Swagbucks vs Inbox Dollars, which make money online website is best?

Swagbucks vs Inbox Dollars.  They are two of the leading online rewards clubs which offer opportunities to make money online through completing paid surveys, reading emails, playing games, searching and shopping online amongst other things, but which website is best?  They both have a lot of similarities, but also differences.  So rather like I did with Amazon MTurk or Microworkers, which is best? and Amazon MTurk vs Inbox Dollars, which is best? I thought that I would compare and contrast Swagbucks and Inbox Dollars, with a view to deciding which one is preferable for those who wish to make money online. 

Swagbucks and Inbox Dollars Similarities

Both are website-based rewards clubs where you can make money online.

Both pay you to do paid surveys, play games, read emails, watch videos, shop online.

Both give you coupons that you can print off and save money with.

There is a Swagbucks toolbar and an Inbox Dollars toolbar that you can install and use to enhance your make money online experience.

Swagbucks and Inbox Dollars Differences

One big difference is that with Inbox Dollars, when you make you make money online it is in dollars and once you reach $30, they pay you cash in the form of a check, whereas with Swagbucks you earn virtual money which you then have to spend in their online shop, or exchange for amazon giftcards, or PayPal money.

Swagbucks is a bigger organization than Inbox Dollars and their number of users is larger than Inbox Dollars. 

Swagbucks have an active official Twitter account too, which you can use to keep contact with them and get info on Swag codes.  Inbox Dollars have no active official Twitter account.

Swagbucks generally is more interactive and community orientated, whereas Inbox Dollars users are more a collection of individuals with no forum or blog to link them up, like with Swagbucks.

Some of the Swagbucks paid surveys pay slightly better than the Inbox Dollars ones, in my experience.

Inbox Dollars give you $5 when you join, Swagbucks give you 50 swagbucks.

You do get more emails from Inbox Dollars than Swagbucks.  My advice would be to do what I do and don’t use your main email address when you join any of these sites.  I have a specific email account that I set up specifically for use with all these make money online websites.

In my wife’s opinion, Swagbucks has slightly more desirable gifts and rewards in their offers than Inbox Dollars does.  I will have to take her word on that one.

Conclusion

I personally prefer Inbox Dollars to Swagbucks on balance, I like the fact that when you make money online, it is in dollars.  I find the Swagbucks concept of giving you virtual money which you then have to exchange a little gimmicky, although I guess it doesn’t really matter much in the long run, as you can convert the Swagbucks to Amazon gift cards or PayPal money, if you wish.  My wife, on the other hand, is a huge fan of Swagbucks (although she still does Inbox Dollars as well, of course), so I guess that makes us a balanced couple!

Review of Inbox Dollars

Inbox Dollars is a website-based rewards program where you earn money for doing simple tasks, like internet searches, completing paid surveys, looking at paid to read emails, playing games, shopping online and watching online videos.  It has some similarities with Swagbucks, but instead of earning virtual money which you then exchange for gifts or PayPal money, you effectively earn real money from the start.

There is an Inbox Dollars toolbar that you can download.  I would recommend getting it if you are planning to have a serious go at Inbox Dollars.  You are paid Inbox Dollars to download it and it helps you keep track of earning opportunities and your accumulated dollars.  Plus even if you uninstall it at a later date, you still get to keep the dollar that they paid you.

Pros of Inbox Dollars

You get $5 just for signing up to Inbox Dollars, which is nice!

If you are dedicated, you can reach the $30 payout very quickly.  The quickest way is to download the Inbox Dollars toolbar, which earns you a dollar and makes it easier to keep tabs on earning opportunities, as well as pays you for searching the web, then do every survey that comes your way.

None of the tasks are too challenging, at worst they just eat up a bit of your time.  The paid to read emails on Inbox Dollars, for instance, are an easy 50 cents if you let them accumulate for a week then read them all in 5 minutes.

It’s actually quite easy to accumulate money on Inbox Dollars by doing very little over a long period, in my experience.

Cons of Inbox Dollars

You have to reach a $30 threshold before you receive a payout and then it has to be in the form of a check which is posted to your home.

I would create a separate email account for Inbox Dollars, rather than use your personal account, as they do send you a lot of emails, many of them ways to earn money and therefore welcome, but they still fill up your inbox.

Summary and Sign Up Link

Inbox Dollars is a stress free way to make money, in my experience.  It’s not going to make you into a millionaire, but the regular checks for $30 to $50 are always welcome in my home.  You can join HERE if you’re interested.

MTurk or Microworkers, which is best?

With MTurk and Microworkers effectively competing with each other for the same pool of workers and employers, I thought it might be interesting to compare the two companies from a worker’s perspective, and ask the question: “MTurk or Microworkers, which is best?”

MTurk Advantages

1       Definitely more jobs/hits available on Mturk

2       No minimum earnings level to reach before payments begin.

3       MTurk has more jobs with multiple hits, rather than one offs than Microworkers in my opinon.

4       The Amazon store sells a large variety of products to choose from.

5       Amazon are a large company which are unlikely to fold and they also have a reputation to look after.

6       You can work on Amazon Mechanical Turk for as long as you wish and the pool of hits keeps replenishing itself.

7       There are lots of surveys to do on MTurk and they often pay reasonably well.

8       MTurk is big enough to have its own community, which can be found at the Turker Nation forum, MTurk Forum and the Turkopticon Toolbar feedback.

9       You can occasionally make a reasonable amount of money in one day on MTurk if you find good hits and put some effort in.

Microworkers Advantages

1       The lower number of jobs on Microworkers actually makes the site more manageable and easier to navigate.

2       The look and design of Microworkers is more attractive and functional, methinks.

3       They let you know what percentage of workers were successful previously on a job, which helps you to decide whether to take it or not.

4       Certain jobs like Youtube likes and voting in competitions seem to pay better on Microworkers than on Amazon Turk, that’s my experience anyway.

5       PayPal is good way to be paid with lots of options for spending your money etc.

6       Microworkers is fine for supplementing other income sources and gradually building up some extra money.

Summary

Unfortunately both the Amazon MTurk and Microworkers websites have plenty of scammy, spammy, requesters/employers on them, in my experience.  Although this doesn’t stop me working on them, it would be nice to see this sort of thing clamped down on more.

I personally tend to use both MTurk and Microworkers, but in slightly different ways.  MTurk I sometimes work on for extended periods, maybe a few hours, especially when there are hits and requesters that I particularly like.  Microworkers, on the other hand, I tend to use for maybe 15-30 minutes/day and just do a few tasks, with the intention of making a dollar/day towards the ten dollar payout minimum.