By: Kristen Frisa | November 6, 2020

Many people are exploring opportunities for side-hustles, to earn extra cash through online or in-person exploits. These money-making ventures are ideal for earning during spare time, and range from delivering take-out food to designing websites.

In possibly the least likely side hustle imaginable, it’s also possible to earn money as a platonic companion for strangers. There are websites that allow people to sign up and create a profile, and essentially rent themselves out for an event, a gathering, or just an afternoon hanging out, and get paid to do it.

Make Money Being a Companion

If you’re often told you’re a good friend, if you enjoy meeting new people, or even if you’re just someone looking to earn some extra money, this could be the gig for you.

Here’s how to make it happen. You can log on to one of the available sites to create a profile. Tell all about yourself and things you like to do in the most interesting way possible – selling yourself well is the key to getting hired. Then, sit back and wait for the gigs to roll in. You decide if you work full-time or part-time to earn the amount you desire.

Caveats listed on the sites are just the type you would imagine: first and foremost that these friend sites are different from dating sites. A key disclaimer is that these sites are not designed to create lifelong matches or to find a hook up in any way. Instead, they are for people who would like to hire a person to meet up and be around them, for a platonic friendship.

Granted, there are not many of these sites, but they are growing in popularity. Particularly those who cater to friendly relationships in the online sphere – they’re finding a new audience since so many people are stuck indoors and away from their normal interactions with other humans. This is no scam – testimonials reveal how helpful these sites can be. Read below how you can earn money being a friend, or find a new pal for yourself.

RentaFriend.com

Rent a Friend suggests that its users can pay for another person to accompany them to amusement parks, business events, fitness classes, or scads of other day-to-day activities to which one might like to bring a friend. Introverts or those who’ve relocated could find these services particularly helpful.

Users looking to find a companion will have to pay a membership fee to Rent a Friend in addition to the fee they pay their ‘friends’. However, signing up to be a new friend is absolutely free, and you get to keep all of the proceeds you make from your outings. According to the site, when you’re contacted to be a friend, you get to choose whether or not you will go on each outing – there’s no obligation to attend any invitation you receive.

When you choose to “friend-up” you’ll be paid according to the agreement you make with your new online friend. You also get to decide your hourly rate – from $20 to $50 per hour.

RentaCyberFriend.com

As the name suggests, Rent a Cyber Friend is for finding online companions to talk about common interests, to teach you skills like cooking, knitting, or playing an instrument, or just to have a sounding board to vent about your day. Based on the idea of a pen pal, but updated for today’s digital world, having a virtual friend could be particularly valuable during a global pandemic when real-life interaction is rare and people are often stuck in isolation.

If you’re just getting started this is a less committed way to get started as a rented companion – rather than being stuck actually attending an event with a stranger, you can earn from the safety of your living room instead. Interactions begin via email, then can progress to social media, phone calls, and text messages when people become more familiar with one another. While you can become a Cyber Friend for free, you can also pay for more features with Bronze, Silver, or Gold membership levels.

RentaLocalFriend.com

Slightly less well-known, Rent a Local Friend nonetheless works on the same idea as Rent a Friend does: friends sign up with a profile and wait for requests to attend events. According to the website, Rent a Local Friend has 1466 potential friends online in over 300 cities around the world.

Commonly used as a way to track down cool local haunts or explore a new city, Rent a Local Friend is a new way for travelers to get the inside scoop on their destinations. If you’re passionate about your hometown you could make a perfect Local Friend.

Try Being a Friend

Renting out your services as a friend could turn out to be far more than a side-hustle: it could improve your quality of life as you learn new skills, gain a workout partner, and meet new people, all while padding your bank account. If you think this is your new favorite way to make money online, check one of the sites and sign up for free!

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