$227 to Play a Game? What’s the Catch?

Testerup is a legit platform that allows users to test mobile games and earn money.

But while you can make money testing games with this platform, your time may be better spent on other money making apps.

In this review, I’ll share:

How Testerup works
My experience with the app so far
Some Testerup alternatives to consider

Ready? Let’s do it!

Getting Started With Testerup

Testerup was launched in May 2022, so it is a relatively new game testing platform.

Signing up for Testerup is easy. Once you register you’re taken inside the platform to see available offers. 

The website is pretty basic and gives you:

an overview tab with your offers
a settings tab with a place to fill out your information
a payout tab for your rewards

They do have support articles and places to get help if you need them but they are sort of hidden at the bottom of the page. This is a great place to look for help if you find the tracking or payouts aren’t working smoothly for you.

Who is Eligible for Testerup?

Testerup is only available in the US, UK, and Canada. If you’re traveling somewhere other than these countries, the app won’t work.

You must also be 18 or older.

Is Testerup Legit?

With its odd inconsistent formatting and weird use of “USD” instead of “$” for a US-audience, you might be wondering if Testerup is a scam. While the interface is less polished than some better-funded apps, Testerup is legit.

The company is based in Germany, which might explain some of the unexpected monetary and formatting conventions. (Like using commas instead of decimal points, for example.)

At press time, the company had earned a 4.1-star rating in the Google Play store and a 4.2-star rating in the Apple App Store. More than 3 million users have already signed up, and many reviewers say they were able to cash out their earnings without issue.

How Testerup Works

Inside the platform, you will see the offers available to you. Most offers must be completed on a mobile device, so you will need to download the app on your mobile device.

The Testerup app is available on iOS and Android. Make sure you’re running the latest operating system, as there is a minimum requirement to run the app.

Once you’re in the app, you can download the games and get started. When you click on a game, instructions will appear on how to download the games.

You must download the games through the links they provide on the platform. Otherwise they have no way to track your progress and pay you.

It is also important to note that you can only get rewards if it is your first time downloading the game. If you’ve downloaded the game before on your phone, you won’t be eligible for rewards.

You can check to see if the game is tracking you.

On the homepage, games you have downloaded will have a blue circle around the go button to show that you are in progress on those games.

When you click in and scroll to the bottom, you’ll see how the app is tracking your progress:

Important: If you don’t see a checkmark next to download the game, it means the app is not tracking your progress. Don’t start playing the games until you know it’s tracking so you aren’t wasting your time.

How Much Can You Make With Testerup?

Most game offers on Testerup range from $30-$120. Some are as high as $227!

For example, here are some of the offers in my Testerup app at press time:

$132 for Match Masters
$95 for Merge Dragons
$77 for Dice Dreams
$63 for Klondike Adventures
$227(!) for Raid: Shadow Legends
$28 for Candy Crush Saga
$75 for Travel Town
$30 for Monopoly Go

However, to earn the full reward that’s advertised, you often need to complete literally thousands of levels in the game. At that point, you’re well past the “testing” phase and into the full-on addiction phase 🙂

Thankfully, these rewards are tiered, meaning if you find a game you really love, you can earn more by playing it a lot. Similarly, if you think it sucks, you can usually still get a small amount just for trying.

If that’s not something you’d otherwise be doing in your spare time, there are better ways to make extra money. 

Before starting any offer, read a little more about the game to see if it’s something you’d like playing. For example, I enjoy “match 3” type games so might focus my energy on those, even if the payout is lower than other options.

Redeeming Your Rewards

As you complete milestones, you’ll receive rewards for each one. These show up on the progress dashboard, as well as in an email.

Testerup only pays through PayPal, and you can only request a payout once your account balance reaches $70.

This is a bit disappointing that they only have one way to get paid, and have a fairly high minimum threshold compared to other companies.

The also limit how much get paid per transaction, which means you can only get paid a maximum of $250 each time.

My Experience With Testerup

The easiest thing with Testerup is signing up. After that, it proves difficult to actually make money.

You have to spend quite a bit of time playing the games to hit the milestones, which severely limits how much you’re actually making per hour.

The only way this would make sense is if you’re already a fan of playing new mobile games. In that case, it’s a no-brainer to check Testerup to see if there’s an incentive for testing it out.

Another issue is that many games have a requirement to make in-app purchases as a milestone, so you have to spend money to reach all the milestones and rewards.

I mean, if you were going to buy the in-app purchase anyway, you might as well get some cash back for it. But trading $16 for $5 will never be a profitable venture.

The high minimum threshold and limited payment options make it hard to redeem your rewards as well.

How Does Testerup Make Money?

Whenever an app or service is giving you money, it’s always worthwhile to ask “why”? In this case, game app developers are hungry for new users and pay Testerup to send them new players.

In turn, Testerup turns around and shares some of that income with you.

The more time a player spends in the game, the more valuable they are to the game developer. That’s why you see increasing payouts for reaching higher levels within the games. 

Game-Testing Alternatives to Testerup

Thankfully there are better options if you want to earn money by testing games. However, most are only available for Android. Let’s take a look.

1. KashKick

KashKick is a newer app that pays you to answer surveys, test new games (up to $150 each!), and redeem money-saving offers.

With the slogan “get paid to have fun,” KashKick is rated 4.2-stars in the Google Play store.

2. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a recognized leader in the online survey space. The long-running app has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to users over the years.

You can earn rewards for shopping online, answering surveys, playing games, and watching videos (read: ads). Cash out for gift cards from major retailers.

Sign up through my referral link for a $10 bonus.

3. Cash Giraffe (Android)

If you love discovering and playing new games, why not get paid for it? Cash Giraffe connects you with new games that are trying to attract more players.

The app tracks the time you spend playing and rewards you for hitting certain milestones.

As you earn more Cash Giraffe tickets, you can cash out for gift cards or deposit directly into your PayPal account.

While Cash Giraffe is relatively new, it’s earned positive feedback so far. With over 5M downloads, its rated 4.3-stars on the Google Play Store.

4. Mistplay (Android)

Mistplay is a popular app (10+ million downloads!) that rewards you for discovering and playing new games on your phone.

The more you play, the more “units” you earn. Then you can cash in those units for gift cards to your favorite stores.

As far as Mistplay strategy, check out the games with 3x or 4x unit multipliers to earn gift cards faster.