More and more people are now turning to side hustles to make ends meet or save a bit of extra cash. In fact, as of 2023, 44% of Brits now have side hustles to supplement their main income. These side hustles can include anything from running an arts and crafts business to selling unwanted clothes online. Whatever your hobbies, interests or skills are, you’re bound to find a side hustle that fits you.
However, there’s a stark difference between generations, as a whopping 76% of Generation Z have a side hustle in the UK. Therefore, it’s safe to assume that the prevalence of side hustles will only continue to rise in the future, especially with the popularity of online freelancing platforms like Upwork and Fiverr.
But what are the best side hustles you can start on these kinds of platforms? In general, tech skills are the most in-demand skills on these websites, leading to the most lucrative side hustles or even full-time freelancing work. These tech side hustles are ideal if you already have tech skills and experience, but you can also easily learn a lot of these skills in online courses. To give you some inspiration, here are 15 of the best tech side hustles for current IT professionals or those hoping to break into the tech industry.
The best online side hustles to make extra cash
1. Web development
One of the most in-demand and lucrative side hustles is web development. Web developers, whether full time or freelance, are responsible for building and maintaining websites for businesses and individuals. With the rise of ecommerce, it’s more important than ever for businesses to have a professional and easy-to-use website that customers will want to return to again and again. In fact, this is where a well-built and maintained website can make all the difference.
Web developers will need fundamental skills like HTML, CSS and JavaScript to format and script web pages, and they should also be familiar with popular website building tools like WordPress and Shopify to build online shops and other types of websites. Therefore, web development isn’t something you can get straight into if you have no tech experience. However, there are plenty of online courses and resources that teach you all you need to know about scripting languages like HTML and CSS and programming languages like JavaScript, which is used as the client-side programming language for 98.8% of websites.
Another great way to get started is to build your own websites or ones for your friends or family. This will allow you to add to your web developer portfolio, which shows future clients what you’re capable of. As you gain experience, you’ll be able to charge higher rates for your services and earn more money – you could maybe even turn web development into your full time career!
2. Web design
If you prefer the creative aspects of website development over the technical details like HTML and CSS, then web design may be your cup of tea. While web development is all about building websites, design is about creating the initial look, feel and layout before the building begins. Web design is the best side hustle for those who love creative and artistic pursuits while also having an understanding of technical best practices.
To succeed as a web designer, you need to prioritise both aesthetics and functionality. Websites should be fun, appealing and interactive to grab people’s attention, but they can’t be all style and no substance. To turn visitors into loyal customers, you need to design a website that’s intuitive and easy to navigate, as this will help push people along the sales funnel and reduce bounce rates.
If you’re already familiar with design programs like Photoshop, web design could be a natural choice for your next side hustle. By building up your portfolio as you learn, you can get started quickly and gradually increase your rates as you gain more experience.
3. Mobile app development
Nowadays, 92.3% of internet users access the internet using their mobile phones, and over 55% of website traffic now comes from phones too. As a result, businesses are increasingly relying on mobile traffic to drive sales, and since apps are the preferred means of interacting with businesses on mobile phones, more small business owners are looking for freelance developers to help them create their own apps.
As an app developer, you will use your coding skills to design, build and test apps on iOS, Android and other mobile operating systems. Just like with web development, you’ll need some technical knowledge and experience to get started, so this may be a more accessible side hustle for those who currently or have previously worked in tech.
4. Graphic design
Another fantastic tech side hustle for those with an artistic streak is graphic design. On freelancing platforms like Upwork and Fiverr, you can offer your services as a graphic designer to a wide range of individuals and businesses. Typically, you’ll be designing logos, company branding and marketing collateral like brochures and online ads using computer software.
A degree in graphic design is a great way to get started as a freelancer, but you could also get into this side hustle without any formal qualifications. As long as you have a portfolio of your work and experience with programs like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign, you can start by designing projects for people you know. Then, you can expand your side hustle as your reputation grows.
5. SEO consulting
SEO (search engine optimisation) is all about optimising websites so that they rank higher in the SERPs (search engine results pages). Ideally, a website should show up in the first page of results for search terms that are relevant to the business – this drives organic traffic (and hopefully sales).
As an SEO consultant, you would offer your services to businesses hoping to strengthen their online presence and increase website traffic. These services can include link building, on-page optimisation, technical SEO and keyword research, but you can specialise in services you particularly excel at. SEO consulting is typically offered on a freelance basis and you’ll work with multiple clients simultaneously, making it easier for you to fit your tech side hustle around your other commitments.
If you’ve previously worked in digital marketing or web development, you’ve probably picked up a lot of SEO knowledge and become familiar with tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics. This makes SEO consulting one of the best tech side hustles to get into, even if you’ve never directly worked in the tech industry before.
6. Social media management
Do you have a large amount of followers on Instagram, or know how to grab people’s attention with concise, funny and relevant posts on X/Twitter? Why not turn your social media talent into a lucrative side hustle?
Nowadays, all businesses need a social media presence if they want to keep up with younger consumers and help people find and engage with their brand. However, many business owners struggle to do this by themselves, which is why they need to hire an experienced social media manager to add some spark and personality to their posts.
As a social media manager, you’ll help businesses improve their online presence and reach more customers. This will involve tasks such as creating and scheduling content, tracking analytics, engaging with customers and posting social media ads.
Social media management is an extremely accessible tech side hustle. As long as you have your finger on the pulse when it comes to current pop culture and industry trends, you can help brands boost engagement and followers. Some copywriting and SEO skills will be very useful, but you won’t need the same in-depth tech knowledge as you would need for web or app development.
7. Digital marketing
Social media management is just one of the many forms of digital marketing you can offer to your clients. By choosing digital marketing as your tech side hustle, you can diversify your business and offer a wide range of services, including social media marketing, pay-per-click (PPC) marketing, SEO, and content marketing.
Many small businesses don’t have the budget to hire in-house marketing teams or digital marketing agencies to market their brands. Instead, they’re hoping to hire freelancers like you to benefit from low-cost marketing services compared to the expense of hiring an entire marketing team. As long as you have a good understanding of platforms like Google Ads and Google Analytics and some marketing experience, you can get into this industry and start building your portfolio.
8. Copywriting
Although it isn’t strictly related to tech, copywriting is an incredibly versatile skill that can be applied to a wide range of industries. All businesses need content for their web pages, blogs and social media accounts to engage with customers and help them move along the sales funnel – this is where you can help.
Anyone can get into copywriting, but you’ll find it easier to get started if you already have some writing experience (either in a previous job or with a personal blog). Having some SEO knowledge can also be incredibly useful, as this will help you understand how to optimise your content for both human readers and search engine algorithms. Overall, copywriting is a very accessible side hustle that you can start pretty much straight away. As you gain experience and add more content to your portfolio, you’ll find it easier to get new clients and charge higher rates for your services.
9. Tech support
If you’ve always had a logical mind and keen interest in technology, tech support could be the ideal side hustle for you. People and businesses will always need help with their devices and software, so you’ll never run out of clients with this job.
As a tech support specialist, you’ll be solving a wide range of problems and providing support for implementing and maintaining all kinds of software and hardware. For example, you could be troubleshooting problems, performing hardware repairs, configuring hardware and software, carrying out routine tech maintenance, installing software updates, upgrading networks and much more. If you want a side hustle where every day is different, tech support will certainly keep you on your toes.
However, if this list of tasks sounds daunting, remember that you’re not expected to instantly know the answer to every tech problem. As long as you have broad tech knowledge and a logical mindset, you’ll be able to methodically work out an answer to each problem using the online resources at your disposal. Eventually, your reputation and experience will grow and you’ll be able to secure bigger clients, which will skyrocket your earning potential.
10. Quality assurance testing
Another fantastic side hustle for those with established tech and problem-solving skills is quality assurance (QA) testing. To be a QA tester, you need to know just enough about coding to identify and report bugs, but you won’t need to write this code yourself. This means QA testing could be easier to get into if you’ve not worked in tech full time before.
QA testers run tests on software, websites and applications to ensure that they run as expected and are user-friendly. On a day-to-day basis, QA testers run these automated tests, report bugs, and sometimes work with developers to find solutions. Therefore, a foundational understanding of the code you’re working with is required, but otherwise QA testing just requires patience, logic and problem-solving skills.
11. Programming
On the other hand, you’ll definitely need to do a coding course or have prior tech experience to work part time as a programmer. You’ll need in-depth knowledge of a particular programming language (such as JavaScript, Python, Java, C#, etc.) to get started with writing, modifying and testing code for software programs, which can make this tech hustle more inaccessible (although it can also be very lucrative).
Instead of working as a full-time programmer for a company, you can build your own freelancer portfolio and offer your programming skills to multiple clients. This will allow you to fit your programming work around other commitments, such as a full-time job.
12. Cybersecurity
With more and more people completing transactions over the internet, businesses have become very aware of the importance of cybersecurity. To keep customer data safe, these businesses are turning to cybersecurity specialists (either in-house or freelance) to ensure that their websites and servers are secure.
If you choose to become a part time cybersecurity specialist, it will be your job to analyse businesses’ current networks to identify potential security threats and vulnerabilities. In addition to advising businesses on security measures they should implement, you’ll also be required to deal with security breaches if they do happen, so that customer and business data can be protected. As such, you’ll need experience with data security best practices before getting started.
13. Online tutoring
Not got a lot of tech experience? Don’t worry! Although a lot of tech side hustles in this list are best for those with prior experience or those who’ve taken specialised courses, jobs like online tutoring are less tech-focused and can be adapted to suit your particular talents.
For example, if you have a lot of expertise related to a particular subject like maths, programming, public speaking or writing, you can become an online tutor or coach using platforms like MyTutor and Superprof. In addition to charging per hour for tutoring, you could also offer specialist courses and coaching to boost your income. Turn your knowledge or passion into an amazing career with online tutoring.
14. Video editing
A great side hustle that you can easily fit between other jobs and commitments is video editing. As an editor, you’ll use your design and editing skills on software like Adobe Premiere Pro to put footage together and create engaging, professional videos. And, since you’re not shooting the clips yourself, you won’t have to worry about the design and filming processes – you’re only hired to put assemble the final product
Since video editing software can be tricky to use for beginners, many individuals, businesses and influencers will hire freelance video editors to help them add a more professional feel to their videos and save time. This means you’ll have plenty of work as a video editor, and you can find even more clients if you offer additional services such as editing written content.
15. Reseller hosting
Finally, if the other options on this list aren’t appealing to you, a different option is to set up your own business that offers reseller hosting. Reseller hosting is a white label business approach where a web hosting provider allows another business to sell their hosting services as their own. These reseller packages allow you to access web hosting services at wholesale prices, so you can then sell them on for a profit.
As a reseller hosting business, you won’t need to tell customers that you’re a reseller. This means you can market your hosting services as your own, while all of the technical details are still handled by the original hosting provider. Different ones will offer very different features and benefits with their reseller packages, so it’s important to take your time and make comparisons when choosing the best reseller hosting for you.
Getting into tech can unlock a range of lucrative side hustles. To learn more about business and self-employment, check out the Fasthosts Business Hub for more information, including advice on how to set up a business and create a business plan.