25 ways to make money online without any upfront investment

You've probably come across countless ways to make money online — but most of them ask you to spend money before you even get started.

Whether it’s stocking up on inventory, paying for pricey licenses, or subscribing to premium tools, the upfront costs can end your online side hustle before it's even begun.

But don't stress yet! There are plenty of ways to make money on the internet without spending anything upfront.

In this article, we're going to take a look at 25 ways you can start earning today with nothing but your time and effort.

25 easy ways to make money online with zero investment

1. Clip content for cash

Clipping is one of the fastest growing ways to make money online. Clipping is the process of turning long-form content — like YouTube videos, Twitch streams, or podcasts — into short, engaging clips that are perfect for platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and X (Twitter).

These clips usually highlight the most exciting or interesting moments: a trader making a big win, a surprising podcast quote, or a funny reaction. 

Why do creators pay clippers? Well, short-form video is the most viral and shareable content format today — and creators know it. But not everyone has the time to chop up their videos and optimize clips for TikTok or Reels.

That’s where you come in. By finding standout moments and turning them into short videos, you’re helping creators reach new audiences while building your own channel in the process.

The more views your clips get, the more you earn — no brand deals or followers required.

• Best for: People who spend time on TikTok, Reels, or X. Aspiring creators or editors who want to earn on the side. Anyone good at spotting viral moments in long videos.
• How much you can make: With Whop, between $5–$25 per 1,000 views. Some campaigns pay more — and viral clips can earn you thousands of dollars.
• How to start: Sign up to Whop. Find a Content Reward campaign that interests you. Join the creator’s Whop group and follow their guidelines. Then clip, post, and get paid as the views come in.

2. Create an online community

You can make money with an online community without spending anything. All you have to do is choose the right community platform.

Some platforms require you to pay a monthly fee. Others paywall their best features behind tiered packages. Whop lets you create and monetize an online platform for free, with no paywalled features or paid add-ons. In return, Whop takes a small percentage of your sales (ranging from 0%-3%).

After deciding on the platform, the most important thing about creating a successful community is finding the right niche. Pick something that matches your skills and expertise.

Once you've made your community space, add premium content like courses, mastermind sessions, forums, and more. You can add all this with Whop apps.

• Best for: People who like organizing and leading groups of people.
• How much you can make: Depending on the content you provide in your community and how well it’s built, you can charge $5 to $3000+ per month.
• How to start: Research how your potential competitors handle their online communities and what kind of features they provide. Then, create a whop, market your community, optionally add some staff members to your team, and start selling subscriptions.

3. Complete online surveys to get paid

Online surveys has been a popular side hustle for many years. These surveys can be about anything — while some target the everyday person, others might require you to have specific experiences like living in a specific country, being a parent, etc.

Online surveys won't make you rich, but they're an easy way to earn extra cash in your spare time.

Of course, the amount depends on what kind of surveys you participate in, too. While casual surveys can get you around $40 per month, active focus-group participations can rack up to $400 per month.

• Best for: People who want to spend a little time to earn some quick cash.
• How much you can make: A couple bucks per day to $200+ if you really put some time into it.
• How to start: Sign up to some survey platforms like Swagbucks or Survey Junkie and start participating in surveys.

4. Sell online courses

Creating and selling online courses is one of the best digital products to sell on the internet.

Why?

Well, for one, they're easy to make. All you need is an idea, an online course platform, and the help of some AI tools. Secondly, once you've made your course you an sell it over and over again.

Plus — they’re scalable if you use the right tools. For example, when you create an online course, most people are likely to buy the beginner course first. Creating the intermediate and expert follow-ups will allow you to upsell them.

Using the right platforms to create and sell your courses is very crucial. In most online course platforms, you can create a course and attach some kind of a forum (which is usually complicated to use and access). With Whop, however, you can create a whole community around your course.

• Best for: People who have expertise on a topic.
• How much you can make: Depending on the contents of your course, you can charge from $5 to $5000+ per course.
• How to start: Start by creating a detailed document of everything you want to talk about in your course in an organized manner, then start recording videos for each. Once you’re done, create a whop, add the Courses app to it, and start uploading your content.

5. Become a community manager

We've mentioned creating our own community, but if you don't want all that responsibility, you can still make money as a community manager.

Good community managers need strong communication skills and should be able to handle all kinds of problems that can happen in an online space — like harassment, arguments, unwanted content, and more.

You can find community management jobs on freelancing platforms like Fiverr and Upwork - another good way to find them is just joining communities you like and inquiring if there’s a position available. You might start with unpaid trial work, but experienced community managers can earn thousands per month.

• Best for: People who can influence others, spend a lot of time on their computer/phone, and have strong communication skills.
• How much you can make: Depending on what kind of a community you manage and on which platform, you can earn from $100 to $2,000+ per month.
• How to start: Become an expert on how at least two online community platforms work, and start joining existing communities and freelancing platforms to look for openings.

6. Become an online tutor

When most people think of tutoring, subjects like math, science, or literature usually come to mind. But tutoring goes far beyond the classroom.

If you have expertise in any field — whether it’s coding, creative writing, music production, or even resume building — you can offer personalized tutoring services online to those eager to learn.

Tutor online and you will have access to a much bigger audience, at a much lower cost.

You can find tutoring jobs on freelancing platforms like Fiverr and Upwork, but this gig work is often low-paid. Building your tutoring business on Whop makes sense, as you can display your work, meet with potential clients, assign them materials, conduct classes, and organize payments all in one place.

• Best for: People who have expertise on a topic.
• How much you can make: $30 to $200+ per lesson.
• How to start: Create a portfolio and open a profile on freelancing platforms like Fiverr. Then, start hunting for tutoring gigs.

7. Start a print-on-demand (POD) business

Print-on-demand is a trending business idea, which means you only print the product, which is usually clothing but can be books, mugs, and tote bags too, only when a customer makes a purchase. This allows you to run the business without keeping stock, allowing you to start it without investment.

Printful and Printify are two of the best print-on-demand platforms. They handle printing and shipping, so you don't have to. But, of course, you need some cool designs that will actually sell.

While you can come up with your own designs for the no-investment rule, you can also commission artists to create original content.

• Best for: People who have design ideas and a knack for marketing.
• How much you can make: Depending on your designs and marketing, you can start earning $100-300 per month to $3,000+.
• How to start: Come up with attractive designs, find the right POD supplier for you, and market your products.

8. Become a social media manager

Social media management means controlling the posts, stories, comments, and content of a social media page.

Since creating and managing content on social media accounts takes expertise, time, and effort, most businesses and brands prefer to hire people to take care of it for them.

You can find social media management gigs on freelancing platforms or create your own store page to offer services to potential clients.

• Best for: People who have content creation and marketing skills.
• How much you can make: From $100 to $1,500+ per month.
• How to start: Create a portfolio showcasing your previous work and get in contact with accounts you think might need a manager.

9. Sell AI prompts

While modern text-based AIs can provide decent results to basic prompts, it’s just a fraction of what they can achieve. The result is only as good as the prompt you use — so using the right kind of prompts is crucial.

For example, an experienced prompt engineer would use XML prompts with Claude or JSON prompts for ChatGPT — they make the AIs much more organized and understand what you want them to do much better. By creating and selling (or just consulting about) AI prompts, you can help businesses, brands, and creators get way better results from AI.

You can sell AI prompts on platforms like PromptBase, and as downloadable files on Whop. Alternatively, you can find prompt engineering gigs on freelancing platforms and social media communities.

• Best for: People who know how to use all popular AIs for all kinds of purposes.
• How much you can make: You can charge $5 to $50+ per prompt.
• How to start: Sign up for one of the AI prompt platforms and start pushing your powerful prompts to the market.

10. Create faceless content

If you’ve been using Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter, you would have come across content that has millions of views without the creator showing their face.

While it’s true that the algorithms of platforms like TikTok usually prefer creators who actually show their faces on camera, there's a ton of faceless content going viral every day on the platform.

As you keep creating content and gather a following, you can monetize your content with programs like TikTok Creator Program, which allows you to get paid based on views.

• Best for: People who want to create content but are not comfortable showing their face and/or using their own voice.
• How much you can make: You can make from $10 to $2,000+ per month via creator programs.
• How to start: Start by finding out which AI suits your plans, create a social media account, and start posting consistently.

11. Become an influencer

When we say influencer, most people think of big content creators who get sponsored by big brands all the time.

But, being an influencer just means getting people to listen to you. For example, if you have a following in the software developer scene and people listen to your advice or follow your guides, you’re an influencer.

Once you've built influence in your niche, you can start both monetizing your content on social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok, and you can also start getting brand deals and sponsors to promote their business and/or products. This will create a win-win situation where you get paid, and the businesses get promoted.

• Best for: People who know how social media algorithms work and have content creation experience.
• How much you can make: From $10 to thousands of dollars per month via creator programs, brand deals, and sponsorships.
• How to start: Find a niche to focus your content on and start posting consistently.

12. Create and sell personalized Notion templates

Selling Notion templates can be a goldmine. Most creators create generic templates for specific scenarios and sell them. You can make more money by offering customized Notion templates, attracting clients who want something specifically made for their use case.

These templates can range from weekly planners to finance trackers. The best part about them is that if you know how to use all board types, elements, and automations of Notion, you can easily create multiple templates per day.

Once you create some sample templates, you can create a store page for your work on Whop and let your potential clients book calls with you, download your samples, and order customized templates, which you can deliver to them directly in Whop.

• Best for: People who have Notion expertise.
• How much you can make: From $10 to $200+ per template.
• How to start: Start by creating a portfolio of your work and opening profiles on freelancing platforms. Then start marketing your templates on social media and productivity circles.

13. Create and sell AI agents

Almost everyone uses AI these days, but most of them still rely on pre-made AI agents that might not fit their business plan. If you have experience in using and creating AI agents in platforms like N8N, you can offer businesses and brands custom AI agent services.

For example, if you find a website that lacks a live customer support service, you can offer to create a custom AI agent, trained on their own data, to be integrated into their website and help their customers.

These AI agents can range from text-based customer service AIs to ones that can call people and generate leads.

• Best for: People who are good at creating tools to solve problems and speed up workflows.
• How much you can make: From $20 to $1,000+, depending on how complex and customized the agents are.
• How to start: Start by understanding how platforms like N8N work and create free sample agents.

14. Monetize your livestreams

Livestreaming is a popular feature of many social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, and Whop. You might think you need expensive equipment - fancy mics, high-end webcams, and special software. You don't. You can livestream on many platforms just by using your phone — like Whop.

As you continue to stream and increase your follower count, you can start to get brand deals and sponsorships, but you need to post consistently, not just via streams but also on social media.

Or, with platforms like Whop, you can get paid for your livestreams by putting them behind a paywall.

• Best for: People who have an engaging personality and can commit to consistency.
• How much you can make: From $50 to thousands of dollars based on brand deals, donations, and platform earnings.
• How to start: Start by finding a niche and the right livestreaming platform for it. Then, create social media accounts and promote your streams.

15. Create ebooks

Selling ebooks online has been a popular way to earn money online, and AI tools make it easier than ever. However, the downside of it getting easier is that there are a lot of ebooks in the market, so how do you make yours stand out?

The most effective strategy is to create unique content in a well-defined niche.

For example, while ebooks about selling online courses are everywhere, they often get lost in the noise. But if you target a more specific niche, like building AI agents, and produce a detailed ebook that combines your expertise with original insights, you’ll have a much better chance of standing out and attracting serious buyers.

• Best for: Anyone with a skill or idea to share in written format.
• How much you can make: (check ebook stats article)
• How to start: Map out your content (you can use AI for this), create your ebook, use tools like Canva and Ourboox to design your ebook and platforms like Whop or Etsy to list, market, and sell your ebook. Read our guide to creating and selling ebooks.

16. Sell video scripts to creators

There are countless content creators creating tens of thousands of pieces of content every day on all social media platforms — but many can't keep up. In these cases, content creators start looking for script writers to come up with one of the most time-consuming parts of content creation: the script.

If you have experience creating content or you’re knowledgeable in a specific niche, you can look for script writing gigs on freelancing platforms or get in direct contact with content creators to inquire about such gigs.

Depending on the social media platform you’re writing scripts for and the length/complexity of the scripts, you can charge from $5 to $200+ per script.

• Best for: People familiar with social media algorithms and writing experience.
• How much you can make: From $5 to $200+ per script.
• How to start: Start by focusing on a niche you’re an expert in and create sample scripts, or even better, sample videos. Then create a portfolio in your own website or whop.

17. Build whops for other creators

Building a whop is easy — but as with all platforms, the more you know, the better you can use it. If you have experience creating and running whops, you probably know that the platform is evolving every day and there are new features to take advantage of all the time.

Why not monetize this experience? If you’re keeping up with Whop news, learning how to use the platform to the fullest, and experimenting with all its features, you can build whops that actually work for your clients.

On top of this, you can take advantage of Whop’s affiliate program to generate passive income by referring creators and brands to whop with your affiliate link and helping them integrate into the platform by building them a whop.

• Best for: People who know how whop works and how they can utilize every feature to its fullest.
• How much you can make: From $10 to $150+ per whop.
• How to start: Start by creating sample whops and inviting creators to use Whop with your referral link.

18. Create and sell websites

Creating websites is much easier than it was a few years ago. Today, you can draw the design you want on a piece of paper, upload it to an AI, detail the features you want, and watch as a fully functional website gets built in minutes.

Of course, while simply creating the body of the website can make you money, you can increase the income even more by actually working on the website’s backend, SEO, and the traffic it generates.

The best part about creating and selling websites is that you don’t need an upfront investment — even the free version of ChatGPT is capable of creating very impressive results.

• Best for: People who have web development skills and can view their projects from the perspective of the user.
• How much you can make: From $50 to $1,000+ per website.
• How to start: Start by creating sample websites and gathering them in a portfolio on your website and/or freelance platform profiles. Then, reach out to potential clients who need a website or an upgrade.

19. Make money with a blog

Blogging is one of the most versatile ways to make money online, comparable to monetizing social media. If there’s anything that interests you, you can start a blog about it, whether that be day trading or comics.

But when people hear ‘monetizing a blog,’ most aren’t sure how they can actually monetize one. Well, here are a couple of ways you can do so:

• Publishing paid content along with the public ones
• Starting a paid, more premium alternative to the blog
• Placing ads in your blog posts/website
• Getting sponsorships and brand deals

Of course, unlike social media or livestreaming, going viral, as in gaining tens of thousands of active followers (or subscribers) to your blog, is harder. Blog success doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s a worthwhile task that shows great results once it does.

• Best for: People with writing and marketing skills.
• How much you can make: From $10 to $500+ with brand deals, platform earnings, and subscriptions.
• How to start: Start by finding the right niche for you and consistently posting blogs.

20. Creating UGC (user-generated content)

User-generated content refers to content that promotes brands but is created by third-party content creators. For example, when you create a tutorial video about an online platform, it’s user-generated content from that platform’s perspective.

UGC is different from regular brand deals because UGC isn’t just regular ads — it’s organic content. This means that you don't need a huge following and aren't bound to strict rules.

One of the best ways to start creating user-generated content for brands is by heading to Whop and finding the right UGC Content Reward for you.

• Best for: People who can apply their content creation skills across multiple niches.
• How much you can make: From $5 to $2000+ per content, depending on the platform
• How to start: Start by creating and growing organic social media accounts. Then, start searching for UGC opportunities in freelancing platforms or Whop’s Content Rewards page.

21. Become a copywriter

Visuals are an important part of marketing, but so is copy. Great copy can make or break a campaign, which is why businesses hire professional copywriters.

If you have experience as a writer or a marketer, copywriting might be perfect for you. You can also offer editing and other types of writing services to your clients as well. Of course, all of these require you to be knowledgeable in SEO and marketing.

If the idea of becoming a copywriter sounds good to you, you should start building a portfolio for yourself either on your own website or on platforms like Whop, where you can create your own online hub. Then, you can find copywriting gigs that can get you $200 to $5,000+ per month on freelancing platforms, social media, and job hunt platforms.

• Best for: People who have writing and marketing experience.
• How much you can make: From $5 per copy to thousands of dollars per month with long-term projects.
• How to start: Start by creating your own projects, whether that be a blog or just a sample collection. Then, create a portfolio on your website or your whop, and start hunting copywriting gigs on the web.

22. Develop apps

AI tools like Bolt and Lovable make it easier than ever to build custom apps that solve everyday problems. If you have an idea, you can bring it to life — whether by coding it yourself or using AI.

But building the app is just part of the process. Payments, user login, and authentication can be a hassle. That’s where Whop’s SDK comes in. It handles all the backend headaches so you can focus on the product.

Using AI to build your app? Check out our AI SDK doc — it has everything your AI needs to integrate with Whop from the start.

Once you're done, publish to the Whop App Store and start getting paid directly through Whop.

• Best for: People who are good at finding solutions to daily issues or speeding up workflows, know how to code, or learn how to use low/no-code tools.
• How much you can make: Depending on the monetization method you integrate into your app, you can earn from tens to thousands of dollars per sale/month.
• How to start: Start by finding a problem that people face and create a solution to that using tools like coding-efficient AIs, Whop SDK, and development environments. Then, either list your app on marketplaces or the Whop App Store.

23. Do affiliate marketing

If the idea of making money while you’re out having a walk, at the movies, even sleeping — then you should try affiliate marketing.

As an affiliate marketer, you can partner with brands and earn commissions for each sale or subscription made from your referral links. Having a social media presence, a blog, a YouTube channel, or any other type of thing you can reach out to people is crucial in affiliate marketing.

One of the best ways to do affiliate marketing is to join the Whop Affiliates and learning how you can become an affiliate of whops. You can earn affiliate commission income by referring people to whops, where the commission is determined by the creator, or directly referring creators to create their own whops on the platform.

• Best for: People with an existing audience on social media.
• How much you can make: From $10 to $1,000+ per month, depending on which organization you become an affiliate for.
• How to start: Find and join affiliate programs (like Whop Affiliates) and start creating content around the products/brands.

24. Become a graphic designer

Graphic design is a great way to make money without investment if you have design skills. As a graphic designer, you can work on a large number of projects, from simple logos to complete marketing campaigns. Using free tools like Canva only makes it easier.

As a graphic designer, you can do freelance work, create templates and sell them, or even get a full-time job online. But to start doing any type of graphic design work, you’re going to need a strong portfolio, which you can get together on your own website or platforms like Behance or Dribbble.

Once you’ve determined which niche you’re comfortable working with and set up your portfolio, you can start looking for graphic design work on freelancing platforms like Fiverr and Upwork or directly find contacts on social media.

• Best for: Creative people with experience in design and visual arts.
• How much you can make: From $10 to $2,000+ per month, depending on what kind of work you do (selling templates, working full-time, etc.)
• How to start: Build a portfolio on freelancing platforms, your website, or your whop. Then, start marketing your work and apply for gigs online.

25. Use gig work platforms

Gigs are short-term work that pays you per task, usually without long-term commitment. There are multiple types of gig work that you can do, ranging from voice acting to freelance writing. While most gigs are one-time ones, you can scale your work with new and old clients.

Gig work stands out from the rest thanks to its flexibility and the amount of gig work out there. When you’re searching for gig work online, you'll find platforms like Upwork and TaskRabbit, where you can find all kinds of work.

To get started with gigs, you should first build a solid profile on those platforms and apply to the gigs you think you can successfully complete. As you complete more and more gigs, your approval rating and earnings will result in you getting more gigs.

• Best for: People who want to spend a couple of hours every week to make cash on the side.
• How much you can make: From $50 to $500+ per week, depending on what kind of gigs you do.
• How to start: Create profiles on freelancing platforms like Upwork and Fiverr. Then start applying to gigs you think you can successfully complete.

Start making money online with Whop — without spending a cent

Whop is the best place to start making money online.

There are multiple paths you can follow in the Whop ecosystem:

• You can become a creator and sell memberships to your community, course, or app
• You can develop apps and monetize them
• You can become an affiliate to other creators and earn commissions from the sales they make
• You can complete Content Rewards and get paid per 1k views you get, and more.

However you want to make money online, you can do it with Whop. What are you waiting for?

Make money online FAQs

Is it possible to make money online without an investment?

Yes, it is absolutely possible to make money online without an upfront investment. Some ways to make money online include affiliate marketing, content creation, online coaching, and digital products.

How much can I make online without an investment?

Depending on which method you’d like to follow, you can make from $50 to $10,000+ per month online.

Why is Whop the best way to make money online?

Most online money-making stuff either needs expert-level skills or pays you literal cents. Whop doesn't. You don’t need to be a pro to start stacking cash. People are making thousands a month selling digital products, tools, or even just access to communities.

Whop handles all the boring stuff (payments, setup, tech), so you can just focus on building your thing and getting paid.

Do I need expertise to make money online?

While some methods require expertise, like graphic design or creating courses, there are ways you can make money online without expertise, like clipping or affiliate marketing.

How can I decide which way is best for me?

The best way to determine which method is right for you is to look at its requirements and niche. If you have experience in areas like content creation or software development, you should try to follow that path.