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 data176 ideas, page 1 of 4
- Content and mediaA YouTube channel of personal finance reviews and tutorials built on search traffic. Income comes from affiliate commissions on products like budgeting apps and savings accounts.OnlineSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Services and freelancingThe operator sets up chatbots and voice receptionists for local businesses on a marketing platform, with a setup fee and a monthly plan. A free trial and a personalized demo are used to win clients.OnlineThe Koerner Office, 2026
- 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
- Services and freelancingThe operator audits the landing pages of established trades companies, offers AI-built funnels and booked-job systems, and wins clients through a free case-study build, mail and local meetups.Part-timeOnlineThe Startup Ideas Podcast, 2026
- Software and appsAn iOS fitness app built to solve the founder's own problem at the gym. The founder had never shipped code before and grew it with content and a personal brand.$100 to $1kOnlineStarter Story, 2026
- Software and appsA mobile game built by a former big tech employee after leaving a full-time job. It grew with no paid marketing.OnlineStarter Story, 2026
- Directories and marketplacesA simple job board website in a saturated category. The founder credits distribution and marketing, not the product, for its success.OnlineStarter Story, 2026
- Software and appsThe operator runs a few near-identical sites that each sell access to a niche database, such as investors, angels or journalists. The revenue model is not stated in the source and is likely paid access.OnlineStarter Story, 2026
- Services and freelancingThe operator sets up one AI agent as an administrative helper for a small business, hosts and monitors it, and coaches the owner on working with it. The coaching proved necessary after infrastructure-only setups did not stick with clients.OnlineBuild With AI, 2026
- Software and appsA micro-SaaS that replaces messy spreadsheets for agencies and e-commerce brands trying to make sense of their data. The founder spotted the problem while consulting for these businesses and built the app with Claude.OnlineStarter Story, 2026
- Content and mediaAn intentionally boring bedtime story podcast that helps grown-ups fall asleep. Income comes from a premium membership, books and other streams around the free show.OnlineSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Software and appsAfter leaving an agency, the operator built a directory-related software tool that earns recurring revenue and is adding a lead-gen angle.OnlineNiche Pursuits Podcast, 2026
- Services and freelancingA one-person operator deploys AI agents for executives at small firms and handles their requests through a shared ticket board. The client pays one monthly price that covers every automation, model cost and upkeep.OnlineNick Vasilescu (YouTube), 2026
- Physical productsBuying goods from government and retail liquidation auctions and reselling them. The method relies on researching before bidding and having a solid selling system.Part-timeSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Services and freelancingAn agency generates customer leads for local businesses and charges a monthly fee. It was dropped later for opportunity cost.OnlineThe Koerner Office, 2025
- Content and mediaA free newsletter grows an audience and sells sponsor placements to advertisers. Subscriber growth is helped by paid ads and referral tools.OnlineThe Koerner Office, 2025
- Software and appsA members-only group charges a recurring or lifetime fee for access to a niche audience and its resources. The host promotes it from an existing audience.OnlineThe Koerner Office, 2025
- 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
- Physical productsA handmade e-commerce brand selling Disney-inspired running skirts to a niche community of runners. It grew through ambassadors and social media and was later sold through Flippa.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
- Services and freelancingTrains custom image generation models for customers on request using an automated pipeline, charging per commission.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Digital productsMade a course on spreadsheet functions and formulas hosted on a small course platform, earning a commission share.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsA free web tool for converting text case, built up over years.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 appsA checklist app built for the owner's own routines that now earns recurring income.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsA random number service sold through a website and a cloud marketplace listing, left running with little attention.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Content and mediaA group of free sudoku websites that earn steady income from minimal ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsA GIF meme site that earns from one-off sales of watermark removal.Hands-offOnlineHacker 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
- Software and appsCreated a web tool for making GIF memes with text that follows motion, after finding it hard to do elsewhere.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2022
- Software and appsA solitaire site that began as a Mac app, found by looking for popular apps with poor reviews, and now supports the owner.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Software and appsA web app that pulls transaction data out of PDF bank statements, built after the owner needed it for personal spending analysis.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Software and appsBuilt an embeddable analytics product that avoids cookies, sold as hosted subscriptions and to customers on invoice.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Software and appsCreated an open-source email verification tool, then built a paid hosted service on top of it.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Digital productsWrote and sells a technical book on deployment that shows the steps without higher-level tools.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2022
- Content and mediaA blog that earns from ads and Patreon support, covering hosting costs and a bit more.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Software and appsBuilt a monitoring tool that began with GraphQL services and expanded to all APIs and web apps, running it with a couple of hours of work each workday.Part-timeOnlineHacker News, 2022
- Software and appsBuilt a small tool that emails a weekly digest of newly saved Twitter bookmarks, with paid subscribers.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2022
- Directories and marketplacesBuilt job listing sites and blogs that run mostly automatically and cover expenses with ads and sponsorships.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2021
- Content and mediaPosts weekly programming problem tutorials on YouTube and earns from ad revenue.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Content and mediaA product review blog that earns from affiliate commissions.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Software and appsA coupon site for developers plus a set of single-purpose web tools such as encoders and HTML cleaners.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsMakes and sells notebooks with music staff paper for musicians.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2021
- Software and appsA tool for recording video explanations on pull requests, to reduce misunderstandings during code review.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
- Services and freelancingDoes web work for clients and keeps income steady with annual payments for hosting, maintenance and small fixes.OnlineHacker News, 2020