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
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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 data114 ideas, page 2 of 3
- Software and appsSells a watermarking tool, and also runs a multi-week video productivity course that is paid for each time a new class fills.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Services and freelancingDesigns websites for clients and hosts them on cloud infrastructure, collecting monthly web and email hosting fees.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Physical productsA physical sticker product that covers laptop cameras, sold through Amazon and its own website without any advertising.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Digital productsWrote a book that helps bootstrapped startups pick the right hosting setup. Income comes from book sales.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsRuns a free tool that lets people make colored maps of countries and regions. Income comes from display ads and occasional donations.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsA paid RSS reader that is open source and runs on a managed cloud platform. Users pay a subscription handled through a payment processor, and it needs almost no ongoing effort.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaBuilt a site that forces Google Maps links into a chosen language. Ad revenue covers its hosting.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaAn advertising-supported website running for about a decade that grew its income yearly with mostly passive upkeep.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsWrote and sells an ebook about building an app business.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilds and sells many iPhone apps, with updates and freelance on the side.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt a minimalist wine catalog app for iPhone, sold as a paid app.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaAdded Amazon affiliate links to a popular Raspberry Pi garage door tutorial and earns from purchases.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt a simple Android shopping app that earned from Amazon affiliate links and ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsA web app for sending and reading anonymous messages, with paid accounts adding extra features.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsWrites nonfiction books and earns from advances, royalties, foreign rights deals and Amazon affiliate links.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt an iPhone photo reminder app that Apple featured, earning without marketing spend.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsHelped a friend set up an online store selling electric bikes with a dropship model.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Services and freelancingBuilt an online store for an acquaintance in exchange for a share of profits each pay period.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsWrote and sells an ebook teaching game development with a JavaScript framework.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA fan site run by a community of contributors that earns small ad revenue to offset server costs.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsAn iPhone app that converts tracker activity to diet program points and offers calorie tracking, sold through the App Store.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsWrote a book on growth hacking and sells copies directly, with almost no maintenance work.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaHosts a forum and website for a nonprofit, in exchange for placing ads that cover the hosting costs.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA logo design gallery where designers submit work, earning from ads and ad network placements.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsWrites and sells math textbooks as print and PDF, built around curating expert knowledge.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt a website where people pay in Bitcoin per character to post a message.$100 to $1kHands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA website that helps users assemble PCs, earning from affiliate links and ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt an iPad piano app that stays in music charts and sells without marketing.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaRuns three white label dating sites that earn with little maintenance.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsA web tool that tracks phones periodically and shows locations on a map, earning from site and YouTube ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt a puzzle game for iPhone that earns a tiny amount from sales.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsCreated and sold stickers aimed at privacy concerns, shipped by hand to several countries with no marketing spend.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt iPhone apps like an oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer, used by sound engineers and teachers.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA career site for Marines with a mailing list, earning a modest amount with about a day of work per month.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsA site promoting ebooks on dating, requiring few hours of work per month.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA jobs site that earns from affiliate links and AdSense, being rolled out as a network.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt a site for practicing reading music notation while learning piano. It earns on its own without promotion.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsRuns a tool for assembling a PC online and earns from ads and affiliate programs.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsSells a clipboard manager app and a study summaries app for students with in-app purchases.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaBuilt a rhyming dictionary site where an ad unit covers the hosting costs.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsWrote and published a book on adult ADHD that still brings in a small amount from sales.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsSells scripts and plugins through a code marketplace and a beginner's book on making WordPress plugins.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA site of tax and finance calculators that earns from AdSense and affiliate income, needing only occasional upkeep.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsOffers a tool and API to validate UK bank account details, and sells a data file of sort codes.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsA free site for playing with Unicode text and ASCII art, earning small ad income.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsAn app that filters unimportant calls and lets urgent ones from chosen contacts through. Sold as a paid app.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Software and appsBuilt a machine learning system that solves captchas, paid per captcha, so income continues after the build.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011