Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 – Show and tell

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Developers, creatives, and entrepreneurs share hundreds of side projects that earn at least $500 a month, ranging from niche SaaS tools and mobile apps to Etsy shops, books, hardware gadgets, games, and offline services. Many describe slow, compounding growth driven by word of mouth, SEO, and tightly focused niches, while also highlighting recurring challenges such as marketing, pricing, platform dependence, burnout, and balancing a full-time job. A recurring theme is that modest ideas, executed consistently and refined by real user feedback, can grow into meaningful income streams or even full-time businesses, though sustainability and risk remain constant concerns.

Types of side projects and revenue levels

  • Wide range: SaaS tools, browser extensions, mobile apps, dev tools, AI wrappers, content businesses, physical products, games, and events.
  • Many earn around $500–$1,000/month (e.g., small fitness apps, niche SaaS, puzzles, training platforms); some reach several thousand MRR or more.
  • A few outliers: AI image/video generator reporting ~$50k/month; compliance/SOC2 tools, training platforms, fintech dashboards, and longtime newsletters making more than “side money.”
  • Some projects are barely breaking even or in decline; a few explicitly say they’re losing money but keep going for learning or impact.

Monetization models

  • Common: subscriptions (monthly/annual), one-time licenses, in-app purchases, ads, affiliate revenue, sponsorships, and physical product margins.
  • Several open source or “freemium” tools monetize via paid tiers, custom builds, support contracts, or sponsorships (e.g., Kubernetes PaaS, file managers).
  • Some rely on grants (e.g., spreadsheet engine) or royalties via manufacturing partners (hardware instruments).
  • Debate over counting “$500/month” as revenue vs profit; one subthread stresses that costs can be substantial (infra, ads, manufacturing, AI API use).

Marketing and distribution

  • Frequent theme: building is easier than getting users. Marketing is described as the main bottleneck, even in the AI era.
  • Acquisition channels: App Stores (with ASO and Apple Search Ads), Reddit, HN, Product Hunt, YouTube, social media, influencer/UGC, SEO, and word-of-mouth from strong communities (teachers, gamers, investors, language learners).
  • Several insist early success came from clear positioning and UX in a narrow niche (e.g., Bluesky tools, Anki add-ons, NotebookLM importer, LEGO valuator, sports betting APIs).
  • Critical feedback on unclear pricing, confusing downloads, and “scammy” landing pages; calls to make pricing and value propositions obvious.

Product scope, tech choices, and operations

  • Advice to start simple (a CGI script, basic hosting) and not over-engineer with Kubernetes until demand justifies it.
  • Many projects embrace “vibe-coded” AI assistance but still emphasize handcrafted UX and domain understanding.
  • Mix of stacks: Electron desktop apps, SwiftUI native apps, Django/Go backends, Chrome extensions, and hardware-plus-software products.
  • Some turn former irritations (bad training tools, clunky PDF scanning, calendar merging, faxing, conference networking) into focused, profitable utilities.

Human side: motivation, burnout, and community

  • Multiple founders credit previous years’ threads for inspiring them and report finally passing $500/month after years of attempts.
  • Others describe burnout (especially in always-on or NSFW services) and difficulty maintaining momentum alongside life, kids, or full-time jobs.
  • One discussion analyzes HN item ID growth to ask if the site has peaked; responses frame that as less important than whether participation remains personally valuable.