Side hustle ideas from people who actually run them
Real side businesses, described by their owners. Filter by cost, time and how they earn.
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- 651 ideas
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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 data17 ideas
- Services and freelancingA large laundromat with a commercial laundry operation and remote management technology, now offered as a franchise.Over $10kIn personThe Koerner Office, 2026
- Services and freelancingThe operator gathers one client's documents, structures them, and loads them into a custom GPT or Claude project so a specific audience can ask it questions instead of the owner. The example was a business broker whose buyers queried the assistant about a listing.Under $100Hands-offOnlineCorey Ganim (YouTube), 2026
- Services and freelancingThe operator replaces a repeated manual process with an automation built on off-the-shelf tools such as Zapier, Make or Asana, usually after a short diagnostic. It is charged as a one-off project, with a walkthrough video and a how-to-fix document handed over.OnlineCorey Ganim (YouTube), 2026
- Services and freelancingTrains custom image generation models for customers on request using an automated pipeline, charging per commission.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Services and freelancingSells commissioned art, licenses existing work from a large catalog, and puts designs on print-on-demand sites for low-effort extra income.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Services and freelancingBuilds and schedules automations for small businesses, using knowledge gained in a day job about common business pain points.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Services and freelancingOwns a franchise hair salon that is managed day to day by someone else.Over $10kHands-offIn personHacker News, 2019
- Services and freelancingSells payment processing services, runs a white-label payment gateway, and builds custom apps for payment terminals, alongside a do-it-yourself website builder.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Services and freelancingBuilt web pages for local wineries and was paid in goods such as wine rather than cash.Under $100Hacker News, 2019
- Services and freelancingDesigns websites for clients and hosts them on cloud infrastructure, collecting monthly web and email hosting fees.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Services and freelancingBuilt an automated system for deploying webshops for a web agency owner, in exchange for a fee on each shop deployed. The income ended when the client retired.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Services and freelancingBought an existing cleaning company and is running it with a business manager, so it needs little weekly attention.Over $10kHands-offHacker News, 2014
- Services and freelancingBuilt an online store for an acquaintance in exchange for a share of profits each pay period.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Services and freelancingAdministers rented servers, handling updates and small fixes for tenants who pay monthly fees after covering hosting costs.Over $10kHands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Services and freelancingPlaces a former lead developer with an overseas client and earns a margin on the arrangement, alongside personal consulting.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Services and freelancingThe operator places ad boards in local restaurants, sells the slots to nearby businesses, and upsells those advertisers websites and AI services. Profit comes from slot sales per board.The Koerner Office
- Services and freelancingThe operator builds search-ranked sites for local trades such as junk removal and auto glass, then rents the resulting phone leads to contractors for a flat monthly fee. Costs per site are small.OnlineThe Koerner Office