Are ‘pay to walk’ apps a good way to make money? 

Is your new year’s resolution to start walking more? Staying active is important for your physical and mental health, and studies show that walking every day can reduce the risk of many diseases, increase life expectancy, and improve overall happiness and well-being. 

Most experts recommend that young adults walk 8,000 – 10,000 steps a day to get the maximum benefits. However, it can be hard to stay motivated. 

There are some types of fitness apps that claim to pay you for logging steps, offering vouchers, free gifts, and other rewards for hitting a daily step target. But are they too good to be true? Here’s everything you need to know about pay-to-walk fitness apps. 

Fitness tracking apps that pay you to walk 

The Android Store on Google Play and the Apple App Store both have a selection of apps that pay you to walk. Here are some of the most popular options: 

Sweatcoin 

Sweatcoin is a fitness app that collects ‘Sweatcoins’, which can then be traded in for rewards. For every 1,000 steps you take, you earn 0.95 Sweatcoins and these can be exchanged for a variety of things like discounts and free gifts, which change every day. You can also donate Sweatcoins to charities or use them to bid on items in auctions. 

LifeCoin

LifeCoin is a similar app to Sweatcoin, offering 0.95 ‘LifeCoins’ for every 1,000 steps. The LifeCoin currency can then be used in exchange for prizes, gift cards, discounts, and more. With a free subscription, you can only earn up to 5 LifeCoins per day by walking and the Premium version can be expensive – and you need to save a lot of LifeCoins to get a free gift. 

BetterPoints 

Another fitness app is BetterPoints, which gives points for walking, running, or cycling. By using the app, you can earn BetterPoints and BetterTickets, which can be redeemed as vouchers that can be spent in some high street stores. BetterTickets enter you into a prize draw to win a bumper amount of BetterPoints of up to 5,000 each week. 

Charity Miles

The Charity Miles App lets you log your walking, running, and cycling workouts using GPS and motion sensors. You can then donate the money you raise to charity. There are more than 20 charities to choose from, including Habitat for Humanity, Nature Conservancy, the Leukemia, and Lymphoma Society, Special Olympics, the ASPCA, and Alzheimer’s Association. 

Evidation

The next fitness app on our list, Eviditaion, allows you to earn money for walking and other types of exercise including cycling and swimming. Activity is tracked on the app, and you can earn points each day. For every 10,000 points, Evidation pays $10. The app can be connected to other fitness trackers, including Apple Health, Fitbit, and Samsung Health. 

HealthyWage

With HealthyWage, you can take part in challenges based on your step goals and enter prize draws. Some of the prizes include cash up to $10,000. The goal challenges are based on your step averages, and this can help you to increase your step count and improve your fitness. 

Runtopia

Runtopia is another popular pay-to-walk app that works in a similar way to Sweatcoin. Your daily steps are recorded and these are converted into SPC coins. On a free membership, there is a daily limit to how many SPC coins you can earn, but they can be traded in for rewards like watches, gift cards, and sports equipment; or they can be traded in for cash via PayPal. 

What are the downsides? 

So, what are some of the disadvantages of using a fitness tracker that pays you for your steps? They can be a way to make some extra money, but at the same time, there are some flaws. 

The first complaint that’s quite common with users is that the apps drain their battery. Because they run in the background and are tracking your activity and movement, this can mean your battery life runs out a bit faster than usual. 

Additionally, because some fitness apps use GPS to track your location, this can use even more battery, so it’s important to make sure your phone is charged properly before a workout. 

Another concern some users raise is that fitness-tracking apps collect a lot of personal data, especially if there are payouts. The majority of the apps require an email address, mobile number, date of birth, and other information. They also track your location data, so if you’re not comfortable with this, it’s important to think carefully before signing up. 

The benefits of pay-to-walk apps 

Of course, there are also many benefits of apps that pay you to walk. One of the most obvious is that it can be a good way to earn some extra money for a normal daily activity. In particular, if you walk a lot anyway, you can get rewards or even cash with very little effort.

 

The other main advantage is that it can motivate you to walk and improve your health. Walking is great for feeling healthy and can reduce the risk of some diseases, and a pay-to-walk app can give people the extra encouragement they need to get more exercise.  

Too good to be true? 

Are these apps too good to be true? Fitness rewards apps can provide motivation to get more exercise and can also provide some cash rewards and prizes. 

However, you shouldn’t expect to earn that much straight away, as the rewards build up slowly. The apps won’t give enough back to make a significant amount of money, but you can get some decent rewards and, of course, a great incentive to increase your step count. 

 

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