There are plenty of ways to make money in one hour if you're short on time. Gig economy apps, online side hustles, freelancing, and cash odd jobs are just a few examples.
The WebMonkey team has personally tested dozens of side hustles and money-making ideas over the years. And this guide is covering 19 of the best ways to make money in one hour that you can use if you need quick money.
How To Make Money In One Hour
1. Answer Surveys For Money
GPT websites pay you for completing micro tasks like paid surveys and playing online games. In exchange for your time, you can earn free PayPal money, gift cards, and a variety of other prizes.
Some popular GPT websites you can use to make money in one hour include:
- Branded Surveys: Another leading survey site that pays you with cash and gift cards.
- Freecash: A new and exciting rewards site with so many ways to earn.
- Swagbucks: This GPT site pays you to play games, answer surveys, watch advertisements, and for shopping online.
- Kashkick: Another way to make PayPal money by sharing your opinion.
- Survey Junkie: Answer surveys and cash out with PayPal and gift cards once you earn just $5!
- MyFreeApp: Get paid to download fun games and new apps!
- Ipsos iSay: A global survey website with a low $5 cash out minimum.
- InboxDollars: Another versatile rewards platform that also has an instant $5 sign up bonus.
You won't make thousands of dollars with these sorts of sites. But if you want to make money in one hour, they're a realistic way to make $10 fast or more in your spare time.
2. Play Games For Money
If you already spend time gaming, you can actually start a gaming side hustle by using gaming apps that pay you PayPal cash.
There are numerous gaming reward apps out there that let you earn cash and free gift cards for trying out new games. These apps won't make you rich, but they do let you make money in one hour or less while having some fun:
- Bingo Cash: A leading iPhone money game where you play Bingo for money!
- Rewarded Play: This Android gaming app lets you win gift cards for playing Android games.
- Solitaire Cash: Another competitive money game with large cash prize pools!
- Cash Giraffe: This Android gaming app lets you win PayPal cash and free gift cards.
- Lucky Match: Play fun match-3 puzzle games to earn cash!
- Mistplay: Another popular gaming app that pays you with free PayPal cash and gift cards.
Cash Giraffe is our favorite Android game while Bingo Cash is our top iPhone game. And if you already spend time gaming, this is basically a passive side hustle since you'd be gaming anyways.
3. Make Money As A Freelancer
I make money every day with this tactic as a freelance writer, and even though I ask my clients to pay me monthly, I had gigs in the past where I got paid the same day I submitted work.
There are lots of industries where you can freelance as well besides writing and editing. Some of my all-time favorites include:
- Business development
- Graphic design
- Digital marketing
- Programming
- Paid advertising
- SEO
- Social media marketing
- Web design
- Voice over work
- Video editing
- Virtual assistant work
Websites like Fiverr and Upwork are a great place to find work, and you can turn to your own network as well to find opportunities. Alternatively, use websites like FlexJobs to find high-paying, remote positions, even as a complete beginner!
Find your next remote gig with FlexJobs!
4. Deliver Food For Money
If you have a car, bike, or scooter, food delivery gigs are definitely a viable option you can try. Some of my all-time favorite gig apps include:
- DoorDash: Start delivering with the leading food delivery app in North America!
- Instacart: Lets you get paid to shop by delivering groceries to people in your city.
- Uber Eats: Another popular food delivery job like DoorDash that pays you to deliver food.
- Shipt: A leading grocery delivery job like Instacart that also pays well..
- Grubhub: Another delivery gig like Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Jobs like DoorDash and Uber Eats are honestly great because you can go online anytime to start working. And, both apps also have an instant pay feature that lets you cash out your daily earnings instead of waiting a week to get paid. This is what lets you make money in one hour.
Try out Uber Eats and DoorDash today!
Pro Tip Save $600+ per year on auto insurance by using the Best Match Auto tool. Just enter your Zip code and compare the cheapest car insurance quotes.
5. Borrow The Money
Sometimes, the simplest way to get quick cash is to borrow the money. Now, you know your social network better than I do, so decide if this is something you're comfortable with and if it's a reasonable amount of money to ask for.
You can also turn to your bank or consider turning to a personal loan provider to get fast funding.
If this option doesn't work for you, you can also try various cash advance apps to borrow some money against an upcoming paycheck. EarnIn is my favorite app in this space. It lets you get up to $500 by tomorrow which can be useful if you're in a pinch
Just make sure you speak to a financial professional if you need advice for your specific situation. And always read the terms and conditions of any money-based agreement you enter.
6. Leverage Sign-Up Bonuses
One more idea you can try involves leveraging sign-up bonuses that pay you for trying out new products and services.
Some lucrative sign-up bonuses you can try include:
- Rakuten: Get $30 when you sign up with Rakuten and spend at least $30 on a qualifying cash-back offer.
- Chime: Get up to $100 for opening a new Chime account!
- Current: This digital banking solution offers 4% APY and also has a nice $50 sign up bonus.
- Fetch Rewards: A leading grocery reward app where you can earn 3,000 free points upon sign up.
- Ibotta: A shopping app like Fetch that often has a $20 sign up bonus.
This isn't a ton of money, but hey, who would complain about making $50 in free money without much work? You can always try similar strategies, like credit card or bank account churning, to maximize your earnings with this idea as well.
Extra Reading – The Best Sign Up Bonus Apps.
7. Deliver Packages For Money
Jobs like DoorDash are great if you want to deliver food in your spare time to make quick cash. But food delivery gigs are just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, there are plenty of other peer to peer delivery jobs out there that pay you to deliver packages.
High-paying delivery jobs you can try include:
- Amazon Flex: Get paid $18 to $25 per hour for delivering packages.
- Sharetown: Make money flipping mattresses and furniture with this new gig app!
- Roadie: This gig job lets you deliver packages to people and small businesses.
- GoShare: A great way to make money with a cargo van, a truck, or larger sedan by delivering packages.
- ParaWorks: Another package and delivery gig app with high-paying tasks.
- Walmart Spark: This gig like Amazon Flex also pays you to deliver packages.
Again, you need to apply to these jobs first, which can take a week or two in many cases. So, apply now so you have them in your back pocket when you need to hustle.
8. Sell Stuff You Own
One very simple method to get money in one hour is to sell stuff you own for cash. And the most basic option here is to pawn stuff for money or to just sell it outright to a pawn shop.
I've actually done this in the past with selling old furniture and guitars on Facebook to make money during school. But there are plenty of other things you can sell, including:
- Apparel
- Appliances
- Artwork
- Collectibles like sports cards, antiques, or even niche items like Pokemon cards
- Electronics
- Instruments
- Shoes
- Toys
- Unused gift cards
- Watches (you can also sell watches and jewelry on platforms like Worthy)
- Your hair or plasma
The downside to selling through a website or app is that it might not be fast enough to make money in one hour. However, selling online is an excellent way to flip money, so consider these options if you have a bit more time on your hands.
9. Do Odd Jobs For Cash
One of the most basic methods you can try involves completing quick cash gigs in your area.
And thanks to various odd job apps, this is much easier than you might think. For example, websites like TaskRabbit let you offer your services to people in your area.
Some popular services on TaskRabbit include gigs like:
- Cleaning
- Landscaping
- Junk removal
- Painting
- Babysitting
- Cooking
- Window washing
- Gutter cleaning
- Snow removal
Similarly, you can find cash gigs on Craigslist that involve junk removal, cleaning, helping people move, or jobs like painting and landscaping. Steady is also a useful app for finding local opportunities.
10. Rent Out Assets
The rise of the sharing economy has made it possible to earn passive income by renting out things you own to other people. Some of the most popular rental side hustles you can try include renting assets like:
- A spare room with Airbnb
- Extra storage space with a company like Neighbor
- Your vehicle with Turo or Getaround
- An RV with RVshare
- Camera equipment or other electronics with something like Fat Llama
- A parking space with Spot Hero
- Your unused Internet bandwidth with apps like Honeygain
Even a few rental gigs per month could be hundreds of dollars in your pocket depending on the asset. And this is also a nice way to get paid for doing nothing while your assets generate free cash for you.
11. Use Reward Apps
These days, cash-back reward apps are extremely popular. And I've been using these apps for years to make money whenever I shop.
Some of my favorite shopping reward apps and platforms include:
- Capital One Shopping: A leading shopping extension that automatically applies available coupon codes at checkout.
- Upside: My favorite way to earn cash back when buying gas.
- Bridge: Get passive income whenever you shop with this new app!
- Receipt Hog: A receipt-scanning app that pays you with gift cards or PayPal money for scanning receipts.
- CoinOut: Another leading receipt scanning app that you can use alongside Receipt Hog.
- Amazon Shopper Panel: Get up to $10 in free Amazon gift cards per month just for submitting your shopping receipts.
- NCP Panel: A new shopping rewards app that also pays you with rewards for your receipts.
- Pogo: This app pays you with PayPal money whenever you shop and sell your data.
With all of these apps, it's realistic to make $10 to $50 per month or more depending on how often you shop.
Start saving with Capital One Shopping!
Note: Capital One Shopping compensates us when you sign up with the provided links.
12. Mystery Shopping Gigs
You can always try different mystery shopping apps that pay you for completing easy microtasks in your city.
I've used these apps in the past to make money during school. High-paying apps like Gigwalk and Field Agent are my favorites, and both pay you with PayPal cash for completing similar short tasks in your city.
13. Make Money On Reddit
While it might surprise you, there are several creative ways to make money on Reddit, and some of them can pay you in an hour or less. And I've used several of these options as a freelancer, so I know this method works.
For example, Reddit Beermoney has lots of resources on online jobs that pay daily, survey sites, and methods to get paid in one hour. You can also complete short tasks on r/ForHire or r/slavelabour if you want to complete short micro tasks for cash.
There are other cool subreddits as well, like ones that discuss passive income ideas you can use. Overall, Reddit is a very useful resource, and you'd be amazed at the quick cash gigs you find on the freelancing side of the platform.
14. Scrounge For Spare Change
Has it been a while since you lifted up your sofa cushions or looked through pairs of old jeans or jacket pockets? If so, it's definitely time to dig around for spare change.
Your sofa, clothing, or even places like your car are an excellent place to begin your search. And even if you make $5, that's basically free money you didn't have before!
You can also try finding unclaimed money, since sometimes, the government actually owes you money! In the United States, you can go to www.usa.gov/unclaimed-money to begin the search.
15. Collect & Return Cans
One of the simplest ideas on this list is to just collect cans and bottles around your neighborhood and to return them to the store.
Many stores pay around $0.05 for cans and up to $0.25 for large glass bottle where I'm from. So, collecting them from parks or a few streets could yield a nice chunk of change in a short amount of time.
The Top Apps That Pay $100 A Day.
16. Become A Website Tester
There are plenty of companies out there that pay you to test websites and apps that are in development. These user testing jobs typically require completing a few assigned tasks on a website or app and playing around to try and find bugs.
Overall, website testing gigs are an effective way to make money in one hour online, and there are lots of companies you can apply to.
Several leading user testing websites include:
Tests generally pay $10 to $20 and take about 15 minutes, so it's a decent hourly rate. However, it's best to apply to several companies since they send out test invitations via email, so you're competing with other testers to snag jobs.
17. Try Busking
If you have a skill like playing an instrument or something that can really please a crowd, you could always try busking to make money in one hour.
Instruments like guitar, violin, or some other easily-transportable instrument are a great option. And you can actually make money pretty quickly if you start busking on a busy street corner. Performative skills like juggling or some other type of street performance act can also work.
18. Walk Dogs For Money
Do you enjoy playing with dogs? If so, walking dogs or pet sitting is an excellent hustle to try.
This is actually how a few of my friends made consistent money during college. And you can get started by using gig apps like Rover to find your first clients.
With Rover, you can find pet owners in your city who need help walking or looking after their furry friends. And you get to set your own prices, availability, and the types of animals you work with.
And if you create a robust profile with a good Rover headline, you can slowly attract clients and find a few steady walking or sitting gigs to help pay the bills.
A single hour of dog walking can easily pay $15 to $20 depending on the market. And you can also use local sites like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace to try and find some dog walking gigs.
19. Work On Your Budget
Creating a monthly budget is the first step in saving more money since you can actually tell where your money is going every month.
My advice is to start out by analyzing your previous few months of spending to look for areas where you're spending a bit more than you'd like to.
For me, areas of overspending are usually on entertainment and restaurants, or alcohol. But once you know your problem areas, you can make notes of it and set hard spending limits for yourself to keep costs down.
Plus, you can start taking actions to reduce some of your spending. Maybe you can sell unwanted gift cards that are clogging your wallet, or return a recent purchase you don't actually need, to reclaim some of your money.
All of these tips can be utilized within an hour. And if you save $50 per month, that's $600 per year in extra money in your pocket!
Pro Tip: Get help with your budget and avoid overspending with Rocket Money!
Tips For Getting Started
Now that you know how to make money in one hour, here are a few tips you can apply to increase how much you make and your odds of success.
- Set An Income Goal: Do you need $5 fast, or $500? Different income requirements require different methods, so decide on how much you need before picking an idea.
- Try Several Ideas: Testing different side hustle stacks is the best way to find what you like and what pays the most. So, try delivering for Uber Eats, using reward apps, or sharing your opinion with Branded Surveys. Over time, you'll learn which methods work best for you.
- Stick With It: If you fail at making money in an hour the first time, don't give up! Testing side hustles is one key to success, but so is persistence.
Extra Reading – The Best Ways To Earn $3,000 Fast.
Final Thoughts
I hope this guide on ways to make money in one hour helps you increase your income in 60 minutes or less.
Again, setting an actual income goal is important so you have something measurable to work towards. And I think playing to your strengths is important as well.
Ultimately, I think it's possible to start a fun side hustle that also lets you make money in one hour. Hopefully, one or more of the ideas in this post work out for you.
Looking for even more money-making ideas? Checkout:
