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
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About the data23 ideas
- 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
- Physical productsA home micro bakery selling sourdough, cinnamon rolls, cookies and bagels from a front porch on Saturday mornings. Customers preorder and items sell out to lines of local buyers.$100 to $1kThe Koerner Office, 2026
- Services and freelancingSelling whole-home water filtration systems to homeowners through Facebook ads that show the price upfront, with licensed plumbers doing the installs. The channel notes that this model can require a plumbing license, for example in North Carolina.$100 to $1kOnline and in personThe Koerner Office, 2026
- Teaching and coachingA media business teaching people to raise goats, with a podcast, YouTube channel, online courses and a paid membership. It also runs paid goat farm tours.Online and in personSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Physical productsBuying poorly listed couches, negotiating the price down and reselling them with better photos, including AI-generated backgrounds. The operator is a teenager working in spare time.Online and in personThe Koerner Office, 2026
- Services and freelancingRunning online estate auctions that clear out homes for families without buying any inventory. The operator photographs, catalogs and lists the items and keeps a cut of the sale.Online and in personSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Services and freelancingSelling ad space on oversized postcards mailed to every home on a route through USPS Every Door Direct Mail. Several local advertisers share each card, and the operators keep the difference.Online and in personSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Physical productsBuying underpriced lawnmowers, fixing common problems and reselling them. The operator ran it while in college.Online and in personSide Hustle Nation, 2025
- Services and freelancingHandles IT, administration, purchasing and research for a partner's art business, which sells commissions and freelance work and direct to customers.Hacker News, 2021
- Physical productsMakes zines and artwork about fandom and adult themes, printing them at home and selling them.$100 to $1kHacker News, 2021
- Teaching and coachingTeaches online webinars and in-person tutorials on the basics of data science and machine learning with Python.Part-timeOnline and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsSold used but valuable computer chips in a local market, delivering in person to bakeries or by post, until import tax changes ended the margins.Online and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsRuns a cookie bakery with mostly local delivery and some nationwide shipping, run alongside a career.Part-timeOnline and in personHacker News, 2019
- Services and freelancingDelivered freshly baked cookies to dorms and homes near a university on rollerblades, paid per order, and built a delivery management site.Part-timeHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsWith a friend, bought off-warranty corporate laptops, upgraded memory and storage or fixed keyboards, and resold them on eBay.Online and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsBuys broken old computers, restores them and sells them on eBay.Online and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsBuys and restores vintage furniture, then sells it online or to local stores as a picker.Online and 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 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
- Physical productsDesigns and sells music notebooks with generated staff lines, using scripts to produce the print-ready PDF. Sold online and the owner is working on getting stores to carry them.Hacker News, 2019
- 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
- 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
- Physical productsA subscription sends customers a story in physical letters on a regular schedule. Revenue is recurring subscription fees, with fulfillment handled by mail.The Koerner Office