Here are 20 completely different, no-skill tasks you can start right away using only your phone.
1 Earning from Test SMS Messages
Telecom companies and app developers need to test if their text messages are delivering correctly to networks like Safaricom or Airtel.
How to start: Download apps like McMoney or SMS Profit on your Android phone.
How to make money: You do absolutely nothing. The app runs in the background and occasionally sends you a random test text message (like "Test 1234"). You get paid a few cents for every text you receive, and you can delete them immediately.
2 Playing and Testing New Mobile Games
Game developers will pay you to play their new mobile games so they can see if there are any glitches.
How to start: Download apps like Mistplay or Givvy from the Google Play Store.
How to make money: Download the suggested games through the app and play them for a few minutes. You earn coins for the time you spend playing, which you can exchange for cash.
3 Taking Photos of Supermarket Shelves (Retail Auditing)
Big brands want to know if local supermarkets (like Naivas or Quickmart) are stocking their products correctly.
How to start: Download the Premise Data or Field Agent app. Turn on your phone's location.
How to make money: The app will show a map with a nearby task. It might ask you to walk into a shop, take a picture of the cooking oil shelf, and answer two simple questions about the prices. You get paid for every approved photo.
4 Sharing Shortened News Links
You can get paid every time someone clicks on a link you share.
How to start: Sign up on a URL shortener website like ShrinkMe.io or AdF.ly using your mobile browser.
How to make money: Find a trending news story, a funny TikTok, or a job advert. Paste that link into the shortener website. It will give you a new, shorter link. Share this new link in WhatsApp groups or Facebook. You get paid for every person who clicks it.
5 Sharing Your Unused Internet Data
If you buy data bundles or have Wi-Fi and don't use it all, you can sell the extra bandwidth securely.
How to start: Download apps like Honeygain or Pawns.app.
How to make money: Leave the app running in the background of your phone. It silently and securely shares your unused internet connection with researchers, and you get paid a set amount for every gigabyte shared.
6 Reading Promotional Emails
Companies will pay you just to open their advertising emails.
How to start: Sign up on websites like Volutic or Paid To Read Email using your phone.
How to make money: You will receive emails in your inbox. You simply open the email, click the link inside, wait for the timer on the page to finish (usually 10-30 seconds), and you get credited a few cents.
7 Listening to and Rating Unreleased Music
New musicians want feedback on their songs before they release them to the public.
How to start: Sign up on SliceThePie using your phone's browser.
How to make money: You listen to at least 90 seconds of a new song, give it a star rating out of 10, and write two or three simple sentences about what you thought of the beat or the singer's voice. You get paid per review.
8 Captcha Solving
Websites use Captchas (those blurry letters and numbers you have to type to prove you are human) to block bots. AI companies need humans to solve them to train their systems.
How to start: Register on mobile-friendly sites like 2Captcha or MegaTypers.
How to make money: The screen will show you an image of letters or numbers. You type exactly what you see into the box and hit submit. It is repetitive, but anyone who can read letters can do it.
9 App Referral Programs
Almost every fintech app in Kenya will pay you to bring them new customers.
How to start: Look at the apps you already use (like Branch, Tala, Chipper Cash, or even TikTok). Find your unique "Invite a Friend" link in the settings.
How to make money: Send your link to friends on WhatsApp. Explain that it’s a good app. When they download it and sign up using your link, the app automatically deposits a bonus (usually between Ksh 100 to Ksh 500) into your account.
10 Simple Web Search Evaluator
Google and Bing want to make sure their search results are accurate, so they ask humans to check them.
How to start: Join micro-task sites like Toloka or Clickworker via their mobile apps.
How to make money: The task will ask you to open your browser, search for a specific word (like "Nairobi weather"), and click the first link. You take a screenshot to prove you did it, and you get paid.
11 Commenting on Blogs and YouTube Videos
People want their websites and videos to look busy, so they buy comments.
How to start: Log into micro-task sites like SproutGigs (formerly Picoworkers) on your phone.
How to make money: Accept a task that says "Comment on blog." Go to the provided link, scroll to the bottom, and leave a generic, positive comment like "This was very helpful, thank you!" Submit your username as proof to get paid.
12 Making and Selling WhatsApp Stickers
Kenyans love communicating with funny stickers and memes.
How to start: Download a free app called Sticker Maker. Save funny pictures or trending political memes to your phone.
How to make money: Use the app to turn those pictures into WhatsApp stickers. Create a pack of 20 funny stickers. Tell people on Facebook or WhatsApp status you are selling the pack. They send you Ksh 20 or Ksh 50 via M-Pesa, and you forward them the stickers.
13 Virtual Friend / Conversationalist
People who are lonely, anxious, or just bored will pay to text or call someone friendly.
How to start: Register on sites like CyberFriends or RentAFriend (they have options strictly for online texting/calling).
How to make money: You just need to be polite, listen, and chat about normal, everyday things. You set your status to "online" on your phone, and you get paid per minute of chatting.
14 Recording Local Dialects (Mother Tongue Voice Data)
Global companies are trying to build voice assistants (like Siri or Alexa) that understand African languages.
How to start: Sign up for mobile platforms like Neevo or Appen.
How to make money: Look for tasks requesting native speakers of Swahili, Kikuyu, Luo, etc. The app will show you a sentence. You press the microphone button, read it out loud exactly as written, and get paid for the batch of recordings.
15 Transcribing Short Receipts
Market research companies want to know what everyday people are buying at the shop.
How to start: Find receipt-transcription tasks on micro-work sites, or use apps like Receipt Hog (availability varies by region, but similar tasks appear on Amazon Mechanical Turk).
How to make money: The screen shows you a photo of a supermarket receipt. All you do is look at the photo and type the total amount or the date into a box.
16 Online Focus Group Participant
Brands want to ask regular people questions about their daily habits.
How to start: Search Facebook for "Market Research Kenya" or sign up on sites like UserInterviews.
How to make money: You get invited to a WhatsApp group or a zoom call (which you can do on your phone). The moderator asks questions like, "What kind of milk do you buy and why?" You type your honest answer in the chat and receive a cash reward via M-Pesa at the end of the session.
17 Categorizing Images (Image Tagging)
AI needs humans to help it understand what is inside a picture.
How to start: Log into Remotasks or Toloka on your mobile browser.
How to make money: The task will show you a photo and ask, "Is the person in this photo wearing a hat?" You simply tap "Yes" or "No." You can do hundreds of these an hour while watching TV, earning cents for each batch.
18 TikTok / Instagram Follower for Hire
New influencers and brands will pay for guaranteed followers to make their accounts look popular.
How to start: Use micro-task platforms like TimeBucks or SproutGigs.
How to make money: The task will give you an Instagram or TikTok username. You open your app, find the user, and hit "Follow" or "Like." You take a screenshot to prove you did it, upload it, and get paid.
19 Answering Simple Questions on Forums
Website owners need their forums to look active so real people will join.
How to start: Sign up for paid forum posting sites like ForumWheel or accept posting jobs on freelance micro-sites.
How to make money: You go to a designated website forum, read a question (like "What is the best phone brand?"), and type a simple 2-sentence reply from your phone based on your own opinion.
20 Finding Broken Website Links
Website owners lose money if the links on their pages don't work, so they pay people to click them.
How to start: Look for "Website Testing" or "Link Clicking" tasks on micro-task platforms.
How to make money: They give you a website address. You open it on your phone, click on the menu buttons or the links in the article. If a link takes you to an "Error 404" page, you take a screenshot, report it, and get paid for finding the mistake.