All Side Hustle Ideas

Software and apps side hustle ideas

A web app, SaaS, mobile app, browser extension, bot or API that people pay for or that earns from ads.

Startup cost
Under $100$100 to $1k$1k to $10kOver $10k
Time
Hands-offA few hours a weekPart-timeNear full-time
Where
OnlineIn personOnline and in person
Earns from
AdsAffiliateSubscriptionsOne-time salesService feesRentMarketplace cutSponsors and donations
Coding
No coding neededNeeds coding

8 ideas

  • Software and apps
    Browser extensions named for popular searches
    Builds browser extensions that fix common site annoyances. Revenue comes from them, helped by search-friendly names and store reviews.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2024
  • Software and apps
    Open source app analytics tool
    A privacy-friendly open source analytics tool for apps.
    Online
    Hacker News, 2024
  • Software and apps
    No-code app builder born from clinic tools
    Began by writing Windows apps for a hospital department and grew it into a SaaS tool for building calculator apps.
    Online
    Hacker News, 2022
  • Software and apps
    Open source website change detection service
    An open source tool for detecting website changes, with a paid hosted subscription and custom work for companies.
    Online
    Hacker News, 2022
  • Software and apps
    Royalties from embedded device software
    Wrote embedded software and earned a royalty on every device shipped for many years.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2022
  • Software and apps
    Simple tool for a niche industry
    Built a very basic tool for an industry the owner wanted to be part of, then found a larger opportunity there that now supports them full-time.
    Online
    Hacker News, 2022
  • Software and apps
    Subscription trading models on a stock platform
    Built a stock trading model for personal use, then published it on a platform where subscribers pay to follow it. Subscribers take responsibility for any trades.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2018
  • Software and apps
    Open source Ruby gem with paid pro version
    Maintains a free open source gem for running test suites in parallel and sells a paid pro version of it. Revenue comes from pro subscriptions.
    Online
    Hacker News, 2016