Top 10 Apps That Pay You to Walk in 2024: Turn Your Steps into Cash!
As the new year kicks off, most are deeply motivated and committed to saving money, getting fit, and starting new healthy benefits. What if we told you that you can combine these three ambitions and make money while you work towards a healthy lifestyle? That's right! In the age of technology, the app store of every smartphone is full of fitness apps that pay you to walk while you reach your fitness goals!
Health Benefits of Walking
Here's a quick catch-up on why walking is a simple way to stay healthy. Here are five unexpected benefits of walking, as stated by the Harvard Medical School:
- Walking can help counteract weight-gain-promoting genetics: A study by Harvard scientists examined 32 weight-gain genes and 12,000 people to see if walking could help balance these genes.
It turns out that people who walked at least an hour daily had a 50% decrease in genetic weight gain. Not to mention that walking helps you lose weight! - Walking helps control sweet cravings: Studies from the University of Exeter showed that a 15-minute walk can stop cravings for chocolate and decrease the amount of chocolate you eat in stressful situations. Isn't that cool?
- Walking helps reduce the risk of breast cancer: Women, listen up! A study by the American Cancer Society found that women who walked seven or more hours a week had a 14% lower risk of breast cancer than women who walked three hours or fewer per week.
- Walking helps joint pain: It seems like it would be the opposite, right? Several studies conclude that walking reduces arthritis-related pain. Moreover, walking five to six miles a week can prevent arthritis from forming at all.
- Walking boosts your immune system: Walking is one of the fitness activities that can help protect you from the cold and flu season. A study of over a thousand people found that people walking at least 20 minutes daily had 43% fewer sick days than those exercising less.
Will Walking Help My Mental Health?
Convincing yourself to leave your warm and cozy house can be really difficult if you're struggling with mental health. However, despite how hard it may be, walking offers fantastic rewards for your mood.
According to the American Psychological Association, an active lifestyle has several health benefits to your psyche. Walking at least 2.5 hours weekly lowers your risk of depression by 25%.
It turns out that 1 in 9 young adults can avoid depression entirely if they just do 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of physical activity every week. So be kind to yourself and try your best to leave your house in return for a healthier lifestyle!
Why Do Some Apps Pay You to Walk?
Most apps that pay you to walk partner with advertisers and sponsors. When you use their app, you watch and interact with these ads. The app earns money from the sponsors for you viewing these ads. That's why using their app pays you a few bucks regularly.
Other health apps like Sweatcoin genuinely believe that if you have healthy habits, you'll become more productive at work and won't visit the doctor's office often. The idea is that a healthy person saves money for the healthcare system and increases society's value. And they pay you as a thank you!
The Best Apps That Pay You to Walk
Here are our picks for some of the best apps that pay you to walk. Most apps on this list are available to iPhone and Samsung users, but a few are exclusive to Google Play or the App Store. Turn your walking habit into a fun way to earn money!
Sweatcoin
Great features:
- Available on both iPhone and Android phones
- Encourages outdoor activity
- Payouts in digital currency
Sweatcoin is arguably the most well-known of the apps that pay you to walk. It's an app that pays you for walking inside and outside your home.
Synch the app to a smartwatch like an Apple watch or a Google Fit and track your steps. You can track your steps in the free app if you don't have a smartwatch. You earn points for every 1,000 steps you take, and you can earn a maximum of 10,000 points every day.
The app is free, but if you'd like to double your earning limit, consider the Premium version of the Sweatcoin app. You can claim rewards through various gift cards and discounts at many retailers or exchange your points for goodies.
Download Sweatcoung and make money walking!
myWalgreens Health Goals
Great features:
- Available on both iPhone and Android phones
- You can connect it to your fitness tracker
- Offers a reward program
Formerly known as Walgreens Balance Rewards, myWalgreens Health Goals is among the many apps that pay you to walk. This app was created by Walgreens – an American company that manages many pharmacy stores in the United States.
You can link it with your fitness trackers like Apple watches to take additional measurements that would pay you extra money. For instance, you can get paid more for tracking your blood pressure, weight loss, and other active lifestyle measurements!
Using this app, you’re participating in the Balance Rewards program, where the rewards are given for walking, running, and other workouts requiring movement. This makes it slightly different from other apps that pay you to walk.
Start using myWalgreens Health Goals and become the healthier and more prosperous version of yourself!
Fit for Bucks
Great features:
- Available on both iPhone and Android phones
- Free coffee or deserts as rewards
- Enables you to support local businesses
Imagine taking your dog for a walk or just going for a stroll around your neighborhood. Suddenly, you start craving coffee. You take a turn for the coffee shop and get a cup for free. How’s that possible? By using the Fit for Bucks app, of course!
All you have to do to get started is install the app on your phone and pair it with your wearable (any of the standard fitness trackers should do the trick) to track your steps and all the other activities that you’re doing.
The app offers rewards like a free cup of coffee, a free dessert (treat yourself after a workout!), a free massage, and many more. Moreover, the app partners with many local businesses in your area, so you're getting fit, enjoying a free coffee, and supporting your community!
Take a walk and enjoy a free coffee with Fit for Bucks!
StepBet
Great features:
- Available on both iPhone and Android phones
- Personalized step count goals
- Rewarding and fun challenges
StepBet is an app that motivates you to achieve your fitness goals by putting real money on the line. You join a challenge to reach your daily step goal and bet some of your money to join. If you reach your goal, you get your money and win a profit from the team challenges!
The app has more than 1,317,766 active players and has paid more than $148,873,781 to players who have achieved their goals and won challenges. StepBet works with Apple Health and Apple watches, Fitbit devices, Garmin devices, and Google Fit.
As their website states – "Choose the stairs over the elevator, go for a walk while you're on the phone, and build a balanced, active lifestyle that inspires others to move more."
Monetize your daily steps with the StepBet app!
Winwalk
Great features:
- Available on both iPhone and Android phones
- Customizable app interface
- No in-app purchases
Winwalk is another health app where you can earn money walking. If you’re looking for a basic pedometer, Winwalk is perfect for tracking your steps. And you earn gift cards when you reach your step goals!
If you're worried about GPS tracking, Winwalk is the app for you because it doesn't require you to enable location tracking! It tracks your step count, the number of calories you burn, and the distance you walk.
You earn points for every 1,000 steps you take. If you reach 10,000 steps daily, you can earn up to 100 coins daily for your sweat. Gaining several health benefits and gift cards at the same time? Why not!
Walk, sweat, and win gift cards with Walkwin!
HealthyWage
Great features:
- Available on both iPhone and Android phones
- Weight loss bets
- Cash rewards for successful weight loss
Kick off your health journey with HealthyWage as you bet on yourself to lose weight! If you reach your weight loss goals, you win money. If you don't – you lose money. It's clear which option is better.
With countless success stories, HealthyWage is here to motivate you to slim down your body and gain some weight in your wallet. According to their website and research, the opportunity to win money boosts weight loss success, making you up to five times more likely to lose some pounds successfully.
After you join HealthyWage, you can choose between workplace challenges and team challenges, where you and other users have the same goal – get fit and get paid! What's more, if you're more of a lone wolf, HealthyWage enables you to create your challenge and beat to your own drum!
Get paid to shed weight with HealthWage!
PK Rewards
Great features:
- Available on Android phones
- Effort-based reward system
- Rewards like sports gear
Get off your couch and earn money with PK Rewards. This app is unique because it doesn't just reward success – it cares about your effort, too!
After you download the app, you can begin to track your workouts. Running, cycling, yoga – anything you put your mind to. The app converts your movement into a score for your effort, and that effort converts into points.
You can redeem your hard-earned points for rewards from your favorite brands like Lululemon, Amazon, Nike, and more! Get free gift cards, sports apparel, sports gear, and free trips!
Get rewarded for putting in effort with PK Rewards!
Runtopia
Great features:
- Available on both iPhone and Android phones
- Rewards like sportswear and electronics
- Offer coaching tips
Despite having the word "run" in the name, Runtopia tracks all your movement-based activities, like walking, running, or anything else, both inside and outside.
In Runtopia, you get paid for your activities in Sports Coins – a virtual currency that can be exchanged for various rewards. They include gift cards, discounts for sports goods, coupons, and so on. Most importantly, though, you can even earn extra cash via PayPal by using this app!
This means that your activities to improve your health can be exchanged for anything money can buy. Your fitness goals can become a side hustle, making reaching personal finance goals easier.
You can also get paid for simple tasks such as completing surveys, watching ads, doing daily activities, and inviting friends. Turn your steps into money with Runtopia!
Evidation
Great features:
- Available on both iPhone and Android phones
- Direct deposit payouts are available
- Focused on user privacy
With Evidation, the healthy actions you take daily turn into points that translate into rewards. What makes Evidation stand out from the crowd of apps that pay you to walk is that Evidation rewards you for more than just walking!
Evidation believes that health data is essential in medicine because it provides insight into your well-being. That's why Evidation allows you to track everything from sleep to meditation and exercise.
Our Future Health chose Evidation to power the UK’s largest-ever health research program! The app can connect to Apple Health, Samsung Health, Fitbit, Garmin, Strava, and more.
Each Evidation user can join health research that’ll contribute to new health findings for the benefit of all.
LifeCoin
Great features:
- Available on both iPhone and Android phones
- Payouts in digital currency
- Rewards like fitness gear from other fitness-oriented companies
Of all the apps that pay you to walk already mentioned here, LifeCoin is the most similar to Sweatcoin. On this walking app, you get paid in LifeCoins, a currency used in this app, similar to Sweatcoins used in the Sweatcoin app.
For every 1,000 steps you take, you earn roughly one LifeCoin. However, there’s a limit to how many points per day you can get by walking. The limit is 5 LifeCoins per day unless you purchase a premium membership.
As with other walking apps, you can exchange your points for gift cards and physical goods in case you don’t wish for a gift card, such as headphones or even a new iPhone.
Other Apps for Side Hustles That Pay You to Walk
Now that we covered the apps that pay you to walk let's talk about the apps that involve walking and performing other tasks. If you get paid to deliver groceries and do that on foot, you're getting paid to walk, right?
DoorDash
Great features:
- Available on both iPhone and Android phones
- Work whenever you want
- Start earning money within days
You probably know that DoorDash is a food delivery app where you can order a pizza or sushi if you don't feel like cooking dinner. But DoorDash is much more than that. If you choose to switch sides and become the delivery person instead of the recipient, you get paid!
You can earn money by delivering food to your neighborhood. And if you do that on foot, not with a car, a scooter, or a bike, you'll technically earn money for walking.
DoorDash allows you to set your own schedule, which means you get to decide when you want to work and where you want to work, and you're free to take a break if you're tired from all that money-making walking.
Once your application to become a DoorDash delivery person is approved, you can start dashing immediately and cash out instantly!
Rover
Great features:
- Available on both iPhone and Android phones
- Encourages time outside walking dogs
- Easy to schedule appointments
Do you love dogs, walking, and making money? What if we told you that you could combine these hobbies with Rover? It's an app where you can get paid for pet-sitting your neighbor's furry friend or dog walking!
Sign up on the app and wait for local pet parents to request your services. Look after someone's pet for a day, or take up regular dog walking to get some fresh air and make some extra cash.
Download Rover, put some shoes on, start dog walking, and make money!
GigWalk
Great features:
- Available on both iPhone and Android phones
- Fast PayPal payments
- Perform specific tasks for cash while walking
GigWalk isn't a traditional app that'll simply pay you for walking. It's a short-term work platform where individuals and businesses contract short-term employees to help them with tasks. From fixing a leaky faucet to inspecting a display at a grocery store, you can get paid.
Available as both an iOS app and an Android app, GigWalk is a great way to earn money. Say you choose to review the selection of a local grocery store. If you decide to walk to the store, you're making some extra money for walking.
Perform a gig and earn some cash!
Donate to Charity as You Walk
Would you like to earn some karma points in 2024? The good news is that donating to a charity or a good cause has never been easier with these popular apps. Yes, some of these apps offer rewards money or gift cards.
But you could do something good while you're at it. How does it work? You walk and earn points, and then you can donate these earnings to any charity or good cause. Doing something good without opening your wallet? Sign us up!
CareBuzz
Great features:
- Available on Android phones (iPhone coming soon)
- You can support a charity without spending money
- Karma points guaranteed
CareBuzz is a new crowdfunding platform that invites users to donate to charity by sharing their internet connection. What does this have to do with walking, you ask? Let us answer!
After you download the CareBuzz app, you start sharing your internet connection. This shared data is helpful for scientists and researchers because they use it to perform data-driven projects. As a thank you, you get paid. Then, you can donate your earnings to various good causes or charities.
Make sure you're connected to Wi-Fi or mobile data, turn on the app, and go for a walk! As you walk, your in-app credits grow along with your step count, and after you've collected a good amount of earnings, you can send them over to do something good.
Donate money without opening your wallet with CareBuzz!
Charity Miles
Great features:
- Available on both iPhone and Android phones
- Tracks multiple types of physical activity
- Donate to a charity of your choice
Charity Miles is yet another one of the apps that pay you to walk. However, it has a wholesome twist – even though you get paid to walk on it, you’re doing it all for charity!
Charity Miles allows you to log indoor and outdoor activities, like walking, running, hitting the treadmill, and other sports. For doing so, you earn rewards that you would give out to charities.
The app provides payments to charities since they have a lot of sponsors. Imagine this – you're hitting your weight loss goal and getting some karma points as all of your earnings go to charity!
Hitting that fitness goal or two and gaining karma on the side is fantastic!
One Million Steps
Great features:
- Available on both iPhone and Android phones
- Your milestones unlock app rewards
- Join challenges regularly
One Million Steps is an app that believes walking is great for physical and emotional health. And they're inviting you to walk, jog, run, or even dance your way to 10,000 daily steps for 100 days. That makes a million steps!
These 1,000,000 steps will earn you 10$. Sure, it won't make you rich, but you're getting fit and getting paid at the same time. You can also earn extra points for completing surveys, sharing your progress on social media, and inviting your friends.
FAQ About Apps That Pay to Walk
Here are some of the most common questions and answers about apps that allow you to earn money walking. Learn everything there’s to know and decide if apps offering cash rewards for getting fit are the right fit (pun intended!) for you!
Do I Have to Share My Location to Get Paid?
If you're a sucker for privacy (who isn't, right?), then you've found the one drawback of apps that pay you to walk. The apps track your daily step count to determine how much to pay you. And unfortunately, the only way to do that is through having access to your location.
Can I Run Instead of Walking?
You can go on a walk specifically to use the app, or you can go on a run or a hike. You could even be running errands and still get paid. The point of these apps is that they offer rewards for doing physical activity.
So you could be playing catch with your kids, walking to school, or going to the doctor on your lunch break, and all of it counts towards making extra money!
Are There Any Limits to Earning Money?
You won't become rich just by walking and using these fitness apps. Most people using these free apps earn around $5 monthly, which isn't much. But if you think about it, how long have you been walking for free? Even if it's just a few dollars every month, you're still earning money without extra effort!
Can You Earn Rewards Other Than Money?
Yes, earning rewards to achieve fitness goals isn't limited to money! Many apps on our list offer rewards such as cash prizes, charity donations, PayPal cash, and gift cards to your favorite stores or payouts in a digital currency of your choice. Some even put up a weekly prize for the most active users!
Get Your Steps in and Make Some Money!
When you finally lie down after a long day of walking around, try Honeygain – the app that generates passive income from the comfort of your couch. After you download the app, you start sharing your unused internet connection with scientists and researchers who use it to make the internet a better place.
If you want to earn even more money, you can participate in our Lucky Pot daily lottery, invite your friends to join the app, and take part in our social media contests!
And Honeygain pays you to thank you for your help in doing that!