Is YouGov Legit or a Scam? (Full YouGov Review)

YouGov Rating


YouGov is a great and safe survey site with regular surveys and the rewards are decent in relation to time spent. It is easy to use, and you will get an email every time there is a new survey.

YouGov is a survey site where you can supposedly get paid to share your opinions.

But is YouGov legit and really a survey site where you can make some extra money online easily, or is it a scam to stay away from?

I have been a member of the YouGov panel for several years and know all the details about this survey site. I have tested it thoroughly and compared it with hundreds of other survey sites I have tested.

In this YouGov review, I will share my experiences with you, give you the pluses, the minuses, and some advice that can be helpful if you decide to join YouGov.

After reading this review, it will be easy for you to decide if it will be worth it for you to sign up for YouGov or not.

What is YouGov, and what opportunities does it offer?

YouGov is a market research company that also has a member panel you can sign up for and get paid to answer surveys and give your opinion.

It has its headquarters in the UK and was founded in 2000, so it has existed for a while now. You can, however, join from many other parts of the world, which I will get into later.

Let me reveal right away that YouGov is not a scam site.

It is free to join and use, and I have myself been paid by it many times over the last few years, so it is a legit and safe site that will actually pay you.

That it is not a scam does, however, not necessarily mean that it will be the right survey site for you to join. But you will know that after learning all the details about the site's offers.

So, let's go over the options YouGov offers and how good they are.

Option 1 – Paid Surveys

YouGov is, first of all, a survey site, and it more or less only offers paid surveys as a way to earn. It does, however, offer surveys quite frequently compared to many other similar sites.

You will receive an email every time a new survey is available. It can be different from country to country, but on average, you can expect 5-7 surveys a week, in my experience. During some seasons, it will, however, be fewer.

The average survey takes 5-15 minutes to complete, and YouGov pays quite well for the time spent compared to many other survey sites. There are, on occasion, surveys that will take longer, but then the reward will also be higher.

When you receive an email about an available YouGov survey, you unfortunately cannot see in this email how large the reward is or how long it takes.

It is, however, very easy to find out, so you still know this before deciding whether you want to participate in a certain survey or not. You just click the link in the email, and then you will see how many points you can make and the approximate time. If you decide you do not want to participate, you can just close the window.

A big plus is that they rarely send you a survey link you don't qualify for. And if they do, you usually get another survey instead. Other survey sites could learn from this, as it can be frustrating to click on several surveys that turn out not to be available anyway.

The site is quite easy to use compared to some other paid survey sites. However, as you receive an email whenever there is a new survey, you do not have to log in to the site itself very often.

And the YouGov surveys are often about very interesting and relevant topics you can easily relate to, in my opinion. In fact, I find them more interesting than surveys on many other survey sites, and you can even get to see the results of them, as I will explain more about next.

Option 2 – See the Results of Surveys

YouGov offers the chance to actually see what your answers in the surveys are used for. Around once a month, they send out a newsletter, where they link to some of the national and international stories where their survey results have been quoted.

It can be quite interesting to see how a survey you have participated in has been quoted and what the result is. This is the only survey site I have found where you get the chance to see the results of the surveys you participate in.

yougov surveys results
On YouGov, you can see the results of the surveys they conduct.

You can also find this info on the website if you do not want to receive the newsletter.

On the front page of the survey panel website, there will be a section with the latest results. I personally think this is a great feature, and very interesting to see how my opinion is a part of the public debate.

This also shows the true strength of paid surveys – you will have your opinion heard, and your answers matter, which is something people sometimes forget when they take surveys.

The earnings are definitely nice, but it is also great to be heard – and paid surveys combine both. On YouGov, it is just clearer what your answers will be compared to many other sites, and this is something I think is great.

Option 3 – Referral Program

In some countries, YouGov offers you the chance to earn extra rewards by inviting friends to join the platform as well.

Once you are logged in, you will see a link you can share with your friends if this option is available in your country.

You will, however, not get an extra reward just by inviting friends. If a friend joins through your invitation link, you will get paid a reward once the person has taken a certain number of surveys.

In the country where I live, a person has to take 5 surveys before I would get a reward. But this can vary from country to country.

The rewards for this will not be huge, and you can only invite people from your own country to join through this link, so it is not necessarily a way to make a lot of money, but it can also be nice with a few extra points in your YouGov account once in a while.

So, if you like what YouGov offers, then why not invite some of your friends to join as well?

Click to Check Out YouGov for Yourself

How does YouGov pay?

You will earn points for every survey you take on YouGov. These points can be exchanged for many different rewards.

The exact rewards depend on the country you live in. In some countries, you can mainly exchange your points for gift cards or products, but usually, it is then some really good options you have, so there will still be plenty of great rewards.

In other countries, you can get paid in cash through PayPal, bank transfer, or prepaid Visa cards.

payout options of yougov
YouGove offers convenient payout options.

In some places, YouGov also has its own lottery, and you can use your points in exchange for chances to win the lottery.

The prizes you can win in the lottery can be big, but there are also not big chances that you will win. I prefer just using my points for something where I know what I will get.

When you have completed a survey, you will be directed to YouGov's website, where you can see how many points you have just earned and how many you have in total.

Exactly how much you need to earn before you can get paid also varies from country to country, but in most countries, the payout threshold will not be hard to reach. When I did my testing, the threshold was €10, which is a relatively low threshold.

So overall, the reward options on YouGov are really good, in my opinion, but if they fit your preferences, of course, it depends on the exact options in your country, which you have to check out on the website of your country (see link further down).

How much money can you make on YouGov?

Compared to many other paid survey sites, YouGov has decent rewards for surveys compared to the time spent. It is easy and quick to participate, as you just click the link in the email they send.

You will get your first 100 points just for signing up and taking a very short welcome survey (around 3 minutes).

You can always decide whether you want to participate in a certain survey or not, and you can see the reward and the estimated time it will take before you take a survey.

You will not get rich from taking surveys on YouGov, but that is the case for any survey site. But it has good opportunities and can give some nice extra cash.

As it only offers paid surveys, it will, of course, not have as many daily opportunities as Get-Paid-To sites like, for example, Swagbucks or PrizeRebel. But YouGov is super easy to use, and the surveys are about interesting topics, and you get good rewards for your time, so it's definitely a site worth checking out.

Can you use YouGov on mobile devices?

YouGov can easily be used on mobile devices. This is always an advantage when it is possible on survey sites, as it makes it easy to make money on the go and take a survey when you have a little extra time during the day.

yougov app
The YouGov app makes it easy to take surveys on the go.

YouGov has an app you can download for both Android and iOS, and it is very easy to use.

You can decide for yourself if you want a notification on your phone when there is a newly available survey, which is a great way to find out right away.

This can help you earn more, as most surveys are only looking for a certain number of participants, so getting to them quickly increases your chances of qualifying and thereby earning.

If you do not like notifications like this, you can just turn this off and still use the YouGov app.

If you join YouGov, I would recommend that you check out the app, as it is a very easy way to take the surveys and get an overview of your earnings.

Who can join?

YouGov is available in most of the world, as you can see on the map below.

yougov world panels
YouGov has panels in many countries.

The light red colors are YouGov Panels, and the dark red colors are YouGov partners. You can click the picture to see a bigger version.

The great thing about YouGov is that the panels are specific panels for each country, so the surveys will, in most cases, be in the local language, and the surveys will often be about topics that are relevant to the specific country.

How old you have to be to join can vary depending on the country you live in. So you have to check this on your local YouGov website if you are interested in joining and are not above 18.

At the end of this review, you can find a link to YouGov in your country if it is available there.

How to use YouGov?

If you like to get a visual idea of the site and see how it works, I have made this quick guided video tour and tutorial of YouGov so you can see exactly what it offers and how to use it.

Youtube video

Click to Check Out YouGov for Yourself

Can you get support?

Being able to get support is important on any survey site, even though you will hopefully never need it.

On YouGov, you should first go through their FAQ section. They have one available in each country, and this will give you answers to many questions, which is definitely worth going over.

If you still have questions, you can submit your questions to their support team. How quickly you will get an answer and how good the help will be, depends a lot on the country. From what I have tried myself and from what I have heard from others, the support is great in some countries, while it is not that fast or great in others.

But if you should ever need help, YouGov offers a decent way to get support, and in many cases, you will probably never need to contact their support.

Final Verdict

YouGov is safe and legit and is, in my opinion, a great paid survey site.

But it depends on your country and what you are looking for. So let's finish this review by summing up the pros and cons so you can get a better overview before deciding if you should join or not:

pros

Pros:

  • Very easy to use.
  • Decent rewards in relation to time spent.
  • Gives the chance to see the results of the surveys.
  • Rarely sends surveys you do not qualify for.
  • Has a user-friendly app
cons

Cons:

  • Not as many surveys as some other survey sites.

YouGov is, in my opinion, definitely a survey site that is worth joining. It does, however, depend on the reward options in the country you live in, as they are different from country to country.

It has a good amount of available surveys, but if you are interested in earning daily, you should also join other survey sites in addition to YouGov. But as YouGov is easy to use and offers pretty well-paid surveys, it is definitely a site I recommend joining and one that can earn you some nice extra cash or rewards.

How to join YouGov?

YouGov is very easy to join. Just click the button below, select the country and group you belong to, and then fill out the sign-up form on YouGov's website (takes 1 minute).

After you join, you just need to do a small intro survey, which only takes around 3 minutes, and you will get a reward for it. So, you will start earning right away with the intro survey, and after that, you will start being invited to surveys regularly.

If you have experiences with YouGov, have any comments, or any questions, I would love to hear from you in a comment below.

94 thoughts on “Is YouGov Legit or a Scam? (Full YouGov Review)”

  1. I’m reluctant to use survey sites. I’ve tried them in the past and usually got a ton of spam in my inbox. If yougov related to a government or is it private domain. It sound more like a marketing ploy.

    Do you really think online surveys are worth the time and effort or do you know a better way to make money online?

    Reply
    • Hi Gary,

      I also hate getting spam. However, I think it depends on which survey sites you join. I receive a lot of email, but mostly only when there is a new survey available. So I have actually not had problems with more spam since I joined survey sites. But I do recommend people that want to join survey sites, to consider making a new email just for the surveys. Mostly because if you sign up for several sites, you can get many emails daily, and it might be nice to keep them separated from other emails to get a better overview.

      If online surveys are worth the time and effort, I think really depends on your expectations. It can be a great way to make a bit of extra money on the side without much effort – but it does also depend on which sites you join. I have joined sites that took a lot of effort for very little reward, but after figuring that out, I just stick to the ones that I think are the best. I hope that I with this website can help people to find these site more easily without having to test a lot of bad sites themselves.

      But yes, if you want to make a living online and are willing to put in all the training and work it takes, I think the best way is to learn how to build on online income from a good website. It takes effort, but it can also be very profitable. Never believe the sites that promise you can get rich from doing nothing and just spending a few minutes a day. But if you are interested in creating an online business, I recommend you to check out this article and video that gives a great overview about how to do that: How to create an online business.

      Reply
      • Hi Jessie,

        No, you cannot use Western Union. But you can also check out the best survey sites in PH where some of them offer other payout methods.

        But if you want to earn by taking paid surveys, it can, in general, be a good idea to get PayPal as many sites offer this as a payout method. It is free to get an account so you might want to consider getting one as it is an easy way to get earnings from survey sites.

        Mikael

        Reply
        • Hi
          Thanks for your review but I’m from Nigeria and we are currently ban from using PayPal as a country, we can only pay out using PayPal but can’t receive any payment via PayPal so I want to know if I can cash out via Western union or what would you suggest and I do love suggestions of other great survey sites I can also take advantage of considering my country thanks.

          Reply
          • as far I know, YouGov does not have a panel in Nigeria? Did you join a Nigerian YouGov panel or have you joined a panel in another country?

    • Hi Yvonne,

      No unfortunately YouGov do not offer to pay to PayPal. I hope they will introduce it at some point as that would make it one of my absolute favourite survey sites. But they offer a long range of products you can exchange your points into, so it is definitely possible to find something nice. But if you are only interested in sites that pay to PayPal, YouGov is unfortunately not the right choice.

      Mikael

      Reply
  2. I always liked the idea of filling out these surveys for a bit of money but I’m sure there’s some sort of catch. I’ve heard a few horror stories about low payment and the amount of time needed to complete each one. What do you think about them in general? What would you suggest instead when it comes to earning online?

    Reply
    • Hi Chris,

      I think that surveys in general can be a great way to earn a bit of extra cash. But there are unfortunately also many sites that are a waste of time. I am trying to expose some of these in my reviews as well.

      The thing about survey sites is that you often hear complains from people that have unrealistic expectations. Some sites definitely also give false hopes by promising too much, which is a part of the problem. Another thing is that which survey sites are good and how many surveys you will get depends a lot on where you live. A survey site might be very good for one person in one country but not for another.

      So I think there are too many negative stories about survey sites. Definitely also due to the many scam sites that exist. But I have benefitted a lot from survey sites and been able to make some nice extra pocket money. For me the great thing about surveys is, that you can actually make some money online without any investment, without any risk, and without any training at all. You cannot say that about any other way of making money online.

      But it is important to have realistic expectations. Doing paid surveys will not make you rich and will not make you a full time income. If that is what you are looking for, you have to be willing to work hard and probably also make a bit of investment. In one of the comments below, I have posted a link to the training platform I would recommend, if that is the way you wanna go.

      Reply
    • Hi Amor,

      yes YouGov has sites in many different languages and also in English. In the top left corner next to the logo, you can click the small country code (in this case DK), Then you will get the chance to chose your country and language. Let me know, if it still does not work.

      Mikael

      Reply
  3. This is a great way to make some extra cash. Its my number one place to go to spend 5-10 minutes to make a few bucks. One question though that I can not find an answer to. Is there any reward for answering the additional “Take Part” questions on the site?

    Reply
    • Thanks for your comment Lisa.

      YouGov is available in many countries and in many languages, so there might be slight difference from country to country. But all the surveys I have done on YogGov has given me rewards (and I have done many). There are however some surveys that do not give you points that you can exchange for rewards. Usually these are shorter surveys, and you will instead get entries into the monthly lottery. But you can always see before doing any survey on YouGov what that reward will be, if you complete it. Hope this answers your question – if not feel free to let me know.

      All the best,
      Mikael

      Reply
    • Hi Karis,

      YouGov is definitely legit. But why would they ask for your account number? Is it because they offer to pay directly into your bank account in your country? If that is the case, I would trust YouGov. I have been paid by it several times myself.

      Mikael

      Reply
  4. I have seen several comments of Facebook & other sites from people who have given their bank account info and never received their payment. I always used to cash out with the $100 Visa card which gives you flexibility on where you can use it. They do not offer that anymore. I really don’t like the idea of giving my banking info to a company that doesn’t even list a phone #. Most sites have paypal which is very safe & secure to use. Do anyone else feel uneasy about giving bank account #’s to this company?

    Reply
    • Hi Don,

      I understand your concern. I am also very careful about which companies I give my bank info to. YouGov does not offer the opportunity to pay directly into the bank account in the country I live in, but if it did, I probably would give my info to them, as I have already been paid in other ways by them and know they pay. But if you do not feel comfortable with it, there are luckily many other great survey sites that pay out in different ways.

      I agree that PayPal definitely is a great way to get paid on survey sites and it is also my preferred way on sites that offer this. YouGov does also offer this in some countries but sounds like that, unfortunately, is not the case in your country.

      Mikael

      Reply
        • It depends on the country you live in. In some countries it does and in others, it does not.

          So you need to check for your specific country or you can tell me which country you live in and I will see if I can find out.

          Mikael

          Reply
    • I have always received a credit card payment in the past. This time it said they wanted my bank account number. Are you kidding me! In the world we live in today and all the account break ins, there is no way I will give this out. I am leaving YouGov. Too bad they had to mess with a good thing.

      Reply
  5. I got to within 15 points of the £50 cash payout 3 months ago, and since then I have not reviewed a single poll request, I used to get one a week at least. When I log onto the sit it just says there are no polls for me.
    Coincidence?

    Reply
    • Sounds strange Tony.

      I have been paid by YouGov myself several times and have not experienced anything similar. Sorry to hear this.

      I know many survey sites (including YouGov) have had a lot fewer available surveys over Christmas and New Year because most of the research companies have also been away for a break.

      Hope this is just the case for you and that you will soon get more surveys and be able to cash out. Feel free to keep us updated.

      Mikael

      Reply
  6. Thanks for sharing your experience Chak and for sharing your income proof.

    The processing time can vary from country to country and in some countries, it does not take as long.

    Thanks again for sharing.

    Mikael

    Reply
  7. I just decided to try this site so I signed up and they have no PayPal option for my country (USA). I am not interested in any of the gift cards they offer ( very few to say the least). I would certainly never give out my bank info to ANY survey company especially one that looks as LAME as this one so I am out of this site. I don’t know why you rate it so high on your best list. Just FYI.

    Reply
    • Thanks for sharing your experience Robert.

      YouGov has different payout methods in different countries and they change them sometimes also. But overall, I have had really good experiences with it myself and actually been a member for years and have taken many surveys there and mostly had good experiences. That is why I give it a pretty good rating – but experiences are different from person to person so that is why it is great when others also take the time to share theirs.

      So thanks for sharing.

      Reply
      • I appreciate your honesty in replying to my post. I have been following your recommendations for sites to try and have had some good success following your recommendations. For me it has been SB, PR, PV and GB’s. I really like your insights in helping to give the survey community a heads up. Your reviews are very helpful. Keep up the good work. All the best.

        Reply
          • Hi Mike
            Thanks for the review, please I just registered now and I have done my first review and I currently have a total of 160 points on my YouGov account.

            Please what’s the minimum point that I need to have before cashing out and what options of cashing out would you suggest for someone like me from who is based in Nigeria, thanks.

          • As mentioned in the previous comment, I can not see YouGov has a panel in Nigeria. So cannot say for sure what rewards it offers there. So first I want to make sure you joined a Nigerian panel for YouGov? If you did, can you send me a link to the website if YouGov in Nigeria? Then I will take a look.

      • Hey mikael I’m using yougov I’m from ethiopia but joined yougov using a VPN and it worked but when I reached the payout threshold I couldn’t find the paypal payment method available, is there a way

        Reply
        • The reason you cannot cash out is because you have committed fraud – using VPN on survey and Get-Paid-To sites is fraud and you hurt a lot of people and businesses by doing this. Also, most sites have strict security so they will find out when you use VPN and they will block you and you will lose your earnings. So if you want to use these sites, you have to do it honestly and stick to sites that are available in your country.

          Reply
  8. After registering, I began to fill out the survey and received a message: “Thank you for your interest. We regret to inform you that YouGov MENA does not work in your country of residence.”

    Reply
    • you mean how long it takes for you to receive the reward after requesting it?

      Then it depends on the reward you choose and the country you live in. But usually maximum a couple of days, in my experience.

      Reply
        • as mentioned, it varies from country to country how long it takes but you will definitely get your money. They maybe wrote in the confirmation email when you can expect them. If you have not received them after around a week or so, then try contacting their support.

          Let me know how it goes.

          Reply
  9. Yougov was great but not anymore, money was never sent to me for over a year and customer service never replies no matter how many times I message them. You can find a lot of people complaining about the same in trustpilot reviews.

    Reply
    • How good the support is will depend a lot on the country you live in as the support team will be different from country to country.

      Personally, I have never had problems getting my rewards.

      Reply
  10. Can you share with us other survey sites similar to YouGov with no disqualification of surveys? Otherwise i want to join another site like this, I’m in UK thanks.

    Reply
  11. Hello! Just a quick background, you’ve helped me get so much money in the past few months since I don’t have a job. But one quick thing, is YouGov one of the best sites you personally use every day? And are there sites that you rated 5/5 stars?

    Reply
  12. I’m shocked that anyone had good experiences with YouGov. I used them for years (it was OK), but it’s really gone down hill in the past couple years. Slower, errors, zero support etc. But worst of all, as you build up your points and approach pay-out levels, then they screw you over. They deleted my account eliminating two years worth of points. I don’t know why I trusted them again, but the next time I approached payout levels, the survey invitations mysteriously slowed to a crawl. And then, most were no longer for points. They would sneak in ‘free’ surveys (my time/labor was free to them!).

    Reply
    • Thanks for sharing your experiences. The experience will be very different from country to country as they have a different number of available surveys, different support, etc. in each country. Personally, I have only had good experiences with YouGov.

      Reply
      • I agree with you
        I think because Egypt is a military country, not a democracy, and does not respect the rights or opinion of the citizen, as those who object, for example, to high prices are imprisoned. Therefore, I think that YouGov is not suitable for us in Egypt.

        Reply
    • Agree , they are paying thru PayPal In the uae PayPal is. Not accepted. I’m still struggling with my last year PayPal pay out and it will expire in 10 days .

      Reply
  13. I emailed You Gov support a few times regarding an outstanding reward of $25 but I did not get the reply from their support team.

    They have 0 support and I am very disappointed. I think it is very unfair for me to answer the surveys and not paid accordingly.

    Reply
    • How good the support is, depends a lot on the country you live in. In some countries, they have fairly good support but not so great in others. But I agree that this is definitely an aspect they could improve overall.

      Reply
  14. I didn’t get my first payment after a week. I’m qualified for the payment of 950 Philippine pesos which they emailed me. I began answering YouGov surveys in 2017. Until now it doesn’t disappear the payment on my PayPal account. How to dispute & claim my rewards? Please help me.

    Reply
    • As I very clearly explain in the review above and also on the list you link to, the rewards YouGov offer vary from country to country. In some, it offers PayPal, in some products, and ion other gift cards – and that also means that in some countries, it does offer Amazon gift cards.

      Reply
  15. Hello, from Greece. I have been using the ugov site for a long time and I got paid once. Now, I was about to redeem my points but, all of a sudden, my account page is blank, it only shows the pink support text and there I wrote to them a lot of times about the issue and e- mail them as well.It has been about 2 months and they are ignoring me. I tried some solutions myself  to solve the blank page, I paused the ad block, changed a browser, but i don’t know why I cannot see my points and my information on my account page.
    I am using the site only from a laptop, and i have and old version of chrome and mozilla since my laptop is old as well, but, i did not have a problem with other sites.
    Sad, if this is a tactic, after one payment, to the second one, to be a non solutionable issue.
    They got paid from the companies of the surveys i answered.

    Reply
    • I have been paid by them many times and never had issues like this. But the support is not the same in all countries so you might be unlucky that they have bad support in your country. Hope you will get it solved.

      Reply
  16. Mikael, How would you handle this, I am getting no where with support. I installed a extension called the URL historian, and if you kept it installed till December 1 , 2022 you would get 10k in points…I am not going to list the start date, etc. but to sum it up, they do not want to pay. I have contacted them 7 times, and I DID finally get a reply, but was incorrect. They tried to say I received 9000 points on a certain date, but those points were for accumulated surveys and were credited before the URL historian was even installed on my computer, so I had to email them again and sendd a response thru chat on site, and they still do not reply nor will they give me my points. I have all the info, the date of original email, the replys, etc….WHAT DO I DO? any sugesstions?

    Reply
    • Sounds very frustrating. If their support is not being helpful, unfortunately, there is not much to do. Only thing you could try is to also share your experiences on a platform like Truspilot where I can see they sometimes reply to feedback. Sometimes it can push companies to look more into issues when the complain is public.

      Reply
  17. 1)Please Michael help me ,I have not received any surveys for days in my mails ..what could be the reason
    2)I no longer recieve the log in code either though yougov keep saying they have sent it but when I check my mailbox,there will be nothing there .

    Reply
  18. Hi Mikael,

    Based on your reviews I was planning to sign up to yougov but wanted to make sure I used your link to do it – you should get the rewards for your work. However, the links here redirected me to the google homepage. I am using Firefox on Mac with OSX: Sierra.

    Reply
    • First of all thanks for wanting to support me and for letting me know about the link. However, the link works, but if you use a VPN or click a link that is not for the country you are located in, or anything like that, it will redirect you.

      Reply
  19. Hi Mikael do you know about you gov pulse?
    And is it safe to use as it ask to allow accessibility that says it can view all content on your screen and can interact with apps on your behalf.
    So is it okay to use it?

    Reply
    • YouGov itself is a legit company but whether you feel comfortable about sharing that access with them or not is up to you. I have not used the pulse option myself.

      Reply
  20. I completed eough surveys to have 15,000 points. Received a message that I would receive a check for it by e-mail. Never did get it. wrote to complain. Total scam.

    Reply

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