The Best Online Jobs for Teens in 2023

Are you a teen looking for ways to make some cash online?

All of us can relate to this: the latest sneakers or video game drops and you really want to buy it, but your parents won’t budge.

Thankfully, there’s always an abundance of online jobs available, and plenty of them don’t have a minimum age requirement.

You can earn money online, like thousands of other teenagers in the United States. All you need is a PayPal account and some free time.

We have compiled this helpful list of the best online jobs for teens, just like you!

7 Best Online Jobs for Teens (Overview)

Thanks to the internet, teens no longer have to do tedious nickel-and-dime jobs that won’t help them shape their careers.

Here are the best online jobs for teens that only require a stable internet connection, with little to no previous experience required:

1. Virtual Assistant
2. Graphic Designer
3. Selling on Online Marketplaces
4. Game Tester
5. Data Encoder
6. Social Media Manager
7. Online Survey Taker

1. Virtual Assistant

Are you looking for a job that can be your first step toward becoming a manager? Try your hand at being a virtual assistant, where you’ll be responsible for doing various minor administrative tasks that somebody assigns to you.

From answering emails and requests to uploading articles to WordPress websites, a VA does it all. They work closely with their employer to ensure smooth operations and communication within the company.

It’s the perfect job to learn how to become a responsible adult, use various pieces of software, manage online work, and keep yourself organized.

What You’ll Need to Become a Virtual Assistant

• Computer literacy
• Good time management and organizational skills
• Communication skills

Pros

• Gateway to becoming a manager
• Many jobs are available
• Acquiring valuable business and software experience

Cons

• Can be time-consuming
• Needs commitment and dedication

Top Places to Find a Virtual Assistant Job

• Upwork
• Indeed
• Flexjobs

2. Graphic Designer

A graphic designer creates all kinds of visual art on a computer. If you excel in graphic design, this is the job for you. You might be asked to create a company logo, a collection of icons, or a poster for a marketing campaign.

Finding online courses to learn some basics is recommended, but you can start with virtually zero experience.

If you work freelance instead of full-time, you can work as much or as little as you want to make some quick cash.

And if you’d like to become a graphic designer in the future, having a portfolio of smaller projects is a must.

What You’ll Need to Do a Graphic Design Job

• Excellent drawing skills
• Knowing how to use graphic design software, like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator

Pros

• Limitless growth potential
• Job is in high demand
• Great way to make extra money fast

Cons

• Hard to do if you’re not good at visual arts
• Finding the first couple of gigs might be challenging

Top Places to Find a Graphic Design Job

• Fiverr
• LinkedIn
• Upwork
• Dribbble

3. Selling on Online Marketplaces

If all you need is some quick cash, one of the best ways to make a lot of money fast is to sell your old stuff on Facebook Marketplace.

Most of us have some valuable goods that we don’t use or need around at home, and there are several people who do most of their shopping online.

Selling on social media platforms is significantly more profitable than having garage sales, as you have a wider range of clients who shop online. Social media posts will be your key to showcasing your wares for making money online.

Go around the house and collect a bunch of items that could be worth some extra cash. Just make sure to ask your family if they’re all right about selling them off first.

You could turn this into a full-time job by doing some market research and finding cheap stuff in thrift stores or from other online listings and then reselling it—bonus points if you can repair a broken item to resell it for more!

If you’re meeting with a buyer in person, bring an adult family member with you and meet in a public area.

What You’ll Need to Sell on Online Marketplaces

• Valuable items that you don’t need
• Thrifted goods from second-hand stores
• Social media accounts

Pros

• Fast and easy money
• Convenient

Cons

• You need items that you can sell
• Arranging in-person pickups can be tedious and even dangerous

Top Places to Sell Online

• Facebook Marketplace
• Craigslist
• eBay

4. Game Tester

It is possible to play video games for a living, but have you ever thought about testing unreleased video games and getting first dibs on upcoming or potential releases?

Part of the job entails giving your opinion to the developers, but most of your work will involve finding and reporting bugs. You’ll be replaying the same section over and over again to see if you missed anything.

It’s not as entertaining as playing for fun, but you’re still getting paid to play video games!

What You’ll Need to Do a Game Tester Job

• A modern gaming computer or console
• Patience
• Experience playing video games

Pros

• You’re playing games for money
• Decent average salary

Cons

• Can be tedious

Top Places to Find a Game Tester Job

• Upwork
• ZipRecruiter
• Jooble
• Indeed

5. Data Encoder

A job that only requires a keyboard and basic MS Office skills, data encoding is a popular online job. Broadly speaking, your job is digitizing and organizing data into a computer system. This can include legal documents, voice recordings, and transcriptions.

Data encoding jobs aren’t hard to come by. However, marketing your entry services online can be difficult, as many are possibly willing to charge less than your proposed rates.

What You’ll Need to Do a Data Encoding Job

• Computer literacy
• Fast typing speed

Pros

• Plenty of work available
• Convenient

Cons

• Low pay
• Repetitive task

Top Places to Find a Data EntryJob

• Upwork
• FlexJobs
• Fiverr

6. Social Media Manager

A social media manager is responsible for leading a successful social media marketing campaign to boost the reputation of a company. It’s often done part-time.

You’ll create and upload social media content across various social media platforms in line with the company’s values to drive sales and engagement.

You will also have to respond to questions, comments, and messages on different social media accounts. Also, the social media content has to be adapted to the social media platform in question to maximize clicks.

What You’ll Need to Do a Social Media Management Job

• A computer and smartphone
• Excellent communication skills
• Basic understanding of social media platforms

Pros

• Great average salary
• Fun
• Doesn’t require any special skills

Cons

• Can be difficult to get into

Top Places to Find a Social Media Management Job

• LinkedIn
• Indeed
• ZipRecruiter

7. Online Survey Taker

Perhaps the perfect job for teens not looking for a full-time job is completing online surveys. There’s always an abundance of work and plenty of paid survey opportunities to choose from.

Your job is to complete paid online surveys. Open a survey, fill it out, rinse, and repeat.

It’s a repetitive task, it can be time-consuming, and the payout isn’t that great, but at least the job is easy. You may also opt to get paid in gift cards if you don’t own a debit card or credit card, and they can often be more rewarding in terms of value.

Just be wary of scammers who create legit-looking survey websites to lure you in and then steal your bank account information or private data.

What You’ll Need to Do Online Surveys

• Phone, tablet, or personal computer

Pros

• Easy to do
• Flexible and convenient

Cons

• Isn’t career-building
• Low payouts
• Repetitive task

Top Platforms for Online Surveys

• Survey Junkie
• Swagbucks
• YouGov
• Google Opinion Rewards

8. Tutoring

While there are lots of online tutoring jobs and English-teaching platforms online, not all of them will accept applicants without a college degree, which the average teenager doesn’t have. These platforms happily accept teenage applicants who are still in high school.

Where to Find the Best Online Jobs for Teens

Now, let’s get into some specifics about the best online jobs for teens.

Above we covered the best positions and where to find them, but now let’s take a deep dive into the best platforms that offer those types of jobs.

Tutoring

1. SolutionInn

Signing up as a tutor with SolutionInn is a quick five-minute process and based on your profile, students will choose you to help with their question or issue.

The most popular topics students need help with are accounting, math, statistics, physics, chemistry, literature, writing, and psychology.

2. Samespeak

If you are at least 16 years old and a native English speaker, you can tutor students in English with Samespeak.

Lessons are 30 minutes long and any insights or structure necessary will be provided by the Samespeak.

You can expect to earn $10 per conversation and will be paid via PayPal on Friday as long as you have earned $100 since your last payment.

Other Online English Teaching Platforms

To level up your tutoring or teaching game, we also suggest checking out the following platforms:

• VIPKid: a website that provides online English language classes to students in China
• Gogokid: an online platform that connects children in China who are eager to learn with educated and fluent English teachers
• SayABC: an interactive platform that helps young Chinese-speaking students learn English
• Verbling: an online language-learning platform that connects learners with language teachers for private sessions through live video chat

Reviewing Music

Working as a music reviewer is a perfect way for teenagers to earn some extra money online.

After all, teens are the audience everyone is trying to appeal to.

1. Music Xray

To earn money with Music Xray, you’ll be expected to listen to a song and provide detailed constructed feedback about it.

You’ll be paid somewhere between $0.05 and $0.20 per song critique.

The more songs you listen to, the more you’ll get paid.

To excel in this position, you should be able to put into words why you offered the feedback you did, and how to improve.

It’s a good gig if you can do those two things.

2. Slicethepie

Slicethepie is happy to work with teenagers and pays between $0.05 and $0.20 per song critique.

You’ll be paid for your work twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, via PayPal, as long as you’ve earned at least $10 since the last payout.

A great benefit of taking a gig at Slicethepie is that you’ll oftentimes get access to products and clips before their official release dates.

You could very well end up seeing things that nobody else has seen or heard before, which is pretty cool if you think about it.

3. Other Online Review Platforms To Check Out

You can make money listening to music or watching clips, but did you know that you can also make money product testing?

It’s similar to the review gigs above, but oftentimes focuses in more detail.

Product testing is when companies or third parties send you products to use, test, and provide feedback on through some form of survey.

Once the process is completed, you’ll receive compensation for your efforts.

• uTest: a platform that connects freelance quality assurance (QA) professionals to software testing gigs
• Userfeel: a remote usability testing company that enables people like you to make money testing websites
• Userlytics: a digital usability testing platform that provides companies with critical customer insights and feedback

Taking Surveys

While there are dozens of sites that allow you to take surveys for money, not all of them are willing to work with people under the age of 20.

The survey companies listed below are more than happy to listen to the opinions of teenagers as they are a very powerful and lucrative demographic.

Take advantage of that and get paid for telling people what you think.

1. Survey Junkie

If you want to take short, straightforward surveys, Survey Junkie is a good option.

The Survey Junkie payment model is unique in the fact that the company rewards survey takers with points instead of cash.

Each online survey takes between 5 and 20 minutes and pays between 100 and 200 points.

Each point is worth one penny, and you can cash out your points once you’ve hit the $10 (1,000 point) threshold.

You can choose to convert your money into PayPal cash or into gift cards once you reach a certain earnings threshold.

2. Swagbucks

You can earn extra cash online with Swagbucks by choosing to complete surveys, watch videos, play video games, use Swagbucks as a search engine, and take part in polls.

I have heard people say that using Swagbucks to earn money is sometimes similar to making money on Google with Lionbridge jobs.

Each activity will earn you Swagbucks points which you can cash out for Visa gift cards or store gift cards like Walmart and Target.

The company also offers bonus Swagbucks for meeting daily and monthly Swagbucks-earning goals, so your online earnings can add up quickly.

3. Harris Poll

Unlike other online survey sites, Harris Poll doesn’t require you to check their platform to see what’s available.

Instead, they’ll email you about relevant survey panels and will reward you even if you don’t end up qualifying to complete the survey.

You’ll earn HiPoints for each survey, which can be cashed out for interesting rewards like magazine subscriptions and airlines miles, but not for cash or gift cards.

This model is pretty cool, but many gig workers want to be able to easily cash out instead of having to redeem their earnings for something like a magazine subscription.

If you’re into that, check them out.

But if you’re looking for a more direct type of payout, we’d suggest the other survey sites.

4. InstaGC

Like Swagbucks, InstaGC allows you to earn money online if you complete surveys, test mobile apps, watch videos, and shop.

Each task will earn you points and you can exchange those points at a rate of one penny per point for gift cards for stores like Walmart or Amazon or for PayPal cash.

Other Online Survey Sites

• SurveyClub: a platform that helps people like you find paid survey opportunities all around the world
• Opinion Outpost: a free online platform that connects businesses to consumers that are willing to share their opinions with the company about its products
• Vindale Research: a market research company that pays you to take surveys and give your opinion
• GlobalTestMarket: users can make actual money and earn points to trade in for gift cards to major retailers through the LifePoints system
• SendEarnings: one of many websites that are giving everyday users the opportunity to make money by completing surveys, watching videos, reading emails, and more.

Selling Stuff Online

If you like making things, using the internet to sell those objects is a great way to make good money online.

You can also earn extra cash by selling off the things you’re no longer using like books, clothing, and even unique items like baseball cards or Pokemon cards.

1. eBay

eBay selling unlocks the opportunity to make money with practically anything, from books to clothes to action figures to jewelry to well, the list is endless.

You’ll need access to an adult’s account to sell your items, which will involve taking photos of your stuff, creating a listing, and choosing either a fixed price or an auction format.

Once your item sells, you’ll be able to access your money by transferring it to PayPal.

2. Poshmark

Poshmark is a marketplace for selling clothing, both new and second hand.

Whether you’re looking to get rid of old shirts, pants, shoes, or accessories, you can find willing buyers on this marketplace. It’s very easy to use and very user-friendly.

You’ll take photos of your items in the Poshmark mobile app and add relevant details and a price.

You can choose to accept or decline offers and will be able to transfer earnings to your PayPal account once the buyer has confirmed receipt of the item.

3. Etsy

Etsy is the biggest marketplace for handmade goods online. Whether you make jewelry, T-shirts, mugs, or anything really, Etsy is where you should be selling your stuff.

If you’re under 18, you’ll need parental consent to open a store. Once the item ships, you’ll be paid via PayPal.

Other Ways to Sell Online

While the platforms above are the “go-to” places for gig workers to sell things online, there are a few other options to consider.

• Sell on Craigslist: Craigslist is a great place to sell things online. Create an account, make a classified ad for your item, and watch the inquiries come in
• Sell on Facebook Marketplace: Facebook Marketplace is like Craigslist, but tied to a Facebook account. In theory, it is slightly more reputable because you can usually see who you’re buying from

Selling Services Online

Lots of businesses that need part-time help turn to online freelance websites where they can connect with freelancers who are selling their services online.

These businesses don’t care where you’re located or whether you’re in high school, as long as the work you do is excellent.

1. Upwork

Upwork has a range of work-at-home jobs that are great options for teenagers. There is an abundance of social media, graphic design, writing, and tech part-time jobs on Upwork.

You’ll need to apply to each job you’re interested in and will be paid either hourly or based on deliverables. Once the client approves your invoice, the money is processed by Upwork and transferred to your bank or PayPal account

2. HubPages

If you’re under 18, you’ll need parental consent in order to work for HubPages as they are a revenue sharing opportunity.

You’ll write articles about your passions and get paid a percentage of the Adsense revenue.

If you want to write but only about certain topics, HubPages could be a good fit for you.

3. Helium

As a 13-year-old or older, you can get paid to write or fact-check articles for Helium.

What you earn for each project will need to be negotiated with the project manager, but they are known to pay fairly.

Your account will be credited as soon as the work is accepted and your online earnings will be transferred to your PayPal account every two weeks, with no minimum earning level required.

4. Fiverr

Fiverr is a marketplace, not a job board, so you’ll create a menu of services you can provide for $5 or up.

At least one item on your Fiverr services menu must be just $5. For example, a graphic design logo for social media is a popular $5 option.

Potential clients browse the menus and choose what they’d like to order. Once the order is placed, you provide the services and will be paid through PayPal upon order acceptance by the client.

5. Humanatic

Offering flexible hours, weekly payouts to your PayPal account, and the ability to work at home, Humanatic is a popular way for both adults and teenagers to earn money by reviewing calls in their free time.

You will need to be able to pay attention for the duration of the call and take notes on how the call went.

Ways to Freelance

Like we mentioned above, there are many different platforms that allow gig workers to find freelance work. If you looking for online jobs for teens, check out a few resources to help you get started in the world of freelancing.

• A Complete Guide to Freelancing in the Gig Economy
• How Can I Start Freelance With No Experience?
• Everything You Need to Know to Find Freelance Editing Jobs
• 5 Steps to Launch Your Freelance Marketing Career
• Your Step-By-Step Guide to Finding Freelance Writing Jobs

Tips to Succeed at an Online Job as a Teen

Regardless of which option you pick, there are some things that you can do to maximize your chances of landing and keeping a good online gig:

• Create a professional-looking resume. Even if you don’t have any experience, at least write about your current education level, hobbies, and personal and technical skills.
• Meet your deadlines. If you think you’re not going to make it, let your supervisor know in advance.
• Check your business email and messages twice per day.
• Before you submit a task, double-check all details.
• If you have a call, be on your computer 15 minutes earlier.
• Never use slang or profanity.
• Don’t give up. The online teen job market is competitive, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll never land a gig. The more you apply, the higher your chances.

Frequently Asked Questions

Even if you’re a teenager without any prior experience or a special set of skills, you can still find some ways to make extra money on the internet.

The best online gigs are the ones that enable you to grow and can help you land full-time jobs once you get your high school or college diploma. Who knows? One day, these experiences will help you start an online business.

But if you need a quick buck for a trip with your friends or to buy a video game console, taking online surveys or doing data entry will get you there. Just try to look for something that pays out weekly.