How to Earn Free Gift Cards Online (Top 9 Ways)

No matter what anyone else tells you, believe us when we say there is NO such thing as a free gift card generator. If you want to get free gift cards online, you're going to either have to earn them or win them.

Luckily, there are actually a lot of different ways to do this.

Below, we'll show you how to earn gift cards by completing small tasks, searching the web, downloading apps, playing games, going shopping, and more. And if you're feeling lucky, we'll also show you how to win gift cards through sweepstakes and giveaways!

Ready to get started? This first one is our personal favorite:

1. Answer Paid Surveys

Survey sites have been sending free gift cards to users since the early days of the internet, and they're not going away any time soon.

If you want to get a piece of the action, try Eureka! We offer paid surveys through our website and mobile apps (available on both iOS and Android) and have over 70 different gift card payout options to choose from.

Here are a few things that make us stand out from the competition:

When you request a payout, we send it the very same day If you're disqualified from a survey, you'll still earn some cashWe pay in dollars instead of using a confusing points system

2. Search the Web

If you'd prefer to get your gift cards without having to complete offers, this idea is right up your alley. With the opportunities below, all you have to do is search the internet as you regularly would, and you'll slowly earn points or cash towards the gift card of your choice.

Qmee

To get started with Qmee, simply sign up and add the Qmee extension to your browser. After it's activated, you'll start seeing sponsored ads on the side of search results. Occasionally, these ads will pay you a few cents for clicking them.

It's not a lot, but it's quite effortless and the earnings do add up. Once you earn $5-$10, you'll be able to cash out a gift card of your choice.

Microsoft Rewards

If you're willing to switch up your primary search engine from Google to Bing, Microsoft will reward you with up to three Microsoft Rewards points for each search you make. One point is only worth about a tenth of a cent, but if you make a lot of searches per day, it adds up.

Tip:To make the most of the program, be sure to make Bing the default browser across all of your devices -- and make sure you're logged into your Microsoft account. You can also combine this program with the Qmee paid search extension to earn even more with each search.

3. Share Your Mobile Usage Habits

Of all the options on this list, this is probably the most passive way to earn free gift cards online. All you need to do is join the Nielsen Computer and Mobile Panel, download their app, and then use your phone as you normally would.

In the background, the app will gather information on things like the sites you visit, how long you stay on those sites for, the apps you use, and other ways in which you use your device. (Don't worry, it won't look at things like your texts, passwords, baking info, or anything else super sensitive.)

With the data that is collected, Nielsen combines and compiles it anonymously into reports for their clients, who use the insights to improve their marketing strategies. That's why they're willing to pay you each month for contributing.

With a mobile device on the panel, you'll earn up to $50/year in points, which can be redeemed for gift cards and other prizes.

4. Play Games

Yep, you can earn free gift cards while playing games -- and you don't even have to be a professional gamer or famous Twitch streamer!

To get started, check out Swagbucks. They have a pretty big selection of paid games on their platform, split into three different categories:

Cash games - These are pay to play. You'll be betting your cash against other players and Swagbucks will pay you cashback on any money you deposit.Mobile games - These are iOS and Android games. You'll get paid to download them and complete specific in-game milestones. Free games - Hosted right on Swagbucks, these are little arcade games that pay up to 10 Swagbucks ($0.10) each per day.

5. Buy Discount Gift Cards

While this option requires you to spend some of your own money, you'll still end up with some free cash at the end. For example, you might be able to buy a $50 Walmart gift card for $45 or less, giving you an easy $5+.

Why would anybody ever sell a gift card at a discount, you ask? Well, most of the time it's because they don't ever plan on using the card themselves, so they'd rather just trade it out for cash -- even if it is a bit less. And this happens a lot more often than you might think.

On Raise, a popular gift card marketplace, you can find hundreds of discount gift cards up to 30% off across over 1,100 different brands.

There's also a subreddit for gift card exchanges where several trades happen per day.

Needless to say, if you know you're going to be shopping somewhere in the future, you might as well get a discount gift card first for some easy, instant savings.

6. Go Shopping

Now that you've got your discount gift card, time to use it! While you're at the stores or shopping online, you can earn even more free gift cards with these programs:

Honey

Honey's primary function is to help you automatically find coupon codes when shopping online, but when it fails to do that, it'll sometimes pay you with Honey Gold. Once you earn 10,000 Gold, you can redeem it for a free gift card of your choice.

Shopkick

Shopkick allows you to earn free gift cards with and without spending money. They'll pay you to do things like visit stores, scan certain product barcodes, watch promotional videos, learn about new products, and of course, make purchases.

As you complete different tasks, you'll earn points known as Kicks. Earn at least 500 kicks ($2 worth), and you'll be able to cash out for a free gift card.

Credit Card Rewards

If you're not shopping with a discount gift card, a rewards credit card is the next best choice. Most rewards cards will allow you to redeem your points for gift cards, products, and other goodies. Just make sure to pay off your card balance in full each month, otherwise you'll end up paying more in interest than your rewards will be worth!

7. Scan Receipts

After you're finished shopping, there's one last thing you can do to maximize your free gift card potential:scan your receipts! There are a number of different apps and websites that will reward you for this:

Ibotta

To get paid for your receipts on Ibotta, you'll first need to open up the app and add some offers/products to your account. Once you've done that, go ahead and buy those products (either online or in-store) and then upload the receipt(s) to your Ibotta account. Within a day or two, you'll receive your cashback.

Once you have at least $20 in your account, you can cash it out for a gift card of your choice.

Fetch Rewards

Fetch Rewards is a lot more straightforward compared to Ibotta. This app will accept any receipt from any store with any products on it. All you need to do is remember to scan! Once you've earned at least $3 worth of points, you can redeem a gift card.

8. Enter Sweepstakes

Sweepstakes are really the only way to win gift cards without trading your time or data. And sure, they're sort of a shot in the dark, but if you find ones that are a bit lesser-known you can definitely turn the odds in your favor.

For ideas on where active sweepstakes and gift card giveaways are happening, check out SweepstakesFanatics.com.

You can also try going on Instagram or another social media platform and searching for tags like #giftcardgiveaway #freegiftcardgiveaway #[insert brand name]giftcards and other variations. Good luck!

9. Refer Your Friends

Last but definitely not least, some of the apps and sites mentioned above offer lucrative referral programs that you can take advantage of. Ibotta, for example, will pay you $10+ for each new user you send to the app who redeems an offer. That's enough to get you halfway to a gift card redemption!

If you have a large number of followers on social media, you can post your unique referral links on those platforms too -- and the earnings can add up fast. Just make sure your recommendations are genuine!

Final Thoughts

There you have it! If you consistently take advantage of a few of the opportunities above you should be able to save some money and get several free gift cards each year. This can be an awesome way to fund gift purchases, personal wants, restaurant visits, and more!