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 data232 ideas, page 1 of 5
- Physical productsA diaper bag brand designed to look less bulky than traditional bags, manufactured through Alibaba. Preorders and organic TikTok content helped fund inventory.Over $10kOnlineSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Physical productsA home micro bakery selling sourdough, cinnamon rolls, cookies and bagels from a front porch on Saturday mornings. Customers preorder and items sell out to lines of local buyers.$100 to $1kThe Koerner Office, 2026
- Services and freelancingSelling whole-home water filtration systems to homeowners through Facebook ads that show the price upfront, with licensed plumbers doing the installs. The channel notes that this model can require a plumbing license, for example in North Carolina.$100 to $1kOnline and in personThe Koerner Office, 2026
- Physical productsAn online store dropshipping high-ticket camper van and motorhome accessories in the UK, with the niche chosen from search and competitor data. Sales come through Google Shopping ads as an authorized reseller.OnlineSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Physical productsBuying poorly listed couches, negotiating the price down and reselling them with better photos, including AI-generated backgrounds. The operator is a teenager working in spare time.Online and in personThe Koerner Office, 2026
- Services and freelancingAn espresso setup mounted on an electric-assist cargo trike that serves coffee at events without the overhead of a shop. The founder also builds and sells units to other entrepreneurs.Over $10kIn personSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Physical productsGrowing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms such as oyster, lion's mane and reishi, starting in a very small space. It grew into a farm operation alongside a growing club.$100 to $1kSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Physical productsSold unprocessed goat milk to a zoo's exotic animal nursery, used to feed young animals.In personHacker News, 2026
- Physical productsSold pesticide-free produce foraged from leased land and roadsides at farmers markets.In personHacker News, 2026
- Physical productsSelling golf equipment through live shows on the Whatnot app, built on top of a brick-and-mortar golf shop and its brand relationships.Over $10kSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Physical productsBuying goods from government and retail liquidation auctions and reselling them. The method relies on researching before bidding and having a solid selling system.Part-timeSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Physical productsA pet products company that reworked the hamster ball, an item unchanged for decades, started by a college student. It sells on Amazon and through a big-box retail deal.Over $10kOnlineSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Rentals and assetsThe operator imports vending machines that dispense perfume and places them in venues. Sales come from customers buying from the machines. The owner dropped it as too much hassle.Over $10kIn personThe Koerner Office, 2025
- Physical productsBuying underpriced lawnmowers, fixing common problems and reselling them. The operator ran it while in college.Online and in personSide Hustle Nation, 2025
- Physical productsA dropshipping store selling high-ticket outdoor products for ponds and water features. Sales come from Google ads aimed at ready-to-buy shoppers, with supplier relationships in place of inventory.OnlineSide Hustle Nation, 2025
- Physical productsA handmade e-commerce brand selling Disney-inspired running skirts to a niche community of runners. It grew through ambassadors and social media and was later sold through Flippa.OnlineSide Hustle Nation, 2025
- Physical productsA shop buys a famous roadside chain's snacks and resells them to customers elsewhere. Revenue comes from retail sales of the resold goods.The Hustle, 2024
- Software and appsA website for visualizing road trips, earning sales through organic traffic with peaks around holidays.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Digital productsCo-wrote a Spring Boot and AWS e-book with a companion online course, sharing the income among authors.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Digital productsWrites a newsletter of real-world projects for learning programming, and sells paid courses.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsA minimalist Android launcher distributed free, with a paid pro version.OnlineHacker News, 2024
- Digital productsA template for a note-taking app with a user guide and video course based on the owner's personal system, sold to customers.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Digital productsCreated an online course teaching DevOps to small companies and self-hosters, which keeps selling even against bigger instructors.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsA GIF meme site that earns from one-off sales of watermark removal.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Physical productsWorked with a factory to make grounded power adapters that stop case buzzing, sold on Amazon.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Software and appsBuilt a Mac app for drawing and highlighting on screen during calls and presentations, after needing it personally.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Digital productsWrites and self-publishes science fiction romance books on the side.Under $100OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Physical productsOperates a small 3D print farm that sells custom clips and connectors for workshop equipment.$1k to $10kHacker News, 2022
- Digital productsFound a popular product category on a code marketplace and built a better JavaScript image cropper and uploader to sell there.Under $100OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Physical productsBuilt an online resource for learning CAD with a supporting community, aimed at people who want to design and sell products.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Digital productsWrote and sells a technical book on deployment that shows the steps without higher-level tools.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2022
- Physical productsPut cartoon T-shirt designs about software error messages on craft sites.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2022
- Digital productsSelf-publishes fiction and is growing a backlist and an email newsletter to increase sales.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Digital productsWrote helpful articles, collected them into a book sold on Gumroad, and also builds a monitoring SaaS on the side.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Digital productsSells a curated list of places to promote side projects, for makers wanting traffic, directly through Gumroad.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsBuilds dinghies, canoes, catamarans and other small boats in spare time, selling some and taking commissions from friends.$1k to $10kPart-timeHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsBuys and resells collectibles, cars and sometimes collectible cars.Online and in personHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsMakes zines and artwork about fandom and adult themes, printing them at home and selling them.$100 to $1kHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsMakes and sells notebooks with music staff paper for musicians.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsMakes and ships a gadget for a small niche market from home, with no software in the product, and also plays music part-time.Hacker News, 2021
- Physical productsStarted a niche menswear business alongside a full-time job. It now runs mostly on its own at small scale.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2021
- Software and appsA paid Mac App Store app that grew out of a personal need for a Safari extension that refreshes tabs automatically.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsLaunched hardware security keys with partners, working on it part time at first.Over $10kOnlineHacker News, 2021
- Software and appsWrote a Mac app years ago that still makes steady daily sales through the app store without marketing.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2020
- Rentals and assetsTakes preorders for expiring domains and tries to catch them when they drop, and also holds a portfolio of domains for later development.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsSells products as a third-party seller on Amazon, treated as a semi-passive side business.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsEarns twice-yearly royalties from a published book and small licensing deals for translations in other countries.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2019