So, you’re looking for some ways to make money from home with your Chromebook.
Maybe you’re trying to make some beer money?
Or looking to buy random things without feeling guilty?
Or maybe just trying to pay off that Hulu subscription at the end of the month?
In this guide, we’ll talk about:
- Different ways to make money online with survey sites
- Money making apps that work on Chromebooks
- Other ways to do freelance work, side gigs, or earn passive income on your laptop
The sites here are legit and pay.
But with anything, you should always do your due diligence and read reviews first before you attempt it.
If you have any sites or apps to suggest, drop a comment and let me know.
Sound good? Let’s make some money.
Last updated: 2/13/23. This list is kept up-to-date and reviewed periodically for methods that work. As of today, 100% of these techniques still can earn you some side hustle money.
How to make money from home with a Chromebook
Here are some ways you can make money online with your Chromebook.
All of these are either websites that work directly through Chrome or an Android app that you download and use on your Chromebook.
Since Chrome OS is locked down and restricts you from downloading and installing programs, we’ll have to resort to using websites directly through the browser or apps.
Thankfully, those are the best ways to make some beer money.
I’ve personally used most of the methods listed here, so I can speak for myself that they’re legit and pay. The ones I haven’t tested, I researched online extensively.
I still urge you to do your own research (like you’re doing now) before you dive in to see if it’s worth your time or not. Because some online apps are not worth it. You’d probably make more picking up pennies next to Target.
While I don’t do them nearly as much now, they’re still good for anyone who wants to make a few bucks per month with little work.
Whether you’re trying to make some beer money through online work, surveys, or Amazon MTurk, your Chromebook can be your companion!
With a lot of people pursuing side hustles these days, those extra dollars really add up!
You can always do some research and read some reviews before starting just so you don’t waste your time (which you should be doing anyway- due diligence is a must).
Some of them I haven’t used in a few years, but they were legit and paid out during the time I used them. So I assume they’re still up and running because they’re doing good business practices.
Scan through this list and see what interests you. Then pick one and go for it.
All of the websites work on Chromebooks so you should have no problem.
But apps are hit or miss depending on whether or not your device can run them.
With the portability of a laptop, you can make some quick pocket change anywhere with a WiFi connection.
Work, college, or out in public at your favorite coffee shop. And of course, from home.
Here’s the list of different ways to make money on a Chromebook.
Money-making apps for Chromebook
First, let’s talk about the apps that can bring in some money.
These are apps made for Android, but you can run them on your Chromebook throughout the Play Store app. If you have a newer device, you should have no problem accessing the Play Store to grab them.
Note that some apps may not be compatible with your device (that’s why sometimes you’ll see the error). They’re constantly improving the integration so it may work in the future.
And if you have an older model that doesn’t have the Play Store yet, first check this list to find your device. If you see it there, then you can update your device to get Android apps.
Google Opinion Rewards
Google Opinion Rewards is a survey panel by Google which lets you take quick, fast, and easy surveys for rewards.
If you have an iPhone, you can redeem PayPal cash from this app at just $2. But for the rest of us, Android and Chromebook users can only redeem Play Store credits.
That’s not too bad, right? You can get your favorite games, shows, movies, and more for “free” with your credits.
The app is straightforward. Just download it and it’ll alert you when there’s a new survey available.
The only problem with this app is that the surveys are far and few in between. You may only receive 2-3 surveys a month, which will earn you just under $1 on average.
Each survey pays about 30 cents and takes 1-2 minutes to complete.
Other than that, this is a legit app that’s worth having on your device just to take the random surveys that pop up every now and then and earn some sweet beer money.
While it’s not a lot, it does add up over time.
Note that Google Opinion Rewards doesn’t work on all devices. If you can’t get it working on your Chromebook (because it does access your GPS and this could lead to errors), just snag it on your phone! I know- this post is supposed to be about money making apps for CHROMEBOOKS.
But this is an easy way to make some side money and I thought I’d mention it anyway.
SurveyMonkey Rewards
SurveyMonkey Rewards is another survey app similar to Google Opinion Rewards.
You download and install the app and it’ll alert you whenever there’s a new survey available. The app has you take a profile survey to collect your demographic information to match you with the right surveyors.
After that, you just wait for the surveys to roll in.
You can redeem Amazon gift cards at $5. Each survey pays about 20-50 cents and you’ll get about 1-2 per week. After you hit the threshold, you can redeem it and it’ll approve automatically. This app also requires your GPS to better match you with surveys.
You can choose to leave it on all the time or just only when you use the app.
This is another app you should have on your phone. Just take the surveys when you get a notification and rack up the cash. Slowly.
QuickThoughts
QuickThoughts is a hit or miss survey app.
You complete surveys and redeem Amazon gift cards with the points you earn. There are very few surveys available which are a common problem with many survey sites, so I’m not putting the blame just on QuickThoughts.
The strange thing about this app is that the amount of surveys you can take fluctuates randomly.
Sometimes you have more than you can take. Other times you’ll have no surveys for days. When you DO have surveys, they’re easy, fast, and pay well.
The amount you can earn in your downtime almost matches a minimum wage job (assuming you hit all the right ones).
Some surveys take a lot of time, but the pay is worth it. The minimum payout for an Amazon GC is $10 and it does take some time to reach the threshold.
The app USED to be amazing, but the app has gone to crap as of lately.
Completing surveys doesn’t redeem anything and the customer service is nonexistent. I’m not sure if it’s a technical problem or not, but QuickThoughts has been extremely buggy recently.
Some users have been locked out, suspended, or surveys are just not being paid.
Regardless, QuickThoughts is a legit app even though it’s plagued with problems:
- Nonexistent customer support
- Errors when trying to redeem your rewards
- Blocked or timed out accounts
- Banned accounts
- Surveys not crediting
If you scan the recent reviews for QuickThoughts, many users are saying similar things- they’ve been banned for no reason.
I’m not sure if this is a quality issue with the user and accuracy on the surveys, or if it’s just QuickThoughts banning accounts to avoid paying out.
Who knows. If you’re bored and you’ll do anything for some cash, try out QuickThoughts.
Just expect that your account can be banned at any time, so cash out as soon as you hit the $10 minimum payout to damage control your account!
Make money online with these websites using your Chromebook
Next are the websites.
Survey sites, GPT sites, gaming sites, microwork sites, and more.
The whole shebang.
These are my preferred money makers because apps are more suited just to one way to earn while websites offer a multitude of different things you can do to make some sweet dough. Taking surveys gets repetitive.
Throw in some games or videos to watch and then you have options.
Amazon MTurk
MTurk is a crowdsourcing platform owned and operated by Amazon. It’s a place where requesters and workers come together.
Requestors “request” workers to do various tasks and offer a few cents to a few dollars upon completion. The bulk of the work offered on MTurk are surveys.
Compared to other survey sites, MTurk pays on the higher end, especially if you do good work and have the qualifications to take more intensive surveys.
To keep things simple, as a worker, you browse a list of available “HITS” which are the tasks.
You preview and accept it. Then you complete the task and submit it. The requester reviews your work and approves or rejects it.
Every single HIT you complete is tracked and you have metrics to gauge your reliability:
- Approval percentage
- Return percentage (how many tasks you refused after accepting it)
- Total HITS completed
These are the main factors that requestors look for, though returned HITS isn’t that much of a deal.
Your approval rating is used to see how seriously you take the surveys or complete the tasks:
- A low rating means poor quality work and requestors are likely to reject your work or review it with a keen eye.
- A high rating means that you spend time on your work to submit high-quality answers.
Requesters can screen out workers below a certain percentage, so this keeps the platform fair.
It’s in your best interest to work quickly, but accurately. This is how you keep good metrics AND make decent beer money on the side with MTurk .
Most of the work is surveys. And they all are your generic multiple-choice, radio button, text response, etc.
So it’ll work in Chrome without a hitch and therefore you can complete them on your Chromebook!
There are other HITS like receipt auditing, data entry, transcribing, playing various games, drawing, and other random tasks that’ll make you wonder why on earth they need this info, but hey, it pays.
SOME of them won’t work on Chromebooks- like the ones that require additional software to be installed.
But again, the surveys are the bulk of the work on MTurk and they run directly through Chrome, so you have no problem getting them to run.
MTurk allows you to work as much as you want and pays out as soon as every 3 days with no minimum payout amount.
You can get paid by direct deposit or Amazon gift card. While you can work 24/7, the problem is that there are only so many tasks that are worth your time.
A lot of them are $0.01 payout HITs, which are garbage and extremely tedious. You need to value your time and only do the HITs that are worth it.
Or else you’re just wasting time by working slave wages by doing slave labor.
Most requestors put out their surveys during business hours, so this is when you need to be on your toes.
Also, many workers use scripts to automatically find HITs, accept them, and “catch” them before others do. This is unfair and forces you to use scripts to level out the playing field.
There are a bunch of them, but this site is one of the highest-paying survey portals in existence.
Swagbucks
Swagbucks is like MTurk on steroids.
This is a website that lets you do a variety of tasks like play games, take surveys, watch videos, shop, and even search for points (AKA “SB”).
You then use those points to redeem gift cards or PayPal cash. There are even virtual credit cards you can use to shop online at your favorite store.
Swagbucks has been around for a long time now and is one of the last few legit ways to make some small money online. The nice thing about it is that you have a variety of different ways to earn.
So if you get bored quickly, you can switch it up and do another activity and continue earning.
After all, taking surveys nonstop for hours on end gets pretty repetitive. I can do it for half a day before I call it quits. But I know some people grind twice (or even three times) as much.
And if you get bored quickly or just hate taking surveys, try out Swagbucks instead.
Gain.gg
This is a GPT site with an emphasis on the younger crowd.
Designed with an impressive UI, the site has a multitude of offers from the leading CPA companies like AdScend Media, AdGate Media, AdGem, etc.
You complete surveys and earn coins.
With the coins, you can redeem virtual gift cards and other prizes.
There are a lot more “social” factors here compared to other survey sites. You can chat with others, view their profiles, and even see how much they earned.
Leaderboards and rankings are built in to gamify the experience.
So if you’re a gamer and you want to earn some money online, this site is right up your alley. It’s legit, pays out, and offers a variety of different prizes.
You can redeem skins for your favorite games like CS:GO and DotA2, gift cards via Tango, and even cryptocurrency.
A definite way to earn some cash while you’re AFK or in line for your next match of League.
Party on the desktop. Business on the Chromebook. Booyah.
SurveyJunkie
SurveyJunkie is another survey app (with a web version) that has you taking surveys for points.
The points are equivalent to cash with every 100 points converting to $1. The problem with this app is that there are a lot of people complaining that the app doesn’t pay the amount it’s supposed to.
For example, a survey is rated at 300 points and you take it.
But then you receive less than the agreed amount. Since you take so many surveys, it’s difficult to see if you’re getting the true amount you should be.
Another common issue that’s not exclusive to SurveyJunkie is denial. You can be halfway through a survey and it’ll kick you out because you get screened out.
You’ll then be rewarded with 2 points, which is most of the time NOT worth the time you just put in. Unlike SurveyMonkey or Google Opinion, you don’t get “guaranteed” pay for each survey.
On the plus side, SurveyJunkie deposits straight to your bank account without any third-party payment processors like PayPal.
The surveys are plentiful and each has different amounts they pay, but it’s a matter of filtering through all the junk ones.
You need to find surveys that are worth your time because a lot of them are poor quality garbage surveys that pay next to nothing.
QMee
QMee is a survey app that lets you take surveys and redeem it for PayPal cash.
Similar to Swagbucks, there are a bunch of other offers like getting cash back for shopping online or a browser extension for coupon codes.
The interface is like a simplified version of Swagbucks (complete with time estimates to complete the survey, reward amount, and even if it requests your personal information).
I avoid all this because I can find deals on my own- and don’t like being sold affiliate links all day every day. I just focus on the surveys. You get a list of surveys to take and you earn small amounts for completing them.
QMee does pay, but there are lots of people complaining that it’s VERY easy to get banned. Just make sure you take the surveys seriously. I don’t know if these people are doing something wrong, or if the company is banning people right before they cash out.
I’d put QMee at the bottom of your list and only try it out if you have no other options. This is one of the few apps that pay by PayPal rather than a gift card, so there’s that which is nice.
Prolific
This is a lesser-known survey site compared to MTurk and Swagbucks. I like to think of it as “Swagbucks grown up.” Regardless, Prolific offers surveys that pay (and pay well).
The fluctuation of available surveys sometimes is high and other times is extremely low. You’ll want to keep the tab open on your browser so you get a notification as soon as there’s a survey available.
Because they go FAST.
But if you’re home all day on your Chromebook, there’s no reason to just have it open in its own tab. Keep it there and grab one when it pops up.
Prolific surveys are legit and pay well compared to other survey sites.
When times are busy, researchers put up tons of surveys and you can queue them up and do them one after the other.
You can make mid-3-figures per month during peak business season. I’m talking $500+ when the getting’s good. If you’re already online grabbing surveys from MTurk or Swagbucks, there’s no reason to not sign up for Prolific.
This is a site that you don’t want to BS your answers or give poor quality results. Most of the time surveys are taken up right away. But when you do snag one, it generally pays well.
Other side hustles you can do to make some money
Here are some other avenues to make some beer money with your Chromebook.
Other than GPT or survey sites, you can do these freelance gigs which actually may turn into a full-fledged career.
Check ’em out.
Fiverr
You can make some serious money with Fiverr. In fact, some people have turned their Fiverr part-time side hustle into full-time gig careers.
You’ve probably heard of its origins- it’s the crazy site where people do things for just $5.
Since then, it’s expanded way beyond just $5 and some people charge crazy amounts of dollars for online freelance work. There are some well into the thousands.
But you can still do the $5 if you want. That’s always an option.
Fiverr lets you put your skills to the grindstone and people will pay for it- assuming you offer enough value. Anything and everything (legal) goes on Fiverr.
You can name a gig you’ll do, set your price, competition time, revisions, add ons, and even add a tip jar. So think of 3 things that you’re good at.
Good. Now go on Fiverr.com and research how much your competitors are charging for those same tasks.
Undercut them or offer MORE to the customers. And congrats. If it’s not saturated and you get some exposure, you’ll start getting orders.
Here are some gigs that are ALWAYS in demand:
- Article writing
- Copywriting
- Voiceovers
- Music production
- Video editing
- Transcribing
- Translating
You can do all of these straight on your Chromebook. No PC or Mac or fancy software needed.
Need to write a document? Use Google Docs.
Need to record? Get a mic and app to record your voice and record your screen.
Need to make music? Get a DAW for Chrome OS.
It’s all there.
Ain’t that nice?
Upwork
Upwork is like Fiverr grown up.
You can make some serious cash here and turn it into a full career. Businesses are hiring people from all over the world to complete freelance tasks like writing essays, web design, web dev, and more.
You can complete MOST of the tasks that are in-demand easily on your Chromebook. Upwork takes transparency a lot more seriously than Fiverr so you’ll need to put in your real details, skills, bio, and even a photo.
All accounts also need approval first. If you’re serious about taking your freelancing to the next level, try Upwork.
eBay
Everyone knows about eBay. It’s the place to buy and sell your stuff.
Since it’s straight through your browser, your Chromebook is more than enough to handle it.
You can sell your unused clutter that’s just taking up space, or you can do real business and start importing goods to sell. Many people are doing this and hundreds of guides online that teach you how to do eBay step by step.
Your Chromebook can handle everything from putting up listings, editing photos, and even printing postage labels with the built-in PDF reader!
I used to do a lot of eBay but I’ve toned it down over time because I got busy with other projects (like Platypus Platypus).
But I regularly handle customer questions, returns, and other questions about products during travels at WiFi hotspots and my Chromebook hasn’t failed me yet.
Etsy
If you know how to make crafts, draw, or do other creative works, Etsy is the place to sell your stuff.
Since it’s just an online marketplace similar to eBay and FB, your Chromebook can do everything you need it to.
Just sign up for an account and make some listings for your stuff. I won’t get into detail about Etsy because there’s a lot to learn about making your listings rank and stand out, but here’s a beginner’s guide.
Regardless, your Chromebook can edit and enhance your product photos with filters and such.
You can download your favorite image editor apps and run them on Chrome OS. Or you can use the native image editor.
Retail flipping
This is another offline method where you go around to retail stores, buy up the discounted or clearance items, and then put them online (FB, CL, eBay, etc.).
Also called retail arbitrage, it’s as simple as buying low and selling high.
It sounds easy, and the concept is easy:
- You scour stores for their clearance items.
- You scan them with the Amazon Seller’s app to see if you can make a profit.
- You buy them and list them online (Amazon, eBay, Craigslist, etc.)
- You turn a profit after shipping, packaging, time, and other costs
There’s a lot more to it than that and it comes with its own set of challenges. Retail arbitrage is also super saturated by now, but that doesn’t mean it’s not impossible.
This method used to be very popular a few years back and there were even some people who cleared millions just buying from Walmart and selling on Amazon.
Now, many people are doing it and because of online deal catcher sites, it makes it a lot more difficult.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t give it a try. If you already shop a lot, next time make a pit stop at the clearance section.
Get the Amazon Seller or eBay app and scan some of the UPCs on the boxes and see what they sell for online.
Factor in shipping and postage supplies and see if you can turn a profit. That’s the gist of it. It’s difficult to do now unless you can get your hands dirty with some limited edition or exclusive merchandise.
Here’s a good resource you can check out. And of course, you can do all this with your Chromebook.
Craigslist flipping
Craiglist is THE way to start a side hustle without a website, huge investment, or any other technical matters.
All you need to do is learn how to flip. Think of something you know a lot about- as in the technical specs, how to use it, what people are looking for, and market prices. Then what you do is find a GOOD deal on Craigslist in your local area.
Check out the item and buy it if it’s a good deal. Then turn it around and flip it. Put it for a higher price back on CL, or throw it on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, etc.
This is flipping 101. Some people started with this and slowly expanded their inventory until they’re pulling in 6 figures.
Yes. Flipping can be a 6-figure income if you take it seriously. You can start by flipping items yourself. Then you can even open up a “discount” store online or just sell through commercial sites.
And best of all, you don’t need any technical knowledge. It’s literally just buying low and selling high. Market demand and supply at its finest. And a Chromebook is MORE than enough to make some money with this side hustle.
For example, let’s say you knew plenty about iPhones. You scour craigslist daily and eventually find a deal for a phone priced at $600 when the current market price is $1000 for used and $1200 for new (I don’t know actual iPhone prices- just making this up).
So you buy it for $600 because the seller needed cash. Or maybe there’s some cosmetic damage like scruffs or a cracked screen (both of these can be FIXED and then the value goes UP).
You do some minor work (or not) and then throw it online on eBay and FB Marketplace for $750. A few days later, you get some inquiries.
Sort through them and find the highest offer. Sell it. Bam.
You just profited $150 for an hour or so of work. Now imagine this to more and more products. This is the ultimate side hustle for beginners.
Of course, it’s not always that easy. You’ll have to sift through a ton of lowball offers, flakes, annoying sellers, etc. You have to meet up with people.
You’ll find scammers and devices that are completely broken, fake, or damaged in some other way the seller didn’t tell you.
This is why you need to know the product well and what people are looking for.
There are always exceptions and it’s not always as straightforward as you think.
But I hope you got some ideas out of this and can twist it to perfection for your lifestyle.
Make money passively with your Chromebook
You can make money doing absolutely nothing (AKA passive income).
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Nothing is free. No free lunch. Too good to be true.
You’ll be surprised. Keep reading.
Without getting into traditional investment strategies like mutual funds, ETFs, dividend stocks, real estate, etc. and keeping it simple, there are two ways you can accomplish this with just a Chromebook.
There are definitely more out there, but I only want to talk about methods I’ve done myself that actually WORK on Chrome OS.
So here are two methods you can check out to make some beer money passively. If you already use your Chromebook, these don’t cost you anything extra other than some electricity and battery drain.
Get Honeygain
Honeygain advertises itself as a passive income stream. It’s basically a program that runs in the background and shares your unused bandwidth with “researchers.”
Although this instantly brings sketchy data collectors and spyware to mind, Honeygain claims that the data is shared with only approved parties that use it for legitimate claims. Take that with a grain of salt.
Regardless, you download and install Honeygain and let it run in the background. It works automatically and will sell your bandwidth when there’s demand for it.
The more you sell, the more “honey” you harvest, which is converted to a USD equivalent.
There’s no way to control how much you sell- it all depends on demand, location, speed, etc. The best thing you can do is to just leave it running when you use your Chromebook and it’ll add up over time.
There are some users that cashed in about $50/mo, which isn’t bad at all for doing nothing and spending time on that laptop that you’d already be doing.
It’s up to you to do the research and see if you trust Honeygain.
Please do your due diligence before using it. On the surface, they seem legit with plenty of users (here’s the subreddit). But there are always scams and undisclosed privacy concerns. So it’s really a matter of your own regard to your data.
Honeygain won’t work with Chrome OS. You’ll need to get Ubuntu, then WINE, and then download Honeygain. This is a lengthy process that can be confusing for the beginner.
But thankfully, I have tutorials for all of those steps!
You can follow the guide from Honeygain here that covers installing it on Linux.
Use Brave
Brave is a security and privacy-centered browser made by an ex-founder of Firefox.
The browser is built on Chromium (which is what powers Chrome), so there’s no learning curve if you’re already used to using Chrome on your Chromebook. It also works with Chrome extensions, so you don’t have to lose your favorite functionalities.
Brave is one of the few legit browsers that PAY you to use it.
How it works is that the browser will show you ads based on your browsing history.
There are also sponsored images that show up when you launch a new tab- but you can easily customize your new tab page if you want.
These two advertising mediums pay you in BAT, which is the Basic Attention Token. With BATs, you can convert them to USD and cash out.
BAT is a cryptocurrency developed by the team behind Brave and you’re awarded some each time you see an ad.
So you’re LITERALLY being paid to browse around- WITHOUT the invasion of privacy. There are no catches since Brave is made to protect your privacy- it has a built-in “shields” which blocks ad trackers, ads, and secures your connection automatically.
Most companies will sell your info to generate money.
As we all know, if the product is free, YOU are the product.
Brave is the only browser I could find that has a good team behind it and pays you to use it- without compromising your privacy.
After all, it’s a privacy-focused browser so it’d be ironic for them to pay you out while selling your data. That defeats the purpose of it entirely.
I know that this is hard to believe and it seems too good to be true. I did my share of research and didn’t find anything to confirm my doubts, so I use Brave as my primary browser and make a few bucks a month just doing what I already do.
You can earn about $2-$6 per month just by browsing the web.
Brave allows you to adjust your ad settings such as how many ads you want to see per hour, whether or not you want to see sponsored images, and even allows you to tip your favorite bloggers.
The thing is that Chrome OS doesn’t play well with Brave. You’ll need to get Linux first, and then you can install other browsers on your Chromebook.
Similar to Honeygain, you’ll have to get out of the Chrome OS environment for this to work.
Brave is compatible with Linux and that’s the only surefire way you’ll be able to use it.
If you think earning money just for browsing the web sounds good, and you’ve got a Chromebook, give it a try.
You can always revert your changes if you mess up- and it’s always fun to mess around with Ubuntu.
Just be sure to make a backup of your data!
Now go make some money with your Chromebook
This list should get you started.
Go forth and earn some of that sweet, sweet pocket change and use it on some video games, food, gas money, or your Netflix subscription.
If you’re bored on your Chromebook and you have nothing else to do, why not make some cash?
If you know any other legit ways to make money that works directly through Chrome, post a comment and let me know.
Which method are you going to try out?
