Is Sweatcoin Legit Or A Scam? My Personal Experience With Payment Proof
We all want to earn some easy money, and the best way to do that is to earn money for something you’re doing anyway – walking (or running). Sweatcoin is a simple app that lets you make money for the number of steps you take each day. But is it legit, and how does it work?
Sweatcoin is a step tracker not unlike the one you already have on your smartphone, but with one exception: it pays you for the steps you take. You get paid in the form of an in-app currency called Sweatcoins that you can exchange in the Sweatcoin shop. It’s also possible to earn Cryptocurrency.
We set out to determine if Sweatcoin is legit or not and if it’s worth your effort to use the app. The best way to do that is to share my personal experience, so, with that in mind, I used Sweatcoin for a month to give you honest feedback from my actual experience.
As a middle-aged man who could do with some more activity (and more money – who doesn’t?), it couldn’t hurt, could it?
Table of Contents
Is Sweatcoin Legit?
Sweatcoin is a perfectly legit opportunity to make some extra money. It’s not the most lucrative opportunity, but since you can get cash for something you’re likely already doing, anything you earn from it is worthwhile.
Business Model Analysis
In order to pay its users, Sweatcoin has to make money as well. This comes in two main forms:
- Ad revenue. The app has ads. So many ads. But more on that later. Suffice it to say that a considerable portion of Sweatcoin’s income is generated by ads that display while users actively interact with the app.
- A subscription service. It doesn’t cost much, so it’s probably a much smaller percentage of Sweatcoin’s income. Still, there is an optional subscription service that offers a few additional benefits, which will undoubtedly help to increase Sweatcoin’s bottom line.
This business model is well in line with most other apps that use a combination of ad revenue and subscription services to make them viable. There are some concerns, though.
The concern is a question about users’ privacy settings. When you open the app on an iPhone, for example, you are asked if you want to give the app permission to track your activity across apps for ad purposes (as is required by Apple these days). I accepted it (though I usually don’t) in order to get the “full experience,” and I had no problem claiming rewards.
I also referred the app to a friend who used it but chose “Ask app not to track.” He has a bit of difficulty watching ads and, consequently, claiming rewards, as the app tends to stall when it tries to load ads.
This raises the question: as more users opt not to be tracked (since privacy is a significant concern these days), will this problem worsen, or is it something that Sweatcoin can resolve? Because if it gets worse, this business might not be very sustainable for them.
On the positive side, since Sweatcoin doesn’t pay out in cash but in the form of a virtual currency, the potential for a sustainable business is still there since the currency’s value is attached to its buying power, which is also directly linked to Sweatcoin.
Comparison With Other Fitness Apps
Sweatcoin differs greatly from other fitness-tracking apps, but that’s its entire purpose. Some of the things that make Sweatcoin different from most others include the following:
- It only tracks steps. There are no workout selection options or health tweaks, and it just syncs with your smartphone’s built-in pedometer and uses that data to do its calculations. Sweatcoin wouldn’t be of much use to bodybuilders and weightlifters.
- There are no other health data indicators, and it doesn’t show the calories you’ve burnt or remind you when you should drink water. This means you will likely have to use it in conjunction with another health and fitness app to get more data.
- It pays you for living a more active lifestyle, which is quite a benefit and an efficient motivator for some.
According to the Business Strategy Hub, Sweatcoin currently has about 10 Million active users, though the company’s own LinkedIn page claims it’s closer to 100 Million. The true number of users is probably somewhere in the middle, which compares well with one of the most popular fitness trackers, Noom, which has about 45 Million users.
This still pales in comparison with Apple Fitness+, which reportedly has 745 Million paying users.
Still, it’s not a bad number of users, and the number of reviews and ratings on both mobile app stores confirm the statistics.
Examination Of User Feedback
Users are generally very positive about Sweatcoin. It has 4.6 stars on the Apple App Store and 4.3 on Google Play. Most of the reviews speak highly of the app.
One common complaint that pops up from time to time is that the Sweatcoin store has excellent prices, and you get large discounts by using your Sweatcoins. Still, the shipping tends to be very expensive, almost as if the company is trying to compensate for the lower prices by increasing shipping costs.
Another thing that users often complain about is that the step counter is inaccurate. Some claim that the app registers only about half of their steps. However, from developer feedback and consequent changes to the reviews, this appears to be related to the phone’s Background App Refresh setting. You have to ensure that it’s switched on.
Overall there are no serious concerns about Sweatcoin, and the developer is very quick to respond to the handful of negative reviews to try and find solutions, which is always encouraging.
My Experience With Sweatcoin
Downloading And Using The App
Installing the app and setting it up was painless. It involves the following steps:
- Go to the app store on your smartphone. You can get the iOS version here or the Android version here.
- Install and open the Sweatcoin app.
- You will see an impressive login screen that changes as you move the phone around. It took me a while to stop playing with it and actually sign up.
- You can choose between signing up using your Apple or Google account (depending on whether you’re using the iOS or Android version) or signing up with an email address. I chose to use my Apple account since I was using my iPhone.
- After signing up, it will ask you for a few permissions. These are:
- Permission to track your steps. This is required, of course.
- Permission to send you notifications. This is optional, but I approved it.
- Permission to sync with your phone’s Health and Fitness app. This seems to be a requirement, which makes sense.
- Permission to track your online habits and activity across other apps for advertising purposes (this might not be the case on Android). It’s optional, but as mentioned, we had some problems with ads and rewards when my friend asked the app not to track, though the problem might be unrelated.
That’s it. The app will be entirely configured. You can do some optional things (more on that in a moment), but it will immediately sync with the steps your phone registered up to that point and start recording your steps from that moment.
Sweatcoin’s Offers And Rewards
Earning with Sweatcoin is painless. The app offers many rewards, and it’s not uncommon to have earned at least 5 Sweatcoins by the end of your first day. The rewards include:
- A joining reward of 1 Sweatcoin (minus a transaction fee – you should get about 0.9 Sweatcoins).
- Three daily rewards that could earn you three or more Sweatcoins.
- You get 5 Sweatcoins for each friend that you refer to the app.
- There’s a wheel you can spin to get more rewards. Some of these are once-off Sweatcoins, while others add a multiplier to your current balance.
- Referring friends also enter you into a monthly draw for big prizes, including an iPhone 14 Pro Max, various vouchers, or up to 1,000 Sweatcoins.
- Each referral also gets you a scratch card for an immediate prize, which is usually a few Sweatcoins.
- Of course, for every 1,000 steps you take, you will earn 1 Sweatcoin.
- It’s also possible to earn Sweatcoin’s own Cryptocurrency, called SWEAT, over and above your Sweatcoins.
Overall, after my first four hours using Sweatcoin, referring one friend, and walking a little over 400 steps, my balance was 9.81 Sweatcoins. Absolutely painless.
User Interface And Ease Of Use
Sweatcoin’s user interface is clean, impressive, and easy to use.
Almost everything you need is on the home screen. As you scroll down, you can see your Sweatcoin balance, your steps for the day, the daily rewards, referral links, and other current offers. You also have a dock with four icons at the bottom of the screen: the Home page, the Shop, your Balance and Rewards page, and a page that shows your Friends and Challenges.
You can also click on your profile picture in the top left of the screen to see all your stats and change your information.
One extremely frustrating aspect of the user interface is the ads. Understandably, there must be ads to support the business model, but there are so many of them. Every time you unlock a reward or do anything significant, you must watch an ad, and you cannot skip it.
You have to sit through the whole thing. I also found that my first ad caused the app to stop responding, but everything worked fine after closing and re-opening it.
Payment Proof
This was my wallet’s value after my first 4 hours of using Sweatcoin. I earned 0.43 from steps (just walking around in my local convenience store and a few steps at home), one from joining, five from referring a friend, and 0.78 from a daily reward.
Payment System
The Sweatcoins you earn usually deposit into your Sweatcoin account instantly. My first referral took about five minutes to credit my account, but my second referral was loaded immediately.
Sweatcoin doesn’t really have a payout system. The idea is for you to spend your Sweatcoins in the in-app store, which is entirely location-based – all the offers you see in the shop are available in your country or state.
There are a variety of offers in the shop, from gym equipment and sportswear to jewelry and earphones, and even occasional gift vouchers. You can also donate Sweatcoins to charity through the Sweatcoin 4 Good campaign or bid in the auctions that are often available.
However, that doesn’t mean you cannot get cash from Sweatcoin. There are two ways to do this:
- If you choose to opt-in for earning the Cryptocurrency SWEAT, you can exchange these for other currencies on a crypto exchange such as Kucoin. Prices will vary and depend on the offers you receive, but currently, it’s approximately 5 cents (US) for a Sweatcoin.
- Keep your eye on the shop, especially the auctions. There are occasional offers to pay out your Sweatcoin to PayPal. These don’t happen very frequently, but if you can hold on to your Sweatcoins for a while, you can get a decent cash payout that way.
- Refer 30 friends. Once you’ve achieved that, you will automatically become a member of the Influencers Marketplace, which has many great offers that are not available in the regular marketplace. This is where you will find most of the PayPal or Amazon payout offers.
- Go to Reddit. There’s a subreddit called Sweatcointrader where you can “advertise” your Sweatcoins and sell them to other users in exchange for cash through PayPal (or any other platform you prefer). Note that this will open you up to potential scams, so tread carefully.
According to Sweatcoin’s FAQ, the company is striving to turn Sweatcoin into a fully-fledged currency that can be transferred directly into bank accounts, but that is still a plan for the future, and at the moment, it’s best to use your Sweatcoins in the in-app shop or the Influencer Marketplace.
Personal Experience With Receiving Payments
Payments into the Sweatcoin account happen instantly. There was only one incident mentioned before, where I had to wait about 5 minutes for my Sweatcoin to be credited after referring my first friend. Every other reward I received immediately appeared in my Sweatcoin balance.
Paying out depends on the type of payout you desire. Since it’s all tied to the available offers, you generally get your “payout” immediately (not counting shipping).
During my time using Sweatcoin, I never saw an offer for a PayPal payout, so I cannot accurately speak from personal experience as to how long it takes and if there are any verifications, though PayPal has several verification requirements.
However, according to some Reddit users, they used a PayPal payout offer and received the payment in their account within just a few hours. Of course, there is an administrative element involved, so it’s understandable that paying the amount into PayPal could take a day or two (or perhaps slightly more if you buy the offer over a weekend or public holiday).
From personal experience, I can say that buying an offer is a quick and painless process. The purchases are quickly processed, most don’t have expensive shipping, and you get the product within a reasonable timeframe (the time depends on where it’s shipped from).
Sweatcoin And Privacy
Privacy is becoming a significant problem in the modern world, where we have smartphone apps that track our every move and are willing to sell that information to other companies (with our permission, though we may not know it). So, how privacy-conscious is Sweatcoin?
Privacy Concerns With Using Sweatcoin
According to Sweatco, the owners of Sweatcoin, the company collects the following data:
- Personal information, including:
- Your name and surname
- Mobile phone number
- Email address
- Password
- Identification credentials (such as your password, not your social security number)
- Your contacts (if you choose to share them with the app)
- Biological details (for health information)
- Photographs (profile photo)
- Payment information (if you choose to pay for Sweatcoin Premium)
- Technical data, including:
- Information about the device you use to access the platform
- Your IP address
- Web browser type
- Internet connection and ISP
- Device identifiers
- Login information
- Time zone settings
- Browser plug-ins
- Preferred language settings
- Activities
- Geographical location
- Web pages you viewed (for advertising)
- Search terms used in search engines
- Whether you opened Sweatco’s marketing emails
That is quite a list of data. Most of it makes sense since it has to do with your user account and the actual movement-tracking functionality of the app. However, much of the data is for advertising purposes, which doesn’t sit well with many people.
How Is This Data Used?
Sweatcoin uses the data in the following ways:
- Some of your information may be shared with other users. This includes your profile picture and username, though it could also include biographical information and your verified step count. There is a social media aspect to Sweatcoin, and anyone you choose to follow can also choose to follow you and see this information.
- Sweatcoin may share some of your data with third-party providers such as payment processors and data hosting platforms.
- Sweatcoin also shares some of your data with its business partners so they may contact you for marketing purposes.
- If legally required to do so, Sweatcoin may give your personal data to law enforcement agencies. The company ensures that this will only happen in line with proper law enforcement policies, such as court orders.
- Purchasers or third parties in business transactions. For example, if Sweatcoin was to be purchased by another company or if a merger took place, the company would have to share your data with the other company or companies involved in the process.
How Sweatcoin Protects User Privacy
According to Sweatco, it does a few things to keep user data private and respect its users’ privacy:
- The company only uses data if it has a legal basis to do so. This means that your data will only be used within legal boundaries. Note that this does not necessarily mean you will like it; just that you won’t be able to sue them, most likely.
- The company requires your consent to share your data with third parties unless it’s legally required for them to share it. For example, you may opt out of receiving third-party marketing material.
- Sweatco only retains your data for as long as is necessary to deliver its services to you and to abide by applicable laws.
- The company takes “reasonable industry-standard care” in keeping all user data secure and preventing unauthorized access.
The question is, is this sufficient? So far, there have been no complaints about data leaks or identity theft resulting from Sweatcoin.
It’s all within legal boundaries and conforms to the standards of most other apps, which isn’t necessarily a compliment, but anyone who uses social media or most popular search engines already risk more of their data on a daily basis than through Sweatcoin.
Final Thoughts
Sweatcoin is a perfectly legit app. Some users claim that its shop is a scam, but there are many legit offers there that are well-priced. Over the weeks I’ve been using Sweatcoin, I’ve grown to like the app. It offers me more motivation to be active than any other fitness app I’ve used in the past, and the rewards are decent enough to keep going.
Sweatcoins aren’t worth much at the moment, but it’s essentially free money, so every bit you get is a bonus. Anyone who’s living a slightly active lifestyle or desires to become more active will benefit greatly from Sweatcoin. In fact, in my opinion, it could be beneficial to anyone, but if you are the type who gets frustrated with ads, it might be best to stay away before you damage your phone.
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