Ask HN: Do you have side-projects that generate >$500 revenue/month?

What inspired you to build that project and how long did it take?

41 points | by learner_yearner 3 days ago

24 comments

  • rishikeshs 1 hour ago
    I wish this was '<' 500! :D I want to still pitch my 'SAAS'. It's called FormBeep: https://formbeep.com it's at $38 MRR
  • shiz92 3 days ago
    I run a niche analytics business for like $4000 MRR currently, genuinely 'vibe coded' it to try out LLM capacities (late comer on the LLM train here). I felt like the need was there and competition was weak, low tier SWE, overall really easy to take over and so I did and now I'm scaling up and expanding the product line. It cost about 4 months of $200 claude, about $700 of proxies since launch, a very optimized bare metal hetzner server. 'Content creator' industry.
    • rajay99 3 days ago
      I’d like to start something like this, do you mind sharing what kind of business analytics it is?
      • cinntaile 2 days ago
        To invite tens of competitors... No he shouldn't.
  • fooodenthusiast 3 days ago
    I raw http://www.lokobee.com/ Doordash like restaurant food ordering website. We have some active restaurants. Brings in few orders per restaurant per day. But surprisingly we drive more traffic to some restaurants than uber eats. Revenue(GMV) is better than $1000 per month.
    • elevation 3 days ago
      Please keep this up. I wished someone would run a DoorDash competitor in my area after hearing that drivers and restaurants are both fed up with the incumbents, it’s so encouraging to hear of someone pulling it off.
    • ozozozd 3 days ago
      Even at a glance it gave me confidence that the UX will be far superior than Uber Eats and DoorDash.
      • fooodenthusiast 2 days ago
        Thanks Can you please elaborate what you like about the UX? Given our scale we dont have any insight into why customers like or dislike us.
    • iamhiro 2 days ago
      awesome
    • orsentra 3 days ago
      [dead]
  • brumbelow 3 days ago
    Bug bounty and security research keeps me a good bit above 500 per month...

    I experienced an initial influx of positive results and rewards as I ramped up AI use initially. However, as time goes on, I expect that to trickle out at some point since everyone and their mother now has something that can hunt and find better bugs than me. so I will have to either find a better niche or do something else with my time, but for now - that is my only side project.

    I quite enjoy it so I have been brainstorming ways to stay involved and contribute without getting behind the times. Any ideas are welcome. Lol.

  • BrunoBernardino 2 days ago
    Uruky [1] has been doing €2k / month or more for the last few months (not a subscription, though).

    PodBy [2] is still below €100 / month, though.

    Uruky started out late last year, and was publicly released earlier this year. My wife and I couldn’t stand the bad state (of AI) search and the lack of a simpler Kagi alternative in Europe.

    PodBy was recently launched under that name, but its “tech” had been powering a few sites and projects for over a year (partially Uruky, too).

    [1]: https://uruky.com

    [2]: https://podby.com

  • abalgir 23 hours ago
    I built a trading algo that gave me a 29% return over the year > $500 month. I applied the lessons I learned while building major trading solution like Murex and Calypso.

    And now finalizing an open source development harness that I hope will be successful and will drive consulting business in AI. Check www.nomorehappypath.com

    • NotAnOtter 19 hours ago
      Trading algo generating revenue in a bull market is a meme among many trading communities.
      • abalgir 28 minutes ago
        No, bull market or bear market- this is why it is a trading Algo. You have to make sure you make a reasonable profit in both directions.

        It seems you never built an intelligent one!

  • 1ilit 2 days ago
    I have https://www.drawdb.app/ a database diagram editor. It generated a bit more than half of my 9-5 salary this month. ~3 years open-source and 3 months of building pro and now trying to figure out all the non-development parts of running it. Fingers crossed this month wasn't an outlier
    • iamhiro 2 days ago
      very cool. wish you well!
  • nozzlegear 3 days ago
    I do, a Shopify app that helps merchants track orders across long manufacturing/fulfillment processes. I built it ages ago when I was working as manual labor at a printing company, watching everyone run around all day trying to figure out where each order was. I'd daydream about how I could improve things and make them more efficient, write my ideas down in a notebook, then go home and build it in the evening.

    I think the app is something like 12 years old now, but I still work on it to this day. I'm adding a new feature to it right now, and would like to kick the Shopify dependency someday soon.

  • p0d 1 day ago
    I do, a saas running for nearly 20 years.

    How long is not as important as does anybody want what you are selling.

    My advice is aim at something boring that people rely on everyday. Be the person who sells razor blades, so to speak.

  • nghnam 1 day ago
    No. However I am improving the visibility of the project via multiple channels like HN, PH. My project: https://apxy.dev/
  • sweoxe 2 days ago
    Thanks, guys. Very interesting to read. I’m glad that some people are earning more than 500. You’re awesome.
  • giantg2 2 days ago
    For a while I worked weekends at a retail store for about $900/mo. It's not glamorous, but this is the highest percentage way get an extra $500/mo.
    • qup 2 days ago
      Highest percentage? What do you mean?

      You've got a capped return for every hour invested.

      It's the lowest risk method, maybe you meant that. It's also low risk to beg for money, but there's probably better options.

      • giantg2 1 day ago
        You have the highest probability of earning $500/mo with a second job. Yes, your hours and rate provide an earnings cap, but we're talking about $500, which is low for a whole month even at minimum wage on weekends. Begging for money may not be as low risk as you think. It's also low probability for $500/mo as a side hustle.
  • hsnice16 3 days ago
    No. But I am continuously improving the visibility of the project so I can pitch to teams for Sponsored Ads on the site.

    The project: https://agentfriendlycode.com/

    • orsentra 3 days ago
      What is this about? Are you training AI through github repos?
  • rozenmd 3 days ago
    I had a consulting customer refuse to believe me that his cheap housing was actually costing him more in downtime, one week to launch, i'm still working on it 4.5 years later.
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