If you’ve searched for ways to make money online, you’ve probably come across Swagbucks. Here’s my honest review, based on a month of using it.
With a catchy name and a promise to “put cash back in your wallet”, Swagbucks sounds too good to miss. Out of curiosity, and as an experiment for the blog, I tested how much I could earn in a month.
Update, October 2026: I ran this test in May 2020. Swagbucks still operates in the UK. Points are worth roughly 0.77p each when you redeem them for gift cards or PayPal cash, about the same as during my test (Save the Student, July 2026). Check the current rewards on Swagbucks before you sign up.
What is Swagbucks?
Swagbucks is a mix of a survey site and a cashback site.
You earn points, called Swagbucks or SB, for answering surveys and doing other online tasks, such as watching videos, searching the web or playing games. You can then swap your points for gift cards or cash through PayPal.
You also earn SB when you shop with retailers that partner with Swagbucks.
Sounds great: time to make it rain from the sofa? Not quite. Before you become a full-time “Swagbuckler”, be clear that this won’t replace a salary.
First impressions
I first heard about Swagbucks through a sign-up offer in the MoneySavingExpert weekly email. The deal seemed a no-brainer: earn 1,300 SB (worth £10 in Amazon vouchers) within 30 days of signing up and get a bonus £20 Amazon voucher.
How hard could it be to earn £10 doing surveys? Pretty hard, it turns out.
After three hours of surveys, most starting with the same tedious demographic questions, I had earned 188 SB. That worked out at 48p an hour. For comparison, the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour from April 2026.
I almost gave up. But out of sheer stubbornness, I kept going for the rest of the month.
My total earnings for one month on Swagbucks
So, the big reveal. In my first month I earned 7,281 SB, or £56 in Amazon vouchers. But I only made £44, because I spent £12 on one of the offers. More on that below.
I earned my SB from surveys, cashback and promotional offers:
Answering surveys
I once worked in a factory. My job was pulling a lever that hollowed out metal bushes. It was the most boring job I’ve ever had, until I tried online surveys.
Surveys are mind-numbing and pay badly. The most I earned in an hour was 217 SB (£1.69 in Amazon vouchers), and that was with two double-points bonuses. Around 50p an hour is a more realistic expectation.
The most frustrating part is that you don’t qualify for every survey, and you often only find out a few minutes in. Swagbucks could fix this by only showing surveys that match your profile answers.
Not every survey was painful. Visual surveys, where I gave my opinion on ad layouts, were more interesting and paid better: 100 SB for five minutes.
Playing games
I don’t usually play phone games, so this broke up the surveys. I tried two: Coin Master and Rise of Kingdoms.
Coin Master
Coin Master is a slot machine game where you use your winnings to upgrade your village. To earn 1,500 SB, I had to reach village level 7 within 30 days.
The game is repetitive and needs no skill. That’s why I’m embarrassed to admit I reached level 19. I can see how people get drawn into buying extra spins.
Rise of Kingdoms
This strategy game was actually fun. If you’ve played Age of Empires or Civilization, you’d probably enjoy it.
I don’t know how many hours it took to reach level 17 (worth 4,000 SB), and I don’t want to know. Not much else got done that May.
Both games were a huge waste of time, because I didn’t receive any SB for either. I raised a support ticket but never heard back.
Promotional offers
This was by far the easiest way to earn. I made 2,600 SB (£20 in Amazon vouchers) just by signing up to a supermarket offers site. Registering with an energy comparison site earned another 700 SB, and getting a free Experian credit report added 350 SB.
Not every offer is free, though. Some need you to spend money or stay subscribed after a free trial. And as I found out, some can cost you.
How an offer cost me £12
While browsing the offers, I found this one:
I don’t play the lottery. The odds of winning a big prize are tiny. But paying £1 to earn 750 SB (about £5 in Amazon vouchers) looked like a good trade.
The next day, I was charged another £5 and was sure I’d been scammed. In my rush to get through offers, I hadn’t noticed I’d signed up to a weekly subscription. It’s a common mistake, and Lotto Social has a help page for confused customers.
On top of that, my card provider charged me a fee on each transaction. In total, I spent £12, got no SB for the offer and, you guessed it, didn’t win the jackpot.
The lesson: always read the small print. Note that since 14 April 2020, UK gambling firms, including online lottery sites, can’t take payments by credit card.
Shopping
Hundreds of shops take part in Swagbucks’ cashback scheme. If you were going to buy something anyway, shopping through Swagbucks can save you money. Buying something just to earn SB is a waste.
I bought my usual supplements from Myprotein through Swagbucks and earned 419 SB (about £4).
Redeeming Swagbucks
You can swap SB for PayPal cash or gift cards from well-known shops, such as Amazon. You can also donate your points to charity.
During my test, gift cards gave better value than PayPal cash, and larger rewards gave better value than small ones:
- 1,300 SB = £10 Amazon gift card
- 1,450 SB = £10 PayPal cash
Exchange rates change, so check which reward gives the best value at the time.
Final verdict
Before the trial, I knew surveys paid peanuts. But I was optimistic and hoped to make at least £200 in a month. I was wrong.
With £44 to show for my efforts, mostly from promotional offers, I’d say answering surveys is a poor use of your time. There are much better ways to earn money online, such as freelancing, starting a blog or building a niche website.
But if you use Swagbucks for sign-up offers and cashback on shopping you’d do anyway, it’s a legitimate way to earn a little extra pocket money.
Want to try it? Sign up to Swagbucks here.
Pedro is passionate about finance, marketing, and technology. He is a growth manager at several online projects and a former digital marketer for a fintech company.
