24 USD

Micro-task sites can be a good way to earn extra cash. That is, of course, if you join a site that has good earning potential.

One micro-task site that is fairly well-known and promises you can earn decent money is SproutGigs (previously Picoworkers).

But is SproutGigs legit and really a way to earn or a scam to stay away from?

You need to make sure you join a legit site that will really pay you. And let me just reveal right away that, in one sense, SproutGigs/Picoworkers is a legit site. It does pay you for completing small jobs.

However, I have also had some bad experiences, and there are some very important details you need to know before joining.

This SproutGigs/Picoworkers review will answer that question and more. It will take a closer look at what the site has to offer so you know exactly what to expect and can decide if it really is the right fit for you or not.

What is SproutGigs (aka Picoworkers), and what does it offer?

Let’s start by going over the name to avoid any confusion. The platform was called Picoworkers for years, but it changed its name to SproutGigs.

Not much else has changed, and you can still use the same login if you signed up when it was called Picoworkers.

But the official name is now SproutGigs, and that is mainly the name I will be using in the rest of this review as that is now the official name.

SproutGigs, as mentioned above, is a micro-task site that will pay you for completing short tasks. All you have to do is sign-up for an account and then perform small tasks in exchange for money.

It’s a lot like Jobboy. In fact, both sites are pretty identical in terms of how you will be able to earn, with a slight difference. But to get a good idea of how well you can earn from this site, we have to examine the earning opportunities it offers.

Option 1 – Small Jobs

The main method of earning on SproutGigs is by doing small jobs. Just as the name suggests, these are short tasks you can complete in exchange for a small amount of money.

The way you find jobs now after it changed its name to SproutGigs is the exact same as before.

When you become a member of SproutGigs, you can log in to their member dashboard and view all the micro-jobs available.

You will be able to see exactly what you will get when completing the job and also have many jobs are available. This is great info to have, and I really like they make this so clear, as it can help you prioritize your time and the jobs to focus on.

As you can see in the image above, you will also be able to see on the left side of the screen which countries the task is for. If it says “INT” it means it is international and you can do the job no matter the country you live in – and luckily there are many jobs that are available for all countries.

Most of the jobs are pretty simple. Some will ask you to visit a website, others will ask you to like a Facebook or Instagram page.

There will also be jobs asking you to sign up to a certain site and do some searches. But regardless of what the job will ask you to do, one thing remains constant. And that is, you need to provide proof that you’ve done the job.

When you accept a job, it will then open a new form where you can submit proof. You need to Submit clean and correct proofs only. That’s why it is important to carefully read the job description and required proofs before accepting the job.

For example, do not say “yes” “done” “finished” “I have the screenshot”. These responses are not proof you did the work, and they waste the time of administrators and employers. When submitting proof, only submit what is asked for.

So, if you do not understand a task, can’t complete a task, or even if you encounter an error, it’s better not to submit incomplete proof.

If you do not submit proof and if the person who posted the job does not approve the proof and the job you did, you will NOT get paid.

So, you need to make sure to do everything thoroughly.

However, you have to be very picky when you choose jobs. In my experience and opinion, there are a lot of unethical jobs posted on SproutGigs, and the admin team does not do a good job of filtering them, and some jobs can even get you into trouble.

There are many jobs to choose from, but just be careful which jobs you choose.

Option 2 – Referral Program

The other way you can earn from Picoworkers.com is by inviting people to join the platform.

When you invite a person to join, and they successfully register to the site, you stand to earn 5% from every job they complete.

Aside from that, if they also deposit money in Picoworkers (which they can do if they want to post a job), you will also earn 5% of the amount they deposited.

To invite a person to join, you just have to share your referral link with them and make sure they click on it to sign up to the site.

In my opinion, it’s a decent form of passive income from the site, even though 5% is quite low compared to many other referral programs.

Option 3 – Joining bonus

An easy way to get started earning on Picoworkers is by just joining because you will get a $0.50 joining bonus just for verifying your email.

I wanted to make a separate section about this joining bonus here as it is not quite the same as many other joining bonuses.

The thing is that you cannot withdraw your joining bonus.

It can only be used for posting a job on the site yourself, and this is important to know before getting too excited about the easy bonus.

So, if you are not planning to use Picoworkers to post a job, then the joining bonus will be useless.

How do you get paid?

Every job you complete on Picoworkers / SproutGigs will earn you a certain amount, which will be credited to your account.

However, the payout system is one of the areas where there have been a few changes since it changed its name.

The payout threshold used to be $5.75, but now it is $5.

Picoworkers offers several payout options. You can get paid via PayPal, Cryptocurrency, AirTM, Uphold, or Skrill. The cryptocurrencies you can get paid in can vary from time to time, in my experience. But most often it will be Ethereum and Litecoin.

Each payment method used to have a certain processing fee. But this has now changed, so all of them have the same processing fee. And you just need to be aware of this, as that means you will not get the full amount.

I do like the fact that they have a low payout threshold of $5. However, the percentage you have to pay to withdraw is quite high, which is definitely a drawback, in my opinion.

In fact, they are charging an 18% processing fee, which is extremely high.

They used to say that they needed to withhold VAT, and the total fees then often ended up being close to 20%.

At least after it has changed its name to SproutGigs they are just being honest about how high a fee they are charging and do not try to hide it.

They say they charge this fee to support the operations of the platform.

But that just does not make sense, in my opinion. They are already charging other fees, and they should have built a business where it would not be necessary to charge this high a fee from workers who already get very low pay for the tasks.

In my opinion, this just sounds like an excuse to make more money, and they know many people will likely not realize the fee is this high until after they have worked for a while and are ready to cash out.