Side hustle ideas from people who actually run them
651 side hustles, each one described by the person running it, in a podcast, a YouTube interview or a Hacker News thread. Every idea links to its source. Filter by what it costs to start, how much time it takes, and how it earns.
105 ideas, page 1 of 3
- A YouTube channel of personal finance reviews and tutorials built on search traffic. Income comes from affiliate commissions on products like budgeting apps and savings accounts.Content and mediaSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- A simple website that helps people learn Excel through exercises. The founder built it with very little effort and grew it as a dead-simple, boring niche site.Content and mediaHands-offStarter Story, 2026
- Free chalkboards and whiteboards placed in restaurants and busy venues, which use them for daily specials. Income comes from selling small ad spots along the bottom to local businesses.Side Hustle Nation, 2026
- Short product review videos uploaded through the Amazon Influencer Program, which appear on product listings and earn commissions. The approach relies on filming high volumes of products found close to home.Content and mediaSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Documents government processes for immigrants and earns commissions on services they need, such as banking, insurance and translations, plus some consulting.Content and mediaHacker News, 2026
- An intentionally boring bedtime story podcast that helps grown-ups fall asleep. Income comes from a premium membership, books and other streams around the free show.Content and mediaSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- A free newsletter grows an audience and sells sponsor placements to advertisers. Subscriber growth is helped by paid ads and referral tools.Content and mediaThe Koerner Office, 2025
- A paid membership that delivers private podcast episodes mixing public domain radio shows with cleaning routines and prompts. Members pay a monthly or quarterly fee.Content and mediaSide Hustle Nation, 2025
- Posting engaging content, much of it screenshots of other people's posts, to a Facebook page enrolled in Facebook's content monetization program. Facebook shares ad revenue with the creator.Content and mediaUnder $100A few hours a weekSide Hustle Nation, 2025
- Runs a white-label flight and hotel search engine and shares deals by social media and email subscription.Content and mediaHacker News, 2024
- A group of free sudoku websites that earn steady income from minimal ads.Content and mediaHands-offHacker News, 2024
- Publishes personal notes from nonfiction books on a site and earns some money from it.Content and mediaHacker News, 2024
- Runs a flight deals blog and newsletter with an embedded flight and hotel search tool, earning from bookings.Content and mediaHacker News, 2022
- Runs a newsletter that profiles the home workspaces of makers and creators, earning recurring revenue.Content and mediaHacker News, 2022
- A blog that earns from ads and Patreon support, covering hosting costs and a bit more.Content and mediaHacker News, 2022
- Posts videos on tech and photography and earns from the channel.Content and media$1k to $10kHacker News, 2022
- Runs a small blog about cash flow that earns a modest monthly income.Content and mediaHacker News, 2022
- Posts weekly programming problem tutorials on YouTube and earns from ad revenue.Content and mediaHacker News, 2021
- Built a site comparing glasses retailers that earns affiliate commissions.Content and mediaUnder $100Hands-offHacker News, 2021
- A product review blog that earns from affiliate commissions.Content and mediaHacker News, 2021
- Makes coding tutorials on YouTube to support themselves while building a product, earning a small amount from the channel.Content and mediaHacker News, 2021
- A long-running blog on frontend topics that earns from ads and search visitors with only occasional new posts.Content and mediaHands-offHacker News, 2019
- Moved all past writing behind Medium's paywall and removed calls to action to qualify for distribution. Earns a monthly share from reader time.Content and mediaUnder $100Hands-offHacker News, 2019
- Started a price comparison website for college textbooks that earns affiliate commissions, mostly from search traffic.Content and mediaHands-offHacker News, 2019
- Runs a site that reviews web hosts and earns affiliate commissions. Competition is heavy.Content and mediaHacker News, 2019
- A regular newsletter about web tools that earns income and leads to paid writing work.Content and mediaA few hours a weekHacker News, 2019
- Documents fixing up an old sports car on YouTube. Income comes from ads and Patreon support.Content and mediaHacker News, 2019
- Makes video tutorials on Arduino programming on a personal site. Earns referral commissions when visitors buy parts.Content and mediaHacker News, 2019
- A site publishing original long-form non-fiction in article and podcast form, funded by donations, a published book and content licensing instead of advertising.Content and mediaHacker News, 2019
- Runs a website reviewing music equipment, especially MIDI keyboards, and earns commissions through Amazon affiliate links.Content and mediaHands-offHacker News, 2019
- Runs a weekly newsletter that satirizes the tech industry. Revenue is from advertising to the subscriber base, with live events being considered.Content and mediaHacker News, 2019
- A niche blog about getting a professional engineering license, carrying affiliate links to a prep package seller. Earns passively from affiliate commissions.Content and mediaHands-offHacker News, 2019
- A video published years ago that YouTube keeps recommending, paying out ad revenue with no promotion by the owner.Content and mediaHands-offHacker News, 2019
- A morning briefing about the technology industry that readers pay for, with sponsorships that avoid ad-style promotion.Content and mediaA few hours a weekHacker News, 2019
- An information site about a specific skin condition that earns from display ads and Amazon affiliate links and is mostly left on autopilot.Content and mediaHands-offHacker News, 2018
- Runs a curated list of Hacker News recommendations and products. Earns small amounts from affiliate links.Content and mediaA few hours a weekHacker News, 2018
- A football tipping website built on WordPress that earns from paid memberships and sponsored posts.Content and mediaHands-offHacker News, 2018
- A blog about earning a professional engineering license in a niche with little coverage. Income comes from an affiliate deal with a company selling licensing prep packages.Content and mediaHands-offHacker News, 2018
- A personal technology blog that earns small amounts from on-page advertising.Content and media$100 to $1kHacker News, 2018
- Runs a blog about watch straps featuring photography from brands and custom leather makers plus interviews. Income comes from affiliate links.Content and mediaHacker News, 2018
- Built a search tool that ranks Amazon products by ratings and review volume, grouped by price range. Money comes from affiliate links.Content and mediaHands-offHacker News, 2016
- Wrote a blog about the process of getting a professional engineering licence, which draws search traffic. Earns from ads and affiliate referrals to a seller of exam prep materials.Content and mediaUnder $100Hands-offHacker News, 2016
- Maintains a handful of websites, including a gift ideas site that earns through Amazon affiliate links and some content sites.Content and mediaHacker News, 2016
- A website comparing prices for domain extensions across registrars. Earns through registrar affiliate commissions and paid data downloads.Content and mediaHands-offHacker News, 2016
- A small project built for fun that earns a little from display ads and has grown slowly.Content and mediaUnder $100Hands-offHacker News, 2016
- Wrote a how-to guide for bypassing an ISP's required modem and router, and recommends a tested router through an Amazon affiliate link. Costs almost nothing to host.Content and mediaHands-offHacker News, 2016
- Built a WordPress website for people looking up information about others. It earns from Google AdSense and needs only software updates now.Content and mediaHands-offHacker News, 2016
- A website with a searchable product catalog that earns from Amazon affiliate links.Content and mediaHands-offHacker News, 2016