I’ve been using Macadam for well over a year now, so I think I’m qualified to give you a proper opinion on it. When I first downloaded it, the premise was simple: walk, earn coins, cash out. I liked the idea. I like walking. I like money. Seemed straightforward enough.

The reality is a bit more nuanced — and in 2025 and into 2026, some things have changed that you really should know before you download it.

Here’s my honest take.

What Is the Macadam App?

Macadam is a free pedometer app that pays you in digital coins for your daily steps. It uses your phone’s built-in step counter rather than GPS, which means — unlike Sweatcoin — it counts indoor steps too. The school run, pacing around the kitchen, walking the aisles in Tesco. It all counts.

Once you’ve built up enough coins, you can cash them out via bank transfer or swap them for gift cards from retailers like Amazon.

There’s no cost to download, and you don’t need to hand over any bank details to sign up. The starting bonus is 1,000 coins when you use a referral code (more on that in a moment), which actually gets you most of the way to your first cashout.

How Does Macadam Work?

You earn 100 coins for every 10,000 steps, up to a daily cap of 22,500 steps (225 coins). To actually bank those coins though, you need to open the app each day and slide ‘convert my coins’. If you don’t do it before midnight, you lose the day’s steps entirely.

This is the bit that catches people out. It’s annoying, to be honest. Other apps just track everything automatically in the background. With Macadam, you have to remember to check in daily. I do it when I get into bed — just a habit now — but I’ve definitely lost a few days’ worth when life got busy.

On top of walking, you can earn extra coins through:

• Surveys — a few extra coins, worth doing if you’ve got five minutes
• Watching ads — tiny amounts, not really worth the effort in my opinion
• Challenges — occasional step challenges with coin bonuses
• Referrals — this is where the real coins are (see below)

The app syncs with Apple Health on iPhone, so if you’ve got an Apple Watch it picks up those steps automatically. For Android users it pulls from Google Fit.

How Much Can You Realistically Earn?

Let me be straight with you: not a lot.

Walking 10,000 steps a day earns you 100 coins. You need 30,000 coins to cash out £15. Do the maths and you’re looking at 300 days of consistent walking just from steps alone. That’s roughly 5p a day.

In practice, most people earn more than that because of referrals — but referrals are also where the app has become more complicated recently (see the update section below).

Personally, I’ve had one payout of £15 after about eight months of use. Most of that came from referrals rather than steps. I currently have around 42,000 points sitting in my account from 75 referrals, though a lot of those people have stopped using the app, which affects whether I actually get the bonus.

Realistically? Expect somewhere between £5 and £20 a year if you use it consistently. It’s not income. It’s a background earner, like having a cashback app running quietly while you get on with your life.

Is Macadam Legit?

Yes — it has paid me. But I need to be transparent about what’s happened more recently, because the picture has got more complicated.

What users are saying in 2025-2026

My comments section has been really useful here, actually. A reader called Scott who’d been using the app since May 2023 commented in August 2024 that Macadam had started rejecting payment requests, citing reasons like “too many referrals” — which makes no sense given their own terms allow up to 40,000 referral points. He felt the app might be running out of money.

Another reader, Vi, reported that when she tried to cash out, the amount shown in the app didn’t match what she actually received — and when she raised it with customer support, they blamed user error. She spent months trying to resolve it.

I’ve had no issue with my own payout, though it did take a couple of weeks to land. But I can’t ignore what readers are telling me, and the pattern is real.

My updated assessment

Macadam isn’t technically a scam — the app functions, the step tracking works, and some users do get paid. But there are enough reports of payment problems in 2025 and 2026 that I’d urge caution. Don’t let a large balance sit in your account without cashing out. Redeem as soon as you hit the threshold, and don’t rely on referral coins as a certainty.

​2026 Update: Payment Issues Warning

Please read this before you start.

Since my original review, I’ve been keeping a close eye on user experiences and my own account. The payment rejection issue that Scott flagged in 2024 hasn’t gone away. Several users have reported:

• Coins being reduced without explanation before cashout
• Withdrawals rejected citing vague “terms violations”
• Customer support acknowledging the issue but not resolving it
• Thresholds that seem to move higher the more coins you accumulate

I’m not saying don’t use it. I’m saying: cash out as soon as you can, don’t use referrals as your primary strategy, and go in with realistic expectations. It works for small amounts. For larger balances, it’s become less reliable.

Macadam Referral Code

If you do decide to download it, use my code WJNXZA to get 1,000 coins as soon as you sign up — that’s basically your first cashout halfway done before you’ve taken a step.

Download link: macad.am/en

Macadam vs Other Walking Apps

If you want to get paid for walking, Macadam works best as part of a stack rather than your only app. I run it alongside WeWard and BetterPoints — none of them require extra effort, they all pull from the same phone step counter, and together they add up to something actually noticeable over a few months.

I’ve done a full comparison of the best walking apps that pay in the UK if you want to see how they all line up.

Pros and Cons

What works well:

• Counts indoor steps — not just outdoor GPS walking
• New user bonus gets you closer to cashout straight away
• Syncs with Apple Health and Apple Watch
• No bank details required to sign up
• Simple interface, nothing complicated

What doesn’t:

• Must open the app daily to convert steps — miss a day and you lose them
• Earnings from walking alone are very slow
• Payment issues reported by multiple users in 2025-2026
• Customer support can be slow to respond
• Cashout processing takes a couple of weeks

Is Macadam Worth It in 2026?

With the caveats above, yes — but only if you treat it as a passive background app rather than a meaningful income source. Download it, set up the daily habit of converting your steps, cash out as soon as you hit the threshold, and don’t let your balance build up to the point where losing it would matter.

Paired with WeWard and BetterPoints, you can realistically earn a few pounds a month just from walking you’re already doing. That’s not nothing.

But if you’re looking for a proper side hustle, this isn’t it. Check out my money-making apps roundup for things that actually move the needle.

FAQs

What is the Macadam walking app? Macadam is a free app that pays you in digital coins for your daily steps. Coins can be cashed out via bank transfer or swapped for gift cards. It uses your phone’s built-in step counter, so indoor steps count too.

How much can you earn with Macadam? From walking alone, around 5p a day (100 coins per 10,000 steps, 30,000 coins needed for a £15 payout). Referrals and challenges can boost this, but realistically expect £5-20 a year.

Is Macadam a scam? No — it does pay out. However, there have been increasing reports of payment rejections and coin reductions in 2025 and 2026. I’d recommend cashing out as soon as you hit the threshold rather than letting balances build.

Can Macadam be used on desktop? No, mobile only — available on both iPhone (App Store) and Android (Google Play).

Do you lose your steps if you forget to convert them? Yes. You must open the app and convert your coins before midnight each day, or the steps are lost. This is probably the most frustrating thing about the app.

Does Macadam work with Apple Watch? Yes — it syncs via Apple Health, so your Watch steps are picked up automatically.

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