Are you searching for legitimate work from home jobs with no startup fees? This informative post and list of hiring companies have you covered.
With advances in technology and more positive attitudes toward telecommuting, there are more remote positions than ever before. But just because telecommuting is on the rise doesn’t mean you can slack off from doing your due diligence. According to the Better Business Bureau, work from home scams cost individuals approximately $2 billion each year!
There are many warning flags that a job is a scam. Things like lack of contact information, vague job descriptions, hyped-up job ads, negative reviews, and poor ratings with the Better Business Bureau. But there is one warning flag that causes a lot of confusion, and that’s the fees associated with working from home.
You Should Never Have to Pay for a Job
In essence, this statement is true. But there are some exceptions to that rule, which I want to discuss before I move on to legitimate work from home jobs with no startup fees.
With most work from home jobs, the bare minimum you’ll need to provide is a reliable computer (or laptop) and a high-speed internet connection.
However, depending on your role, you may also need additional office equipment like a dedicated phone line, a headset, a quiet office space free of distractions, and a printer with scanning abilities.
Some legitimate fees you may encounter when applying for remote jobs are fees for training materials, criminal background checks, credit checks, and drug testing. Often, these work from home fees are deducted from your first paycheck.
Why Do Work From Home Companies Charge for These Fees?
It’s primarily entry-level positions that require these sorts of fees, and the reason companies do this is they want to weed out candidates that aren’t 100% committed to the role. The rationale is if you invest a small amount of money, you’re more likely to follow through and remain with the company for an extended period. On the flip side, most telecommuting positions for professional careers do not require fees for training or background checks.
Another reason entry-level positions come with fees is that there are so many individuals applying for these positions that it’s cost-prohibitive for these companies to pay for these expenses.
One last thing you must consider: Is the position a job, a business opportunity, or an online course?
There are lots of legitimate business-in-a-box, home-based franchises, and direct sales companies that require a startup fee. These fees are entirely legit when you’re joining a business opportunity, but again, you need to make sure that you’re dealing with reputable companies.
There are also many online courses out there that will help you learn new skills or start a business. Again, take your time and research what’s being sold. Ask questions and read reviews. The more you know, the easier it will be for you to differentiate the opportunities available to you.
Don’t want to invest any money at all? No problem.
Before I jump into the legitimate work from home jobs with no startup fees, sign up for our free newsletter!
34 Legitimate Work From Home Jobs With No Startup Fees Required
These companies below have work from home jobs with no startup fees. Positions include full-time, part-time, and independent contracting roles. There are a wide variety of occupations and job levels available, so you can find exactly what you’re searching for in a remote job.
1. Aha!
Aha! hires remote customer success specialists, managers, engineers, and marketers from the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, South Africa, and New Zealand. Full-time positions come with benefits, and there are no startup fees associated with this company.
2. Amazon
Amazon hires for a wide variety of virtual positions, including administrative support, customer service, business development, legal, marketing, sales, and much more. There are no fees associated with these positions. If you’re looking for entry-level work with Amazon, check out Amazon MTurk. They have pay-per-assignment jobs that include tasks like translation, transcription, writing, and more.
3. American Express
American Express hires virtual workers for both entry-level (customer care professionals) and professional positions. They provide your computer, connection setup, and monthly costs for internet services.
4. Appen
Appen hires remote workers for social media evaluation, search engine evaluation, transcribers, translators, survey takers, and more. You must have a computer less than three years old and a high-speed internet connection. You’ll also need to be tech-savvy and up to date on current trends and news.
5. Apple
Apple hires at-home advisors to answer customer questions and concerns. You’ll need a quiet, distraction-free workspace and high-speed internet connection; Apple will provide you with an iMac and headset to use during employment.
6. Belay
Belay hires remote bookkeepers, social media managers, and virtual assistants. You must have a bachelor’s degree and related experience for these roles. You’ll also need a PC or Mac with a webcam, high-speed internet connection, and MS Office. These are part-time, independent contracting positions.
7. Boldly
Boldly hires full-time and part-time employees for a wide variety of virtual assistant jobs, including general, bilingual, marketing, and legal assistants. You’ll need at least seven years of experience for these positions, and they hire in all states except Hawaii and Washington, DC. Boldly does not charge any startup fees, and they offer employees many benefits and perks.
8. Brafton
If you’re interested in working from home in a marketing role like social media management, SEO, content writing, or digital content, look at Brafton’s remote job offerings. They have both freelance and full-time jobs, with the latter coming with employee benefits. Most positions require a bachelor’s degree and two years of experience with social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and social media scheduling tools.
9. Cambly
Cambly hires individuals to practice conversational English with their customers. In this role, you’ll earn an average of $10.20-$12.00 per hour! To get started, you’ll need to be a native English speaker, and you’ll need to have a computer with a webcam and a reliable internet connection.
10. Concentrix
Concentrix hires virtual workers for sales and service, customer service, and tech support. You will need a computer less than six years old, a high-speed internet connection, a phone (landline or cell), a headset and flash drive, and a quiet office space.
11. CVS Health
Whether you’re searching for data entry jobs, customer service roles, nursing jobs, or human resource positions, CVS Health always has a ton of remote job openings for US-based workers. Best of all, they don’t charge any fees to get started. You will, however, in most cases, need a high school diploma or GED and some prior work experience to apply for entry-level positions.
12. Dell
Dell computers hire a wide variety of work from home positions, such as sales managers, tech support, account managers, clinical support advisors, and more, with no fees required.
13. Foundever
Another company that has work from home jobs with no startup fees is Foundever. They hire remote workers from around the world for customer service, sales, support, and corporate positions. These are full-time positions that come with benefits and paid training.
14. Hilton
Hilton hires remote reservation sales specialists and customer care coordinators. To qualify for these positions, you must have a computer, a dedicated landline, a headset, high-speed internet, a webcam, and dedicated office space.
HSN hires remote customer service and order specialists. Job candidates must have a computer, broadband internet, headset, and a dedicated phone line. The starting pay is $11.50-$13.25 per hour.
16. PhoneBurner
PhoneBurner hires full-time customer support representatives to work from home. You’ll need distraction-free office space, high-speed internet, a PC or Mac computer, and a high-quality headset for this position. Pay is $17-20 per hour! They also have work from anywhere openings for their corporate roles.
17. Rev
Rev hires freelance transcriptionists, closed captioners, and translators. All you need is a reliable computer, headset, and broadband internet. Rev hires freelancers from the US (excluding California), Australia, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK, and Ireland.
18. Smith.ai
Smith.ai hires virtual receptionists and customer engagement specialists for full and part-time positions. For these roles, you’ll need a computer with Google Chrome, broadband internet, a quiet workspace, and a comfortable headset. Starting pay is $15-$16 per hour! Full-time positions come with benefits.
19. Studypool
Studypool hires online tutors worldwide to help students of all ages with their homework questions. The nice thing about these roles is all messaging is done through Studypool’s chat platform, so you don’t have to be on camera. According to their website, top tutors can earn up to $7,500 a month, and these work-from-home opportunities have flexible scheduling.
20. Sutherland
Sutherland hires for customer service, technical support, and sales positions. You must have your own computer, internet connection, headset, and a quiet work environment. Positions come with competitive pay, paid training, and benefits.
21. Time etc
Time etc hires part-time freelance virtual assistants, marketing and social media assistants, writing assistants, and customer service and sales. You must have a computer, high-speed internet, Microsoft Office, Skype, a headset, and a printer with paper. Starting pay is $17 per hour, and you’ll need at least five years of paid working experience.
22. Transcom
If you don’t mind customer service jobs, Transcom hires employees from around the world to provide customer and tech support. Most roles come with a starting pay rate of $17.31 per hour, benefits, and a company-provided computer.
23. TranscribeMe
TranscribeMe hires freelance transcribers from around the globe to transcribe short (2-4 minute) audio files into typed text documents. In these positions, you’ll earn $15-$22 per audio hour. If you’re looking for an opportunity to make extra money from the comfort of your own home on your own schedule, check out TranscribeMe.
24. TTEC
Another company that has work from home jobs with no startup fees is TTEC. They hire at-home customer service representatives to answer inbound calls and emails from customers. Must have a computer, anti-virus software, dedicated phone line, and internet connection.
25. U-Haul
U-Haul hires telecommuters for sales and reservation agent positions. You’ll need a private work area, a USB headset, and an internet connection. These are part-time jobs that come with benefits.
26. UnitedHealth Group
UnitedHealth Group hires for a wide variety of telecommuting positions, such as nurses, program directors, project managers, customer service, and more.
27. VaVa Virtual Assistants
VaVa Virtual Assistants hires part-time bookkeepers, social media managers, and virtual assistants to perform a wide variety of tasks. You must have 2-3 years of experience and be familiar with products like Basecamp, Google Suite, and Slack.
28. Westat
Westat hires home-based employees for telephone data collection work. You will need a computer, a high-speed internet connection, and a smartphone or tablet. Some assignments are part-time hours, and others are full-time positions – night and weekend shifts are available.
29. Williams-Sonoma
Williams-Sonoma hires remote customer service agents at a starting pay rate of $15 per hour. Job candidates must have one year of experience, a PC or Mac with a webcam, a USB headset, and a high-speed internet connection.
30. Working Solutions
Working Solutions hires independent contractors for sales, customer service, and travel professionals. Contractors must pass a criminal background check (CBC) to work on this program, however, there is no fee required. With Working Solutions, you can choose your own schedule and work anywhere between 15-40 hours per week.
31. Wrrk
Wrrk hires remote customer service professionals. In the role, you’ll be a W2 employee who receives health benefits. You must have at least one year of customer service experience, and you must reside in one of the following states: Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Kentucky, Nebraska, Washington, or Oklahoma.
32. Xerox
If you’re looking for a reputable company that hires for online data entry work, as well as other remote roles, look no further than Xerox. They’ve had a virtual office program for the last 30 years and continue to hire remote employees in the areas of customer care, tech support, data entry, image tagging, quality control, systems development, and more. Xero offers legit work from home jobs with no startup fees and plenty of benefits.
33. Yelp
One company that has work from home jobs with no startup fees is Yelp. The online review site is almost always hiring employees in the areas of community, engineering, marketing, administration, product design, sales, and customer service. Remote positions are location-dependent, but they come with a wide variety of benefits, like full health and dental coverage, paid time off, a home office reimbursement, and more.
34. Zapier
The last company in our list of legitimate work from home jobs with no startup fees is Zapier! They allow their employees to work from anywhere; they offer incredible benefits like health coverage, a flexible time-off policy, annual retreats, and a home office stipend. Zapier currently hires in the areas of business operations, data, engineering, executive, finance, legal, marketing, people, products, sales, and support.
Work From Home Business Ideas With No Startup Fees
If you prefer to be a small business owner and make money on your own terms, there are some ways in which you can start a business for free. See the following articles for ways to do it and the different opportunities available.
Work From Home Jobs With No Startup Fees Wrap-Up
There you have it: a huge list of legitimate work from home jobs with no startup fees!
You may be wondering where you can find information about fees for new remote job leads that you find online. You can usually find this information on the job listing itself or an FAQ page. Just be sure to take your time reading the job description and information pages so that you’re not surprised during the application and interviewing process. You can also read reviews on Glassdoor to find out even more information.
Do you know of other legit work from home jobs with no startup fees? Leave a comment below, and I may add it to the list.
Originally published December 14, 2016. Content updated February 2024.
