If you’ve ever found yourself staring at a ship upgrade you can’t afford, or a rare multi-tool locked behind a 10 million unit price tag, you’re far from alone. I’ve spent hundreds of hours bouncing between star systems, testing every trick I can find to fatten my wallet without spending all my time on repetitive grind. This guide breaks down exactly how to make money in No Man’s Sky no matter your playstyle, whether you prefer wandering uncharted planets, haggling with traders, or taking down pirate fleets. You won’t find any glitches or exploit methods here, either—all of these tactics work on every platform, and won’t risk getting you in trouble with game updates.
Core Rules for How to Make Money in No Man’s Sky Without Burning Out
Before you jump into any specific method, there are a few ground rules I swear by to keep your grind fun and efficient. I’ve seen way too many new players pick a single money making tactic and get bored of the game within a week, because they’re only focusing on units instead of enjoying the game itself. Stick to these rules, and you’ll earn plenty of units while still getting to explore all No Man’s Sky has to offer.
That last rule is the one I see most people skip. I once made 3 million units just from selling rare creature scans I picked up while I was searching for a specific mineral for a base upgrade, without even planning to make money that run. Small gains add up faster than you think, especially when you’re just starting out.
Low-Effort Money Making Methods for New Players
If you’re still in the early game, you don’t have access to the advanced ships, bases, or technology that makes high-level grind fast. That doesn’t mean you have to scrape by on selling rusted metal and cheap ferrite, though. Many new players don’t realize these small, casual activities are some of the fastest ways to grow your unit count when you’re first learning how to make money in No Man’s Sky.
One of the best early game tactics is scanning all flora and fauna on uncharted planets. Every planet you land on has a 100,000 unit bonus for scanning all creatures, plus smaller payouts for every new plant and mineral you add to your discovery log. You can even sell individual creature scans to NPCs at space stations for 20,000 to 50,000 units each, no processing required. All you need is your basic scanner, which you get within the first hour of gameplay.
Another great early option is collecting and selling gravitino balls if you run across a planet that has them. These glowing purple orbs spawn on extreme weather or sentinel planets, and each one sells for around 25,000 units right out of the gate. Just watch out for aggressive sentinels—they’ll attack you as soon as you pick one up, so be ready to run back to your ship if you get swarmed. I usually keep a stack of 20 in my inventory for emergencies, if I need to buy a quick upgrade or repair my ship mid-exploration.
You can also make solid early cash by salvaging crashed ships. You don’t have to repair the whole ship to make money off it—just scrap it at the nearest space station, and you’ll get a pile of rare upgrade modules and materials you can sell for hundreds of thousands of units, even for low-class ships. It only takes a few minutes to find a crashed ship with a signal booster, so it’s a perfect side activity while you’re exploring new systems.
Mid-Game Passive Income Tactics for Consistent Payouts
Once you’ve unlocked base building and have a few million units to invest in upgrades, you can set up passive income streams that earn you money while you’re off exploring, doing missions, or even logged out of the game. These methods take a little bit of upfront work, but they pay off for weeks after you set them up. This is one of the most low-lift ways to earn consistent units when you don’t want to spend all your playtime focused on grinding.
The most popular passive method is running a activated indium farm. Activated indium sells for 945 units per piece, and a medium-sized farm with 100 extractors can produce over 300,000 units worth of activated indium every hour. All you need to do is find a planet with high indium deposits, set up extractors and supply depots, and come back every few hours to collect your stock and sell it at the nearest trade terminal. You can even expand the farm over time to make more, without adding any extra work for yourself.
If farming isn’t your vibe, you can invest in frigate expeditions once you have a freighter. Send your fleet of frigates out on 2 to 24 hour missions, and they’ll come back with piles of rare resources, upgrade modules, and even units directly. The higher the class of your frigates, the better the rewards, and you don’t have to do anything except pick the missions and collect the loot when they return. I usually send my fleet out on 24 hour missions before I log off for the night, so I have a pile of rewards waiting for me when I log back in the next day.
Just make sure you match your frigates’ strengths to the mission type. A combat frigate will have a way higher success rate on a pirate hunting mission than a trade frigate, and failed missions mean you lose out on rewards and might even lose a frigate if you’re unlucky.
High-Reward Late-Game Methods for Big Payouts
Once you have a high-class ship, upgraded multitool, and a stock of resources to fall back on, you can tackle these high-payout methods that earn you millions of units per hour, if you’re willing to put in the active work. If you don’t mind active play, these methods are far and away the most profitable options for how to make money in No Man’s Sky when you need a big chunk of units fast.
One of the most profitable late game activities is raiding sentinel freighters. These huge ships spawn after you destroy enough sentinel ships in a system, and they’re packed with rare resources, upgrade modules, and tons of valuable sentinel technology you can sell for millions. You will have to fight off waves of sentinel fighters first, so make sure your ship has upgraded shields and weapons before you try this. The payout is worth it, though—my last sentinel freighter raid netted me over 12 million units in sold loot, and only took 20 minutes total.
Another great late game option is bulk commodity trading. Once you know the trade routes between systems, you can buy low-value goods in one system and sell them for a 30% to 80% markup in the next. You can make even more by buying goods in systems with a corresponding economy: buy agricultural goods in farming systems, for example, and sell them in industrial systems for the highest possible markup. You’ll need a lot of cargo space to make this worth your time, so upgrade your ship’s cargo slots first before you dive in.
You can also make huge profits by hunting for rare S-class ships and multi-tools, then selling them to other players in multiplayer lobbies. Rare exotic ships can sell for upwards of 50 million units to other players who don’t want to spend hours searching for them, and it’s a fun way to explore while you make money. Just make sure you confirm the trade terms first to avoid any headaches with other players.
At the end of the day, there’s no “right” way to earn units in the game, and the best methods are the ones that you enjoy doing enough to stick with. You don’t have to grind for 10 hours a day to afford the upgrades or ships you want, especially if you take advantage of passive income streams to boost your earnings while you play. Whether you’re a brand new player still learning the ropes or a veteran traveler with dozens of systems under your belt, there’s a tactic that fits your schedule and playstyle when you’re figuring out how to make money in No Man’s Sky. Next time you log on, pick one method to test out, and you’ll be shocked at how fast your unit count grows.