All Side Hustle Ideas
Every idea links to its source

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

Browse by category

  • Digital products67
    Files sold online: templates, printables, ebooks, stock photos, fonts, presets, plugins, recorded courses
  • Software and apps205
    A web app, SaaS, mobile app, browser extension, bot or API that people pay for or that earns from ads
  • Content and media105
    A blog, niche website, newsletter, YouTube channel, podcast or social account that earns from ads, affiliate links or sponsors
  • Physical products105
    Making, printing or reselling physical goods, online or in person
  • Services and freelancing103
    Doing work for clients for a fee: freelance, consulting, done-for-you services, repairs, local services
  • Rentals and assets36
    Earning from something you own: renting property, rooms, equipment, vehicles, parking, vending machines, domains
  • Directories and marketplaces11
    A job board, listings site, directory or marketplace that connects buyers and sellers
  • Teaching and coaching19
    Live tutoring, lessons, workshops, coaching or cohort classes

Matching ideas

About the data

Startup cost
Under $100$100 to $1k$1k to $10kOver $10k
Time
Hands-offA few hours a weekPart-timeNear full-time
Where
OnlineIn personOnline and in person
Earns from
AdsAffiliateSubscriptionsOne-time salesService feesRentMarketplace cutSponsors and donations
Coding
No coding neededNeeds coding

177 ideas, page 4 of 4

  • Services and freelancing
    Blog that brings in consulting work
    Runs a blog that has brought a steady flow of consulting opportunities.
    Under $100Online
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Digital products
    Credit card sign-up bonus travel hacking
    Opens new credit cards regularly for sign-up bonuses and redeems them for travel, and plans a course teaching the method.
    Online
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Digital products
    CSS animation templates on Envato
    Creates animated icons and page templates and sells them on a theme marketplace.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Content and media
    Directory of flagship stores in a city
    Photographed top brand stores in London and published a directory blog that earns from ads.
    Under $100Hands-off
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Digital products
    Ebook on PHP deployment
    Wrote a book on deploying PHP applications that sells steadily from the owner's website and builds an audience list.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Software and apps
    Free web solitaire game with ads
    A browser solitaire game that earns from ad revenue, built as a weekend project.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Content and media
    Gadget and gift idea affiliate site
    Built a Rails site recommending gadgets and gifts and earning through affiliate links.
    Online
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Physical products
    Joke coffee mug on print-on-demand
    A programmer humor coffee mug sold through a print-on-demand marketplace.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Software and apps
    Old Android app earning small ad income
    Wrote an Android app to learn the platform, updates it lightly, and earns a little from ads.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Software and apps
    Paid physics puzzles Android app
    A paid Android app with a list of physics puzzles, built as a learning project and earning small steady income.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Digital products
    PHP library sold to developers
    Wrote a PHP library and sells licenses to developers, getting a few sales a year.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Content and media
    Prank website hosted on GitHub Pages
    Runs a simple prank site hosted cheaply on GitHub Pages that brings in a modest monthly income.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Physical products
    Print-on-demand themed t-shirts
    Designed themed t-shirts and sold them through a print-on-demand marketplace.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Content and media
    Random Amazon product generator
    A small site that shows random Amazon products, earning from affiliate links.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Rentals and assets
    Rent a spare room on Airbnb
    Rents out a spare room for up to a week each month, needing little work beyond laundry.
    Under $100Hands-off
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Digital products
    Self-published science fiction novella
    Wrote a short sci-fi novel sold through Kindle and iBooks stores.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Software and apps
    Shopify store admin app for Android
    An Android app for managing a Shopify store, sold on Google Play without marketing.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Content and media
    Showcase gallery of sites built with Bootstrap
    Runs a showcase website for sites built with a popular front-end framework, with very low running costs and steady traffic.
    Online
    Hacker News, 2014
  • Content and media
    Kindle book browsing site with affiliate links
    Built a better way to browse Kindle books and earns affiliate fees when visitors buy.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2011
  • Content and media
    Blog earning Amazon affiliate commissions
    Runs a personal blog that earns small commissions from Amazon affiliate links.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2011
  • Content and media
    Face-filtered image search site with ads
    An alternative interface to Google image search with the face filter on, which earned from ad clicks on an image-heavy site.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2011
  • Services and freelancing
    Lease out a developer to a client
    Places a former lead developer with an overseas client and earns a margin on the arrangement, alongside personal consulting.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2011
  • Software and apps
    License trading models and financial tools
    Builds trading models and financial tools and licenses them to others.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2011
  • Content and media
    Lyrics website earning AdSense
    Runs a lyrics website that earns a small amount from AdSense.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2011
  • Content and media
    Music review blog with affiliate links
    Writes album reviews and earns from ads and affiliate commissions when readers buy the reviewed CDs.
    Online
    Hacker News, 2011
  • Content and media
    Pancake day recipes and activities site
    Ran a seasonal site of pancake recipes and ideas for pancake day. It earned yearly ad revenue.
    Under $100Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2011
  • Digital products
    Self-published e-book sold online
    Published an e-book priced as an impulse purchase, expecting it to keep earning with no stock to manage.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2011
  • Software and apps
    Windows Phone to-do app sold in the app store
    Built a to-do app for Windows Phone in evenings and sold it through the app store.
    Hands-offOnline
    Hacker News, 2011
  • Services and freelancing
    Community ad boards in restaurants
    The operator places ad boards in local restaurants, sells the slots to nearby businesses, and upsells those advertisers websites and AI services. Profit comes from slot sales per board.
    The Koerner Office
  • Services and freelancing
    Paid introductions between local contractors
    The operator connects contractors who can pass work to each other and charges for each introduction or a larger referral package. It runs mainly by phone and text.
    Under $100
    The Koerner Office
  • Teaching and coaching
    Corporate AI workshops that lead to paid builds
    The operator runs a team training or build-together session inside one company and listens for the process employees want automated. That process then becomes a separately priced build, often a shared context layer across the company's tools.
    Build With AI
  • Services and freelancing
    Paid AI tools assessment for small businesses
    A solo consultant interviews a small business owner about daily pain points, runs the recording through AI to match problems to existing software, and delivers a short written report plus a walkthrough call. It is sold as a fixed-price diagnosis, and the buyer can then hire the consultant for the follow-up work.
    Under $100Part-timeOnline
    The Startup Ideas Podcast
  • Teaching and coaching
    Paid public AI workshop for local professionals
    The host books a room, lists a half-day workshop on Eventbrite for one industry such as realtors or roofers, and teaches attendees to set up Claude and build one skill. The ticket revenue is minor; the point is meeting buyers who then ask for private help.
    Build With AI