Money, they say, is the biggest motivator for every human action. Therefore, if you're planning to walk but lack sufficient motivation, here's a list of the 15 best apps that actually can make you get paid to walk.
Yes, these apps will pay you for every walk. In fact, some of these apps would offer you discounts & cashback on your shopping that helps slice off a lot of money from your monthly household bills.
However, let's start by understanding the advantages of walking before I speak about these fantastic 15+ apps that can make you get paid to walk.
Benefits of Walking
Walking is the oldest form of exercise for the human race. It's now known that even our primal ancestors would walk. It is a natural human action for any normal human being. Prehistoric people walked for various purposes, covering miles to look for food, water or shelter.
We were walking shifts to an entirely new paradigm in the modern days of our times.
We walk to our schools, colleges, universities, or offices after parking our vehicles some distance away. And we walk to the nearest store or restaurant to fetch our daily needs.
Additionally, millions of people worldwide walk for fitness. And it's fitness that we would discuss here.
What Medical Science Says About Walking?
Medical science proves that walking has several distinct health benefits. These include losing weight, proper muscle function, relief from stress, an increase in the speed of our metabolism, and constant blood supply to all our organs.
Walking also increases testosterone levels among males and estrogen levels in women. This keeps them younger and full of vitality and vigour.
Walking is the simplest form of exercise. Because it doesn't involve going to a nearby gym or buying expensive fitness equipment for home use, all you require is a walking or jogging suit or a simple cotton T-shirt and shorts. Also, include a water bottle to sip when you feel dehydrated or thirsty while walking.
15+ Apps that Pay You to Walk
Now, if the reasons to walk and the health benefits of walking are tempting enough, here’s my curated list of 15-plus apps that would actually pay you for the effort.
1. Winwalk
Winwalk app is actually a free pedometer that counts your steps during every walk. And they reward you with points for every step. You get paid for steps, one coin for every 100 steps you walk. You can earn more coins for jogging, fast walking, climbing uphill or steps, and running.
This app also allows you to connect with your personal fitness tracker. That way, you can earn additional points for exercises or using the gym. Winwalk isn’t simple to use, but they pay you $1 for every 100 points.
2. Fit Potato
At this moment, Fit Potato is available only for iPhone users. However, this is a superb app that pays you to walk. All you need to do is download Fit Potato and register. You’ll have to walk with your iPhone to make money by walking.
There are several weekly challenges that you can find on Fit Potato. These are for walking, running, jogging, exercising and other fitness-related activities. You can earn a share of the prize money if you win any of these challenges with other walkers, joggers and runners.
3. Charity Miles
As the name suggests, Charity Miles works for charities in the US and abroad. Here you will earn points that you could donate to a charity. These include the World Wildlife Fund, Wounded Warrior Project, Feeding America and more. The app is only meant for charity.
You earn a specific number of points for all your walks and climbs. You can track how many points you’ve scored from the app. You can donate these points at any time or during holiday seasons and festivals to a charity of your choice.
4. Sweat Coin
If you’re into cryptocurrencies, try the Sweat Coin app to earn it. Instead of fiat money or normal cash, Sweat Coin rewards you with its eponymous cryptocurrency for each point you earn by walking or doing other fitness-related activities.
This app is very popular among Americans because, nowadays, Sweatcoins are accepted for various shopping vouchers with outlets that have a tie-up with Sweat Coin.
For every 5,000 steps that you take, you get five Sweatcoins. However, with a paid or premium membership, you could get double the amount of Sweatcoins. You can redeem your Sweatcoins for shopping vouchers at select stores. Or seek a payout when you’ve collected 20,000 Sweatcoins. This amount of Sweatcoins can fetch you $100.
5. Higi
Higi’s latest version of the app now offers you several ways to earn some money. The money can be used at pharmacies for health checkups or buying fitness-related nutritional supplements from select stores. All you need to do is download and register on the Higi app.
The app easily connects with your personal fitness tracker or any of the ones that you wish to download on your Android-based smartphone or iPhone. When you walk with Higi, it keeps automatic track of the number of steps. They also reward you for jogging, climbing and exercising, as well as other fitness activities.
6. StepBet
StepBet is an app where you challenge yourself. You have to bet $40 on yourself to complete a specific goal of walking a certain number of steps during the week. If you complete this goal, StepBet will refund your $40 and some extra cash as a reward.
This is an app that many people who wish to stay fit use. That’s because you don’t really lose money on this app. All you need to do is set realistic targets for your walking and take that many steps during the week.
The tracker on the app helps you to learn how close or far away you are from the target.
7. Achievement
Earlier, the Achievement app was very famous among Americans because it would pay more for your steps and exercises. In recent months, they pay $10 for every 10,000 steps you take. In a year, you can earn up to $30 by doing some extra walking. The tracker on the app helps you know how far you’re from getting the $10 worth of points.
An advantage of Achievement is that you can get money for walking and several other fitness activities. It easily connects with Garmin and Fitbit, among other fitness apps. Therefore, you can sync the two and make some money.
Achievement is actually meant to encourage you to walk by setting goals. They also have challenges occasionally where you can win prize money.
8. Map My Walk
Map My Walk comes with two more variants: Map My Fitness and Map My Run. You can use any of these apps, depending upon the type of fitness activity you’re into and win some rewards. Actually, none of these apps offers you hard cash for your effort. Instead, they offer Under Armor products and other prizes.
To use the app, you’ll require Global Positioning System (GPS) services on your smartphone. Because that would help the app to know you’re starting point and location. Additionally, Map My Walk also syncs with FitBit, Garmin and other apps that you can download on your smartphone.
9. Life Coin
Life Coin is a very user-friendly app. They will reward you with their eponymous points for every step that you take. It can also be connected to your personal fitness app easily. All you need to do is set your own targets for walking, jogging or running and do so with your smartphone in your pocket.
You can exchange your Life Coins for exciting rewards such as free shopping vouchers for Amazon, Apple Store or even cash. Additionally, you can also donate these Life Coins to a charity with whom they have tie-ups.
There are several other rewards available on Life Coin, and you can request a payout through the app itself. They generally pay within a week.
10. Healthy Wage
Actually, Healthy Wage pays you money if you lose weight in any way. These include walking, jogging, exercising and many other fitness-related activities.
This app works on betting. This means you have to bet with others on how much weight you will lose during the week or month. And if you win the bet, you get the amount back with extra cash.
However, you’ll need to calculate your weight and height to meet Healthy Wage’s requirements before starting. That’s because the app genuinely aims at helping overweight Americans to shed several pounds and remain trim, according to their age, gender and height. This is a fun app, but be careful about the amount you bet and your goals. Or you might lose money.
11. Lympo 404
Lympo pays you in its own cryptocurrency, called LYM, for points you earn by walking. The best part of this app is that it also rewards you for indoor walking. This means you can earn points for walking within your house or in your neighbourhood. And of course, for outdoor daily walks and jogs or runs too.
You can exchange the LYM you earn for attractive prizes such as free shopping vouchers and fitness or sports goods at select stores. The number of prizes they offer is fairly high, and you can select what best suits your personal fitness needs. They don’t pay hard cash for the effort, but the prizes are fairly attractive.
12. Carrot
Carrot is a simple app if you're into walking daily, either to run errands for yourself at home or in the garden. All you need to do is download the app on your smartphone and carry it with you while walking. This helps the built-in pedometer to calculate and log the number of steps that you're taking on any given day.
You can also sync Carrot with FitBit if you're into jogging, running or walking for fitness. That way, you can earn more points. Carrot doesn't pay cash.
Instead, you can seek payouts for every 10,000 points in the form of shopping vouchers and other amazing prizes. They also have competitions for walkers, joggers and runners, plus fitness-related quiz contests to earn more points.
13. PK Rewards
PK Rewards gives you points for all sorts of fitness activities including walking, jogging, running and exercises. That way, the more you walk, jog, run or perform fitness activities, the more you earn points. This is a very popular app in America because it pays well for your effort. These effort points can be redeemed for prizes.
This app pays you in Effort Coins. Each Effort Coin is worth a specific amount of cash. Collecting 20 points through walking fetches you $1. However, you need to collect at least 200 points worth $10 to seek a payout rewards. They also host regular competitions where you can get more points.
14. Fit for Bucks
You can get rewards such as shopping vouchers worth $20 for every 20,000 steps you take with your Fit for Bucks app. They're not very strict about the way by which you take steps. This means you can walk within your home and office to earn points that'll fetch you these rewards.
However, you need to carry your smartphone while walking for the app to log these points on your app.
Fit for Bucks also pays you in points for dancing, jogging, running, climbing and other fitness activities. You will require a minimum of 20,000 points to seek a payout of $20 in the form of shopping vouchers. They pay within a week to 10 days of requesting the payout from your app itself.
15. Runtopia
Runtopia is mainly for people who run as part of their fitness activities. However, they also reward daily walkers. This is, again, a very simple and user-friendly app. Though Runtopia doesn't offer cash, you can redeem the points you earn for attractive prizes.
16. Yodo
And finally, Yodo. They offer you 300 points for every 1,500 steps that you take. Yodo pays cash through PayPal. You will require a minimum of 10,000 points to request a payout through PayPal.
The app has a lot of features such as syncing with your own fitness tracker, a system to check how many points you have in your account and creating personal fitness goals.
More Ways to Get Paid to Walk
Additionally, there are several other get-paid-to-walk apps. You could try any of these if you’re not a person that walks for fitness. Using these apps can fetch you some money.
17. Gigwalk
Gigwalk is an app that allows you to take small gigs at the place where you’re at any point of time. Once you download the app and register as a gig walker, you’ve to keep the location services of your smartphone switched on.
That way, the app detects any gigs in the area where you are and shows all sorts of gigs nearby.
If you’re free, you could take the gig and visit the place to complete simple tasks. These would include tasks such as helping in the garden, cleaning, packing stuff, moving furniture, plumbing and electrical works, among others.
The customer pays over the app, and you will get paid by Gigwalk every Wednesday and Saturday.
18. Postmates
Postmates, as you might already know, is a delivery service. They generally deliver food from restaurants to hungry customers. You too, can join Postmates with or without a vehicle and start food deliveries. They pay you according to the location of delivery and restaurant.
Generally, people earn about $25 per hour from Postmates. However, they usually have vehicles. Therefore, if you wish to make money by walking, use Postmates, but park your vehicle a bit away from the restaurant and the customer’s premises. That way, you could walk a few meters every day.
19. Walgreens Balance Rewards
If you’re a regular shopper at Walgreens, use Walgreens Balance Rewards to get paid to the walk app. To get Walgreens Balance Rewards, you’ll have to visit their website and register. Upon successful registration, download the app and start earning points.
When you walk with the smartphone, the app will automatically count the number of steps you’re taking. That will fetch your Balance Rewards points. You can redeem these points for their worth in Dollars.
The app actually links you to a fitness tracker automatically. You have the option of linking your own fitness tracker or the ones they recommend. For every mile you walk, Walgreens Balance Rewards will credit 20 points to your account. Additionally, you can earn points for exercising, jogging and climbing stairs as well as losing weight.
20. DoorDash 403
DoorDash is an app that mainly works for food delivery. Therefore, you would require a vehicle such as a motorcycle, scooter or even a bicycle for the service. However, most restaurants from where customers order are located nearby.
Therefore, it’s possible for you to walk to these restaurants and pick up food parcels for delivery and get some money.
Another advantage of DoorDash is that you also get tips occasionally from customers to whom you deliver food parcels. This helps to increase your income. Though DoorDash isn’t really a fitness app, it does provide ample opportunities to walk and make money by walking.
21. Instacart 403
Instacart is a grocery store, as you would know. If there’s an Instacart in your locality, you can make a lot of money by shopping for various customers. All you need to do is join Instacart and download their app.
They will pay you for the steps that you take walking down the various aisles of their stores to fetch items that a customer orders from Instacart.
You can make up to $30 per day by means of shopping for others. The orders will be delivered by Instacart vans and trucks. However, you also get an opportunity to make money because Instacart usually hires part-time staff to fetch items that are on the grocery list.
22. Rover
With the Rover app, you can easily find dog walking jobs in your area. This app is very popular among people who love pets. Generally, seniors, stay-at-home moms and busy persons will hire your services through Rover.
As a dog walker, you’ll have to visit the premises of the customer and take their pet dogs for a walk, depending upon instructions of the pet owner. You can take several dogs at the same time, which helps you earn more money.
23. Wag
Wag is an app that enables dog owners to find pet walkers on demand. This app is popular across America, both among dog owners and walkers. Generally, busy people look for on-demand dog walkers through this app.
Your work to walk a pet could be for a day or even longer, depending upon the owner. The app displays the location and timings for walking dogs. This helps you to walk more dogs at the same time and earn a higher income.
Wrap Up
If you're serious about fitness and considering walking as part of your daily routine, these are the best 15-plus apps that offer cash incentives and other rewards for the effort. All of these apps are free to use. Therefore, I encourage you to download any of these and start making some extra money or win prizes.
Ashwin (Win) Honawar is an accomplished journalist and poignant author with 33 years of experience. He is renowned for his daredevil journalism and engaging narratives that explore various facts of human life and the resilience of the human spirit.