How to make $10k a month in passive income: 30 ideas to try today

Passive income is all about making more money without adding to your workload. The ultimate goal is to set multiple streams of income over a period of time until you're bringing in as much as $10,000 a month.

The craziest part? You could do all of this without quitting your day job.

In this guide, I'll show you 30 different passive income ideas that you can work on to keep pushing your monthly earnings higher and higher. The key to a big chunk of these ideas is Whop, a social commerce platform that lets you sell one of the best sources of passive income there is—digital products.

No matter what you choose, I've got a whole bunch of lucrative ideas that can help you get there.

Can you really make $10k a month in passive income?

Yes, you absolutely can. People have done it before, people are doing it now, and you can start doing it today. I won't say it'll be quick and easy because it won't always be, but it is very much possible.

With passive income, the goal is always to invest time and effort at the beginning to create whatever product or service you want to sell and then leave it to do its thing and bring in money.

This makes it super easy to build up multiple streams of income. You just start one project, work on it until it's ready to start bringing in money by itself, and then you're free to start working on the next thing.

(Some projects can bring in $10k a month or more, especially if you're selling high-ticket products.)

You don't need to try and juggle five projects at once. Just build up your collection of passive projects one by one and watch as your income climbs higher and higher.

The only thing you need to keep an eye on really is maintenance costs. Some projects will require more upkeep than others, so as you're adding more and more projects to your collection, you'll need to keep track of how much upkeep you need to do as a whole.

But you don't have to worry about that one bit, because I've included information on startup costs and time investment for every idea in this list.

Best 30 ideas to make $10k a month with just passive income

Okay, now remember—diversifying is the key here. I have 30 passive income ideas in total and if you're serious about hitting the $10k mark, running multiple projects at once is the way to go sometimes.

So, as you look through this list, don't just pick one favorite. Note down each one that makes you think "Yeah okay, I could do that" and start looking further into them.

Without further ado, here are my favorite sources of passive income that can get you past that $10k a month mark!

1. Make and sell online courses

Online courses allow anyone to learn anything, no matter where they are or how much spare time they have. It's no wonder that this industry is valued at over $23 billion.

Courses are also one of the ultimate forms of passive income because you truly do just make it once and then leave it alone to bring in the cash. Expensive courses require regular upkeep sometimes, but honestly, it depends on the topic, so there's no hard and fast rule for this.

And making them isn't even as hard as it seems. There are so many things people want to learn, from academic pursuits to cooking or arts and crafts—and by spending a small amount of money on a course, customers can avoid the hit-and-miss results you get with YouTube videos and other free content.

It's always best to start with the topics you already know and love. As for how to turn your knowledge into a course, you can do that part in no time at all with Whop.

Whop creators make big bucks selling some of the best courses on the internet, so we have a courses app designed specifically for making them quickly and easily. You can add text, files, videos, audio, quizzes, and knowledge checks to make the experience both engaging and interactive.

If you're making a short course—a cooking recipe, for example—you could probably get it done in less than 30 minutes. It really is that easy!

Pros

Making online courses is super easy and super accessible—just make a whop (for free!) and use the Courses app to craft your course.
Upkeep is super minimal for online courses.
There's no limit to what you can do with online courses.

Cons

Not everyone has a natural knack for teaching and breaking down concepts—so there can be a learning curve for some people as you work to develop these skills.
The more complicated the topic, the more planning and time your online course will take to make. Not every course can be made in a day.

Startup costs

Zero dollars! You can join Whop for free to create your course and use your smartphone for any video and images you take.

Time investment

Startup: This completely depends on how long the course or set of courses you want to make is and what topic you're covering. Short, simple courses can take less than an hour, while something complex like a language course or a programming course could take weeks to make.
Upkeep: There really is barely any upkeep when it comes to online courses.

Estimate: Zero hours a week!

2. Write a blog

A successful blog can make lots of money. Like, loads of money. But I won't lie, they're also quite high-effort.

While each blog post (and whatever monetization methods you include in it) will keep bringing in income long after you've posted it, to keep the blog itself alive, you'll need to create new posts regularly and consistently.

Want to hear a secret? One amazing way to monetize a blog is to create a whop you can funnel your readers to.

You could use it to sell and manage memberships and newsletter subscriptions, sell extra content, organize and share affiliate links, sell digital merchandise, and so much more.

You could also create an exclusive community by creating membership tiers that offer lots of different perks. Some of my favorite ideas for perks include hosting a monthly Q&A, allowing members to suggest post ideas, or even offering one-on-one calls for that personal touch your readers crave.

Pros

Blogs are a great way to make money from a hobby or interest.
You can expand your blog-based business with tons of different money-making methods.
You can build a loyal audience who will be interested in your other projects.

Cons

Money doesn't usually start coming in right away, you need to get established first.
Depending on your existing knowledge, there can be a steep learning curve with blog platforms, SEO, affiliate marketing, advertising, etc.

Startup costs

Website hosting or blog platforms: $10 to $30 a month.
Software and services: SEO software, email marketing software, that kind of thing—you can easily start without these, though.

Time investment

Startup: It can take a while for a blog to build up an audience but setting up the site and starting to post doesn't take a crazy amount of time.

Estimate: under 24 hours

Upkeep: With blogs, upkeep requires more time than startup.

Estimate: three to four hours per week

3. Try your hand at affiliate marketing

I just mentioned affiliate marketing as one possible monetization method for a blog owner—but you don't need to have a blog to get into affiliate marketing.

You can promote products by creating all kinds of different content, including videos on social media.

There are so many content creators earning big bucks this way. If you don't believe me, just check out all of the whops run by self-made millionaires in this industry!

Getting into affiliate marketing is actually pretty easy. All you need to do is join a few affiliate networks, find some products you want to promote, make content, and remember to include your affiliate link.

You can also check out all the whops that offer affiliate links and advertise them for a piece of the pie.

Pros

Affiliate marketing on social media has the potential to bring thousands of dollars a month.
It's pretty easy to get your hands on affiliate links even as a beginner.
There are loads of great communities and courses out there to teach you how to game the algorithm.

Cons

You'll need to start small and promote the best smaller products you can get access to.
You'll probably also need to buy the products yourself at first so you can test them and use them to make content.
Building up an audience can take time.

Startup costs

Products: You need to buy the products you want to promote.
Training: If you're interested, you can also invest in some training such as an online course. These can cost anything from $50 to $1,000.

Time investment

Startup: You can start making content as soon as you get your hands on some links and some products.

Estimate: A week (waiting times included)

Upkeep: If you're starting from zero with a new social media profile, building up an audience will take a lot of time. You'll need to post content multiple times a day as well as create promotional content.

Estimate: At least three hours a week

4. Amazon FBA

If you haven't heard of Amazon "FBA," it stands for "Fulfillment By Amazon." It's a business model that lets you sell to Amazon's crazy large audience and even get the shipping, returns, and refunds taken care of by Amazon too.

You can sell anything you want, all you have to do is put your hands on the product and send it to an Amazon fulfillment center. This kind of business, however, is a game of numbers. Amazon charges for both the fulfillment and the storage services you're using and you can only make a profit if the costs line up.

To succeed at Amazon FBA, you need products that are:

Cheap for you to buy
Easy for you to pack to Amazon's standards
Easy to ship or take to your nearest fulfillment center
Small enough to take up minimal storage space at the center
The right size and shape for Amazon's standard packaging

If you want some guidance, then look no further than Whop. Whop is home to have quite a few Amazon FBA experts, such as AMZ Methods, who run exclusive communities and online courses that will teach you everything you need to know as well as share the latest hot products and techniques.

Pros

It can be a great way to learn about the fulfillment industry if you ever want to start taking care of fulfillment yourself.
It's possible to make big bucks with this business model.

Cons

Amazon FBA can be hard to learn and you could make a few expensive mistakes along the way.
You need to buy your stock and pay for its storage before you can make your first sale.
You have to deal with physical inventory.

Startup costs

You will need to pay for the stock you buy, its storage costs and its fulfillment costs. The prices depend on what you're selling and you find information on the Amazon FBA page. You can also get an estimated cost for your products on the website.

Investment time

Startup: You should spend a decent amount of time researching and learning exactly how Amazon FBA works before you jump in.

Estimate: 2-5 weeks of research and prep work

Upkeep: Once your products are in the fulfillment center, you don't need to do much else—but you will continue paying for them as long as they're there. You'll also need to research new products and get new shipments ready for when you sell out.

Estimate: Around five to 10 hours a week

5. Invest in crypto

Everyone has heard of cryptocurrency and the many success stories about regular people who managed to make millions.

While the industry itself is considered unstable by many, there are still thousands and thousands of people trying to make their fortune by investing in crypto. I personally dabble in crypto and managed to build a nice cushion, but of course, I stumbled along the way, too.

If you're interested in trying as well, the best thing you can do is learn from someone who has already mastered crypto markets, such as Crypto Galaxy.

It's a complex and fast-paced environment and, honestly, it would take years to develop a good sense of what to trade and when without some help.

By joining an exclusive crypto trading community (Kaizen Premium is another option!), you can benefit from expert analysis, online courses, crypto trade alerts, live streams, Q&As, and chat rooms. The immersive nature will help you learn quicker, while the expert information will help you make informed choices even when you're a beginner.

Pros

Crypto investing has the potential to make thousands of dollars.
There are tons of amazing resources and communities out there to help you learn.

Cons

You need to be ready to learn a lot about crypto.
Crypto is generally considered a high-risk investment.

Startups costs

Education: At first, paying for a course or community will likely be your main investment. Shop around to find the best one for you and choose a membership tier that fits your budget.
Investments: You can actually start out pretty small with your investments. I started with $100.

Time investment

Startup: Education will be an ongoing thing but you definitely need to start out by reading up on the basics and finding a community to join.

Estimate: At least a week or so of research

Upkeep: Trading happens constantly with crypto, so you'll need to look at the trade alerts every day and stay up to date on general trends. It can be a lot of work, but it's not really time-consuming—you can easily do something else once you set up trade alerts.

Estimate: A few hours a week, spread over each day

6. Buy and resell PLR products

PLR stands for Private Label Rights and it's a type of product license that only only gives you resale rights but also lets you customize and rebrand the product.

If you haven't heard of it before, it might sound a bit strange but, basically, you can buy the rights to an ebook someone has already written, make a few changes, create a new cover with your branding on it, and sell it as your own.

And it's not just ebooks, either. People also sell social media post templates, online courses, planners, journals, email templates, and more as PLR products. You can often buy them in huge bundles for surprisingly low prices.

Just source the product, put your branding on it, and put it on a digital product platform like Whop—and your customers will do the rest. There are lots of PLR bundles for sale on Etsy, for example, so if you want to see what kind of products are out there, start by looking there.

There's a surprising amount of money to be made from these. Some of these things cost like $5 for a bundle of 10,000 products, and if you personalize even a dozen, you can charge up to $50 each. Once personalized, they're ready to rake in money without any upkeep.

Pros

It's super hands-off.
The variety of PLR products out there is actually insane—you'll be able to find whatever it is you want.
If you already have an audience to sell to, you could literally create an online storefront and fill it with products overnight.
You can create a broad product offering in a fraction of the time.

Cons

Making a PLR product look good usually means using custom logos and artwork to spruce it up.
There's nothing wrong with selling PLR products but some customers could dislike it if they find out your products aren't original.

Startup costs

Buying the PLR product: $10 to $100.
Customizing the product: Free or $100 to $500 for a designer.
Selling the product: With Whop, you can set up shop and list your PLR products without paying a penny. Once your products start flying off the shelves, you'll retain up to 97% of each sale. In other words, Whop only makes money when you make money.

Time investment

Startup: Finding some good products could take a bit of Googling but nothing too terrible, and setting up a whop to sell the products will only take a few minutes.

Estimate: Under a week if everything goes smoothly

Upkeep: Once your products are listed on your store, you're pretty much done.

Estimate: A few minutes a week

7. Start dropshipping

Dropshipping is the classic way to start a shop selling physical products without having to deal with those physical products yourself. To put it simply, you settle for smaller profit margins in exchange for having half the work done for you.

It's a pretty great setup for people who want a more hands-off business model or for people who live in an inconvenient place in terms of shipping.

Just because the profits are smaller doesn't mean you can't make lots of money. It's all about scale. If you go big, you'll earn big, just like anything else.

In terms of products, there's pretty much nothing you can't sell through dropshipping. Check out this list of popular dropshipping products for a taster of what's out there and what people like to buy.

Like most things, there is a learning curve with dropshipping. You'll need to get to know different platforms, sales techniques, popular products, and more. If you want to skip past the whole "trial and error" phase, you can find exclusive dropshipping communities on Whop that will teach you exactly how to succeed from the beginning.

These communities include online courses to cover the basics and the members and experts constantly share products that are doing well. Since you can change up your products at the drop of a hat, trying out viral and popular products is both easy and often rewarding.

Pros

It's probably the easiest way to sell physical products that has ever existed.
Though it can be expensive, you generally only pay fees when you make sales.
There are thousands and thousands of products to choose from.

Cons

There are still more things to deal with compared to selling digital products.
The smaller profit margins can be annoying if your business is set up to minimize their impact.
You'll be selling products that people can buy in hundreds of other places, so it can be hard to find customers if you're building an audience from scratch.

Startup costs

Creating your online store: If you're on a budget, there are platforms that cost as little as $10 a month.

Time investment

Startup: Finding the right products and suppliers plus setting up your own shop could take a bit of planning.

Estimate: Around one to three weeks

Upkeep: Marketing and ecommerce maintenance.

Estimate: A few hours a week

8. Write and sell ebooks

I mentioned selling PLR ebooks earlier but, if you're up for it, you can also write your own.

This isn't like writing a novel or a professional book (or at least it doesn't have to be). An ebook can be anything you want. If you make online courses, you can even rearrange your content to make an ebook version of your course.

To make your ebook accessible for as many people as possible, I recommend offering three different formats: EPUB, AZW, and PDF. You'll also need to hire an editor and design a super great book cover.

Pro tip: Whop is the perfect place to sell your ebook, especially if you want to sell it alongside other digital products like video content, audio content, online courses, or community access.

Pros

Ebooks are really, really popular. People say no one reads anymore but that's clearly not true!
If you're passionate about writing, this is an accessible way to get your work out there without needing publishers or investments.
If you already sell online courses or other forms of online teaching, ebooks are another great format to add to your product catalog.

Cons

Even if your topic is fairly compact, writing an ebook definitely takes some time.
You might need to invest some money when it comes to cover designs and editing.
There are so many ebooks out there that it can be difficult to stand out—especially if you're selling on an ebook-specific platform.

Startup costs

Book covers: Working with a freelance graphic designer can be expensive.
Editing: The same applies here—you'll be able to find someone for the job at just about any budget, but the lower the price, the higher the risk.
Selling: Lots of ebook or ecommerce platforms will charge per transaction so you don't need to worry about investment. Of course, you should always shop around to find the best deal.

Time investment

Startup: Lots of time. I won't lie, writing a book of any length takes a lot of time. You need to research, plan, draft, revise, edit—it's a lot. There are ways to speed up this process, such as hiring a ghostwriter, buying a done-for-you ebook, or using AI.

Estimate: Up to a few weeks

Upkeep: Just stick them on your store and let them do their thing.

Estimate: Zero hours per week

9. Create your own downloadables

Downloadables are a broad category of products; anything you can download is a downloadable. Some popular examples include planner and journal templates, recipe cards, workout routines, and more. People can then print these out or just use them as is in their digital format.

You can sell these in bundles, on a subscription basis, or just one at a time. It depends on the product and your business plan.

Whatever you make and however you make it, the best place to sell your downloadables is Whop. You can sell downloadables of any type and as many as you want, all on one storefront. You can sell access to them through memberships, create bundles, or sell them one by one.

Whop's platform gives you the freedom to decide exactly what and how you sell, and it's all for free, plus you'll keep up to 97% of the profit made from each sale.

Pros

Downloadables are easy to make and easier still to purchase if you're going down the PLR route.
They are a true form of passive income—just prepare the product, put it up for sale, and then leave it alone.
Listing your downloadables on Whop is free and the fees are low.

Cons

There are lots of downloadable products out there so it can be hard to stand out.
It will be harder to sell them if you don't already have an audience (for example from a social media profile or a podcast, etc).

Startup costs

Unless you buy PLR products (which are usually pretty cheap anyway) you should be able to start up a store selling downloadable products without spending any money.

Time investment

Startup: You can spend time creating a catalog of downloadables, add them over time, or even purchase PLR products. The startup time will depend on which you choose.

Estimate: Anything between a few days and a few weeks

Upkeep: Once your products are up, you can leave them alone and just take care of the general ecommerce stuff.

Estimate: An hour or two a week

10. Invest in REITs

REITs stands for Real Estate Investment Trusts and you can invest in them as an individual. You can find them on the stock market just like any other stocks, and they're considered a high-return, low-risk investment.

It's no wonder that REITs can be highly profitable. With the ever-rising costs of real estate, they're considered one of the most sound investment you can make, but most of us can't afford to just buy a house or two to make money from. This is where REITs come in.

REITs are companies that own, run, and finance real estate. You can buy stocks in these companies to become an investor and start reaping rewards if all goes well.

Admittedly, financial investments are always intimidating even if they're promising. This is why I'm once again recommending that you chat to an expert (plenty of those to be found on Whop!) before putting your money into any sort of scheme, however solid it might seem.

Pros

They're a high-return, low-risk investment so they're considered to be fairly safe.
They're easy to find and invest in as an individual.
There are tons of communities out there to help you learn the basics.

Cons

Trading of any type is a risky business.
Investing requires investment (obviously), so you need to have money to invest.
Staying on top of trends and understanding the trading industry is a long-term project—you'll need to integrate it into your life.

Startup costs

Investing: Many REITs won't require a huge investment so you can start small if you need to.
Training and education: You can read up on REITs on the internet, but it's usually better to pay for a well-reviewed course to make sure you're getting good information. These can cost anything from $100 to $1,000 or more.

Time investment

Startup: You should spend some time researching and learning about REITs before you decide to jump in.

Estimate: A few weeks

Upkeep: You'll need to read up on news and trends regularly and make decisions about whether you want to keep your investments or move on to new ones, etc.

Estimate: An hour or two a week

11. Sell print-on-demand designs

Print-on-demand platforms are a great combination of passive income and physical products. All you have to do is upload designs to your store and literally everything else is taken care of.

If you're not an artist, you even buy PLR designs from other sources and sell them as your own. There's also the text-based option—smart lines and silly jokes printed in plain text are also a popular kind of "design."

Pros

You don't have to deal with any manufacturing or fulfillment nonsense—just upload or design and relax.
You can market your designs on social media and other platforms and funnel customers back to your PoD platform.
You can get into this whether you're artistic or not.
There's no investment needed.

Cons

Print-on-demand sites like Redbubble are extremely popular and flooded with products so it can be hard to stand out.
Competition is fierce.
The profit margins are small because the POD platform takes on so much work.

Startup costs

It generally doesn't cost money to create a design and list it on a POD platform. If you need to source your designs from other artists, however, you'll need to pay money for the rights to use them. POD platforms usually take a fairly large cut of each sale.

Time investment

Startup: Setting up shop is super fast, and your designs can be added over time if you want.

Estimate: A few hours at most

Upkeep: You can add new designs if you want but in general, there isn't much maintenance to do. Everything is taken care of for you.

Estimate: Zero hours a week

12. Set up a YouTube channel

YouTube is super high effort but because the videos keep generating money after they've been posted, it does count as passive income. There are ways to make the process more hands-off, however.

For example, you can create video-essay-style content using a range of images and footage. You can even outsource the script-writing, script-reading, and editing to freelance workers. This tactic does require more monetary investment, of course, but if you prefer that to doing the work yourself, it's a legitimate method to try out.

Pros

You can build an audience that you can funnel to other projects and side businesses.
Videos will keep generating ad revenue for years if they stay popular.
Long-form content has a much longer shelf-life.

Cons

It takes a lot of time and effort to make YouTube videos, no matter how you go about it. It's definitely one of the most high-effort ideas on this list.
Although it counts as passive income, it's usually not a very efficient way to earn. You'd have to be bringing in millions of views for it to make decent amounts of money.

Startup costs

If you're making the videos yourself, you only really need your phone and free editing software. If you want to work with freelancers, you will need to pay them.

Time investment

Startup: Setting up the channel itself doesn't take any time at all but you'll need to research a good niche and decide what kind of content to make.

Estimate: A few days

Upkeep: Making and posting new content will take a lot of planning and time—many people make this their full-time job, after all.

Estimate: Anything between one and 10 hours a week

13. Try out real estate crowdfunding

As crazy as it seems, real estate crowdfunding is exactly what it sounds like—pretty much a Kickstarter or a GoFundMe for real estate. There are loads of different platforms out there focusing on different regions, but Fundrise is one of the originals.

To start with, people start to contribute funds to a project just like a normal crowdfunding site. If the goal is reached, the property is handed off to local agents to prepare it for market and find tenants.

Once someone is renting the place out, the rental payments are passed onto the crowdfunding platform and shared accordingly with everyone who contributed money.

Aside from investing the money, you don't have to do anything, and if the property is never bought, you just get your investment back.

Pros

It's a low-investment, hands-off way to get into real estate.
You'll get your investment back if a crowdfunding project doesn't hit its goal, so you can just keep trying until one works out.
If you're already into various types of investment, this is a good way to diversify your portfolio and diversify geographically too.

Cons

The relative returns are lower than traditional real estate investment.
You can't easily sell crowdfunding investments for cash if you need to, which makes it an illiquid investment.
Once you put your money down, you don't have much control over the project or what will happen with your money.

Startup costs

The minimum investment possible depends on the platform you choose but some platforms will let you invest as little as $500.

Time investment

Startup: All you have to do is pick the property you want to back and invest the money, and once you do it's out of your hands.

Estimate: However long it takes to find a property you like

Upkeep: The platform will send you notifications as the project progresses (or doesn't) so just keep an eye on your account and that's about it!

Estimate: A few minutes every so often

14. Create your own app

Creating your own app sounds like a bit of a crazy idea but there are actually multiple ways to go about this that don't require a lot of coding. (Of course, if you have the skills to code your own app, then you should absolutely do that because you could make a ton of money.)

If you're less techy, you can try using a no-code app builder to create your project. There will still be a learning curve, but it will be more like learning to use WordPress—in other words, much easier than learning to code from scratch.

You can also try out AI products that are designed to generate apps from simple prompts. These tools are new and there's no saying how well they will work but it's always worth trying. Even if they're not good enough yet to help with the final product, they could help with the planning and prototyping phase.

Lastly, if you're ready to invest, you can work with a freelance software developer to make your app. Freelancers can be expensive depending on how experienced they are but they are easy to hire because there are so many around.

Once you get an app onto the various app stores, it will be an awesome source of passive income.

Pros

Apps can keep making money for many years.
You can generate revenue with both a free version with advertisements and a paid version.
The profits could be huge if your app gains some popularity, and there's always a chance that it will really blow up and make you insane amounts of money.

Cons

Making an app takes time, no matter which approach you take.
You also need to have a good idea.
Working with freelancers can be tricky, they might not be able to give you the results you want.

Startup costs

You can limit the costs here if you can code yourself or if your idea is simple enough for a no-code app builder to deal with. If you need to work with freelancers, however, you'll need to be ready to pay.

Time investment

Startup: Be prepared to spend quite a lot of time developing your app and don't try to rush it too much.

Estimate: Multiple months of planning and development

Upkeep: Once your app is available to buy, you'll need to keep an eye out for bug reports and update it every once in a while.

Estimate: A few hours every few months

15. Set up and manage a community

Running a community is often a little bit too involved to be considered true passive income but it does provide stable income for a relatively minimal amount of labor.

The idea is to create a place for people with matching goals and interests to gather, socialize, and learn from each other.

It's what the internet is best at. But let's face it: When a community is just a free-for-all, it gets taken over by trolls and people who don't contribute enough value.

By putting a price on a community, only people who truly care will join, creating a much more engaging and valuable atmosphere.

From finance and trading to content traders and creatives, your community can focus on literally any topic. On Whop, the most successful exclusive communities tend to focus on an expert or an influencer who people want access to. There are also lots of successful teams who work together to deliver an awesome experience.

Whatever your expertise is, you can use your whop to share it through various formats—live events, online courses, Discord servers, giveaways, ebooks, video content—anything you want.

Pro tip: You can offer basic-level perks for a cheaper membership price and keep adding more and more perks to more expensive tiers.

Pros

Membership subscriptions are one of the best ways to create a stable income.
You can decide how much active work to put into your community and when to do it.
These communities are super easy to bundle with ebooks, courses, and other digital products.

Cons

If you want to make your members happy, you'll need to participate every week or month.
Exclusive memberships usually work better when you're offering them to an existing audience.

Startup costs

It won't cost anything to set up a whop to host your community, and you can add all sorts of ways for your members to interact with you and each other. Discord and Telegram are free too, but other platforms may charge all sorts of fees.

Time investment

Startup: Setting up your whop and the apps you need to run your community will only take a few minutes. You can also create a Discord server, which is quick, but setting up channels, roles, and permissions takes a bit of time.

Estimate: Within a day

Upkeep: You can decide how much time you want to commit to your community but putting more in will definitely help you get more out of it.

Estimate: A few hours a week, or more

16. Start website flipping

Flipping websites is kind of like the next level up from selling domains. Instead of just selling an empty address, you actually make a website to sell as well!

Well, actually, you don't even have to make the website yourself. You can also buy existing websites and improve them.

That means there are two different ways to approach this which rely on completely different skills: you can use coding and design skills to build websites and sell them or you can use marketing and SEO skills to grow existing websites and then sell them for a profit.

Pros

You can take something you bought for a few dollars (domain) or a few hundred dollars (website) and turn it into something worth thousands.
If you get good at building websites, you can churn them out pretty quickly.
If you're growing websites, it takes longer—but you can take on multiple projects at a time to counteract this.

Cons

Creating or growing an entire website isn't easy.

Startup costs

Making a website: If you make the website yourself, you can avoid any initial investments.
Buying a website: If you're going to purchase a website to grow, this could cost anything from $100 to $1,000. Remember to focus on value rather than price.

Time investment

Startup: Both options will take a significant amount of time but growing a website could take much longer. Buying one cheaper and selling it for more doesn't take almost any time, though.

Estimate: A month to build a website, up to a year to grow one

Upkeep: No upkeep, once it's sold, it's over!

17. Sell website templates

Website templates help people who don't know much about coding or website design create a really good-looking site with ease.

Sure, it's true that platforms like WordPress offer hundreds of website templates. But when people want something less recognizable, they can go to individual designers and sellers.

You can get into the website template business either by creating your own templates from scratch, or buying them as PLR products and reselling them.

If you make the templates yourself, you could also offer a premium service where you take care of the customization for the customer so they don't have to do anything technical at all.

Pros

You can sell the same templates over and over again, and add new ones to your catalogue over time.
You can provide unique and exciting styles to compete with the generic designs you find on mainstream website builders.
There are ways for both coders and non-coders to get into this niche.

Cons

You'll need to create or find high-quality products because there are also plenty of free templates available on platforms like Canva.
When it comes to products like this, variety is key—but creating an extensive catalog would be quite difficult.

Startup costs

PLR website templates will cost money, but you should be able to find something no matter what your budget is. If you're creating your own, you don't need to spend anything to get started.
You can also set up a whop to sell your products for free.

Time investment

Startup: It will take less time if you're buying, and more timing if you're creating.

Estimate: Multiple weeks or months to create a full product catalog

Upkeep: Once the products are finished, you can relax and let the customers come!

18. Buy dividend-yielding stocks

Dividends are company earnings that are paid to shareholders, so it's money that you earn because you own shares in a company. Dividends are presented as a percentage of the stock's current price, and most companies pay their dividends quarterly.

So as well as the whole buy low, sell high element of stock trading, you will also make money every quarter that you keep the shares. To learn the right things to look for and make use of expert analysis, one of the best things to do is join an exclusive trading community.

You'll usually pay a weekly, monthly, or yearly subscription to gain access and, in return, you'll be able to see analysis and recommendations from professionals and experts in the industry. Sounds pretty good, right?

If you're interested, there are loads of these communities listed on Whop for you to browse and join, such as Trust My Stocks.

Pros

You earn money just from owning the stocks; all you have to do is pick the right places to invest.
It's an ultimate form of passive income because you don't have to do anything to get the money, you could completely forget about it and still get paid.

Cons

Dividends change over time so even if it looks good when you buy, the earnings could trend downwards.
Just like any other stock trading, you need to know as much as possible about the industry to maximize your success. This takes time and effort!

Startup costs

Investing: $100 to $1,000.
Education: It's smart to join a community to get the best training and information possible, but be aware that these are often an investment in themselves. Many cost hundreds of dollars to join.

Time investment

Startup: Take some time to study up and choose the best investment for you. Don't rush!

Estimate: A few weeks of research

Upkeep: There's no direct upkeep, you'll get your payouts no matter what. However, if you're getting into stocks, it's always a good idea to get into the community and make a habit of reading up on the latest trends.

Estimate: Zero hours a week

There are lots of ways to make money on social media that don't involve becoming a full-on influencer (though you can totally aim for that too if you want!).

You can sell post templates and graphics for other people to use, post product promotion and affiliate links, and even grow profiles to sell once you've got a good amount of followers.

For the post templates, you'll either want to make them yourself if you've an artsy person or buy PLR products that you can rebrand and sell on.

You can even set up a subscription that gives people access to new templates each month and gives members the opportunity to make suggestions and requests.

If you already have a knack for social media and earning followers, you can grow social media profiles and sell them.

If you want to try out this idea, my advice would be to stay away from bots and to grow different accounts with different types of content and sell the accounts based on what the audience likes.

Pros

Making money with social media is accessible and can be extremely profitable.
You don't need to make any big investments and most of the work can be done from your phone or computer.
You can choose whether to pursue influencer-style activities or behind-the-scenes activities.

Cons

All of the methods mentioned take a lot of effort, so it's not the most “hand-off” option on this list.
Social media is also pretty fickle, so success can be difficult to achieve sometimes.

Startup costs

There aren't really any startup costs when it comes to social media. At most, you'll need to buy a few products to test and make content with if you choose to do some affiliate marketing.

Time investment

Startup: Setting up social media accounts and getting started takes no time at all.

Estimate: A few minutes

Upkeep: Social media is fast-paced and ever-changing. Whether you're creating templates, content, or growing accounts, you'll need to produce products consistently and regularly to keep up with other creators.

Estimate: At least a few hours a week

20. Sell ad space on your car

We've all seen cars with ads plastered all over them. Those people are making a passive income in exchange for ad space.

Platforms like Carvertise match you with brands that want to advertise in the area you live or drive in, get your car wrapped in the brand's ads, and send you money at the end of the month. It's a pretty crazy concept but it's perfect as a passive income stream.

After all, you don't have to do anything except download the app, join the program, and take your car to get wrapped. You don't have to spend extra time driving or going to certain places … you just do what you normally do.

Different brands and campaign types pay different amounts, but the minimum payout is $100 a month. If you live in the right kind of place, you could earn much more; as much as $1,000 a month.

Considering how little effort it is, this could be a great addition to a collection of other passive income streams.

Pros

It's super low effort and easy to get into.
It can pay a decent amount considering you don't really have to do anything.
All you need is a car, and many people have one of those.

Cons

If you live outside of a city, there will be much less demand for your ad space.
You need to have a good driving history. No brand wants a car bearing its advertisement to get caught speeding!

Startup costs

Since most platforms take care of the car wrapping costs, it's usually completely free to get started aside from the fuel you use to drive to the wrap shop.

Time investment

Startup: All you have to do is download the app for your platform and take a survey about where you usually drive.

Estimate: A few minutes

Upkeep: The advertisement offers will come to you, so all you have to do is have notifications turned on and go to the wrap shop every so often.

Estimate: A trip to the wrap shop every few months

21. Buy low, sell high

Reselling is a way to make money without having to create products yourself. The key to succeeding is to find products you can buy at low prices and sell them for a significant markup.

You can do this with all kinds of products, both digital and physical, new and secondhand.

Reselling digital products usually means dealing with PLR (buying the rights to products and customizing them before reselling). For example, Entrepredia sells hundreds of ready-made online courses, ebooks, AI prompts, and more that you can rebrand and resell as your own.

You can also sell them easily by making a storefront on Whop. Whether you choose ebooks, courses, AI prompts, or a mixture of many kinds of products, you can sell them all from the same whop.

Create bundles, paywalls, subscriptions, and discounts to sell your wares however you want to.

If you want to try your hand at physical products, you can source cheap products from sites like AliExpress, SaleHoo, and Doba. You can even print a logo or a nice pattern onto certain types of products to increase its value or add your own twist.

Pros

You can sell items for much higher prices than you bought them for.
With all the different products out there, you can sell anything you want to.
If you choose to sell digital products with Whop, you can set up shop and list your products without paying a penny.
You can skip the time-consuming step of creating the products yourself.

Cons

Dealing with physical products can be annoying.
Sometimes the products you choose won't sell, and this can lead to a loss of investment.

Startup costs

Physical products: You can either invest in buying stock or avoid investing by choosing dropshipping or digital products.

Time investment

Startup: It's best to take some time to figure everything out—what products you'll sell, how you'll source them, and where you'll sell them.

Estimate: A few weeks

Upkeep: In general, digital products and dropshipping require much less upkeep and maintenance compared to selling physical products yourself. Unless you're really passionate about selling products directly, digital and dropshipping is much better suited for passive income projects.

Estimate: A few hours a week

22. Sell SaaS

If you've got some programming skills, SaaS (Software as a Service) is pretty big right now and you can make money by creating targeted web apps and software for people to buy or subscribe to.

Need ideas? You could create software for dropshipping like Forex Signals on Whop, or software for another purpose like crypto or stock trading.

You can also create things like Discord or Slack bots that fulfill certain tasks, content schedulers, Framer templates, and so much more. And, since these are all software products—or, in other words, digital products—you can sell them all on Whop.

If you feel like going through a teaching phase rather than a creating phase, you could also teach people how to make their own SaaS product. You could create an online course, offer one-to-one calls, and sell templates for beginners to customize.

Pros

It will bring in great passive income whether you sell it as a subscription or a one-time purchase.
You need some skill to create one, which means you can put a premium on it.
Some SaaS products need maintenance but others can be left alone completely once they're up for sale.

Cons

If you don't know how to code, you'll have a harder time making a product—AI tools might prove difficult for a job of this scale.
You need to research what kind of software people want—if you choose the wrong thing, it could be hard to sell.

Startup costs

If you make the product yourself and sell it on Whop, you could get away with only investing time and spending little to no money. That is, assuming you already have a PC you can use to write code on!

Time investment

Startup: It depends on the kind of software you want to make but, in general, the creation phase will take quite a long time.

Estimate: At least a few months

Upkeep: Once your software is up for sale, you'll just need to deal with the ecommerce side of things. If customers have problems, you'll need to fix them, too.

Estimate: An hour or two a week

23. Start your own podcast

A podcast in itself is more like active income than passive income but, if you're interested in running a podcast, there are ways of attaching passive income to it.

The best way to do this is by creating an exclusive community around your podcast. A good example of this is the Club 520 Podcast.

On Whop, you could create a space for your listeners to gather and talk to each other as well as earn exclusive perks based on the memberships they choose and the one-off purchases they make.

For example, you can charge a basic membership fee for access to a Discord server and early episode drops. Then you can add a mid-tier membership with extra benefits like voting for podcast topics and exclusive giveaways.

You can even add a premium tier that offers something ultra-personal like a video message or call from the podcast hosts.

Pros

You can add passive income streams to a project you're already running or combine a new passion project with extra passive earnings.
You can combine your podcast with a variety of income streams, including many of the other ideas on this list.

Cons

If you're only interested in passive income, this isn't for you. Podcasts require weekly planning and recording sessions that can be a lot of work.
You need to build up an audience before your digital goods will really start to sell.

Startup costs

Setup costs: If you're starting a podcast from scratch, you'll need to invest a few hundred dollars on decent microphones and sound equipment.
Ecommerce platform: Lots of platforms will take a monthly fee but you can skip all that by making a whop for free.

Time investment

Startup: Planning and starting a podcast could definitely take a while and you'll probably need to spend time building an audience before it's worth launching memberships.

Estimate: A few weeks or even a few months

Upkeep: The upkeep for this one is extreme, too. You can host a monthly podcast which is less work, but even then, planning and recording will take multiple hours every week. That's why your best bet is to use your podcast as a funnel for your other products, like courses, ebooks, and communities.

Estimate: Between one to six hours a week

24. Participate in domain parking

We all know domains can sell for a lot of money if a big company decides they want one that someone else already owns. But it turns out unused domains can make money even if no one wants them (yet).

With domain parking programs like GoDaddy's CashParking, you can pay a membership fee for the program to place contextual ads on your domain page for accidental visitors to click. Every time they do, you get a payout.

Pros

It's super easy and super hands-off, you really don't have to do anything.
The memberships are relatively cheap and there are plenty of options to choose from.
There's always the chance that someone will want to buy one of your domains too, which can also make you money.

Cons

This won't make loads of money, so it's definitely an income stream that you should combine with others. It won't be very impactful on its own.

Startup costs

Buying the domains: $1 to $100.
Domain parking memberships: Many platforms have free plans and paid plans, costing around $10 a month.

Time investment

Startup: It doesn't take long to buy some domains and choose a membership. You could do it all today if you wanted.

Estimate: Under 24 hours

Upkeep: Literally zero upkeep! Just chill out and take your money when it comes.

Estimate: Zero hours per week

25. Buy and rent properties

While online businesses and stock investments might be what comes to mind when you think of passive income nowadays, don't forget the classics. If you have the means to acquire and rent out a property, it is one of the ultimate forms of passive income.

How renting out property works completely depends on where you live in the world and what kind of property you can get your hands on. But in terms of the basic steps, all you need to do is prepare the property for its intended purposes and rent it out to whoever wants it.

You'll have to deal with expenses like maintenance and repairs and taxes, but if you're willing to spend, you can make all of that someone else's problem! Then, every time a rental payment comes, you'll get money in exchange for very little labor.

Pros

Many countries in the world rely on renting and there's a constant need for new property.
The profit margins are almost unbelievably big.
You can put in as much or as little work as you want to. Every job can be outsourced if you want to keep things hands-off.

Cons

You need to have property in your family already or have enough money to buy property yourself.
To keep things "passive" you'll have to spend plenty of money contracting people to take care of the day-to-day tasks for you.

Startup costs

Getting the property: There are many things you need to buy a house: a stable salary, tens of thousands in savings, and a good relationship with a bank that's willing to lend to you.
Renovation: You'll also need even more funds to fix up the property and work with realtors to get a tenant.

Time investment

Startup: Dealing with property is a slow process. The process could take multiple years if things don't go to plan.

Estimate: Probably at least a year

Upkeep: Once everything is fully set up and you've started receiving rent payments, you can finally sit back and relax. Other people will deal with the day-to-day and you can take on a new property or focus on something else entirely.

Estimate: An hour a week, tops

26. Peer-to-peer lending

Peer-to-peer lending is another crowdfunding-type project that lets people lend money and borrow money without dealing with banks.

As a lender, you make an account on a platform of your choice. Some popular ones include Funding Circle, LendingClub, Kiva, and Upstart. Then, you deposit the amount of money you're willing to lend.

Then, different people will apply to borrow your money. Borrowers fill out a financial profile and get assigned a risk category so you know how capable and likely they are to pay back their loan. The riskier they are, the higher the interest rate will be (which means more profit over time).

Pros

It's possible to make more profit by investing your money in peer-to-peer lending compared to keeping it in a savings account.
It's a hands-off way to make money that doesn't require you to do anything.

Cons

It can be pretty risky because people borrowing from a peer-to-peer lender are more likely to default on their loans.
You need to pay fees to the platform as well, and some can be pretty high.

Startup costs

The investment: You need to set aside money to lend to people and you need to keep in mind that you could lose this money if the borrower defaults.
The platform fees: Each platform works differently so you'll need to check how their fees work and how much they will cost overall.

Time investment

Startup: I would recommend spending a few hours checking out a number of platforms and reviews to find the best option but, once you've found one, you can get started right away.

Estimate: Under 24 hours

Upkeep: There's no real upkeep to speak of, you'll just need to check your account regularly and respond to any notifications you get from the platform.

Estimate: A few minutes a week

27. Open a HYSA

A HYSA is a High-Yield Savings Account, which means a savings account with a much higher interest rate than the average. A normal savings account usually has an interest rate of less than 0.5% but with HYSAs, you can find rates that go to 5% or even more.

HYSAs are insured by the FDIC or the NCUA and are considered low-risk investments compared to stocks and other investment forms.

As a passive income stream, they require zero effort to start up or to maintain. All you need is some money to put in the account.

Pros

You can get way higher returns than with a normal savings account.
HYSAs are lower risk than stocks and bonds, plus they are insured for up to $250,000.
You can find ones without fees.

Cons

APY rates fluctuate a lot so there's no telling how much you'll make.
HYSAs are mostly offered by online institutions so they might be places you're unfamiliar with.

Startup costs

Fees and deposits: Fees and deposits for HYSAs totally depend on the institution you choose, so you could end up paying very little.
Savings: It goes without saying, but you need savings to put in your savings account.

Time investment

Startup: You just need to spend a bit of time weighing your options and then you can go ahead and set up your account.

Estimate: A few days

Upkeep: No upkeep needed! Just make sure you always have some money in the account to keep the earnings coming in.

Estimate: Zero hours a week

28. Rent out your home or room

If you have some spare space in your home, you can rent it out to travelers and newcomers. Airbnb is the most popular platform for this kind of thing, and it's pretty simple to use.

If you offer short-term stays, you'll need to pay for cleaning services each time someone comes and goes and there are various other fees and tax considerations, too. However, the profit margins are pretty insane and can easily make the whole thing worth it.

For example, people rent out small apartments for a nightly price which, when added up, is as much as three times what they could charge per month as a normal rental. It's a big money maker.

Pros

It makes a lot of money.
You don't need to buy a new property, you can just rent what you have.
You are in charge of who stays at your place.
It's surprisingly simple to set up.

Cons

Most people don't have an extra property to rent out, which means renting single rooms is much more common. This does mean you'll have to share your home with someone else, though.
To keep costs down, you may have to clean and take care of general maintenance yourself.

Startup costs

Airbnb: It won't cost you any money to list your property and get started, Airbnb just takes a 3% cut when you get a reservation.
Prep: Depending on the state of the room you want to rent out, you might need to invest in a new coat of paint and a few plants to make the place nice.

Time investment

Startup: If you have a place that's ready for guests, getting started on Airbnb is pretty quick.

Estimate: A few weeks

Upkeep: You'll need to keep track of customers and reservations, payments, reviews, and all the usual stuff. You'll also need to keep everything you offer on your listing available, clean, and maintained.

Estimate: A few hours a week

29. Lean into AI

AI is everywhere right now, and though the results are still far from predictable, people have already started using it to create AI-generated products. If you believe in the potential of AI, using it to generate products like simple ebooks and apps is something you can try out pretty easily.

There are AI products out there designed and trained to make specific products like ebooks and apps.

A lot of the time, the results will still need at least some manual error correction and customization but it can still shorten the overall development time by a significant amount.

If you manage to get a sellable result, you can put your new ebooks or apps on Whop and sell them just the same as a normal product you had created from scratch.

Pros

There will definitely be trial and error involved, but AI may be able to help you create way more products in much less time.
You can sell anything the AI generates in the same ways as you would a normal product you have the rights to (for now, at least!).
You can sell a greater variety of products covering more products, even if you're a one-person business.

Cons

Using AI tools can be frustrating and there are lots of tasks they just won't be able to complete properly.
You'll still need to error-check, edit, customize, and brand the products the AI generates.
Some customers don't like AI-generated content.

Startup costs

AI tools: You can choose between free tools or paid tools, so this idea should be accessible even if you don't have a budget.
Ecommerce platform: You can also set up shop with Whop for free, so you can do this part without a budget too. If you want to use a different ecommerce platform, there will probably be a monthly fee.

Time investment

Startup: You'll need to test and edit the product and wrap it in your own branding to make it look good. Still, the process will be a whole lot quicker with AI helping out.

Estimate: A few days

Upkeep: Once the product is made and up for sale, you can leave it to bring in the income.

Estimate: Zero hours a week

30. Invest in ETFs

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are a type of fund that tracks a selection of different stocks. It's kind of like investing in a bundle of stocks rather than choosing individual stocks yourself.

There are lots of different ETF types out there, including:

Passive ETFs
Actively managed ETFs
Bond ETFs
Stock ETFs
Industry ETFs
Bitcoin ETFs

They work differently from regular stocks but they are traded in the markets during normal hours just like regular stocks are. ETFs can contain securities that offer dividends too, so you can earn quarterly payouts from applicable companies.

If you want to learn trading and stocks from experts, look no further than Whop, including traders such as EmanuelTrades University.

By joining one of the many trading communities hosted on Whop, you can get access to other enthusiasts, online courses, and even one-to-one advice from the experts who run the community.

There's truly no better way to learn about something as complex and ever-changing as the stock market.

Pros

You can create a diverse portfolio with stocks from various industries.
ETFs have low expense ratios and fewer broker commissions.
If you choose ETFs with dividends, you can enjoy quarterly payouts.
Everything is completely passive, just make your investment and the money will build up by itself.

Cons

Some ETFs have high fees because they're actively managed.
Some bundle stocks from the same industry, which lessens your diversification.
Because it's stock trading, there is risk involved.

Startup costs

Investing: You need money to invest, which could be anything from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand.
Education: If you want to join an exclusive community to get access to good resources and advice, these can cost a few hundred dollars or a monthly fee.

Time investment

Startup: You might want to join a community or buy an online course to learn about stocks first, and then spend some time choosing what to invest in.

Estimate: A few weeks

Upkeep: You don't need to do anything to earn your payouts, but you will need to review your investments and make decisions on what to keep or sell.

Estimate: An hour or two a week

These creators prove that $10k in passive income is within reach

If you need proof that $10k a month is really possible, look no further than these Whop communities. Each of them is run by a self-made expert who has hit the 10k-a-month mark or even surpassed it.

1. Creator Cashflow

The Creator Cashflow whop was created by CJ, a mentor who has spent years working with TikTok creators to bring in $5k to $20k in income every single month.

With his expert-led courses and workshops, you can learn how to bring in the same profit he does.

2. TikTok Organic Dropshipping

Combining ecommerce and social media is a major winner right now, but that doesn't mean everyone who tries it succeeds. The owner of this whop, Jordan, can show you how to become one of the few.

His own dropshipping business brings in thousands and thousands a month, and he's sharing the tools and strategies that got him there.

3. Wifi Money Academy

Wifi Money Academy is run by a true passive income expert who understands the value of combining multiple income streams to achieve big profits.

Learn how to tackle affiliate marketing, website as a service, Discord growth, and TikTok growth to create your own passive income empire.

Start making a passive income with Whop today!

Passive income is pretty sweet. Who wouldn't love to relax and let the cash flow in?

Of course, for that to happen, you need to do the work first—but you also need to find the right place to sell your products and services.

Whop is the ultimate place to make $10k in passive income by selling digital products.

Thousands of Whop creators make crazy amounts of money every month without turning their side hustles into full-time jobs. Some earn $1,000, some earn $10k, and others earn well over $250k.

This is thanks to the crazy amount of flexibility you get with Whop. You can do more than just sell one digital product. You can create a whole catalog of different products and run an entire community around them.

Create membership tiers and subscriptions, bundle your products together, host giveaways, plan live events … there are so many things you can do to engage your customers and give them more valuable content. And the more you diversify, the more money you'll make, and that $10k a month figure will be in your bank account before you know it.

If you want to run multiple brands, you can even make multiple whops and manage them all for the same price—$0!

You won't pay a penny for listing your products, and you'll retain up to 97% of each sale. So, whether you're selling products from one whop or three, the fees you pay will be the same.

No matter how many streams of passive income you're planning to navigate, you can pull it off easily with Whop.

It only takes a few minutes to sign up and start earning passive income on Whop's digital marketplace. Sign up and start working on your $10k in passive income today.

Make money with Whop