Among the platforms we cover on this site, we found no sign-up fee on the pages we read. Several say joining is free. But money can still leave your pocket in other ways. A platform may keep a cut of your pay. A payment service may charge you to cash out. A state office may charge for a license.
A fee is money you pay, or money taken out of what you earn. This post sorts the fees by who collects them. We read the pages on October 21, 2026, unless a line says another date. This is not a list of the whole gig market.
1. The platform, at sign-up
Some pages say so in plain words:
- Secret Shopper says it does not and has never charged anyone to become a shopper.
- BestMark says it does not require a fee to become a mystery shopper.
- Market Force says it is free to sign up.
- GigSpot says “no fees.” ACE Mystery Shopping sends new shoppers there to sign up.
- Prolific says joining is free. See Take Paid Studies on Prolific.
- DataAnnotation says the platform charges no signup fees. See Rate AI Answers on DataAnnotation.
- GoTranscript says there is no application fee. See Type Audio for GoTranscript.
- Wyzant says listing your services is free. See Tutor Students on Wyzant.
- Preply says it is free to create a tutor profile. It also says it does not charge a fee to host a profile. See Teach Languages on Preply.
- Mercari says listing an item is always free. See Sell Your Stuff on Mercari.
Other pages say nothing about a sign-up fee. We found no fee named on the pages we read for ACE, Rev, UserTesting, Userfeel, Userlytics, Cambly and Papa. The same goes for Grubhub’s driver pages. Silence is not a promise. Ask before you hand over money or a card number.
Public jobs work the same way. We found no fee to work the polls on the election-office pages we read for six places. We found no fee to join SCSEP on two Labor Department pages. See Work the Polls on Election Day and Work a Community Service Job With SCSEP.
What the FTC says about fees
The FTC is the federal agency that handles consumer fraud. It says honest companies pay you, not charge you, to work for them. It says honest employers will never ask you to pay to get a job. It also says not to pay for a list of mystery shopping jobs.
DataAnnotation lists “requirements to purchase starter kits” as a red flag of a fake remote job. Our post Scams That Look Like Side Gigs goes deeper.
Those FTC lines are about paying to get hired. The fees in Section 4 are listed by a state agency or a state page. We use the FTC lines only for the sign-up question above. We do not stretch them to cuts of pay or cash-out fees. Check any fee with the office or company that sets it.
2. A cut of your pay
A commission is a share of your pay that the platform keeps. Some platforms call it a fee. Here is what each says.
- Outschool collects a 30% Teacher Fee from all paid enrollments. It pays the teacher 70% of the Class Price. It says there are no additional costs to teach beyond that fee. Its Marketplace Fee is not part of the Teacher Fee. See Teach Classes on Outschool.
- Wyzant keeps a 25% Platform Fee. A tutor who refers a new student gets 100% of their rate on those lessons. The page also says all lessons are subject to a 9% service fee. It does not say who pays that fee, so we do not either.
- Preply says its commission on every trial lesson with a new student is 100%. It says trial lessons don’t add earnings to your balance. After the trial, it charges between 18% and 33% of the hourly rate. New tutors start at 33%. The rate goes down to 28% after 20 hours of teaching.
- Mercari charges the seller a 10% selling fee. It applies to the item price plus any shipping the buyer paid.
For Cambly, we found no page that names a percentage cut.
3. A payment service, when you cash out
A processor is a payment service that moves your money from the platform to you. Some charge for that. Some platforms pay the charge for you.
- Grubhub says Instant Cash Out costs nothing for Chase Bank customers and $0.50 each for other bank customers. Cashing out to a debit card costs $0.50 per transaction. Grubhub’s agreement says it pays the driver a Service Fee for each delivery. That fee is pay to you, not a charge. We carried that line from October 11. See Deliver Food With Grubhub.
- Prolific says it charges no fee for cashing out. PayPal may charge a fee after the transfer if currency conversion is needed.
- Preply lists a $1.13 fixed fee for a US bank withdrawal, with no conversion fee.
- Mercari says a successful direct deposit has no fee. A rejected request costs $2. Instant Pay costs a $3 flat fee per cash-out.
- Outschool has a help article on moving payouts to Stripe, a payment service. It says Outschool covers Stripe’s payout-processing costs before your payout is sent. Another Outschool page says a bank outside the US may charge a conversion fee. The bank sets it, not Outschool.
- Cambly said on October 13, 2026 that PayPal payouts end November 11, 2026. Its help page also said a 2% PayPal processing fee began July 14, 2026. It was capped at $1 for US accounts and $20 for non-US accounts. The same page said a Stripe Connect payout to a US bank has no fees. Stripe Global Payouts to a US bank has a $1 fee. A bank outside the US pays a 1% foreign exchange fee plus a processing fee. Cambly’s help site blocked our tool, so these lines are from October 13. See Teach English Online With Cambly.
- Papa pages describe the payout in different ways. One answer says paid directly to your bank account with no fees. We do not name the payment service.
4. A government office or a trade group, for a license or test
Some gigs need a license or a test. Here the fee goes to a government office or a trade group, not to the platform.
Substitute teaching. See Substitute Teach at Local Schools.
- California’s teacher credentialing agency lists $100.00 as its basic nonrefundable application fee, unless a different amount is shown.
- Online transactions add a $2.65 service fee.
- The emergency 30-day substitute permit lists an application processing fee. That page gives no amount.
- At a Live Scan location, an applicant pays a fee at the time of service. Live Scan is a fingerprint scan.
- Applicants living outside California pay $49.00 for fingerprint cards.
- New Jersey says there is a $125 application fee for the substitute credential.
Mystery shopping. BestMark suggests a certification test, because many companies only schedule certified shoppers. Coyle Hospitality says you can become certified through MSPA, a trade group, for a fee. It leaves the choice to you. Neither page gives a price.
Background checks. Who pays for a check differs by gig. Our post on which side gigs run a background check lays it out.
5. Costs you pay first and get back
Mystery shopping can ask you to buy something before you are paid. ACE says you are always reimbursed for any purchases that are required. BestMark is plain about the order. It says it is your responsibility to cover the costs of your purchases. You may wait weeks to be reimbursed. It says you must spend money to get money.
Secret Shopper has a limit. Purchases above the stated reimbursement limit are your responsibility. Read the limit before you buy. See Be a Mystery Shopper.
6. Costs you just carry
Some costs never come back.
- Grubhub says its delivery partners are responsible for all costs associated with driving. The gig page lists gas, maintenance and insurance.
- Mercari says that if you offer free shipping, the cost of the label is deducted from your sales profit.
For more on start-up costs, read What It Costs to Start a Side Gig on Your Own.
What we could not find
- What MSPA charges for certification. We did not read MSPA’s own site.
- Who pays Wyzant’s 9% service fee. The page does not say.
- Who pays for Grubhub’s background check.
- The amount of California’s CL-505p processing fee.
- Fee pages for Rev, UserTesting, Userfeel, Userlytics and Cambly beyond the pages we read. Rev’s freelancer help center was not found.
- Any DataAnnotation or GoTranscript cut or payout fee. The pages we read name none.
- Poll-worker fees in Maricopa County, Arizona. The site blocked our tool, and our check covers six other places.
- Cambly’s current payout fees. Its help site blocked us on October 21, so its lines stay dated October 13.
Sources and dates
We checked each page on Oct 21, 2026, unless a date is shown.
- Secret Shopper, BestMark, Market Force, GigSpot, ACE and Coyle Hospitality, shopper pages.
- Federal Trade Commission, mystery shopping scams and job scams.
- Grubhub, driver pages. Grubhub Delivery Partner Agreement, checked Oct 11, 2026.
- Prolific, DataAnnotation, GoTranscript, Rev, UserTesting, Userfeel and Userlytics, help and tester pages.
- Cambly, help center payment options, checked Oct 13, 2026. Cambly tutor page.
- Papa, Pal pages.
- Outschool, help articles.
- Wyzant, fee pages.
- Preply, commission and withdrawal pages.
- Mercari, help center.
- California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, fee and permit pages. New Jersey substitute page.
- Election-office pages for six places. U.S. Department of Labor, SCSEP pages.