What Is Toluna? Is Toluna Legit Or A Scam?

Toluna is one of the biggest and well known survey sites in the world today.

Founded in 2000, it’s been going for a long time and has over 8 million members worldwide!!!

But is Toluna legit, can you really make money here?

Toluna Review In Brief

Website:  Toluna.com
Price: Free to Join
Earning potential: pocket change
Overall Rating: Legit, but unfortunately there is a lot of negative feedback online about this site.
Mini Review: Toluna is a highly popular survey site online, unfortunately it has also had a large number of complaints.  

While this is to be expected for such a large site it certainly suffers from the same problem a majority of survey sites all do – that you relentlessly do not qualify for surveys.

The income potential is also very low.  Toluna is not a scam.  However, if you’d like to make some reasonable money online, survey sites are not a high paying option.

I recently reviewed the Toluna App, which I liked a lot more, (and has decent reviews as well).

Related: My Top 10 US Survey Sites OR My Top 10 UK!

What Is Toluna About?

Toluna is an online survey website, consisting of millions of members.

You can answer surveys here, in exchange for points, which you can exchange for rewards.

Maybe you’d expect that since this Toluna has millions of members, that it could provide you with an online income opportunity – perhaps you are hoping to make a nice little income on the side?

Unfortunately, many people overestimate or even exaggerate the money you can make from online surveys, in reality it’s small rewards for a lot of time invested.

Toluna is free to join up, you can make up points by initially filling out your profile, (2000 points awarded) and then by doing a selection of surveys.

You accumulate points to be eligible for rewards – the more points, the greater the reward you can get.

You are also sent these surveys via email.

Surveys tend to last for around 15-30 minutes, (if you’re lucky enough not to be thrown off surveys).

Toluna Explanation Video:

Lets check out some of the PROS and CONS of Toluna…

PROS:

Toluna has an easy to navigate website that’s appealing to look at, unlike many survey sites.

There is a decent catalogue of rewards – varying from clothing vouchers, book tokens, various high street shops and so on.

If you manage to reach the threshold to claim some rewards, at least there is a good amount to choose from.

However, you will need to make 25000 points in order to take out a £5 giftcard at Starbucks, (for example) and considerably more than this if you’re hoping for much more.

Depending on your location in the World, the points will vary.

Toluna is free to join, no credit or debit card info is required and you can make your fits points for filling in your profile information.

You can make your first points simply by filling in your profile and answering some basic questions- so, at least they get you started!

Ultimately, it’s a nice looking site, which is simple to browse around and it’s a good thing that the threshold to cash out is relatively low – many sites make you earn much more before you can claim any rewards, or withdraw cash.

CONS:

While it may be free to sign up, you will be paying a hefty price in another way – that’s with your time.

A majority of Tonuna’s surveys you have to qualify for and I was thrown off surveys relentlessly for not fulfilling certain criteria.

The issue is, you may well have already been answering questions and revealing personal details before they throw you off.

This is really nothing new here though, a majority of survey sites suffer from this exact same issue.

The only site I haven’t had screening out issues with is YouGov Surveys.

Some survey sites will now offer you something in the way of compensation if you are chucked off – but most do not.

Sometimes you may not be notified until almost the end of the survey that you do not qualify, this sort of practice should be illegal, but unfortunately it isn’t.

This is one of the reasons that so many survey sites are branded as scams.

Another common complaint by users, is that they have their points taken away.

The minimum amount of points for cashing out is 25000, (this varies depending on your country, it appears the threshold has gone down somewhat).

Considering most surveys only award 2000, you’d need to complete 12.5 to get to that initial threshold.

At 25 minutes a survey, (approx) – you’d be doing surveys for nearly 5 and a half hours for that.

Which works out to less than £1 per hour. Does this sound worth your while? (I’m in the UK, so USA results will be slightly different).

Other common complaints include, but are not limited to:

• Members being unable to login with their usual details.
• Accounts being closed due to an unknown violation.
• Getting SPAM mail after joining Toluna.
• Points not being credited on members accounts.
• Slow and insufficient customer support.
• Delays in being rewarded.
• Your points expiring after one year, (so if you’re hoping to save a gazillion points, you’re out of luck!).

At the time of writing, Toluna has 1 star out of 5 on Trustpilot.

It also has just under 2 stars out of 5 on Survey Police.

Even though long-standing survey websites tend to struggle with reviews just by their nature.  Some people really do not mind the negatives, as long as they get paid at the end.

Conclusion:  Is Toluna Legit, Or A Scam?

As I told you in the beginning of this review, Toluna has been around for a long time – almost 17 years at the time of writing and has several million members.

With so many members, (as is with the case with any company) there will be plenty of complaints.  

At the same time, plenty of people have received their rewards in due course – and have no issues.

Plenty of people realise they don’t get paid much, but just enjoy doing these things in their free time.

Are Survey Sites Scams?

People are very quick to brand all sorts of programs a scam when it doesn’t work out for them.

– Or at the first hint of a complaint!

If you look online, you’ll actually find various definitions of a scam.

One that I think works is:

“A fraudulent scheme performed by a dishonest individual, group, or company in an attempt to obtain money, or something else of value.” (businessdictionary.com)

The fact is, survey sites gain something of very great value – a great deal of valuable information about individuals.

They make you feel that you are benefiting in return, but this is of minute value in comparison.

Is this enough to brand them all scams though?  In my opinion, no it isn’t.

Because many of the survey sites that are classed as “legitimate,” are quite transparent about what you’ll be getting.

It’s quite clear how many points you need to accumulate for rewards and it’s up to you whether to take them.

There are exceptions to this, where some survey sites have clearly been branded scams, but there are many more that I don’t think fit this.

That said, there are certainly some scam-like tactics involved at times.

For example, the relentless “disqualification” – even when you’ve almost completed a survey!

This is one of the biggest downfalls of survey sites that they need to address.

In addition, poor customer service and ultra slow payment are far too common.

Ultimately, I find most survey related sites a waste of time and with so many complaints stacked up against many – a risky investment of time too, (with minimal rewards!).

So, What now?

If you’re still looking at survey related sites to join – while they will not in any way generate enough cash for you to leave your day job, you can make some spare pocket money if you choose too.

I suggest you check out the following reviews….

• Swagbucks Review – a variety site, where you can earn points in many different ways, including surveys, watching videos, cashback and cash offers, playing games and, most easily, using their search engine.
• Prolific Review – I love this survey panel… They don’t screen you out, (practically unheard of with survey sites) AND they pay far better than any others I’ve found.
• PrizeRebel Review – A very similar site to Swagbucks, but without the pay to search option.

Beyond Survey Sites… How To Make More For Your Time?

Generally, doing survey sites means risking spending hours upon hours of your time for a measly pay – or potentially nothing if they don’t pay out, or chuck you off the platform.

If you want to make money online, there are a multitude number of ways to be spending your time more effectively.

You could work towards actually making some decent money on the side, (or full time eventually).

There is one main site I recommend, because it’s the platform where I trained myself.

It also has a free sign up offer that holds a good deal of value – Check it out here!.

That’s it for my Toluna review today & I hope you found it beneficial.

I’d love to hear about your experiences with survey panels, leave me a comment below.

All the best!