Do you have an unlimited access data plan? Or do you have lots of unused data that simply expires at the end of the month? If you want to earn money from your extra, unused data, then why not share it with others for a few bucks?
Here's how you can do that with Honeygain and some other tools.
What Is Honeygain?
Honeygain is an app that allows companies to use your connection. Businesses can use your internet through Honeygain's proxy network for various uses.
So, for every 10 MB of data you share, you'll earn 1 credit. To get paid, you need to save 20,000 credits, which equates to $20. So, Honeygain pays you $1 per 10 GB of data used. The company also pays six credits per hour that content delivery is active (we'll come to that later).
Honeygain Use Cases
Companies need a lot of bandwidth for legitimate and ethical purposes. Here's are some examples:
Ad Verification
In 2020, companies spent at least $332 billion on digital ads. By 2024, that's expected to grow up to $526 billion. With the amount spent on digital ads, companies need to ensure their ad spend isn't wasted.
Ad verification helps companies track their ads. They use Honeygain's network to look through petabytes of data online. Through the proxy network, those companies can track their ads. They can ensure the advertising agency displays its ads correctly on a legitimate site.
Brand Protection
Counterfeit items have always been a problem–and it has expanded along with the growth of eCommerce. That's why major brands need to trawl the internet continuously to fight back.
However, doing this requires tremendous amounts of resources. You would need servers, gigabit internet, and more. Smaller brands and businesses cannot afford this.
With Honeygain, they don't have to invest millions of dollars of hardware and expertise. They can protect their business by using the app's extensive network at a fraction of the price.
Content Delivery
Businesses sometimes need to crawl the internet for bandwidth-intensive data. These include images, videos, and audio, among others. They do this either for research, data collection, or even intellectual property protection.
However, some websites use geo-blocking, which prevents access to users based in specific locations. So, if a company based in Japan wants to check a website hosted in the US, they can't do that if Japanese users are blocked.
To get around this, companies use Honeygain's network to access blocked pages. They can then use the high-bandwidth capacity of content delivery to trawl large files.
It's also for this reason that content delivery is a special function available only to desktop and laptop users. You must have a consistent internet speed of at least 10 MBPS to run this service in the background.
Price Comparison
Many eCommerce platforms, like ticketing websites, vary their prices according to your location. For example, if you're based in New York City, you'll probably pay more on airfare from JFK to Rome compared to someone from Charlotte.
Price comparison websites use Honeygain's worldwide network to find the best prices. By comparing prices from different parts of the world, you can get the best offer, even if you're based in NYC.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Campaigns
Nearly 20 percent of website traffic comes from search engine results. That's why companies are always on the lookout for data that will improve their SEO strategies.
To get accurate data, companies need to gather them from different areas. With Honeygain's global network, they can get geolocated data in specific regions. This lets them understand local trends and tailor their websites based on localized data.
Is Honeygain Safe?
Whenever a company or an app offers us money in exchange for resources, we're always suspicious of them. Are they really doing what they say they're doing? Are they using my system's resources for nefarious purposes?
According to Honeygain, everything they do is above-board and with your knowledge. But when it comes to security, it's good if you take everything with a grain of salt.
By checking process logs and data use, you can verify that the app isn't using your hardware. This makes it different from crypto miners, which need system resources to run.
When signing up for the service, Honeygain only needs your email and nothing else. And when it comes to payouts, it's handled by a trusted third-party party, Tipalti. The app doesn't gather your data at all.
They even have an independent Data Protection Officer (DPO) onboard their team. The DPO ensures that the company complies with GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy regulations.
Is Honeygain Ethical?
Based on the company website, Honeygain claims they only work with well-known and respectable companies. They also said that they approve each use case individually. So, even if they're existing customers of Honeygain, each new use case needs approval.
Honeygain also says that they continuously check all activities in their network. This ensures that their system isn't used for harmful actions, and they can keep Honeygain users safe worldwide.
However, Honeygain doesn't publish the companies they work with. That is understandable due to business confidentiality. But, it would be better for network providers to know who they're working with. Furthermore, the option to opt-out of a client, if the user isn't comfortable with them, would be a welcome addition.
How Much Can You Make With Honeygain?
Earning varies between different regions. It all depends on your area and the current demand. Some places with high demand (between 2 and 3 GB per day) will let you earn up to $10/month. However, other locations could barely go through 8 GB per month.
If you're in a high-demand location and run the app on ten devices with different networks 24/7, you can make up to $67/month.
Controlling What You Give
If you install Honeygain on your smartphone, you control how many monthly data to allocate. You can go to the app settings to set the data you can share. Make sure you don't go overboard with your monthly plan to avoid incurring extra charges!
When you install the app on your computer, it doesn't have data limits. So if you're on a metered home network, it's best to run this on your Android phone instead.
The app also takes about 5% of battery life on your phone since it's running in the background. If you need to save power, you can always turn it off in the settings.
Alternatives to Honeygain
Aside from Honeygain, there are two other similar services. PacketStream and IPRoyal allow you to rent your bandwidth to their customers. PacketStream pays the same amount as Honeygain, while IPRoyal pays double at $0.20 per GB.
Honeygain and IPRoyal both offer an Android app, while PacketStream can only be run on desktop. However, the best thing about these services is that they're non-exclusive. You can sign up and run all three at the same time to maximize your passive earning.
Earn Extra Money From Unused Data
Honeygain isn't a big money-making app. It's there to let your earn small amounts over long periods. You only need to set it up once and then let it do its job in the background.
Don't spend on computers, phones, and internet plans for Honeygain. You won't recoup your investment. But if you want a surprise cup of coffee every month or so, then go and install this app.
