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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- 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
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About the data17 ideas
- Rentals and assetsBuying ATMs and placing them in local businesses, earning income from transaction fees with about an hour of work a week. The hardest step is finding and pitching good locations.Hands-offOnline and in personSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Digital productsCreated an online course teaching DevOps to small companies and self-hosters, which keeps selling even against bigger instructors.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Services and freelancingSells commissioned art, licenses existing work from a large catalog, and puts designs on print-on-demand sites for low-effort extra income.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsStarted a niche menswear business alongside a full-time job. It now runs mostly on its own at small scale.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsBuilds furniture using only hand tools and takes the occasional paid project.In personHacker News, 2019
- Digital productsSells online courses on algorithmic trading through its own site and Udemy. Maintenance is mostly answering student emails.OnlineHacker News, 2018
- Digital productsCreated video courses on Udemy that keep earning money after the initial work.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2018
- Digital productsProduced a video course and a book about the Flask framework. Earns ongoing royalties from sales.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2018
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Software and appsEarns ongoing royalties from programming books written years ago, with little active work now.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Physical productsSells a powder that turns into fake snow when water is added, promoted with a TV spot and search ads.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- $1k to $10kHands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsWrote a PHP book and still receives small royalty payments from it.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014