Are you wondering how much you can really earn from survey sites?
There is a lot of information about this, and it can be quite confusing what info to believe.
That’s why I’ve decided to settle it once and for all and give you an insider’s take on survey sites.
I have taken thousands of online surveys myself over the past 8 years, and I have tested hundreds of survey sites and apps.
This guide will answer the question “How much do survey sites pay per hour?” and it will also explain more about all the information you usually find online about these sites and why it can be so conflicting.
It will also explain how paid survey sites work so you can get a general idea of how much you can earn from them. And later on, I will give you a few tips on how to find the best survey sites for you.
All the information I will be sharing with you will be based on my experiences of answering thousands of surveys over the past few years. Hopefully, this should be able to clear up all the questions you have in mind and you can find out if paid surveys are the right way for you to earn extra cash online.
So, let’s get started.
Can you trust the information online that shows survey earnings?
As mentioned above, there is a lot of information about survey earnings online. If you do a Google search about this topic, you will find a lot of sites talking about how much you can earn from surveys. You will even find a lot of videos explaining the same thing.
In fact, I have made a video about this myself if you prefer watching a video instead of reading? You can also read all the details below the video:
Recommended: Check Out the Top Survey Sites in Your Country
But can sites and videos that give info about how much you can earn from surveys, in general, be trusted? The short answer is NO – most of them can, unfortunately, not.
The more complicated answer is, most of these sites and videos don’t really speak the truth about survey earnings. It’s very rare to find sites and videos that are based on actual experiences of answering surveys.
This is especially true in YouTube videos. More often than not, these YouTubers are really just doing it to gain views and hopefully earn from it.
They do this by making really entertaining video. But very often, they already know what their conclusion in the video will be before they even start answering surveys.
So, the information you get will more or less be biased and, therefore, can’t be relied upon. Sometimes, these videos even bash certain survey sites just to promote another way to earn, which, of course, they will be able to profit from.
The same is true for websites. Websites also have their own agenda for pushing content like this.
In one way or another, they want to profit from it. Just to be clear, I’m not against making money from this, but at the very least, you should always provide honest information since a lot of people base their decisions on it. It’s the responsible thing to do, in my opinion.
So my point is that you need to be careful about believing info that claims you can either make a ton of money without any effort on survey sites or people who claim that survey sites are a complete waste of time.
Now, the question is then, can you really earn money from these survey sites? And if so, will there be an hourly rate? Let’s discuss that in more detail in the next section.
Can you calculate an hourly rate on survey sites?
The answer to the question above is NO and let me explain to you why. Answering paid surveys isn’t exactly a job where you get paid by the hour. You get paid per survey you manage to complete. So, it actually doesn’t make sense to think about an hourly rate.
The way survey sites work is that you usually have to go through a set of qualifying questions first so that the site can determine if you are a good fit for the survey. If you pass the qualifying process, you get to answer the actual survey. And when you finish the survey, you will get paid.
That’s how it usually works. However, more often than not, you won’t be the right fit for the survey. So, you won’t get to answer and complete the survey, and you won’t earn anything. That’s why you won’t be able to earn a fixed amount per hour when answering surveys.
It will all depend on how often you will qualify for a survey. And in that regard, you don’t really have any control over that. The best and right thing you can do is to always answer questions as honestly as you can.
The reason why I say it’s the right thing to do is, if you answer each question with the mindset of “what’s the best answer to get qualified?”, then you are actually doing more harm than good. Sure, you might qualify which will lead to getting paid, but you are not providing honest answers.
And that is totally defeating the purpose of the survey. You see, surveys are designed to get honest feedback from the respondents so that a certain decision can be made based on the feedback provided. If the feedback provided isn’t an honest one, then the decision made will be flawed.
And most survey sites also have systems in place, so you need to avoid survey errors like this, as you end up just getting banned,
That is why it is recommended to always answer surveys as honestly as you can so that the market research company can make the suitable decisions from the feedback provided.
Now, getting back to the topic at hand, there’s really no guarantee you can earn a set amount per hour from paid survey sites. If you prefer to earn that way, I would recommend you get a job with a contract where you know exactly how much you will earn per hour.
Because the reality is, when it comes to paid surveys, the rate you will earn will fluctuate due to several reasons, which I will discuss next.
What will affect your earning opportunities?
There are several factors that will affect how much you can earn from a paid survey site. The primary factor will be your location.
Yes, the country you live in plays a major factor in how much you can earn from a survey site.
There are some countries that offer more surveys than others and in some cases, they even pay more. In my experience, major countries like the US, Canada, and the UK offer more surveys than small countries.
The reason for this is that the market research that is being done is valuable for companies that pay for this research and these companies are often more interested in market research from the markets in the countries mentioned.
However, there will also be great opportunities in many other countries and later I will explain more about how you can find good options no matter where you live.
Now, if you are considering using a VPN to get access to surveys from a different country than where you live, I would highly recommend you refrain from doing so.
The reason is that survey sites have the capability to recognize if you are using VPN software. When that happens, they will ban your account, and you will lose all your earnings. So, you’ve basically just wasted your time since you won’t get paid.
Another reason is that it is unethical to use VPN on paid survey sites because it is considered fraud. So, you’re actually hurting real people and real businesses by doing this.
Another factor that can affect your earnings is how well a site pays for every survey you complete. In the photo shown above, you can earn around $0.60 to $2 for every survey you complete. The photo shown above is from a site called ySense.
While I’m not saying all survey sites pay you this kind of amount per survey, it’s a fairly good representation of how much you can earn for surveys. And as you can see in the photo above, their surveys usually take around 10 to 15 minutes to complete.
Of course, surveys that take significantly longer to complete will also pay significantly more. That’s usually how paid surveys work, in my experience.
Lastly, the amount you can earn from paid survey sites will also depend on the amount of time you are willing to invest in it. Based on my experience, great survey sites are always upfront with how much you can earn per survey and how long it will take to complete it.
So, if you have limited free time, you can always just go for surveys that pay the most for your time. That’s one good way to earn efficiently.
How to find the best survey sites for you?
With everything that was explained above, the best thing you can do to maximize your earnings from paid survey sites is to join multiple sites and find the best survey sites for you.
Joining multiple survey sites will give you access to more opportunities, hence increasing your chances of earning.
I would recommend you join around 5 to 7 sites. This will give you access to an ample number of surveys you can answer on a daily basis.
As to which sites you should join, in my experience, it is best to join survey sites that have specific survey panels for your country. That way, you are guaranteed that there will always be surveys available for you.
The reason for this is, if you join a global survey site, there are two things that usually happen. You won’t always get invitations for surveys. You will only get one if there is a survey available for your country. Or, you might receive survey invitations but you won’t qualify because you are not located in the country the survey is intended for.
Whereas if you join a survey site with a specific survey panel for your country, then you the surveys being offered are more often for you. So, there’s a higher chance of qualifying.
If you need help regarding which sites to join, I would recommend you check out the top survey sites in your country. Just choose the country you live in, and you will see all the best survey sites you can join. These sites all have good earning potential and they are also free to join. So you can register and start earning right away.
Final thoughts
So to conclude, it would be inaccurate to think that you will be able to earn a certain amount per hour from survey sites for the simple reason that the amount you will earn from paid survey sites will always fluctuate.
It’s not a day job where you get paid by the hour. That’s why any site or video claiming you can earn a certain amount per hour from a survey site is simply not telling the truth, in my opinion.
What makes survey sites a good option to earn extra cash online is that you can be flexible with the number of hours you can work, and you can always work whenever you want. This is something that you simply can’t have with a day job.
Of course, it is important to note that the amount you can earn from survey sites will not compare to what you can earn from a full-time job. At best, it can be a good source of “spending money”, so to speak. That’s why it is important to set your expectations properly with paid survey sites so you won’t be disappointed.
But if you do it with the right expectations, paid surveys are one of the easiest and fastest ways to start making some extra money online.
You can find a list of the best paid survey sites in your country here, to get a great start and earn as effectively as possible.
If you have any comments, questions, or have any experiences with this topic, I would love to hear from you in a comment below.
