Survey Junkie Review – Get Paid to Take Surveys

Participating in online surveys is an old method of making money online. Popular survey companies InboxDollars and Swagbucks have been around since 2000 and 2008, respectively. Nowadays, there are dozens of survey websites that pay users for sharing their opinions and contributing to market research.

Survey Junkie is one such site that pays members for their insight. The company states you can be an influencer by sharing your opinion to help retailers ultimately deliver better products and services to consumers.

However, while many survey websites offer alternative ways to earn, such as cash-back offers or online games, Survey Junkie sticks to surveys.

Survey Junkie has a 4.4-star rating and more than 15,000 reviews on Trustpilot. The Better Business Bureau gives it a 4.33-star rating. It’s clear this survey website is popular and legitimate. But is it worth your time? Let’s take a look.

How Survey Junkie Works

Survey Junkie is a free website that requires only an email to sign up. You can use Survey Junkie as long as you live in the United States, Canada, or Australia and are 13 years or older.

Creating an account on Survey Junkie only takes a few minutes. Once you sign up with your email, you answer a brief personal survey that helps match you to survey opportunities. Market research companies are often interested in hearing from a specific demographic, so it’s important to accurately fill out this initial survey.

Some questions on the profile completion survey include:

• Your age range
• Whether you have pets
• Household size and whether you have kids
• Education level
• Income level and employment status
• Whether you watch television or play video games
• What type of car you drive or whether you plan on buying a car

You earn 50 points for completing this survey, which is equivalent to $0.50. You also earn points for verifying your email address and answering additional questions relating to your health, shopping behavior, technology usage, and general interests.

By the time you complete your profile and extra questions, you’ll have $1.50 worth of Survey Junkie points. The homepage dashboard displays survey offers as they become available. You can cash out through PayPal, electronic gift cards, or direct deposit once you reach $5 in your account. Gift cards and direct deposit are only available to U.S. members.

Limitations & Restrictions of Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie’s FAQ page admits, “You will not get rich by taking surveys. The rewards for each survey will vary but with commitment and regular participation, you’ll have the opportunity to earn extra cash each month.” This is important to keep in mind.

Additionally, there are several limitations and restrictions that will impact your earnings:

Survey Availability

The greatest limitation for earning money with Survey Junkie is survey availability. Survey Junkie doesn’t guarantee survey availability or a certain amount of monthly income. Your homepage displays a list of available surveys, and there’s no way to find additional survey opportunities if your homepage is empty.

Your demographic information and where you live influence how many surveys you’re eligible for. This variability means Survey Junkie is more of a side gig than a reliable source of monthly income.

Note: Survey Junkie is a survey aggregator, not an independent market research company. That means it allows other market research groups to offer surveys on its platform. This is the case for other websites like Swagbucks and InboxDollars as well. It’s a good reason to be truthful when answering questions on any survey website. If you’re banned by a specific market research company due to data inconsistencies in your answers, you probably won’t be able to answer questions from that same company on any survey website you try.

Eligible Countries

Survey Junkie is only available in the United States, Canada, and Australia. There is no way around this, and using a VPN to connect to survey websites risks getting your account banned and losing any points in your account.

Survey Disqualifications

One common complaint of survey websites is that you can be disqualified before reaching the end of a survey.

Disqualification is a common occurrence on all survey websites, including Survey Junkie. Market research companies are typically interested in hearing from a specific demographic, and if one of your answers places you outside of that demographic, you’re usually disqualified.

Thankfully, Survey Junkie credits users with a few points if they’re disqualified based on how far they were in the survey. It’s only a few pennies, but it’s at least some form of compensation. Many survey websites offer no points for disqualifications.

Key Features of Survey Junkie

You can’t make a lot of money with Survey Junkie, and this platform isn’t a replacement for your day job.

However, Survey Junkie keeps things simple if you want to make extra money in your spare time without putting in much effort. To help you earn, there are three key features.

Surveys

Many survey websites or get-paid-to (GPT) platforms have an abundance of point-earning opportunities, including games, paid email offers, and pay-to-download offers. By contrast, answering surveys is the main way to make money with Survey Junkie.

Your Survey Junkie dashboard shows a list of surveys you can complete to earn money. Surveys indicate how much they pay and the amount of time they require, which is useful if you only want to answer short surveys.

This dashboard also shows your lifetime earnings, current earnings, and how close you are to redeeming your next reward.

Survey Junkie Pulse

Survey Junkie Pulse is a free Google Chrome extension that helps Survey Junkie members unlock more surveys. Its purpose is to help members receive higher-quality surveys more frequently — and to help Survey Junkie clients research users’ digital behaviors.

The extension collects information from your browser, including:

• Websites you visit
• The time you spend on websites
• Your shopping activity
• Ads you view and click on

According to Survey Junkie’s Privacy Policy, Survey Junkie aggregates your data with other members to ensure individual privacy. This extension follows the same practice.

You don’t have to use the extension to use Survey Junkie. But if cashing out is taking too long because you don’t get enough survey opportunities, try Survey Junkie Pulse.

Mobile App

Survey Junkie offers a free app for Android and iOS devices. This allows members to easily answer surveys while on the go for some extra pocket money.

Advantages of Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is a less robust platform than other survey websites like Swagbucks or InboxDollars. However, it still has several advantages:

• Low Cash-Out Threshold. Websites like InboxDollars have a $30 cash-out threshold. Similarly, many other popular GPT websites have $10 thresholds or only offer a few reward options for lower redemption values. By contrast, Survey Junkie lets members redeem their account balance at $5. Making money from surveys is a slow process, so this low threshold is the strongest aspect of Survey Junkie. Even if you only get a few survey opportunities per month, the $5 payout threshold is realistic to reach if you diligently use this platform.
• Variety of Rewards for U.S. Members. Canadian and Australian members can redeem their account balance for PayPal cash.  Earning real money is already an advantage since many reward apps only let you redeem for gift card rewards, which aren’t as flexible as cash. Plus, U.S. members have additional reward options. U.S. members can connect their account to a bank account or credit union account to cash out via bank transfer. Survey Junkie also offers free e-gift cards from brands like Amazon, Target, and Walmart.
• In-Depth Profile Setup. Survey Junkie asks members to complete a few profile setup surveys to outline their preferences and demographic characteristics. These quick profile surveys each pay $0.10, and they help match you to more relevant surveys. This theoretically helps lower disqualification rates and also makes surveys more interesting because they pertain to your life. It’s in your best interest to fill out every profile survey on Survey Junkie before starting other paid surveys.
• Unlimited Disqualification Points. Disqualifications are the most irritating part of answering surveys for money. Survey Junkie takes some of the sting away by awarding members with a few points for disqualifications. Other companies have similar models. For example, InboxDollars awards users with progress towards scratch-and-win tickets after disqualifications. However, InboxDollars only does this up to 20 times per day. Survey Junkie doesn’t have a limit; disqualifications always pay a few points, no matter how many you have in a day.

Disadvantages of Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie suffers from many of the same disadvantages as other paid survey websites, as well as some specific weaknesses:

• Low Earning Potential. In fairness, Survey Junkie states outright that you won’t get rich by using their platform. Still, limited earning potential is the main drawback of using Survey Junkie — or any survey website, for that matter. If you want to significantly boost your monthly income, online options like freelancing or various work-from-home jobs are more realistic. Alternatively, you can turn to gig economy jobs like delivering food for DoorDash if you aren’t set on working online.
• Only One Other Earning Option. If you run out of survey offers on Survey Junkie, you only have one other way to earn points: behavioral research, which requires you to share information about your browsing history. This is a frustrating limitation, especially if you’re stuck near $5 and can’t cash out. Most survey websites have lots of other methods to make money besides surveys. A download offer section or video rewards portal would go a long way in diversifying Survey Junkie and giving members more opportunities to make money. If you want more earning options, platforms like Swagbucks and InboxDollars have more variety.
• Points Expire. All Survey Junkie points expire after 12 months of inactivity. To remain active, you must log in and complete at least one survey per year. That’s a fairly generous time frame, but it’s a disadvantage nevertheless.
• No Referral Program. Many survey websites have a referral program that pays users to refer their friends to the platform. Referral programs often pay a flat rate in points or a percentage of points a referral ends up earningSurvey Junkie doesn’t have a referral program. This is a major disadvantage because a referral system usually helps new users gain a welcome bonus and also helps existing members reach their cash-out threshold faster.

How Survey Junkie Stacks Up

Survey Junkie has a lot of competition in the world of GPT websites.

If you’re looking to earn some extra cash in your spare time, you’ll come across InboxDollars before long. Let’s see how Survey junkie stacks up to this longtime competitor.

Final Word

Paid survey websites will never make you rich. And there are plenty of survey websites that appear legitimate but are practically scams due to high cash-out thresholds and a lack of earning opportunities. Survey Junkie is, at least, a legitimate website in the survey industry.

A $5 cash-out threshold is Survey Junkie’s greatest strength. It will probably take a while to reach this $5 threshold because surveys are the only way to earn. However, by installing Survey Junkie Pulse and using the mobile app when on the go, you can speed up the process slightly.

U.S. members have a decent variety of reward options, and the platform is easy to use. Ultimately, Survey Junkie is best for anyone looking to earn some extra pocket change each month in their spare time without putting in a substantial effort.