Get Paid to Walk ($$$) Legitimate Apps that Pay You to Walk in 2020

Michael Dinich
10 min readDec 4, 2019

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Are you looking for ways to get paid to walk? Maybe, you’re looking to jump-start your New Years’ resolutions while earning some extra money? Good News!!! Here’s the skinny on getting paid to lose weight.

As much as it pains us to admit this, American’s are becoming a population of sedentary people. The word sedentary itself brings a negative connotation, and for a good reason.

For bodies that are capable of so much, we seem to be doing less and less physical activity. The harsh reality is that it is not suitable for us.

A lot of the reasons for a less than mobile lifestyle are legitimate. For instance, many occupations incorporate the use of a computer, requiring employees to remain seated for their workday. Commutes to and from work, school, and to the grocery store keep individuals in a seated position, too.

Finally, we don’t use our bodies the way we once did. Far fewer of us are facing the requirement to harvest our meals, tend to our lands, or build our own homes. For the vast majority, this type of work is not something we have to do.

Despite all the legitimate excuses for why we’re not moving, none of them give us a good enough reason not to move. Studies have shown that individuals who incorporate physical activity into their daily routine reduce their mortality rate significantly. So, if you’re promised a longer, healthier life with physical activity, why aren’t you doing it?

The answer to this question comes in a lot of different varieties, but the one we’re most apt to hear is that generally, people don’t enjoy exercising. However, we didn’t say, “incorporate exercise into your daily routine to increase your life expectancy,” we said, “incorporate physical activity.” And there’s a difference.

It seems a lot of people believe the term exercise and physical activity to be synonymous. While on a fundamental level they are, the difference is that exercise immediately invokes the imagery of a vigorous spin class or a death-defying cross-fit workout. Physical activity, however, should bring to mind more pleasant images such as a leisurely swim in the ocean, a bike ride through a quaint historic town, or an enjoyable walk with a friend. And that, loyal readers, is the direction we’re going in today.

You may have read our recent post outlining ways to get paid to lose weight. If you did, you know that while we love all the bonuses of losing weight, the bottom line is that we’re always looking for the cash making an angle. After all, that’s why we’re here.

So, this time around, we’ve found all the ways you may get paid to walk to become a healthier, happier you.

So, power walkers, let’s pump those arms and zip up our tracksuits. We’re going to tell you how you can walk to become a wealthier (healthier and longer living, too) version of you!

The Best Apps that Pay You to Walk

1. Achievement

We’re going to start with our friend, the Achievement app. As we’ve outlined before, Achievement is an app that requires users to make a personal account. Once complete, you have a choice of different apps to download and use to track your journey to a healthier lifestyle.

One of these apps available to you will help you monitor your daily walking. When logged, your walking will earn points that then translate to dollars. For every 10,000 points you make, you’ll be eligible to receive $10.00. When you’re ready to cash out, Achievement will send you a PayPal transfer or deposit into your bank account. You can even opt to have the money you’ve earned go toward a charity of your choice.

If you’re looking for an app that is going to motivate you to reevaluate your health in a balanced way, Achievement should be your go-to. Not only will the app prompt you to record your daily steps, but it will also invite you to earn points if you meditate, count your caloric intake, or complete a workout. If you’re looking for a general lifestyle overhaul that pays you, consider Achievement your option of choice.

2. Walgreens Balance Rewards

Another option that promotes a healthy lifestyle is the Walgreens Balance Rewards program. Much like the Achievement app, the Walgreens Balance Rewards program emphasizes engaging in a variety of healthy lifestyle choices in exchange for financial reward. Some of the options through the program include refilling your pharmaceutical prescriptions, shopping at Walgreens, or completing a healthy choice initiative.

The healthy choice option creates weekly challenges for users. To earn points, individuals much complete the challenge. Often these challenges encourage users to meet minimum steps throughout their day, helping them incorporate walking into their daily routine.

To participate in the Walgreens Balance Rewards, you will need to create a user account and engage in all of the points generating options. Similar to Achievement, with multiple ways to earn points, you’ll need to do more than walking to increase your financial gain from this program.

We’ve pitched you on DietBet and RunBet before, and now we’re going to throw another option into that mix. Like it sounds, StepBet incorporates friendly challenge groups that motivate you to set walking goals and achieve them in exchange for financial reward.

Join the app to start betting, and walk your way to your prize money. Create a user account, determine your goals, start moving, and when you’ve achieved what you’ve set out to do, you’ll win money.

With StepBet, you’ll need to adhere to the bet rules. This may include the minimum buy-in amount, specifying your personal goals, and adhering to the timeline set forth by your challenge group (usually about six weeks). However, you can only lose if you don’t fulfill the promises you make to yourself, so it’s all a determination if you can hold to your word. There’s no better motivation than the fear of disappointing yourself. With StepBet, you’ll have the perfect incentive to get up and walking toward your win.

4. Sweatcoin

We will admit one thing: we will walk for $1,000. And, with Sweatcoin, this is precisely what you can do. Sweatcoin only doles out cash when you’ve earned enough points, known as “sweatcoins.” In terms of steps, 10,000 steps are equal to roughly ten sweatcoins. So, while you’ll need to walk a minimum of 200 million steps to earn that $1,000, it’s possible. We know you’re just the person to do it.

Note: Sweetcoin makes the distinction that these steps must be outdoor steps, so if you planed on making money while watching TV on the treadmill, Sweatcoin isn’t an option.

To record your daily step intake, you’ll have to use the GPS tracking on your personal phone and walk outside. No inside strolls on the treadmill for this app. Sweatcoin wants you doing your walking outside while you soak in the delicious benefits of some good old fashioned fresh air. So, grab a pair of decent headphones, pick a few books on audible, and start your journey to that $1,000 cash out.

5. HealthyWage

HealthyWage is an easy and straightforward platform. You sign-up with a team of 5 people or HealthyWage will find a team for you to join.

The way to win is to achieve the highest percentage weight loss. This works to your benefit because it takes into account your starting weight, instead of rewarding whoever loses the most weight. HealthyWage also has a long-term incentive to keep your weight off by offering you your initial investment back if you keep the weight you’ve lost off for at least 6 months. This means that regardless if you win your bet, you still have the chance to earn your money back.

The HealthyWager program allows customers to tie financial incentives to their own health goals.

  • Set your weight loss goal (how much you want to lose and how much time you want to lose it), and answer a few additional questions and their calculator will reveal your prize.
  • When you hit your goal at the end of your challenge, you win your prize!
  • All weight verification is done via a user-submitted video. It’s simple and fast!

The Lympo app is another great way to make extra money while pursuing your fitness goals.

Lympo is a free app for IOS and Android that allows you to earn money for your healthy habits and completing daily tasks.

Every day you will find new daily exercise activities to be completed. You will be rewarded after each completed each challenge and earnings will be safely stored in your in-app digital wallet.

A cool feature of Lympo is you can do challenges outdoors or outdoors. (on a treadmill)

Walking for Charitable Donations

If you’re open to alternative ways to earn through walking, then we suggest walking for charity. Although this isn’t cash in your pocket, it is a way to generate revenue for a cause that you have a passion for.

Higi is your ideal option if you want to receive a reward to walk, as well as monitor or lose weight. Like Walgreens Balance Rewards, Higi uses a variety of techniques to engage you in a healthy lifestyle and rewards you for tracking your various methods of use. Unlike Walgreens Balance Rewards, Higi doesn’t promote the purchase of their retail store products, so your way of earning points includes all traditional health-related endeavors. Think blood pressure monitoring, weigh-ins, and walking.

A key difference with Higi in comparison to other suggested programs is that they do not reward you with actual cash. If you consistently record and perform your daily and weekly health-related check-ins, you will earn a reward. This includes products, gear, etc. However, these “rewards” often come with strings attached. You will receive prompts to purchase a product from their reward vendors to receive your earned reward item.

That aspect of Higi is disappointing and doesn’t come through on the concept of earning cash to walk. We decided to include Higi, though, because your earned points can also contribute to a charitable donation. Therefore, we feel as though Higi is a worthy inclusion if your goal is to earn a contribution toward your favorite charity.

Charity Miles

Charity Miles is one of the most popular methods to earn donations through walking. The app capitalizes on individual’s desires to fundraise through walking. Therefore, it operates in a way that will benefit you best if you’re hosting some walking event, such as the popular walk-a-thon. You can encourage your family and friends to download and open the app on a specific day and time to walk together to earn donations toward the charity of your choice. If this is not your preferred method, you can also use the app to record your individual walking adventures.

We have two important notes for you to consider when using Charity Miles. First, Charity Miles must be an open app on your phone when you use it. While other apps will work passively in the background of your activity, for Charity Miles to record your walking, it must be open. Second, the app won’t let you collect money for any charity you like. While they do offer a diverse choice of almost 50 worthy causes, you must choose a charity that is already on the app to donate your walking to.

Race For The Cure

If you are passionate about breast cancer research, you can register for a Susan G. Komen’s Race for the Cure. These races encourage participation to runners and walkers alike. Your registration and walking will allow you to contribute to the cause through fundraising or simple involvement. These events alone raised over 2 billion dollars into their cause, since inception. The walk/runs will continue its mission to find a cure for breast cancer through fundraising opportunities.

Similar to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk raises funds and awareness. The funds raised from their walk and run events support stroke victims as well as those with heart disease. If you or a family member suffered or passed away from one of these issues, then this may be the perfect time to put your walking toward a cause that is meaningful to you. You can participate as an individual or as a team. Find a walk near you by visiting the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk website.

How to Get Paid to Walk

Want to earn a standard salary for walking? Here are some options of jobs you can get to put a paycheck on your movement.

Pet Running or Walking

If you’re passionate about pets and their health, consider offering your services as a dog runner or pet walker. You can do this as a side gig, or you can hustle and make it your full-time job. Whatever way you approach it, it will offer you an opportunity to receive payment for walking. Consider checking out sites like Rover.com to get started on your pet walking journey, and you grow your services from there.

Bear with us as we get a little out of the box on this one. If you live in a metropolitan city, you can consider becoming a courier. While most couriers do their work on bikes, you may be able to negotiate a position where you work on foot. Right now, experienced foot couriers in Manhattan, New York earn up to $22/hour, for walking deliverables around the city. Getting paid to walk has never been more literal than in a walking courier position.

Walking Tours

Do you live in a historic area or a big city? If so, people may pay you to offer walking tours around your local area. Consider researching if a company of this nature exists already, or if you can initiate creating a company that offers these services.

If you feel as though a year-round walking tour isn’t feasible, consider offering your services around popular times of the year. For instance, if your town has a haunted past, consider orchestrating a Halloween walking tour. If your town is famous for its holiday decorations, consider an evening walking tour of homes. If you’re creative, you can capitalize on something that is already happening and make some extra cash merely walking the streets you already know well.

Whether you’re tracking your walking in an app, joining a charitable walking event, or finding a job that enables you to be on your feet, you have plenty of choices for how you can walk to earn cash. Side gig or full-time job, the option is yours to improve your mobility and walk toward a leaner physique and a fatter bank account. With so many benefits to physical activity, it’s hard to pass by the opportunity to walk and earn cash. So don’t hesitate, jump on the walking bandwagon and capitalize on your earning potential!

Originally published at https://yourmoneygeek.com on December 4, 2019.

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Michael Dinich
Michael Dinich

Written by Michael Dinich

Michael Dinich is a journalist, personal finance expert, and a true geek at heart.

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