Want to make some extra money without leaving your home? Lucky for you, there are plenty of great online side jobs you can pick up.
Any side hustle is good for your bank account, but online side jobs have a bit of an advantage over in-person gig work. For starters, all you need is a computer and an internet connection—not a car and a tank full of gas.
93% of working Americans report having a side hustle, and most prefer it to their full-time career. According to The Hustle, only 50% of workers “love” their primary job, but 76% “love” their side job.
You get to choose your own hours, rates, and work. And if you have an online side job, you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your home. What’s not to like?
So, where do you start? Let us give you a hand.
Below, we’ve compiled a list of 14 of the best online side jobs from home. We only choose gigs that can be completed entirely without walking out your front door.
Before we get into the specific positions, let’s look at what a good online side job looks like.
What Makes One Online Side Job Better Than Another?
Not all online side jobs are created equal. Some require tedious labor and long hours for little pay, while others provide autonomous work and lucrative rates. We want to help steer you toward side hustles with high income and high happiness potential.
Here’s what to look for in an online side job:
- Generous Wages: Some jobs will pay you per project, design, article, hour, word, or review. Regardless of how clients compensate you, ensure you’re getting a fair hourly wage. For example, if a business pays you $100 per article, but it takes you 10 hours to write it, that job pays you well below minimum wage.
- Flexible Work: The best part about online side hustles is the freedom. Don’t accept a gig that takes away your freedom.
- Clients You Like: You get to choose your clients. Find ones that respect you and have realistic expectations. It’s hard to quit a full-time job—it’s easy to leave a side hustle.
- Work You Enjoy: Working on the side shouldn’t be a headache. Find something you’re passionate about and enjoy.
14 Best Online Side Jobs from Home
1. Freelance Writer
Do you like to write? Turn words into income as a freelance writer.
You can write:
- Articles
- Guides
- Presentations
- Social media posts
- Video scripts
- Landing pages
- Product descriptions
- Email campaigns
And that’s just a sample of the work you can do.
Words are hard. If they come easy to you, you’ll have no problem picking up consistent work.
Freelancing was at an all-time high in 2023, but that doesn’t necessarily mean more competition for you in 2024. With many corporations and business cutting down their workforce, they’ll be looking for freelancers to fill the gaps.
2. Consultant
Want to provide guidance instead of doing the actual work? Start consulting as a side hustle.
Businesses will pay for your advice if you have experience (and data-backed success) in a sector or industry. You will research companies, understand problems, and come up with solutions.
Here are a few of the most common fields for consultants:
- Marketing
- Public relations
- Sales
- Social Media
- Advertising
- Finance
- Accounting
- Human resources (HR)
- Information technology (IT)
- Sustainability
- Diversity and inclusion
You can also create new fields for consulting. For example, professionals are becoming consultants for beauty, interior design, or even Feng Shui (yes, really).
Since each industries’ outlook varies, it’s hard to make a universal prediction for all consulting jobs. However, the marketing consulting market is set to boom by $3.83 billion from 2022 to 2026.
Read more: How to Get B2B Leads for Your Online Business
3. Blogger
Start your own blog and write about something you’re passionate about. Blogging is not a short-term income fix—it’s a long-term online side job.
It’ll take months (and maybe years) to start bringing in consistent traffic. However, once you start seeing high numbers, you can begin sustainable monetizing.
Here are a few ways you can make money blogging:
- Affiliate marketing
- Ecommerce
- Sponsorships
- Course creation
- Advertisements
- Coaching
More than 31 million bloggers in the US contribute to over 2.5 billion blog posts every year. That’s a lot of competition. However, over 75% of internet users read blogs every day, so there’s a large market for written content.
4. Designer
The design industry is booming. If you have an eye for design, you’ll have no problem finding work in 2024.
Businesses need designers for various projects:
- Graphics
- Illustrations
- GIFs
- Websites
- Products
- User interfaces (UIs)
- Logos
- Videos
5. Start an Ecommerce Business
It’s never been easier to start an online store as a side hustle. Using platforms like Shopify, Alibaba, and Etsy, you can develop a product that solves a problem and build a brand around it. Here are some popular categories to start an ecommerce side hustle:
- Vintage clothes and items
- Health and beauty products
- Original designed t-shirts and apparel
- Tech accessories
Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid in Ecommerce | What you can do NOW
6. Online Course Creator
The online course market is experiencing insane growth. Experts predict the eLearning industry to grow by $21 billion from 2020 to 2024.
Now’s your chance to get in on the action and create your own course. Building a valuable course isn’t easy, but it’s now more manageable than ever.
Don’t know where to start? No problem.
Follow our 7-step process to create an online course to learn everything you need to know. We’ll walk you step-by-step through the entire journey.
7. Virtual Assistant
Virtual assistants (VAs) help entrepreneurs, executives, freelancers, and even busy parents manage their to-do lists. Everyday VA tasks include:
- Invoicing
- Scheduling
- Meeting management
- Making and answering phone calls
- Planning travel arrangement
- Managing email accounts
- Responding to social media messages
- Transcribe voicemails
- Research information
- Compile reports
- Send reminders
- Follow-up on tasks
Basically, your job is to save the time and energy of others. Plus, you don’t need any formal training to get started.
8. Photographer
Photography is a hybrid side hustle. You’ll spend most of your time shooting pictures (which will likely be outside your home), but you’ll run your business from your computer.
You can work with businesses directly or sell your pictures to stock image sites. Generally, you earn a commission for each photo you sell to the site, but some pay you for how many downloads each photo gets.
Photography can be an expensive online job to start if you don’t already have the equipment. While it might seem easy to grab a camera, run out the door, and start shooting money-making pictures, there’s a bit of a learning curve—and that’s why clients pay top dollar for high-end photography.
Freelance photographers make an average of $33 per hour in the US, which isn’t bad for a side hustle—especially if it’s something you’re passionate about.
9. Social Media Manager
Consumers expect businesses to be active on social media, but companies (from startups to enterprises) struggle to maintain a presence on popular networks. If you’re savvy with platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, or LinkedIn, a job as a social media manager can earn you a pretty penny.
Here’s what you can expect to do as a social media manager:
- Schedule and publish content
- Engage with followers
- Livestream events
- Provide customer support
- Analyze metrics and provide recommendations
- Identify trends and plan digital campaigns
- Align your efforts with other marketing departments
- Research competitors
Most social media manager gigs give you the opportunity for recurring work for clients. For example, a client might hire you to manage their social media program ongoing, guaranteeing you monthly work and reliable income.
10. Editor
The internet is full of written content, but most of it needs polishing before being published. Especially with the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, companies need editors to double-check their work and maintain quality even as speed improves. As an editor, you’re in charge of reviewing articles, web copy, whitepapers, emails, and social media posts to ensure top-notch quality.
Editors can offer varying services. At a basic level, you’ll check for grammar mistakes and ensure style guide consistency. However, you can go deeper and provide other services, such as search engine optimization (SEO) reviews.
11. Professional Gamer
Now, we’re talking. Professional gaming isn’t for everyone—for starters, you need to be exceptionally good at video games. We’re not talking about casual gaming—we’re talking top 1%.
Professional gamers can make money from sponsorships, tournament prizes, and live streaming income. They earn an average of $56,000 per year, depending on the game, skill level, and followers. However, an influential gamer can make much more than that with a healthy Twitch following.
Who said video games were a waste of time?
12. Remote Fitness Coach
In an increasingly remote and distributed world, consumers want the comfort and convenience of fitness coaches they might never need to meet in person—and it also helps that the world is becoming more and more health conscious.
Thanks to emerging technology, you can rely on video calls, personalized app-based programs, and wearable technology to provide tailored fitness regimes, nutritional guidance, and motivational support to clients across the globe.
The trend towards remote work and flexible lifestyles has accelerated, making the traditional gym-based fitness coaching model less practical for many. Remote fitness coaches meet clients in their comfort zone—be it at home, office, or on the go—providing a customized, convenient, and effective fitness solution that aligns with the digital age.
13. App Developer
App developers specialize in creating, testing, and programming apps for computers, mobile phones, and tablets. They tend to work in teams alongside data scientists, graphic artists, and software experts to create applications that are user-friendly and relevant to their audience. However, some full-stack developers go it alone and curate the entire experience on their own.
As smartphones and tablets become ever more integral to daily life, the demand for innovative and functional apps continues to grow. App developers are at the forefront of this digital revolution, crafting the software that powers entertainment, business, health, education, and more.
And with the advent of 5G technology, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and improved AI capabilities, the scope for app development is expanding rapidly. As an app developer, you can build and sell your own apps on mobile or desktop marketplaces, or you can partner with businesses in a freelance role to help create the apps they want or need.
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13. Translator
Translator side jobs share a lot in common with transcription services. However, unlike with transcription, you’ll need to be fluent in more than one language to get started.
Businesses need documents, marketing materials, and even live-streaming translation assistance, and they tend to pay good money—freelance translators in the US make an average of $30.89 per hour.
On the personal side, translation side hustles help you stay fluent and brush up on your multilingual skills. It’s a great way to remember languages you’ve learned and build upon what you know.
14. Bookkeeper
Do you like numbers and organization? Thank goodness for people like you in this world. An online side job as a bookkeeper could be the perfect fit for you.
As a bookkeeper, you’re responsible for:
- Keep track of transactions
- Send invoices and manage account receivables
- Monitor cash flow
- Prepare financial statements and reports
- Reconcile (or report) financial discrepancies
- File tax returns
- Complete payroll
It’s a lot of numbers and data entry, but it’s somewhat satisfying (if you’re into that kind of thing).
As more businesses launch, the need for qualified bookkeepers will grow to keep up.
Read more: When to Quit Your Job and Go All-in on Your Side Hustle
Online Side Jobs FAQs
What's the easiest way to make money online?
Open up those closets because the easiest way to make money online is to sell what you have on Facebook Marketplace, eBay, or Mercari. Why? There's no overhead, you've already purchased the product, and it's free to sell on the platforms.
What's the best online side hustle?
Ask yourself, how much is your time worth? The best online side hustle is one in which you have previous skills and enjoy doing. Since you're putting extra energy into your side hustle, you want to ensure it's sustainable and valuable.
How do I turn my online side hustle into a full-time job?
The best way to practically make this decision is to do the math. How much money would you bring in monthly if you could dedicate 40 hours per week to your side hustle? Then, subtract expenses like software, computers, office supplies, and tax to get your net income. If your net income sustains your personal living expenses, your side hustle could be your full-time hustle. But more importantly, are you passionate enough about your side hustle to make it your regular job for years?
Master the Skills You Need for Your Next Side Job Online
Did you find a side hustle that sounds interesting but lack the know-how to get started? We believe you can always teach a dog (young or old) new tricks.
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Find a course, learn the skill, and use it to score your next online side job. Take a look, and see what you’re ready to learn.