The 17 best passive income apps to boost your income

Income fluctuations are normal for business owners; some months your bank balance gives you a pit in your stomach, others not so much. Passive income apps help you build in a cushion for those slow months. 

When you’re juggling the demands of running a business, you don’t want to spend time trialing apps for passive income that don’t generate real returns. Read on to explore 17 passive income apps with solid reputations. 

What does passive income mean? 

Passive income is money you make from activities outside your billable work. The activities require relatively little effort and often focus on monetizing things you’re already doing as part of your daily routine.

No passive income sources are truly 100% passive—they still require you to invest some effort to make money. For example, a photographer might spend time creating Lightroom presets and listing them online, then sit back while they repeatedly sell. While you’re unlikely to get rich overnight, these approaches help you diversify your income for financial stability. 

What to look for in a passive income app

The best app for passive income will depend on your financial goals and spare time. Here’s what to keep in mind when evaluating passive income ideas: 

• Earning potential: Some apps help you earn small amounts of quick cash, while others have more earning potential but require long-term commitment. 
• Payout thresholds and methods: Some passive income apps require you to make a certain amount of money before you’re allowed to cash out, so make sure the threshold is reasonable to you. 
• Privacy and data use: You may need to share personal information to get paid for certain apps, so check to see what data you’ll need to share and how the company uses it before getting started. 
• Business relevance: Look for passive income options that are relevant to your business so you can use your current skillset.

The best passive income apps for client and business management

These apps help you attract clients. Use them to start a side hustle or expand the business you already have. 

HoneyBook

HoneyBook is a client management app with features like lead forms, contracts, invoicing, and workflow automations. While HoneyBook doesn’t pay you directly, it lets you win more clients with less effort, which ultimately helps you make more money. As for passive income opportunities, HoneyBook has a $200 referral bonus, so you can earn money by encouraging colleagues to sign up. 

Fiverr

Fiverr is a service marketplace where you can turn your talents into extra income. Fiverr has more than 700 service categories, including video editing, web design, and social media. Many of those services require active work, and you’ll need to spend time messaging with clients and addressing their revision requests. That said, you could use the platform to make passive income by creating assets like Canva templates or Notion dashboards that you send to multiple customers.

The best platforms to sell creative assets

If you already make art or other creative assets, you can sell them through these platforms and earn passive income. 

Creative Market

On Creative Market, you can sell fonts, graphics, illustrations, templates, and other digital design assets. Creative Market handles payments and customer transactions, and sellers receive a percentage of each sale based on the platform's current payout structure.

Society6

On Society6, you can license your artwork for products like posters, phone cases, pillows, and home décor. Society6 manufactures, ships, and fulfills orders, while you earn a percentage of each sale based on the platform's pricing structure. Most products earn artists a 5% markup, while select categories earn 10%, so individual earnings per sale are typically modest. If you already have artwork ready to upload, however, it’s a relatively low-effort way to generate additional income.

The best apps for cash back and rewards

Cash back apps reward you for the shopping you’re already doing. Over time, you earn extra money with very minimal effort. 

Ibotta

Ibotta offers cash back rewards for both online and in-store shopping. Before you shop, claim the offers you want in the app. Once you make a purchase, upload your receipt to the app to get the rewards. You can also earn rewards automatically by linking your store loyalty accounts to your Ibotta account. 

Fetch Rewards

On Fetch Rewards, you can upload your receipt after making an in-store purchase, or shop online with the Fetch browser extension. You can also earn rewards by playing games on your phone or referring your friends. It’s important to note that Fetch Rewards only offers gift cards, so you can’t withdraw your earnings in cash. 

Fluz

Through the Fluz app, you earn rewards on purchases you’re already making. You can set up a Fluz digital-only debit card that earns 1.5% cash back automatically, so you don’t have to submit receipts after you shop. (The virtual card feature is only available on the Fluz site and not the app.) Fluz also has a unique referral program where you earn rewards when your friends make purchases, so one referral can turn into consistent passive income. 

Capital One Shopping

Capital One Shopping is a browser extension that automatically finds and applies coupon codes as you shop online. The platform also has special daily cash back offers at select retailers. You don’t need to have a Capital One card to use it.

Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a passive income app that rewards you for shopping online or in store. You may also earn money by playing games, taking surveys, or searching the web with Swagbucks’ dedicated search engine. When you’re ready to cash out, you can opt to receive gift cards or a payment through PayPal.

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The best apps for surveys and passive data

If you’re willing to share some personal information about yourself, you can use these apps for extra money. 

Survey Junkie

With Survey Junkie, you can earn extra money by taking surveys and sharing your browsing behavior. You earn points for completing each survey, which you can redeem for cash via PayPal or gift cards to popular retailers like Amazon and Target. 

Google Opinion Rewards

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Google Opinion Rewards is a survey app that asks you questions based on your location and browsing behavior. You can use the app to make a little extra cash, or use your earnings to purchase games and ebooks in the Google Play store. Each survey rewards between $0.10 and $1. 

Nielsen App

Nielsen is a global market research company, and you can use its app to earn money just for browsing the internet. The app runs in the background and collects data on your browsing activity. You can also earn money by taking surveys and joining research panels. 

Passive App

With Passive App, you earn money by sharing your internet bandwidth with the app’s partner companies. Your earnings depend on the amount of traffic you share, your location, and the number of IP addresses you have. 

Honeygain

Honeygain is another popular rewards app that pays you for sharing your internet bandwidth with companies that want to perform tasks like market research. It runs in the background of your computer or mobile device, and once it’s installed, you don’t need to do anything to start earning. 

The best apps for investing and real estate

With these apps, you can invest in real estate without the high upfront costs of buying a property. 

Fundrise

Through Fundrise, you can build a diversified portfolio of real estate, venture capital, and private credit. The app’s purpose is to make these investments accessible to more people. 

Betterment

Betterment is an automated investment app that helps you build a diversified investment portfolio without requiring any financial expertise. You can also use Betterment to set up a high-yield savings account and earn high interest rates on your money. 

Neighbor

If you have parking space you’re not using, rent it out on Neighbor to earn extra income. Or, list a boat parking, storage, garage, truck, or RV parking space. 

Even more passive income ideas

Your options for generating passive income are virtually limitless. You could self-publish a romance ebook, purchase a rental property, or film instructional YouTube videos that attract ad revenue over time.

With a little creativity, you can turn the skills and resources you already have into extra cash. Whichever methods you choose, use HoneyBook to manage your projects and clients. With tools for proposals, scheduling, contracts, and proposals in one place, it’s intentionally designed for small business owners’ needs. 

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