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 data180 ideas, page 3 of 4
- Software and appsDevelops watch faces for Android Wear and sells them as paid apps on the Play Store.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
- Physical productsRuns a site that resells SSL certificates. Margins are thin because support requests eat into profit, so the owner would rather sell an own product.OnlineHacker 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
- Digital productsDesigned watch faces for a smartwatch and sold them at the lowest price in the store. Sales were strong at first, then copies appeared and they pulled the apps.Under $100OnlineHacker 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
- Software and appsA service where customers text a photo and a physical postcard is mailed. Built with a web framework and an SMS API, and paid per postcard.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsSells a watermarking tool, and also runs a multi-week video productivity course that is paid for each time a new class fills.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Physical productsA physical sticker product that covers laptop cameras, sold through Amazon and its own website without any advertising.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsBuilds small single-purpose mobile apps such as calculators and a flashlight. Some are sold for a fee and others earn from in-app ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Digital productsWrote a book that helps bootstrapped startups pick the right hosting setup. Income comes from book sales.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Physical productsDesigns and sells a card game aimed at women, people of color and LGBTQ players. Ships stock to an Amazon warehouse every couple of weeks and runs some Facebook advertising.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsSells a game for iPad through the App Store, which sold with almost no ongoing effort until app updates were needed for new platform requirements.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsEarns ongoing royalties from programming books written years ago, with little active work now.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Digital productsTeaches people the Swift language with a self-written book and an online coding exercise platform. Money comes from selling these products.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Digital productsDeveloped payment gateway and product feed extensions for online store platforms and sells them.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsWrote and sells an ebook about building an app business.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsWrote an add-on for the ExpressionEngine CMS and sells it through a marketplace.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilds and sells many iPhone apps, with updates and freelance on the side.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt a minimalist wine catalog app for iPhone, sold as a paid app.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsDeveloped an add-on for a popular video game that earns small, usage-driven income.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsSells a Mac utility for cleaning disk space on the Mac App Store, with little marketing.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsHelped a friend set up an online store selling electric bikes with a dropship model.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsWrote and sells an ebook teaching game development with a JavaScript framework.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsAn iPhone app that converts tracker activity to diet program points and offers calorie tracking, sold through the App Store.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsWrote a book on growth hacking and sells copies directly, with almost no maintenance work.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsSells a powder that turns into fake snow when water is added, promoted with a TV spot and search ads.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsPorted an older game to iPad, free to download with one in-app purchase unlocking the full version.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt a glockenspiel app for a friend's daughter, released a free version and a paid version with extra features.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsWrites and sells math textbooks as print and PDF, built around curating expert knowledge.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilds iPhone apps for groups like skydivers and beer fans, earning from sales and Apple affiliate links.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsSells WordPress themes for specific niches, with a small ad budget and a little customer support.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsSells online courses, with income varying by how much promotion is done each month.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt a website where people pay in Bitcoin per character to post a message.$100 to $1kHands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsSells personalized kids books through an iPad app and is splitting it into individual book apps.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt an iPad piano app that stays in music charts and sells without marketing.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsSells software for creating bingo cards, needing little support.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsA website selling cupcake wrapper designs, with new designs needed to keep sales up.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsWrote and self-published an ebook about running profitable side projects.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsHas a simple app in the Mac App Store that sells with no ongoing support.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Directories and marketplacesA marketplace for themes for a blogging platform.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsDesigned a child theme for the Genesis WordPress framework in a few days, and it keeps earning monthly sales.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsTurned a portfolio site into a WordPress theme sold on ThemeForest, plus answering support emails.A few hours a weekOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsPublishes several nonfiction Kindle books on Amazon and markets them for ongoing sales.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsMade custom maps from OpenStreetMap formatted for Kindle and sells them as ebooks.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt a puzzle game for iPhone that earns a tiny amount from sales.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014