Get paid to test products, apps, games and websites

What product and app testing work really is

Most paid testing falls into a few categories. Usability testing has a person record themselves using a website or app and talking through their reactions, usually for a market-research firm. Quality assurance (QA) testing has someone click through a product looking for bugs, broken links or confusing steps, often as part of a short freelance contract. Game testing means playing a game before or after launch and reporting issues or feedback to a studio or publisher.

None of this is a traditional job with a fixed schedule. It is almost always project-based or gig-based: a company needs testers for a specific release, hires a batch of people, and the work ends when the project does.

Manual tester jobs versus informal testing gigs

Manual tester jobs remote postings, the kind listed as actual job openings, usually ask for some QA background: knowledge of how to write a clear bug report, basic familiarity with testing tools, and sometimes a portfolio of past work. These are closer to real jobs, sometimes contract, sometimes full time.

Informal testing gigs, like trying a new app for a short project or giving feedback on a website redesign, need no experience at all. They pay less per task and are harder to find in a steady stream, since most come and go with the needs of a single client.

Where to look for freelance testing jobs

Freelancing testing jobs are usually posted the same way other freelance work is: on general job boards and freelance marketplaces, not on dedicated testing-only sites.

• Indeed and LinkedIn for manual tester jobs remote and QA contract roles, searched with terms like tester, QA or usability.
• Upwork, Fiverr and Freelancer for one-off testing gigs posted by individual companies or app developers.
• Glassdoor to check what a company that has posted testing roles is actually like before applying.

A clear, specific profile helps on any of these platforms: mention the devices you own (Android, iPhone), the browsers you use, and any past experience filing bug reports or using spreadsheets like Excel or Google Sheets to log results.

What to watch out for

Testing jobs attract a particular kind of scam: an offer that sounds easy and well paid, followed by a request for a fee to unlock projects, buy a starter kit or verify your identity before any work begins.

A real tester job or gig never asks the tester to pay first, not for a starter kit, a verification fee or a deposit to unlock projects. If a listing asks for money before any work starts, it is not a legitimate testing job.

• Be wary of listings that promise high pay for almost no skill and no interview.
• A legitimate company checks a candidate, even briefly, before handing over paid testing work.
• Pay per task for informal testing gigs is normally modest, not a replacement for a full income.

Game testing specifically

Earn money testing games usually means one of two things: formal QA testing for a game studio, which is a real job with an application process, or informal playtesting, where a studio invites a batch of players to try a build and leave feedback, often unpaid or paid very little.

Separately, earning money by playing games through game offers on PocketsFull works differently: these are offers listed on the Offers page where installing or opening a game and reaching the steps described in the offer adds a reward to the balance. It is not game testing and not a job; it is one of the ways PocketsFull lets members collect rewards.

PocketsFull never asks for a deposit or a payment to take part in a survey, an offer or a game offer. Rewards are earned, never bought.

How PocketsFull fits in

PocketsFull is not a testing job and does not hire testers. It is a free rewards site where members complete paid surveys and offers, many of them app and game offers, and build up a balance they can redeem.

Surveys are market-research questionnaires from survey providers; a completed one adds its reward to the balance. Being screened out partway through happens to everyone sometimes, since survey providers look for specific profiles, and keeping a profile complete and accurate helps with being matched to more surveys.

Offers work differently: each one is a task from a partner, such as trying an app or game and reaching the steps it lists, or signing up for a service, and each offer shows its own reward and, where relevant, how many days it takes to confirm.

This is a way to pick up pocket money alongside a testing job search, not a substitute for one, and PocketsFull is not an employer.

How rewards get paid out

The redeem screen on PocketsFull shows gift cards first, with the catalogue depending on the member's country, alongside PayPal and Litecoin.

A redeemed gift card is sent to the email address on the account, and the options shown can vary from one country to another.

PocketsFull does not pay out to other payment apps or wallets beyond what is listed on the redeem screen.

Getting started on PocketsFull

Joining is free, with no registration fee and no deposit asked for at any point.