17 Online Focus Groups That Pay CASH / Earn $700/hour

Online focus groups near you not only put cash in your pocket on the spot, but they’re also a lot of fun!

That’s why in this post, I’ll share 17 online focus groups with you that pay anything from $2-$700/h.

And the best part is that they don’t require experience, which means you can get started today. You’ll be the first to try out new products. Furthermore, those brands and companies compensate you because they value your opinion.

And for most of them, all you need is a phone or laptop, and you can even do them at your convenience. For example, I often do mine when I am scrolling through my phone while breastfeeding.

Another benefit of paid market research studies is that companies are always testing new products before launching them. Therefore, you have plenty of opportunities to earn cash by completing online surveys. 

That means if you want to give sharing your opinions for cash a go online surveys could be a great side hustle for you.

Personally, I prefer survey companies that pay cash instead of points or Amazon gift cards.

So if you want to earn a few extra dollars (I’m talking real cash in your hands), read on! Here are 17 legitimate best paying focus group sites

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Because here are the best online focus groups that pay CA$H!

But first things first…

What is an example of a focus group

Let’s imagine that a brand is launching a new product and wants to find out which images are most appealing to a specific audience. 

Or they want to find out which message resonates the most with a specific target.

As an example, a makeup brand wants to reach women in their 30s. And now they are looking for people with specific interests who fit that profile. So, if you are interested in make-up and you are in your 30s, you would be a great fit for this survey, in comparison to someone interested in online games in their teens.

Because of this, do not expect to get accepted in all researches, since you might be perfect for some while not so great for others. 

Do you understand what I mean?

How do you find legit focus groups online?

In this post, I’ll go over a few but Respondent, Fieldwork, and FocusGroup.com are all legit facilitators of paid focus groups that pay cash. Other legit ways to find paid focus groups are Craigslist or Reddit.

How do I join an online focus group and get paid?

For most focus groups, you can apply online and fill out details about your interests and life circumstances.

And the following three criteria may help you increase your chances of being selected:

• “employed” (compared to “unemployed”)
• household income ”50000 – 75.000” (or higher because that means you’ll have money to spend on products)
• “have kids” (versus “no kids” and fewer products to test)

But do answer them truthfully for your life circumstances otherwise you’re opinions aren’t valuable to the company.

Update your profile

Also, keep your profile updated to increase your chances of getting invited for more surveys. Because the more up-to-date your profile is, the easier you make it for companies to invite you. 

How do I get paid?

Most surveys pay gift cards. But the surveys I’ve picked for you in this post only pay cash via PayPal.

After all, only participate in surveys after you know how to get paid and have shared your details with the company.

Are online focus groups legit?

You might be wondering if online focus groups are legit and worth your time?

Honestly, I’ve had some bad experiences where I didn’t get paid and wasted my time.

But in this post, I’ve put together 20 of the best online focus groups that have been around for years or even decades. That means you can be sure that all of them are established and have good reviews on Facebook and Trustpilot.

But you always want to do your own research first to make sure you’re comfortable with it before you apply.

Can I get paid for market research?

Yes! I’ve earned hundreds of dollars by participating in online surveys. And the good thing about online focus groups is that you can sign up for as many as you like to earn some extra cash.

Some pay up to $1200 per survey! But most of them are between $2 and $250, which is still a great way to make some extra income on the side.

Fill them out in your own time

The benefit of online surveys is that you can fill them out in your own time between nap times and nappy changes when your little ones are asleep.

Deadlines

Some surveys however fill up quickly or require you to fill them out before a deadline. So make sure to check before you apply. 

Here are the best online surveys that pay cash

1. Paid Viewpoint

Paid Viewpoint is one of my favorite online surveys because they pay cash only and you earn money for everything (no gift cards or points to redeem). And I find Paid Viewpoint surveys are more fun to take compared to most online surveys I’ve taken.

With Paid Viewpoint you see how much you’re earning straight away.

And once you hit $15 you can request a payout via PayPal.

It’s free to join and you start earning cash by even filling out your profile.

So, to start earning money, you need to register your account here and fill out your name, email, your PayPal email you’d like to get paid with.

Refer a friend for $25

You can also earn $25 for every person you invite with your own referral link!

2. Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is a trusted and legit survey site used by millions of people.

That means, you help shape brands and products with your opinion and get rewarded for your participation.

Survey Junkie offers popular gift cards for Walmart, Amazon, or iTunes (the U.S. only) as well as cash payouts via PayPal (available in all countries).

To match you with studies that are relevant to your background and interests, Survey Junkie offers a number of profile questionnaires that you can fill out. And keep your profile up to date because people who have more complete profiles will be more accurately matched to survey opportunities.

If you want to get started for free click here.

3. Respondent.io

Respondent is always looking for professionals of all kinds.

And the average incentive starts at $100 and some even get paid $700 per hour!

Also, if you’re looking to find participants to conduct market research for your own project you can list your first project on the platform for free. Once you’re on the platform you’ll get access to surveys available to you.

After you take the survey you’ll get paid automatically via PayPal but minus a 5% fee. For example, if you earned $700 you’ll get to keep $665.

4. User Interviews

User Interviews is used by over 400.000 vetted professionals and consumers. And to join for free you can sign up here.

You’d be surprised that big companies like Pinterest, Spotify, and Vistaprint use this platform to conduct research.

And the good thing is that brands get to select their own panel of participants.

That means, if you like working for specific brands, this could be the survey platform for you to build long-lasting relationships with your favorite brands.

And the more surveys you get, the more you get paid.

5. FocusGroup

FocusGroup is one of the smaller networks of thousands of participants that specializes in online surveys around:

• technology
• food
• healthcare

You can participate online from your:

• computer
• mobile phone at a time convenient for you
• or in person

Some surveys even allow you to stop in the middle and complete at a later time, which is a real bonus when you have kids to look after.

And they offer both, cash and points you can redeem and they usually pay $75-150 per survey.

But each study pays out differently so make sure to check before you apply.

6. Mindswarms (super cool)

If you like sharing your opinions via video this one is for you, mommy. Because Mindswarms is all about sharing your opinion via video recording.

To get started with Mindswarms

1. Complete your profile, then browse studies, apply, next you’ll get notified when they have studies right for you.
2. Next you record 40-60 second videos of yourself responding to study questions.
3. And then you get paid $50 per study straight to your PayPal within 24 hours! (which is by far the fastest payout)

To get started, you can download the app here.

7. Experience Dynamics

These guys focus on technology, websites, and software conducting interviews, surveys, or walking through a website. That means they are looking for all types of people: people new to the web; IT professionals; users with disabilities; people across the world.

Incentives are between $50-$150 dollars per study depending on the scope of the study.
Personally, I like how friendly their tone feels but I’ve not tried them myself.

Typical user research studies:

• Field Studies: You get visited at home or work for a 1-2 hour interview about topics such as mobile banking or hospital visits.
• Diary Studies: You provide a diary and record your thoughts over 1-2 weeks.
• Usability Testing: Get invited to one of their facilities to review a Web site or software application (across the US or globally) or you get asked to join a live web conference.
• Phone interviews: You speak with them over the phone for 30-60 minutes.
• Online Focus Groups: You participate in an online focus group study.
• Online Surveys: You share your thoughts in an online survey.

8. WatchLab

WatchLAB offers:

• Online Qualitative Platforms or Focus Groups
• Usability testing (website, mobile device, tablet)
• In-Depth Interviews
• Ongoing Panels/Longitudinal Studies
• Debate style or supergroups
• Telephone, Web-enabled and/or Webcam Interviews
• Shop-Along interviews (which sounds pretty cool to me, mama)

WatchLAB regularly sources consumer, B2B, physician, and patient respondents in the following city:

• Chicago
• Portland
• New York
• Los Angeles
• Seattle
• Houston
• Dallas
• Atlanta
• Denver
• Nashville
• Sacramento

How do I get paid?

Depending on the type of research opportunity, you receive your payment in person or by having a check sent to your home address.

9. Recruit and Field

With Recruit and Field, you can join over 30.000 participants in the U.S.

They have study opportunities for:

• consumers
• business professionals (B2B)
• medical professionals like doctors, nurses, lab technicians
• or any other medical professionals.

You can apply online for the following:

• Online Focus Groups
• Online Bulletin Boards
• Video Journals (which sounds like a lot of fun if you like being on camera)
• Blogs Diaries
• Usability testing
• Home Usage Test and Product Placement

You can sign up here, participate, and get paid $100-$270 per survey.

10. Probe Market Research

How would you like to get paid for your opinions about a new TV commercial, beauty product, or soda bottle design? Because Probe Research constantly hosts focus groups to get feedback for clients’:

• new advertising campaigns
• products
• or services

Focus groups normally pay between $50 and $400 and in some cases, you may not even need to leave your home!

Because interviews are conducted in groups, by phone, or online—depending on the amount of time assigned to that particular study.

Signing up only takes a few moments by filling out the form online. And as soon as there’s a study that matches your interests, they’ll contact you.

And it’s good to know that Probe market research also makes a point that the information you give to them is strictly confidential and never gets shared or sold.

11.  Brand Institute

If you love brand names and healthcare, Brand Institute could be the one for you. Because Brand Institute is the global leader in brand name and identity development. That means, they partner with clients across industries and develop some of the world’s most iconic brands.

In addition to being the leader in Consumer and B2B naming, Brand Institute is also the leader in pharmaceutical/healthcare-related name development, partnering on over 75% of drug names approved worldwide in 2020, and holding a majority share of the market for drug name approvals for 15 consecutive years.

12. Dscout (the one to watch)

How about getting rewarded for sharing your experience as a “Scout”? As a Scout, you participate in engaging research “missions” and get paid for your feedback that helps shape the products and services you love.

To get started you can download the app here.

And then you can participate remotely through your smartphone, and on your schedule (which lets you work around your babies).

All you have to do is answer multiple-choice, short answer, photo, and video questions.

How do I get paid?

You’ll get paid promptly via PayPal, which is pretty amazing.

So far they have paid out over $7Million+ (Ca-ching!).

13. InboxDollars

InboxDollars has an impressive Trustpilot 4.5 out of 5-star rating out of 19,303 reviews!

And you get a $5 reward for signing up today here.

After that, you can do online activities like Paid Surveys, Paid Videos and TV, Redeeming Free Food and Grocery Coupons, Paid Shopping, and more!

And you earn real CASH, not points!

This is how you’ll earn free cash with InboxDollars

Take Paid Online Surveys: Most online surveys for money pay from $0.50 to $5.00 and take 3 minutes to 25 minutes to complete. Then there are some online surveys that pay $10, $20, or even more, if you match the demographic profile they are looking for.

Watch Videos: Big brands want you to watch short snippets of their content, like movie trailers or new product features. They pay them, and they share a portion of those earnings with you. You can even complete a short survey for money while you’re catching up on the latest celebrity gossip or watching a cooking demonstration! (Sounds pretty sweet to me)

Get Rewarded for Playing Games: They feature a wide array of their own games like Monkey Bubble Shooter, Mahjong Solitaire, Outspell, and Candy Jam. In addition, they partner with GSN casino to offer you access to hundreds of GSN games. And for every dollar you spend on GSN games, you earn 18% cashback with InboxDollars.

Cashback for Online Shopping: Earn cashback while you shop online and get free samples and discounts from top brands as well, and more! They also share with you their insider savings tips on where to find the best frees stuff online. And new offers are posted regularly for members to save and earn! (This one is my favorite)

Get Paid to Read Emails: Receive their best offers directly to your email, and they pay you cash just for reading them or complete the offer for additional earning opportunities! It’s quick and easy to get paid for doing what you’re already doing online. And don’t worry, because they won’t flood your inbox!

14. SurveyFeeds

Survey Feeds offers

• opinion study
• payment study
• caregiver study
• web user study
• and note app UX studies

And they pay up to $300 for 75 min of your time.

You can conduct studies online from your computer. But for some, you’ll need a webcam and for some, you don’t.

15. American Consumer Opinion

American Consumer Opinion has over 6 million members worldwide who get paid to participate in surveys and research projects.

Incentives range in value from 100 to 5,000 points per survey or research project, depending upon the time it takes.

And a point equals a penny.

For most countries, they offer PayPal as a Cash-Out option.

To cash out and redeem your points, log on to your my account page by going to the login and entering your email address and password.

Then, choose the Cash Out option to redeem your points for cash once you reach the 1,000-Point minimum. (They’ve already paid out over $30m+ this way)

16. Engage

Engage is always looking for respondents who are interested in taking part in paid market research projects.

And if you are interested in taking part in focus groups, online discussions, website usability studies, and more, then you can join them here.

Then, you need to answer a few questions, to help them identify the projects that you might qualify for.

Simply put, the more details you can provide, the more likely they will be able to find a project that matches your profile and interests.

Beware that when you join you have to decide which panel you want to be part of:
CONSUMER AND BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS PANEL or PHYSICIANS/MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS PANEL.

Payouts vary between $50-$250 via PayPal or check.

17. User Tester

To join User Tester you can join from your Mac, Pc, iOS, or Android phone.
Then, test participants get paid $10 for each completed test and up to $120 for a Live Conversation with a customer.

A test consists of a 20-minute recording and answers to four follow-up written questions.

And a Live Conversation requires you to get on a video conference call with a customer at a scheduled date and time.

Next, payments are made daily for tests completed seven days earlier.

How do you get started

1. First you need to apply. To do so, submit your email and take a quick practice test to join our global panel of trusted participants.
2. Next, browse available opportunities and answer screening questions to match with test opportunities as new tests are released all the time!
3. Then, take the tests and give feedback via tests you’ve matched with, and help best-in-class brands improve their products and services.
4. Finally, you get paid and can earn $10 USD for every 20-minute test you complete and between $30 USD to $120 USD for live interviews via PayPal.

Paid market research studies near me

If you prefer to participate in live focus groups in your city, then also check out these links:

Focus groups America

If you’re in America you can join focus groups here and find a market research group in your state and city and earn up to $250 by participating in focus group studies.

Focus groups America

If you’re in Canada check out CanadianPaidSurveys.

Focus groups Australia

If you’re in Australia check out Thinkfield.

Taking branded surveys for money is a fun and popular way to earn some extra money as a stay-at-home mom. So I hope you’ve found this list of the best focus groups near you helpful.

Summary of the 17 Best Online Focus Groups That Pay Cash:

1. Paid Viewpoint

2. Survey Junkie

3. Respondent.io

4. User Interviews

5. FocusGroup

6. Mindswarms

7. Experience Dynamics

8. WatchLab

9. Recruit and Field

10. Probe Market Research

11.  Brand Institute

12. Dscout

13. InboxDollars

14. SurveyFeeds

15. American Consumer Opinion

16. Engage

17. User Tester

Let me know in the comments what you think of focus groups and which ones you’re going to try.