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 data136 ideas, page 3 of 3
- Software and appsSoftware for protecting source code with encryption, built to meet the owner's own need when existing products were very expensive. It has produced steady income for years with a small remote team.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsLets a couple of people use a personal instance of an open source program they run, so they do not have to host it themselves, in exchange for a small monthly fee.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsBuilt an online exam preparation platform for aspiring medical students together with a sibling. Once launched it needed very little upkeep and sold access to students.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- Digital productsSells paleo diet guides and a meal plan service online.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- 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
- Services and freelancingStarted a shared hosting company so existing clients could move away from big, confusing hosts. Customers pay hosting fees.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsBuilt a service that delivers updates for private WordPress plugins and themes, which developers otherwise find painful to manage. Customers pay for the service.Hands-offOnlineHacker 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
- Software and appsA service that generates website thumbnails automatically. The owner bought it from another person, kept developing it, and earns from its customers.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsRuns a website that helps people practice music notation. It has earned steadily for years.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2016
- 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 appsMaintains a free open source gem for running test suites in parallel and sells a paid pro version of it. Revenue comes from pro subscriptions.OnlineHacker 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 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
- 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 appsA web app for sending and reading anonymous messages, with paid accounts adding extra features.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt a business software product that still brings in monthly revenue with little attention.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt an iPhone photo reminder app that Apple featured, earning without marketing spend.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
- Services and freelancingAdministers rented servers, handling updates and small fixes for tenants who pay monthly fees after covering hosting costs.Over $10kHands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt a small ERP system sold to businesses on monthly fees.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilt an add-on that lets customers get SSL installed quickly. Reselling certificates required upfront cash.Over $10kHands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsRuns subscription services for tracking website traffic and ad conversions, solo and mostly hands-off.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsA platform for event organizers to host and live stream events.OnlineHacker 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
- 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 appsBuilt and maintains an ad server script with a hosted SaaS version, sold to site owners.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
- Software and appsBuilding a web service that helps designers create client proposals.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
- Software and appsBuilt an anti-piracy licensing system for their own Android apps and then sold it to other developers as a subscription service.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Software and appsSold software that lets people build their own social network, later releasing the code for free.OnlineHacker 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
- Services and freelancingThe operator builds search-ranked sites for local trades such as junk removal and auto glass, then rents the resulting phone leads to contractors for a flat monthly fee. Costs per site are small.OnlineThe Koerner Office
- Services and freelancingA seller packages a website, review collection, Google profile and branding for local contractors and sells it by phone for a monthly fee. Leads come mostly from local Facebook groups.OnlineThe Koerner Office
- Services and freelancingThe consultant joins a small number of clients on screen-share calls each month and helps them turn their own workflows into reusable AI skills, with light chat support between calls. Clients pay a monthly retainer, and the consultant caps how many clients to keep the work manageable.OnlineThe Startup Ideas Podcast