20 Secret Ways to Make Money Online

The secret ways to make money online are what millions think about each day. Fortunately, in 2025, web side hustles have indeed become a possibility for just about anyone with an internet connection.

Maybe you have a full-time job and just need a side gig to invest your free time in. Or maybe you’re looking for a part-time job to supplement your family’s income.

Though freelancing and blogging are popular online income options, there are many other secret ways of making money online that are equally rewarding.

These methods can be done while sitting in your home and often require very minimal upfront investment.

Whether you are looking for secret ways to make money online for free or want to learn how to generate income quickly, this article will unveil 20 hidden strategies to help you get started.

What does Secret ways to make money online mean?

“Secret ways to make money online” typically refer to lesser-known or unconventional online platforms that offer opportunities for earning income.

These ways may not be widely known or may cater to niche markets, providing unique ways for users to generate revenue.

However, a “secret ways to make money online” may also be a popular way that users are not fully aware of its monetization opportunities.

The best way to go about earning money online is to start by experimenting with as many suitable options as you can.

You’ll want to pick a few with the highest potential, and then finally settle on one or two that you can turn into sustainable businesses down the road.

1. Microtask Websites

Microtask platforms, such as Amazon Mechanical Turk and Clickworker, outsource the job to thousands of small tasks like data entry, surveys, and labeling images.

Though the payment for every single task is minimal, substantial and continuous effort may generate a regular income.

Some people don’t have much free time to put into projects and would rather do micro-tasks here and there when they have a minute free. That’s when Amazon’s Mechanical Turk can be a good fit.

Mechanical Turk posts small tasks, like classifying receipts or tagging images, which take a few minutes to do. Each of them has a price, so you can choose whether you want to take it on or not.

Payoff: You’re paid per task after your work has been checked.

2. Start freelancing

Almost any creative office job can be turned into a freelance gig, or even a career of freelancing: data entry, writing, design, coding-you name it.

Actually, most big companies use freelancers to outsource non-core functions, such as bookkeeping or customer service, or scale their operations fast by hiring remote sales representatives.

The fastest way to get into freelancing would be to sign up on a freelance platform like Fiverr or Upwork.

But the even better way to start reaching your ideal clients would be to reach out to them directly and present your services in the best possible manner.

Payoff: As a rule, aim for twice your in-house hourly rate. On the higher end, freelance jobs can pay tens of thousands of dollars for a single project.

3. Create an online course

Unlike freelancing, online courses are digital products that take some time in upfront preparation but are highly scalable.

You can develop a course once and sell it one thousand times provided you promote it on the web.

Sounds attractive, doesn’t it? All you need to get started is a few tools.

Payoff: Multiples of the price of your course. For example, if you price your course at $50, you’ll earn $50,000 if 1,000 customers sign up.

4. Become an online coach

Another way to apply your domain expertise is by being a coach. This is one of those on-demand yet fast-growing fields. The International Coaching Federation estimates there are currently more than 70,000 coaches worldwide.

Some types of online coaching you can think about include:

Life coaching
Business coaching
Fitness coaching
Nutrition coaching

The key here is to determine whether you could share your experience and knowledge to help other people achieve what they want. Just ask people in your network if they’d pay you to teach them something you’re really good at.

Payoff: It’s best to become a coach when you can provide outstanding value to someone who’s earlier in their journey. Hence, compensation can range from $50 an hour to hundreds.

5. Work as an online tutor

If coaching sounds too vague to you, but you still have a skill you’d like to teach (e.g. math, French, guitar), you can easily do so online.

Start by looking up requests for tutors online and posting your profile on a few tutoring platforms. (And hey, if that doesn’t work, you could always go put up flyers on the poles in your neighborhood.)

Depending on the demand for your skills, your tutoring might be very occasional or occupy most of your day.

Payoff: Payment is usually immediate, but your pricing power will be somewhat constrained by the market average.

6. Help out as a virtual assistant

Since more entrepreneurs need to outsource the administrative tasks to them in order to have more time for the core business.

If you do not mind scanning emails, writing happy birthday wishes, filing expenses, and managing social media and the phone, becoming a virtual assistant could be an awesome answer to how to make extra money online.

Reach out to entrepreneurs and executives you like. Most virtual assistant jobs are available on various online platforms; with no doubt, there’s more demand compared to supply, so you can count on landing your first job pretty quickly.

Payoff: Anywhere from $20 to $60 an hour (or even more for top-rated virtual assistants).

Secret Ways to Make Money Online for free

7. Take online surveys for cash

If you need money right now, and you don’t want to be burdened with long-term contracts, completing a few online surveys might be the perfect choice.

While taking surveys isn’t necessarily the foundation for a long-term career, it’s a great way to make a few hundred dollars on top of your regular job.

And it doesn’t require any specific skills or other responsibilities. (Or too much of your brain power!)

Begin with online survey sites such as Survey Junkie, fill in your profile, and start being matched to numerous surveys. Voilà!

Payoff: Individual surveys don’t pay too much, usually no more than $20. Sometimes, you can take surveys for Amazon or Starbucks gift cards as well.

8. Try user testing websites and apps

Companies creating products, especially digital ones, want to make sure they understand their target audience.

Therefore, they continuously test their apps and websites for usability with small focus groups before launching.

All you usually have to do is complete a few tasks while being recorded on video or observed by a UX designer.

Payoff: Reviews can pay around $5 to $10, but you can complete a few in an hour.

9. Transcribe voice recordings

Every company that does discovery sessions-for instance, digital agencies-record client meetings and need them transcribed for later use-for instance, to brainstorm advertising campaigns.

Podcasting is another growth area in which transcription services are required.

So, if you can type quickly and your grammar and proofreading skills are above average, you can make good money simply by typing away at home. Check out a platform like Rev to see how easy it is to get started.

Payoff: Expect to get around $1.5 to $3 per minute of audio transcribed.

10. Narrate audiobooks

Do you have a nice voice and enjoy reading out loud? You can make it a side gig and attempt to narrate online articles, commercials, and even audiobooks.

Now a word of warning: Narrating is not for everybody. You have to be able to have full command of your voice. A background in acting would be a plus. Starting a podcast might be a good idea, as a way to practice.

The industry is small, too, meaning it takes some serious networking on your part, coupled with numerous auditions, to break into.

Payoff: Depends on the project but, on average, narrators get paid wages comparable to other skilled creative professionals.

11. Write and sell an eBook

If you are good at writing, you can create a scalable side business by selling books on topics people care about.

Maybe in your professional life you know solutions to some of the common problems, or you can do some research. Then you can aggregate all the available knowledge and package it in book format.

No printing press or graphic designers are required. Just sell your ebook on Amazon or on your own website.

Continue writing books on specific topics and you might just find out that your “book portfolio” will bring you in a sizeable income in a year or so.

Payoff: Selling books is not a fast way to make money. But as you write more books, sales will start to compound.

12. Build a web or mobile app

Those who are interested in coding and fascinated by startups might think about building an app that solves some problem. The more important the problem, the more popular your app will become. Although knowing how to code is beneficial, it’s not strictly necessary — you can put together a useful app with no-code tools to test your idea first.

Payoff: Apps, and especially subscriptions, are very scalable. It’s not unusual for successful indie developers to make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

13. Trade domain names

The best time to get into the domain name trade was in the 1990s. The second-best time might be now.

As branding gets more and more important, owning good domain names becomes more valuable too. Domain names with high potential for organic search traffic can, in fact, start profitable businesses.

Payoff: You can make thousands of dollars selling a single domain name, but the income is highly inconsistent and largely out of your control.

Secret Ways to Make Money Online fast

14. Sell crafts on Etsy

If you like to make something with your hands, for example, leather or ceramic goods, you are welcome to turn it into at least a small business by selling your works online.

The easiest platform for a start would be Etsy. Just create your own store there for free and post new products as you make them. Who knows, maybe over time, it will turn into a full-blown business!

Payoff: Likely not a huge money-making opportunity right off the bat, but it should cover the input costs of your craft (e.g. paints, leather, fabric) and your labor. As you grow and find ways to scale production, you can expect to bring in a higher income.

15. Monetize your photography

Another popular, and not that often overlooked, extra-money-generating hobby could be photography.

In essence, just about any company, web-based or not, utilizes almost every bit of marketing materials displaying some type of image on it.

Hence, multiple different types of stock photo outlets always seem to want fresh, new pictures of all descriptions.

Browse through your picture collection, underline some shots that might attract somebody’s interest. Well, this will suffice just to enter into the photography trade.

Payoff: Inconsistent and supplementary to your main activities.

16. Go big on dropshipping and ecommerce

Some people are good at predictions, like saying which goods will be in demand very soon. Why not set up an e-store to deal in something that people will be looking forward to?

One can sell his or her own products or rely on dropshipping platforms for product delivery without maintaining any unnecessary inventory.

Payoff: Selling things people want is one of the fastest ways to make money. However, getting stuck with lots of inventory is a quick way to lose money as well.

17. Use affiliate marketing on your blog

One of the secret ways to make money online without spending any dime is by selling affiliate links from your blog.

For instance, you could make a long post about something most people are interested in. Imagine, say, a review of some new camera.

You then include an affiliate link at the end to Amazon. Each time people purchase that camera on Amazon from your link, you get a cut.

Payoff: Depending on the popularity of your blog and what you’re writing about, you can make anywhere from hundreds of dollars (for cheaper products, like books) to thousands of dollars (for more expensive products, like mattresses).

18. Get advertising revenue from YouTube

Having a successful YouTube channel today is like running a talk show 30 years ago. And Google will even pay you advertising revenue for views.

Vlogs, pranks, and how-to videos, in particular, are especially going viral these days and hardly require any investment.

You simply need to think about some interesting idea and then implement it in a manner that keeps the people engaged.

Payoff: The best YouTubers make millions. However, most make little to nothing at all.

19. Find sponsors for your Instagram account

Brands today like to have their message spread organically. So they collaborate with plenty of micro-influencers (1,000+ followers) on Instagram.

If you have followers, you monetize by finding partnerships for featuring products on your posts and Stories.

If your profile is well-known to deal with a very specific topic-in your case, skateboarding-then it’s very easy for the brands to find out.

Payoff: Micro-influencers can expect to make somewhere in the low single thousands a month. (Although this can be very inconsistent, as well.)

20. Set up donations on Twitch

Well, if you have a following on Twitch, donations are the way to go if you want to make fast money online.

You can monetize your streams quite easily this way, providing of course that you capture their interest.

Payoff: Most streamers make nothing. But once your channel becomes popular, you can make hundreds and even thousands of dollars per stream.

FAQs

What are some secret ways to make money online for free?

You can earn money online for free through affiliate marketing, dropshipping without inventory, offering freelance services, or participating in online surveys.

How can I make money online fast?

Secret ways to make money online fast include flipping digital products, selling stock photos, or offering services like virtual assistance on platforms like Fiverr or Upwork.

Can I make money online without special skills?

Yes, you can earn money by participating in paid surveys, testing websites, or doing data entry jobs that require minimal skills.

Are secret ways to make money online safe?

Most methods are safe if done on trusted platforms but always research and verify opportunities to avoid scams.

What’s the most effective secret way to earn online?

Leveraging niche affiliate marketing or creating digital products like eBooks can be highly effective and scalable ways to earn online.

Conclusion

The internet is full of earning opportunities, but most of them remain unknown. By exploring these secret ways to make money online, you can tap into unique income streams that align with your skills and interests.

Whether you are looking for secret ways to make money online for free or need methods that deliver results fast, the strategies outlined in this article can help you achieve your financial goals.

So, delve in today and let the potential of the digital economy surprise you!