20 Cogs Review & Can You Make Money From It?
Is 20 COGS a scam or a genuine one-off legit way to make real money from the comfort of your home. Typically it’s said you can make £100-£200+ depending on which of the highest paying tasks you are able or choose to do. Read my full 20 Cogs review to to find out how I got on when I fully put it to the test.
20Cogs has been used by tens of thousands of people. However, there is a little preparation and a few tips that you should consider beforehand to make sure that your experience goes as smoothly as possible and you make the most money without any hiccups.
What is 20 Cogs?
The clue is in the name, it’s 20 tasks to be completed from offers that fall into the following categories:
- Competitions
- Offers
- Gaming
- Surveys
These are exactly the type of tasks you will be asked to undertake in order to complete each of the 20 Cogs, earning money towards your final 20 COG payout.
How It Works
You complete varying tasks for money each of which counts as a COG. Each individual COG offers a choice of tasks for you to complete. Once a COG is complete you are awarded payment.
By the time you have completed 20 Cogs, you should have earned approximately £100-£200+ at no cost or very little cost to yourself.
When you complete a task, the status of the COG changes to Amber, meaning it’s pending. This might take 24 hours so don’t worry if it doesn’t change straight away.
Once the advertisers have confirmed you have completed the task correctly, the Cog status will turn to Green.
Only when you have completed all 20 COGs will a CLAIM button appear. This will allow you to request payment to your bank using your BACS details or request payment to your PAYPAL account.
Free and Easy to Start
20 cogs is totally free to sign up to and get started.
However note, some tasks require you to use a credit or debit card and make a small payment in order to earn the much larger commission payment.
Also if you do not cancel some sign ups in time you will be charged.
You can do all 20 COGS at once and wait for them to turn green over the next 30 days or just take your time and do them as and when you get time.
Is 20 COGS a Scam or Is it Legit?
20 cogs is not a scam, in fact, it has a 4-star rating on Trustpilot.
On reading some of the reviews it was clear most people who had a slightly negative experience had jumped too early wrong conclusion and not contacted the Helpdesk. However, as you can see 84% has an Excellent or Great experience.
One thing you must be very clear on before you start is that you have to complete all 20 COGS before you can get paid. You can’t cash out or withdraw what you appear to have earned after completing each COG.
Even when you have completed all COGS, you have to wait for them all turn green. This again can take up to 30 days.
Understand these key points and you should get along fine.
Any problems use the Help Desk, there is a link to it at the top of the page.
How Much Can You Earn
Ultimately this will depend on which tasks you choose to complete at every COG level. In total, you should be able to earn £100-200+. I’ve seen some people say they have earned up to £300.
One thing that might hinder your earnings is if you have completed some of the tasks before. The bookmakers or online casino, bingo sites are some of the highest paying offers, but you may have signed up to these previously if you have done any Matched Betting which is an excellent way of earning lots more cash and is NOT GAMBLING).
The payout figures you see are not representative of the final profit you’ll make. In order to achieve an expected payout of £170, I needed to spend approximately £54.
Therefore I would only consider undertaking 20 COGS if you think it’s worth doing for a final profit of around £100+.
How Long To Withdraw / Cashout Payment
Don’t expect a quick payment from 20 cogs. It is a relatively slow process moving through 20 Cogs and some individual tasks can take 30+ days to be verified.
Don’t give up. Once you have started, keep going. If you are not sure what to do with a particular COG, take a break and see if the offers change to something more suitable to complete.
Preparation Before Starting – Tips for 20 Cogs
Although 20 COGS is a legit way to make money, there are a few pitfalls worth avoiding.
Remember the companies paying a commission to 20 COGS are trying to make money. So they will want to market themselves or get you to subscribe to full paying services.
However, knowing this in advance you can avoid these problems as I outline below.
Set Up A New Email Address
Never use your main email address for money-making sites etc. I would suggest setting up a new email just for 20 COGS and its related tasks. It takes literally takes a couple of minutes to set a new Gmail account. This will mean you avoid wasting time on any spam in your main email accounts.
Avoid Using Your Mobile Phone Number
You will receive spam phone calls from some of the offers, so seriously consider not using your main phone number.
You could use a PAYG SIM or another option is to use a fake phone number.If you just try and make up your own random phone number, there is a chance a real person will, unfortunately, be receiving a load of spammy calls thanks to you.
The solution is to use https://fakenumber.org/united-kingdom which for free has mobile phone numbers you can use that are not in use.
Keep Records Or Set Phone Notifications
Some of the offers will involve you signing up for a free trial or possibly very low costs subscription services.
You will, therefore, need to keep a record of when to cancel these services by. This could be over any number of timeframes, for example, 2 days, 7 days or even 30. If you don’t cancel, you will be charged.
Read Instructions Carefully
Make sure you read and follow the instructions for each task carefully, so you do everything correctly and satisfactorily enough to qualify for the payment.
Double check the small print if giving bank details. Some offers require you to be a member for a set number of days but will actually charge you earlier within that timeframe.
Take Screenshots As Proof
Take screenshots and just save them in a designated 20 Cogs folder on your laptop or tablet etc. This is just in-case there are any queries down the line where an advertiser might question whether an offer was completed correctly. You will then be able to easily prove it was.
Where possible include your name and date in the screenshot so 20 Cogs can match up with the click data.
Bank Account Choice
You will need a bank account to sign up for some free trials and paid subscriptions. If you have more than 1 bank account, I would consider using the one that has the least transactions.
Fortunately, I used a bank account that I only use for savings so it had very few monthly transactions. This made it a lot easier for me to see transactions leaving the account that related to 20 COGS as well as any Direct Debits being set up on the account.
20 Cogs Freebies or Very Low Prices
Not only are you getting paid to use 20 Cogs, but some of the offers involve giving you items or services for free. Or a very low trial price.
Here are some examples:
- Dog Food
- Child’s Activity Box
- Graze Box
- Amazon Prime Membership
- Now TV Membership (owned by Sky TV (reduce your bill up to 75%) and actually a cheaper alternative you might want to consider long-term.)
- Tastecard for 3 months for just £1
Plus various other options depending on which COG tasks you choose to complete.
How to Earn Even More From 20 Cogs
Once you have completed your 20 cogs and know exactly how it works and that it’s not a scam you have the option to make more money.
You have to wait until you have completed 20 COGS before you can withdraw your first payout. However, once you have completed all 20, you can carry on doing COGS and get paid out whenever you like.
Take some screenshots of your payouts as proof and recommend to your friends and family along with a referral code.
You can also currently earn 5% of referrals payments and 20% when they complete all 20 Cogs . Plus, because you’ve completed the process yourself, you will be able to assist and motivate them along the way.
Sites Like 20 Cogs
There is no other site specifically like 20 cogs. However, once you have completed 20 Cogs you will have an understanding of how and why it works.
If you didn’t mind signing up to online bookmakers and casinos, you may well be interested in earning more money this way. If so, check out my Complete Beginners Guide to Matched Betting (note Matched Betting is NOT GAMBLING It is primarily taking advantage of bookie sports free bet offers.
Another perfectly valid option is to look for your own 20Cog paying to sign up offers on the best cashback sites. I use cashback sites to get money back on potentially all my household bills and online shopping.
You’ll find many cashback sites work the same as 20 Cogs. You simply sign up for a free trial and get paid etc. In-fact you might find many more lucrative opportunities. I’ve made often made between £26-£36, even £69 on occasion on bookmaker signups as part of my Matched Betting.
The best 2 cashback sites for this are Topcashback and Quidco. Definitely always worth checking both. Hereyou can read my TopCashback review.
Again, anything bookie and sportsbook related might possibly be combined with a Matched betting offer that you can also profit from.
20 COGS Tips Checklist
Here’s a bullet point checklist of the points I’ve made above to help your 20 COGs experience go as smoothly as possible.
- Set Up New Email
- Use Fake phone number
- Keep Record of any sign ups and dates you need to cancel
- Read small print for dates for any offers you submit bank card details for
- Must complete all COGS to claim payment
- Be patient – Can take 30+ days for some tasks to be verified
- Take Screenshots as you go to prove tasks completed
- Contact support if any issues
My 20 COGS Review Progress

At the time of writing, have completed 10 COGS. 3 are still marked grey after 3-4 days. I simply click the Help Desk link.
I read the “Frequently Asked Questions” and chose the one that asks “I’ve completed an offer, why is the Cog still grey”. From there I can submit a support ticket and I can the form already knows which offers are still grey and I can submit information on.
I do have a reservation about the timing when to cancel a direct debit or bank payment, in time to still qualify for the offer but also not get charged.
I will keep you updated on how it goes from here.
26th February 2018 Update

I started 20 COGs on 1st February. As you can see in the image on the right, I have completed all COGS and some are beginning to turn Green.
I’m on course for a £170.69 payout. However, many of the offers involve you spending money to make money.
I’ve also let an extra charge slip through, so I will calculate total profit after receiving my payout. It should easily be over £100.
I had to contact the Help Desk a couple of times to get some of the COGS to turn from Grey to Amber. This is included sending a screenshot I had already taken. Again this is really easy to do and you just attach the image as part of sending a message via the support tickets.
My Matched Betting experience helped in wagering one of the casino offers and I chose a high RTP slot game. I deposited £10 & received a £20 bonus all of which needed wagering. However, I came out with £240.49 profit (see my February Extra Cash Report). I won’t be including this in my final 20 COGS profit as it’s primarily luck that I earned it, so instead, I count it as Matched Betting earnings.
COG 17, I couldn’t complete because I had already completed the offers available at others times as part of my Matched Betting.
However, this was an easy fix as they told me to choose any other offer from one of the 20 COGS, complete it, and just let them know.
20 COGS say at wait at least 30 days for the COGS to turn Green before contacting them, so I’m just playing the waiting game now.
In the meantime I’m keeping an eye on my bank account and my spreadsheet to check for days I should cancel free and paid trials.

6th March 2018 Update
At this point, many of the offers have been completed for the full 30 days.
Most of the COGS have started to turn from Amber to Green. I haven’t had to chase any of these up.
I’ve been logging into my bank often to check no extra charges are being taken and no new DD’s are appearing on my account.
Fortunately, I chose a current bank account that I just used for savings. So any transactions clearly stood out.
I have been checking my spreadsheet on a regular basis, to double-check for dates I should be cancelling free trials etc.
For a few of the sites offers I have had to log back in and cancel subscriptions.
COGS 11, 13 and 19 I completed between the 5th and 7th February, so I will give another 7-10 days to see if they turn green.
I’ll be sure to share a screenshot when I’m given the option to cash out.
At the same time, I will calculate my overall profit. The payout minus any charges to complete the offers. I’ll then give my final verdict.
20 Cogs Complete With Proof of Payout
20th March Update:
7 weeks after starting, all 20 COGS have turned green. As you can see in the image on was now given the option to “Collect Earnings”. This appears just above your 20 green Cogs.
Upon clicking to claim my earnings direct to my bank accounts I was presented with this confirmation message:
Within 3 days the money was in my bank account.
20 Cogs Profit
The 20 COGS total payout is only part of the picture. This is because it costs money to complete some of the COGS. You earn more than you pay so this is worthwhile. However, these costs do add up.
Also, I found some offers extremely tight as regards following instructions to qualify for the cashback and not incurring extra charges.
In total including an extra charge it cost me £41 to complete all COGS.
Final profit is £129.60.
Conclusion
As you can see 20 COGS is a legitimate way to earn a decent amount of money relatively easily from home.
Do note, the payouts don’t represent the final profit because depending on the cogs you choose you to incur some costs. However, you should make at least £100+.
It does need constant monitoring, and a certain amount of record keeping, so it won’t be for everyone.
However, there are things you can do to make sure you earn this money as smoothly as possible. So be sure to check my tips checklist and scan the page for more in-depth reasoning and information on those tips.
If you have tried 20 Cogs yourself please let me know your experience.
Any questions please ask in the comments below.
A very informative post, I saw this being discussed on a facebook group and hadn’t heard of it before. I think I would have been a little wary of starting this but your post has broken down the risks really well. I think I will give it a go following your tips and make sure I keep a close eye on things!
7 weeks to make £129.60. And what about when you’ve been doing these offers a few weeks won’t the well run dry. It doesn’t seem like a good long term plan for earning an actual living. And if you keep records but somehow lose track of something you’ve signed up for you could find yourself in a bit of a pickle. I get that it’s not for everyone and and is legit but it seems to be a short term solution to finding an income with an element of risk and long wait times to get paid. If you’re someone that doesn’t ‘need’ the extra money but rather would like a bit of extra pocket money then I reckon this is for you.
Hi John,
20 Cogs isn’t meant to be a “long term plan for earning an actual living”.
It’s a one-off way for earning £100+.
Although it took 7 weeks to make and receive the £129.60, it only took about 10 hours of work time, if that, so £12+ per hour.
It’s certainly not for everyone as I tried to point out in the review, but the earn rate beats that of many survey sites and many people are happy to dedicate hours to those a month, so this might be an interesting option.
Thanks for your comment.
Hi there
Really great article. You say above that it ca provide a one off payment of £100+, but does that mean once you have received your payment, you cannot restart the cog process once again?
Many thanks.
Hi Lorraine,
It’s just a one-off process, you can’t start over again, unfortunately. If you know anyone who also might be interested in doing it, you could always refer them and see if that earns you a bit extra.
If you don’t mind the betting, bingo, casino type cogs, you might be interested in Matched Betting, some of the sign up can be combined with cashback. See my Topcashback examples and also Quidco is another option. I’ve made money from both for different types of offers. Very lucrative especially when combined with Matched Betting (profiting not gambling).
Have you completed the COGS? If so, how did you get on?
Is this (20 COGS) for UK residens only?
UK only I’m afraid.
Yup, seemed Ok when i started … now all offers in the upcoming Cogs require me to sign up for a free trial and just pay £0.99 or £1. So imagine i do that 17 times…… would i have the time to go and unsubscribe from all of them before they start charging me?
On top 20Cogs do not give me any other options……….
I am so disappointed…
Would not recommend!
20 COGS is a valid way of earning over £100+ but I agree it’s not for everyone.
As stated in my review it cost me a total £41 to complete the COGS, so I made £129 profit from a payout of £170. That included letting an extra charge slip through, but I aimed to complete my COGS as quickly as possible so had a number of subscriptions on the go at the same time.
You chave the option to pace yourself and aim to complete all 20 COGS over a number of weeks. Maybe write reminders in your diary, phone or calendar.
The round of COGs you are on now might all be pay to subscribe but others down the line might not be. You have to decide if it’s worth paying 99p to earn £10 or whatever the offer is.
If you reach a point where you have completed all offers on a COG and only have a couple left to go, you can ask 20 COGS if you can complete a previous offer you skipped on an earlier COG.
Obviously, don’t start spending any money unless you are fully intending to complete all 20.
Either way, thanks for sharing your experience.