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
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- 14 publications and shows
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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 data39 ideas
- Software and appsSells middleware that lets developers access Airtable and Google Sheets data through GraphQL.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsBuilt a tool for brainstorming and converting ideas into diagrams, now earning revenue and working on search traffic.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Content and mediaRuns a white-label flight and hotel search engine and shares deals by social media and email subscription.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Directories and marketplacesRuns a directory of website templates for static site generators and frameworks, earning affiliate sales and now sponsorships.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsBuilt a web app to practice speaking languages with an AI, with a free tier and a paid tier.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsA content management system that publishes static sites to Cloudflare, earning recurring hosting fees.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsRuns a subscription tool that converts PDF bank statements into CSV, used mostly by individuals, bookkeepers and small business owners.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsBuilt software for tracking all records about horses, and partners with racing associations to offer it to new owners of retired racehorses.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsA tool that converts shared Drive folders into hosted searchable wikis, sold by subscription.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsBuilt a booking system after seeing colleagues reserve rooms in a paper book, and sells it as a product.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Software and appsA product that exports timetable data kept in spreadsheets into Google Calendar.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Content and mediaRuns a flight deals blog and newsletter with an embedded flight and hotel search tool, earning from bookings.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Content and mediaA blog that earns from ads and Patreon support, covering hosting costs and a bit more.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Software and appsA service where users forward unwanted emails and it finds unsubscribe links and fills web forms for them.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Software and appsA charting product for data maps, earning from subscriptions and from licensing its chart library.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Software and appsA browser extension that tests sites for SEO, speed and security best practices, with free and paid tiers.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Software and appsBuilt a portfolio management tool for cryptocurrency investors and reached subscription revenue quickly with a basic version, while keeping a day job.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsDesigned hardware and an iPhone app that remotely control arrays of cameras. Sold mainly to photo booth operators.Hacker News, 2019
- Physical productsA website where customers tailor a writing pad to their handwriting style, sold as a physical product.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Software and appsA platform for learning to write alongside others, built around habits and streaks.A few hours a weekOnlineHacker News, 2019
- Software and appsPublishes a few small utility apps on the App Store and keeps improving them. Income comes from app sales.$100 to $1kOnlineHacker News, 2018
- Content and mediaRuns a curated list of Hacker News recommendations and products. Earns small amounts from affiliate links.A few hours a weekOnlineHacker News, 2018
- Software and appsProduces long, project-based video lessons on the Elixir language, with free videos on YouTube and premium content for paying subscribers.OnlineHacker News, 2018
- Software and appsSells a productivity app that grows through users sharing it with friends, and is developing a related subscription product based on customer feedback.OnlineHacker 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 a set of web tools for converting between data formats like CSV. Income comes mostly from Google ads plus an occasional affiliate link.A few hours a weekOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaRuns a site that helps people use the LEGO pieces they own to build other models.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsRuns a self-serve service that converts US addresses to coordinates through an API or CSV upload.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsAn Android app that syncs with a task manager, sold on Google Play.A few hours a weekOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Directories and marketplacesA marketplace connecting boat owners and dock spaces, grown by posting in boating groups and forums.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilds iPhone apps for groups like skydivers and beer fans, earning from sales and Apple affiliate links.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Directories and marketplacesA niche marketplace where garden centers sell plants nationwide, with the owner taking a share of each sale.$1k to $10kOnlineHacker 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
- Software and appsCreated a web game that earns enough to live on while traveling.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Teaching and coachingAn online music education site that earns from sales and recurring subscriptions, built in evenings and weekends.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt and maintains an ad server script with a hosted SaaS version, sold to site owners.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt developer tools for testing WCF services, since expanded to several products and recommended by developers on Q&A sites.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsA proxy service for advertisers who want to see international ads and geotargeted landing pages, sold at a flat monthly price after minimal promotion on forums.OnlineHacker News, 2011