5 Best Ways to Make Money Fast in No Man’s Sky

Earn money overnight with these No Man's Sky tips

Written by Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: March 18, 2025 Fact Checked

Have you just started playing No Man's Sky and want to know how to make money? Fortunately, there are many ways to do this to fit your gameplay style! This wikiHow article lists ways to help you make money in No Man's Sky.

Things You Should Know

Scanning rocks, plants, and animals with an upgraded scanner is the easiest way to make money in No Man's Sky.
Buy Planetary Charts to find crashed ships you can sell as salvage to make money quickly.
With the new patch update, more experienced fighters can find and sell Sentinel Interceptors.

1

Planet scanning.

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Get S or X-class scanner upgrades. You'll get bonuses when you scan things on a planet. For example, scans of rocks can net you 27k, which will multiply for each rock you scan.^{[1]
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- If a scan of a plant gets you 90k and animals are 120-500K, then a planet full of rocks, plants, and animals will be about 2 - 5 million units.
- This is the best passive way to make money in No Man's Sky!

2

Salvage crashed ships.

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Once you get to the location of the Distress Signal, you'll find crashed ships.^{[2]
X
Research source} You don't need to repair them! Use the teleporter to get to a Space Station where you can sell the crashed ship.

3

Be a pirate.

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Go to a pirate system and attack freighters. Pirate systems don't have Sentinels, which would otherwise immediately attack you, so you want to find a system without Sentinels.^{[3]
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- Wait for a freighter to appear, then attack its cargo area.
- Fighters will show up to defend the freighter, so get away before they begin attacking you. You can escape the fighters by entering the space station and selling your loot from attacking the freighter.
- You can make 20-30 million per system using this method!
- Fighters and Exotic ships are the best for this use; both have excellent damage output and maneuverability. Fighters have bigger cargo holds, while Exotic ships have better shields.

4

Take advantage of trade routes.

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Get an economy scanner for your ship. Look for economy chains where you can profit. For example, Port A sells X at a discount; Port B buys X with markup and sells Y at a discount; Sell all of X in your inventory, then buy all the Y you can. Port C buys Y at a markup and sells Z at a discount. Sell all Y in your inventory, then buy all the Z you can. Continue with this pattern and you'll end up making a good profit!^{[4]
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- In this instance, you'll notice that mining materials are cheaper in mining economies and more expensive in industrial economies.
- These are the loops you'll follow, like Trading > Advanced Materials > Scientific > Back to Trading and Mining > Manufacturing > Technology > Power Generation > Back to Mining.

5

Sell salvaged Sentinel Interceptors.

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Find a crashed Sentinel ship, fix it up, and sell it. You can find a crashed Sentinel ship in three ways: defeating a Sentinel Dreadnought and using the Dreadnought AI fragment, finding a Harmonic Camp and using the terminal there, or getting the coordinates from other Travelers.
- If you have the resources and fighting power, defeating a Sentinel Dreadnought is the most straightforward way to find a crashed Sentinel Interceptor. All you need to do is start a fight with some Sentinels while on a planet, then hop into your ship and fight the Sentinel Interceptors that appear. Defeat all the waves of Interceptors and you'll get level 5 wanted, which will spawn a Sentinel Dreadnought.
- Destroy the Dreadnought for an AI Fragment. Use the AI Fragment on a Corrupted Planet to find the location of the nearest crashed Sentinel Interceptor.
- Alternatively, and for those unable to defeat Sentinel Dreadnoughts, you can find Harmonic Camps on Corrupted Planets if you fly low over them or by destroying Corrupted Sentinels until you get an Echo Locator, which will direct you to the closest Camp.
- Finding Harmonic Camps is the best way for newer players to find and sell crashed Sentinel Interceptors.
- Other players can also tell you the locations of crashed Sentinel Interceptors so you don't have to do any work.
- Once you find the fallen ship, you need to repair it. Use 3 Radiant Shards, 1 Inverted Mirror, and 1 Harmonic Brain to get the ship running again.^{[5]
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- Use those pieces to repair the ship and you can sell it for a massive profit!
- Using this method nets you between 30 - 80 million in about 30 minutes. However, it's not for beginners and is tougher for those who want to do solo fights.

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Tips

There is a lot of outdated information about making money fast in No Man's Sky. For instance, finding and selling ancient bones or shooting water are no longer viable gold-making opportunities.

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