In this article, I will teach you how to watch videos and earn money online. All you need to get started is a smartphone or computer and an internet connection.

Once you sign up with any of the legitimate websites or apps I’m going to show you in this article, you can start watching videos and earning money.

The payment amount varies depending on the website or app, the length of the video, and the type of content.

While this is not a get-rich-quick scheme, it can be a good way to earn extra money in your free time. You can use the extra cash to pay bills, save for a vacation, or invest in your hobbies.

Watching videos is a popular pastime, with predictions suggesting that the average person will spend 100 minutes a day watching videos online. The idea behind getting paid to watch videos is simple. Companies and businesses want to increase their reach and promote their products and services, and one way they achieve this is by advertising through videos. In turn, they offer payment to viewers who watch these videos.

This guide is perfect for beginners who want to earn an extra income online.

1. InboxDollars

Since the company was founded in 2000, InboxDollars has paid its members more than $59 million in cash. With an A rating with the Better Business Bureau and plenty of great reviews on Trustpilot, InboxDollars is a legitimate site that will pay you to watch videos online.

InboxDollars has a variety of videos in different categories available for you to watch on its video channel. You’ll be able to see how much you can earn before watching (anywhere from a few cents to a few dollars,) and you can watch as many videos as you want. InboxDollars makes money from big companies that want you to see their content and share a portion of the earnings with you.

As you watch more videos, you’ll also have the opportunity to earn virtual scratch-off cards with hidden cash prizes. Once you earn $30 in your account, you’ll be able to cash out via PayPal, select gift cards, or request a check.

2. MyPoints

MyPoints is a rewards site that’s been around since 1996. The company has an A rating with the Better Business Bureau and thousands of excellent reviews on Trustpilot. With MyPoints, you can use your account to earn rewards when you shop (on top of coupon discounts), take online surveys and play games for points, and of course, watch videos.

To earn points watching videos with MyPoints, you’ll need to complete a playlist of videos. You can earn on-site with your computer or rack up extra points when you use the MyPoints mobile app, which is available for both Android and iOS. You can earn up to 500 points per day by watching video playlists. The value of each point depends on the redemption you choose.

One of the unique things about MyPoints is that it partners with United Airlines so you can use your points to add miles to your United MileagePlus account. But if you’re not planning on traveling in the near future, you can also choose gift cards from 70 retailers and restaurants, or redeem your points for a PayPal deposit or Visa prepaid card.

3. Slicethepie

Slicethepie is a review site that lets you earn points for doing loads of very easy things like watching interesting videos, listening to music, and answering survey questions.

The videos include commercials and clips, such as trailers for films and TV shows.

The minimum withdrawal is $10 (about £8) which will get paid into your PayPal account. As they read through all the reviews before making payments, you might need to wait up to five working days for the withdrawal request to be processed.

You can find out more in our guide to reviewing on Slicethepie, or click the link below to sign up.

4. Nielsen

For more than 90 years, Nielsen has been tracking what samples of the population are listening to and watching in order to provide businesses with insights about how their content is performing. Nielsen is an S&P; 500 company with market research operations in more than 100 countries.

One of the ways Nielsen rates content is through collecting data on the behavior of Nielsen Families, which are households that are selected to represent greater communities. You can’t volunteer to be a Nielsen family, but if you are selected, you will receive gifts for participating.

You can also sign up for the Nielsen computer and mobile panel. To participate, you’ll download software onto your devices. The mobile app is available for both iPhones and Android devices. From there, just use the internet and watch content as you normally would. There’s no need to watch specific videos. You’ll help companies improve their products, and you’ll also have the opportunity to earn rewards and sweepstake entries. Nielsen gives away $10,000 each month.

5. PrizeRebel

PrizeRebel is a site that lets you earn money watching videos – something that requires so little work it's almost free money.

You can request the money you've earned through the site as PayPal money or as gift cards. When withdrawing the money via PayPal, there's a minimum payout of $5 (about £4).

If you're redeeming your points for a voucher, you may find the minimum payout is lower than it is when using PayPal. For example, you might be able to use your points to claim an Amazon voucher worth $2 (about £1.60).

When you redeem the points you've earned through the site, your money/gift cards will be processed and sent to you within 24 hours.

As well as watching videos, you can also answer paid online surveys and refer friends to PrizeRebel to boost your earnings.

And on PrizeRebel's social media pages, they often share opportunities to get bonus points.

6. CreationsRewards

With CreationsRewards, you can visit the video area of the website where you’ll see a list of videos you can watch to earn points. You’ll need to watch the video in its entirety to earn the points, but you won’t know the points value until you finish watching it. You can repeat this as often as you want as there’s no limit to how many points you can earn in a day.

Other ways to earn points include redeeming the daily bonus, taking surveys, and trying products and services. You can also refer friends and family and earn 10% of their earnings. There’s even a shopping portal where you can earn cash back and rebates when you shop online at stores like Walmart, Dunkin’ Donuts, Shutterfly, and online learning platforms like Udemy.

You can redeem your points for e-gift cards, and you must earn at least 100 points every six months for your account to remain active.

7. Swagbucks

Owned by the same company as MyPoints and InboxDollars, Swagbucks is a popular rewards program that was founded in 2004. The company has an A rating with the BBB and thousands of excellent reviews on Trustpilot.

Swagbucks lets you earn points for shopping at partner retailers, searching the web, answering surveys, and watching videos. It’s paid its users more than $434 million, and it gives out 7,000 gift cards per day. Users can choose to cash out via PayPal or redeem their points for gift cards. One hundred Swagbucks equals $1.

Swagbucks notes that some committed users have earned over $10,000 on the site, but casual users tend to earn $25-$100 in extra cash each month. Although it won’t make you rich, Swagbucks is a legitimate way to earn free money from many of the activities you would do anyway.

8. Netflix

If you’re looking for a full-time opportunity and have skills in categorization and a love of film and TV, keep an eye on job openings at Netflix. Netflix hires a small number of (lucky) editorial analysts (also called taggers) to essentially tag their content so it appears in the right categories and gets pulled into the right rows on your home screen. That means watching hours of movies and TV could actually be part of your job.

For example, the company recently had an opportunity available for someone who speaks Spanish and has a passion for Latin American content. The first responsibility? “Watch, research, rate, tag, annotate, and write analysis reports for movie and TV content.” Sounds like a dream for someone who loves to binge-watch new series.

9. Kashkick

Like other tried and true apps on our list, Kashkick partners with companies that are eager to get feedback from consumers like you. While Kashkick does not have a dedicated page with the Better Business Bureau, it's a legitimate site that allows you to earn rewards in several different ways.

Kashkick users can get rewarded for watching short videos, taking surveys, downloading and playing games, signing up for services, and completing other tasks on their computer or mobile device. The payout for each activity varies, and users can choose to cash out their earnings via PayPal once they have $10 in their Kashkick account.

With Kashkick, you also have the option to refer friends and earn rewards. When a friend signs up with your referral link and completes tasks on Kashkick, you'll get a 25% commission on their total earnings. If you have friends or family who are eager to earn extra cash in their spare time, making referrals can be a great way to work toward that $10 payout threshold.

10. Earnably

Earnably is another site that lets you earn money by watching videos. Through its partner site, Hideout.tv, you must watch both videos and a set number of ads in order to earn credits you can redeem for cash or e-gift cards. It claims the ads can be easily spotted as they look just like regular TV commercials.

In order to cash out your rewards, you need to make sure your Hideout. tv and Earnably accounts are linked, which should happen automatically once you’ve registered for both sites. However, you will need to manually transfer your points from Hideout. tv to Earnably.

You can earn extra points by referring friends and family to the site using your unique referral link. If they sign up, you’ll get 10% off everything they earn by completing offers. Your extra earnings never expire, and you can make even more from promo codes and other bonuses Earnably offers.

Bobe Nkwain Chiambah