Need $400 fast? Here’s the straight answer: no single app is going to hand it to you this week.
The quickest legit route is work that pays per job, like food delivery, stacked with a couple of reward apps and anything you can sell. Delivery gets you most of the way. The apps fill in the last $20 to $50.
Below are 9 ways to do it, starting with the fastest, with how soon each one really pays.
How to Make 400 Dollars Fast
1. Deliver food with DoorDash
If you need the full $400 and you need it soon, start here. DoorDash pays $2 to $10 or more in base pay per delivery, plus promotions, and you keep 100% of the tips.
You can deliver by car, by scooter, or by bike in select cities. You have to be 18 in most states.
How fast is the money? Pay goes out weekly by direct deposit and usually lands by Wednesday night. Fast Pay lets you cash out daily for a charge.
Sign-up takes minutes, and you can be earning within days. A few busy dinner shifts will do more for your $400 goal than a month of surveys.
2. Play games and try apps on Freecash
Freecash pays you for playing mobile games, taking surveys and trying new apps. It’s free, and you don’t need a card to join.
This is the fastest payout on the list. PayPal and Venmo withdrawals usually process the same day, and gift card codes typically land within minutes.
Be realistic, though. Most people earn somewhere from a few dollars up to around $50 in a typical month. It’s a piece of the $400, not the whole thing.
3. Knock out offers on Bigcash
Bigcash lists more than 3,000 offers from companies that want their games, apps and surveys tried. Most take 5 to 10 minutes.
You get coins for each one you finish, and 250 coins is $1. Trade them in for real money or a gift card.
Run it next to Freecash and pick the best-paying offer on each. Skip anything that asks you to spend more than it pays.
4. Score cash with surveys
Taking online surveys to make extra money is a no-brainer! You definitely won’t get rich with surveys alone, but you won’t waste much time, and you can make some money the easy way. Here is my favorite (and highest paying) survey site:
Survey Junkie is free to join, and you can cash out once you hit $5 (that’s 500 points). It pays through PayPal, a bank transfer or gift cards.
Every survey shows its points and its length up front, so you can pass on the bad ones.
5. Stack Swagbucks on top
Swagbucks is another survey site, with more ways to earn: games, cash back on shopping and grocery receipts. You trade points for PayPal cash or gift cards.
What about the $10 welcome bonus? You only get it if you activate it and spend at least $25 at a featured store within 30 days of joining. So it’s not free money for signing up.
6. Earn money watching videos
The next thing you can do is sign up for InboxDollars, which pays you in cash to watch videos and take surveys.
You won’t make $400 overnight with InboxDollars. It pays small amounts that add up if you do a little every day, so use it during downtime.
7. Earn gift cards playing games
Mistplay is a free app for Android and iPhone that gives you points for playing new mobile games. The more you play, the more you earn.
Points trade in for gift cards from Amazon, Visa, Walmart, Starbucks and more. There’s no cash option, so count this one toward groceries, not rent.
8. Make money playing bingo
Blackout Bingo is a gaming app that brings a social aspect to online gaming and allows you to compete for a variety of real rewards as well as real money in some cases (areas where this is available).
You’re competing against other players, which means you can lose too. Don’t put in money you need for the bill you’re trying to pay.
9. Collect up to $60 a year from Nielsen
By using the internet as you do every day, Nielsen invites you to make a difference, and you can make money too.
You install its app on your phone and computer and leave it there. The points you earn are worth up to $60 a year in rewards ($30 for mobile, $30 for a computer), and computer panel members are entered in a monthly $10,000 sweepstakes.
It’s slow. But it’s also no work at all, so set it up once and forget about it.
What Won’t Get You $400 Fast
Two things from the old version of this list are worth doing, just not for quick cash.
Fundrise lets you invest in real estate, private credit and venture funds without buying a property yourself. It’s a long-term investment. Your money is tied up, returns aren’t guaranteed, and it won’t pay a bill that’s due Friday.
We earn a commission for this endorsement of Fundrise.
Acorns rounds up your purchases and invests the spare change. Spend $15.25 and 75 cents goes into your investment account. Plans cost $4, $8 or $12 a month, so it’s a savings habit and not a way to make money this week.
The Fastest Way to $400
Bottom line: take a few delivery shifts, sell what you don’t use, and let Freecash and Bigcash cover the gap.
Surveys and passive apps are fine on the side. They just won’t get you to $400 fast by themselves.