The idea of making money in your sleep sounds like a dream, but it’s not impossible. With the right setup, you can actually earn passively without staying glued to your phone or computer all day and night.
Of course, this doesn’t mean money will magically appear overnight. You’ll need to put in some effort at the start. However, once things are set up, you can potentially earn a good income while you sleep.
Below, you’ll find realistic and free ways to make money in your sleep. I will include a brief description for each method, so you can easily identify which option/s suit you best.
What to expect?
Making money while you sleep sounds effortless, but it’s important to be realistic about what you’re getting into. These methods can work, but they won’t make you rich overnight. The good thing, though, is that all of them are free to apply for.
And if you ever get chosen, you can potentially earn good money. The opportunities you can expect to find here are sleep studies, product testing, and mattress gigs. These opportunities usually pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
That being said, qualifying for these opportunities won’t be a walk in the park because they are usually location-based. So, you’ll need to be patient in finding the right opportunity for you.
7 best ways to make money in your sleep
Now that you know what to expect from these opportunities, it’s time we discuss the actual methods to choose from. It’s not a prioritized list, so you can just choose which ones you prefer. In fact, I would even go as far as to suggest you try all of them.
That would be the best way to gain access to more opportunities to earn while you sleep. I will keep updating this guide if I find more great ways to make money in your sleep, so make sure to bookmark this page and check on it from time to time for new opportunities.
#1 – Clinicaltrials.gov
One of your best options to find sleep studies is to visit the website Clinicaltrials.gov. It is a publicly accessible database run by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
It’s the main platform where you can find detailed information about clinical studies being conducted all over the world. These studies involve human participants and are used to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of drugs, medical devices, behavioral treatments, and other healthcare-related interventions.
You can find sleep studies just by searching the database. Once it displays the search results, just click on one to see the full details, as well as how you can apply.
Most of the time, the sleep studies pay quite well, but they are very specific with who they accept as participants, so it can be quite hard to participate in one. But the good thing about this opportunity is that it can help you understand the sleep condition you might have, so it’s a win-win situation on your end, in my opinion.
#2 – Fortrea
Fortrea is a global contract research organization (CRO) that supports drug, biotechnology, and medical-device companies in developing and bringing therapies to patients. You can also find clinical studies about sleep on this website.
All of the clinical studies it offers pay really well ($5,000+), plus they usually include a travel allowance, so you won’t have to pay out of pocket to get to the location of the clinical study. You just have to keep in mind that they are very specific with who they accept, so it can take a lot of patience to find the right study for you.
#3 – Mattress Product Tests
The next opportunity is all about testing mattresses. SleepScore Labs, for example, runs a sleep study that invites people to participate in tracking their sleep at home. It uses a device and simple surveys, so that the company can evaluate how well different sleep products work in real-life environments.
As a participant, you’ll receive free products like mattresses and a $150 SleepScore Max, which is a device that helps you track your sleep. It’s not a way to earn extra cash, but you usually get a free mattress, which is a bit expensive.
This is just an example, and if you search online in your area, you can sometimes find more opportunities like this.
#4 – Online Focus Groups
While this opportunity doesn’t necessarily pay you to sleep, you can still earn some cash by discussing sleep-related topics. A good example of a site where you can find these opportunities is Respondent.
There won’t be a lot of focus groups or interview opportunities about sleep, but the good thing is that most of them will be conducted online, so you won’t have to travel to earn. It doesn’t pay as well as clinical trials and other sleep studies, but it also doesn’t require a lot of effort and time.
You can also check out the best online focus groups for money for more sites that offer this opportunity.
#5 – Mass General Brigham
Another place where you can find sleep studies and clinical trials is called Mass General Brigham, which is a large, nonprofit, integrated academic health-care system based in Massachusetts, USA. It offers everything from routine medical care to highly complex specialty treatments.
As mentioned, you can find sleep studies or clinical trials by simply doing a search on the website. These clinical trials and studies are usually conducted in Mass General Brigham’s member hospitals, so expect to travel to those locations to participate.
But again, most studies are looking for specific people, so you must be patient when looking for trials and studies to apply for. You can expect to earn around $100 or more from most studies about sleep, so it’s not as high-paying as the other options on this list. The good thing, though, is that their studies don’t require a lot of commitment on your end, which is probably the reason for the lower rewards, in my opinion.
#6 – Harvard Medical School
One more place where you can find sleep studies and clinical trials is the Harvard Medical School, specifically the Division of Sleep Medicine.
This division’s goal is to bring together clinicians, scientists, educators, and trainees working in sleep, circadian rhythms, and sleep disorders medicine.
You can find clinical trials and studies about sleep on its recruitment page. There aren’t a lot of studies, but most studies pay around $500 or more.
#7 – Passive Income Apps
The easiest way to earn money in your sleep is by using passive income apps. This is something anyone can do, but let me just be clear that you won’t earn a lot of money from this method.
Most of the time, all you have to do is install a program on your computer or phone and let it run in the background. While the program is running in the background when you are sleeping, you’ll earn a little bit of money.
It can take some time to accumulate a significant amount from this method, but you won’t really have to do anything once it is set up. So, it’s a very convenient way to earn, in my opinion.
For a list of great passive income apps, you can check out this list of the best passive income apps.
What to do if you don’t qualify for some of these opportunities?
If you don’t qualify for the clinical trials, focus groups, and other high-paying opportunities mentioned above (except for passive income apps, as everyone qualifies for these), you still have options to earn cash that’s close to what those opportunities are offering. You can check local hospitals or sleep clinics, and medical universities, because they usually run sleep studies regularly.
Some opportunities don’t make it to the big websites, but they still pay big money. For example, you can search for terms like “sleep studies near me” or “university research participants in (city name)”. These can be search terms you can use to find more opportunities.
It takes a bit of patience and effort on your end, but you can sometimes find better and more flexible opportunities this way. Plus, you might even end up sleeping better as a result of participating in these studies.
Final Thoughts
That concludes the guide on the best ways to make money in your sleep. As explained, it can require a bit of patience and effort to find the right opportunity for you. But if you ever find one that you are eligible to join, you can expect to earn a good amount.
Now, I would suggest trying out all the methods mentioned above, because that will give you the best chance of earning while you sleep. I will keep updating this guide if I find more good ways to earn while sleeping, so make sure to bookmark this page and check on it from time to time for new opportunities.
If you have any comments, questions, or know of great ways to make money in your sleep that you think belong in this guide, I would love to hear from you in a comment below.