29 Legit Online Jobs for Teens to Make Serious Money

If you’re under 18 and looking to make money, checking out this list of the best online jobs for teens is a great place to start.

Most of them have a ton of flexibility, which is perfect when you’re trying to balance earning some cash with your schoolwork (and social life).

This is why it’s important that these jobs for teens are part time, letting you set your own hours. You’ll also find many that pay well – often much better than the more typical jobs that you can get at your age.

For some of them, you’ll need your parents’ permission to be able to use the online platforms. But if you can prove that your online job isn’t affecting your studies and while also showing that you’re doing this as a way to start making your own money, that shouldn’t be a problem.

And before you know it, with a bit of hard work and some savings, you’ll be able to get that car or start building that college fund way before others in your group.

Best online jobs for teens

In the case of most of these online jobs for teens, you’ll only need a computer and an internet connection to do the work. Given that you probably already have these, this means that there are very low start up costs – if any at all – for you to get started at earning your very own money.

1. Blogger

Starting your own website is a great way to make money, no matter your age. It’s incredibly simple and cheap to get started and, with plenty of teens making literally thousands of dollars from their sites, it’s one of the best online jobs for teens out there.

Just ask Tavi Gevinson, who started her blog, Style Rookie, when she was 11 years old and quickly grew to be worth millions by the time she was a teenager.

2. Affiliate marketing expert

One of the most valuable ways to make money online is with affiliate marketing. This is when you earn money when someone buys a product or service based on your recommendation.

You’ve probably seen this a lot on social media, but it’s also a way that lots of bloggers make money. In fact, some earn literally tens of thousands of dollars every month doing this and you’re probably well aware of influencers on sites like Instagram earning even more using this method.

There’s a bit more strategy to it than simply putting up some links and hoping someone clicks on them. This is why, to make sure you start earning money as quickly as possible, we recommend you learn how to do this properly from an expert.

And for that, I really recommend this completely FREE workshop – from someone who earns six-figures just from affiliate marketing.

3. Virtual assistant

If you haven’t heard of a virtual assistant, also often simply called a VA, they’re basically someone who helps businesses with any sort of online work they may need done.

This could include more administrative tasks, like responding to emails and organizing documents. But it can also include things like writing content for the business’ website, preparing and scheduling social media posts or doing graphic design and editing articles before they’re posted on a site’s blog.

(In fact, if you want a complete list of services that VAs can provide, this free list of more than 275 services they can do is a great place to start.)

The fact you’re a teenager won’t stop you from getting work – it can actually work in your favor, as many businesses will assume (probably correctly) that you have better computer skills than they do. You should also use things like your experience in social media to your advantage.

And with VAs earning an average of $25 per hour, there’s definitely good money to be made here.

4. Ebook author

If you’ve got a creative streak or simply have experience in something that you think others would like to learn about, why not consider self publishing an e-book?

There’s absolutely no age limit to doing this – nor is there any limit to your earnings as it’s purely based on how many copies you sell.

Amazon‘s Kindle Direct Publishing is easily one of the best places to do this. You can publish a book in less than five minutes for free, giving you access to Amazon’s millions of Kindle customers.

You’ll also get to keep up to 70% of the book sales price, not to mention the fact that you’ll continue to be the owner of the book itself!

And with some people making thousands of dollars every month from their self published books, it’s a very viable way for teens to make money online.

Click here to find out more about self publishing your ebook through Amazon.

Related: 7 People Who Make $10,000 a Month Just From Their Side Hustle

5. Play games and get paid

While playing games may not be an online job as such, it’s still a way to earn some extra cash.

In particular, there are certain apps that let you make money by doing things you’d probably be doing anyway to waste time. This includes doing surveys, searching the web and, yes, playing games.

Swagbucks is easily one of the best apps for this, offering some of the highest payout rates out of most of them. You also only have to be 13 years old to make money this way based on its terms of use, making it one of the best online jobs for 13 year olds and up.

And to get you started, Swagbucks gives you a $10 welcome bonus just for verifying your email address.

If you’d like to find out more, check out our ultimate Swagbucks review.

6. Sell online products on Etsy

If you’re not familiar with Etsy, it’s a gold mine of money making possibilities for anyone who considers themselves as being a bit creative.

And you’re not even limited to having to make and ship out actual physical products. Instead, plenty of people make thousands of dollars every month by selling digital products, like printables. 

It’s absolutely not hard to make these and they’re almost entirely passive income. That is, once you’ve made them and put them in your Etsy shop, your work is mostly done.

Someone who’s done amazingly well with this is Tracie Fobes. She’s made tens of thousands of dollars selling simple but very effective printables. 

And based on that success, she’s now created an incredibly cheap course called Easy Printables to help you do the same.

In this, she shows you:

• Exactly how to use free tools like Canva to design eye-catching, polished printables
• The design tips and tricks that actually work to get people to pay for your products
• How to get people to actually see (and buy!) what you’re selling

Click here to find out more about Tracy’s Easy Printables course.

Related: 41 Ways to Make $1,000 Fast (That Actually Work)

7. Proofreader

You’ve probably got some experience proofreading your own school assignments, but did you ever consider turning these skills into your next online job?

Proofreaders can make good money reviewing almost any kind of document. Whether it’s an article to be published on a blog, a chapter in a book or simply someone’s CV, you’ll find people online more than willing to pay you to do this.

As a teen looking to make money in this way, you won’t be able to have access to every website where you can sign up for this kind of work. However, Freelancer.com can be a great place to start as you only have to be 15 years old to use the site. Just note that this does have to be through an adult account who’s given permission for you to use it.

It can be a bit daunting to figure out how to get started making money in this way. Luckily, Caitlin Pyle has created a completely free workshop to help you get started as a proofreader.

Based on her experience of making more than $70,000 per year as a proofreader, she’ll show you:

• Why proofreading could be the perfect fit for you to make money
• How she used proofreading to get lifestyle freedom
• Her strategies for attracting your ideal clients

Click here to sign up for Caitlin’s FREE workshop.

Related: Best Proofreading Jobs for Beginners to Work From Home

8. Transcriptionist

A transcriptionist generally types out a transcript or captions based on an audio or video recording. This makes it a perfect online job for teens, as you can essentially work whenever you have free time.

Most transcription companies do require you to own some good headphones to do this properly. As I always prefer noise canceling headphones that work with Bluetooth, to avoid having cables getting in the way, these headphones have worked amazingly for me – not to mention being crazy cheap at less than $50!

As a transcriptionist, you’ll generally be paid per audio minute. Rates definitely very, but the usual amount is anywhere between $.40 and one dollar per audio minute. This means that you can easily make $20 an hour doing this work, if not more.

Freelancer.com also offers this kind of work if you’re interested and, given their age limit, this makes working as a transcriptionist one of the best online jobs at 15 years old. To find out more, check out our article: 25 Websites Where You Can Get Paid to Type Online

9. Flipper

It may seem odd to include this on a list of the best online jobs for teens as part of it does have to be done off-line. But as you’ll see, it’s the online part where you make your cash.

Working as a flipper basically means that you’re buying used items and reselling them at a higher rate. While it does help if you have a bit of cash to start off with, you can also take advantage of any giveaways near you to get some free things to then sell online. 

You can also start off by selling something that you already own. This is what this person did when they sold some unused things they had lying around the house – and, in 90 days, they turned this into almost $2,500 of profit.

And this isn’t just a one off, with plenty of other people having massive success from flipping things. Just take Rob and Melissa Stephenson, who earned over $130,000 in their first year flipping.

Rob and Melissa have created a totally free webinar to explain to you exactly how you can do the same thing. This includes:

• How to know whether flipping is the perfect side hustle for you
• How to use flipping to get lifestyle freedom
• Their secret strategies to maximize your flipping profits

Sign up for Rob and Melissa’s FREE flipping webinar here.

10. Data entry specialist

Data entry may not sound like the most exciting online job for teens, but there’s no question that it pays.

Plenty of businesses are looking for someone to enter their data, making it something that you could easily do in your spare time. How it usually works is that they’ll email you a document and will then ask you to enter the information in that document into another system or something like a spreadsheet.

You can find this kind of work on Freelancer.com, making data entry the simple answer to the question of how can you make money at 15. In addition, check out Fiverr, which you only have to be 13 years old to use.

Related: 29 Quick Tips on How to Make $300 Fast

11. Phone call reviewer

You know those times when you call a company and before you start talking with someone, you hear a recorded message that “this call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes“?

Well, those messages are actually recorded and reviewed by someone who’s paid to check them.

Humanatic is one company that does this, including by hiring teens to review the calls and take note of any issues or feedback that could help the company improve the service they provide to customers.

You’re paid per review completed, with a minimum age requirement of 17 years old. It’s also worth noting that while you can be flexible as to when you work, Humanatic does prefer that you work during its busiest hours of 8 AM to 7 PM. This at least gives you the chance to work for a few hours after school.

12. Freelance writer

Your writing talent shouldn’t be wasted on only your English homework. Instead, you could turn this into an online job for teens that takes advantage of your skills in this area.

In particular, you may be surprised to hear that most major websites don’t actually write their own content. Instead, they actually hire writers on a one off basis to write articles on essentially any subject you can think of.

You don’t even need to be an expert in this topic for a website to hire you. Simply do your own research, produce a piece by the deadline and you’re good to go.

Again, Fiverr and Freelancer.com can be good places to start looking for this kind of work. It may be a little bit slow to get started but once you have even a small portfolio and some testimonials from satisfied clients, you’ll find yourself more than able to find more work.

You should also consider checking out sites like Listverse. They pay $100 for listicle-style articles, similar to what you’ve probably seen on sites like BuzzFeed. Click here to see exactly what they’re looking for.

Related: 29 Great Jobs Where You Work Alone (That Are Perfect for Introverts)

13. YouTuber

You won’t be shocked to hear that people on YouTube are making massive amounts of money. And there’s definitely no age limit to earning money in this way. As an example, take EvanTubeHD who’s 13 years old and reportedly makes $1.3 million per year from his videos.

Similarly, Danielle Cohn earned $2.5 million per year by the age of 15 from her 1.5 million subscribers.

Of course, you’re not going to make this kind of money from YouTube overnight. But starting a YouTube channel and then building up your audience is definitely one of the more legit online jobs for teens, with many of them making money by getting paid to advertise for companies.

This includes via affiliate marketing, which we mentioned earlier. For a refresher, click here to sign up for a totally free workshop on how to make money in this way.

Related: 13 Proven Ways to Make Money Editing Videos

14. Social media influencer

Another great online job for teens that you’ve definitely heard of is working as a social media influencer. With plenty of teens making incredible amounts of money in this way, it’s definitely something that you should consider doing yourself.

The best strategy for doing this is going to depend on which platform you use, so do some research on the best tips and tricks to grow your audience on your platform of choice. Then, once your numbers are high enough, you’ll be able to approach companies for things like sponsorship-or, better yet, they’ll approach you.

As an example, check out our article on 6 Proven Ways to Make Money on Snapchat.

15. Social media manager

It’s not only as an influencer that you can make money on social media. Another option is to work as a social media manager, which is when you manage the social media profiles of various businesses.

In some ways, this is similar to working as a virtual assistant, with the main difference being that, here, you’re focusing solely on social media. For VAs, this is often just one part of their list of tasks.

The fact you’re a teen will work in your favor here, with many small businesses in particular assuming (probably correctly) that all your experience in using social media for personal reasons can help them to grow their own presence on various social media platforms.

This is why a good place to start can be asking around local businesses if they need any help in managing the profiles. A good tip can be to find some information on how having a strong social media presence can lead to however many more customers. 

By doing this, you’ll be able to clearly show them why paying you some money to do this will help them earn much, much more money in the long run.

Related: 37 of the Highest Paying Online Jobs

16. Product designer

If you have any sort of design skills, there are a bunch of websites out there that let you create your own designs to put on things like mugs, bags, shirts, jewelry, posters and more.

Café Press is a great example of this and you only need to be 13 years old to use it. How it works is that you send your designs and they’ll advertise your chosen products with your designs on them on their site.

When someone makes a purchase, only then will they print the design on the relevant item and you’ll get a cut of the sales price.

This means that although you’re selling physical products, it’s completely free on your side to get these to customers, making it an incredibly easy and cheap way to make money.

17. Customer service agent

Working in customer service isn’t just something that you do in retail stores. In fact, this can be a great online job for teens at home.

It works basically like you’re in a call center, just with all the customer service agents located at their own homes instead of in an office together. 

You’ll generally receive calls from potential customers who want to find out about buying something or existing customers who have a question or problem. Your job will be to help them with their query and, depending on your role, finalize sales.

And there are a few companies that hire teens for this work with a minimum age of 16. This means that if you’re looking for the best online jobs for 16 year olds at home, working as a customer service agent could be for you.

To find out more about this type of work and to see which companies will hire you as a team, check out our article: 14 Ways To Get Paid to Chat

18. Website tester

Plenty of websites hire “normal people” to test their websites, with the aim of seeing how every day users navigate around the site before it’s released to the wider public.

And this actually includes major sites owned by companies like Twitter, Yahoo!, Microsoft and Airbnb.

In some cases, you ‘ll need a webcam and microphone to do this as companies like you to talk about your first impressions while you’re in the process of testing a website. Given that your computer probably already has this though, you’re covered. 

To find out more, including which companies hire teens for this, take a look at our article: 13 Sites Where You Can Test Websites for Money

19. Music reviewer

If you enjoy listening to different types of music, working as a music reviewer could be the perfect online job for teens.

Specifically, Slice the Pie is a website that pays people to listen to and review different genres of music. This doesn’t just include normal songs, but can also extend things like advertisements or even music samples.

The aim here is for music producers and other companies to make decisions about going forward with the music, so your work here can literally shape the music industry.

Slice the Pie doesn’t make it entirely clear what its age limit is, but some other sites suggest that it’s 13 years old. The amount you’re paid also depends on your own rating on the side, which goes up the more reviews you do.

You will need a PayPal account to be paid this way, which an adult will have to sit up for you for you to then use.

You may also be interested in: 16 Legit Ways to Get Paid to Listen to Music

20. Tutor

Even though you’re probably still in school yourself, working as an online tutor is definitely a good online job for teens.

This is especially the case if you’re really good at a specific subject, as younger students (or their parents) are usually very keen to take advantage of this to help their own grades.

There are a bunch of websites to let you sign up to do this, which have the benefit of giving you access to potential students all over the world.

However, another way to do this is to look for online jobs near you in your area. For example, asking around at school if any other students are looking for help in a particular subject can help you get to get work tutoring them. 

And this can still easily be an online job at home, as you can simply agree to tutor them over Skype instead of in person.

Related: 43 Amazing Under the Table Jobs that Pay Cash

21. Gig worker

Most of the more established companies whose business revolves around gig workers, like Uber eats or Instacart, generally only provide jobs to people who are 18 years old and up. 

However, if you’re wondering how can you make money at 16 without an actual job, this age limit shouldn’t stop you as you can still work as a gig worker when you’re under 18. Instead, you can advertise your services on (again) Fiverr and Freelancer.com to let people hire you for tasks.

This could include things like delivering documents, picking up dry cleaning or grabbing some groceries for someone who’s unable to do so. You could also limit yourself to strictly online tasks, like formatting documents, creating posters or invitations for people’s events and more.

Your only limit here is basically your creativity, so take a look at those sites to see what other people are doing to give you some inspiration on how you could do the same.

22. Website designer

Tech skills are in incredibly high demand and, with many schools now offering classes in coding, you could easily turn the skills you’ve picked up on this point into your next online job.

That is, designing website templates can be a great way to make some extra money, especially as once you’ve created a template, there’s very little ongoing work required for it to still remain available for website owners to buy. 

And if you have the skills, you could even take this to the next level by offering customized websites. 

Local businesses could be particularly keen interested in getting this from a student in the area like you. You can take advantage of this by approaching businesses in your area whose online presence isn’t great to suggest how you can improve their website to get more customers for them.

Otherwise, advertising your coding skills on sites like Fiverr and Freelancer.com can also be a great way to get clients.

Related: Make $200 a Day Online: 17 Ways That Are Proven To Work

23. Voiceover artist

If you’re interested in the entertainment or marketing industries, working as a voiceover artist could be one of the best online jobs for teens. That is, not only will it help you make money, but the experience will be invaluable.

To do this, you can sign up for one of the sites in our article on finding a voiceover job with no experience needed. They link voice actors up with clients who may want to use their talent, with plenty of opportunities, even if you haven’t worked in this field yet.

You can be hired to do voiceover work for podcasts, video games and commercials on both TV and radio. Your rates will vary depending on how much work is involved and, of course, the budget of the client.

You only have to be 13 years old to register with Voices.com, although this is on the understanding that your parents or guardian will be in control of the account and agree to monitor your activity to ensure you stay safe.

24. Graphic designer

Good graphic designers are always in high demand, especially these days when a strong online presence is more important than ever.

This means if you have experience in any of the various design applications out there, you could easily use this to make some money.

This work could include things like designing logos for businesses, creating event invitations or posters or even finalizing the layout and design of a company’s annual report.

Related: 41 Easy Ways to Make an Extra $500 a Month

25. Stock photo seller

Well this definitely belongs in the list of best online jobs for teens, there is an element of it that’s off-line. Namely, you have to take the photo somewhere.

But once you build your own personal photo library, you can then sell these to make some extra cash.

In particular, businesses and other website owners always need stock photos to help make their content look better. And if you’re the one providing these photos, you’ll be paid by the download. This means the more of them you offer, the more likely you’ll make money in this way.

Ask around if anyone in your group is looking to become a freelance model and wants to practice with you. You could also combine this with the previous suggestion to sell products through Café Press, as they let you put photos on the items you’re selling if you want.

26. Install apps that track computer or phone use

This isn’t an online job, as such, but it is a way for teens to make money.

That is, there are a bunch of apps out that you can install on your computer or phone which anonymously track how to use your device. That information, which isn’t traceable back to you at all, is then sent back to companies for them to get an idea of how users interact with apps, websites and devices as a whole.

The background data they collect includes things like the websites you visit and how long you spend on each one, so it’s nothing personal.

One example of an app that does this is Nielsen. If you run their app in the background on your phone or computer, they’ll pay you $50 per year as well as put you in the running to win competitions and other bonuses – not bad for completely passive income.

To find out more about making money this way, check out our article: 42 Best Passive Income Apps to Make Money on Your Phone

27. Stream on Twitch

If you’re a gamer, you’ll know very well just how much money some people make from streaming. In fact, when it comes to online jobs for teens that pay well, this may just be one of the best given that many streamers make thousands – if not millions – of dollars, most of whom are teenagers. This means that it’s clear there’s a small fortune to be made from this.

It might be a hard sell to your parents to convince them that streaming on Twitch is the online job for you. But if you manage to do this, you can definitely turn your video game obsession into a real moneymaker.

28. Digitalize photos

Digitalizing photos is when you scan photos in order to store them on your computer or online. 

Many people seem to plan to do this one day with all the photo albums they have in storage that are simply gathering dust. Most, however, never seem to get around to do this themselves, meaning they’re often keen to pay someone else to do it for them instead.

You’ll need a scanner to do this, but there are plenty of cheap ones available online. You could even check Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist in your local area to see if anyone is giving one away.

From there, it’s simply a matter of making people aware that you’re available to do this. You could start by posting on local community Facebook groups or even doing a letterbox drop of flyers advertising your services.

The rate you charge will be up to you, although it’s worth noting that Costco does the same service for $20 for 63 photos. This means you may want to set your own rate somewhere in line with this.

29. Sell in-game items

To complement your new online job as a Twitch streamer, you could also consider making money by selling in-game items.

This is great for playing to the fact that many people prefer to buy their items than doing the work to earn these themselves, which can often take way too much time.

So if you consider yourself a bit of a pro at a particular game, including that you’ve accrued some valuable inventory, you could definitely turn this into a way to make some extra cash.

How can teens make money online?

This list of the best online jobs for teens should give you a bunch of options if you’re a teenager looking to make money. At the same time, there are a few things you should do to make sure you’re able to earn some cash with these options.

Make sure your parents or guardian are aware of what you’re doing

It’s important to keep your parents or guardian in the loop so that they know where your new source of income has suddenly come from. This also helps to make sure you’re kept safe from any of the questionable people you can encounter on the internet.

While it can be annoying to let them know everything, most of them will be impressed at your commitment to making money from such a young age. Combine this with a strong work ethic and proof that you’re saving your money for some sort of goal and you may find a new online job will have the added benefit of seriously impressing them at the same time.

Get their help to create a PayPal account

Most of these jobs will require a PayPal account in order to get paid, which has an age limit of 18.

This means that you’ll need a parent or guardian to set up the account for you, although that won’t stop you from being able to access it or to link it to your own bank account.

Keep an eye on what you’re earning and spending

As most of these aren’t really “traditional jobs“, you’re going to have to do a little bit more work on your side in order to keep track of how much money is coming in. This is important for taxes (which, yes, you do have to pay), but also to make sure that everyone is paying you what you’re owed.

Similarly, make sure you track exactly what you’re spending on your new online job. In some cases, you won’t be spending anything, but in others, you will have to purchase some products or services to get started. This is also good to keep an eye on for tax reasons, as well as to let you see whether you may be charging too little based on what you’re spending, making it worth raising your rates.

You don’t need anything fancy in order to do this. In fact, any spreadsheet app or even just Google Sheets is more than enough.

How can a teenager make $100 a day?

Not all these online jobs for teens provide the chance for teenagers to make $100 a day. That said, there are some options where this is more likely than others. In particular:

• Making money as a blogger or social media influencer, although this will depend on you building up an audience first.
• Flipping items, especially if you go to this to the point where you have the resources to flip higher-priced items.
• Tutoring. Many tutors charge between $18 and $25 per hour, meaning if there’s a day where you’re able to work a few hours at once, like on a Saturday afternoon, you could easily make $100 a day doing this.

How can a teenager make $1,000 fast?

For teenager to make $1,000 fast, there are a few strategies you should follow: 

• Try to do multiple tasks at once if you have time. Most of these online jobs don’t actually involve set hours of work, giving you the flexibility to do a few of them at once. This can, in turn, help you to build your earnings up quickly.
• Focus on the higher-paying online jobs. Something like Swagbucks is a great way to make some extra cash in your spare time, but there are others that pay more based on how much time you spend on them. If you need $1,000 fast, focus on the big ticket options.
• Sell something. This isn’t a job, but it’s true that one of the quickest ways for anyone to make money is to sell anything they have that they can live without. If you really do need $1,000 fast, this is often the fastest option.
• Control your spending even as your earnings grow. This tip is also true no matter your age, in that it’s incredibly tempting to want to go on a spending spree once that extra cash hits your account. Instead, focus on your financial goals to help you avoid spending this money before you really need it. 

This means that if you’re wondering, say, how can a 17 year old make money fast, these tips and tricks are exactly where you should start.

Final thoughts on the best online jobs for teens

When it comes to the best online jobs for teens that pay well, you definitely have options.

This means making a choice could simply come down to where your strengths lie. For example, are you a good writer? Then self publishing a book or even working as a freelance writer could be for you.

Or maybe you’re really good at designing things, meaning graphic design or selling your own products online may be what you need.

And if you can combine any of these skills with some specialized knowledge, like an ability to code, you’ve just secured yourself another way to make some extra cash.

Making money is a great thing for you to do to start your financial journey on the right foot, with the added bonus of showing your parents or legal guardians that, yes, you really are as responsible as you keep telling them you are.

We mentioned earlier but it’s worth repeating: just make sure that once you start making money, you don’t spend it on the first thing you see. It’s very easy to have this temptation – many adults do exactly the same thing – so having a financial goal to focus on when you may be tempted is key.

By picturing that car you plan to buy next year or the growing college fund that may be your ticket out of your hometown, if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll be able to make sure that every cent you earn goes exactly where it should go.