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Passive income apps allow you to make money from activities in which you are not actively involved. Many of the wealthiest people in the world earn money passively. It is one of the best and easiest ways to build wealth.
For instance, when people make money on the stock market, which is how most wealthy people in the United States build wealth, they are earning passive income. When they make money from rental income, they are earning passive income. Earned interest on a bank balance is also passive income.
All of the above activities do not require your active participation. That’s why they are passive income sources.
Passive income does not mean “no work required.” I’d be happy if that were true. However, in most instances, to earn passive income, you may have to do some work– in the beginning, at least.
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Even people who invest in the stock market have to research the company in which they are investing — well, now their portfolio managers do most of that work — but you know what I mean. The same is true with rental income. You may have to do some leg work in acquiring the property and making it habitable. Once you do the initial work, you can relax and earn.
This post will discuss the best passive income apps with which you can make the most money quickly. I’m talking about making money with the simple push of a button.
We’ve organized the apps by categories to make it easy to navigate.
Real Estate Passive Income Apps
Real estate is perhaps one of the oldest ways to earn passive income. In the olden days, you had to acquire an entire property and then rent it out. Doing so required thousands of dollars. But that’s all changed, thanks to something called REIT and Crowd Funded Real Estate.
REIT, which stands for Real Estate Investment Trust, is a form of investment that allows individuals to invest in large-scale income-producing real estate.
Crowd-Funded Real Estate on the other hand is basically a similar concept as a REIT, but with two significant differences: it is not as liquid, and it is done on a much smaller scale.
For instance, when you invest in a REIT that owns, let’s say 500 office buildings, you can sell your shares whenever you want. Crowd-funded Real Estate, on the other hand, might require you to remain invested until your group of investors exit the investment–usually by selling it.
The returns on crowd-funded real estate are usually higher than REITs. However, REITs are much safer because the risk is spread over multiple properties.
Best Passive Income Apps For Real Estate Investing
1. Fundrise
Fundrise is a popular real estate investing app. With Fundrise, you can buy shares in a portfolio of properties worth over $4.7 billion.
You don’t need a ton of money to get started with Fundrise. With a minimum investment of just $500, you can start your real estate investment career.
Fundrise is a crowdfunded real estate venture, and as such, they expect investors to remain invested for about five years.
However, unlike most crowd-funded real estate companies, Fundrise allows the possibility for an early exit, albeit with a penalty.
2. Roofstock
Roofstock is another real estate investment app that allows you to earn passive income by purchasing income-producing rental homes.
The process is straightforward: you browse the properties on Roofstock’s website, analyze the earning potential, and make a purchase– all without having to visit the property physically.
With Roofstock’s innovative tools, you will be able to do a virtual walk-through of the property. You will review inspection reports, analyze the average cost of rent in the neighborhood, and obtain other vital information you might need to make a sensible business decision.
You can also use Roofstock’s platform to contact competent property managers to handle daily property management activities.
The advantage of doing that is you wouldn’t have to deal with obnoxious tenets; it will be your property manager’s job. Your job will be to sit back and earn passive income.
Passive Income Apps For Stock Investing
Perhaps one of the most common ways to earn passive income in the United States is stock market investing. I specify the United States because many countries in the world do not have a stock exchange, and as such, stock investing is not a viable option for them.
To earn money on the stock market, you will have to invest. You can’t invest without a brokerage or a “conduit of sorts” to connect you to the stock market.
Luckily, investing in the stock market has become so simplified that you can invest with an app on your mobile device.
Below are some of the best passive income apps for investing in the stock market.
With any one of these apps, you can access the stock market within a fraction of a second using just your mobile phone.
3. Robinhood
Robinhood is a FREE investment app. With the Robinhood app, you can invest in thousands of companies like Apple, Walmart, Amazon, Ford, Exxon Mobile, etc.
If you use any of the Robinhood links on our website to sign up, you can get a free stock valued at up to $300.
In addition to stock trading, Robinhood also allows cryptocurrency trading, options trading, and ETFs.
Robinhood is very popular with young and new investors who want an investment platform that is simple to use and doesn’t come with exorbitant fees.
If you want to earn passive income by investing in the stock market, Robinhood is one of the best apps.
Sign up for a Robinhood Investing account and get a FREE stock valued at up to $300 from companies like Ford, GE, Microsoft, Visa, etc.
Robinhood also comes equipped with a free checking account.
The free Robinhood checking account gives the added convenience of efficiently transferring money between your Robinhood investment and bank accounts.
Robinhood members also have access to a wealth of educational materials. These materials are useful regardless of your level of investing experience.
4. Stash Invest
One of the key selling points for Stash Invest is the ability to purchase fractional shares on the platform.
With Stash Invest, you don’t need the full amount of money required to buy a stock. Stash Invest lets you buy a fraction of stock with whatever amount you have start with just $1.
Let’s say you want to buy an Amazon stock that costs about $3000, but you only have $20. With Stash Invest, you will be able to buy a fraction of Amazon’s stock for just $20. Not many investment platforms provide this option.
Stash Invest charges a monthly fee of between $1, $3, and $9 depending on the type of account you maintain on the platform.
In addition to all the perks that come with the lower tier accounts, the Stash Plus account, which is the highest tier and which charges $9 a month fee, comes with custodial investment accounts for two kids, a metal card with two times stock-back, and a monthly market insights report.
Stash Invest is a great passive income app for introducing your kids to stock investing and the concept of passive income.
5. M1 Finance
M1 Finance is a multifaceted investment app that lets you invest, bank, and borrow money– all in one app.
M1 Finance lets you invest in a diversified portfolio of stocks and exchange-traded funds, all for free. The app also enables you to borrow up to $10,000 at the competitive rate of just 2% (if you qualify), using your investment portfolio as collateral.
In addition to using the M1 Finance platform to invest in the stock market, investors also have access to banking services. Investors can open a fully functional M1 Finance checking account if they want.
Such an account will make the flow of funds between your investment account and your bank account very easy and convenient.
READ: 30 Easy And Legit Ways To Make Free Money
6. Acorns
Acorns is a top-rated investment app, with over 8 million users.
The app is best known for spare change investing, a process whereby your purchases get automatically rounded up to the nearest dollar and the difference deposited into an investment account.
Acorns’ strategy is to make it easy for you to save and invest.
Imagine buying a meal at Burger King for $8.45. Rather than paying $8.45, Acorns will round up your bill to $9 and place the $0.55 change in an investment account.
Over a year, this amount adds up.
For the round-up feature to work, you have to link your debit or credit card to Acorns; or you can use an Acorns issued debit card as the platform also provides bank accounts.
I consider the funds from Acorns round-up feature as a form of passive income because you don’t have to be actively involved in saving the money. Furthermore, that’s money that you can place in the stock market for a hefty return.
Acorns charges between $1 and $5 in monthly service fees.
If you want a financially painless way to earn passive income through stock investing, Acorns might be the app for you.
READ: Acorns App Review
Passive Income Apps That Give Cash Back
Cash back apps are becoming very popular. A few years ago, people expected cashback only on their credit card — and sometimes debit card–purchases. Thanks to the companies below, you can get cashback regardless of your bank or credit card company.
While cashback on individual purchases may not seem like significant amounts, they add up over time and can be quite a bit of money.
Below are some of the most popular and rewarding cashback apps for earning passive income
7. Rakuten (Get $10 Sign Up Bonus)
If you do a lot of your online shopping, you may be missing an opportunity to earn cashback–sometimes up to 40% cashback– on all of your purchases.
Sign up with Rakuten and get a FREE $10 Sign-up Bonus
With Rakuten, you can access thousands of the leading online stores with just one click. All you have to do is sign up for a Rakuten account and then use your account to access online stores like Amazon, eBay, Macy’s, Target, and the likes.
Because many people don’t always remember to log into their Rakuten account when making an online purchase, Rakuten developed browser extension to make getting easy and automatic.
All you have to do is install the browser extension on your web browser, and you wouldn’t need to sign in constantly.
You can go on whatever website you do online shopping, and Rakuten will ensure that you get cashback for your purchases.
8. Swagbucks (Get a $10 Sign Up Bonus)
Swagbucks is one of the best passive income apps. Like Rakuten, you can use the Swagbucks app or website to earn cashback on your online purchases.
Besides earning cashback on purchases, Swagbucks also has other ways to make money. For instance, you can earn money on Swagbucks for watching videos, surfing the web, playing games, and answering surveys.
If you are interested in a passive income app that provides several avenues to earn money, Swagbucks is one of the best apps.
Using Swagbucks is similar to using Rakuten. You sign up and then access the online store of your choice using the Swagbucks platform.
Most people prefer to download and use the Swagbucks browser extension. That way, they don’t have to sign in every time they want to make an online purchase.
Get a $10 sign up bonus when you sign up for Swagbucks today.
9. Paribus
Have you ever bought an item and were frustrated to see that the item’s price dropped significantly after just a few weeks?
The passive income app called Paribus can get your money back–the difference between what your paid and the new marked-down price.
Here’s how Paribus works: Paribus will continuously scan your email to find your past receipts, compare the prices you paid to current prices, if current prices are significantly lower, Paribus will contact the company to get a refund of the difference.
The good thing about Paribus is that you don’t need to be actively involved in what it is doing. It does all the work behind the scene without your input.
All you have to do is sign up with the service using the email address most associated with your online purchases–because that’s where Paribus will find the receipts.
Once you sign up and give all the permissions, Paribus goes to work, scanning hundreds of receipts to find opportunities to save money. If it finds one, it will file a digital claim on your behalf.
Paribus can also negotiate your utility bills downwards. It is a reputable app owned by Capital One, a ubiquitous credit card company.
10. Earny
Earny is another app that functions like Paribus. However, with Earny, you have more ways than one to earn passive income.
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With the Earny app, you can make passive income in the following ways:
- Get money back when there’s a price drop for an item you bought
- Use the price tracker to know exactly when to buy thereby saving you money
- Get cashback when you shop online
- Earn cashback for referring the app to friends
- Receive up to $15 refund for late packages
Earny is a one-stop-shop passive income app.
Joining Earny is easy. You can install the Earny browser extension, use the Earny app, or use the Earny website to access the savings tools.
Most people prefer the Earny browser extension because it is much easier to use. All you have to do is install the Chrome extension, sign up, and then shop as usual. Earny will automatically rack up your cashback.
11. Ibotta
Ibotta is a versatile passive income app. Whether you shop online or in stores, Ibotta got you covered. With Ibotta, you will earn cashback regardless of the way you buy.
Here’s how it works. To start earning cashback on your online purchases with the Ibotta, you have first to install the Ibotta app on your phone or web browser.
Ibotta’s cashback model differs from the other cashback apps mentioned here. While the other apps give you cashback only for online shopping, Ibotta gives you cashback for online and in-store shopping.
For in-store cashback, there are three ways to earn: submit your in-store purchase receipt, link your debit or credit card to Ibotta, or link your loyalty account.
Learn more about making passive income on Ibotta here.
Passive Income App That Give Free Gift Cards
Getting a free gift card on your birthday can be exciting. However, with the passive income app listed below, you wouldn’t have to wait for your birthday to get a free gift card.
You can get a gift card every other week if you want. Here’s the Drop app!
12. Drop App
The Drop app is another free app that rewards members with gift cards when they shop using the Drop app or the Drop Chrome browser extension.
The Drop app works pretty much like the Honey app or Swagbucks. You use the Drop platform to access your online shopping destination, be it Amazon, Walmart, or Target.
When you shop, you earn points which can then be redeemed for gift cards.
Drop partners with thousands of the major retailer. Whatever store you want to shop at, you can probably access it through the Drop app.
Passive Income Apps That Gives Cash
13. Dosh App
Dosh is a versatile passive income app. You can make money–up to 40% cashback–when you shop using the Dosh app.
The Dosh app is different because you can earn from both your online and in-store purchases. Even hotel stays around the world are eligible for cashback.
To start earning cashback with the Dosh app, you’ll have to download the app from either the Apple App Store or the the Google Play Store, and use it to access your online shopping destinations.
You will have to connect your primary debit or credit card with the Dosh platform for cashback on in-store or point-of-sale purchases. If connected, whenever you use the debit or credit card, you’ll earn cashback.
You’ll also get automatic access to coupons and other promotions directly applied to your purchase at the point of sale without having to clip coupons.
Unlike other apps that give gift cards, the Dosh app lets you redeem your rewards in actual cash. You can have the funds deposited to your bank or PayPal account.
Passive Income Apps That Gives Free Discount Coupon Codes
14. Wikibuy
Imagine you’re about to buy something online that cost $100. While on the checkout page, you get a pop-up coupon for 25%– or $25– off. You apply the coupon and voila! You’ve saved $25! That savings is a form of passive income.
With the app called Wikibuy, you’ll get a discount coupon for significantly more of the purchases you make online.
Wikibuy has partnered with thousands of online retailers to bring you coupons and deals you wouldn’t have otherwise.
Besides giving you coupons, Wikibuy also scours the web to find lower prices for whatever you’re interested in buying.
For instance, if you’re about to pay for a computer monitor that costs $275, Wikibuy will search thousands of online retailers to find the exact computer monitor but at a lower price.
Wikibuy is free to use. All you have to do is install the Wikibuy browser extension and shop as you usually would.
15. Honey App
The Honey app is precisely like the Wikibuy app. You can use Honey to get discount coupons and find lower prices from other retailers.
Just like Wikibuy, you can get the Honey browser extension free of charge. All you have to do is install the extension and Honey does all the work of finding the deals and coupons.
Passive Income Apps That Let’s You Use Your Property To Make Money
16. Airbnb
Airbnb is perhaps the most popular vacation rental marketplace. You can use the app to list a room or a house for short-term rental.
Airbnb is a passive income app because it allows you to make money without being actively involved.
Listing your property on the platform is free. However, once your property gets booked, you’ll be charged a fee.
17. Turo
Turo is a popular peer-to-peer car-sharing company. Members can list their car for rent on the platform.
According to the Turo website, daily car rentals start at a minimum of $18.
If you have a vehicle, you can visit the Turo website and see if you qualify to join the platform.
There are fees associated with using the platform, but there’s also potential to make some money.
READ: Earn Money With Your Car
Conclusion
Many passive income apps offer alternative ways to make money. This list is in no way conclusive, it is, however, very actionable. You don’t have to use all of the passive income apps listed here. You can select two or three and start your journey to financial freedom.
READ:
- Trim App Review: Save Money Automatically?
- YNAB App Review: Pros & Cons
- TrueBill Review: An App That Saves You Money Automatically?
- Earnin App Review: Better Than A Payday Loan?
- Personal Capital Review: Why You Should Use It Too
- Shipt Shopper Review: How To Make The Most Bank!
- Smartypig Review: What You Should Know Before You Sign Up
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