21 Best Sites & Apps That Pay You for Referrals (2023)

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Referral programs are an easy way to get free money fast. If you need the best referrals that pay you real money, you’ve come to the right place.

There are lots of online scams when it comes to making money by referring friends. You may have encountered some of them yourself.

But the good thing is that legit referral sites and apps that pay for referrals exist too. That’s what the article is all about. You’ll also find the referral bonus requirements if any, things to avoid, and tips to get referrals.

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Why do Companies Pay for Referrals?

Online platforms won’t just pay you out of the goodness of their hearts. If you refer a friend to join a company, you’ll be helping it get new members.

Everyone wins. The company benefits from having more users. You get a referral bonus and your friend may get a bonus too or simply enjoy being part of a new community.

Best Referrals That Pay

Now, you’re about to find out the most legit sites and apps that pay you for referrals. I’ve put them in various categories below to make it easier to navigate depending on your preference.

Referral bonuses vary depending on an online platform. One thing to note is that the bonus amounts can change from time to time based on a company’s needs. Some may be discontinued.

But don’t worry, I’ll work hard to keep everything as updated as possible.

Quick fact: Most of the sites and apps on the list have bonuses for you too if you join them!

Reward Sites and Apps That Pay for Referrals

Let’s begin with sites with simple daily tasks like surveys and shopping that give you referral bonuses.

1. Swagbucks – Refer a friend and get 10 percent of their earnings

Swagbucks is among the most popular online surveys platforms. It also happens to be a great referral site that gives you 10 percent of what your referrals earn. This continues for life!

Swagbucks users get SB points from completing tasks and can redeem them for PayPal money or gift cards. Besides surveys, other tasks include playing games, watching videos, and shopping. You may know some people who might be interested in such.

You just need to join Swagbucks, find your unique link and share it with others. It helps if you also give details on how the platform works so they can start earning right away.

2. MyPoints – Refer a friend and get 10 percent of their earnings

Mypoints is yet another well-established online rewards platform for quick tasks like surveys, shopping, and playing games. This site will give you 25 points when someone joins using your referral link.

Also, there are 750 points for you if the referral makes a purchase of $20 or more within 30 days of membership. As if that’s not enough, you get 10 percent of their eligible points.

The fun doesn’t end there. MyPoints gives you and your referral a 300-point bonus if they earn 300 points in the first 30 days.

Plus, you get additional bonus points by inviting more people to the online community. They just need to complete tasks. You can redeem points for PayPal cash or gift cards.

3. Upromise – Refer a friend and earn $25

This is my favorite rewards site that pays real cash for referrals. Upromise is a place to get huge rewards for shopping, dining, and making purchases. The Upromise referral bonus is a whopping $25 (I mean, among the highest, coming from a rewards website).

All you have to do is create your Upromise account and use your invite link to send friends and family to the site. Did I mention that Upromise gives you a sign-up bonus of $30.29 for registering and linking a 529 account?

Remember, your referral needs to reach $25 in qualified cashback rewards within 180 days of being a member. You get one referral bonus per referral.

4. Drop – Refer a friend and earn $5

Drop is a shopping rewards app that also has a great refer-a-friend program. You get 5,000 Drop points for bringing in a friend or family member to Drop.

What you do is set up an account, link a bank account for shopping offers, and copy your referral code. Your referral points on Drop appear as soon as the person you invited earns 1,000 points by shopping an offer through the app. There are lots of brands to choose from on Drop and save money on shopping.

The only downside at the moment is that you can only invite 10 people. Additional referrals won’t earn you any more rewards. Still, that’s $50 in free money waiting for you!

5. BeFrugal – Refer a friend and earn $10

BeFrugal, an online platform to get cashback on shopping, has a $10 refer-a-friend bonus. The process is quite simple.

You create a BeFrugal account, grab your link, and share it online. Your referral gets $10 too.

They just need to earn at least $10 in cashback rewards within a year. This won’t be difficult because a lot of rewarding daily offers are available on BeFrugal. Remember, existing users aren’t eligible for the bonus as it’s only available to new referrals.

6. Ibotta – Refer a friend and earn $10

Ibotta, a popular cashback site and app, pays you cash for referrals. There’s a referral bonus of $10 for inviting others to be part of the online shopping rewards platform.

Some requirements are that the person must be a new member and have their own mobile device. Sharing a device won’t result in bonus payments. Also, they have to redeem an offer on Ibotta.

You get the bonus within 24 hours after your referral completes these steps. They also get a $10 bonus for shopping and submitting their first receipt.

In some cases, Ibotta gives you additional bonuses for referring multiple new users. You’re free to invite as many people as you want for Ibotta’s referral bonuses.

7. Rakuten – Refer a friend and earn $30

Here comes yet another well-known cashback app, Rakuten, that pays for referrals. There’s never been an easier way to get a $30 referral bonus without stressing out.

You simply need a Rakuten account to access a unique referral link. When someone signs up on Rakuten using it, you both get $30.

The referral just needs to spend $30 shopping to earn cashback rewards through the platform. With all the daily deals and thousands of partner stores, you’re sure to make good money with Rakuten’s referral program.

8. FusionCash – Refer a friend and earn $5 for life

FusionCash is a rewards site that allows users to take surveys, watch videos, and play games. The online platform guarantees you a $5 referral bonus forever.

That’s not all. You get $1 when your referral confirms their email and $2 when they complete a paid-to-sign-up offer. The $5 bonus comes in every time they are approved to cash out from FusionCash.

FusionCash has great banners that you can use to promote your unique link and get paid per referral. You’ll be able to access them, along with your text links, after registering your account.

Finance, Investment, and Banking apps with referral bonuses

If you’re in the banking industry or know people who could use banking apps, here are the best ones to get referral money.

9. Acorns – Refer a friend and earn $5

One of the best investment apps online for newbies, Acorns, offers you $5 for inviting friends. Acorns lets users invest their spare change automatically and start earning dividends.

You and your referral get $5 if they use your link. All the referral has to do is invest $5, which is the minimum required investment amount.

The amount goes to your Acorns Invest account and gets invested for you. Acorns will help you grow your money and make progress toward financial freedom.

10. M1 Finance – Refer a friend and earn $30

Need another financial services company with a referral program? If so, M1 Finance may interest you as well.

The platform offers robo-advisory investment, digital checking accounts, and lines of credit. It works well for beginner investors who want to do invest effortlessly.

When you share your code with a friend and they create an account with a $100 deposit, you both get $30 each. They also need to maintain the initial deposit amount for 30 days. You can invest the amount as you wish.

11. Aspiration – Refer a friend and earn $50

Aspiration is an online financial service platform that helps customers spend, save, and invest wisely. The company offers quite a handsome referral bonus of $50.

You get this bonus if you have an Aspiration account and invite new users to join with your link. They have to open an account on the platform. Another thing is that they need to use their Aspiration debit card to transact $250 or more.

Referrals also get $50. You can earn up to $1,500 from referring friends and other people per month.

12. Payoneer – Refer a friend and earn $25

Payoneer, a financial services company, offers a referral bonus of $25 per person. This online platform is known for facilitating money transfers, digital payments, and working capital provision.

All you have to do is set up a free account and sign in to get your personalized link. If you share the link with others and they join through it, you both get $25.

The only requirement is that they need to receive a total of $1,000. If you know people that transact frequently, Payoneer can give you a significant amount of free money.

13. Fundrise – Refer and get fee waivers

Fundrise is an investment app for real estate enthusiasts. You can invest your money in a portfolio full of carefully selected real estate investments that have been developed in a way to maximize returns.

Fundrise has an invitation program that offers fee waivers. You may think this isn’t much. But it means that you won’t need to pay any fees for a specified period while using Fundrise to grow your money.

Plus, no purchases or investments are necessary on the referral’s side for you to receive the fee waiver. The value of the waiver depends on the account level.

The fee waiver period starts from 90 days to a year. Fundrise also waives its fees applicable to your friend’s account if they become a client of Fundrise Advisors.

14. Chime – Refer a friend and earn $100

Another financial technology that enables you to earn money by referring friends is Chime. This mobile banking app tracks your spending and saving, make paying people easier, and more. It’s one of the highest-paying apps with referral bonuses, which is $100 per referral.

You can invite friends using the app or through your account online. You’ll see a customized referral link with options to copy and paste or share it via social media.

The $100 bonus goes to both you and your referral each. They just need to enroll and complete a single direct deposit of $200 or more from their payroll provider in 45 days.

15. Chase – Refer a friend and earn big rewards

Chase is a consumer banking company with an app that provides secure online account access from anywhere. The refer-a-friend bonus reward varies. It depends on the Chase product you promote.

For instance, if the referral gets the Chase Freedom credit card, you could earn up to $100 cashback. If they choose the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, you can get 15,000 bonus points. As for the Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card, the bonus points go up to 20,000.

There are various other credit cards and rewards. You simply need to provide your card info on a Chase product page to know if you’re eligible for promotions.

16. SoFi – Refer a friend and earn $15

If you need an online personal finance company with referral bonuses, that would be SoFi. SoFi provides a wide variety of financial products including student loan refinancing, credit cards, investing, and banking. You can refer a friend to any of those products and make money.

SoFi gives you $15 for each friend you invite, although you can only invite up to five friends. However, that amounts to $75 that you get for free.

The other advantage is that after your first 2 referrals download the app and sign up, you get an extra $5 bonus. Your friends will also receive the $15 bonus.

Side Hustle Apps to Earn Money by Referring Others

Know people that need side hustles? If that’s the case, here are some apps to refer friends for money.

17. DoorDash – Refer a friend and earn 100’s

Looking for a legit food ordering and delivery app that pays you for referrals? If so, DoorDash is among the best ones to use. The DoorDash job for drivers can suit you if you have a bike, scooter, or car.

DoorDash’s driver referral program allows you to refer others to dash for the company. Both of you get the referral bonus. You can find the current referral amount in the Dasher app.

The referred Dasher needs to complete some deliveries within 30 days. 15 is the maximum number of drivers you can refer a year.

There’s also the DoorDash customer referral program. In this case, you can refer up to 25 customers to order through DoorDash.

18. Neighbor – Refer a friend and earn $50

Neighbor is an app that allows space owners to list spaces and renters to reserve them. It’s a great place to earn money from your garage, shed, basement, or spare room. You can also find perfect storage places for your items if that’s what you need.

The app allows users to invite friends and earn when they list their space. You’re able to track the status of your referrals and can even help them with listing their spaces. You both get $50 each when the space receives a qualified reservation.

19. Rover – Refer a friend and earn $50

Rover is an app that connects pet sitters with pet owners. You can become a sitter there if you like pets and don’t mind making money caring for them. If you know someone good at pet sitting, you could invite them using your link and get $50.

Remember, they need to become an approved Rover sitter and complete a stay in 90 days. You get the bonus after a booking is confirmed.

Rover also offers a referral program for customers. This means you can refer a pet owner to buy pet sitting services and get $20. They also receive $20 for using your invite link.

20. Decluttr – Refer a friend and earn $5

The Decluttr app allows users to buy and sell various tech and media items. If you have any cell phones, DVDs, books, or related stuff you don’t use, you’re free to put them on sale there.

The Decluttr refer-a-friend program gives you a free $5 for each friend you invite. Referrals also get $5 for using your link to join the buying and selling platform.

Decluttr doesn’t have a limit at the moment. You can make as much money as you want by referring other people to use Decluttr for selling used stuff.

21. OnlyFans – Refer a friend and get 5 percent of their earnings

OnlyFans is a great internet subscription service where creators and fans can interact. Content creators get paid when people subscribe to their content. Fans support these creators by paying monthly, making one-time tips, and using the pay-per-view feature.

You can invite content creators to OnlyFans and receive 5 percent of their earnings. This goes for the first 12 months of their presence on the online platform. It’s limited to the first $1 million a referred creator earns.

So, you can make up to $50,000 per referral. Plus, there aren’t limitations to how many creators you can bring in.

Things to Avoid When Referring Friends for Money

There are several things to avoid to get the best out of refer-a-friend programs:

Setting up multiple accounts

You shouldn’t create multiple accounts to try and cheat the system. Most companies will know if you’re the one using your own referral links to try and get bonuses. You could lose your earnings and never get to use a particular company’s referral program if you do so.

Using the same device

Your referrals have to use their own mobile devices or computers to join an online platform through your link. If they use your device, it may appear like you’re the one trying to create a new account. This means that you won’t get the referral bonus.

Impersonating merchants

Never impersonate a merchant to promote their product or services using your referral links. You could get into way more trouble than just losing your account with them. So, instead of pretending to be a company, mention that you’re a user and that people can get bonuses by clicking on your links.

Spamming online platforms and web forums

You may be tempted to go and post your links tens of times on a site online to get as many referrals as you can. If you do this, you risk getting limitations or being banned from the online platform. Always use different informative texts to promote links on specific sites where it’s allowed.

How to Share Referral Links and Get Referrals

Follow these ideas to get more referrals legitimately:

Social media

Social networking sites are among the best places to find referrals online. Go to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest and share your links responsibly.

Don’t overdo it to avoid appearing as a spammer. Post on your account or pages and avoid spamming those that belong to other people.

Email

If you have an email list of people who might be interested in a product, become a referrer and share your links with them. Most of them will be happy to use your referral code if you provide valuable information about the offer.

Text

Text messages are also great for inviting people from your contact list to join a site or app that pays for referrals. Only send the messages to the ones that might be interested. Avoid sending too many messages with the aim to push someone to register with your link.

Banners

If you have a website, you can either add some referral links for your audience to click or post banners. Banners may work better than links depending on where you place them on a site. If they relate to the site’s content, you could attract more referrals.

Wrapping It up

So, you’ve discovered the best referral sites and apps that pay you cash and other rewards. You now also know the best practices when it comes to earning money by referring friends.

You’re free to join multiple referral programs as long as you have a good strategy to promote them. You could even collaborate with a friend or two to invite each other to various online platforms and boost your referral earnings.