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
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- 14 publications and shows
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- 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 data27 ideas
- Content and mediaA paid membership that delivers private podcast episodes mixing public domain radio shows with cleaning routines and prompts. Members pay a monthly or quarterly fee.OnlineSide Hustle Nation, 2025
- Software and appsSells middleware that lets developers access Airtable and Google Sheets data through GraphQL.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Digital productsWrites a newsletter of real-world projects for learning programming, and sells paid courses.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Directories and marketplacesRuns a directory of website templates for static site generators and frameworks, earning affiliate sales and now sponsorships.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsRuns a subscription tool that converts PDF bank statements into CSV, used mostly by individuals, bookkeepers and small business owners.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 mediaA product review blog that earns from affiliate commissions.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsMakes and sells notebooks with music staff paper for musicians.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Software and appsA charting product for data maps, earning from subscriptions and from licensing its chart library.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Rentals and assetsTakes preorders for expiring domains and tries to catch them when they drop, and also holds a portfolio of domains for later development.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Content and mediaRuns a site that reviews web hosts and earns affiliate commissions. Competition is heavy.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Services and freelancingDoes adult webcam work with an established base of private clients, using it as flexible fallback income between jobs.A few hours a weekOnlineHacker News, 2019
- Content and mediaMakes video tutorials on Arduino programming on a personal site. Earns referral commissions when visitors buy parts.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsSells phosphorescent cosmetic modifications for synthesizers, a niche hardware accessory product.$100 to $1kOnlineHacker News, 2019
- Software and appsPublishes a few small utility apps on the App Store and keeps improving them. Income comes from app sales.$100 to $1kOnlineHacker News, 2018
- Software and appsProduces long, project-based video lessons on the Elixir language, with free videos on YouTube and premium content for paying subscribers.OnlineHacker News, 2018
- 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
- Software and appsBuilt a set of web tools for converting between data formats like CSV. Income comes mostly from Google ads plus an occasional affiliate link.A few hours a weekOnlineHacker News, 2016
- 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
- Software and appsBuilds iPhone apps for groups like skydivers and beer fans, earning from sales and Apple affiliate links.OnlineHacker 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
- Software and appsBuilt and maintains an ad server script with a hosted SaaS version, sold to site owners.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsWrote a book about payments with Stripe for Rails developers, backed by related blog posts and content.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt developer tools for testing WCF services, since expanded to several products and recommended by developers on Q&A sites.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsA proxy service for advertisers who want to see international ads and geotargeted landing pages, sold at a flat monthly price after minimal promotion on forums.OnlineHacker 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