cards starting at 300 Swagbucks ($3)
- Available for Apple and Android devices, as well as a web browser
- High earning requirement to cash out via PayPal
- Receiving your Swagbucks reward may take up to 10 days
- Relatively low payouts for some tasks
Visit Swagbucks | Learn more in our Swagbucks review
Mistplay
- Tasks: Downloading and playing games
- Platforms: Apple
- Mobile app reviews: The Mistplay app earned 4.5 out of 5 stars on Google Play with more than 915,000 reviews.
Mistplay is a popular rewards app that offers some of the best games for Android, making it our top recommendation for playing games to earn Google Play gift cards. When you download a game app through Mistplay, you'll receive units (or points) as you spend time in the game and reach various checkpoints. Mistplay has a larger selection of games than a lot of apps like it, including casino, action, puzzles, sports, and simulation games.
Mistplay is free to download and use. However, in-game purchases may unlock bonus features, extra lives, or hints. The minimum withdrawal amount is $5, or 2070 units. Mistplay gives you a few ways to redeem your units, including PayPal payouts and Google Play Store gift cards.
- Wide variety of games
- More redemption options than many apps
- Doesn't require you to deposit cash to play
- Complex rewards system
- May need to make in-app purchases to advance in individual games
- Only available for Android devices
Learn more in our Mistplay review
Fetch Rewards
- Tasks: Using a browser extension, playing games, redeeming offers, scanning receipts, making friend referrals, and online shopping
- Platforms: Web browser, iOS, and Android app
- Mobile app reviews: The Fetch Rewards app earned 4.8 out of 5 stars and has over 6.5 million reviews on the Apple App Store and 4.7 out of 5 stars on Google Play with more than 1.4 million reviews.
Much like Swagbucks, Fetch Rewards pays users for playing games, shopping online, and scanning receipts. Whenever you use Fetch, you'll receive points that are redeemable for sweepstakes entries, charitable donations, or gift cards, including Google Play Store gift cards.
One of our favorite things about Fetch is that you can upload e-receipts directly from Amazon, Walmart, Instacart, or Sam's Club when you link Fetch to your store account. This tends to be easier than scanning paper receipts or manually downloading them, but Fetch also accepts scanned or e-receipts from many other stores.
You'll need at least 3,000 points to redeem most rewards. You can only redeem $10, $25, or $50 rewards the first time you try to cash out. After the first redemption, you can cash out rewards in $3 and $5 increments.
- Easy to sign up for and use
- Multiple money-earning tasks
- Automatically imports some e-receipts from various retail accounts
- May not earn much if you don't use Fetch a lot
- Must wait until you earn at least $10 for your first cash out
- Accounts become inactive after just 90 days
Learn more in our Fetch review.
How to maximize your gift card earnings
No get-paid-to (GPT) site will replace your full-time income, no matter what the ads promise. However, there are a few things you can do to maximize your earnings, like:
- Stay consistent. Many apps offer daily bonuses or rewards when you consistently check in. Even if it's just for a few minutes a day, open the app and see if any new tasks or games look interesting, take a survey, or play a round or two of a game you like.
- Use multiple sites. Using more than one of these apps at a time can help you maximize your earnings. Depending on the apps you choose, there may be some overlap in offerings. Or, you can use a combination of different types of apps, like legit game apps and cash back apps. Compare which sites offer the best payouts and user experiences.
However, be aware that you can't usually cash in on the same offers through multiple apps. For instance, if you download a game through Mistplay, you can't also earn points through Rewarded Play for that game. You would have to delete the game app and re-download it through Rewarded Play.
- Choose high-paying tasks. Some tasks pay more than others on apps that provide multiple ways to earn. For instance, games can be more rewarding than surveys. Don't waste your time on tasks that are only worth a few cents unless you enjoy them. Be strategic about your time spent compared to the payout offered.
FAQs
Which is better, Rewarded Play or Mistplay?
Determining which is better between Rewarded Play and Mistplay is a matter of personal preference, as they're similar apps. That said, Mistplay offers a better game selection and allows you to cash out via PayPal or a store gift card. Rewarded Play, on the other hand, doesn't have as many game options, but it has a wide variety of gift cards you can redeem your rewards for.
Can I use multiple reward apps at the same time?
You can use multiple reward apps at the same time, and using more than one is a good strategy to increase your earnings. However, be strategic if you use multiple sites. Since many sites offer the same games, ensure you download the game from the app with the best payout.
How long will it take to earn my first gift card?
The time it takes to earn your first gift card depends on several factors, including the app and tasks you choose, as well as the payout structure of each payment method. Swagbucks, for instance, only requires 300 Swagbucks (or $3) to cash out a gift card, but you have to wait until you earn $25 worth of Swagbucks before you can cash out via PayPal. Other apps have other payout structures.
Bottom line
Using these Google Play gift card-earning apps can be a good way to earn a little extra money to use in the Google Play Store, and it's smart to use more than one.
Before you sign up with any app, compare how much you can potentially earn and understand how the app pays out before you spend time using it.