Want Even More Ways to Make Money?

If you’re looking to boost your income quickly, there are plenty of flexible options—from small online tasks to full-scale side hustles. Some can generate occasional extra cash, while others can evolve into consistent income streams.

Here are a few popular platforms people use to get started:

• InboxDollars — Earn money by completing short surveys and simple tasks

• FreeCash — Get paid for testing apps and completing online offers

• GoBranded — Share opinions for rewards and cash

• Solitaire Cash — Compete in skill-based games for potential winnings

• Bingo Cash — Play competitive bingo matches for cash prizes

• Kashkick — Earn by trying apps and services

Considering a Remote Side Hustle? Try Freelancing

Freelancing is one of the most scalable ways to earn money remotely. Instead of working fixed hours, you’re paid per project or deliverable.

Advantages

• Flexible schedule—you choose when to work

• Location independence

• Ability to select clients and projects

• Potential tax deductions for business expenses

Trade-offs

• Irregular income streams

• No employer-provided benefits

• Responsibility for taxes and equipment costs

If you already have a full-time job, many of these downsides become less significant, making freelancing a practical side income option.

Where to Find Remote Side Hustles

Several platforms aggregate freelance and remote job opportunities across industries:

• Upwork — Broad range of freelance jobs

• FlexJobs — Curated remote and flexible roles

• VirtualVocations — Filterable freelance listings

• HireMyMom — Flexible work opportunities

• Shopify Partners — Projects in web, design and marketing

High-Demand Remote Side Hustles

Here are some of the most viable remote roles, along with typical earning ranges:

1. Bookkeeping

• Median: ~$24/hour

• Platforms: Intuit, Bookminders

• Best for those with accounting or payroll experience

2. Website/App Testing

• ~$15–$54/hour

• Platforms: UserTesting, Trymata

• Entry-level friendly, flexible work

3. Graphic Design

• ~$14–$41/hour (often project-based)

• Platforms: Dribbble, Behance, 99Designs

• Ideal for creatives skilled in tools like Photoshop or Canva

4. Voice Acting

• ~$7–$73/hour

• Platforms: Voices.com, Voice123

• Requires a quiet recording setup

5. Video Editing

• ~$16–$85/hour

• Platforms: Backstage, ProductionHUB

• High demand due to growth in short-form video content

6. Copy Editing

• ~$25–$61/hour

• Platforms: WriterAccess, Remotive

• Requires strong grammar and SEO awareness

7. Writing

• ~$15–$65/hour

• Platforms: ProBlogger, Contently

• Flexible workload and strong income potential

8. Proofreading

• ~$15–$41/hour

• Platforms: Cambridge Proofreading, Polished Paper

• Lower complexity, steady demand

9. Web Development

• ~$20–$58/hour

• Platforms: Toptal, Webflow

• High-value technical skill

10. Web Design

• ~$14–$55/hour

• Platforms: Toptal, Storetasker, Guru

• Combines UX, layout and visual design

11. Social Media Manager

Pay range: $15-$38 per hour, according to Indeed

As a social media manager, you’ll be in charge of strategy, scheduling and possibly even composing social media posts. After your campaigns go live, you’ll also be in charge of watching the analytics to get metrics on how well each one performed. Some management positions will be full-time, but you can find plenty of freelance or part-time positions, too:

• Sites like Upwork and FlexJobs regularly have freelance or part-time social media job postings.

• You can find both public and private Facebook groups centered around helping social media managers connect with clients.

12. Virtual Assistant

Pay range: $16-$42 per hour, according to Indeed

A virtual assistant usually helps small business owners or sole proprietors with their online chores. Think inbox management, basic data entry and maybe some light social media work. Here are some places you can find remote virtual assistant side gigs:

• Delegated: Hires virtual assistants who have past experiences.

• Fancy Hands: Has traditional freelance virtual assistant work available for entry-level pay, but also has one-off task requests from individuals rather than business owners.

• Wing: Remote virtual assistant jobs.

13. Transcription

Pay range: $7-$100 per hour

Transcription services take audio content and turn it into print. You’ll be turning podcasts, YouTube videos and more into print transcripts. You can find remote transcription work on sites like:

• GoTranscript: Up to $1.75 per minute of audio (not per minute you work).

• Speechpad: Pays $0.25-$2.50 per minute of audio.

14. Captioning

Pay range: $20-$69 per hour, according to Indeed

Captioning is kind of like transcribing, except the text you produce will run in the video. Closed captioning isn’t just a nice thing to have — it’s a required accommodation under the ADA, which makes it particularly important for companies with 50 or more employees. For closed captioning, you will need to add things like sounds and music — not just spoken word. You can find captioning jobs here:

• Rev: Pick up freelance captioning shifts.

• 3PlayMedia: Contracting work available. If you fall in love with it, they do have full-time roles, too.

15. Interpreting

Pay range: $18-$50 per hour, according to Indeed

Interpreting only happens between two languages. For example, you can interpret a conversation between spoken Spanish and spoken English, but there’s no writing or reading involved. Interpreting used to happen only in person, but with all the video technology we have today remote interpreting is taking over. You’ll have to hold certifications to be an interpreter, but if you’re already multilingual, passing the certification tests shouldn’t be terribly difficult.

Most interpreters are freelancers, so you can already plan on working as much or as little as you want. Here’s a few places to start looking for work:

• Universal Language Service: Remote freelance interpreting opportunities in a wide breadth of languages.

• Propio: Once again, a number of different languages are needed. Remote contracting work available.

16. Translating

Pay range: $20-$34 per hour, according to Indeed

Translators work with the written word. While transcriptionists take the audio of one language and turn it into a written form of that same source language, a translator writes in a second target language, serving as a conduit between the two. You may also work editing AI-generated translations. You can look for work on websites like these:

• Happyscribe: Translate captions in 67 languages. Most common languages are English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian and Polish.

• Gengo: Freelance translation work.

17. English as a Second Language Teacher

Pay range: $14-$22 per hour, according to VIPKId

For the time being, English is the language of business. That means people worldwide want to learn it. You can find tons of online English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching gigs, connecting with people from all over the world. For most jobs, you will have to secure TEFL certification, but that should be fairly easy as a native speaker. You don’t necessarily have to have a background in education to pursue this remote side hustle.

Here are some places to start your search for gigs:

• VIPKID: You pick your hours as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher.

• Cambly: Connect with Cambly’s user base of English students as an online contractor.

• Learnlight: You will have to work a set schedule, but you pick the hours. Minimum of 10 hours per week.

18. Music Teacher

Hourly pay range: $16-$67 per hour, according to Indeed

Whether you’re teaching theory, an instrument or production, becoming a music teacher has never been easier. You can set this up as a remote side hustle, allowing you to expand your side hustle beyond your local market. Get started on platforms like:

• Musika: A platform similar to TakeLessons.

• Udemy: Teach a wide range of courses outside of instrumental and vocal lessons.

19. Tutoring

Hourly pay range: $13-$50 per hour, according to Indeed

Really, you can make a side hustle of teaching anything online. You’ll have more demand for high-demand topics, and you’re likely to be offered more money if you’re a certified teacher. But really this side hustle is open to anyone depending on the platform you use. Here are some to explore as you start online tutoring:

• Udemy: It’s not just for music — you can teach pretty much anything on Udemy!

• Wyzant: No teaching certification necessary to connect with students on Wyzant.

20. Customer service

Pay range: $11-$34 per hour, according to Indeed

Remote phone customer service jobs are available, and some of them are even part-time or contract work. But you’ll find more flexible work available if you’re willing to work as a live chat representative. Sometimes you’ll find these jobs listed on the big sites like FlexJobs, but you can also find them on:

• Arise: Contract customer service work with big brands as the end client.

• Amazon: Customer service positions can be remote. While they don’t always have part-time jobs listed, they do make their appearances. If you can secure part-time work directly with Amazon, you’re entitled to quite the benefits package.

• Cocoroco: All work is remote. Most of the listings are full-time, but there is a portion of the listings that are part-time.

21. Online Focus Groups

Pay range: $45-$250

The pay for online focus groups can be high, but it isn’t consistent. That said, if you don’t mind answering some questions about a product or service you’ve used, getting selected for the right focus group can pay big dividends. Here are some of the highest-paying platforms:

• Focusscope: About 25% of focus group listings are remote. Pays up to $250.

• WatchLAB: About 50% of focus group listings are remote.

• User Interviews: About 75% of focus group listings are remote. Average study pays $45.

22. Reselling Sneakers

Pay range: $0-$800 per hour

Flipping kicks can be a lucrative side hustle if you do it right. While you can resell sneakers in-person at conventions, you can also run your business totally online. Typically, you’re going to want to handle the inventory and shipping yourself. You can use sites and tools like these to build and move inventory:

• Whatnot: Live selling platform where you can find and sell inventory.

• GOAT: Can resell on GOAT, but it’s typically better for finding inventory.

Pittsburgh-based writer Brynne Conroy is the founder of the Femme Frugality blog and the author of “The Feminist Financial Handbook.” She is a regular contributor to The Penny Hoarder. The Penny Hoarder staff also contributed to this post.