InboxDollars Review: Pros, Cons, And Alternatives

InboxDollars is a simple and easy way to earn cash for doing small tasks online.

I fully admit that waste way too much time streaming Netflix. But when I stumbled onto the idea of taking surveys online while watching TV, I thought I found true redemption. Take surveys and make bank, in my PJ’s, while watching Nextflix? Yes, please!

But turns out it’s not quite so simple. Taking surveys through InboxDollars, as the name implies, pays out in dollars. You won’t qualify for all of them. You won’t get rich. But you can make money and they do pay. Want to hear about my experience? Keep reading.

Note: the activities and services on the platform do change, and this is based on my experience using the platform. If you're looking to earn money in your spare time doing random tasks, this is an option for you.

What Is InboxDollars?

InboxDollars is a company that connects brands with consumers. It was founded in 2000 by then-college-student Daren Cotter who still serves as the company's CEO today. 

Every since the pandemic, we've all been spending a lot more of our free time at home. And with Inbox Dollars, you can turn that down time into cash as long as you have an internet connection.  

To be clear, you won't be able to make as much money completing random online tasks for InboxDollars as you'd be able to driving for Uber or Lyft driver or delivering for DoorDash or Instacart.

But if you'd like to earn a few extra bucks without having to leave your couch, InboxDollars could be what you're looking for. Plus, you can earn a $5 cash signup bonus.

What Does It Offer?

There are various ways for users to earn cash with InboxDollars. These include:

• Reading PaidEmails
• Taking surveys
• Shopping online
• Watching videos
• Playing games
• Participating in scratch-offs
• Trying offers
• Using Inbox Dollars' search engine
• And more!

But how does this all work? And how much can you expect to earn with these various activities. Let's take a closer look at how InboxDollars works.

$5 Signup Bonus

InboxDollars sucks you in with $5 signup bonus or a “free $5 to get started.” To get started, all you have to do is provide your email address, create a site password, and then confirm your email address and you get $5. Sign me up.

I provided my email address and after confirming my account, I got $5 credited to my account. Awesome!

MyList ToDo’s

After I enrolled for InboxDollars, I completed my profile. This 10-minute task yielded another $0.50. InboxDollars wanted to know every detail about my life. What’s my birthday? Do I have any medical conditions?

You have the option to say, “I prefer not to answer.” which I selected for many of the questions. Apparently, they use the information to help match you to surveys. 

After completing the initial profile survey, you’re promoted to “Take Another Survey.” Instead of doing that, I exited out of the box and chose to go through the “MyList” of tasks to complete it and earn an additional $0.50. 

PaidEmails

The final task on the list, “Confirm Your First PaidEmail.” is how you claim the additional $0.50 bonus. 

If you’re not a fan of junk mail in your inbox, you can unsubscribe after you’ve received your bonus. Simply tap “Click Here to Unsubscribe” at the bottom of one of their Paid Emails.  Then, adjust your settings to no longer receive their mailings. 

In good news, you may find it worthwhile to get their PaidEmails. For each one that you confirm, you earn progress towards a Scratch & Win. 

Surveys

The whole process of taking the surveys can be frustrating. InboxDollars sometimes serves up surveys for which you aren’t qualified. Before I got through a single episode of Fuller House, I was disqualified from four surveys. Survey providers are looking for a specific demographic.

When I finally found a survey I could take, I earned a whopping $0.25. The survey took about 10 minutes. At that rate, I was earning about $1.50 per hour. But that’s $1.50 more than I would have otherwise made sitting on my couch watching Bridgerton.

Eventually, I was able to complete a couple more surveys for higher payouts. And when you disqualify, you spin “Billy’s Wheel” for a chance to win a cash prize or more progress towards a Scratch & Win.

Cash Offers

The Offers page was more promising. There are six different categories of cash offers. These are:

• 100% FREE Offers
• Content Discovery
• New Offers
• Club Favorites
• Making Money
• Saving Money

On the mobile web version, there are some offers to earn $0.10 to $3.50 for downloading some of the free apps onto your phone. And if you want to give them your location data, you can earn $0.05 per scan when you scan specific product barcodes in stores. 

There are also offers from gig economy and investing companies. For example, when we tested InboxDollars, they were offering up to $150 if you signed up through them to become an UberEats Driver. And they were offering $75 to new Stash clients.

Scratch & Win

Scratch & Wins are multi-tiered “lottery” tickets that can help you top off your InboxDollars earnings.

There are four different activities that earn progress along your Scratch & Win meter:

• Spin and Win
• WinIts
• Learn & Earn
• Search
• Video Channel

Once you've filled your progress meter to tier one, you can scratch to win a prize of up to $10. Or you can keep working towards the second tier which has a maximum prize value of $25. Finally, you can work your way all the way up to the third for a chance to win $100.

Videos, Coupons, And More

There are many additional ways to earn cash with InboxDollars such as watching online videos, redeeming coupons, entering contests, using InboxDollars' search engine instead of Google or another engine, downloading mobile apps and more. 

There are so many options that it would impossible for us to review each of them in detail. However, we did test out the "Watch Online Videos" and "Coupons" options.

For “Watch Online Videos”, I watched a few minutes of celebrity news coverage. And for “Coupons”, you get directed to the coupons page where you can earn cash for printing coupons and then later redeeming them in-store.

How Do You Redeem Your Earnings?

If there's a downside to InboxDollars, it's that it has a rather high cash out minimum. You can’t request your first payment until you earn $15. All additional payment requests, however, can be made once you have at least a $10 rewards balance.

After you reach the $15 earnings mark, you can cash out with a PayPal, an eGiftCard (i.e. Amazon gift card), or a prepaid Visa. For a long time, InboxDollars was one of the rewards sites left that offered check payments. However, checks were discontinued as a payment method on August 17, 2021.

Are There Any Fees?

No, InboxDollars makes its money by receiving payments from its partner brands every time someone complete an activity on the platform. This is how it's able to pay cash to its members despite without charging any membership fees.

How Does InboxDollars Compare?

InboxDollars is one of the oldest and most well-known cashback platforms. However, there are several sites and apps that compete in this space, some of which have lower cash out thresholds (or none at all). 

Check out this quick comparison table if you're wondering how InboxDollars stacks up to the competition:

How Do I Contact InboxDollars?

Most cashback sites don't place a big emphasis on customer service. And InboxDollars is certainly no exception. When you visit the site's "Contact Us" page, you won't find a phone number or even an email address. Instead, you'll need to send your request for assistance via a contact form.

InboxDollars has been reviewed over 23,000 times on Trustpilot and currently has a respectable 4.2/5 rating. Its mobile apps also tend to receive positive reviews. However, the company is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and, as of writing, has an F rating with BBB.

Why Should You Trust Us?

I have been testing and trying InboxDollars since 2009. It was one of the earliest side hustles that I tried, and I've been testing features over the years as they've rolled out. I used to do this while I was waiting for class to start!

Furthermore, we stay up to date on what is happening in the InboxDollars community on Reddit, to make sure that we don't miss anything.

Who Is This For And Is It Worth It?

InboxDollars isn’t going to make you rich. If you really need money, a minimum wage job flipping burgers would be better. But, it’s a good way to earn a few extra bucks on the side.

It’s a couple dollars here and a few dollars there that you might earn on your way to reach $15 so you can cash out. I can’t see making much more than $15 per week unless you’re really putting in a lot of time.

But, InboxDollars could be worth your while if you're into freebies and deals or you just want to earn while you're sitting on the couch watching your favorite TV show. At $15 per week, that’s an extra $780 a year for putzing around on your phone.

If that seems appealing to you, go ahead and sign up.  Or you can see how they compare to similar sites like Swagbucks or TopCashBack.

Just know that if you really need some mega cash (i.e. college tuition, major car repairs), you’ll need to look for some higher-earning side hustles. But be prepared to get off your couch to do them.

InboxDollars FAQs

Here are a few of the questions we often hear people asking about InboxDollars:

Is InboxDollars a scam?

No, InboxDollars is a legitimate rewards club that has paid out over $60 million since its launch in 2000. Just don't expect to get rich with InboxDollars as most activities pay less than a dollar.

How much money can you make with InboxDollars?

Hourly earnings with will vary depending on the tasks you choose to complete and the surveys that you qualify for. However, InboxDollars says that most activities pay between $0.02 and $5.00.

How long does it take to get paid with InboxDollars?

Rewards are credited to your account immediately after completing tasks. But it generally takes 3-5 business days for payment requests to process.

Does InboxDollars offer a signup bonus?

Yes, new members receive an instant $5 cash bonus.

InboxDollars Features