25 Ways for Students to Earn Money Online Without Making Investments


Being a student usually means you may struggle with money while still paying everything you need to pay. Having a hectic schedule and having to study so often does not allow you to get a full-time job. Therefore, money is always an issue. Luckily, instead of building up a huge debt with your student loans, there are many great ways of earning money during your free time. Nowadays, all you need to make some extra money as a student is a stable internet connection, effort and a little bit of creativity. Here are 25 ways you can earn money as a student without investing any money at all:

  1. Take Online Surveys
  2. Review Applications and Websites
  3. Publish Kindle eBooks
  4. Affiliate Marketing
  5. Sell Stock Photos
  6. Sell Videos
  7. Become A Virtual Assistant
  8. Become A Social Media Manager
  9. Start Blogging
  10.  Open an Online Store
  11.  Start A YouTube Channel
  12.  Tutor Online
  13.  Freelance Writing
  14.  Graphic Design/Illustration
  15.  Voice Acting
  16.  Micro-working
  17.  Become A Data Entry Clerk
  18.  Review Various Things Online
  19.  Write Resumes 
  20.  Become A Proofreader
  21.  Test Websites
  22.  Use Money-Making Applications
  23.  Create Online Courses
  24.  Customer Services
  25.  Start Online Coaching

Anyone can earn some extra cash by doing any of these things. It does not matter whether you are a student, a stay-at-home mom, or simply a teenager who needs a couple of bucks to buy a new game on Steam. Depending on the type of work you decide to do, it may only require at least one hour of your time in a day to make it profitable and noticeable in your bank account. Much of the work these jobs provide can even be paid instantly, or even after earning the first $10. Most of these jobs can pay you online through Paypal, for instance, and the payment can go directly to your bank or debit card.

1. Take Online Surveys

Online surveys are all about answering questions and giving your feedback. Most of the surveys

online do not take longer than 30 minutes to finish and some of them take less than 5 minutes to finish. While online surveys may not be the most profitable way of earning money, it is certainly one of the fastest and easiest ways to do it. Taking online surveys is something you can do whenever you want because it is a fully flexible and quick way of earning a few extra bucks in just a few minutes.

2. Review Applications and Websites

Many websites on the internet need their features to look good and stand out, and they need help to do it. Many websites feature unfinished designs, uneven fonts, have an overload of pop-ups and are not user-friendly. To get rid of these problems, many website companies hire people to review and test them out. You would be required to browse through their websites and applications, click on the options offered by the website/app, and take notes on the changes you see could be made. This type of job is very easy and requires you to have only internet savvy, speak English, and have a stable internet connection. 

3. Publish Kindle eBooks

If there is anything students are great at, surely it is writing and researching various topics on the internet. Thanks to the Amazon Kindle store, you can write your own eBook, publish it and make money from it. The Amazon Kindle store is available to everyone and allows you to list your book and publish it for a price between $1.99-$9.00 as a promotional marketing price. Upon publishing your ebook on the Amazon Kindle store, you could be earning 70% of the sales earned just by selling it. 

4. Affiliate Marketing

Many students today have some kind of presence on social media and some students even keep up their own blogs and websites. Being proficient at these online skills means you can actually earn quite a bit of money by promoting other companies, services, and products online on your website or social media page. Sign up for Google AdSense, for instance, and see the offers available, pick the ones that suit your followers and carry an affiliate link so that your page becomes monetized for displaying ads. Whenever someone uses the link to buy something, you will get a portion amount of money as a commission. 

5. Sell Stock Photos

There are many stock photography websites on the internet. People use stock photography websites to get photographs for their projects, work, school assignments, or simply for the eye. Try selling or contributing to some of these websites. If you have a decent camera and some graphic design skills, you can take some great photographs and sell them to people quicker than you think. Many people have tried doing this and ended up making a lot of money thanks to royalties alone. 

6. Sell Videos

You probably have a couple of videos on your phone for which you thought to yourself, ‘’Wow, this video would do so great on YouTube!” If so, you should try selling your videos and making money by doing it. If you manage to make your video go viral, you can earn a lot of money with barely any effort at all. While this type of work is mainly all about luck, if you keep on trying, it could happen. Try selling pet videos, videos of funny sports accidents, funny situations in public, or DIY projects. Anything can go viral if you surprise the audience. 

7. Become A Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants usually perform a variety of different tasks. Booking travels, managing social media, answering emails and managing online accounts are just a few of the tasks virtual assistants have to work on. Virtual assistants usually offer certain services to their clients, so the more services they decide to provide, the more they can earn. Becoming a virtual assistant can open up many doors to better business opportunities. Over the last three years, the demand for virtual assistants has increased by 95%. 

8. Become A Social Media Manager

If you ever thought of becoming a social media manager, be aware that this job is where any student can outshine upon, especially if they are well-educated on the topic. Before you get into social media management, it is advised you look for useful content on the topic and learn the basics as you go. To become a social media manager, you should offer your services to the business of your choosing. Most companies will hire you for a trial period and see whether you are a good pick for what they need.

9. Start Blogging

In today’s world, it might seem like everyone has their own blog. However, owning a blog or writing for someone else who owns a blog can be a source of great extra income for everyone involved. If you are creative and know how to make eye-catching content that will attract the audience, blogging will surely be one of the best choices when it comes to earning money online as a student.  There are many bloggers out there who managed to turn their blogging career into a successful business. 

10. Open an Online Store

Are you good at crafting and have you always had new ideas on what to make? Try opening an online store on Etsy! You can make anything and sell it for the price you think it is worth. Having an online store allows you to sell things you make or things you do not need, like the things you craft by your own hand and things you believe others will want to have. Design your tiny crafting station and start creating great handmade pieces whenever you feel like you have a great idea and want to give it a try. Many online stores do the same thing and have been very successful at it. Etsy is just one of the many online websites you can use to sell your crafts. 

11. Start A YouTube Channel

Being a YouTuber is one of the main current trends today and is something everyone wants to try out. Startup your YouTube channel, upload good quality content and partner with companies to make money by publishing videos of all kinds. For example, if you like to cook, create a cooking channel. If you travel a lot, you can upload your traveling experiences to YouTube and share all of it with the audience online. Upon getting enough subscribers, you could be making money based on the number of views you receive on your videos. It sounds quite simple, but it does take time and a lot of effort if you want to be good at it. 

12. Tutoring Online

Not everyone is good at mathematics or languages like you may be as a student. Knowing this, you can sell your education and knowledge to those who need it. There are many tutoring websites out there that allow you to create an online course and get paid to tutor. Most tutors earn a minimum of $10 per hour, which later can increase depending on your education level as well as the quality of the tutoring you provide. 

13. Freelance Writing

Freelance writers are everywhere. It is a job that allows people to earn some extra income while they write about things they like and are good at. Certain freelance writers earn up to $200,000 per year nowadays; maybe you could too! If you like to write about various topics and your English is decent enough for you to do it, give it a try. It costs you nothing and is certainly a great way of getting into online business from the comfort of your home. 

14. Graphic Design/Illustration

If you are creative and have an eye for design, becoming a graphic designer or an illustrator could earn you quite a bit of money as a student. There are many companies and people out there looking for someone to create logos, product labels, book covers, and they are surely willing to pay a decent sum of money for it. If you know how to use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and you use Adobe Creative Suite/Creative Cloud, you could probably make a great graphic designer online. Most graphic designers get paid a minimum of $26 per hour, but some earn up to $300 per hour. 

15. Voice Acting

Is your voice unique and you like to make people laugh by making weird sounds? If so, voice acting might be your dream job! There are many people out there looking to pay for good voice overs. Many of them look for a voice-over for their YouTube channels, animation series, corporate videos, and educational videos. Voice artists usually earn money based on the amount of time of voice acting they do for a video. All you need is a good quality microphone, and a decent internet connection and you are ready to go! 

16. Micro-working

People often confuse surveys for micro-working. Micro-working is a lot different, but still easy and will earn you more than online surveys. People who do micro-tasks usually earn up to $300 per month. Identify objects, ratings, find various contact details, do researches or simply write a short article. Micro-working is a great way of earning some extra money as a student simply because it does not take a lot of time and is fully flexible.

17. Become A Data Entry Clerk

Data Entry is a job anyone can do. It requires you to type data/information in the form of alphabetic, symbolic or numeric forms given to you by the company or organization you work for. Currently, data entry jobs are one of the simplest out there and it is one of the jobs that are always on the rise. There are always people hiring people for data entry jobs. 

18. Review Various Things Online

It might sound impossible, but you can earn money by watching and reviewing videos online. If you love to watch music videos and figure out Easter Eggs in them, or if you like to review clothing and give your honest feedback, you can do it all by watching videos and providing your client with your feedback. There are many websites you can use to review music, videos, and clothing, as well as books on Amazon.

19. Write Resumes 

Writing resumes has been a popularly available job for a while already. People who write resumes for others usually earn up to $20 per hour, sometimes, you can even earn $100 per one resume completed. If you are good at writing resumes and ensuring people’s resumes are written in a professional, exceptional way, you could surely earn a lot of money without sacrificing a lot of your free time at all. 

20. Become A Proofreader

Are you one of those people who get annoyed seeing grammatical mistakes in writing? If so, becoming a proofreader might be a great job for you. The demand for proofreaders is on the rise and it is one of the jobs that give you enough money without having you work too much to get it. Certain proofreaders have managed to earn up to $45,000 in their first year. If they could, you as a student can probably do the same. 

21. Test Websites

Website testing is a great side-job for students simply because it does not take a lot of time to do. If you know a lot about the internet and websites in general, you could easily earn money by giving your opinion about those. Check out website design, quality, ease of use and give out your opinion based on what you have seen. Website testers can earn up to $ 10 per 10-minute test completed. 

22. Use Money-Making Applications

Many applications are allowing you to get cash rewards by installing them and using them for various things. For example, Drop will allow you to pick your favorite stores, link your credit card and earn points by shopping online. Stacking up such points can give you quite a bit of money depending on how you decide to use them. 

23. Create Online Courses

You can make a lot of money by offering online courses or webinars. Online courses are not all about mathematics, history or languages. If you are good at art, you can create an art course and share your knowledge to earn money. Udemy is an online education store selling courses that have a combination of textual, visual and audio content. They are always needing course content creators, and you can sell your own favorite subject for a little instruction and creativity.

24. Customer Services

Are you good at communicating with people and you like to help them with their problems? If so, you can make a lot of money by working in the customer service field. There are many companies out there who are hiring people willing to provide services to their clients. Whether you want to do online chat services, phone services or even video calls, it is up to you. However, becoming the support is not for everyone and it can certainly become too much if you are naturally not very chatty on your own. 

25. Start Online Coaching

Creating online courses and being an online coach are two different things. An online coach is a person who will serve you as a consultant, they will give you their advice and help you make better business decisions. If you want to become an online coach, you need a decent internet connection, good communication skills and of course, you must specialize in the area you wish to become a coach for. 

Related Questions

Which freelancing platform is the best one to start my business? Upwork and Fiverr are certainly two of the best freelancing platforms out there. Create a profile, show your portfolio and get paid via Paypal in a matter of minutes. Both of these platforms can help you build a client base as well as provide you with certifying tests, time management tools and secure all of your payments done on their platforms.

Which websites should I use to take online surveys? Swagbucks, InboxDollars, and Prize Rebel are just a couple of many great, legitimate online survey websites that can help you earn some extra cash. 

Recent Posts