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 data58 ideas, page 1 of 2
- 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 mediaFree 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.Online and in personSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Content and mediaPosting 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.Under $100A few hours a weekOnlineSide Hustle Nation, 2025
- Content and mediaA group of free sudoku websites that earn steady income from minimal ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Content and mediaPublishes personal notes from nonfiction books on a site and earns some money from it.OnlineHacker 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 mediaPosts videos on tech and photography and earns from the channel.$1k to $10kOnlineHacker News, 2022
- Content and mediaRuns a small blog about cash flow that earns a modest monthly income.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Content and mediaPosts weekly programming problem tutorials on YouTube and earns from ad revenue.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Content and mediaMakes coding tutorials on YouTube to support themselves while building a product, earning a small amount from the channel.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Content and mediaA long-running blog on frontend topics that earns from ads and search visitors with only occasional new posts.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2019
- Content and mediaRuns a weekly newsletter that satirizes the tech industry. Revenue is from advertising to the subscriber base, with live events being considered.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Content and mediaA video published years ago that YouTube keeps recommending, paying out ad revenue with no promotion by the owner.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2019
- Content and mediaAn information site about a specific skin condition that earns from display ads and Amazon affiliate links and is mostly left on autopilot.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2018
- Content and mediaA personal technology blog that earns small amounts from on-page advertising.$100 to $1kOnlineHacker News, 2018
- 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 mediaBuilt a WordPress website for people looking up information about others. It earns from Google AdSense and needs only software updates now.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaRuns a guide site for visitors interested in Silicon Valley sights. Income comes from ads.Hands-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 mediaAn advertising-supported website running for about a decade that grew its income yearly with mostly passive upkeep.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 mediaRuns a niche blog about architectural models and earns from ads and Amazon affiliate links.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA fan site run by a community of contributors that earns small ad revenue to offset server costs.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaRuns a free background picture website with steady search traffic and links from other sites, earning from AdSense.Hands-offOnlineHacker 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 content website covering a niche in a non-US market, with a lot of long-tail search traffic monetized by AdSense.A few hours a weekOnlineHacker 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 mediaRuns a blog that lists a jQuery plugin each day and earns from advertising.Under $100OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaRuns blogs on local sports and politics, with posts built from repackaged government data, earning from AdSense.Under $100OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA logo design gallery where designers submit work, earning from ads and ad network placements.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Under $100OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaHosts a friend's political writings on a site and splits the advertising revenue.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker 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 mediaRuns three white label dating sites that earn with little maintenance.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 simple blog on solar power, linked from a YouTube video, that earns from AdSense ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaRuns cat and dog GIF websites supported by advertising.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA hobby blog about architectural models that earns from ads and Amazon affiliate links.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA career site for Marines with a mailing list, earning a modest amount with about a day of work per month.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaPhotographed top brand stores in London and published a directory blog that earns from ads.Under $100Hands-offHacker 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