Key Takeaways
- The online world offers a wide range of opportunities to earn money, from blogging to selling crafts on Etsy, to participating in online surveys.
- The difficulty level, skills required, and earning potential vary significantly across different methods.
- While some methods offer modest earnings, others, like flipping websites or investing in cryptocurrencies, have the potential for very high returns.
| I’ve been investing with Fundrise since 2018. Disclosure: when you sign up with my link, I earn a commission. All opinions are my own. |
Do you believe making money online is more fantasy than reality? It’s not – the evidence is the tens of thousands of people who are making money online from home right now.
To help you make this dream a reality, we’re providing this guide of the 25 best ways to make money online from home.
You can skim the table below, which lists all 25 with earning potential, skills needed, and difficulty level. But you can read the summaries that follow to get a more detailed description of each.
| STRATEGY | EARNING POTENTIAL | SKILLS NEEDED | DIFFICULTY LEVEL |
| Launch Your Own Blog | $100s to $1,000s per Month | Technical Website Knowledge, Subject Expertise, Writing Ability, Social Media Skills | High |
| Take Online Surveys | A Few Dollars to Several $100 per Month, but Often Payment in Points | Personable, Opinionated, Informed | Low |
| Invest in Peer-to-Peer Lending | A Few Dollars to Several $100 per Month | Capital to Invest, Basic Credit Knowledge, Risk Tolerance | Low |
| Sell Homemade Items on Etsy | A Few Dollars to Several $1,000 per Month | Creativity, Craft Related Skills, Marketing Skills | Moderate |
| Rate Products and Services on MyPoints | A Few Dollars to Several $100 per Month | General Knowledge of Products and Services | Low |
| Become an Online Freelance Writer | $100 to $1,000 per Article, Based on Skill Level | Good Research & Writing Skills, Creativity, Basic Understanding of SEO | High |
| Get Paid to Watch and Rate Online Videos | A Few Dollars to Several $100 per Month | General Knowledge of Products and Services | Low |
| Sign Up for Fiverr | A Few Dollars to Several $100 per Month | Varied Skills, Good Time Management | Moderate |
| Take Photos and Sell Them Online | A Few Dollars to Several $100 per Month | Strong Photography Skills and an Understanding of What the Market Is Looking For | Moderate |
| Host Travelers in Your Home | $100s to $1,000s per Month | Attractive Home in a Popular Destination, Good Customer Service Skills | High |
| Make YouTube Videos | $3 to $5 per 1,000 Views | Excellent Voice and Communication Skills, an Eye for Relevant Content, Basic Knowledge of Video Equipment | High |
| Investing in Cryptocurrency | $100s to $10,000s per Month | Capital to Invest, High Risk Tolerance, Basic Understanding of Cryptocurrency Trends | Moderate |
| Crypto Savings Accounts | $100s to $1,000s per Month | Capital to Invest | Low |
| Trade Options | $100s to $10,000s per Month | Capital to Invest, High Risk Tolerance, Basic Understanding of Stocks and Options Trading | High |
| Amazon FBA | $1,000+ per Month | Ability to Identify Profitable Sale Items, Marketing and Organizational Skills | High |
| Create an Online Course | $100s to$1,000s per Month | Expertise in a Popular Topic, Presentation and Marketing Skills | High |
| Deliver Food | $100s per Month | Punctuality, Speed, Good Time Management, Conscientiousness a Reliable Vehicle | High |
| Join a Focus Group | A Few Dollars to Several $100 per Month | Comfortable in a Group Setting, Articulate, Willing to Share Opinions | Low |
| TikTok | A Few Dollars to Several $1,000 per Month | Good Networking Skills, High Awareness of Trending Events | Moderate |
| Create and Sell Ebooks | $100s to $1,000s per Month | Strong Knowledge of Popular/Trending Topics, Good Writing Skills, Networking, Marketing, Social Media Skills | High |
| Build a Dividend Portfolio | A Few Dollars to Several $1,000 per Month | The Size of Your Capital Base Will Determine Your Income | Moderate |
| Become a Tutor | Several Hundred Dollars per Month | Degree or Certificate, Specialization in Common Subject, Good People Skills | Moderate |
| Flipping Websites | Unlimited, Varies by Personal Skills and Abilities | Web Development and Design, Content Creation and Marketing, Social Media Skills and Networking | High |
| Real Estate Crowdfunding | A Few Dollars to Several $1,000 per Month, Depending on Investable Capital and Type of Crowdfunding Engaged In | Investable Capital, Basic Understanding of Real Estate Investing | Moderate |
| Gigsalad | A Few Dollars to Several $100 per Month | Photography, Music, Graphics, Home Repair, Home Improvement, Skills, Etc. | Moderate |
Our 25 Best Ways to Make Money From Home Online in 2024
1. Launch Your Own Blog
- Earning Potential: $100s to $1,000s per month
- Skills Needed: Technical website knowledge, subject expertise, writing ability, social media skills
- Difficulty Level: High
This is admittedly one of the more difficult ways to make money online from home. You’ll need a deep desire to get your message out, whatever that message is. And then you’ll need a commitment to providing content on a regular basis, and a willingness to learn how to market that content.
Table of Contents
But it is possible, and thousands of people are doing it. Have a look at our Make 1K Challenge to encourage yourself to get started and to keep going. If you sign up now, you can get a FREE domain name when you sign up from this website.
2. Take Online Surveys
- Earning Potential: A few dollars to several $100 per month, but often payment in points
- Skills Needed: Personable, opinionated, informed
- Difficulty Level: Low
This might be the most common way to make money online. You can participate in popular online survey platforms, like Inbox Dollars. And while it’s possible to earn cash, an increasing number of survey services compensate you in points, which are redeemable for prizes or gifts.
Be sure to do your research before participating with any platform. It is, unfortunately, a field filled with scams.
3. Invest With Peer-to-Peer Lending
- Earning Potential: A few dollars to several $100 per month
- Skills Needed: Capital to invest, basic credit knowledge, risk tolerance
- Difficulty Level: Low
This strategy has the advantage of being one of the completely passive income ideas. That’s not a bad thing, because it gives you an opportunity to earn additional income without putting out any effort.
The whole concept of peer-to-peer lending is putting up your money that will be invested in loans to consumers. In most cases, these are debt consolidation loans. And since the interest rates paid are much higher than bank savings, you can get returns approaching 10%.
One of the most popular platforms for peer-to-peer lending is Prosper. You can build a portfolio of slices of individual loans that represent various credit grades. In combination, you’ll earn much more than you can in a certificate of deposit.
4. Sell Homemade Items on Etsy
- Earning Potential: A few dollars to several $1,000 per month
- Skills Needed: Creativity, craft-related skills, marketing skills
- Difficulty Level: Moderate
If you have a talent for specific crafts, including homemade items, try your hand at Etsy. It’s sort of like eBay, except you’re selling unique items you create yourself. You’ll pay Etsy a fee of 3.5% of the sale price, and the rest will be yours.
This is a perfect way to make money online from home if you’re able to create popular products with a unique spin. You can build a store complete with repeat customers that will keep the income flowing steadily.
5. Rate Products and Services on MyPoints
- Earning Potential: A few dollars to several $100 per month
- Skills Needed: General knowledge of products and services
- Difficulty Level: Low
MyPoints is a service that rates products and services before they come to market. This is a vital function all manufacturers and merchants need to perform. At its core, it’s test marketing.
You’ll participate in a focus group that will evaluate and rate products and services and be compensated for your time.
6. Become an Online Freelance Writer
- Earning Potential: $100 to $1,000 per article, based on skill level
- Skills Needed: Good research & writing skills, creativity, basic understanding of SEO
- Difficulty Level: High
Virtually every article, advertisement, marketing piece, guide and e-book that appears on the internet has been written by someone. Most likely, the job has been done by an online freelance writer.
If this interests you, read our guide, How to Become a Freelance Writer, before going forward. This is more of a career than a side venture, especially if you want to make serious money.
We also recommend you check out EarnMoreWriting.com to learn the ins and outs of this complicated income strategy. You can make a lot of money, but there’s a lot you need to know before you get started.
7. Get Paid to Watch and Rate Online Videos
- Earning Potential: A few dollars to several $100 per month
- Skills Needed: General knowledge of products and services
- Difficulty Level: Low
This is another very commonly mentioned strategy to make money from home. Perhaps the leader in the space is Swagbucks. The concept is very similar to rating products and services, except you’ll be watching and rating movies, videos, and other programs.
You won’t make a fortune with Swagbucks, but it’s an opportunity to monetize some of your spare time.
8. Sign Up for Fiverr
- Earning Potential: A few dollars to several $100 per month
- Skills Needed: Varied skills, good time management
- Difficulty Level: Moderate
Fiverr is a way to monetize your time and specific skills. It serves as a website to help you find micro-jobs. Those are standalone functions that an individual, business or employer is looking to have completed quickly. You can be paid $5 and up, depending on the task.
Tasks may include writing letters, answering emails, performing minor graphic functions, and just about anything similar. But don’t be intimidated, because you can choose the skills you want to offer on the platform.
9. Take Photos and Sell Them Online
- Earning Potential: A few dollars to several $100 per month
- Skills Needed: Strong photography skills and an understanding of what the market is looking for
- Difficulty Level: Moderate
This falls under the category of hobbies that make money. But if photography is one of your hobbies, this is an opportunity to make some money on it.
You can do that on a site like Shutterstock. The good news is that you can take photos of subjects and objects that interest you. You’ll then put them on the Shutterstock platform, where they’ll be available for sale to individuals and businesses. Once you get a large enough portfolio built, and if that portfolio is relevant to the market, this can be an excellent source of ongoing passive income.
10. Host Travelers in Your Home
- Earning Potential: $100s to $1,000s per month
- Skills Needed: Attractive home in a popular destination, good customer service skills
- Difficulty Level: High
You’re probably already familiar with this process from the many commercials on TV. But platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo will provide you with everything you need to rent out your home to visitors.
The appeal is that certain visitors, particularly families, are looking for something more than a hotel room. If your home is attractive and well-located, you can earn thousands of dollars per rental. Naturally, this is a process that will work better with a second home than with your primary residence – unless you’re a frequent traveler yourself.
11. Make YouTube Videos
- Earning Potential: $3 to $5 per 1,000 views
- Skills Needed: Excellent voice and communication skills, an eye for relevant content, basic knowledge of video equipment
- Difficulty Level: High
This is another venture that rates high on the difficulty scale, if only because making it work quite literally requires turning it into a business. You see, on the surface, YouTube looks simple. You put out a few videos, one or two of them go viral, and you make a fortune.
But that’s not how it works in real life. You’ll need to turn out a regular series of high-quality videos that are relevant to your audience. In the best of all worlds, your list of subscribers grows, your videos are followed and viewed regularly. The real money goes to those whose videos regularly draw many thousands of viewers.
If you’re interested in making it as a YouTuber, check out Jeff’s guide, How to Make Money on YouTube.
12. Investing in Cryptocurrency
- Earning Potential: $100s to $10,000s per month
- Skills Needed: Capital to invest, high-risk tolerance, basic understanding of cryptocurrency trends
- Difficulty Level: Moderate
This one probably needs no introduction. Most people are aware of the incredible price increases in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. But you should also be equally aware of the dramatic declines. At this point at least, it’s hard to know if crypto is a long-term investment or the perfect trading asset.
13. Crypto Savings Accounts
- Earning Potential: $100s to $1000s per month
- Skills Needed: Capital to invest
- Difficulty Level: Low
As crypto has grown in popularity, so are the ways you can make money with it. It’s now possible to earn high interest on your crypto holdings, at rates much higher than what the banks are paying on CDs and savings accounts.
For example, Coinbase currently pays as much as 5.75% APY through its staking program. This is an excellent way to earn passive income on your crypto holdings. The more crypto you have, the higher your interest income will be.
14. Trade Options
- Earning Potential: $100s to $10,000s per month
- Skills Needed: Capital to invest, high-risk tolerance, basic understanding of stocks and options trading
- Difficulty Level: High
This is a form of very active investing, which means it has a high difficulty level. Before beginning, read Trading in Options: A Guide for Beginning Investors to familiarize yourself with the basics of how trading options works. It’s possible to make money, but it’s equally possible to lose it. You’ll need to have a basic understanding of the stock market, as well as how options work in conjunction with stocks.
You’ll also need to work with a brokerage platform that specializes in options trading. Two brokers worth checking out are Ally Invest and TD Ameritrade. Choosing the right brokerage platform can make all the difference in the world to your trading success.
15. Amazon FBA
- Earning Potential: $1,000+ per month
- Skills Needed: Ability to identify profitable sale items, marketing and organizational skills
- Difficulty Level: High
FBA stands for fulfillment by Amazon, which means you sell products, and Amazon does all the heavy lifting. It’s a perfect way to bring a product to market, particularly if you have one that’s unique. FBA offers you an opportunity to streamline and scale up your online store, without having to involve yourself in the mechanics of the process.
If you’re interested, read $0 to $1000 a Month with Amazon FBA before getting started. FBA isn’t overly complicated, but you’ll need to know what you’re doing before you get started. And once you do, treat it like the business that it is. Like all online businesses, you’ll get nothing more out of it than you put in.
16. Create an Online Course
- Earning Potential: $100s to $1,000s per month
- Skills Needed: Expertise in a popular topic, presentation and marketing skills
- Difficulty Level: High
This is another online money-making venture with a higher difficulty level. You’ll not only need to create a course, but you’ll also need to market it. That’s often best done through affiliate marketing, which is a whole other online money-making strategy.
The first step in creating a successful online course is identifying the right niche. That will require a combination of matching your own skills and expertise with an established market for the course. Take advantage of our How to Create an Online Course: A Step-by-Step Guide before getting started.
This is another online strategy that, once created, has great potential to generate a steady passive income.
17. Deliver Food
- Earning Potential: $100s per month
- Skills Needed: Punctuality, speed, good time management, conscientiousness, and a reliable vehicle
- Difficulty Level: High
With a reliable vehicle, spare time, and good time management, you can make extra money working with a service like DoorDash. Just remember you’re primarily delivering customer service, and will need to be at the top of your game to get the best assignments and tips.
18. Join a Focus Group
- Earning Potential: A few dollars to several $100 per month
- Skills Needed: Comfortable in a group setting, communication, willing to share opinions
- Difficulty Level: Low
A company called Respondent can connect you with universities, marketing groups, and research organizations that will pay you to participate in focus groups. You’ll participate in research studies at various organizations, and typically paid through PayPal.
Topics can include social issues, public health, politics, and various other topics. If you have interest in these areas, and opinions you’d like to share, this is an opportunity to make some extra money with them.
19. TikTok
- Earning Potential: A few dollars to several $1,000 per month
- Skills Needed: Good networking skills, high awareness of trending events and the types of products and services that sell on the platform
- Difficulty Level: Moderate
Lots of people are participating on social media. But there’s also an opportunity to earn some money while doing so. One way is to make money on TikTok. If you already have a large following on the social media platform, you’ll have a big advantage. But there’s a way to grow your following by staying on top of trending topics and working to become an influencer. There are opportunities to sell sponsored brands, as well as your own products on the platform.
Start your own TikTok bank account so you’ll have a destination for any revenues you earn from your efforts.
20. Create and Sell E-books
- Earning Potential: $100s to $1,000s per month
- Skills Needed: Strong knowledge of popular/trending topics, good writing skills, networking, marketing, social media skills
- Difficulty Level: High
Every year, tens of thousands of e-books become available on the Internet. Many of them are earning hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month. And best of all, once you have an e-book up and running, the income you’ll generate from it is largely passive.
Check out our guide, How to Make Your First $1,000 Selling Ebooks. You’ll need to have good knowledge of a topic idea that’s popular with the general public or with a defined niche. Once your ebook has been published, you will also need good marketing skills. (Hint: affiliate marketing can be your best friend in selling an ebook.)
21. Build a Dividend Portfolio
- Earning Potential: A few dollars to several $1,000 per month
- Skills Needed: The size of your capital base will determine your income
- Difficulty Level: Moderate
This is really more about investing than it is about starting a business. Because most investing now takes place online, it is an online money-making strategy. It’s even possible to Make $1,000 Per Month in Dividends.
You can do it by building a portfolio of quality, high dividend stocks, and holding them on brokerage platforms like M1 Finance or Robinhood.
Since dividend investing is investing, you’ll need to learn the basics of how investments work. Check out the following articles on our site:
22. Become a Tutor
- Earning Potential: Several hundred dollars per month
- Skills Needed: Degree or certificate, specialization in a common subject, good people skills
- Difficulty Level: Moderate
If you have expertise in any common subjects, such as math and science, and you have some extra time, you may have all you need to become a tutor. There are even websites to help you get the job done, like Wyzant and TutorMe.
In recent years, it’s possible to provide tutoring online, rather than going to a student’s home. You can even teach less conventional subjects, like test preparation and English as a second language. Some people may even be interested in learning specific career skills. The possibilities here are endless!
23. Flipping Websites
- Earning Potential: Unlimited, varies by personal skills and abilities
- Skills Needed: Web development and design, content creation and marketing, social media skills and networking
- Difficulty Level: High
This is a combination of running a business and making investments. That’s because you’ll be choosing existing websites and building them up to sell them for larger amounts of money. If you don’t believe it’s possible, check out Larry Ludwig who sold his blog for $6 million.
There are even websites dedicated to flipping websites, like Flippa and Empire Flippers. Think of it as a secondary market for websites, much like the housing and the used car market. You can buy a small or abandoned website in a topic area where you have expertise, and rebuild it into a profitable site that can either generate revenue or be sold for a large profit.
24. Real Estate Crowdfunding
- Earning Potential: A few dollars to several $1,000 per month, depending on investable capital and type of crowdfunding engaged in
- Skills Needed: Investable capital, basic understanding of real estate investing
- Difficulty Level: Moderate
You probably know that real estate is one of the most popular ways to get rich. But you probably also know that it requires a lot of capital, know-how, and effort. But there’s a workaround if you’d like to get into the game, without getting so heavily involved.
A real estate platform called Fundrise will enable you to invest in commercial real estate deals with a minimum investment of $10. And since the sponsors on the platform handle all the details for you, all you need to do is invest your money and wait for the returns. They also have different levels of risk and reward, so you can also choose higher-reward investments with higher risks.minimum investment of $10
25. GigSalad
- Earning Potential: A few dollars to several $100 per month
- Skills Needed: Photography, music, and graphics, home repair, home improvement, skills, etc.
- Difficulty Level: Moderate
We saved this for last because it’s kind of a catchall. But just about any type of skill you have, whether it has to do with artistic ability or mechanical skills, can be employed on a site called GigSalad. It’s an online marketplace that brings skilled workers together with individuals and businesses looking for those skill sets.
GigSalad has everything you need to get paying gigs. You can find leads, send quotes, and even collect payments through the platform. Whatever skill you have, don’t discount it. Check out GigSalad and see if there’s a need for whatever it is you have to offer.
Bottom Line on Making Money From Home in December 2024
Don’t discount the possibility of making money online in 2024. Right now, tens of thousands – maybe millions – of people are doing exactly that. If you want to join the ranks of these new entrepreneurs, choose one of the 25 best ways to make money online in 2024, and get started – right where you are!
Thanks for help!!
50. Get Paid to Be Politically Activepl help me out and oblige am interested to start this on line and earn
Next Wave Advocacy is a platform that will pay you to get involved in specific political activities. You’ll perform these tasks from your home, and exactly what you will do will vary each day.
They often expect you to commit to working a certain number of hours per week, which is generally part-time. They will pay you an hourly salary for that work, so it is really more of an at home job situation than it is in an entrepreneurial way to make money online. Still, if you want to get involved in political activity, and you have the time and motivation, this could be a way to monetize that passion.
If you really want to make easy money then you should consider picturepunches.com. Probablt the easiest way to make money online today.
Thanks for the tips, Jeff! I am gonna try them out and see if I can get some more extra cash. May I suggest to other fellow readers one way I have been earning. I have been earning a bit by writing snippets on QWERIFY and it had been great and I am getting paid for writing contents for others. Writing is fun but I will also try these tips when I have the time!
Thanks for the resource ZH!
Hi Jeff Rose, Thanks for sharing such a huge list of ideas to make money online. I hope this idea will work great to make money. Thanks once again for sharing this post with us. Keep sharing. Looking for the more valuable post like this from you.
Thanks for the list Jeff. Despite the long list of ways to make money online, only a very few appealed to me. I started my own blog, but haven’t monetized it yet. Years ago, I looked into the possibility of affiliate marketing, but I’m clearly not good at it.
Of the ones you mentioned, P2P lending is something I’m really thinking about getting into. Lending Club specifically has been on my mind and I just recently created an account. However, I haven’t transferred any funds yet. I’m still deciding.
Again, thanks for the list.