I recently stumbled upon Sweatcoin which is an app promising to pay you for simply walking. The concept is simple. Your steps are turned into Sweatcoins that can be used in the marketplace or to cash out.
Sounds too good to be true? I thought so too, so I decided to check it out.
I found out it has been featured on a few reliable sites and has received relatively good reviews online.
My overall takeaway is that Sweatcoin will most likely not make you rich, but I can make you some money. Read on if you want more details.
Is Sweatcoin legit or a scam?
I don’t believe Sweatcoin is a scam. I have successfully purchased on their marketplace, and I don’t believe they overpromise anything concerning the potential of the app.
Sweatcoin has more than 5 million users and has raised more than $5.7 million in a seed round from Goodwater Capital.
Sweatcoin has also been featured in a few prominent newspapers/magazines such as TechCrunch, New York Times and Forbes.
My experience using Sweatcoin for the first time
I decided to download the app for iPhone to see what it was all about. The app is quite smooth and the sign-up process is quite simple.
You have to give the app access to the number of steps you take per day in the “Health” section of your phone, as well as allowing it to track your location. Being quite mindful of what I allow to track me, this was the thing I was least happy with.
I guess the tracking makes sense since that is what they need to assess how many Sweatcoins I am earning… and I guess that is partly how Sweatcoin makes money (by selling data). Although the official purpose of the app is to make people more fit, I assume the data is more valuable for the company behind.
As soon as you have signed up, it starts counting your steps and you start earning Sweatcoin.
Click here to download Sweatcoin and start earning money by walking
How much money can you make using Sweatcoin?
Now that the app was up and running, I was, of course, interested in whether I could earn some serious money with Sweatcoin.
The short answer is no. I found out that I’m not going to get rich from this. However, since I just have to walk around with my smartphone (which I do anyway), I thought a little extra money couldn’t hurt.
For every 1,000 steps you take outside (you do not earn steps in your house), you will earn 1 Sweatcoin.
I have now used Sweatcoin for a week and have earned a total of 13.58 Sweatcoins. I used it during my vacation where I spent the majority of the time in a sunbed, so I am sure it would be higher at home.
How much is a Sweatcoin worth? Since you get 1,000 USD for 20,000 Sweatcoins, a Sweatcoin is worth 0.05 USD.
This means that from a week of relaxing in a sunbed, I earned 0.679 USD, so nearly a dollar. Do you see why I’m saying I probably won’t get rich from this?
Even though it’s not a lot, I still use the app because why wouldn’t I make a bit of money when I have to walk around anyway?
Click here to download Sweatcoin and start earning money by walking
How long time will it take you to earn 1,000 USD using the Sweatcoin app?
Now, I thought this would be an easy question to answer, but it turns out it is quite hard to answer.
Before I’ll answer the question, you should know a few more things about earning Sweatcoin (SWC):
- Sweatcoin charges 5% commission for every 1,000 steps, meaning that 1,000 steps are only worth 0.95 Sweatcoin
- You can earn a maximum of 5 Sweatcoin per day or 150 Sweatcoin per month, but four different membership tiers will allow you to increase this. If you pay 30 Sweatcoin per month to join the “Breaker” membership tier, you will be able to earn 20 Sweatcoin per day and 600 Sweatcoin per month, which is the highest
- You can earn 1 Sweatcoin extra per day if you visit the app and watch an ad
- If you refer someone to Sweatcoin, you earn 5 Sweatcoins
So to answer the question of when you can get a payout of 1,000 USD, let’s assume the following:
- You are in the highest membership tier earning 600 Sweatcoins per month at the cost of 30 Sweatcoins
- You visit the app every day to watch the ad (1 Sweatcoin extra per day)
- You refer a friend every second week (5 Sweatcoins extra every second week)
The different membership tiers in Sweatcoin (the current highest tier is ‘Breaker’)
Under these assumptions, you will be able to earn the following in one year:
- + 12 months * 600 Sweatcoins = 7,200 Sweatcoins for walking
- + 365 days * 1 Sweatcoin = 365 Sweatcoins for watching ads
- + 26 weeks * 5 Sweatcoins = 130 Sweatcoins for referring
- – 12 months * 30 Sweatcoins = -360 for the highest membership tier
The total is = 7,200 + 365 + 130 – 360 = 7,335 Sweatcoins per year.
This means it will take you 2.73 years to earn 1,000 USD using the Sweatcoin app.
Remember I told you, this will not make you rich, but it could earn you an extra 366 USD per year with very little effort.
If you want to cash out faster, you could team up with a friend you trust. Since you can send Sweatcoins, you could send him/her your Sweatcoins to reach 20,000 Sweatcoins faster to cash out the 1,000 USD.
Click here to download Sweatcoin and start earning money by walking
Now, I haven’t told you the full story, and there is a faster way to cash out and earn money using Sweatcoin, but it requires a bit more effort on your side. You can earn money by becoming a Sweatcoin Influencer.
How can you earn money as a Sweatcoin Influencer?
Once you have referred 30 people to Sweatcoin, you automatically become a Sweatcoin Influencer.
By being a Sweatcoin Influencer, you get access to a special marketplace with other deals, you get more money and you will be able to cash out faster.
As of November 21, 2018, the minimum payout is seemingly 100 USD for influencers, and influencers earn $100 for every 50 people they invite, but this is the best it has been so far, so expect it to change in the future. Now, if you have a wide network or a blog like I do, you can start making a bit more money using Sweatcoin compared to just using Sweatcoin normally.
What else can you spend Sweatcoin on?
If you don’t want to wait for the minimum payout, you can also spend Sweatcoin in the marketplace in the app.
The marketplace offers a variety of things such as cheap memberships on famous apps (I found a meditation app cheaply that I considered paying for in full), consumer goods (TVs, smartphones, watches, etc.) and travel items (cheaper flight tickets, etc.).
Screenshots of the Sweatcoin marketplace
I usually prefer to just cash out and save the money, but if you find a good deal, Sweatcoins can be used on that too.
What are the pros and cons of Sweatcoin?
I believe there are quite a few pros and cons of using Sweatcoin.
The main advantages are:
- It’s free to use
- It’s super easy to get started
- It’s super-low effort
- You can make real money and not only a digital currency
- You have a larger earnings potential as a Sweatcoin Influencer
- You get fit by having an incentive to walk more
- The app has a marketplace with decent offers
- The app is simple and beautiful
The main disadvantages are:
- You are giving away your location and steps data for free and allow Sweatcoin to resell it
- You need to be patient to get a decent payout
- You will most likely not become rich or earn a lot of money
- The membership tiers and the 5% commission is a bit hard to understand
Who is Sweatcoin for?
The big question is now: who is Sweatcoin for and should you install it on your smartphone?
If you want to earn a few extra bucks every month without really doing anything, and if you don’t mind giving away your data to a third-party, then I believe Sweatcoin is a sound option.
If this sounds like you, you can sign up for Sweatcoin and download the app by clicking here.
I will continue to use it for a while to see whether I can make some money on it and follow up on this blog.
Sweatcoin review conclusion
Overall, I believe Sweatcoin is a good way to make some extra money and it seems legit. It will not make you rich, but it will make you some extra dollars every month with a minimum effort. And why not give it a shot when you walk around anyway?