A passive income stream is an app or an account that keeps paying after you set it up, and you can open several of them with $10 or less. The honest catch is that the returns start small: about $60 a year from Nielsen, a quarterly dividend from Fundrise, and a few dollars a month in cash back from rewards apps.
This page covers 14 streams and says two things about each one: what it takes to start and what it realistically returns. If you want the wider list, with courses, ebooks and renting out things you own, read these passive income ideas as well.
Not everything here is fully hands-off. A few streams need some minutes each week, and one is plain active work that pays for the others. I point that out where it applies so you know what you are signing up for.
How to Create Multiple Passive Income Streams
Start with the streams that cost the least and ask the least of you, then add one at a time. Each one is small by itself. Several of them running together, with the payouts moved into an account that grows, is where it starts to add up.
- Install Nielsen on your phone or computer. It needs no money and pays about $60 a year.
- Open Fundrise with $10, or buy a first Arrived share for $100.
- Route the online shopping you already do through Swagbucks for cash back.
- Move what the apps pay you into the investing account so it keeps working.
The first four streams below are the closest to true passive income. You set them up once and they pay without more work from you.
1. Nielsen
$60/Year PassiveWhat it takes to start: a phone or computer and a few minutes to register it. After that the Nielsen app sits in the background while you use your devices the way you always do. What it returns: about $60 a year, which is $5 a month. Nielsen collects data on how you use the internet for its market research, so skip it if that trade bothers you.
2. Fundrise
$10 BonusWhat it takes to start: $10, which is the minimum investment. Fundrise puts that money into funds that own real estate, so you are an investor and never a landlord. New users also get a $10 bonus. What it returns: dividends that can be paid each quarter, plus any change in what the properties are worth. Nothing is guaranteed and the value can fall, so only use money you can leave alone for years.
3. Dividend stocks
Dividend stocks are regular shares of a company that pay you part of its earnings, usually every quarter. Dividend funds do the same thing across many companies at once, which spreads the risk.
What it takes to start: a brokerage account and whatever you can set aside. Many brokers now sell fractional shares, so you do not need the price of a full share.
What it realistically returns: the math is simple. A fund that yields 3% pays about $30 a year on $1,000 and about $3 a year on $100. That is why this stream rewards adding money every month and reinvesting the dividends. Companies can cut a dividend at any time and share prices move, so this is long term money.
Want Easier Passive Income Ideas?
Rewards apps are the easiest streams to open because they are free. They are also the least passive. Cash back on shopping takes one extra click before you buy. Surveys and videos pay only while you are doing them. Some people run these apps on spare devices, which is covered in our guide to phone farming.
Use them for what they are good at: turning shopping and spare minutes into small payouts that you can move into the accounts above. There are more of them in this list of apps that pay you real money.
4. Arrived
Start With $100What it takes to start: $100, the minimum to buy shares in one rental home. Arrived buys the house, places the tenants and takes care of the repairs. What it returns: your share of the rent, paid out each month. Of everything on this list, it is the nearest to owning a rental without being the landlord. Plan to leave the money in for years, because these shares are not something you cash out next month.
5. Swagbucks
$10 BonusWhat it takes to start: a free account and the habit of opening Swagbucks before you shop online. It pays SB points as cash back on purchases, with extra points for surveys, videos and searches. The 1,000 SB bonus, worth $10, requires spending at least $25 on a qualifying purchase through its shopping portal within 30 days. What it returns: a share of what you already spend, paid as PayPal cash or as gift cards that start at $3. The shopping side is close to passive and the surveys are not.
6. Survey Junkie
Cash via PayPalWhat it takes to start: a free account and a finished profile. Survey Junkie is not passive, because it pays per survey you complete. It earns a place on this page since it costs nothing and fits into minutes you would otherwise waste. What it returns: points you can cash out through PayPal or gift cards once you reach $5, which is 500 points. Some surveys will screen you out before they pay.
7. InboxDollars
$5 Sign-Up BonusWhat it takes to start: a free account, which comes with a $5 sign up bonus. InboxDollars pays cash, not points, for watching videos, reading emails and taking surveys. The videos and emails are the low effort part, while the surveys need your full attention. What it returns: small amounts per task, with a $30 minimum before you can cash out. That minimum makes the first payout a slow one.
8. MyPoints
Points for ShoppingWhat it takes to start: a free account. MyPoints gives you points for shopping online through its links, and smaller amounts for reading emails, watching videos, playing games and filling out surveys. What it returns: points you redeem for gift cards. The shopping points are the hands-off part, since they come from orders you were placing anyway. It works a lot like Swagbucks, so there is no need to run both on every purchase.
Passive Income Streams That Take More Work Up Front
Most of these are the streams I built my own income on. They cost little money, but they take months of work before they pay anything, and they are only passive once that work is done.
9. Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing means recommending a product with your own link and getting paid when someone signs up or buys through it. The simplest version is the referral program inside apps you already use.
What it takes to start: nothing but a referral link and people who trust your opinion. Stick to products you have used yourself. Many of these sign-up bonus apps pay you for each friend you refer.
What it realistically returns: a handful of referrals from friends and family, unless you build an audience through a blog, a social account or an email list. With an audience, old posts can keep sending sign-ups for a long time.
10. Display ads
If you own a website, ad networks will pay you to show ads next to your content. Google AdSense is the usual place to begin, and networks like Mediavine accept sites once their traffic is high enough.
What it takes to start: a site with content people actually visit. What it realistically returns: very little until the traffic is there, since ad income rises and falls with the number of visitors. Once the ads are set up there is nothing more to do, so the work is all in the content.
11. Start a blog
Blogging is how I built my passive income. I now blog full time and do not work for anybody else. A blog earns through the two streams above, ads and affiliate links, and it is online 24 hours a day.
What it takes to start: a few dollars a month for hosting and a lot of evenings. What it realistically returns: nothing for the first months, and it can grow from there if you keep publishing. You can set one up with this guide to starting a blog.
12. Email marketing
An email list is an audience you own. You build it by giving away something useful, like a short guide, and then you send deals, reviews and tips that include your referral links.
What it takes to start: an email service and a reason for people to subscribe. What it realistically returns: it depends on the size of the list and how much readers trust you. It pairs well with a blog and is hard to grow without one.
13. Airbnb Host
Airbnb lets you list a spare room, an apartment or a whole house for short stays. You control the price, the house rules and the dates it is available.
What it takes to start: space you are allowed to rent out, so check your lease, HOA and local short-term rental rules first. What it realistically returns: it depends on your location and how often you are booked. Cleaning and messaging guests are real work, so this is the least passive stream in this group.
How to Fund Your First Stream
The investing accounts on this page grow faster when money goes into them. If you have none to spare, earn it first. Gig work is active income, not passive, but a few shifts can supply the first deposits. There are more options in this list of the best side hustles, and if a bill is due now, start with these ways to get paid today.
14. DoorDash
Keep 100% of TipsWhat it takes to start: a car, bike or scooter, a smartphone and a background check. Delivery is active work, and it is on this page for one reason: it produces the cash that the passive accounts need. DoorDash lists base pay at $2 to $10+ per delivery and you keep every tip. Pay arrives weekly by direct deposit, or once a day through Fast Pay for $1.99. What it returns: money for the hours you drive and nothing once you stop.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nielsen is the easiest one on this page. It costs nothing, takes a few minutes to register a phone or computer, and pays about $60 a year without any tasks.
Less than most people think. Nielsen and the rewards apps are free. Fundrise has a $10 minimum, and Arrived starts at $100 per property. The streams that need no money, like a blog, cost you time.
Small amounts. Nielsen pays about $60 a year, cash back depends on how much you shop online, and investing accounts depend on how much you put in. Treat it as extra money that builds over time, not as a salary.
No. Survey apps pay only while you are answering questions, so they are active income in small pieces. They are useful as a free way to earn the first few dollars you put into a real passive account.
In the US, dividends and interest are taxable income, and money you earn from apps for completing tasks generally is too. Investing platforms send a tax form when you earn enough to need one. Keep a simple record of what each stream pays you during the year.
Do Not Become Dependent on Your Salary Alone
Depending on one paycheck is risky, and a second stream of income gives you room when a month runs long. Start with one stream from this page, give it a few months, then add the next.
Small amounts are normal at the beginning. What matters is that the streams keep running and the payouts keep getting reinvested. If you want to earn more in the meantime, here are more ways to make money that you can start now.
