10+ Best Tech Side Hustles [& Why We Like Them]
Back in the day, you needed to have advanced coding skills to find a legit work-at-home job or flexible, high-paying gigs.
However, the massive rise in the tech industry offers an incredible variety of lucrative side hustles at the fingertips of everyone with the necessary tech skills.
In this article, we’ll walk you through a comprehensive list of side hustles to find the one that perfectly suits your skills and passion!
- Tech side hustles offer flexible, high-paying opportunities for monetizing tech expertise.
- Top picks include SEO, blogging, paid ads, web design, and software development.
- Gigs enhance skills, build portfolios, and provide a gateway to entrepreneurship.
- Platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and Udemy connect freelancers with potential clients.
Brett Helling is a gig economy expert who has been running his own small business for over 10 years.
Our Top Picks
- Specializing in Paid Advertising: The best overall option, balancing ease of learning with high earning potential.
- Specializing in SEO: Optimize websites to improve their results on search engines.
- Start a Blog: Share your knowledge with readers to gather an audience and monetize your content.
- Software Development: participate in expanding the tech industry by creating new platforms and apps.
- Technical Copywriting: Bridge the gap between tech and language, turning complex concepts and jargon into easy-to-understand ones.
- Website Design: Design captivating websites with attractive layouts and user interfaces to make them easier to browse.
- Tech Support: Utilize your extended knowledge of specific niches to provide helpful support.
- Tutoring and Selling Online Courses: Monetize your knowledge and mentor newcomers.
- Data Analysis: Uncover hidden patterns in data to help companies make informed decisions.
- Testing Websites: Check websites for bugs and glitches to ensure seamless user experiences.
Getting Started With Tech Side Hustle
Before diving into the details of this guide, let’s start by having a quick look at what tech side hustles are and how they can benefit you.
What Are Tech Side Hustles?
Tech side hustles are a variety of activities that utilize technology-related skills and knowledge to generate income.
These hustles offer individuals the opportunity to monetize their tech expertise. However, the gigs are usually on a freelance or part-time basis rather than a full-time role. Examples of tech side hustles include but aren’t limited to:
- Web development
- App development
- Tech support
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Blogging and freelance writing
Why Should You Consider a Tech Side Hustle?
There’s a variety of reasons to consider tech-related freelance gigs, whether you’re looking to boost your income or gain experience.
For starters, tech jobs are usually high-paying jobs that offer excellent extra income and lucrative part-time opportunities. This means that you can also do them whenever you want and adjust your schedule accordingly.
Tech side hustles also provide opportunities to enhance your tech expertise and build a portfolio, boosting your future career prospects.
Tech gigs can also help you set foot into the world of business and entrepreneurship by testing out your ideas on a small scale without affecting your full-time job.
The Best Tech Side Hustles at a Glance
Interested in finding out more about the best tech side hustles out there? This section will have you covered.
What Is the Best Tech Side Hustle?
Ideally, many believe that web development is the best tech side hustle because it’s in high demand with excellent compensation.
However, you should know that the best tech side hustle depends on your skills, interests, and goals.
For instance, if you’re an expert in a lower-paying field, you might still earn more than the average web developer while taking a shorter time to complete projects.
Which Tech Side Hustle Is Highest Paid?
The highest-paid tech side hustles are advanced tech freelancing projects. These include DevOps, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity engineering.
Some of these jobs can earn up to $61 per hour on a full-time basis. However, these projects are rarely done on a freelance basis.
On the other hand, web development and design strike a much better balance between project availability and decent pay.
Best Tech Side Hustles in 2023
Now that you know more about tech side hustles, here’s a brief overview of the best tech side hustle ideas to consider for maximum payout and flexibility.
1. Specializing in Paid Advertising
Paid advertising, also known as Pay-Per-Click advertising or PPC, is a digital marketing strategy to drive traffic and generate leads.
Besides being in high demand, it also has an attractive income potential and supports flexible work arrangements while being fairly easy to learn.
Costs to Get Started
Specializing in paid ads requires nothing more than a computer with a good internet connection and the knowledge necessary to complete projects.
You might need some subscription-based platforms to facilitate your work. But as a whole, getting started may cost you as little as $200.
Where to Find Gigs for This Side Hustle
The easiest way to find paid advertising gigs is through freelance websites. These include Fiverr and Upwork. You can also find them as part-time projects on job boards like SimplyHired and Indeed.
2. Specializing in SEO
An SEO specialist is responsible for optimizing websites to become more search engine friendly and rank higher while researching relevant results. Like paid advertising, this is necessary to drive organic traffic and increase website visibility.
SEO side gigs are among the most common out there with remarkable flexibility in terms of scheduling and work hours.
Costs to Get Started
The costs of getting started here depend heavily on whether you have an understanding of SEO fundamentals in addition to the platforms you’ll use. There are also plenty of free resources to learn the necessary skills.
As a general rule, you can easily become an SEO specialist while keeping your spending under $100.
Where to Find Gigs for This Side Hustle
In addition to regular channels like online job boards and freelance websites, you can also reach out to websites and online entities to offer your services after establishing a decent portfolio.
3. Start a Blog
Starting a blog is one of the best ways to make a consistent passive income through tech side hustles. It’s also an outstanding method to establish an audience and share your expertise.
Blogging also allows you to monetize your content through a wide range of methods. These include ads, sponsors, and adding affiliate links.
Costs to Get Started
The initial costs of starting a blog are much higher than the ongoing expenses. Ideally, you can get your blog up and running while paying as little as $50 to $200.
This should cover all the essentials to get started, such as web host fees, and domain name registration. At first, you can cut costs even further by opting for free website builders.
Where to Find This Side Hustle
If you already know your niche and are ready to start a blog, you’ll find a variety of platforms to build your website. Some of the best options out there include Squarespace, Weebly, Hostinger, and WordPress
4. Software Development
Software development involves designing, building, and testing software applications. It’s one of the most valuable side hustles out there because it offers high pay while being easy to learn.
It can take a huge range of forms, but the most common ones in tech side hustle are mobile app development and embedded systems development.
Costs to Get Started
The costs to start in software development depend on your coding knowledge and whether you have the necessary credentials to get the job done.
Although self-learning is quite possible, you’ll find better opportunities if you have a proper education, which can start from as little as $5,000.
Where to Find Gigs for This Side Hustle
You can find plenty of gigs and software development side hustles on freelance websites like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, and Guru.
5. Technical Copywriting
While content writing is a popular side hustle, you can take it up a notch by becoming a technical copywriter.
Like regular content writing, it aims to explain complex technical products or services to gain traffic, but for better pay while maintaining the flexibility of regular content writing.
Costs to Get Started
To become a technical copywriter in a tech field, you need deep experience in a certain niche in addition to some SEO skills.
However, it’s a self-learning experience that typically doesn’t cost anything beyond the initial training/education.
Where to Find Gigs for This Side Hustle
One of the best ways to find freelance writing gigs is through freelance platforms. However, direct outreach to write content on reputable websites is also possible with the extra advantages of exposure to new audiences and gaining followers.
6. Website Design
Web design focuses on the visual and aesthetic aspects of a website by crafting an engaging and user-friendly interface. This is different from website development, which deals with the technical side.
Web design is fairly easier to master than website development while still earning a decent income per project.
Costs to Get Started
The overall costs to start a web design side hustle depend on your approach. If you opt for a DIY one, it only costs you as much as the platforms you’ll use while working.
However, a more professional approach will cost you up to $5,000 for proper education and training.
Where to Find Gigs for This Side Hustle
There are tons of UX/UI web design gigs available on freelance websites. Once you build a decent portfolio, you can also rely on your personal brand to attract potential customers.
7. Tech Support
As the tech industry advances, the need for professionals to provide guidance and support to understand these technologies also expands.
For that reason, a tech support side hustle can be an excellent tech side gig that offers decent pay while always being in high demand.
Costs to Get Started
The costs to start a tech support side hustle are relatively minimal, primarily involving investments in your skills and marketing efforts as long as you have a proper understanding of what you’re offering support for.
Where to Find Gigs for This Side Hustle
The best place to find tech support side hustles is through online job boards. These offer a large variety of options, including part-time jobs and flexible work hours.
8. Tutoring and Selling Online Courses
Another unique way to make a decent living from your knowledge in tech fields is by simply teaching them.
Tech is one of the fastest-growing and highest-paying industries out there. As a result, a lot of people are considering a career shift to the tech field.
This means that there are plenty of people willing to pay top dollar to learn the necessary basics to get started.
Costs to Get Started
If you’re considering this gig, you probably have the expertise and knowledge necessary. In other words, education and training are rarely one of the expenses here.
You might still need to pay around $50 to $100 in monthly subscription fees for necessary tools. However, you can make up the investment in the long run because you generate long-term steady income from selling courses.
Where to Find Gigs for This Side Hustle
There are plenty of online course platforms out there where you can sell yours. These include Coursera, Udemy, and SkillShare.
9. Data Analysis
Data analysis involves extracting meaningful insights from raw statistical data. This helps businesses make informed decisions and plan strategies.
The field has taken big leaps in the last few years and is one of the most in-demand skills today.
Costs to Get Started
Proper data analysis education makes up the largest percentage of your expenses. For that reason, it’s one of the best-paying side hustles if you already know the basics.
In that case, you might need to pay as little as $100 per month for the tools you’ll need for the job.
Where to Find Gigs for This Side Hustle
Data analysis side hustles are fairly common in freelance websites, especially Guru and Upwork.
You can also find various project-based and part-time job offers on online job boards, including LinkedIn and Indeed.
10. Testing Websites
Lastly, this highly underrated and unconventional side gig can be an excellent way to make some extra cash on the side.
With millions of websites deployed every year, testing these websites for any potential issues and bugs became an essential part of the quality assurance process.
Costs to Get Started
Besides understanding the responsibilities of the role, this job only needs a proper computer and a stable internet connection. In other words, for most people, it costs practically nothing to get started.
Where to Find Gigs for This Side Hustle
Many companies out there offer opportunities for users to test their websites for a reasonable fee. Besides this gig, you can also find work on some freelance websites, especially Fiverr.
How to Start a Tech Side Hustle
Establishing yourself in the tech side hustle market heavily depends on various aspects. These include what you do, how you want to do it, and the amount of experience you have in this field.
However, there are some primary guidelines that every tech gig will share, so here’s a quick look at them.
1. Assess Market Demands and Pick the Ideal Field for You
The first step should always be identifying your area of expertise and how you can put it to your advantage in the tech field.
However, if you already have something in mind, you should go ahead and research the demand for your chosen path and the types of services/products you can offer.
A good way to achieve this is by analyzing industry trends, evaluating competitors, and identifying your target demographic and audience.
2. Hone Your Skills and Get the Necessary Tools
The tech industry is an ever-evolving one, so you need to keep up by continuously upgrading your tech skills and learning what’s new in the field.
You can achieve this by self-learning or through online education. Some jobs might be a lot easier to obtain if you also have a degree, which gives you a competitive edge while bidding on freelance projects.
3. Establish a Professional Online Presence or Brand
As you’ve seen in the section above, you’ll find many tech side hustles and gigs on freelance websites and online job boards.
For that reason, you’ll need to establish a professional online profile that includes all the necessary information about you.
This should also include your contact information as well as details about your services and previous projects. You can also leverage social media platforms to connect with more clients.
4. Build Your Portfolio
Now that your online brand is available, you’ll need to expand your portfolio to land more potential clients.
Freelancing usually starts slow but it takes off as soon as you establish yourself. One of the best ways to achieve this is by showcasing previous projects and developing personal ones.
You can also volunteer or contribute to open-source initiatives to gain experience and recognition.
5. Network and Promote Yourself
Lastly, make sure that you always expand your network to meet new potential clients and stay informed about the latest trends in the field. This can take many forms, including joining online communities, attending seminars, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Passive Income in Technology?
Passive income in tech refers to earning money consistently from a technology-based product or service that requires minimal ongoing upkeep.
This can take a variety of forms. These include creating and selling digital products, monetizing websites/apps, or investing in tech-focused ventures.
Can Coding Be a Side Hustle?
Coding skills are among the most sought-after skills out there while allowing you to work from practically anywhere.
This allows individuals with the necessary technical skills to earn additional income by taking on freelance projects or part-time work.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, there are plenty of lucrative tech side hustles to consider out there. They also vary significantly in complexity and requirements, so you can find the one that suits you the most.
All in all, the overall best option to consider here would be specializing in paid advertisement because it pays well while being fairly easy.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for a gig that can provide a passive income, you should consider starting a blog or selling tech courses online.