Get paid to review apps and games: videos on your channel, not star ratings (2026)

Last updated 17 October 2026

You can get paid to review apps and games, but not for ratings. Offers to pay you for App Store, Google Play or Steam ratings, or to "like and rate" things online, are banned by the stores or are task scams the FTC warns about. The honest version is a review video on your own channel: a developer pays you to really use their app, website or game and say what you think, you disclose to viewers that it is paid, and the pay never depends on a positive verdict.

Not sure what to charge? Read what a review costs in 2026

1. The short answer

Five glass cards along an orange arrow: a lightning bolt, a worried face, a phone, balance scales and a pointing hand — A paid review still weighs the good against the bad — and the verdict stays yours.

Real: a developer pays you for a review or demo video on your own YouTube, TikTok, Instagram or Facebook channel, for a price you agree in writing
Real: paid private testing, where your feedback goes only to the developer and is never posted as a store review
Banned: being paid, or given anything, for ratings or reviews on the App Store, Google Play, Steam or Google Maps
Scam: "jobs" that pay you to rate or like things online, then ask you to deposit money to unlock more tasks or withdraw your earnings

2. Why "get paid to rate apps" offers are scams or banned

Paid ratings break the rules of the App Store, Google Play, Steam and Google Maps alike, and a developer caught buying them can be removed from Apple's developer program. Each rule below was read on the store's or regulator's own page, checked 17 October 2026.

Apple: developers who "manipulate reviews, inflate your chart rankings with paid, incentivized, filtered, or fake feedback, or engage with third-party services to do so" can be removed from its developer program (App Store Review Guidelines, section 3 and 5.6.3)
Google Play: "Don't offer rewards or incentives for ratings or reviews" — Google Play bans incentivised feedback and paid fake reviews (User Ratings, Reviews, and Installs policy)
Steam: developers may send free copies to press and internet personalities for videos or articles, but may not ask for Steam reviews "in exchange for any games, DLC, money, or other rewards"
Google Maps: bans reviews or ratings "that have been paid for, directly or in kind"
FTC (US): its rule on consumer reviews bans fake reviews, reviews by people who never used the product, pay that depends on a review being positive or negative, and buying fake followers, views or likes (16 CFR Part 465)

The other half of these offers are task scams. The FTC describes them like this: you are paid a little at first — "usually $5 to $20" — to gain your trust, then told to "deposit your own money, usually in crypto" to unlock more tasks or get your earnings out, and the money is gone (FTC consumer alert, 14 August 2025, checked 17 October 2026). Its April 2026 alert names the bait directly: "online tasks (like giving positive ratings or reviews) to earn money".

The FTC's advice: "Don't trust anyone who says they'll pay you to give a positive rating or like things online," and "Never pay anyone to get paid, or to get a job." If you already paid, follow the steps in the scam guide below.

Got an offer that asks for a deposit, a top-up or a private chat? Check it against the warning signs first.

Spot a fake review job

3. How a disclosed review gig works

A real review gig is ordinary freelance work: a developer wants people to see their app, website or game through a creator's eyes, and pays for the creator's time and audience — not for praise.

From job to payment

Find a job that names a real product you can open and try before you apply
Apply with your own price, and say what you will make: platform, length, what you will show
Agree the scope in writing before you start: price, deadline, how long the video stays up, and whether the developer may use it as an ad
Really use the product — you can only talk about what you actually used
Make the video and give your honest opinion, the bad with the good; the pay never depends on a positive verdict
Say it is paid in the video itself — out loud or on screen — and turn on the platform's label: YouTube's paid-promotion label, TikTok's commercial content toggle, or Paid partnership on Instagram and Facebook
Post it on your own channel, send the link, and the developer pays you directly at the agreed price

The FTC says the disclosure goes "in the video and not just in the description", and warns: "Don't assume that a platform's disclosure tool is good enough." Use both: say it, and switch the label on.

Things a developer may not ask for, whatever they pay: a positive review, a store rating or review, likes, follows or installs, or that you take down a negative opinion.

4. How to price a review gig

There is no fixed rate. Start from the time the job really takes — install, use the product properly, record, edit — then add anything extra as its own line.

A published reference: Teleprompter.com pays $100 per approved video for an honest YouTube review of its app of at least four minutes, with no subscriber or view minimum, for English-language channels in the US, Canada, the UK or the EU (checked 17 October 2026)
Marketplace averages: on Collabstr, brands paid YouTube creators $255 per collaboration on average in 2025 and TikTok creators $186 (Collabstr's 2026 report, checked 17 October 2026)
If the developer wants to run your clip as an ad, charge extra: influee's UGC guide suggests 30–50% on top for usage rights, whitelisting or Spark Ads, or rush delivery (checked 17 October 2026)
Price extras separately: a second platform, a longer keep-up period, exclusivity, or a revision
Never discount for a promised good review — the price buys your time and honest opinion, not the verdict

On Reviewder, developers post a budget with the job — any amount from $5 — and you apply with your own price, which can be above or below it. The developer chooses among the creators who apply.

See what developers pay, what moves the price and how to agree the scope in writing.

Read the rates guide

5. Where to find paid review gigs

A few honest places, each described from its own pages, checked 17 October 2026. None of them pay for store ratings.

Developers' own creator programs: some app makers publish one, such as Teleprompter.com's flat-fee YouTube review program above. Search the app's site for "creator program" or "partnership"
Lurkit (games): besides free keys, its Quests let creators bid the money they want for a brief, paid by Lurkit when the Quest is done. It asks for at least 250 followers or subscribers for YouTube Shorts and TikTok, and pays out through Stripe, which some countries can't receive
Keymailer (games): free for creators; mostly free keys rather than cash, and it also lists sponsorship, pay-per-action and affiliate campaigns
Reviewder (apps, websites and games): a job board where developers post paid review gigs and creators apply with their own price; the developer pays you directly
Direct: write to small developers whose product you already use, with your channel link and a price

6. Review gigs on Reviewder

Reviewder is a job board where developers post paid review gigs for their apps, websites and games, and creators apply with their own price; no commission.

Videos go on your own channel: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram or Facebook. No store ratings or reviews are ever part of a job
No follower minimum to join; each job can set the follower count it needs
Applying is free for 10 jobs in any 24 hours on the web, then 0.05 boost credits (stars) per application. Reviewder never asks a creator to pay to get a job, and nothing is ever paid to a poster
The developer pays you directly; Reviewder takes no commission and never holds anyone's money
The terms require disclosure in the video itself plus the platform's label, and ban pay that depends on a positive verdict
Reviewder is new and its board is small, and it doesn't verify posters beyond their sign-in account — check each job against the warning signs before you start

Browse open review gigs and apply with your own price.

See review jobs

7. Questions people ask

Can you really get paid to review apps and games?

Yes, when a developer pays you for a review or demo video on your own channel and you disclose that it is paid. You set or agree the price, you give your honest opinion, and the pay doesn't depend on a positive verdict. Being paid for store ratings is not a real version of this.

Is it legit to get paid to rate apps on the App Store or Google Play?

No. Apple and Google Play ban paid or incentivised ratings and reviews, and the FTC's rule on consumer reviews bans buying them. Offers to pay you to rate or like things online are also a common task scam: the FTC says not to trust anyone who makes them.

Do I need a lot of followers to get paid for reviews?

Not always. Teleprompter.com's YouTube review program has no subscriber minimum, Lurkit asks for at least 250 followers for YouTube Shorts and TikTok, and on Reviewder each job sets its own follower count, often none (checked 17 October 2026). A small, well-matched audience can still win gigs.

Do I have to say the review is paid?

Yes. Say it in the video itself, out loud or on screen, and turn on the platform's label: paid promotion on YouTube, the commercial content toggle on TikTok, or Paid partnership on Instagram and Facebook. The FTC says the description alone isn't enough.

Can a developer require a positive review?

No. The pay must not depend on what you say, and an endorsement has to be your honest opinion. You can agree what the video covers and its length, but never the verdict.

Do I have to pay to apply for review jobs?

No real job asks you to pay the person hiring you. On Reviewder, applying is free for 10 jobs in any 24 hours on the web, then 0.05 boost credits (stars) per application, bought on the site only; the developer pays you directly.

8. Sources

Every page below was read on 17 October 2026.