We’re living in an age where the term ‘gig economy’ is being tossed around frequently, and a lot of people are starting to make a living through hustling.

You’re your own boss, you set your own hours, and different tasks require skills that might be right up your alley. This can be immensely appealing.

Considering the popularity of gig economy platforms, I have decided to compile a list of ways you can use to start your own side hustle and make some extra money.

App Based Jobs – On Demand Job Opportunities

The following gig economy jobs are the perfect way to make money while you’re out and about. All you need is your phone, an account, and you’re ready to book clients and get rolling!

TaskRabbit is an incredibly well known task-based marketplace where ‘Taskers’ and people seeking work done can find one another.

Some of the most popular categories of work on TaskRabbit include:

Home cleaning.

Furniture assembly.

Painting work.

Yard work.

General handyman related jobs.

Since TaskRabbit is popular in England, Canada, and the United States, this is truly one comprehensive marketplace where you can start making money on the side!

Some TaskRabbit gigs even pay quite high hourly rates, and you can certainly expect to earn more than minimum wage if you get some steady TaskRabbit work!

Extra Reading – 8 Apps Like TaskRabbit Powering The Gig Economy.

If you’re a dog lover, then you will absolutely adore Rover.

Rover is one of the largest networks of dog owners and sitters, and allows for pet owners to hand their beloved dog over to a sitter when they aren’t able to take care of their pet.

With Rover, sitters can offer house sitting, day-care, or simple walking services in exchange for cash.

Rover pays the most money if you offer house sitting or day-care services, but you can still make some decent money by just walking dogs in your neighborhood.

Wag is one of the main apps like Rover, and allows for side hustlers to make side cash by walking dogs.

The process of working for Wag is also identical to Rover, more or less. Sign up/create a Wag account, create your own schedule, and start earning money for walking dogs or through pet sitting.

Wag does take 40% of all completed jobs in commission, which is higher than Rover, so keep this in mind when comparing both dog walking jobs.

With Handy, you can make some extra cash by helping with tasks like home cleaning, furniture assembly, wall mounting, or other jobs that a customer might need help with.

Like a lot of the gig apps mentioned in this post, Handy generally pays higher than minimum wage, so you can earn some decent income if you get a steady line of work with the platform.

Personally I hate assembling furniture, but if you don’t mind the work, Handy is a great platform to start a side hustle with!

Extra reading – check out my official Handy review!

If you’re interested in helping people move to make extra money, I suggest taking a look at Dolly.

On Dolly, you can register as a ‘Helper’ or as a ‘Hand.’

Helpers are required to own their own pickup truck/box truck and be physically capable of lifting more than 75 pounds. Hands, on the other hand (haha, hand puns) are there just for the extra help.

Helpers generally earn $30/hour, while Hands can make $15/hour.

Dolly is definitely one of the most popular gig apps for people who want to help DIY movers, and the earning potential is quite substantial for anyone who owns a truck!

If you’re a professional landscaper or know how to maintain a pristine patch of green, LawnLove might be the perfect gig app for you.

LawnLove connects lawn care professionals and clients for a variety of jobs, including:

Lawn mowing.

Aeration.

Weed control.

Grass seeding.

Leaf removal.

You might even find that clients are willing to stick around for weekly/monthly/yearly contracts with you if your workmanship is high in quality.

Wonolo is a job marketplace app where workers can find and accept jobs in their area with the touch of a button.

On Wonolo, if you find a job you want to do and it’s the right fit, you can accept it and get to work that very same day.

Many Wonolo jobs will probably involve manufacturing processes, shipping, delivery, or some other form of logistical work, but the pay can be decent and the supply of jobs is also quite high!

While Wonolo jobs are basically temporary labor jobs, you can still earn a decent wage from an honest day of working hard!

I recently put out a YouTube video that covers Wonolo and plenty of other side hustle apps in this list as well!

There is so much opportunity out there thanks to technology, and hopefully one of these side gig ideas stands out to you!

Jobble is one of the most popular on demand gig apps. On Jobble, side hustlers can find flexible, same-day job opportunities by browsing a massive marketplace of gig economy jobs.

Finding work on Jobble is simple. Just download the free Jobble app, create a profile (includes your resume and qualifications, and apply to jobs in your area. Browse the Jobbler job board to see what companies are looking for workers in your area.

There are many different industries that work with Jobbler, so you’re likely to find something that suits your skill set. Restaurants, delivery companies, and event management companies are a few common companies that use Jobbler, but again, check the job board to view local results.

There are so many families who resort to DIY moving when moving to a new home, and this is why Bellhops exists.

With Bellhops, you can work as a mover and assist families/businesses that need help with relocating.

It’s tough work, and no one really likes the process of moving, but you can earn some decent money by working through Bellhop.

If you have a pickup truck, you might be able to earn more money per hour by working with a platform like Dolly.

HelloTech is a gig economy app that connects skilled technicians with people in need.

Common HelloTech gigs generally involve WiFi/Internet troubleshooting, audio/video assistance, TV mounting, tablet/device support, and general IT help.

The application process takes some time, and you’ll need to complete a skills assessment, phone screening, and submit a background check before being allowed to complete gigs through HelloTech.

However, your patience will be worth it: HelloTech gigs pay between $30-$90+ and pay throughout PayPal! If you possess some of the higher-paying skills required to work for HelloTech, this gig might be worth a shot!

If you’ve always been the tech support expert in your family or friend group, consider putting those skills to work with HelloTech!

The concept behind Your Mechanic is simple; why take your car to a mechanic when the mechanic can come to you?

The nicest aspect about working through Your Mechanic is your ability to specialize.

You don’t need to be an expert mechanic or have all the tools an auto shop would have.Rather, you can specialize in a certain kind of car repair and serve clients who need the work done.

Your Mechanic is really about keeping things simple, so you aren’t expected to meet customers for full-car servicing or anything complex.

Mechanics generally earn $40-$50/hour and can set their own schedule.

If you are a licensed massage therapist (how niche!) you can make money in your spare time by working as an in-home massage therapist.

Like other gig economy apps, you can set your own hours and choose what sort of spa/massage work you do with Zeel.

This massage-on-demand platform is pretty much the most popular app in the niche, so if you are a massage therapist looking for extra work, I’d begin your search here.

In terms of payment, Zeel pays their masseuses 75% of every booking, and an 18% gratuity fee is added to the price of every appointment. You keep 100% of this gratuity amount.

Zeel also makes a substantial effort to protect their workers. Zeel clients have to provide identification, and the app uses a check-in system to ensure masseuses arrive, begin, and finish their work on time.

Delivery Jobs to Make More Money

If you enjoy driving but hate interacting with people, making extra income with platforms like Uber or Lyft probably won’t be too enjoyable.

However, you can still make decent money with your car (or bike, depending on the city) by working for many popular delivery services that pay their drivers to deliver food or other parcels to customers.

DoorDash is a courier service that specializes in connecting couriers with restaurants for food delivery.

Once you are approved to be a DoorDash driver, you simply use the DoorDash IOS or Android app to start delivering for restaurants and merchants in your area.

Getting approved to work as a DoorDash driver has some requirements, including:

You must be 18 years or older to work with DoorDash.

You cannot have any major charge or violation within the last 7 tears, such as a DUI, driving with a suspended license, reckless driving charges, or major criminal offenses.

You cannot have had more than 3 incidents (i.e. accidents) within the last 3 years.

There are a few more steps involved, and you can read about them in my post DoorDash vs. Uber Eats for making money.

DoorDash states that you can earn upwards of $25/hour by delivering with their system. However, this hourly rate is certainly not the average.

In any case, you can definitely expect to earn $10/hour or more with DoorDash, and if you check out some income reports from people who frequently deliver with DoorDash, it isn’t uncommon to find nights where people are earning $15-$19/hour.

Start delivering for DoorDash and start a new side gig!

Extra Reading – DoorDash Driver Review 2020.

If you’re looking for another side hustle app that is exploding in popularity, look no further than Instacart.

Like other food delivery gig apps, Instacart pays you to shop and delivery groceries to customers. However, Instacart actually has two different roles for their shoppers.

Firstly, workers can signup as full-service shoppers. This means an Instacart shopper is responsible for every part of delivery, from accepting the order, picking out items, and delivering groceries right to the customer’s doorstep.

In contrast, workers can signup as an in-store shopper.

These are W-2 employees that work at supermarkets that use Instacart rather than independent contractors. In-store shoppers just need to assemble grocery orders and hand them off to Instacart delivery drivers.

Either way, Instacart hourly pay is approximately $13 per hour according to Glassdoor, so this is a solid app based job to test out.

Extra Reading – Instacart vs Shipt.

Uber Eats is expanding quickly and is offered in dozens of cities around the world, so you can probably make money by driving with Uber Eats if you live in a major city.

The requirements for working with Uber Eats are not as strict as becoming an Uber driver:

To be eligible to drive for Uber Eats, you must:

Be at least 19 years old.

Have a vehicle that is made after 1997 (unless you are biking or scootering for your deliveries in certain cities), a driver’s license, registration.

Most states will require you to have at least 3 years of driving experience.

Be subjected to a background check by Uber

Uber takes 25% as a commission, although drivers keep 100% of any tip they receive. However, after factoring in vehicle costs such as gas or the true cost of every mile (i.e. vehicle repairs down the line, oil changes, etc.) many drivers earn $8-$12/hour of driving with Uber Eats.

However, depending on where you live or your method of transportation, you can earn more money per hour.

Extra Reading – 27 Best Apps That Pay You To Drive.

Postmates Fleet is the courier side of the business Postmates, an on-demand delivery service that is rapidly growing across the United States.

The process of becoming a courier with Postmates is also similar to working with other delivery businesses. Just signup on the Postmates website with some basic personal information, complete a background check, and activate your Postmates Prepaid Card when it arrives in the mail with your welcome kit.

Postmates is certainly one of the more interesting delivery businesses to become involved in because the business is more than fast food delivery; groceries are a major part of Postmates’ business.

Postmate customers are guaranteed that their order will arrive within 1 hour, but couriers are only responsible for the delivery aspect of the transaction.

So, Postmate couriers can actually accept more than 1 order at a time so long as they can complete each delivery within the hour.

Postmates claims that experienced couriers are able to earn more than $20/hour, but that is somewhat rich for an average.

In reality, after factoring Postmates’ 20% commission and variable vehicle costs, the hourly rate is probably closer to $9-$15/hour depending on where you live, the frequency of peak-time pricing, and your luck.

Signup for Postmates and start delivering!

Extra Reading – DoorDash vs Postmates For Delivery Workers.

17. Amazon Flex

If delivering food isn’t up your alley, you can still make a solid hourly wage by working for Amazon Flex.

I’ve mentioned Amazon Flex in my post on ways to make $50 per day, and this is a relatively flexible side hustle that also pays well.

According to Indeed reviews, Amazon Flex drivers earn $20 per hour, and Amazon always pays $15 to $19 per hour, so you’re garaunteed a solid wage even if tips fall short.

As long as you’re 21, have a qualifying vehicle, and insurance, you can start the application process and submit to a background check.

Amazon Flex doesn’t hire consistently in every city, so keep an eye on this gig job to see when new positions open up!

Extra Reading – 18 Ways To Make Money On Amazon.

Side Gig Apps

Gig economy jobs don’t have to make you rich or dramatically increase your income to be worth your time.

If you always have your smartphone on you and are keen on making some money on the side while going about your daily life, the following gig apps might be the perfect choice for you!

Job Spotter is a simple app that rewards users with Amazon gift cards for taking photos of ‘for hire’ signs or job posting notifications in their city.

Job Spotter is actually owned by Indeed, a major job marketplace, and app store reviews generally vouch for the app and state that payments per upload range from $0.05-$0.15.

Job Spotter won’t make you rich, but if you work near a mall or area with many businesses, this app can provide some occasional free Amazon gift cards.

The Job Spotter app is available on both Android and IOS, so you can start your side hustle without delay!

GigWalk is another awesome way to make money with your smart phone while you’re on the go.

On GigWalk, users can earn money by completing jobs for other people within their local area. Examples of gigs might include verifying business hours or providing information about certain roads.

According to GigWalk’s FAQ, average jobs pay between $3-$50.

However, you shouldn’t expect most GigWalk gigs to pay $50; those kinds of gigs are more like nice surprises. But you can still earn a few dollars by completing most gigs!

There are a variety of other gig types as well, and ultimately, GigWalk is a nice way to make some extra money on the side!

Visit GigWalk’s website to learn more.

Field Agent is another commonly referenced app that allows people to earn extra money while meandering around in daily life.

Once you download the Field Agent app, you have to complete an Agent Profile and fill out some information regarding where you live.

Once you’re done your profile, you can find a list of jobs that are available in your area (if anyone has posted them).

Now, I only recommend using Field Agent if you are in major city. If you don’t live in a metropolitan area, your closets job offers might be 30-60 minutes away from where you live; hardly worth the trip for some side cash.

ShopKick is actually a versatile platform in which users can earn gift cards and rewards by completing activities both online and in-store.

For their in-store options, ShopKick allows users to earn points by scanning certain bar codes, purchasing items with a linked card, and also uploading pictures of receipts.

I’ve covered various receipt scanning apps that save money before, but ShopKick adds a nice addition to this style of reward platform by encouraging people to explore the stores near them.

Checkout our Shopkick review to get all the details!

EasyShift’s website describes the app quite simple with the statement: “Get paid to shop, eat, and explore in your city.”

With EasyShift, users are able to find local jobs (within the United States and U.K.) that will reward them upon completion.

Common tasks on EasyShift include taking photos of products, double checking prices, leaving reviews, and other various tasks.

Upon the completion of a task, you are paid through PayPal. Most tasks typically pay a few dollars, but tasks may payout more depending on the vendor or company who is posting the offer.

Presto InstaShop is a mystery shopping platform where users can earn money by heading to specific stores and providing feedback on their experiences, store appearance, customer support satisfaction, and product availability.

There are so many mystery shopping apps and platforms out there, but Presto InstaShop seems to be the one where I’ve found the most local gigs out of a few I researched before writing this post.

Once you select a shop to attend and complete your task, you just have to fill out a survey regarding your experience to earn your allotted PayPal or Amazon gift card payout.

While I don’t usually advocate the use of micro task sites for making most of your side hustle income, Surveys On The Go is one of the more interesting survey-based platforms out there.

Surveys On The Go allows users to earn money via email-invite surveys, but they also mix things up a bit with their earnings methods.

Users can also (occasionally) watch TV shows or movies or evaluate their shopping experience at certain stores to qualify for additional surveys that pay. Rarely, you might even be sent an actual product which you can keep in exchange for reviewing it.

If you want to earn some extra income and aren’t afraid of surveys, Surveys On The Go might be the app for you!

Lending & Rental Based Gig Apps

Sometimes, the easiest side hustle you can start is sitting right under your nose.

Websites like Airbnb have revolutionized the lending and rental economy, and the trend has continued to spread through real estate and other industries!

I actually saw the rental-based system Rent Like A Champion when watching Shark Tank, in which the housing rental startup received $200,000 for 10% of their equity (back in 2015).

Fast forwards to 2018, and Rent Like A Champion is a firmly established real estate rental platform that has come to dominate the sports rental niche.

Rent Like A Champion connects passionate sports fans with willing hosts who happen to live nearby major sports venues, college football stadiums, or areas where a major sporting event will occur.

If you live in a football town or near annual sporting events that draw massive crowds, renting out a room for a few weekends every year might add some substantial income to your life!

It wouldn’t be possible to have a rental based section of this gig economy breakdown without including a major pioneer in the field.

I’m sure you have heard of AirBnB before, and in when it comes to making money by renting out your home, it’s hard to match the volume of demand AirBnB can provide.

Besides that, AirBnB is an excellent way to make money on the side by renting out your spare bedroom or home. You can choose to rent out on weekends, or even for extended periods of time if you don’t mind having another long-term resident!

Extra reading – 16 Assets You Can Rent Out For Passive Income.

With Get Around, users are able to rent their car out to other drivers for hourly fees.

Essentially, you can use Get Around to act as your own DIY car rental business. 1 million dollars of insurance is even included, so that’s reassuring!

Drivers who want to rent your car are also screened and provide Get Around with their driving record, and the Get Around app makes it easy to list your vehicle and connect with interested drivers.

Personally I don’t feel comfortable renting out my car, but if you never use your vehicle, Get Around can allow you to generate some revenue from a depreciating asset!

Besides having an awesome name, Rentah is a pretty neat rental-based platform that allows users to make extra money by renting out items they own.

To rent an item, all you have to do is make a listing, provide some information and pictures, and choose a rental price.

You can rent out both goods and services on Rentah for free, and your only cost will come from the 5% fee Rentah takes on all transactions.

However, Rentah can serve as an excellent side hustle to start if you live in a population dense area and have some desierable goods/skills to rent out!

Extra Reading – Passive Income Ideas For Students.

Spot Hero is one of most popular solutions out there that allows people to rent out their unused parking spaces.

The process is very quick: just fill out a form that outlines your location, pricing, and availability, and start renting once you are approved!

Spot Hero also has a child company, Parking Panda, where over 5 million parking spots are currently listed. If Spot Hero isn’t popular in your area, you can check Parking Panda to try your luck elsewhere!

If you have a parking spot you never use, there is no reason not to make additional income every month by renting out your spot.

Turning Art is ‘Artwork as a service,’ and enables artists to rent their pieces to corporations, real estate agents, or businesses that have a need for art.

If you’re an aspiring artist who is interested in renting out your art, I’d seriously consider looking into Turning Art and reading some testimonials!

Besides, working with Turning Art can be a great way to gain exposure for your work while earning extra money!

Gig Apps to Make Money From Home

If you prefer to make money from home rather than working outside or at a client’s house, you can still use this handy list of gig economy apps and platforms to find work!

Fiverr is one of the most recognized gig economy platforms where freelancers can sell a variety of services for as low as $5/gig.

If you’re a skilled graphic designer, web developer, SEO specialist, Fiverr can be especially lucrative to get started with.

Additionally, you don’t have to price your gigs at $5…there are thousands of sellers on Fiverr who offer more comprehensive services and charge higher rates.

There are so many services offered on Fiverr, so I recommend checking out their marketplace to see if there is a niche you can find work in.

If you live in the United States and have a knack for assistant/administrative work, Fancy Hands is an excellent way to make money on the side.

In a nutshell, Fancy Hands is a virtual assistant marketplace.

If you get approved to the program, you can start making work as a virtual assistant and begin building up your network of clients!

Hourly pay with Fancy Hands can be quite decent, and you can even score longer term contracts that provide some more regular pay.

Spare5 is a platform that enables users to earn money in the spare time by completing web tasks.

Spare5’s community members use their skills, spare time, and smartphones to generate high-quality insights for businesses working to solve their big data problems. Spare5 matches people’s skills and passions to tasks they can complete on their smartphones at any time of day or night.

Tasks are broken down into “Light Tasks” such as estimating retail item prices and improving image keywords, “Medium Tasks,” such as cropping photographs, and “Complex Tasks,” such as conducting voice survey calls and distributing online surveys.

Data intelligence is only growing as a field, but there will always be an element of human ingenuity that is required for some types of work.

Extra Reading – 22 Micro Task Websites to Make Extra Money.

Formerly known as CrowdFlower, Figure Eight specializes in helping companies with their data analysis/machine learning/AI projects.

Now, as a Figure Eight worker, you won’t be building robots or solving incredibly complex data analysis problems…you’ll mostly be given micro-work type tasks such as image labeling, transcription, data categorization jobs, or other related bits of work.

In some sense, working with Figure Eight is similar to working Amazon MTurk jobs.

If you enjoy grinding out task based work to make money online, I’d consider Figure Eight!

Figure Eight doesn’t pay a great amount of money per task, but if you work quickly, you can earn a decent hourly wage and make the most out of this gig app.

Various Freelancing Websites

I’ve mentioned why I love freelancing numerous times before, and I think starting your own freelance side hustle is always a great idea.

If the concept of making money online through service based contracts or single gig jobs is appealing, you can use the following websites:

PeoplePerHour

Upwork

IFreelance

Reddit r/for hire

Linkedin

Indeed

Working as a freelancer might seem intimidating since pay can be irregular, but freelancing presents a great opportunity to develop a flexible work schedule, network, and grow as a professional.

Extra reading – 32 remote job websites to start your freelancing journey.

Apps Like Uber – Making Money by Driving

Uber revolutionized and disrupted the taxi industry, but did you know there are actually numerous other apps and platforms that function similarly to Uber?

For the sake of brevity, I won’t go too in-depth with this section because the apps are all fairly similar…just become a driver, and drive people.

In any case, here are some alternative options to driving with Uber to make money if the behemoth of a platform just isn’t for you:

Lyft.

Curb.

Gett.

FlyWheel.

Summon.

Drivr.

Hailo.

Kabbee.

I really suggest sticking with Lyft or Uber due to their demand, but the other apps and services are also worth investigating!

Final Thoughts on Gig Economy Jobs

At the end of the day, I think we live in a world where it is easier than it has ever been to make money by using technology.

We have so much power and information right in the palm of our hands via our smartphones, and the mixture of gig economy apps and websites have enabled people to start their own side hustles with ease.

Maybe side hustling is a way for you to pay off some bills, or perhaps it is the main source of your income.

Whatever the case, how far you wish to take these miniature side hustles is really up to you, but the world is your oyster!

If these sorts of jobs really your thing, I highly suggest taking a look at some of my other posts on side hustling, including:

Additionally, if you are a fan of lists like this post, you should also take a peek at this list of 111 side hustle ideas from my friend Peter at Dollar Sanity.