Is Swagbucks Worth It and How to Earn Gift Cards

If you’ve ever heard of Swagbucks before, you might be wondering “Is Swagbucks worth it?”

My answer: it depends. What are your finances like? What is your life like? Do you have more time or more money? Some budgets might make Swagbucks not necessary. Especially if you are busy.

Please know, you can also put as much or little time into earning Swagbucks as you’d like. Don’t feel like you need to spend even an hour a day.

Affiliate links are used in these posts. See the disclosure page for more information.

[If you haven’t signed up yet, you can do so here with my referral link and receive a bonus 300 swagbucks when you earn 300 swagbucks your first month!]

What is Swagbucks:

Maybe you’ve never heard of Swagbucks and are wondering what exactly we are talking about so you can determine if Swagbucks is worth it for you.

Using Swagbucks you can earn PayPal cash or gift cards to countless places for doing things online or through apps on your phone! Some of these are things I’m sure you are doing already (internet searches, anyone?) or things you can be doing simultaneously as you work (letting videos stream in the background).

So let’s talk about when gift cards would make a difference for you.

Swagbucks is AMAZING! I earn gift cards all year for web searches and streaming videos. The PERFECT way to afford presents when the budget is tight.

Is Swagbucks Worth It?

It’s time to get one thing out of the way. You aren’t going to become rich earning Swagbucks, but they can really make a difference in your budget. Especially when finances are tight.

For instance, we had an extended spending freeze and cut our spending by over a fourth as we worked hard to pay off our house.

Gifts that we wouldn’t otherwise have been able to purchase were made possible. I also used Swagbucks to buy supplements and other supplies on Amazon.

When we were in that 18 month spending freeze, spare time wasn’t something I had much of (spoiler, I still don’t have much of it 😉 ) so my Swagbucks goals were pretty simple and easy: 5 days a week I earned at least 50 Swagbucks. The other 2 I just got 5. If I earn more, great but if not that’s okay.

That put me at 280 Swagbucks a week or 14,560 a year. Buying the gift cards that are on sale with a 12% discount is the best deal. A $5 Amazon gift card (not on sale) is 500 Swagbucks.  So over the course of a year, I can earn around $160 in Amazon gift cards. Not too bad.

You could easily earn more than that if you dedicated more time but you have to find what is appropriate for you and your life needs so you can make Swagbucks worth it for you.

How can you reach those daily Swagbuck goals?

Ways to Earn Swagbucks Every Day:

1. Searches

As you are doing internet searches throughout the day, simply use the Swagbucks’ search engine. That’s easy enough and adds zero time! (Every once in a while I don’t get the results I need from Swagbucks and have to switch to Google, but I always try first). You won’t get Swagbucks every search. It will more likely be every 10 or more. I normally get Swagbucks from doing 1-3 searches each day and the searches typically give me 6-11 bucks. Sometimes, I’ll get 23!

2. Watch

On the left side of the screen, you can click watch. You will have to watch a series of videos (17 videos 1 minute each) and can earn 2 Swagbucks. You will have to click next after each video, but you don’t have to actually watch the video.

3. Daily Poll

This takes literally a second to do and will get you a Swagbuck.

4. Daily To Do List

On your Swagbucks’ homepage on the left column you’ll see a check list of 8 things to do each day. Completing all of the tasks will get you bonus Swagbucks. I don’t stress about getting everything on this list done – some tasks are simply too time consuming (or require making purchases).

5. Play

If I find myself a few Swagbucks short, I go over to the games and play a couple. They don’t take very long and if you happen to select one that seems to go on endlessly, know that you don’t have to finish a game to get credit. You get 2 Swagbucks for every other game you play – up to 10. Make sure you play games that are completely free. Scroll down to the bottom and you’ll find the 3 free Swagbucks’ games.

6. Swag Codes

If you already have the handy SwagButton downloaded that gets you a Swagbuck everyday. It also notifies you every time a new Swag Code is available and tells you were to find it. I’m only at my computer a few times a week when they pop up, but they take seconds to redeem and are worth watching for.

7. Daily Discover

Every once in a while I’ll click on Daily Discover to see if there are any easy offers or in store deals that don’t require me to purchase anything I wasn’t already planning on.

8. Surveys

I have a love hate relationship with the surveys. It takes entirely too much of my time for the survey to determine if I qualify or not. I wish they’d have a way to let you know within 3 questions instead of many minutes worth of questions. But, on the occasion that I actually do qualify for the survey I can get a descent number of points and the surveys are pretty enjoyable.

However, they are another thing I don’t always do because they can be a time suck for not many points depending on how many tries it takes to get a survey you qualify for.

9. Shop

If you are ordering online, be sure to check out the shop section to see what you can earn back in Swagbucks. Before you choose to shop through Swagbucks, be sure to check and see what the cash back is at Rakuten! (Join Rakaten using my link and spend $25 and you will get $10) Use the one that will give you more bang for your buck.

[Sign up today with my referral link and receive a bonus 300 swagbucks when you earn 300 swagbucks your first month. Score! The bonus just might make Swagbucks worth it for even just a month as you try it out.]

10. Coupons

Be sure to check out the coupon section and see if there are coupons available for products you already buy! You earn Swagbucks for printing coupons and for redeeming coupons. Navigate there by clicking shop on the left side of their website. You’ll then click where it says grocery coupons.

11. Swago

Swago is Swagbucks’ version of Bingo. This is available once a month for a week. You have to do tasks on the board and creating certain patterns will earn you points. Definitely worth checking out to see if you can get some extra Swagbucks for tasks you are already doing.

12. Follow Swagbucks

Be sure to follow Swagbucks on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to catch when they release codes to get a few bonus Swagbucks. Check out their blog for more codes and extra information as well.  Don’t forget, having the SwagButton installed on your web browser will help you get these time sensitive codes (and give you a Swagbuck each day just for having it)!

13. Swagbucks Apps

Check out this post for 3 Swagbucks apps I have on my phone to earn even more points! Playing videos on my phone is simpler and a way better deal than the computer. You can also submit pictures of your receipts and more.

Don’t forget, If you haven’t signed up yet, you can do so here with my referral link and receive a bonus 300 swagbucks when you earn 300 swagbucks your first month

What is your answer to the “is Swagbucks worth it” question?

What are you favorite ways to earn everyday?

Swagbucks logo

Originally published February 19, 2015. Updated August 13, 2020.

 

Swagbucks is AMAZING! I earn gift cards all year for web searches and streaming videos. The PERFECT way to afford presents when the budget is tight.

 

 

Swagbucks is AMAZING! I earn gift cards all year for web searches and streaming videos. The PERFECT way to afford presents when the budget is tight.

Linking up to these fun parties!

 

12 thoughts on “Is Swagbucks Worth It and How to Earn Gift Cards

  1. Gentle Joy

    I have, and still am, using swagbucks, but am planning to get rid of it…. yes, I have made money on it, but there is a down-side also. I’m glad it is working for you.

    Reply
    1. Deanna Michaels Post author

      Oh no! That’s a bummer, but way to go on recognizing was does and doesn’t work for you! So far I’ve really enjoyed it since I can be streaming videos as I’m doing work. Thanks for commenting.

      Reply
    1. Deanna Michaels Post author

      I love it too! On the weekends when I’m not working on the computer as much, I let my daughter watch the animal videos or do the games to earn some points. I love that I can let things stream as I’m already doing work.

      Reply
  2. Christie

    I’ve recently downloaded the app for my phone, but I haven’t had time to play with it yet. Thanks for the tips! Thanks so much for sharing at Totally Terrific Tuesday! I hope you stop by to link up with us again this week. Remember the party starts tonight at 10pm!
    Christie ~ Sparkles of Sunshine

    Reply
  3. dzdnwilliams

    I love Swagbucks, it is the most consistent way I know of to make some decent spending money online. I run all of the mobile apps each day, until they max out. There are 6 apps for Android, one of them makes 36 Swag Bucks per day, the other 5 make 18 each. That’s equivalent to over a dollar per day, and ALMOST passive.

    I recently posted an infographic on my blog outlining the ways I use the main site, too, if you are interested. Combine that with the mobile apps, and you can definitely make over $10.00 per week pretty easily.

    Reply
    1. Deanna Michaels Post author

      Oops, I read this one second! I checked out your ingographic and it looks like we use the same ways to earn on the computer! Swagasaurus Run is my go to game for those points as well and sometimes the Mad Cab one. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Dustin

    I love Swagbucks, it is the most consistent way I know of to make some decent spending money online. I run all of the mobile apps each day, until they max out. There are 6 apps for Android, one of them makes 36 Swag Bucks per day, the other 5 make 18 each. That’s equivalent to over a dollar per day, and ALMOST passive.

    Reply
    1. Deanna Michaels Post author

      Swagbucks is awesome! Yes, I love the Swagbuck apps – I think it’s easier to earn that way than on the computer. I don’t have a smart phone/device yet so we just use my husbands phone. I think with using the apps I could probably pay for the budget increase of getting one though!

      Reply
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