All Side Hustle Ideas
Every idea links to its source

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

Browse by category

  • Digital products67
    Files sold online: templates, printables, ebooks, stock photos, fonts, presets, plugins, recorded courses
  • Software and apps205
    A web app, SaaS, mobile app, browser extension, bot or API that people pay for or that earns from ads
  • Content and media105
    A blog, niche website, newsletter, YouTube channel, podcast or social account that earns from ads, affiliate links or sponsors
  • Physical products105
    Making, printing or reselling physical goods, online or in person
  • Services and freelancing103
    Doing work for clients for a fee: freelance, consulting, done-for-you services, repairs, local services
  • Rentals and assets36
    Earning from something you own: renting property, rooms, equipment, vehicles, parking, vending machines, domains
  • Directories and marketplaces11
    A job board, listings site, directory or marketplace that connects buyers and sellers
  • Teaching and coaching19
    Live tutoring, lessons, workshops, coaching or cohort classes

Matching ideas

About the data

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

38 ideas

  • Physical products
    Wild-harvested produce at farmers markets
    Sold pesticide-free produce foraged from leased land and roadsides at farmers markets.
    In person
    Hacker News, 2026
  • Digital products
    Obsidian template with guide and course
    A template for a note-taking app with a user guide and video course based on the owner's personal system, sold to customers.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2024
  • Digital products
    Self-published science fiction romance
    Writes and self-publishes science fiction romance books on the side.
    Under $100Online
    Hacker News, 2022
  • Physical products
    Software error-message T-shirt designs
    Put cartoon T-shirt designs about software error messages on craft sites.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2022
  • Digital products
    Self-published fiction with newsletter
    Self-publishes fiction and is growing a backlist and an email newsletter to increase sales.
    Online
    Hacker News, 2022
  • Digital products
    Datasets of promotion resources sold on Gumroad
    Sells a curated list of places to promote side projects, for makers wanting traffic, directly through Gumroad.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2021
  • Physical products
    Book royalties and foreign translation deals
    Earns twice-yearly royalties from a published book and small licensing deals for translations in other countries.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2019
  • Digital products
    Ebooks compiled from newsletter tips
    Compiles articles and tips from a newsletter into ebooks sold on Leanpub and Amazon.
    Online
    Hacker News, 2019
  • Digital products
    Programming book sold online in two languages
    Sells a Ruby book on a self-publishing platform, first in the owner's native language and now being translated to English.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2019
  • Digital products
    Programming tutorials sold on Leanpub
    Wrote introductory programming tutorials and sells them as ebooks on Leanpub.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2019
  • Physical products
    Refurbish and resell old furniture
    Buys old and mid-century furniture from thrift shops and garage sales, fixes it up and resells it on Craigslist.
    Online and in person
    Hacker News, 2019
  • Digital products
    Chat app sticker packs
    Created sticker sets for a popular messaging app and earned from their sales.
    Under $100Online
    Hacker News, 2019
  • Physical products
    Nonfiction books through a traditional publisher
    Writes nonfiction books on science and curiosity topics, landing book deals with publishers based on the success of an earlier title.
    Under $100Online
    Hacker News, 2019
  • Physical products
    Print-on-demand shirts for data scientists
    Designs t-shirts with jokes for machine learning and data science fans and sells them through a print-on-demand storefront.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2019
  • Digital products
    Self-published harmonica and fiction ebooks
    Sells a harmonica instruction book and science fiction short story collections on Amazon, and also sells stories to magazines.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2019
  • Digital products
    Self-published travel books and ebooks
    Writes travel and lifestyle books and sells them as ebooks and print on demand on Amazon and Apple. Little ongoing work after publishing.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2019
  • Physical products
    Automated online clothing store with meme shirts
    Runs an online clothing store where ordering and fulfillment are automated. Sells meme shirts and promotes through social media only.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2019
  • Digital products
    Translate public domain classics into English ebooks
    Translates well-regarded public domain works into English and sells them as ebooks. Finding niche topics is the key.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2018
  • Digital products
    CSS e-book sold with light marketing
    Wrote and self-published an e-book about CSS that has kept selling a year after launch.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2018
  • Digital products
    Ebook on growing a subscription box
    Wrote an ebook on starting and growing a subscription box business, drawn from running one. Sold through Gumroad, Amazon and iBooks, and still sells a little each month.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2018
  • Digital products
    Erotic fiction sold on Kindle
    Writes and publishes erotic stories as Kindle ebooks and earns from sales.
    Under $100Online
    Hacker News, 2018
  • Digital products
    Film pre-production and storyboard templates
    A small shop selling pre-production, storyboard and film treatment templates through an online marketplace.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2018
  • Physical products
    Athletic wear designs sold on Zazzle
    Creates 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-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2017
  • Physical products
    Flip secondhand goods on eBay and Craigslist
    Resells items found at home, thrift stores and clearance sales through online marketplaces, and is looking at retail arbitrage on Amazon.
    Under $100
    Hacker News, 2017
  • Digital products
    Device mockup templates on stock marketplace
    Designed responsive device mockups and sells them on a graphics marketplace. Sales were strong early on and have tapered off since.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2016
  • Physical products
    3D-printed replacement part for coffee grinders
    Designed 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-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2016
  • Digital products
    E-book about saving money to work less
    Wrote and published an e-book on Amazon about saving money so you can work less and pursue goals.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2016
  • Digital products
    Ebook helping junior developers get hired
    Wrote 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-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2016
  • Physical products
    Fan-themed designs on print-on-demand merch
    Uploaded humorous fan designs to a print-on-demand merchandise site and earns small royalties when items sell.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2016
  • Digital products
    Self-published programming book on Leanpub
    Writes and sells a technical book about the Redux library through Leanpub, sharing the sales with a friend.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2016
  • Digital products
    Self-published ebook on side projects
    Wrote and self-published an ebook about running profitable side projects.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Digital products
    Nonfiction Kindle books on Amazon
    Publishes several nonfiction Kindle books on Amazon and markets them for ongoing sales.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Digital products
    Credit card sign-up bonus travel hacking
    Opens new credit cards regularly for sign-up bonuses and redeems them for travel, and plans a course teaching the method.
    Online
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Digital products
    Ebook on PHP deployment
    Wrote a book on deploying PHP applications that sells steadily from the owner's website and builds an audience list.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Physical products
    Joke coffee mug on print-on-demand
    A programmer humor coffee mug sold through a print-on-demand marketplace.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Physical products
    Print-on-demand themed t-shirts
    Designed themed t-shirts and sold them through a print-on-demand marketplace.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Digital products
    Self-published science fiction novella
    Wrote a short sci-fi novel sold through Kindle and iBooks stores.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Digital products
    Self-published e-book sold online
    Published an e-book priced as an impulse purchase, expecting it to keep earning with no stock to manage.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2011