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 data42 ideas
- Content and mediaA simple website that helps people learn Excel through exercises. The founder built it with very little effort and grew it as a dead-simple, boring niche site.Hands-offOnlineStarter 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
- Software and appsA free web tool for converting text case, built up over years.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Content and mediaA group of free sudoku websites that earn steady income from minimal ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsCreated a web tool for making GIF memes with text that follows motion, after finding it hard to do elsewhere.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2022
- Software and appsA solitaire site that began as a Mac app, found by looking for popular apps with poor reviews, and now supports the owner.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Content and mediaA blog that earns from ads and Patreon support, covering hosting costs and a bit more.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Directories and marketplacesBuilt job listing sites and blogs that run mostly automatically and cover expenses with ads and sponsorships.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2021
- Content and mediaPosts weekly programming problem tutorials on YouTube and earns from ad revenue.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Software and appsA coupon site for developers plus a set of single-purpose web tools such as encoders and HTML cleaners.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2021
- Content and mediaMakes coding tutorials on YouTube to support themselves while building a product, earning a small amount from the channel.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Content and mediaAn information site about a specific skin condition that earns from display ads and Amazon affiliate links and is mostly left on autopilot.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2018
- Content and mediaA personal technology blog that earns small amounts from on-page advertising.$100 to $1kOnlineHacker News, 2018
- Software and appsRuns a site showing historical average weather by city and month. Income so far is from ad revenue, with plans to add more features.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaBuilt a WordPress website for people looking up information about others. It earns from Google AdSense and needs only software updates now.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaRuns a guide site for visitors interested in Silicon Valley sights. Income comes from ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker 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
- 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
- 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
- Content and mediaA fan site run by a community of contributors that earns small ad revenue to offset server costs.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 mediaBuilt a content website covering a niche in a non-US market, with a lot of long-tail search traffic monetized by AdSense.A few hours a weekOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaA logo design gallery where designers submit work, earning from ads and ad network placements.OnlineHacker 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
- 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
- Content and mediaRuns a couple of sites for language learners that cover living expenses.OnlineHacker 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
- Content and mediaBuilt a rhyming dictionary site where an ad unit covers the hosting costs.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 appsA free site for playing with Unicode text and ASCII art, earning small ad income.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaBuilt many small niche websites on keyword-rich domains with SEO copy to earn AdSense revenue, then sold the whole set on Flippa.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaRuns several user-submitted humor sites and earns from them plus licensing for a paid iPhone app tied to one site.OnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaRuns two small sites that earn mostly by selling text links through a link marketplace, plus some AdSense.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaA technical blog documenting electronics projects, earning small ad income.OnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaA YouTube review of a pull-up bar that ranked well in search and pays a periodic share of ad revenue.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Content and mediaBuilt a Sudoku website that now earns from advertising, mostly sponsored text links, with free signups seeing no ads.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Directories and marketplacesThe operator uses scraping tools and an AI coding assistant to build a listing site for a niche, then monetizes through leads, ads, affiliate links or listings. One example was a luxury restroom trailer directory.Hands-offOnlineThe Koerner Office
- Content and mediaThe operator buys an expired exact-match domain for a niche, rebuilds it as a site that earns from the niche audience, and adds a niche job board. Upkeep is minimal.Hands-offOnlineThe Koerner Office