Testerup Review: The $70 Minimum Makes It Almost Impossible to Get Paid

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Testerup’s tagline says their 3 million users “earn real money testing online.” But our research and first-hand experience suggests that “testing” is a bit of an overstatement. 

If participants download mobile games, Testerup offers payments at various milestones. However, the minimum required to cash-out is a whopping $70 and payments often don’t credit to your account as expected (requiring you to reach out to customer service).

Plus, if you’re anything like me, you’ll get hooked on games like MonopolyGO that pay very little despite the countless hours you dedicate to mindlessly rolling digital dice and watching a thimble go around the digital board over, and over, and over again.

In this Testerup review, I’ll tell you about my experience on the platform and put some of the company’s bombastic marketing claims to the test. 

What Is Testerup?

Testerup is a website and app that promises the ability to earn money by testing “a wide selection of surveys, games, different apps, products, as well as cosmetics, and much more.” The app has a significant number of downloads and ratings, and demand for information about the platform has been rising. 

Types of Offers

The 27 offers that were available when I tested the app fell within three categories: “game test,” “website test,” and “general.”

Game Test

24 of the 27 available offers were for “testing” mobile games. 

Testerup users are paid through the app to download and play games on their mobile devices. Earnings accumulate as users reach various in-game milestones, like leveling up.

Website Test

The only website testing opportunity available to me indicated that I could earn $4.50 in just four minutes (but then strangely showed a duration of two minutes immediately below) by installing a data collection app (Nielsen Mobile Panel). 

Testerup indicated that users can install the market research app, surf the net as usual, and receive points worth up to $150 per year from Nielsen for participating. (On top of the $4.50 paid by Testerup.)

However, there weren’t any details about when the Testerup credit would be paid — i.e., after installation, after surfing the web for some certain duration, etc.

And unfortunately, I wasn’t able to participate because when I tried to download the app I received a “missing name” error message.

General

Two of the offers available to me were labeled as “general.” The first was to test an online game. Similar to testing mobile apps, Testerup offers milestone payments for in-game achievements. 

The second general offer was to set up an account on Trustpilot and then rate Testerup. No monetary payment was available for this offer, which was labeled as “Premium.” 

Instead, Testerup says that once a user successfully completes five Premium offers, they will be considered a Premium tester and be eligible for more offers, higher compensation, and an additional points system. 

Note that I was unable to find any information about what types of additional Premium offers are available (this was the only one offered to me), or about how the Premium points system works.

Testerup doesn’t outright state that the Trustpilopt review needs to be positive. However, they do state that, “Each order is checked by hand by the team. Stick to the task so that your order can be accepted and remunerated.” 

No criteria for acceptance/rejection was listed. However, Testerup does also state that users who have multiple rejected tasks will become ineligible for future tasks. 

How Testerup Works

Although Testerup claims to offer product testing opportunities and the ability to earn money via surveys, the overwhelming majority of offers we found on the platform were for playing web or online games. 

Here’s a brief overview of how this typically works: 

1. You download a game and earn a few cents by completing relatively easy tasks, like setting up your character or completing an early level. 
2. You’re then given a list of other in-game tasks, and your earnings are tied to the completion of these benchmarks. 
3. The games are typically free-to-play but are designed to entice you to spend money in-game. The purpose of the so-called testing benchmarks is to:
   
   (a) keep you playing (and thus emotionally invested in the game, at which point you’re watching more in-game ads and are more likely to spend money in the app).
   
   (b) Encourage you to spend money specifically so that you can complete the required tasks.

I wouldn’t consider these legitimate “testing” opportunities. Rather, they are rewards for reaching in-game milestones that are often difficult (or impossible) to achieve without spending money. 

That said, I did try a few games to see how easy it is to earn through game play.

Test 1: MonopolyGO

First, I downloaded MonopolyGO and have been playing (way, way too much) every day for over a month. Those countless hours of game play have gotten me to level 19.

How much money did I accumulate from Testerup for this achievement? 

$2.50, which amounts to a few cents for every hour of playing. 

Here are my earning details:

• $0.50 for completing board 04
• $0.50 for completing board 07
• $0.50 for completing board 11
• $1.00 for completing board 18

If I continue to play through level 41, all of the achievements combined would be worth $23. (Note that $4.00 of those earnings are contingent on spending some amount of money in the app, as shown below.) 

What I don’t know is whether I will be able to keep grinding my way through the majority of these levels at my current pace, or if it will become increasingly difficult to get to the next level without paying for in-game advantages like extra rolls, more in-game money, or the ability to earn at a faster rate.

Test 2: Yahtzee

I also tried my hand at Yahtzee. After spending nearly as much time in game (i.e., way too much time), and making my way to level 22, I earned an impressive $22. 

Although $22 seems like a good haul, my pay rate was still well under $1 per hour after accounting for playing time. 

Here’s how I accumulated my earnings:

• $2.00 for reaching level 3
• $3.00 for reaching level 7
• $5.00 for reaching level 15
• $12.00 for reaching level 21.

If I manage to meet all the Yahtzee milestones (and spend $6.98 on in-app purchases), I will earn a total of $66.

Getting Paid and Cashing Out

Whenever you reach a milestone in Testerup, you’re supposed to receive an email notification and your Testerup profile should be updated within the app. 

While I did receive some (but not all) of the expected emails, my Testerup balance stayed at $0.00 (instead of the $24.50 I earned through game play).

I reached out to the Testerup support team through the app to see why my balance wasn’t up-to-date, and they responded after a few days. 

They confirmed via email that I did in fact reach the milestones. However, they also said that, “the system encountered a minor glitch which led to the reward not being credited automatically.” 

I was given instructions for how to navigate the app to fix the issue. I needed to “Tick the box next to the phrase, ‘I want to end the job early and get credited only $XX instead of $XX’ >  Click ‘Next’ and finish the survey.” 

These instructions seem to indicate that if I followed the steps they suggested, I would be credited what I’d already earned but would be ineligible to continue earning by playing either game. 

I assumed that $22.50 was surely enough to cash-out (and end my growing Monopoly and Yahtzee addiction), so there would be no harm in following these instructions — even if it meant I was cut off from future earnings.

I was just about to move forward when I decided to look into the cash-out procedures, just to be sure. 

I clicked on “Payout” and was shocked to see that I needed to accumulate $70 to be eligible to redeem my earnings! 

So, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to request payment during my testing period and can’t speak to the process.

Testing Testerup’s Marketing Claims

Let’s look at some of Testerup’s claims (and how realistic they are or aren’t) now that I have over a month of testing under my belt.

Claim #1: “Each member receives over 50 offers to test, worth over $800 after completing the free registration.”

I only had 27 offers to choose from: 24 get paid-to-play mobile apps, 1 online game offer, 1 Nielsen download offer, and one unpaid Trustpilot review. While the total offer amount (if I completed each and every offer), may very well exceed $800, I probably couldn’t dedicate the time needed to play each and every available game. 

So while this claim may be technically true depending on the specific offers you’re shown, the potential earning figure should be taken with a major grain of salt.

Claim #2: “Get access to test out a wide selection of surveys, games, different apps, products, as well as cosmetics, and much more.”

I only had the opportunity to play games, download the Nielsen app, and rate Testerup. There were no surveys or product testing opportunities available while I was using the app over a 30-day period.

Claim #3: Earn up to USD $120 per test offer.”

The highest paying opportunity I saw during testing actually exceeded this $120 amount. I could have earned up to $227.50 for playing Raid Shadow Legends: Summon your champions. Note that the last two milestones for that game (shown in the screenshot below) — worth $59.50 of the total — require a purchase nearly equal to (or greater than) the related achievement payment.

In other words, you aren’t actually earning money — you’re just getting a rebate for an in-game purchase.

Other Online Testing Options

There are alternative apps that provide users the opportunity to earn cash or gift cards for playing games. If you thought Testerup’s offer for product testing opportunities was interesting, and were then disappointed to find there aren’t actually any, here are a few other options to consider.

UserTesting.com

UserTesting.com pays $10 for most tests, although some only paid $4 when we reviewed the platform. It’s also worth noting that we applied to 46 tests and got accepted into none of them.

Product Testing

There are numerous product testing sites where users can provide insight in exchange for free products. Others sweeten the deal with gifts cards or cash. For an overview of some of the main categories (e.g., product testing companies, mystery shopping companies, invitation-only programs, blogging, etc.), along with direct links to some of the most popular sites, check out TWTW’s article on the best product testing sites for making money.

Testerup: Our Final Verdict

Testerup provides some opportunities to earn money playing mobile and online games. If you enjoy (and are comfortable possibly becoming slightly addicted to) opening apps on your phone throughout the day to take a brain break from reality, Testerup can allow you the opportunity to do just that while slowly earning along the way. 

Just remember that if you actually want to earn enough to cash-out, you will likely need to play more than one game, play for a significant number of hours, and/or potentially pay money for in-app advantages to advance to higher levels more quickly.

Vanessa Zeigler

Vanessa Zeigler is a freelance writer and editor focused on personal finance and time management. She has an MBA from Duke University and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). She writes about frugal-living techniques, side hustles, product testing, selling on Etsy and eBay, and using money-making apps. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Upwork and Etsy.