Is Swagbucks Still Legit? Our Review and Insights After 5 Years

If swagbucks still legit our is on your radar, this short guide cuts through the noise. Here is what is worth knowing, and how to put it to work today.

Key Takeaways

• Share Some links on our website are sponsored, and we may earn money when you make a purchase or sign-up after clicking.
• Learn more about how we make money and read our review methodology.
• If you’re brand new to Swagbucks, here’s how it works: It’s free to sign up.

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Some links on our website are sponsored, and we may earn money when you make a purchase or sign-up after clicking. Learn more about how we make money and read our review methodology.

If you’re brand new to Swagbucks, here’s how it works:

1. It’s free to sign up. Then you can earn points (called SBs) by taking surveys, using the site’s cash-back shopping portal, playing games, completing offers and more.
2. Each SB is worth 1 cent and can be redeemed for a PayPal cash deposit or gift cards for most major retailers.

This Swagbucks review explains my experience using the service for over five years, including some of the changes that have occurred over that time and whether it’s still worth signing up for.

4.7/5

Quick take: Swagbucks is our top pick among general online reward sites thanks to its best-in-class offers and shopping deals, excellent payment options and simple cash-out process.

Our top three Swagbucks insights:

1. The best way to earn on the platform is by completing offers. For example, I earned $300 by joining Chime and receiving two direct deposits.
2. Before you shop online, check the Swagbucks “Shop” section to see if there are Flash Deals. For example, at the time I’m updating this article, they’re offering a Flash Deal for 12% back on Walmart purchases. Flash Deals frequently increase around holidays. This is the second best way to earn.
3. Expect to earn relatively little (around $2 per hour, based on our testing) for surveys and most other activities on the platform.

Our experience: Since 2019, I have earned 54,166 SBs (approximately $540) on Swagbucks, primarily through shopping and deals. Another team member has earned over $800 since signing up, and even won a Nintendo Switch in a sweepstakes. However, we’ve recently encountered more tracking issues with the platform than in the past.

Bonus: New users can earn a $10 bonus by spending $25 through the site's shopping portal within 30 days of signing up. See the latest Swagbucks sign-up bonus details.

Pros:

• Low minimum cash-out requirement ($3), with options for PayPal and numerous gift cards.
• As one of the largest reward sites, Swagbucks consistently introduces new opportunities. For engaged users, earning $10 to $50 monthly is feasible, though the methods will vary from month to month.
• Rewards dedicated users with exclusive earning opportunities.

Cons:

• The pay for simple tasks like surveys is low.
• The platform has more issues with tracking shopping trips and offer completion than other sites we’ve tested.
• Expect customer service delays and multiple follow-ups to address issues.

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Table of Contents

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• How Much Can You Expect to Earn?
• Swagbucks Money-Making Methods Ranked
• How Reliable Is Swagbucks Tracking?
• Best Swagbucks Alternatives
• Swagbucks Review: Final Verdict

How Much Can You Expect to Earn?

The chart below shows our actual Swagbucks earnings data, which we compiled by going through all of our combined activity on the platform over the past five years. This includes data from myself and one other team member. 

Given that we didn’t track our time spent from the start, we’ve provided our best estimates for each activity.

ActivityTotal EarningsEstimated Hourly RateSignup offers$1,071.97$107.20Signup bonus$10.00$100.00Surveys$34.18$1.71Shopping$195.60$65.20Referrals$0.56$0.56Search wins$0.35$0.35Miscellaneous$5.00$5.00Total$1,370.03$20.12

While the two of us earned $20 per hour on average after combining our data, it’s key to realize that we primarily used the platform for shopping and signup offers. Someone who doesn’t spend a lot of money online, or who can’t complete signup offers, isn’t going to earn nearly as much.

For example, if a person just wanted to focus on surveys and other small tasks, their dollars per hour would be significantly lower. 

This highlights an key expectation you should have when using Swagbucks: the speed at which you want to make money frequently correlates with the payout you can expect.

If you’re looking to earn money quickly, you may be drawn to surveys, games and other activities that can be completed in a short amount of time. But these methods generally provide low payouts (frequently just a few dollars per hour). 

On the other hand, offers and cash-back shopping transactions yield higher earnings but they may take more time or effort to complete (especially in the case of signup offers), and the SBs you earn can take as long as 90 days to appear in your account. 

Keep this tradeoff between speed and payout in mind when choosing your earning strategies.

Overall, our earnings represent the upper end of what you can expect from the platform, but the data should give you a realistic expectation of what’s possible with a strategic approach. 

Swagbucks Money-Making Methods Ranked

Swagbucks offers a wide variety of ways to earn rewards, each with its own unique characteristics. The rankings below are based on factors such as earning potential and effort required, as well as our preferences.

1. Signup offers. Swagbucks’ “Discover” section features lucrative offers to try new products and services, mostly from finance companies like online banks and investment platforms. These offers typically pay between $30 and $100, but sometimes more.
2. Money makers. These are some of the quickest ways to make money on Swagbucks, but they require follow-through. For example, I earned $18 in SBs by signing up for a Hulu free trial and paying for one month of the service for $7.99. I earned more Swagbucks than I spent, and got to catch up with a show I wanted to watch on Hulu. But you have to remember to cancel before you’re charged for a second month, or you won’t end up actually making a profit. 
3. Cash-back shopping. Excellent potential to rack up SBs quickly. Swagbucks has a wide array of participating retailers, making it simple to save money on the items you were already going to purchase. Plus, they offer excellent limited-time promotions (i.e., extra cash-back). For the best results, install the Swagbucks browser extension, which lets you earn cash-back on your purchases with just one click. 
4. Booking travel. Limited-time deals frequently go up to 12% cash-back for major hotel chains.
5. In-store cash-back. Swagbucks “Magic Receipts” feature allows you to earn rewards for in-store shopping trips by uploading a picture of your receipt. Some offers are valid at all stores, while others are store-specific.
6. Buying gift cards. While it may seem counterintuitive to purchase gift cards to earn points that you’ll redeem for gift cards, don’t overlook this strategy! Swagbucks has its own online store that offers major-chain gift cards at significant discounts, and you can frequently stack those with other offers.
7. Surveys. Swagbucks’ pay rate for surveys is good but not the highest in the industry. They do have a reasonably large inventory, which means there’s typically surveys available, but disqualifications are common.
8. Dining deals. Swagbucks offers a small selection of restaurants, including independent and large chains, where you can link your credit card and automatically earn cash-back when you pay. Most restaurants give 4% cash-back.
9. Daily poll. This only takes one second, but it’s also onl

   Final Thoughts

   The bottom line: a little research on swagbucks still legit our goes a long way. Compare your options, watch for seasonal offers, and never pay full price when a better deal is one click away.

   Originally published at thewaystowealth.com.