What are the best side hustles for tech workers?
If you’re looking to translate your in-demand skills into an extra income stream, you’re in the right place.
In this post, I’ll share my top tech side hustles based on:
- My 15+ years of side hustle experience
- Conversations with real tech workers
- Schedule flexibility and earning power
Even though tech workers earn an average of $111,000 a year, a side hustle can still be a way to boost your savings, improve cash flow, or pay down debt.
Ready? Let’s do it!
1. Part-Time Remote Work
If you are looking for a tech side hustle, your easiest and fastest option may be to pick up some flexible, part-time work. You’ve got in-demand skills and other companies are looking for your expertise.
This is where FlexJobs comes in — it’s the leading work-from-home jobs site.
FlexJobs has over 50 career categories, including:
- Computer and IT Jobs
- Engineering Jobs
- Science Jobs
- Software Development Jobs
- Web Design Jobs
- and many more
And you can filter specifically for the roles that are freelance, part-time, or flexible schedules.
2. Real Estate Investing
A common question from IT professionals is where to invest their money. It’s the “how can I get paid over and over again from work I do once?” question.
And a common answer is real estate. My friend who works at Google is a prime example of this, taking a portion of his salary and buying rental properties.
But houses are expensive — and like any landlord will tell you — they still require maintenance and attention.
Thankfully, new platforms like Arrived make it easy to invest in hands-off income-generating properties—with as little as $100.
The company pools money to buy rental properties, manages them, and then distributes the cash flow every month.
3. Web Design Service
You might be surprised, but many businesses have a really outdated-looking site — or they don’t have one at all.
If you don’t have web design skills, it’s easy to learn, especially if you have a tech background.
My advice: pick a niche to specialize in, and become the go-to provider for businesses in that space.
For example, Ryan Golgosky from 180sites.com primarily builds sites for pressure-washing companies. (Really!)
When we spoke, he shared how this strategy — and a unique pricing plan — built his web design business to $100,000 a month.
4. Build a Helpful Website
While building websites for clients is a great tech side hustle, it may be even better to build one for yourself.
Now to be totally upfront, there’s a lot to learn to make this business work, but when it does, it can be extremely lucrative.
For example:
Their sites are monetized with advertising and affiliate partnerships, which scale as your traffic increases.
Want to start a blog of your own? Check out my free 6-part video course on how to start your own site.
5. Tutoring
With a nationwide focus on STEM curriculum, tech workers are well-positioned to tutor students in these subjects.
I’ve met IT professionals — including my neighbor who works at Amazon — tutoring math, science, and coding on the side. And because these are sought-after fields, they command rates of $50 an hour and up.
Platforms like Tutor.com and Wyzant can help connect you with students.
6. Teach an Online Class
While one-to-one tutoring can be rewarding and even pretty lucrative, it’s still trading time for money. One side hustle with a little more scale is to teach an online group class through a platform like Outschool.
The peer-to-peer education marketplace focuses on students ages 3-18, and has courses on nearly every topic imaginable. On The Side Hustle Show, Jade Weatherington shared how she was earning $10,000 a month on the platform, primarily teaching middle school English writing classes.
I even connected with an Outschool teacher with a series of popular video game classes!
You could teach a class on the tech skills you have or on any topic in which you have expertise.
7. Prompt Engineering
AI tools are popping up all over the place. If you have an interest in AI, this could be a great tech side hustle for you.
AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney spit out whatever prompt you give it, but the results vary greatly. For example, if you ask Midjourney to give you an image of a wolf in the forest, you’ll get different images of a wolf in the forest.
But if you asked Midjourney for a wolf in the forest in the style of Synthwave with colors X, Y, and Z, you’ll likely end up with better, cooler-looking results that are closer to what you’re looking for. That’s the type of prompt that people apparently pay good money for.
Marketplaces like PromptBase have already sprouted up to give people a place to buy and sell their AI prompts!
8. Software Consulting
Is there a software tool you’re an expert in? One you’re an early adopter of?
One popular side hustle is to “piggyback” on the popularity of a particular software tool, and provide training and support for it. My friend Brad Rice does this with Salesforce and earns over $200k a year part time!
As more people and companies use the software, there’s a growing demand for qualified training. This could be the perfect compliment to your tech job.
Plus, new software comes out all the time, which means even if you don’t have a software in mind today, it could be a side hustle idea for you down the road.
Check out this free challenge to see if a similar path is right for you:
9. White Label Software
Software businesses are some of the most profitable in the world, but it’s tricky to try and create your own software from scratch.
The alternative is to become a software reseller, like Chris Lollini. The self-proclaimed “recovering engineer” reported earning multi 6-figures a year white labeling reputation management software to local small businesses.
How it works is you buy “seats” to a software product at a discounted or wholesale rate, and resell them at retail prices. Start with an industry you’re familiar with and see what common pain points could be solved with existing software tools.
The advantage of this tech side hustle is you have almost no upfront risk or expense.
10. Online Focus Groups and Paid Market Research
Sites like User Interviews and Respondent help match you up with paid research studies online—and often pay $100+ an hour!
While there are some “general population” studies, most are geared toward industry professionals—perfect for people who work in tech.
The company takes a 5% processing fee, but the rest of the funds you earn will hit your PayPal account within 8-10 days of your study.
I’ve earned $395 through Respondent so far! Check out my full Respondent review to learn more.
11. On-Demand IT Support Service
John Rouda is an IT manager near Charlotte, North Carolina. He’s built a variety “for-profit hobbies,” small side hustles that bring in extra cash.
Among those is a local IT / computer maintenance service business. He charges around $200 a month to be the “on-call” tech guy for businesses like car repair shops.
After an initial set-up, he’ll handle website updates and troubleshoot other issues that come up.
12. Freelance Writing
Freelance writing in the area of your technical expertise could be a great side hustle. Many publishers are looking for people with technical expertise who can write about tech in an approachable way.
Where can you find work? Here are some resources to check out:
- ProBlogger – A free remote jobs search site specifically for freelance writers.
- BloggingPro – A free job board that is updated daily with paid blogging jobs, blog writing jobs, and freelance writing jobs.
- Freelance Writing Jobs – A list of paid freelance writing and writing-related jobs that are hand-picked from various job sites, classified ads, and company websites.
To learn more about making money as a writer, check out this free guide from the American Writers and Artists Institute:
13. Video or Audio Tutorials
By day, Bryan Orr helps run an air conditioning company in Central Florida, and by night he’s a father of 10. Yet somehow he’s found the time to create the super-popular HVAC School podcast in his spare time.
Tasked with training technicians at his day job, he had the idea to put the material into an on-demand audio format. On a whim, he decided to publish the content online and make it available to a wider audience.
“It just exploded. I never thought there would be an audience like the audience that I found,” Bryan said.
As his audience grew he started negotiating sponsorship deals with large companies in the HVAC niche.
In under a year, he’d built an email list of over 7500 subscribers, generated more than 500,000 podcast downloads, and was earning $11k a month in sponsorship revenue.
Tech tutorials are very popular as people try to learn how to do things for themselves.
14. Test Websites
As a website tester, you record your computer screen and your voice as you use a certain site or app. You may also need to write survey responses as part of the job or use a webcam.
This tech side hustle can be done in little pockets of time you have throughout your day or after work.
Essentially, you’re giving your opinion about the usability of a website or app with the goal of improving the user experience. You discuss your likes and dislikes, suggest improvements, and discuss any difficulties you have with the site or app.
Learn more about remote website testing jobs at these sites:
- User Testing – Rewards vary based on the assignment, but average in the $20-30/hour range.
- TestingTime – Earn up to $65 per every 30-90 minute study.
- Trymata – Earn $5-30 per test.
15. Answering Questions
Sites like JustAnswer offer a flexible side hustle for tech workers, where you can earn $2,000-$7,000 per month.
Once you apply as an expert, JustAnswer connects you with people who have tech questions. You can set your own hours and the types of questions you’re best-qualified to answer.
You’ll get paid for each customer you help, but the big advantage is that JustAnswer does all the marketing for you.
16. Flipping Phones
The concept of flipping phones is simple—people buy used mobile devices and resell them for a profit.
For professional flippers like Jeff Duhon, it can turn into a full-time income stream. He targets $100 in profit per flip, and does dozens a month.
As with other niches, there’s a learning curve to figure out the different models and carriers to know which phones have the highest resale values.
If your tech job deals with hardware, this side hustle might be worth a shot.
17. 3D Printing
Anyone with a 3D printer would tell you it’s a lot of fun to build three-dimensional objects out of a variety of materials.
But what many people don’t know is that you can make money with a 3D printer by creating and selling prints.
As Side Hustle Nation’s resident 3D printing expert, Nikko Mendoza, put it, 3D printing is a high margin side hustle.
“It really depends on the niche, but it’s vastly underrated,” he explained.
Some of his students have earned $2,000 in a weekend selling 3D printed toys. Another earned $30,000 in a month selling 3D-printed cookie cutters!
18. Start an Email Newsletter
An email newsletter is a low-cost side hustle to start. (Tools like Substack, SendFox, and Beehiiv make it easier than ever.)
One model to consider is a daily or weekly “curation” newsletter. How it works is you source the most interesting stories in your niche, and share those with your subscribers.
For bonus points, add your own insight and commentary to each headline.
As the subscriber base grows, most newsletters eventually monetize with ads or paid subscriptions.
A well-known example in the tech space is Dan Ni’s TLDR Newsletter.
With over 1.2M subscribers, Dan earns up to $30,000 every time he hits send!
What’s the Best Tech Side Hustle for You?
We’ve thrown out a lot of different IT side hustles in this post. Did any resonate with you?
As you choose the right tech side hustle for you, your skills, expertise, and interests will help you determine where to focus your time.
For some, it’s about flexibility and freedom. For others, it’s a change of careers or an entrepreneurial challenge.
It’s time to take action. Pick one and start. If your first one doesn’t work, you can always try a different one. Which one are you going to start first?
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