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 data332 ideas, page 7 of 7
- Rentals and assetsRents out a spare room for up to a week each month, needing little work beyond laundry.Under $100Hands-offHacker News, 2014
- Rentals and assetsBought discounted condos, fixed them up and rents them out through a property manager, keeping most of the rent after fees and taxes.Over $10kHands-offIn personHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaBuilt a rhyming dictionary site where an ad unit covers the hosting costs.Hands-offOnlineHacker 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 short sci-fi novel sold through Kindle and iBooks stores.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsSells scripts and plugins through a code marketplace and a beginner's book on making WordPress plugins.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsAn Android app for managing a Shopify store, sold on Google Play without marketing.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaRuns a showcase website for sites built with a popular front-end framework, with very low running costs and steady traffic.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA site of tax and finance calculators that earns from AdSense and affiliate income, needing only occasional upkeep.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsOffers a tool and API to validate UK bank account details, and sells a data file of sort codes.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsA free site for playing with Unicode text and ASCII art, earning small ad income.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaBuilt a better way to browse Kindle books and earns affiliate fees when visitors buy.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaRuns a personal blog that earns small commissions from Amazon affiliate links.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Software and appsAn app that filters unimportant calls and lets urgent ones from chosen contacts through. Sold as a paid app.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Software and appsBuilt a machine learning system that solves captchas, paid per captcha, so income continues after the build.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Software and appsRuns a text messaging service with low per-message pricing. Earns from message volume.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Physical productsDesigned t-shirts and had them printed on higher quality apparel, selling them through a dedicated website.OnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaAn alternative interface to Google image search with the face filter on, which earned from ad clicks on an image-heavy site.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaA site that tells you where to buy tracks heard in DJ tracklists, earning small affiliate commissions that cover its hosting.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Physical productsDesigned and sold iPad cases through a small online store.OnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaA search site for books that earns small amounts from affiliate sales.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Services and freelancingPlaces a former lead developer with an overseas client and earns a margin on the arrangement, alongside personal consulting.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Software and appsBuilds trading models and financial tools and licenses them to others.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Software and appsBuilt an anti-piracy licensing system for their own Android apps and then sold it to other developers as a subscription service.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Software and appsBuilt a puzzle game for iPhone sold on the App Store.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaRuns a lyrics website that earns a small amount from AdSense.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Software and appsAn application sold within Second Life that helps users make machinima, earning small sales long after launch.Hands-offOnlineHacker 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 several user-submitted humor sites and earns from them plus licensing for a paid iPhone app tied to one site.OnlineHacker 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
- Software and appsWrote a card game for iPhone that sells steadily with almost no maintenance.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaRan a seasonal site of pancake recipes and ideas for pancake day. It earned yearly ad revenue.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker 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
- Software and appsSold software that lets people build their own social network, later releasing the code for free.OnlineHacker News, 2011
- Digital productsPublished an e-book priced as an impulse purchase, expecting it to keep earning with no stock to manage.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaBuilt a Sudoku website that now earns from advertising, mostly sponsored text links, with free signups seeing no ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaRuns wallpaper websites that earn from domain registration commissions, plus ads on a related blog.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Software and appsBuilt a to-do app for Windows Phone in evenings and sold it through the app store.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Directories and marketplacesThe operator uses scraping tools and an AI coding assistant to build a listing site for a niche, then monetizes through leads, ads, affiliate links or listings. One example was a luxury restroom trailer directory.Hands-offOnlineThe Koerner Office
- Services and freelancingThe operator places ad boards in local restaurants, sells the slots to nearby businesses, and upsells those advertisers websites and AI services. Profit comes from slot sales per board.The Koerner Office
- Content and mediaThe operator buys an expired exact-match domain for a niche, rebuilds it as a site that earns from the niche audience, and adds a niche job board. Upkeep is minimal.Hands-offOnlineThe Koerner Office
- Services and freelancingThe operator builds search-ranked sites for local trades such as junk removal and auto glass, then rents the resulting phone leads to contractors for a flat monthly fee. Costs per site are small.OnlineThe Koerner Office
- Rentals and assetsThe operator places vending machines at one high-traffic location, in this case a hockey rink, and keeps the sales. Costs are stock and machine purchase.Over $10kIn personThe Koerner Office