InboxDollars online rewards club has plenty of legitimate ways to earn money – online surveys, paid emails, games, receipts or shopping online with cash back of 1% to 40%. Logging in daily gets you a better pick of the available surveys, and if you use online shopping, the coupons and discounts can add up. Regular users can make $10 to $50 a month.
Pros
- $5 sign up bonus – you get it after confirming your email and finishing a short profile survey.
- Pay per survey – most surveys pay $0.50 to $5 and take 3 to 25 minutes; a few pay $10 or more.
- Referral program – earn $3 for each friend who joins and earns $3, plus 10% of what your referrals earn.
- Lots of ways to earn money – read emails, shop online, scan receipts, play games, try app offers, invite friends and more.
Cons
- $15 minimum for the first cash-out ($10 after)
- Open only to US residents aged 18 or older
Is InboxDollars legit? Yes. InboxDollars is a free US rewards site, running since 2000, that pays real cash for surveys, paid emails, games and cash-back shopping. Expect pocket money, not a wage: it suits US adults who want small earnings in spare moments.
To see what it really pays, I spent 5 hours testing its surveys and shopping offers.
Surveys paid $0.75 in the first hour, $1.35 in the second, $1.75 in the third, $1.25 in the fourth and $0.68 in the fifth. Cash back on a Walmart shop added $12.38, for a total of $18.16.
The pay rate jumps around, but it adds up if you log in whenever you have a few spare minutes. Think of it as a small treat fund or a little help with your budget.
Is InboxDollars worth a try? Our video review shows what you need to know:
Best InboxDollars Alternatives
Swagbucks
Redeem e-gift cards from $1
Free coupons and daily deals
100+ gift cards available (Amazon, Visa)
Branded Surveys
$0.50 – $3 on average per survey
Surveys length up to 20 minutes
$5 minimum withdrawal to PayPal
KashKick
Earn from $0.1 to $2 per survey
Get paid to play games and take surveys
Minimum withdrawal threshold of $10
Survey Junkie
Withdraw to PayPal from $5
Earn points even when you screen out
Bank transfer available from $5
Is InboxDollars Legit?
Yes. InboxDollars has paid its members since 2000, and it paid me: I cashed out my earnings for a $15 Walmart gift card.
App users rate it highly: 4.5 out of 5 on the App Store from about 224,000 ratings, and 4.0 on Google Play from 163,000 reviews. Trustpilot shows no score: it has withheld InboxDollars’ rating for a breach of its guidelines and says it removed fake reviews. Of the 47,579 reviews there, 65% give five stars and 10% give one.
Most users find InboxDollars legitimate and worth their time, despite the drawbacks. Go in with realistic expectations: it pays small amounts, and patience pays off.
How Much Can You Make with InboxDollars?
Each survey shows its pay, length and topic before you start, so you can pick the ones worth your time.
InboxDollars says most surveys pay $0.50 to $5 and take 3 to 25 minutes. A few pay $10, $20 or more if you match the profile a researcher wants.
Here are my survey earnings from a 5-hour test:
If you shop online, you can also earn cash back through InboxDollars’ partner retailers. Rates vary by store, from 1% to 40%, at more than 1,000 stores.
I shopped with Walmart and made $12.38.
Free games, paid emails and the daily Learn & Earn question don’t pay cash directly. They fill your Scratch & Win bar, which unlocks scratch cards with cash prizes. InboxDollars no longer pays for watching videos.
Put together, surveys averaged $1.16 an hour in my test. The bigger sums come from cash back on shopping you would do anyway.
At my test’s pace of $1.16 an hour, an hour of surveys a day comes to about $35 a month.
How Does InboxDollars Cashback Work? Is it Worth It?
InboxDollars pays cash back two ways: Magic Receipts for shopping in stores and online shopping through its partner stores.
- In stores, you pick Magic Receipts offers, buy those products and upload your receipt. Offers pay from a few cents to several dollars.
- Online, you click through to a store from InboxDollars, or use its Billy Button extension for Chrome, and the cash back tracks to your account.
Online cash back covers more than 1,000 stores. Read each receipt offer carefully: some are tied to one store, and the product must match exactly.
DollarBreak’s InboxDollars Cashback Experience
We earned 50 cents for bananas at Walmart but only 1 cent for a $44.24 Publix shop. Multivitamins at Walmart paid $12, while a $5 mayonnaise offer slipped away because of store restrictions. Plan your purchases around the offers and use the app’s shopping list.
Whether it’s worth it depends on how you shop. It suits you if you shop often at Walmart, where we found the biggest rewards, and don’t mind cash back that builds slowly.
It takes attention to each offer’s details, and it won’t bring in large sums quickly.
How to Redeem Rewards from InboxDollars?
PayPal
InboxDollars pays cash to PayPal once you have $15 for your first cash-out and $10 after that, according to its help center (its terms of use still name $30). Your name, email and mailing address must match your PayPal account exactly, and PayPal needs a verified bank account or card.
PayPal payments usually process in about 3 business days, but InboxDollars says they can take up to 10. You can have only one payment pending at a time.
Prepaid Visa Cards
You can also cash out to a virtual Visa card, from the same minimum. InboxDollars mails nothing: the card’s link and code arrive by email.
Gift Cards
InboxDollars also pays in e-gift cards from popular brands, from the same $15 first cash-out. Choose carefully: once a gift card is processed, it can’t be returned or refunded.
Gift cards on offer include:
- Amazon
- Apple
- Target
- Walmart
- Starbucks
- Home Depot
- And many more
Gift cards usually process in 3 to 5 business days, and InboxDollars allows up to 10. The email with your code and redemption link arrives the day your payment is processed.
Paper Checks (No Longer Offered)
InboxDollars no longer pays by paper check. Its payment options are PayPal, gift cards and Visa cards, all delivered online.
Is InboxDollars Worth it?
InboxDollars is a reputable rewards site with plenty of legitimate ways to earn. Regular users can expect $10 to $50 a month, and logging in daily gets you a better pick of surveys.
Its cash back and coupon codes for online stores also help you save on shopping. It’s a source of extra cash, not a replacement for your job.
How to Sign Up With InboxDollars?
Signing up for InboxDollars takes a few minutes on the website or in the app. You must be 18 or older and live in the US. A short profile survey then matches you with surveys that fit you.
Details you’ll be asked for include:
- Email address
- Age
- Ethnicity
- Income
- Marital status
- And many more
Confirm your email and finish the short profile survey (about 2 minutes) to get the $5 welcome bonus. A site tour then walks you through the main ways to earn.
InboxDollars Hacks to Earn More
Provide accurate information
Give accurate answers when you set up your InboxDollars account and fill in its profile surveys.
InboxDollars uses your profile to match you with surveys, so accurate details mean fewer disqualifications and better matches. The profile surveys pay a little too, once each.
Fill your Scratch & Win bar
Survey attempts, paid emails, free games and the daily Learn & Earn question all fill your Scratch & Win bar. Each full level unlocks a scratch card: the first pays up to $10 or a bonus, and bigger prizes wait if you keep building.
Even a survey that screens you out moves you toward a card. Not every card wins, though.
Focus on taking longer surveys
InboxDollars surveys take anywhere from about 3 to 25 minutes.
Most pay $0.50 to $5, and longer ones usually pay more. Focusing on them is often the better use of your time.
A few surveys pay $10, $20 or more if you match the profile a researcher needs. Watch for them.
Other Ways to Make Money with InboxDollars
Beyond paid online surveys, InboxDollars pays for several other tasks.
Online Shopping
Shop online through InboxDollars and you earn cash back at more than 1,000 stores, including Walmart, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Lowe’s and Best Buy. The store pays InboxDollars a commission, and InboxDollars passes part of it to you: 1% to 40%, depending on the store.
It also lists coupon codes for online stores, so you can add a discount on top of the cash back.
InboxDollars Paid Email
Active members get up to 3 PaidEmails a day. Confirming one (clicking the link inside) fills your Scratch & Win bar, though a few long-time members still earn cash instead. Completing the advertiser’s offer in the email pays its own reward.
Scratch cards are luck-based: some win cash or a bonus, and some win nothing.
Coupons
InboxDollars stopped paying for printed grocery coupons in 2022. For grocery savings, use its Magic Receipts offers instead, and check its coupon codes for online stores.
Invite Friends
InboxDollars pays you $3 for each friend who joins and earns their first $3. You also get 10% of your referrals’ earnings, with no cap.
Bring in enough friends and family, and referrals can become a small source of passive income.
Watch Videos (No Longer Paid)
InboxDollars no longer pays you to watch videos: its video section has closed, and the old page now shows an “unavailable” error. For apps that still do, see our list of ways to get paid to watch ads.
InboxDollars Games
Its own free games, such as Monkey Bubble Shooter, Mahjong Solitaire, Outspell and Candy Jam, fill your Scratch & Win bar rather than paying cash. Cash comes from game app offers, which pay when you reach set goals in a new mobile game, and from 18% cash back on what you spend on GSN games.
Searching Online (Ended)
InboxDollars has ended Search and Earn, which paid you for web searches, because it no longer works with a search provider. For apps that still pay you to search the web, see our guide.
Its Billy Button extension for Chrome is still offered. One click takes you to your surveys or to shopping, and your purchases track to your account.
WinIt Codes
InboxDollars posts WinIt codes at random on its Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram pages. Enter one on your profile page before it expires to win cash or Scratch & Win progress.
Codes are case-sensitive and expire quickly, so check often.
Scanning Receipts
Snap your receipts in the InboxDollars app to earn cash on Magic Receipts offers. Eligible stores mostly sell food, household, health or beauty products.
Eligible stores include:
- Grocery stores and supermarkets
- Supercenters and club stores
- Dollar stores
- Drugstores and pharmacies
- Convenience stores
- Beauty, pet and toy stores
InboxDollars Rating Methodology
InboxDollars Review
We rate survey and reward apps on four things: Test Earnings, Earning Potential, Payout Process and Users Reviews. That balances our own test results with what users say.
InboxDollars scores 2.8 out of 5 for Test Earnings. Surveys paid $5.78 in our 5-hour test, below the $7.50 industry average and behind LifePoints ($13.85) and Branded Surveys ($10.71), though ahead of PrizeRebel ($4.71). Cash back and referrals can add about $2.50, which lifts its score slightly.
InboxDollars scores 3 out of 5 for Earning Potential. One to two hours a day can bring up to $60 a month, level with Survey Junkie and PrizeRebel but behind Swagbucks ($90) and LifePoints ($100). It no longer pays for watching videos, but surveys, emails, shopping, games, offers and referrals still give you plenty of variety.
InboxDollars scores 2.9 out of 5 for Payout Process. Your first cash-out needs $15 and later ones $10, more than Swagbucks ($3) or PrizeRebel ($5 for PayPal), so you get paid less often. It pays by PayPal, gift card or virtual Visa card, but the first-payout threshold remains its biggest drawback.
InboxDollars scores 4.3 out of 5 for Users Reviews, from the ratings it held when we scored it. It now has 4.5 on the App Store and 4.0 on Google Play, while Trustpilot has withheld its score for a guidelines breach.
Overall, InboxDollars rates 3.3 out of 5. Strong user reviews and many ways to earn are offset by low test earnings and a high first cash-out. If you like variety and don’t mind waiting to cash out, it’s a solid choice.
What is InboxDollars?
InboxDollars is a US rewards site that pays cash for surveys, paid emails, games, shopping and other simple tasks, a low-effort way to earn money online. It’s owned by Prodege, the company behind Swagbucks.
It launched in 2000 and says it has paid its members more than $80 million since then.
Is InboxDollars free?
Yes. It’s free to join, and you get a $5 welcome bonus once you confirm your email and complete a short profile survey.
How to download the InboxDollars mobile app?
Search for “InboxDollars” in the App Store on an iPhone or iPad, or in Google Play on an Android phone. The app is free.
Where is InboxDollars available?
InboxDollars is open only to people aged 18 or older who live in the 50 US states. It doesn’t accept members from Canada or other countries, and it bans VPNs and proxies.
Is InboxDollars a scam?
No. InboxDollars has paid members since 2000 and is owned by Prodege, which also runs Swagbucks. The usual complaints are survey disqualifications, slow crediting and the $15 first cash-out.
Is your information safe with InboxDollars?
InboxDollars is a real company that uses your profile to match you with surveys and offers. Its website has a “Your Privacy Choices” link where US residents can opt out of the sale or sharing of their personal data.
Who is InboxDollars for?
InboxDollars suits US adults who want to earn some extra cash in their free time with simple tasks. Most surveys take 3 to 25 minutes, so they fit into short breaks.
If you need cash sooner, pair it with other ways to make money fast.
How much are InboxDollars points worth?
InboxDollars doesn’t use points. Your balance shows in dollars and cents, which makes it easier to track than most survey sites.
How long does InboxDollars take to pay?
PayPal and gift card payments usually process in about 3 business days, though InboxDollars says they can take up to 10. You get an email when your payment is processed, and you can have only one pending at a time.
Does InboxDollars still pay you to watch videos?
No. InboxDollars has closed its video section. It now pays for surveys, paid emails, shopping, receipts, games and app offers.
Who owns InboxDollars?
Prodege, the company behind Swagbucks, owns InboxDollars. It bought the site’s parent company, CotterWeb Enterprises, in 2019.
