Survey Reviews

While taking surveys online won't earn you gobs of cash or a full-time income (if they promise to, its probably a scam), you can earn a little pocket change and other goodies---which is not bad just for giving your opinion.  For the time it's generally under minimum wage.  I tend to personally look for surveys that pay at least $1 for 10 minutes estimated time.  Less than that is not worth it for me.  Occassionally there will be higher paying surveys, but those are few.

Speaking of opinions, below you will find mine on various online rewarded survey programs I have participated it and been payed through.  I don't take paid surveys as often as I used to, and some of these companies I haven't worked with for a while, so I've started to add notes underneath to show if I'm still active and when the reviews were last updated (ignore the blog post date as this was copied from another site).   Hope you find these reviews helpful.


DISCLAIMER:  If it says below that it has an referral program, I'm likely a part of it (unless I specifically say I'm not), which means I could earn a reward if you sign up through these links.  I try to not let any of that influence my reviews.  I'll tell you if I had a bad experience with this even if I get referral income through the links.


 

American Consumer Opinion (ACOP)
Reward Method	Referral Rewards?	Likes	Dislikes
Points redeemable for cash.	They had an affiliate program where you received $0.50 for every person who signs up through your links.  They have now changed over to a new service I am no longer part of so I am not sure if compensation is still the same.	This is just a good steady survey site. I don't receive tons of payed surveys, but I receive enough to make it worthwhile--and a lot of the higher paid surveys ($5-20) I get are through ACOP.	You now have to earn 1,000 points ($100) before you can redeem your points for cash.
Still Active 5/16/17 - Last updated 5/16/17

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Survey Savvy
Reward Method	Referral Rewards?	Likes	Dislikes
Pays cash by check (you can let the money build up in your account and cash out whenever you choose).	They have a very good referral program. You get $1 for every survey taken by anyone you refer.	This is another steady company that's been around for a long time.  I like that you can cash out whenever you want, even if you only have $2 in your account.  Many of their surveys pay at least $1 per 10 minutes.  Their referral program is also excellent.	None currently
Active as of 5/16/17 - Updated 5/16/17

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Opinion Outpost
Reward Method	Referral Rewards?	Likes	Dislikes
You earn points redeemable for cash (payed by check) or Amazon gift card.	Yes. They have an affiliate program you can sign up for here.  This is a new program I'm in the process of signing up for, so I'm not sure if it offers the same rate the old one did ($1 for every person who joins through your affiliate links).	They used to send surveys frequently, and most were reasonably compensated...after they had a ownership change the compensation diminished some.  I haven't taken surveys with them for a while so I can't comment on whether any of that is still true.	You used to be able to cash out when you'ld earned $5, but now you have to $20 before you can receive a cash reward. However, they have other rewards you can get once you've reached $3 or $5.  Survey pay per teme spent has gone down.
Not currently active. Last active 2015.

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Testspin
Reward Method	Referral Rewards?	Likes	Dislikes
You get itcoins redeemable for cash (payed by paypal) or Amazon gift cards.	Not that I'm aware of.	They send surveys frequently (sometimes too frequently)	A lot of their surveys are REALLY low pay (like 20 minutes for 20 cents low), and while they do have better payed surveys your inbox will be filled with all the cheap ones.
Last took a survey in 2016. Still receiving survey offers.

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Global Test Market
Reward Method	Referral Rewards?	Likes	Dislikes
You receive points redeemable for cash. You can cash out once you reach 1000 points ($50).	They have an affiliate program, but it's hard to get into (i.e. they didn't let me in -- oh well).	They are one of the higher paid survey sites, and send surveys very frequently. It only took me about a year and a half to earn the $50 cash out (even considering that I missed a lot of surveys due to browser incompatibility). The only program I earned more from over the same time period was Pinecone Research.	They have a very high cash out threshold -- so don't join this site unless you are willing to stick with it for the long haul.
Not currently active. Last active in 2011

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Buzzback Research
Reward Method	Referral Rewards?	Likes	Dislikes
Pays cash by check.	No.	They pay well ($3 - $10), and seem to send surveys at least once a month. Some of their surveys are creative--on occassion in stead of just asking you questions they will have you arrange a photo collage on a topic and then explain what it means to you. I like that.	Nothing so far.
Not currently active. Last active 2011.

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Mindfield Online
Reward Method	Referral Rewards?	Likes	Dislikes
You can cash out once you receive a minimum of $5 and are payed via Paypal or check.	Yes. You get paid $1 for each referral through your referral links.	They sometimes have fun collages as part of their surveys (where you get to make a "collage" with different pictures symbolizing your feelings on a certain product or topic. I also like that they always tell how long the surveys are expected to be, how much you will be paid, and usually give you a sweepstakes entry for your time taking screener questions if you don't qualify for the full paid survey.	They don't send surveys that I qualify for as often as I'd like.Currently only accepts participants from the US and Canada
Not currently active. Last active 2011

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Harris Poll Online
Reward Method	Referral Rewards?	Likes	Dislikes
You earn points redeemable for rewards including gift cards, and get an optional entry into their sweepstakes with every survey.	Yes. You can earn points for referring up to 5 friends by e-mail.	They send surveys regularly, so its fairly easy to earn enough points to cash out. They also often have sent surveys on interesting topics (like religion or politics) as well as the typical consumer surveys. They make an effort to avoid redundant questions and keep surveys interesting--most of their surveys are relatively short (often much shorter than they say in their entry e-mail).	When I actually calculated how much the points were worth when cashed in for gift cards, I discovered I was only making $0.15 to $1.50 per survey. Also, they have reduced the number of gift cards they offer (they used to offer Target and several other cards they no longer offer).
Not currently active. Last active 2012

E-Poll
Reward Method	Referral Rewards?	Likes	Dislikes
You receive points redeemable for rewards.	Yes. They have an affiliate program where you can receive $0.30 for every person who signs up through your links. You can access the affiliate program here. I have had trouble updating my address to cash out lately though.	The surveys were fun. They had a lot of surveys on Televisions, celebrities and current events...not just product surveys. I received my first reward (a CD) not long after joining.	I don't get sent surveys anymore because I left my account inactive for too long. After I switched to Linux (Mozilla) the surveys they sent didn't work so I stopped taking them. (Their surveys may now work on Mozilla, since my account became inactive several browsers versions ago, so I haven't been able to test this out.)
Not currently active.

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Toluna (Formerly Your 2 Cents)
Reward Method	Referral Rewards?	Likes	Dislikes
Toluna primarily works through reward points - check my Points Value Grid for more info on this.	Not that I'm aware of.	They send surveys VERY frequently.	You have to wade through a ton of surveys that are pitifully paid before finding one worth taking (even at my $1 per 10 minute minimum)...and if the survey you click on in your e-mail is full, they will redirect you to another one.  While they put the estimated time/points rewarded in the new survey, it's only up for a few seconds, and those not aware might still think they are taking the one mentioned in the e-mail.  It's a little disceptive.
Still Active 5/16/17 - Last Update 5/16/17

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Lightspeed Research
Reward Method	Referral Rewards?	Likes	Dislikes
You receive points redeemable for rewards, or cash through Paypal, and sweepstakes entries.	They had an affiliate program where you can receive $0.75 for every person who signs up through your links. One thing that I don't like is they have no simple text link option--according to their terms of use you must not change links so in stead of just having an affiliate link to "Lightspeed Research" I have to include the whole description they provide (or link their banner like I have above).	Their site is very easy to navigate, and they send surveys frequently. You get sweepstakes entries even for surveys you don't qualify for, and for answering mini-polls (fun one question polls), quick-matches (short profiles) and longer profiles.	Points can expire if you don't use them within two years. Also, a lot of their surveys don't give a good return for your time (often less than $1 for a 20 minute survey) but if you don't take most or all of the surveys you qualify for you may not earn enough points to reach your reward goal before your points expire (if you have a t.
Not currently active.

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Esearch
Reward Method	Referral Rewards?	Likes	Dislikes
Cash payments via Paypal or sweepstakes entries.	No.	Their paid surveys are usually at least $5, and I've always received payment quickly.	They don't send surveys very often.
Not currently active.

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Pinecone Research Pinecone does not usually take applicants through their main website. They only take applicants through their banner ads or sometimes through referrals (not paid), and change the link to their registration for often. There's a site I recently found called Annika's which keeps track of these though. Important: DO NOT REGISTER MORE THAN ONE PERSON PER HOUSEHOLD MAY REGISTER. Multiple registrations of the same Household will void all registrations.
Reward Method	Referral Rewards?	Likes	Dislikes
They previously payed $5 per survey but are moving to a $3 plus sweepstakes compensation per survey. Sometimes you may get to test products (thought I haven't yet).	No.	During the period where they payed $5 per survey and I wasn't having browser/operating system difficulties with their site I was payed more through Pinecone than any other site. They send surveys frequently and the surveys and even at $3 they are payed well for the time involved (average of 15-20 min).	I am again having problems taking surveys with them using Mozilla or even Safari (this has been a problem off and on with them). I was disappointed that they now only pay $3 (though I gather they sometimes still pay $5 if you sign up through a $5 banner)...I actually had the option to stay at $5 but they said they would be phasing out the $5 surveys and eventually if we stayed signed up at $5 we'd stop getting them. Still, $3 is not bad.
Not currently active.

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Viewpoint Forum NOT CURRENTLY TAKING NEW MEMBERS WITHOUT A REFERRAL
Reward Method	Referral Rewards?	Likes	Dislikes
Points redeemable for cash (by check). (You can also get points for submitting weekly poll ideas).	Yes. Once you are a member you receive points for referring up to 5 friends.	At one time this was the site I was getting paid most frequently through. I've also received free samples to test. You often get some points just for completing the screener questions, even if you don't qualify for the survey.	They are only taking new members through referrals from current members, and I have used up all my referrals. They also don't send surveys that often any more.
Not currently active. Last active 2012.

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