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
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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 data140 ideas, page 3 of 3
- Software and appsA tool that started as a way to create your own Hacker News style site and grew into software for creating, managing and growing online communities.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsSells a game for iPad through the App Store, which sold with almost no ongoing effort until app updates were needed for new platform requirements.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsBuilt a mobile app that tracks commuter rail trains in real time. Downloads spike whenever the transit system has service problems.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsEarns ongoing royalties from programming books written years ago, with little active work now.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Digital productsTeaches people the Swift language with a self-written book and an online coding exercise platform. Money comes from selling these products.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Digital productsDeveloped payment gateway and product feed extensions for online store platforms and sells them.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- 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
- Software and appsBuilt a business software product that still brings in monthly revenue with little attention.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsSells a Mac utility for cleaning disk space on the Mac App Store, with little marketing.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsA service letting users email files into cloud storage accounts, with premium paid accounts popular with realtors and lawyers.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsA jQuery plugin and backend service that adds a shared whiteboard to websites, sold by subscription.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Physical productsSells a powder that turns into fake snow when water is added, promoted with a TV spot and search ads.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsPorted an older game to iPad, free to download with one in-app purchase unlocking the full version.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Directories and marketplacesA marketplace connecting boat owners and dock spaces, grown by posting in boating groups and forums.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsSells WordPress themes for specific niches, with a small ad budget and a little customer support.Hands-offOnlineHacker 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
- Software and appsSells personalized kids books through an iPad app and is splitting it into individual book apps.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsSells software for creating bingo cards, needing little support.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsA website selling cupcake wrapper designs, with new designs needed to keep sales up.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsMade an online role-playing game for young children that earns a modest monthly amount.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsHas a simple app in the Mac App Store that sells with no ongoing support.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt a small ERP system sold to businesses on monthly fees.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsRuns a social game with a developer partner that earns steadily with little ongoing time.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Directories and marketplacesA marketplace for themes for a blogging platform.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsCreated a web game that earns enough to live on while traveling.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBought an iOS sleep calculator app from its owner and redesigned the interface.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- $1k to $10kHands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt an iOS app that teaches what a tesseract is and lets users manipulate it. People keep buying it in a small niche.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsA web development tool for Mac sold through the Mac App Store.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsA subscription analytics product largely automated in onboarding and billing, with an affiliate program and agency customers that expand usage.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Directories and marketplacesRuns a marketplace and sells components on larger marketplaces, still earning from support and sales.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsLaunched a membership offering premium WordPress plugins with support.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 appsRuns a web service for sending press releases to media, used by customers promoting books and events, with a free tier for anonymous whistleblowers.$1k to $10kOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsWrote a PHP book and still receives small royalty payments from it.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilding a web service that helps designers create client proposals.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Directories and marketplacesA penny auction site for a local market, relying on manual bank transfers for payment since cards are rare, with plans to white-label it.Part-timeOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Software and appsAn application sold within Second Life that helps users make machinima, earning small sales long after launch.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Software and appsWrote a card game for iPhone that sells steadily with almost no maintenance.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Software and appsBuilt a Twitter app that helps users share more links without flooding followers. Offers a free plan and paid monthly plans.OnlineHacker News, 2011
- Rentals and assetsThe operator leases large trailers and sub-rents them to customers who need storage or transport space, earning the difference. It was run mostly from a phone.$1k to $10kOnlineThe Koerner Office