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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- 14 publications and shows
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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 data302 ideas, page 3 of 7
- Digital productsWriting and self-publishing a tutorial book on the Angular framework.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2018
- Software and appsPublishes several Android apps on Google Play. One got an editor's pick, which boosted sales for a while.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2018
- Content and mediaA personal technology blog that earns small amounts from on-page advertising.$100 to $1kOnlineHacker News, 2018
- Digital productsProduced a video course and a book about the Flask framework. Earns ongoing royalties from sales.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2018
- Content and mediaRuns a blog about watch straps featuring photography from brands and custom leather makers plus interviews. Income comes from affiliate links.OnlineHacker News, 2018
- Physical productsCreates sports-themed apparel designs sold through a print-on-demand marketplace, starting with a niche. Fulfillment times and prices have been the main obstacle.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2017
- Rentals and assetsBought a VR headset and set up a site where people could rent it. Ranked well on Google for rental searches, then shut it down.Hacker News, 2016
- Digital productsCreated a user experience design course with a friend and sells it through Udemy. Profit is split between the two creators.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Physical productsTurned public patent drawings into wall art images, cleaned up by a hired assistant and batch processed. An online store sends orders to a print and fulfillment service automatically.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Digital productsDesigned responsive device mockups and sells them on a graphics marketplace. Sales were strong early on and have tapered off since.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsBuilt a web-based synth and drum machine that is free as a demo. Sells a downloadable desktop version without the restrictions.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsSells a cross-platform desktop task manager with a Kanban-style board, through a trial-based license on Gumroad and the Mac App Store.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Physical productsDesigned a printed upgrade for a worn part in a popular coffee grinder and sells it through a print-on-demand marketplace. Traffic comes from a repair guide on a fix-it site.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsRuns a site showing historical average weather by city and month. Income so far is from ad revenue, with plans to add more features.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaBuilt a search tool that ranks Amazon products by ratings and review volume, grouped by price range. Money comes from affiliate links.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaWrote a blog about the process of getting a professional engineering licence, which draws search traffic. Earns from ads and affiliate referrals to a seller of exam prep materials.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Rentals and assetsHolds a portfolio of valuable domain names and sells them, using brokers to handle the deals. Income comes from large one-off sales.Over $10kHands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsA competitor monitoring product that began as a side project and grew into a systemised business with a team, so the owner now acts more like an investor.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsBuilt a simple CMS and CRM for a freelance client and set up automated billing per user. Income grows as the client's user base grows.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsA subscription tool that watches DNS zones for changes and alerts the owner, keeping a revision history. Aimed at people who manage DNS for clients.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsBuilt a document management and review web app for a large company and gets a monthly maintenance fee, needing very little time each month.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsBuilt a tool that takes a keyword, translates it into many languages and shows available .com domains. It has earned some revenue from users.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaA website comparing prices for domain extensions across registrars. Earns through registrar affiliate commissions and paid data downloads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Digital productsWrote and published an e-book on Amazon about saving money so you can work less and pursue goals.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Digital productsWrote an ebook aimed at bootcamp graduates looking for their first developer job. It sells directly and through partnerships with a couple of online bootcamps.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsSoftware for protecting source code with encryption, built to meet the owner's own need when existing products were very expensive. It has produced steady income for years with a small remote team.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Physical productsUploaded humorous fan designs to a print-on-demand merchandise site and earns small royalties when items sell.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaA small project built for fun that earns a little from display ads and has grown slowly.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Digital productsCo-wrote a book on user acquisition and built a video course to go with it, funded through crowdfunding backers. Income comes from sales of the book and course.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaWrote a how-to guide for bypassing an ISP's required modem and router, and recommends a tested router through an Amazon affiliate link. Costs almost nothing to host.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsLets a couple of people use a personal instance of an open source program they run, so they do not have to host it themselves, in exchange for a small monthly fee.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsA desktop tool that shrinks images without visible quality loss. Offered as a free version with paid upgrades, plus plugins for design software.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsA lossless screen recording app for macOS sold through the Mac App Store and its own site. Adds features like animated GIF export to keep sales coming in.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Directories and marketplacesSold a few domains at a profit and then launched a site selling high-quality startup names to fund other ventures.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsBuilt an online exam preparation platform for aspiring medical students together with a sibling. Once launched it needed very little upkeep and sold access to students.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsRuns a multiplayer Boggle-style game online. It earns from advertising and paid memberships.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsDevelops watch faces for Android Wear and sells them as paid apps on the Play Store.Hands-offOnlineHacker 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
- Software and appsPublishes native apps and games along with HTML5 games, earning from app store sales. Income has declined as the stores have changed.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsRuns a set of small web apps for learning music notes, non-Latin alphabets and languages with flash cards. Income comes from ads and paid premium plans.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaA website with a searchable product catalog that earns from Amazon affiliate links.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
- Digital productsWrites and sells a technical book about the Redux library through Leanpub, sharing the sales with a friend.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Physical productsWrote and self-published beginner books on building web apps with Django. A fulfillment company now handles shipping, so the work is mostly passing along orders and answering questions.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaRuns a guide site for visitors interested in Silicon Valley sights. Income comes from ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Directories and marketplacesA community site where hobbyist voice actors connect and find work. It started by accident and now earns a steady monthly income.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaPublished a how-to post on single sign-on between two business platforms on an old blog and added AdSense. Earns small ad revenue from search visitors.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsBuilt online prep resources for UK medical school entrance exams. Students pay for access, mostly in the months before the exams.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016