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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- 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 data17 ideas
- Software and appsAn iOS fitness app built to solve the founder's own problem at the gym. The founder had never shipped code before and grew it with content and a personal brand.$100 to $1kOnlineStarter Story, 2026
- Software and appsA mobile game built by a former big tech employee after leaving a full-time job. It grew with no paid marketing.OnlineStarter Story, 2026
- Directories and marketplacesA simple job board website in a saturated category. The founder credits distribution and marketing, not the product, for its success.OnlineStarter Story, 2026
- Software and appsA micro-SaaS that replaces messy spreadsheets for agencies and e-commerce brands trying to make sense of their data. The founder spotted the problem while consulting for these businesses and built the app with Claude.OnlineStarter Story, 2026
- Services and freelancingA one-person operator deploys AI agents for executives at small firms and handles their requests through a shared ticket board. The client pays one monthly price that covers every automation, model cost and upkeep.OnlineNick Vasilescu (YouTube), 2026
- Software and appsBuilt an embeddable analytics product that avoids cookies, sold as hosted subscriptions and to customers on invoice.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Software and appsCreated an open-source email verification tool, then built a paid hosted service on top of it.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Software and appsBuilt a monitoring tool that began with GraphQL services and expanded to all APIs and web apps, running it with a couple of hours of work each workday.Part-timeOnlineHacker News, 2022
- Software and appsA tool for recording video explanations on pull requests, to reduce misunderstandings during code review.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Services and freelancingDoes web work for clients and keeps income steady with annual payments for hosting, maintenance and small fixes.OnlineHacker News, 2020
- Services and freelancingDelivered freshly baked cookies to dorms and homes near a university on rollerblades, paid per order, and built a delivery management site.Part-timeHacker News, 2019
- Teaching and coachingMakes screencasts that teach the Elixir language and sells access to them.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- 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
- Content and mediaRuns a website that interviews developers and entrepreneurs about how they earn from their projects. Revenue comes mainly from sponsors.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaRuns a couple of sites for language learners that cover living expenses.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Services and freelancingDid site-to-WordPress theme conversions for clients, finding them through targeted AdWords ads.$100 to $1kPart-timeOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Services and freelancingOffers a service that helps startups write short, clear descriptions of their product for sites and their own pages.OnlineHacker News, 2011