20 Best Ways to Make Money from Home

Whether you’re a full-time worker looking for a side hustle or you think the pros of working from home outweigh the cons, there are plenty of opportunities to make money online. 

No matter your skills or experience, you’re sure to find a job that allows you to work remotely.  Here are 20 best ways to make money from home in 2024:

1. Become an online writer, editor, or proofreader.
2. Work as a virtual assistant.
3. Take transcription jobs.
4. Take translation jobs.
5. Showcase your digital art and photography skills. 
6. Design websites.
7. Show off your programming chops. 
8. Test websites.
9. Test products.
10. Put together an online course.
11. Become an expert tutor.
12. Be a social media influencer.
13. Be a social media manager.
14. Sell your old stuff.
15. Set up an online store.
16. Rent out space in your home.
17. Rent your car.
18. Invest in stocks.
19. Work remotely for a call center.
20. Perform basic online tasks.

Want to learn how to become any of the above? Read on to know more.

1. Become an Online Writer, Editor, or Proofreader

f you have top-notch wordsmithing skills, you can make a good living online as a master of the written word. As a writer, you can draft blog posts, white papers, long-form articles, web copy, and other online content. 

As an editor and proofreader, you can put your style manual knowledge to good use and ensure that what writers send you is as spiffy as it can be.  

Either way, you can start building your portfolio through places like Problogger, Upwork, Freelance Writing Jobs, and publicly available job boards.

2. Work as a Virtual Assistant

Do you like helping people free up time so they can focus on the things that matter most? If yes, you might make an excellent virtual assistant.

Virtual assistants perform a wide variety of tasks. They schedule appointments, manage calendars, take calls, organize files, and do other things office assistants do, all from a remote setting.

If you have additional skills like dropshipping and affiliate marketing, you can take those tasks off your client’s hands and make good money while you’re at it. Fortunately, there are a lot of companies that hire for virtual assistant jobs like Ajilon, BELAY, and Boldly. 

3. Take Transcription Jobs

If you have excellent typing and listening skills and you have a lot of patience and persistence, you’ll do well as a transcriptionist. 

Aside from a good computer and Internet connection, you’ll need a decent headset and foot pedal to maximize your transcription rate per hour. Hourly rates for transcriptionists range from $3 to $20 per hour, depending on experience and how fast you type.  

Whether you’re a beginner or pro, you want to bookmark the best transcription job sites. For example, beginners can earn about $0.40 to $0.75 per audio minute from Rev, while seasoned professionals can bring in as much as $30 per hour from 3Play Media.

Many job sites have dedicated transcription software. However, you may benefit from learning how to work with programs like Express Scribe.

4. Take Translation Jobs

Are you fluent in two or more languages? If so, you can make a living as a translator. The beauty of translation jobs is you can find them in almost every industry.

After all, thanks to globalization, the need to bridge language and cultural gaps is more important than ever.  As a translator, you can translate text-to-text, speech-to-text, or text-to-speech.

Luckily, the best online translation jobs (some of which can net you up to $100/hr) are only a few clicks away.  To get started as a freelance translator, visit sites like Translate.com and Unbabel and see what they have to offer. 

5. Showcase Your Digital Art & Photography Skills

If you’re an avid user of Tumblr or older sites like DeviantArt, you know how good it feels for people to look at your work and say: “Wow, that’s a fantastic piece!” 

Thanks to the abundance of portfolio websites for artists like Adobe Portfolio, Pixpa, and Behance, you can earn a living doing what you love. All you have to do is send potential clients links to your portfolio, and you can negotiate your next big project from there.

Alternatively, you can open a Patreon and Ko-Fi account, link those to your social media accounts, and gently remind people that they can throw extra cash your way if they like your work.  

6. Design Websites

Are you one of those unicorns who have a knack for graphic design and web development? If so, you can sell your services online as a web designer.

You can nest your design work inside an online portfolio that you also crafted from the ground up. Take a look at these sample web design portfolios for inspiration.

A couple of job boards for web designers include Awesome Web and Design Observer.  

7. Show Off Your Programming Chops

You may not be the most artistic person in the world, but you’re still proud of your mad programming skills. In an age where information and technology drive progress, your expertise will become increasingly important.

Like web designers, you need a portfolio to showcase your skills to potential clients. Unlike web designers, you emphasize your mastery of programming languages and experience instead of your artistic ability.

Need programming jobs now? Head over to niche job boards like Stack Overflow, Dice, and Mashable.  

8. Test Websites

Do you get annoyed whenever you visit a website and encounter a bug or two? Luckily, you can help ease other people’s user experience and earn extra cash along the way.

You don’t need high-level programming skills to be a website tester. If you have the latest computer model, a high-speed Internet connection, and decent writing skills for writing reviews, you’re good to go.

Well-known companies that pay you to test websites include Checkealos, Usertesting, and Amazon Mechanical Turk.

9. Test Products

Maybe testing websites isn’t your thing, but hoo boy, do you have strong opinions about that recent order from Amazon! In that case, why not make a living as a product tester? 

For example, if you’re a cosmetics expert, you can sign up for L’Oreal USA’s product testing program. If you’re a stay-at-home mom who wants to add to your household’s savings, you can join Kolcraft 75’s Mom Matters program.

Alternatively, you can check the top comment in this Reddit thread for more legitimate product testing opportunities. 

10. Put Together an Online Course

If you have in-depth knowledge of a particular topic but aren’t keen on becoming a TED Talk speaker, you can do the next best thing: Design an online course.

A single course can earn you as much as $50,000.  The beauty of online courses is that you’ll only work hard initially, designing the course materials to appeal to as many students as possible and keep them coming back.

Also, you can create professional-looking courses through platforms like Coursify and Udemy.

11. Become an Expert Tutor

What if your expertise lies in a broader subject, such as in life sciences, business, economics, rather than a specific topic, such as Power and Responsibility: Doing Philosophy with Superheroes?

No problem. You can still become a freelance tutor.

If you’re passionate about a subject and have a knack for explaining things in a way the average person can understand, you can find job opportunities through the likes of Tutor.com, Varsity Tutors, and other websites that offer tutoring jobs.

12. Be a Social Media Influencer

Do you have what it takes to earn blue checks on your social media profiles? You might make good money as a social media influencer. You’ll find plenty of articles on how to become a social media influencer. 

Essentially, you need to:

• Have a specific niche.
• Have genuine passion or interest in your chosen niche.
• Churn out content about your niche regularly.
• Engage with your followers authentically.
• Rinse and repeat. 

For information on how much social media influencers make per platform, check out this in-depth article from Influencer Marketing Hub.

13. Be a Social Media Manager

You might love social media, but you don’t want to put yourself out there as an “influencer.” If so, consider working behind the scenes as a social media manager.

According to PayScale, social media managers average around $52,724 per year.  Your work will include the following duties and responsibilities: 

• Create content strategies to improve online visibility.
• Encourage engagement to keep loyal followers and create new ones.
• Track the performance of social media posts.
• Analyze metrics to help refine your content strategies.

14. Sell Your Old Stuff

Unless you want to feature in the next “Hoarding: Buried Alive” episode, consider selling some stuff and freeing up space in your home. The most popular place to sell second-hand merchandise is eBay.

You can also use similar sites like Bonanza and Mercari to make money from the stuff you don’t use anymore.

15. Set Up an Online Store

Don’t have old stuff to sell? You can always market good-as-new products online.

Earlier, I talked about places digital artists can showcase their work. If you’re selling physical goods, you can set up a professional-looking e-commerce store using the likes of Squarespace and Shopify.

16. Rent Out Space in Your Home

If you have an extra room in your house that you don’t want to demolish for one reason or another, you can use Airbnb or similar sites to rent it out.  

When you set Airbnb fees, you shouldn’t only account for the price of nightly stays. You’ll also want to account for cleaning costs and extra amenities like a kiddie pool, jacuzzi, or breathtaking views of the city.

Assuming you’re a good Airbnb host, you can average about $924 per month. It’s also possible to earn six figures if you rent out your place full-time.

17. Rent Your Car

Do you have good driving skills and a sense of direction? If you’re like 80% of the U.S. population, you have a car. If you have a car and know many people who need to get around, that’s your business opportunity right there.

You can sign up as an Uber or Lyft driver and earn up to $21.73 per hour, depending on where you live.  

18. Invest in Stocks

You may have extra cash lying around the house. Instead of allowing inflation to eat up your savings, you can put your money in a place where its value can multiply over time.

If you have a high-risk tolerance, try investing in stocks. Assuming you play your cards right, you can earn an eye-popping amount of money when you buy and sell your shares at the right time and at the right price.

Billion-dollar holding companies like Berkshire Hathaway can earn as much as 52% from stocks. You don’t have to choose stocks on your own, because if you set up an account with Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab, and Robinhood, you’re all set. 

19. Work Remotely for a Call Center

Do you have exceptional customer service and communication skills? Do you have a working headset and microphone, a high-speed Internet connection, and a high-performance computer?

If you answered “Yes” to all questions, you could work as a remote customer service representative. Many call center companies allow their agents to work from home like Asurion, Alorica, and Apple at Home.

20. Perform Basic Online Tasks

Aside from what I mentioned above, there are many other ways to make money. You only need a computer or mobile phone and an Internet connection.

Most of these opportunities won’t earn you a living wage on their own. However, if you need extra cash ASAP, you can try the following gigs:

• Survey taker: The job allows you to earn money for taking surveys. Sites that pay you to take surveys include Swagbucks and LifePoints.
• Search engine evaluator: Now and then, Appen opens up slots for search engine evaluators. Essentially, you’ll help improve the effectiveness of search engines like Google and Bing.  
• Other remote tasks: If you can do it online, you’ll probably get paid for it. Using sites like InboxDollars and Remotasks, you can earn money through watching videos, teaching A.I. to recognize images, and funky tasks like that