Maybe you’re between jobs and need income while you look for your next role. Or maybe you’ve decided traditional employment isn’t how you want to earn a living. Either way, you can make money without a job through freelance projects, odd jobs, content creation, or an online business idea of your own.
In fact, 27% of US adults have a side hustle, and 16% of those side hustlers want it to become their main source of income.
This guide covers 23 ways to make money without a job, from options that can pay within a week to businesses that build income over several months. For each one, find what you need to get started and the upfront investment involved.
Table of contents
23 ways to make money without a job
- Launch an ecommerce store
- Start dropshipping
- Sell stuff you already own
- Start a blog
- Pick up odd jobs
- Produce online courses
- Sell print-on-demand products
- Offer tutoring services
- Create a webinar
- Write an ebook
- Start a YouTube channel
- Start affiliate marketing
- Engage with content
- Manage social media accounts
- Take online surveys
- Test websites
- Take part in online focus groups
- Rent out unused spaces
- Flip secondhand furniture
- Pet sit
- Babysit
- Sell handmade crafts
- Grow and sell plants
The payout times for these money-making ideas vary. Selling things you already own or picking up odd jobs can bring in money fastest, once any approvals and payouts clear.
Affiliate marketing and flipping secondhand finds need a few months of groundwork before the first earnings arrive. An ecommerce store or YouTube channel takes longer to build into meaningful income, though a first sale can come early: half of new sellers on Shopify who reached a first sale got there within about three weeks.
1. Launch an ecommerce store
Make money online by starting a business that sells products or services. Create a list of product ideas that play to your strengths. Then, write a business plan, launch your own website, and start selling online.
You don’t need a large catalog to start an ecommerce business. According to Shopify’s Entrepreneur Effect report, 41% of stores on Shopify launch with a single product, and about 1.2 million stores made their first sale on Shopify in 2025.
An ecommerce platform like Shopify has customizable themes, built-in payment processing, inventory management, and analytics, so you can run your store from one admin as it grows.
What you need
- An ecommerce platform like Shopify
- Physical or digital products to sell
- A business model (manufacture yourself, find a supplier, dropshipping)
Initial investment: Low to medium, depending on your manufacturing process
2. Start dropshipping
Dropshipping is a fulfillment method where a supplier ships products directly to your customers, so you don’t need to buy or store inventory upfront. You’ll still have ongoing costs, including your Shopify plan, product samples to check quality, and marketing to bring shoppers to your store. Customer service also stays with you, because customers buy from your store rather than the supplier.
Here’s how it works: You choose a dropshipping supplier and set up an ecommerce store. When a customer places an order, the order details go to your supplier, either manually or automatically through a supplier app. The supplier then ships the order to your customer.
To start dropshipping, pick a niche, find a supplier, and choose the products you’ll sell. Then, decide on a business structure and start marketing.
If you plan to source products through Shopify Collective, your store needs to meet these requirements:
- Be on an active Shopify plan
- Be based in a supported country, in the same country as your supplier, and use the same currency as your supplier
- Set up Shopify Payments with active payouts in your store’s currency
- Turn on Shopify Network Intelligence and meet Collective’s trust and safety requirements, which might include ID verification
- Use Shopify Tax, Basic Tax, or a third-party tax app and confirm your VAT registration status if your business is based in the UK or EU
“With dropshipping, we learned a lot,” says Selom Agbitor, cofounder of Mad Rabbit. “The first thing was building a social media channel. [It’s] making sure that you could build an Instagram channel or any other form of social media presence. And you also have to be resourceful with dropshipping. The reason why you’re starting a dropshipping company is because you don’t have the cash upfront, so you have to learn the things that you need to be able to do instead of hiring people to do it for you.”
What you need
- A reputable dropshipping supplier like Shopify Collective, Syncee, or DropCommerce
- A computer or smartphone and an online store
- A decent marketing strategy
Initial investment: Low
3. Sell stuff you already own
Put money back into your bank account by selling things you no longer use, like furniture, jewelry, electronics, or clothing. List items on online marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Poshmark, Etsy, or Depop, or sell in person at garage sales and flea markets.
Clothing has a large resale market. ThredUp’s 2026 Resale Report projects the global secondhand apparel market will reach $393 billion by 2030, growing twice as fast as the overall apparel market.
If you make art, you can also sell crafts and prints online or at local craft shows, maker markets, and fairs.
What you need
- A list of items to sell and a place in your house to store them
- A smartphone or camera to photograph the items, and access to an online marketplace to list
Initial investment: Low
4. Start a blog
Show off your writing skills and set your own hours by starting a blog about a topic you’re passionate about. Blogs can include educational articles, tutorials, infographics, interviews, lists, and first-person essays.
If you run an ecommerce business, a blog can reach potential customers who search for information online. Use search engine optimization (SEO) tactics like keyword research and link building to help your posts appear in search results, and technical SEO to improve site speed and mobile responsiveness.
Most sites see measurable results from SEO within three to six months, according to Arthur Camberlein, SEO lead at Shopify. Bento&co’s Thomas Bertrand blogged for three years before launching his store.
“It was really helpful to have this blog for three years before I started my business,” Thomas says on Shopify Masters.
He says selling is harder when you don’t have an established audience.
Google Search Central says Google’s ranking systems are designed to prioritize helpful, reliable content created for people over content made to manipulate search rankings. So, write for your readers first, then apply SEO.
What you need
- A platform for posting blog articles, like Shopify (if you plan to also open an online store), WordPress, Webflow, or Substack
- A niche or topic you’re passionate and knowledgeable about
- A basic understanding of SEO and enough time to research, write articles, and wait for them to rank
Initial investment: Low to no financial investment but significant time investment
5. Pick up odd jobs
Another way to make money without a job is to pick up odd jobs through apps and freelancing sites like TaskRabbit, Fiverr, and Fancy Hands. These services connect paying clients with freelancers who help with tasks like grocery shopping, furniture moving, and house cleaning.
Delivery and rideshare apps work in a similar way. DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Instacart pay you to deliver food and groceries, while Uber and Lyft pay drivers to transport passengers. Bankrate’s 2025 Side Hustle Survey found 9% of side hustlers work in food delivery and 3% in ridesharing.
Requirements vary by app and location. For example, to drive passengers with Uber, you need to meet your city’s minimum age, have at least one year of licensed driving experience in the US, and use an eligible four-door vehicle. Most auto insurers also want to know if you’re using your vehicle for ride-sharing or deliveries.
If you enjoy administrative tasks, search for a part-time gig as a virtual assistant and help clients with meeting scheduling, email management, and data entry. Because you choose which tasks or shifts to take on, you can fit odd jobs around a job search or other income streams.
What you need
- You don’t need much to pick up odd jobs; consider focusing on a specific niche, such as handyperson services or grocery shopping
- Some odd jobs require your own method of transportation or a computer
Initial investment: Low
6. Produce online courses
Another way to make money online is to turn your expertise into online courses built from written lessons, video, or audio.
Skillshare and YouTube share revenue with creators who meet their requirements. On Skillshare, you need at least 50 followers and more than 400 minutes watched by paying members if you’ve published a class in the past 18 months, or 650 minutes if you haven’t.
For ad revenue, YouTube requires 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 public watch hours in the past 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in the past 90 days. Both platforms reward recent activity, so regularly update and promote your courses to keep earning.
You can also sell courses as downloadable digital products from your own Shopify store.
What you need
- Unique or extensive expertise in a specific area
- A studio or quiet space to record, and access to a high-quality video camera and microphone
- A platform or website to host your course, like Skillshare, YouTube, or sell via Shopify
Initial investment: Moderate cost and effort upfront, with decreasing effort over time
7. Sell print-on-demand products
You can earn cash by using print-on-demand (POD) services that make it easy to customize products like phone cases, water bottles, T-shirts, hats, and stickers.
Start a print-on-demand business by finding a POD company or service that produces only upon order. This way, you can start selling with little upfront investment.
Top print-on-demand platforms include Printful and Printify, both of which integrate with Shopify.
What you need
- An all-in-one ecommerce platform like Shopify
- A print-on-demand service to work with that integrates with your ecommerce platform
- Unique designs (you can create these yourself or work with a designer)
Initial investment: Low
8. Offer tutoring services
Make extra income in-person or online by tutoring. You can set your own rates and leverage the knowledge you already have.
Focus on teaching a specific topic and tutor students online in subjects like math or science. Or choose to specialize in subjects such as standardized test preparation or English as a second language (ESL).
Common platforms include Wyzant, Preply, and Outschool.
What you need
- Knowledge in a particular field and the patience to instruct and guide students to success
- A way to obtain clients, such as a social media marketing plan or joining a tutoring platform
- A method of transportation or a computer for online sessions
Initial investment: Low
9. Create a webinar
You can charge attendees to join live classes, sell access to recorded webinars, or offer a subscription program.
Webinar platforms include Zoom, Livestorm, and Adobe Connect. While they do have free options, they come with limits. For example, Zoom’s free Basic plan caps group meetings at 40 minutes and 100 participants, while Livestorm’s free plan caps sessions at 20 minutes.
If you plan to run sessions longer than these caps or host larger audiences, budget for a monthly subscription. Zoom’s Pro plan, for example, starts at $16.99 per month.
What you need
- In-depth knowledge of a particular topic
- A landing page that includes a call to action (CTA) and a sign-up form
- A tool to run and record the webinar
Initial investment: Low
10. Write an ebook
If you enjoy creative writing, consider publishing an ebook online. You can earn extra money without a job through royalties on ebook publishing platforms like IngramSpark, Lulu, and Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing.
Keep in mind that writing a book takes time and effort. Depending on the genre, subject matter, and your experience level, you could spend hours to years writing and editing.
If your book finds an audience, then you can eventually earn passive income, but selling digital products like ebooks requires a strong marketing strategy. Shopify can help you build, run, and grow your ebook business with free training, intuitive tools, and dedicated support.
What you need
- A strong perspective, unique idea, or expertise in a field
- An ebook publishing platform, an editor, and an ISBN number (check what your publishing platform requires)
- A robust marketing strategy, including social media marketing
Initial investment: Medium monetary investment; a very high time commitment
11. Start a YouTube channel
Launching a YouTube channel is another way to generate income. You could focus your channel on product reviews, tutorials, personal vlogs, or branded content.
To earn ad revenue and make money on YouTube, you need to join the YouTube Partner Program. To qualify, you need 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 valid public watch hours in the past 12 months or 10 million valid public Shorts views in the past 90 days. You can also earn commission through affiliate marketing links that promote other brands.
If you sell your own products or YouTuber merch, you can feature them in your videos and livestreams with YouTube Shopping. To connect your store, set up Shopify’s Google & YouTube sales channel. Note that your YouTube channel needs at least 1,000 subscribers and approval for monetization.
If a brand pays you, sends you free products, or pays you commission through affiliate links, the FTC’s Endorsement Guides say you need to disclose that connection clearly in the video itself (ideally both spoken and on screen), at the start of the video or right before the endorsement.
What you need
- A quiet place to record content
- Audio and video equipment that produces high-quality results
- A clever idea, unique approach, or a captivating on-camera personality
Initial investment: Medium monetary investment; high time commitment
12. Start affiliate marketing
With affiliate marketing, you earn a commission when someone takes a specified action through your unique link, usually a purchase. It’s pretty hot right now: US advertisers will spend $13.81 billion on affiliate marketing in 2026, up 11.3% from $12.42 billion in 2025.
If your audience includes entrepreneurs, you can apply to the Shopify Affiliate Program. Affiliates earn up to $150 per qualified referral when a new merchant signs up for a Basic, Grow, or Advanced plan through their link, with amounts varying by the referral’s location. Shopify specifically looks for affiliates with an active website, an established audience, and original content about commerce or entrepreneurship.
Because programs like Shopify’s are free to join, you can start affiliate marketing with no money, even as a beginner.
What you need
- A partnership with a good affiliate program
- An engaged audience on a social media platform, blog, or YouTube channel
Initial investment: Low
13. Engage with content
Rewards apps like Mistplay and Swagbucks give you points for playing games, watching videos, and completing other tasks. Fetch is similar, and includes points for purchasing specific items in-store or online and scanning receipts. Once you’ve earned enough points, you redeem them for gift cards or cash.
Engaging with content is a creative way to make money. Although these apps don’t provide substantial income, they can offer a few extra dollars each week to users with free time who enjoy playing games and watching videos. There are several options to redeem for gift cards to cover some grocery, gift, or eating out expenses.
What you need
- Membership on a platform like Mistplay, Fetch, or Swagbucks to get rewards for playing games, completing surveys, or shopping to get cash back
- A mobile device or a computer
Initial investment: Low
14. Manage social media accounts
If you understand which types of content perform well on popular social media platforms, consider making money by offering your expertise to paying brands that need help with their social media accounts.
You can start by offering social media management services to local businesses and build your reputation and skill set. Create a steady income stream by creating social media strategies, crafting content, engaging with comments and direct messages, and analyzing and acting on results.
What you need
- Experience working with different social media platforms and management tools
- A creative approach that sets you apart
- An understanding of social performance metrics and how to increase reach and engagement
Initial investment: Low financial investment; high time commitment
15. Take online surveys
You can earn money online by taking surveys through sites that pay users to provide information on products and services. There are several survey sites to consider, including KashKick and Survey Junkie.
You can also participate in in-person paid market research, including focus groups and interviews.
What you need
- A smartphone or computer
- A profile on a paid survey platform
Initial investment: Low
16. Test websites
Another flexible side hustle is website testing. You can work with companies like UserTesting and Test IO.
You’ll be responsible for completing tests or surveys online and providing feedback. On some platforms, you’ll record your experience or speak to clients in real time.
Testing websites is a low-effort, low-stakes way to make extra money on the side.
What you need
- A computer or smartphone
- Membership to a website testing platform
Initial investment: Low
17. Take part in online focus groups
Work with companies like Respondent, User Interviews, and FocusGroups.org to participate in focus groups and get paid for your time.
Research platforms like Respondent, User Interviews, and FocusGroups.org connect you with companies that pay for your opinions in focus groups, interviews, and other studies. Pay depends on the type of study, how long it runs, and the audience the researcher needs.
For example, Respondent pays an average of $150 to $250 per session for focus groups and in-person studies, while online surveys and short interviews usually pay $50 to $150.
You can participate in online focus groups using a computer and webcam. Others require you to attend in person.
What you need
- A computer or smartphone
- Membership in an online focus group platform
- A method of transportation to attend in-person focus groups
Initial investment: Low
18. Rent out unused space
If you own space you don’t use, you can rent it out. A spare room or garage could suit a long-term tenant who needs space for living, storage, or working. Storage marketplaces like Neighbor connect people who have a garage, driveway, or shed with renters looking for storage or parking.
You can also host short-term guests through platforms like Airbnb. As an Airbnb host, you’re responsible for knowing and following local laws, which can include permits or registration, homeowners association (HOA) or co-op rules, local taxes, and business license requirements.
Equipment you own but rarely use, like camera gear, tools, or camping equipment, can also earn rental income through peer-to-peer rental platforms or local listings.
What you need
- Spare space that you own or have the legal right to rent out
- A rental lease agreement and insurance
- Zoning that allows you to rent out space residentially or commercially
Initial investment: Low
19. Flip secondhand finds
If you love combing thrift stores for great deals and unique scores, consider earning extra cash in the growing resale market by selling your secondhand finds.
You could promote your small business on social media with “thrifted versus styled” reels, videos that show the furniture refinishing process, or videos that showcase your favorite pieces. If you sell antiques or vintage clothing online, you could create content about “how to identify Limoges china” or “top 1960s dress silhouettes.”
What you need
- An eye for high-quality pieces, sought-after brand names, or items that you can refinish
- A means of transportation to secondhand stores in your area
- The funds to purchase inventory upfront, and the ability to fix up anything that might need repair
Initial investment: Medium
20. Pet sit
Start a pet-sitting business and enjoy flexible hours, animal companionship, and the chance to build lasting relationships with pet owners.
With average earnings at $17.22 per hour, pet sitting can earn you a few hundred dollars with only a couple of clients.
Responsibilities vary by species. Generally, pet sitting involves playing with the animal, feeding them, and giving them attention.
You can pet sit from your own home, or visit/stay at your clients’ homes. If you’d rather work through a platform than obtain clients on your own, there are several you can look into, like Wag and Rover.
Note that pet sitting doesn’t require a professional license, but you may need a business license or permit depending on where you live. Caring for pets in your own home counts as boarding rather than pet sitting, and you might need a separate license or permit. You may also be subject to zoning rules.
Certification is optional. PSI and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS) both offer programs covering pet care, safety, and business practices.
What you need
- A business license or permit, if your city or state requires one
- A boarding license or permit, if you’ll care for pets in your own home
- Knowledge of local animal welfare laws
- Experience with animals
- Optional certification, such as PSI’s Certified Professional Pet Sitter (CPPS) credential or a pet first aid course
Initial investment: Medium
21. Babysit
The babysitting services market is projected to exceed $44 billion by 2030. Capitalize on this growing, high-demand industry and start a babysitting business.
The average pay for babysitters and nannies is $28 per hour, with the potential to earn more with certifications such as First Aid and CPR, or with credentials as a licensed teacher.
You can offer child care from your home or travel to your clients’ homes. Look into services like Care.com, Bambino, and Sittercity to be matched with families near you.
What you need
- Positive references and a clean background check
- Experience in child care
- Pediatric first aid and CPR certification
- A family child care license, if you’ll care for children in your own home and your state requires one
- Optional higher credentials, such as a CDA credential or a teaching license
Initial investment: Low
22. Sell handmade crafts
The handmade crafts, or handicrafts market, is projected to exceed $983 billion by 2030. What might start as a simple DIY hobby could turn into a full-time job.
That was the case for P.F. Candle Co. Founder Kristen Pumphrey, who started pouring candles with wax heated on her kitchen stovetop. But it wasn’t just a great product that landed P.F. Candle Co. in homes across the globe.
“You have to figure out what’s not being fulfilled in the market,” Kristen told Shopify Masters. “For us, that was creating a unisex candle.”
Recognizing the need for scents that appealed to a wide spectrum of individuals and weren’t overtly feminine or masculine, took them from craft fairs to brick-and-mortar stores and distribution with well-known retailers.
If you sell at craft fairs or markets, you can take in-person payments with Shopify POS and track inventory across online and in-person sales in one place.
What you need
- An ecommerce platform like Shopify to sell online
- Materials to make your crafts
- Shipping and packaging materials for online orders
- A way to take payments at fairs and markets, like Shopify POS and a card reader
Initial investment: Medium to high
23. Grow and sell plants
If you have a green thumb and enjoy growing, tending, and propagating plants, then plant-preneurship might be for you. April and Daryk Mall turned a love for plant care into Unsolicited Plant Talks, a business born of their need to offset the cost of purchasing new varieties for their home.
“We went from shipping 30 to 100 plants a month as a side hobby to shipping 600 to 1,200 plants a month,” Daryk says on Shopify Masters.
The indoor plant market size alone was estimated at more than $13 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow to almost $16 billion by 2031.
What you need
- Nursery space, natural sunlight, and starter plants to propagate
- An online store where you can list and sell your plants
- Items like soil, fertilizer, shears, pesticide, and fungicide
- Shipping and packaging materials, or a way to sell your plants at local fairs or markets
Initial investment: Medium to high
Understanding income timelines
The “right way” to make money without a job depends on your skills, interests, availability, resources, and location. Some of these ideas can pay out sooner than others, but timelines vary by person, platform, and market.
Quick income
These ideas can start paying sooner because you sign up through an existing platform or find clients locally rather than building an audience first. Earnings still aren’t instant, though. Many platforms require approval or screening before you can start.
For example, UserTesting reviews a practice test before you can take paid tests and rideshare apps run a background check before you can drive.
Payout schedules add more time once the work is done. Rewards apps require a minimum balance before you can redeem, and research platforms like Respondent process payments after a study ends.
Ideas that can pay sooner include:
- Selling stuff you already own
- Picking up odd jobs, including delivery and rideshare
- Offering tutoring services
- Engaging with content
- Taking online surveys
- Testing websites
- Taking part in online focus groups
- Pet sitting
- Babysitting
Income within a few months
These ideas need more setup before they bring in first earnings, like finding clients, building an audience, or sourcing inventory. About three months is a rough guide, but your timeline could be shorter or longer.
Ideas that can take a few months to pay include:
- Affiliate marketing
- Creating webinars
- Renting out unused space or equipment
- Managing social media accounts
- Flipping secondhand finds
Long-term business building
These ideas involve building a store, product, or audience, and how long they take to generate meaningful income varies widely.
As noted above, half of new sellers on Shopify who reached a first sale did so within about three weeks. Building search traffic takes longer, though, with measurable SEO results typically arriving in three to six months. On YouTube, ad revenue starts only once your channel meets the YouTube Partner Program thresholds.
Long-term business ideas include:
- Launching an ecommerce store
- Dropshipping
- Blogging
- Producing online courses
- Selling print-on-demand products
- Writing an ebook
- Starting a YouTube channel
- Selling handmade crafts
- Growing and selling plants
How to make money without a job FAQ
How can money be made without a traditional job?
There are many ways to earn money without a permanent job, including participating in paid online surveys, renting out unused space, and launching an online store through an ecommerce platform like Shopify.
College students, in particular, may find activities such as taking care of pets, tutoring, babysitting, selling handmade crafts, or starting a dropshipping business to be accessible ways to earn money while in school.
What are the fastest ways to generate income?
Some of the fastest ways to earn some extra cash (some even in as little as an hour) include selling items you already own through an online marketplace, picking up odd jobs, pet sitting, tutoring, and babysitting.
How can you make $500 in one day without a job?
Combine a few quick-paying options, like selling items you already own and joining paid research studies. Focus groups and in-person studies on Respondent average $150 to $250 per session. Earnings vary, though, and research platforms often pay out days after the session, so $500 in a single day isn’t guaranteed.
Which money-making methods build passive income over time?
Try affiliate marketing, launching a company using a print-on-demand (POD) model, selling online courses, and dropshipping.
What skills or experience are required to make money without a job?
Different ways to make money without a traditional job require different skill sets, but many share a common foundation. General skills include an entrepreneurial mindset, a willingness to learn, strong time and financial management skills, creative abilities (such as writing or design), dependability, and problem-solving.
