Side hustle ideas from people who actually run them
Real side businesses, described by their owners. Filter by cost, time and how they earn.
- Ideas
- 651 ideas
- Publications
- 14 publications and shows
- Categories
- 8 categories
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- Files sold online: templates, printables, ebooks, stock photos, fonts, presets, plugins, recorded courses
- A web app, SaaS, mobile app, browser extension, bot or API that people pay for or that earns from ads
- A blog, niche website, newsletter, YouTube channel, podcast or social account that earns from ads, affiliate links or sponsors
- Making, printing or reselling physical goods, online or in person
- Doing work for clients for a fee: freelance, consulting, done-for-you services, repairs, local services
- Earning from something you own: renting property, rooms, equipment, vehicles, parking, vending machines, domains
- A job board, listings site, directory or marketplace that connects buyers and sellers
- Live tutoring, lessons, workshops, coaching or cohort classes
Matching ideas
About the data23 ideas
- Content and mediaA 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.Hands-offOnlineStarter Story, 2026
- Content and mediaA group of free sudoku websites that earn steady income from minimal ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Content and mediaA blog that earns from ads and Patreon support, covering hosting costs and a bit more.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Content and mediaA small project built for fun that earns a little from display ads and has grown slowly.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaPublished a how-to post on single sign-on between two business platforms on an old blog and added AdSense. Earns small ad revenue from search visitors.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaMaintains a documentation website for a jQuery plugin and earns a small amount from a single ad placed on it.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaBuilt a site that forces Google Maps links into a chosen language. Ad revenue covers its hosting.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaRuns a site that helps people use the LEGO pieces they own to build other models.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaHosts a forum and website for a nonprofit, in exchange for placing ads that cover the hosting costs.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaBuilt a credit card validation plugin with a demo site that earns small ad revenue.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA logo design gallery where designers submit work, earning from ads and ad network placements.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA studio builds quick websites that solve small problems, getting traffic from blogs and earning from AdSense.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaEvolved a failed school-focused social network into a directory site that earns from ads with little maintenance.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaRuns a couple of sites for language learners that cover living expenses.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA jobs site that earns from affiliate links and AdSense, being rolled out as a network.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaRuns a simple prank site hosted cheaply on GitHub Pages that brings in a modest monthly income.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaBuilt a rhyming dictionary site where an ad unit covers the hosting costs.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaRuns a showcase website for sites built with a popular front-end framework, with very low running costs and steady traffic.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA site of tax and finance calculators that earns from AdSense and affiliate income, needing only occasional upkeep.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaAn alternative interface to Google image search with the face filter on, which earned from ad clicks on an image-heavy site.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaRuns a lyrics website that earns a small amount from AdSense.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaRuns several user-submitted humor sites and earns from them plus licensing for a paid iPhone app tied to one site.OnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaBuilt a Sudoku website that now earns from advertising, mostly sponsored text links, with free signups seeing no ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011