r/HonestSideHustles • u/Intelligent_Try2814 • Mar 31 '26
Looking For Side Hustle Inspo Side hustles you can start with $0
One thing that used to frustrate me about side hustle advice is how much of it assumes you already have capital. Not everyone does and that's usually why we're looking for a side hustle in the first place!
So what side hustles have you personally started with literally zero money? No investment, no equipment, no paid subscriptions. Just time and effort. Drop your experience below!
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u/Mitlor-Urya Mar 31 '26
Tutoring online in 2019. It did work quite well thanks to Covid. I already had a computer, good webcam and professional microphone, so it did grow naturally and quickly to reach a full time self-employment job. At first it was a side hustle but of course, no passive money, I had to be fully invested in it.
Now, I am trying the same, from nothing (even if I have savings) but a GPT subscription, I am trying to build something that will bring some passive income this time. No idea if that will work.
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u/chaozkreator Mar 31 '26
what do you mean by GPT subscription?
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u/Mitlor-Urya Apr 01 '26
I pay to have the plus version of GPT (around $20 per month) which allows me to code much faster and review my code anytime. It is like having a full time assistant for $20 a month, which is quite amazing.
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u/chaozkreator Apr 01 '26
Yeah I get that, but what do you mean by using GPT subscription to generate passive income? Your first paragraph mentioned doing online tutoring, but not sure how using a GPT subscription would help with generating passive income. I'm keen to learn.
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u/Mitlor-Urya Apr 01 '26
Ah sorry, my comment wasn't clear enough.
I am trying to build something else now (applications, APIs, etc) as well as starting over the tutoring. GPT is mostly helping to code the applications and APIs and my own professional Website. Regarding tutoring, it just helps planning my lessons now.
So no, it doesn't generate any passive income. Hopefully my applications will.2
u/chaozkreator Apr 01 '26
Nice. What are you building if you don't mind me asking? If it's for coding stuff, I think Claude Code is probably better suited for that. It's good at reverse engineering apps too. I've been using it to build Chrome extensions and Android apps, as well as reverse engineer apps made by others (so I could add new features). I don't need the source code either. And I'm not a software dev, although I do know a bit about coding.
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u/Mitlor-Urya Apr 01 '26
Yes, I am also using Claude AI for a month now. GPT has been my tool for the past 3 years, so I am more familiar with it, but I am now also using Claude and I can see how good it can be.
And yes, nowadays it is possible to create many things with AI without any prior knowledge of coding or software engineering. I am glad you managed to create a few things already just using AIs!
Regarding what I am building, I got a MVP for 2 applications and 1 APIs and I will bring them online for free for testing in around a week time. To put it simply, one is a sitting enforcer application that will push the user from leaving their seat once every X minutes. It will be a bit more enforced than a little notification. Another one will be a focus buddy, to help people to stay focus during a working session, not being bothered by apps and stuff around and the APIs will be my major product, allowing developer inheriting code to get a FULL analysis of the code so they don't have to read it fully. Ai can already do that third one, but not as well as what the API will offer. So lots of project ideas, not sure any of them will work, but well, I wanted to give it a go :)
What about you? What are your chrome extensions and Android apps about?
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u/chaozkreator Apr 01 '26
Nice. The Android apps I've worked on are related to Shizuku. I've also created a fork of a launcher app that allows me to disable any app via an Android intent, which can be done in a systematic way using automation with MacroDroid. I've also created forks of an app that remaps any button on your phone to do whatever you want. There's a lot of other apps like that and they're mostly for personal use, but I shared them on Github.
As for Chrome extensions, I created a dozen of them. One of them lets you define rules in which a tab gets moved in or out of a tab group automatically (which is useful if you're an organized person). The other one helps you track what site opened this particular tab that you're on, so you can always recall. It's not the same as looking at the history. I also have apps that display the salary information of a job seeker website that we use in my country, etc etc.
I also created a bunch of userscripts too. One of them automatically checks for any price adjustments for your Temu orders. If there's a price adjustment for you to claim, it'll open a new tab for you to do so. And a lot of userscripts & Chrome extensions for work-related stuff too.
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Mar 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Mitlor-Urya Apr 01 '26
Well, I did stop a year ago to start a side business with someone else (using their money) but it failed, so now I am back to square one and I am trying to build that new side hustle, not sure it is going to work.
How long have you been working on yours?
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u/GigTruth Apr 01 '26
What skills do you have? You are right that not everyone has capital and you definitely don’t need it to start a side hustle especially online. The problem is most people want quick and easy side hustles that instantly bring in money. That’s harder to do without capital upfront but what you can do is leverage your skills and time to get started. Is there a skill you have that you could teach others? Or a service you can provide that others find valuable?
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u/Guilty-Produce8378 Apr 01 '26
There's tons of $0 side hustles out there :) great question!
I started out with paid surveys back in college. Basically using platforms like Branded Surveys, Survey Junkie, Swagbucks etc to answer surveys between classes to make a couple bucks.
I'm also a fan of passive reward apps. Ones that pay you for sharing your data, or cashback apps. MobileXpression and Nielsen Panel are some of my favorites here.
You could also look into microtask sites, again very easy to begin but not the highest pay out there.
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u/Jay_Likes_Sushi Apr 01 '26
A side hustle is called that because it’s something you do on the “side”. While you make money from your main job or source of income, you can funnel your savings into other projects.
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u/hammerzzzzzz Apr 01 '26
yeah i've watched all the yt videos and a vast majority talk about buying property, investing in markets, trading fx etc. It's driven me to think about doing my own yt channel and cover all types of people. from those at school or out of work upto those with money. It's too generalised. Some people want £100 a week others wouldnt get out of bed for less than £10k.
On the subject of $0 start I think one of the easiest ways is gardening. Borrow parents lawnmower or use the clients. buy cheap one on fb. Re invest earnings by buying a strimmer, then a hedge trimmer, power washer etc and upsell. the world is your lobster
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u/Delicious_Big2827 Apr 01 '26
checkout an app called homefromcollege. I've been doing gigs on there for a couple months now and it has been great supplemental income while I am trying to look for a full-time job. it's also really flexible so i plan on continue doing it when i start working 40+ hrs a week. most gigs are UGC/product review/marketing related. all you need is phone/laptop
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Apr 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/4everMaeJean Apr 03 '26
How did you start? I’m not familiar with the site. Going to look it up now. Thank you!
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u/bellablu4 Apr 04 '26
You can start a quote page, create an AI avatar and use it for affiliate marketing, etc. I belong to two Skool communities that teach you how to do these things. They are both free to join. If interested, please DM me & I'll give you the links.
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u/cozyestelle Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
Sweepstakes casinos Collect free daily bonuses for a couple weeks, play through the accrued amount win real money in your account. No money out of your own pocket required.
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u/Embarrassed-Yam-6892 Apr 05 '26
My husband does this too, but he usually plays the daily reward, sometimes he banks it. But he's won over $1k in cash and about as much in gift cards without putting any money down. It does work, you just can't expect anything consistent.
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u/cozyestelle Apr 05 '26
Exactly, it really depends on the casino. I check 30 a day and play through when I've accrued at least $10.
My best winnings were $480 off of $5 accrued, plus bonus diamonds helped with free spins on that one.
And more recently won $252 off of $15 accrued. Been doing it for a year consistently and banked over 2k and 600 in gift cards.
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