So you want to work from home, and you don’t have more than a few dollars (or less) to your name. You find some information online that appears to be legit and you get all excited — until you see that the company charges you $30 (or more) to apply for the job for a vague reason.
Suddenly the wind has been taken completely out of your sails.
Sound familiar? This is a typical scenario for many home job seekers.
The following is a list of companies you can work at home for that do not make you pay them for anything prior to starting work. Still, that doesn’t mean you won’t have to have certain equipment (headsets, etc.) or have a background check or drug test done.
Some companies do require those things and the money for those things coming out of your pocket does not make the opportunity a scam.
Work From Home – Companies With No Fees
It’s worth noting that freelance positions do not come with attached fees — freelance writing, short tasks, work at home data entry jobs, search evaluation, and some transcription companies.
And we share many of these in our free weekly newsletters!
Work at Home Jobs With No Start-Up Fees
3 Play Media – Read 3 Play Media Review – Work from home transcription editing. No fee to start.
Amazon – Read Amazon Review – Amazon regularly hires people for customer service jobs from home. It’s usually necessary to live in or close to various locations nationwide in order to be considered, but they hire in many different locations. There are no fees associated with applying for this job.
When Amazon does have work at home jobs posted, they are often pulled within a day because they get so many applicants, so be quick if you see they are hiring.
Apple – Read Apple Review – You can work at home for Apple as a chat or phone support agent. They do not charge you any fees to apply and in fact if you are accepted, they will supply you with equipment to do the work.
Babbletype – Read Babbletype Review – This company hires home-based workers for transcription and transcription editing. You are not required to pay them any fees to start.
Belay – Virtual Executive Assistant. All states EXCEPT California, Montana, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. This is a 1099 contractor role. You will work at home performing admin tasks for BELAY’S clients. Past admin experience required. Pay is $18 or MORE hourly. Also looking for remote social media managers, accounting clerks, and bookkeepers.
Boldly – Executive Assistant. US. Full or part time. Requires a minimum of 7 years of direct hands-on experience as an executive assistant or senior administrative assistant to one or more executives (general admin experience as part of another role will not qualify). Pay is between $24 and $28 hourly.
Capital One – Read Capital One Review – This popular credit card company hires people to work from home handling their customer service. They charge no fees to get started. However, this is usually a location-based position (Virginia and Florida most of the time).
Concentrix – They hire at-home agents to answer incoming calls from home for their clients. There are no upfront fees to get started.
Fancy Hands – Read Fancy Hands Review – Work from home virtual assisting. There are no fees to start. Pay is per task, paid twice monthly. I have done work for this company for extra cash here and there, and they never charged a fee.
Metaverse Mod Squad – Read Metaverse Review – They hire for work from home moderation and a few other moderation positions. They don’t charge you anything to apply and get started.
Sutherland – This company hires home call center agents regularly. They may or may conduct a background check just depending on the client you’re servicing. Their website does not mention a charge if a check is conducted, but feel free to correct me if there is one.
OneSupport – Read OneSupport Review – This company hires work from home agents for tech support positions. There are no fees associated with applying.
TTEC – This is a company that hires work from home call center agents. Some positions may require a drug screen or background check. You must be at least 17 to work for them.
Textbroker – Read Textbroker Review – You can work at home doing freelance writing for this company. They accept people with no experience, and they do not charge fees.
Time Etc. – Read Time Etc. Review – Work from home virtual assisting. It doesn’t look like there are any fees associated with the application process.
Transcom – Read Transcom Review – This company hires work at home call center agents. They do credit checks, background checks, and often drug screens depending on the client you are servicing, but you may not have to cover the cost for these checks.
Tutor.com – Read Tutor.com Review – Work from home as an online tutor. There are no fees associated with applying. A background check is done, but they pay for it.
U-Haul – U-Haul is regularly hiring work at home sales and reservation agents. These are mostly entry-level positions. You need high-speed internet and a headset to do the work, but there are no fees to get started.
World Travel Holdings – Work from home vacation sales. A $500 deposit is required for your computer which they send you, but this is taken out of your first five checks so you don’t have to worry about coming up with it out of pocket. This company will also pay for your background check.
Yelp – Inside Sales Representatives. US. Looking for people in the Central and Eastern regions of the US. You will educate, strategize, and successfully sell Yelp advertising programs through a high volume of outbound sales calls – this role is 100% phone based. Your mission is to reach as many businesses as possible. You’ll work one of the following schedules (in your local time), or as otherwise determined by your manager: 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; or 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Requires GED/HS Diploma and 2+ years of customer-facing experience OR a bachelor’s degree. First year earnings range from $50k-$65k annually through a combination of base salary and uncapped monthly sales incentives.
Looking For Even More Legit Remote Jobs?
FlexJobs is one of my favorite sites to use for finding remote jobs and learning about new companies that hire remotely.
Most of what I see there when I check the listings pays well above minimum wage and are known companies.
The great thing about FlexJobs is that they guarantee ALL listings are scam-free. They list hundreds of jobs — all of which are either remote or flexible in nature — five days per week.
There are also no ads on the site!
Because there are no ads, they do charge a membership fee since that is the only way they can see a return on their job-searching efforts.
But it’s cheap — you can get access for a few weeks for just $2.95 for 14 full days!
If you sign up and don’t like it, it’s very easy to cancel right away so you are not billed again. You can do it any point during your 14 days of checking things out.
Go here to check out FlexJobs.
Good luck to you!
Anna Thurman is a work at home blogger and mom of two. She has been researching and reviewing remote jobs for over 13 years. Her findings are published weekly here at Real Ways to Earn.