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 data102 ideas, page 2 of 3
- Teaching and coachingTeaches several licensed group fitness class formats a few mornings per week and gets paid per class.In personHacker News, 2019
- Services and freelancingGives bike tours of a home city, earning cash from guests plus a small payment from the bike shop the tours start from.In personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsDyes small batches of yarn with traditional methods for a small group of weavers who want specific colors.$100 to $1kOnline and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsMakes jelly by hand from berries grown in the garden and sells it through word of mouth.Hacker News, 2019
- Physical productsDesigns outlines for cases cut on a maker space laser machine and sells them on eBay. Local materials make it possible to undercut imports on price.$100 to $1kOnline and in personHacker News, 2019
- Content and mediaA site publishing original long-form non-fiction in article and podcast form, funded by donations, a published book and content licensing instead of advertising.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsSelf-taught circuit board design, then sold a few products to a niche market with no marketing. Sales faded as cheap copies appeared.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsSells eggs from backyard hens when they lay more than the household uses.Hands-offHacker News, 2019
- Teaching and coachingTaught fitness classes on the side alongside a day job.Part-timeIn personHacker News, 2019
- Teaching and coachingTeaches people to build projects without code, earning from memberships and from companies that pay to be listed and to have educational content made.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsDesigns and sells sketchpads for mobile and browser wireframes through a Shopify store, reordering inventory in larger batches as it sells out.$100 to $1kOnlineHacker News, 2018
- 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
- Digital productsWrote and self-published a book about a game framework. Earns a small monthly income from sales.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2018
- Digital productsWriting and self-publishing a tutorial book on the Angular framework.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2018
- Content and mediaA personal technology blog that earns small amounts from on-page advertising.$100 to $1kOnlineHacker News, 2018
- Physical productsDesigns and builds adapters that turn surplus server power supplies into general purpose 12 volt supplies. Sold as a physical hardware product.Hacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaMaintains a handful of websites, including a gift ideas site that earns through Amazon affiliate links and some content sites.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Teaching and coachingTurned expertise in CSS layout into an online course and in-person workshops. Development teams buy licenses for the course, and the income funds standards work.Online and in personHacker News, 2016
- Digital productsSells paleo diet guides and a meal plan service online.OnlineHacker 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
- Physical productsWrote and sells a printed guide to using a music recording program along with music technology basics. It has to be updated for each new software version.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaRuns a guide site for visitors interested in Silicon Valley sights. Income comes from ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Physical productsA physical sticker product that covers laptop cameras, sold through Amazon and its own website without any advertising.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Digital productsWrote a book that helps bootstrapped startups pick the right hosting setup. Income comes from book sales.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaAn advertising-supported website running for about a decade that grew its income yearly with mostly passive upkeep.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsWrote and sells an ebook about building an app business.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaAdded Amazon affiliate links to a popular Raspberry Pi garage door tutorial and earns from purchases.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsWrites nonfiction books and earns from advances, royalties, foreign rights deals and Amazon affiliate links.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsHelped a friend set up an online store selling electric bikes with a dropship model.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsWrote and sells an ebook teaching game development with a JavaScript framework.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
- Physical productsWrote a book on growth hacking and sells copies directly, with almost no maintenance work.Hands-offOnlineHacker 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
- Physical productsWrites and sells math textbooks as print and PDF, built around curating expert knowledge.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsSells online courses, with income varying by how much promotion is done each month.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaRuns three white label dating sites that earn with little maintenance.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsCreated and sold stickers aimed at privacy concerns, shipped by hand to several countries with no marketing spend.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
- Digital productsA site promoting ebooks on dating, requiring few hours of work per month.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsDesigned a London map in a historic style and sells it as a physical product online.A few hours a weekOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsWrote and published a book on adult ADHD that still brings in a small amount from sales.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsWrote a book about payments with Stripe for Rails developers, backed by related blog posts and content.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsDesigned and sold iPad cases through a small online store.OnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaBuilt many small niche websites on keyword-rich domains with SEO copy to earn AdSense revenue, then sold the whole set on Flippa.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaRuns two small sites that earn mostly by selling text links through a link marketplace, plus some AdSense.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Physical productsSells grafting tools made by a relative's family company through an online store, after testing demand on eBay.A few hours a weekOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaA technical blog documenting electronics projects, earning small ad income.OnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaA YouTube review of a pull-up bar that ranked well in search and pays a periodic share of ad revenue.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011