Hi, I'm Jen! I'm a personal finance expert and money coach aiming to help you take control of your money. I went from being broke to a six-figure net worth and am now on track to be financially independent at age 40. Discover Jen's story
This Swagbucks review answers tells you all you need to know about Swagbucks. Is Swagbucks legit? Is it worth signing up? You can find the answers and more below.
I signed up to Swagbucks in 2020. I primarily focus on blogging, so I have limited time for other sites. Despite that, Swagbucks has helped me make £265.35 over the years. I have reviewed many rewards sites, but Swagbucks is one I’m always coming back to.
🪧 Should you sign up through my affiliate links, I may receive a commission at no cost to you.
Swagbucks
Summary
Swagbucks is one of the bigger rewards sites with plenty of offers. There are hardly any negatives besides the low payment for completing offers.
Swagbucks is free to join and use. You will get the bonus after cashing out for the first time.
What Is Swagbucks UK?
Swagbucks is a free online membership rewards site. On the site or app, you can earn money by completing various tasks, including:
- Surveys
- Web searches
- Playing games
- Watching ads
- And more
So far, Swagbucks has paid out £551,573,896 in cash and gift cards. Every day, users redeem over 7000 gift cards from the platform.
Swagbucks was founded in 2005 and belongs to Prodege. Prodege is an American online marketing company based in El Segundo, California. The company develops consumer rewards and polling programs for various brands, including:
- Swagbucks
- MyPoints
- ShopAtHome
- CotterWeb
- ProdegeMR
Is Swagbucks UK Legit?
Swagbucks is legitimate. The website has over 30,000 reviews on Trustpilot. Overall, 64% of users gave Swagbucks the highest score, excellent. Another 18% rated Swagbucks as great. Only 8% of users rated the platform as bad or poor, leading to an average rating of 4.3 out of 5.0.
Furthermore, Prodege, the company behind Swagbucks, is an accredited American business. The Better Business Bureau rated Swagbucks as “B”.
The Better Business Bureau is an American organisation. It aims to create an ethical marketplace where buyers and sellers trust each other. Accreditation means a company has to fulfil high standards.
My Experience on Swagbucks
As stated above, I have used Swagbucks since 2020. Over the years, I have earned £265.35 (November 2023). I am still using the site, so my earnings constantly change. You may see different numbers in different posts.
Money earned from get-paid-to sites is my treat money. I use it for take-outs, chocolate, and for my travel fund. I wish I could say I did something more useful with it, but that’s the truth.
In my original post, I detailed all the tasks I completed on Swagbucks. However, it’s become far too many to list. So here is an overview of my most recent activity on Swagbucks:
| Task | Reward |
|---|---|
| Play Triple Tile* (game) | $10.00 |
| Play Monopoly & Earn** (game) | $2.86 |
| Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut (cashback) | 150 SB |
| Yeo Valley Cherry Kefir (cashback) | 50 SB |
| Survey | 75 SB |
| Survey | 50 SB |
| Survey | 70 SB |
*This game is bad. I don’t recommend completing this offer.
**This offer still hasn’t tracked.
How Can You Join Swagbucks?
Signing up to Swagbucks is free. To sign up, you only need a username and a password. Depending on your cashout method, you may also need to enter your payment details. Join through the link below to get £10 free when you cash out.
You can find more free cash opportunities on my free money offers list.
How Can You Make Money on Swagbucks?
As a get-paid-to (GPT) site, Swagbucks offers several ways to make money:
- Complete surveys
- Participate in daily polls
- Use the SwagButton
- Use Swagbucks’ search engine
- Participate in giveaways
- Play Games
- Sign up for free trials
- Watch ads
- Get cashback
- Refer friends
- Read Swagbucks’ blog
Each task you complete rewards you with Swagbucks (SB). This is the currency of Swagbucks. You can exchange SB for cash or gift cards.
Read my Swagbucks vs Freecash comparison to see how the two sites compare.
1. Complete Surveys
Surveys are one way to earn money on Swagbucks. In an online survey, you have to answer sets of multiple-choice. These can be about your demographics, preferences, or experience with a brand. Essentially, you sell personal data in return for rewards.
One strong point of Swagbucks is the wide variety of surveys. Some also award extra SB when completed. The surveys are quick to complete, taking at most ten minutes. On the downside, screening out is common. It is annoying when the highest-paying surveys are only accessible to limited demographics.
Some surveys also redirect to third-party websites. You have to sign up with these websites to complete the surveys. I recommend being careful with these sites, as they may not be legit.
2. Participate in Daily Polls
Other than surveys, Swagbucks also offers daily polls. You can answer these questions with two clicks and earn one SB per poll. Assuming you are online daily, you can make a maximum of 365 SB per year. Answering the daily poll does not make you rich but requires little effort.
3. Use the SwagButton
The SwagButton is a Chrome extension that lets you save money when shopping online. The extension notifies you of discount codes or cashback opportunities. You also get 25 SB for adding the button to your browser.
Installing the Swagbutton is simple. All you need to do is click on Add the Swagbutton, leading to the Chrome extension page. There, click on Add to Chrome.
You get 25 SB, and you can uninstall the Swagbutton straight after if you want. I immediately uninstalled it. A few months later, I reinstalled it and got 25 SB again. I don’t guarantee this will work for you, but it’s worth a try.
4. Use Swagbucks’ Search Engine
The Swagbucks search engine feature is another browser extension. It changes your default search engine to Swagbucks’ search engine. In return, you will get paid for doing web searches.
I have been using the Swagbucks search engine for a while. It is powerful enough for everyday use. For complex searches, I manually visit Google.
After doing some searches, you will see a notification at the top of the search engine. From there, you can claim your SBs by entering a code.
Some users need to switch to set Swagbucks’ search engine as default. Switching takes a few more clicks.
Chrome:
- Click on the three lines on the top right of the browser
- Click on Settings
- Click on Manage Search Engines
- Look for Swagbucks under Other Search Engines
- Click Make Default
Firefox:
- Go to your browser’s search field (on the right side of the address bar)
- Click on the drop-down menu and look for Swagbucks
- Click on Swagbuck
If you need help with installing the search engine, you can contact Swagbucks. The customer support generally responds fast.
5. Participate in Giveaways
Swagbucks also offers giveaways. These cost SB to enter, ranging from ten to 25 SB. One entry gives you the chance to win up to 100,000 SB.
While SB may not seem like money, it is a currency. Thus, this is a form of gambling, like playing the lottery. It is a high-variance game where you can win a lot but are much more likely to lose.
Reading the small print, you can enter without paying:
How to enter: There are two ways to enter: […]. 2) On a 3″ x 5″ piece of paper, hand-print your name, complete address, and daytime and evening telephone numbers, and mail to [Swagbucks].
The address listed is in California. If you’re based there, consider entering via mail.
6. Play Games
Playing games involves downloading an app to your phone. You will then have to reach a specified level to earn your SB. Usually, you can reach the requirements without having to pay. The rewards are sizeable, with the highest-paying game giving you 4500 SB.
If you like making money playing games, try the best get-paid-to-play apps in the UK.
7. Sign up for Free Trials
The concept of getting paid for free trials is similar to OhMyDosh. In short, Swagbucks earns a commission for you signing up to a website. Then, they pass on some of that commission to you.
Free-trial offers are a profitable way to earn some money quickly. They are usually paid well, given their low effort. However, you need to note the last day of your free trial so you can cancel it. Otherwise, you need to pay, which cancels out any reward you receive.
8. Watch Ads
With Swagbucks, you can also get paid to watch ads. These ads include short videos, ads, and trailers. You can watch these ads in the background while doing something else.
9. Get Cashback
Additionally, Swagbucks offers cashback opportunities like traditional cashback websites. The only difference is that you get paid in SB (which you can convert to cash) rather than cash.
With cashback offers, you get some of the money you spent on an online purchase back. Read more in my posts about cashback websites and receipt-scanning apps.
The specific details of earning money with cashback vary between promoters. Some may offer cashback for a specific product or website. Some promoters offer a fixed sum, whereas others offer a percentage.
10. Refer Friends
If you refer a friend to Swagbucks, you get 300 SB. The condition is that your friend has to earn 300 SB within 30 days of signing up. If your friend adds the SwagButton to their browser, you get an additional 100 bonus SB.
You also earn 10% of your friend’s earnings forever. Every time your friend completes an offer, you get money, too.
11. Read Swagbucks’ Blog
Read the Swagbucks blog, as they regularly post reward codes for extra SB. You can find Swagbucks’ blog by using the bottom navigation on the website.
How Can You Cash out Your Earnings?
Swagbucks’ currency is SB. One SB is slightly less than £0.01. The exact value depends on your method of cashing out and the amount. Most tasks pay between 100 and 3000 SBs.
Swagbucks offers the following options to turn your SB into money:
- PayPal
- Mastercard
- Amazon voucher
- Various gift cards
- Charity donation
Some options may be on sale. This means you can get more money for your SB. For example, currently, you can get 30% off of £5 or £10 PayPal cash.
| Merchant | Minimum Amount |
|---|---|
| Amazon | £1 |
| PayPal GBP | £5 |
| Mastercard | £5 |
| Tesco | £5 |
| Starbucks | £25 |
If you wish to donate your SB, you can choose from a range of charities, including:
- Save the Children
- UNICEF
- Breast Cancer Research Foundation
- Doctors Without Borders
- Others
Are There Alternatives to Swagbucks?
If you want to earn money without using Swagbucks, try the following alternatives:
- Sweatcoin. Sweatcoin is an app that pays you for walking. Read more in my Sweatcoin review.
- Pawns.app. Pawns.app enables you to make money passively by sharing your bandwidth. Read more in my Pawns.app review.
- Zoombucks. Zoombucks is another rewards site similar to Swagbucks. Read more in my Zoombucks review.
Swagbucks UK Review Summary
Swagbucks is a legit website enabling you to earn real money. It has high user satisfaction and pays out quickly. Swagbucks’ search engine even allows you to make a passive income by searching online.
Swagbucks is free to join and use.
Swagbucks has some drawbacks, including the website’s confusing layout. Not all functions are immediately apparent, but it is worth exploring Swagbucks.
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