How To Get Free CS:GO/CS2 Skins (All Legal Ways)

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Over the years, Counter-Strike has transformed from a simple first-person shooter into an entire ecosystem. Much of this is due to the unique skins that players can either earn or buy.

The buying and trading of these skins has created huge markets where some skins sell for tens of thousands of dollars. Of course, there are much more affordable options as well. But even affordable skins can be a bit much for those on a tight budget or who simply don’t want to fork out the cash.

Thankfully there are some ways to get free skins and no, you don’t have to do anything morally questionable to do so. In the next few sections we’ll show you how to get free CS:GO/CS2 skins that should work for just about every player on every budget.

Earn CS:GO/CS2 Skins In-Game

Playing Counter-Strike may be one of the easiest ways to earn skins if you already devote hours per week to playing. CS drops are well known but there are a few ways you can maximize your earnings with these drops if you’re looking to build up cash for free skins.

First, new cases often sell for a premium when they first drop. So if you get a new case, make sure to sell it on the Steam marketplace or a third-party marketplace immediately to get the highest value. That first day can have prices 10X higher than normal, so act quickly to earn the most money.

Another tip to get free CS:GO/CS2 skins is to have a Prime account. Prime account holders get skins and graffiti drops from leveling up their profile in addition to the random drops at the end of matches. Those without a Prime account only get drops at the end of matches.

Graffiti drops are pretty low value, so you want to focus on skins or cases. All of these items drop from an available “drop pool” which changes all the time. You can earn most from newly dropped items when the drop pools change.

Another bonus of having a Prime account is that you can earn rare cases that aren’t in the normal drop pool. If you already have it, make sure to put it to good use and it may pay for itself.

CS:GO/CS2 Skin Giveaways

This method is totally free and takes the least amount of time, so for those who don’t want to spend anything yet still get free skins, this is the method for you.

Sites like DMarket host giveaways where several times a month they give away a free CS:GO/CS2 skin. There is no charge for this and all you have to do is enter each draw which only takes a few seconds.

To start, head over to DMarket and sign up with your Steam account or any valid email address. Using your Steam account makes transferring your winning skin easy, so it’s best to use that.

Then, simply enter one of the current draws. You will be notified by email if you win and the skin will be transferred to your account within 7 days.

It’s all totally legitimate and one of the best ways to get free CS:GO skins. DMarket giveaways have already given out more than 1,000 skins worth over $70,000 so far and all winners are listed after each draw. So don’t miss out on the next giveaway and your chance to win.

CS:GO/CS2 Skins From Paid Surveys And Other Tasks

Getting CS:GO skins from paid surveys is probably the easiest method as it takes very little work. The downside is it takes up time. However, if you have a lot of spare time between shifts at work or classes at school, this may be a perfect way to grab some free CS:GO skins.

There are several websites and apps that allow you to take marketing surveys, watch videos, or perform other simple tasks and in exchange, make progress towards various CS:GO skins. You may be wondering why these apps give out skins for simply watching videos or taking surveys, but the answer is pretty simple. Advertisers pay these app companies so they can gather research on customers or for other marketing purposes. In exchange, the apps give out free stuff to attract people to perform the tasks.

One of the more popular apps for this is Idle-Empire. It focuses on CS:GO skins as rewards for answering surveys and you can sign up right from your Steam account. This makes it easy to transfer skins once you’ve earned them.

They add new ways to earn skins all the time, so sometimes it’s surveys, and other times it’s downloading mobile games and playing for a specific period of time. So at least there’s a little variation and something that everyone can do when they want to kill some time and earn free CSGO skins.

If you need the best skins right now for when CS2 drops, look up our guide on the best skins in Counter-Strike 2.

CS:GO/CS2 Skins Through The Operation Pass

If you already buy operation passes, you can earn enough in cases and skins to pay for it and have some extra left over. However, you do have to grind through the pass and hit all the objectives. Completing the objectives earns you stars and you can spend those stars on special operation skins or cases.

However, if you want a free knife instead of free skins, read our guide on how to get knives in CS:GO.

CS:GO/CS2 Major Predictions

When there’s a Major, fans can buy a Major viewing pass. These passes allow access to watch parts of the event and have other special privileges. If you already buy these passes, you can access areas where you make predictions on the different tournament stages. For every correct prediction, you earn tokens which can then be redeemed for Major-specific skins.

These skins can sell for more than typical skins, so it can provide a nice profit if you’re able to make some accurate predictions on the tournament. That means this method is best for players who keep a close eye on the pro teams and how they are performing throughout the season.

Speaking of the pro scene, are you excited about CS2? Read up on the Source 2 impact on the game and pro scene.

Make sure to only use trusted sites like Steam or DMarket which have a stellar reputation in the CS:GO community.

Whichever method you choose, just stick with it and you should end up with some nice free CS:GO skins over time, and you never know, you may even end up with a skin worth decent money without ever spending it.

Trade on the go - install the mobile app of DMarket from Google Play or App Store. Never miss great prices and unique skins. The best CS:GO, Dota 2, Rust and TF2 marketplace is always at hand!