Meet Your Step Goals and Earn Money for Walking With These 8 Apps

Getting your steps in each day can be a challenge, especially if you spend most of your day at a desk. But just putting one foot in front of the other can improve your mood, sleep and even brain function. Where your health is concerned, walking daily can pay off — literally!

Enter: apps that pay you to walk. If you're struggling to log enough steps, you might get a boost of motivation to know you can earn money for walking. With these apps, you can take home cash, discounts or donations just for meeting your step or activity goals each day.

But don't get lost browsing an app store for hours: We've narrowed down the field to eight walking apps worth trying that will pay money for every step you take.

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Charity Miles allows you to walk, run or bike to collect donations for a charity of your choice. Available for free on both Apple and Android, Charity Miles partners with more than 40 charities, including Feeding America, Pencils of Promise or the World Wildlife Fund.

To start donating, all you have to do is download the app, create an account and choose a charity, according to the Charity Miles site. Friends and family can pledge to donate a certain amount of money to your charity for every mile you move.

Charity Miles logs both indoor and outdoor workouts using either your phone's GPS or accelerometer to track your distance. However, like most workout apps, you need to open and track each walk, run or bike ride to compile donations — it won't automatically track your steps each day.

Partnering with universities like Stanford and Harvard, Achievement is a research-driven app that pays you to walk in exchange for user data. With more than 3 million members, the app has been able to contribute to more than 20 studies on human health, according to the Achievement website.

Achievement imports data from other more than 20 iOS and Android apps on your phone (like the Apple Health app or the Fitbit app) to gather your activity and health information. Then, you earn rewards for doing habits like logging your exercise or food intake.

You'll get different amounts of points for different activities you log. Once you reach 10,000 points, you'll receive $10 in case through PayPal or in online gift cards through Gift Rocket.

Using Lympo, you can complete health and fitness challenges (like a daily 1.5-mile walking challenge) to collect LYM Tokens, which are stored in your in-app wallet, according to the Lympo site. You can spend these tokens in the Lympo Shop to buy products, like sneakers, or gift cards to retailers like Amazon.

As with Achievement, you can track your fitness tasks directly in the app or in compatible apps like Samsung Health or Apple Health. Lympo works with all kinds of movement, whether you prefer to track your activities indoors or out.

Make the most of that Walgreens Balance Rewards card in your wallet and earn money for walking. With the Balance Rewards app, you can nab up to 100 rewards points each week for logging walks or runs, and you can redeem those points for in-store discounts, according to the Walgreens site.

The Walgreens app allows you to gather points for all kinds of health-conscious activities, like tracking your weight or blood pressure. Using other apps like Fitbit, you can also log your sleep to gain extra points.

Available on both Apple and Android devices, PK Rewards is a pretty straightforward app. You can log walking, running, yoga or biking, among others activities, according to the app's website. You can also connect your fitness tracker (like your Apple Watch) to track your movement. You're even able to import workout info from other apps if you upgrade to Pro or Pro Max subscriptions for $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year.

Then, the app rates your workout with an effort score. That score gets converted to coins; you'll get more coins the more intensely you exercised. You can redeem your coins in the app for gift cards or products from brands like Lululemon, Nike or Amazon.

‌Read more:‌ How Small Steps Really Do Add Up When You Start Walking

Sweatcoin pays users with (you guessed it) sweatcoins in exchange for walking, according to the app's website. Based in the U.K., Sweatcoin partners with insurance companies and government agencies to encourage healthy lifestyle choices.

The app (available on both Apple and Android) uses your phone's GPS and rewards you for every 2,000 steps you take with one coin. Then, you can use your coins to buy products or services (like apparel, gear and even fitness classes) right in the app.

To actually walk for money, you'll need to either log a workout in Sweatcoin directly or sync with your Apple Health app. And because your steps are tracked using your phone's GPS, indoor walking workouts may not automatically register.

Available only on Apple, FitFetti tracks your steps using your iPhone, Fitbit or Apple Watch. The app partners with companies like Amazon and Beam Health to "sponsor" your progress. When you meet a walking or other exercise goal, you can earn rewards from your sponsors. You can even earn money from friends or sponsor another app user yourself.

In the app, you can set personal walking and exercise goals. Each time you meet a new goal, you'll get rewards that you can use in exchange for goods or services on Amazon.

StepBet uses games designed to get you active and moving throughout the day. The app pairs with your fitness tracker or other health apps to set achievable step goals based on your current activity.

Then, you can browse games across the app and join in by placing a bet in the game's pot. When you win, you split the pot with the other participants and earn a little more than you initially contributed. The minimum contribution to join a game is $40 — so you really won't want to lose!