College is expensive, and living off ramen only gets you so far.

If you're a student looking for ways to make extra cash (online or IRL), you're in the right place.

I’ve been there. Since my early teens, I’ve tested every side hustle I could get my hands on — from clipping and tutoring to selling digital products.

Now I’ve put together a list of 40 legit side hustles for students that actually work. Most of these are active hustles that pay fast, but if you're short on time, I’ve got a separate guide on passive income for students too.

If you're ready to make money without wrecking your GPA, let’s dive in.

40 of the best side hustles for students

We’ve got you covered with 40 legit ways to make money in college — all broken down into clear categories like online gigs, academic hustles, freelance jobs, in-person work, and small business ideas.

Whether you want fast cash or a long-term income stream, there’s something here for every schedule and skill set.

Best online hustles for students

1. Get paid to clip content

If I were to go back to my student days today, I’d spend all of my extra hours clipping. It’s one of the easiest side hustles to start, and because it doesn’t require too much time, it is the best side hustle for any student.

Think of it this way:

  • You don’t have to create any content because you’re repurposing videos from big brands and creators.
  • You don’t need an online following
  • You can learn and actually do the side hustle within one platform (Whop)

Tons of high school and college students are learning clipping through Whop Clips and earning through Whop’s Content Rewards.

For example, Chris Girbu has already generated billions of views for brands and creators, without having any real following —and he is only 16!

chris girbu

Getting started is super easy.

You just have to take the Clipping course on Whop Clips, and then choose any of the clipping deals on Discover.

What you’ll need: Dedication, a little bit of time, and a Whop account.
Earning potential: Clipping deals can pay you anywhere from $1 to $5 per 1000 views, with no max cap. The potential here is endless.

Find clipping content rewards on Whop

2. Make money as a UGC creator

Clipping and UGC go hand-in-hand.

You actually see user-generated content (UGC) every single day without knowing it’s UGC. If you’ve seen a review of a product, service, or anything else on TikTok, it’s UGC.

And, it can pay a lot.

Take AJ Banks, for example. While he’s not a student, his story is similar, working a 9-5 at Walmart, but having the ambition to do so much more.

Well, doing UGC for Whop helped him make enough in 40 days to buy a Tesla. And, he’s not even an influencer!

Many brands use Whop’s Content Rewards, paying students like you the big bucks to create UGC for TikTok, Reels, Twitter, and so on.

What you’ll need: A Whop account and the dedication to post daily.
Earning potential: Some UGC deals on Whop are paying up to $30 per 1k views. AJ Banks earned $21.7k in just 40 days. So, again, the potential here is huge.

Find UGC content rewards

3. Make money with affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is a tried-and-tested side hustle that any student can try. All you have to do is get affiliated with companies, products, or whops, and create content to funnel consumers to these.

Then, you share these links in any kind of online publication, like your social media, newsletters, podcasts, or articles.

To make money with affiliate marketing, you don't necessarily need a large audience. You can build a loyal but small following and start earning from the get-go with the help of Whop Affiliates.

What you’ll need: Depending on your approach, a skill (like video editing or copywriting) will be a big plus. Besides that, you’ll just have to spend some time each day uploading content.
Earning potential: Affiliate marketing can be a huge moneymaker if done right. You can start slow and get commissions per sign-up, usually in the 15%-20% range.

4. Sell an online course

whop course

Online courses are an equally great side hustle, and you don't need to be an expert to create a course.

Whether you have a keen interest in online trading, a knack for knitting, or great makeup skills, you can turn your hobby and skillset into an online course.

And, the best thing is that you can sell your course directly through Whop.

What you’ll need: The only thing you’ll really need is the time to create your course. A 1-hour module will take around a month to create and publish for reference.
Earning potential: Sky’s the limit here. A course around a lucrative skill, like copywriting, can be sold for at least $50. So, if you can sell it to 100 people, that’s an easy $5k.

5. Start a podcast

Starting a podcast around student-related topics, like productivity or time management, can be a great way to make some money on the side.

To make money with a podcast you can sell merch, get sponsorships, and create a paid VIP community for your podcast.

What you’ll need: You’ll need some good sound equipment. So, a good mic, some basic editing skills, and a set of tools, like recording and editing software.
Earning potential: Podcasts can net you quite a lot of money. When you start out and get your first few viewers, you won’t make more than $1k per month. But that can go up to tens of thousands if you manage to get a large loyal following.

6. Start a blog

blog

What about a student blog?

Blogs can net you some good money from ad revenue, sponsored posts, or affiliate links. You just need to consistently post on your blog, and it can be about anything you’re fond of.

What you’ll need: A domain, web hosting, and some good writing chops. You’ll also have to spend 1-2 hours each day working on your posts and managing the blog.
Earning potential: Blogs can quickly bring in $1k-$2k/month. The only caveat is that you’ll have to post for a few months or a year before you start getting some good traffic.

7. Create a paid newsletter

Newsletters kinda combine podcasts and blogs. You create a small community (mailing list) and send out weekly emails on a topic you like.

It can be anything from student hacks to studying tips; it’s up to you.

To make money with your newsletter you can use affiliate links, sponsorships, paid ads, and a VIP edition for paid subscribers.

What you’ll need: Some form of mailing software, some good writing skills, and, preferably, social media accounts to bring in subscribers.
Earning potential: When you start out, you won’t make much from newsletters unless you put it behind a paywall. If you do so, you can price it at around $10/month, meaning you only need 100 subscribers to make $1k each month. You can also get sponsorship deals, which will net you some good money.

8. Sell stock photos

Any photographers out there? Start taking some pictures and selling them to stock photo platforms, like Shutterstock.

Maybe it’s a nice landscape or an interesting car, but it can really be anything. And you’ll get royalties from every photo you post.

Take Jade, for example. She just liked taking photos on her iPhone and decided to start uploading them to stock photo platforms.

Now, she earns $20k+ per month and has her own course where she sells all her knowledge on making money with photos.

captured by jade

What you’ll need: A good camera and some photo editing skills are enough. The more time you spend outside, the more picture-worthy scenery you’ll find.
Earning potential: Stock photos are generally not the best moneymakers, yes. But once you take a photo and upload it on one of the stock photo platforms, you’ll get royalties as long as it stays up. So, you can earn some pretty good passive income down the line.

9. Make money testing apps and video games

Here’s another one of old side hustles. Right before I got into writing, I was doing video game testing for AAA titles through crowdsourcing platforms. You can do the same thing for mobile apps and websites.

You essentially play or browse around a specific level/page and give some feedback. Some of the platforms that worked for me and are still active today are PlaytestCloud, Game Tester, and UserTesting.

What you’ll need: Just a phone/laptop and an hour or two each week.
Earning potential: On most platforms, I was making close to $25/hr. The rates going around seem to be the same, so expect to make around $20-$30/hr.

10. Try prompt engineering

Honestly, getting in on AI right now is still a pretty good idea, and prompt engineering is a great starting point. You’ll essentially have to understand how LLMs like ChatGPT process information and create/refine prompts to get a better response out of them.

Of course, the potential here is much larger. As you learn more about AI, you can start using it to help you out with pretty much every single side hustle I’ve mentioned above.

What you’ll need: Besides a bit of time, I’d say some analytical skills and the drive to actually learn about AI.
Earning potential: There’s a lot of money to be made with AI in general. The main thing you’re earning here is knowledge that’ll help you save a bunch of time. 

11. Take paid online surveys

Here’s the first-ever side hustle I did in my early teens: surveys.

Surveys are an active side hustle, but they’re usually so mindless that you can essentially do them “passively”. You just find a survey platform, create an account, answer questions, and get paid.

Some of the best survey apps that still pay out well include:

  1. Prolific 
  2. Swagbucks 
  3. Freecash
  4. InboxDollars

What you’ll need: Just an hour each day to participate in these surveys. You don't usually need to complete many surveys to justify spending any more time.
Earning potential: I wasn’t earning much back when I did these, but you can probably make a few bucks from each, or around $200 per month. 

Academic side hustles for grade-A students

12. Online tutoring

Online tutoring

Online English tutoring was one of the first real side hustles I did as a student. And you can do it too if you’re proficient in a language other than English.

Today, it’s much easier to find platforms to tutor online or ones that’ll automatically connect you with students. Some great examples include Cambly and Preply, with the latter hosting tutors for all popular languages.

You can also tutor on your own terms with Whop by creating a whop to host and sell your online tutoring services.

What you’ll need: Nothing more than a couple of hours a day and a laptop. If you have a whiteboard or some learning cards, that’s a big plus, and you can charge more.
Earning potential: I was making close to $10/hr back as an online tutor. If you teach a specific subject that’s more difficult than English and you source your students, you could take your rates up to $40/hr.

13. Student coaching

Here’s one that you should try out ASAP. Instead of coaching a subject or becoming a life coach, try out student coaching. You can help out students with their admission interviews, studies, etc. 

Create a whop for your student coaching community. Add the chat app so your students can talk to each other (and you), the forums app to share key information, and the livestream app for live coaching sessions.

Daniyal is doing something very similar to this with OC Mentors, which is a mix between mentoring and coaching.

daniyal

What you’ll need: Some time to coach your students and a lot of experience in what you’ll be helping with.
Earning potential: While you can do this for free, you can charge as much as you would for online coaching, so around $50/hr for 1:1 coaching or $50 a week for group coaching.

14. Sell your class notes

Here’s another side gig I did during my time in college: note selling.

While this can be a passive way to earn some money, you can take it a step further and sell enriched notes for more money.

Essentially, instead of just selling general notes from classes, add your own examples or maybe provide some explanations for parts that might be difficult. 

What you’ll need: Some time to take notes during classes and an hour or two afterward to enrich these. Maybe invest in a nice multi-colored pen set to make these look fancy.
Earning potential: I was selling each day’s notes for a couple of coffees, which was pretty low but passive. If you take the extra step and enrich your notes, you could sell them for around $5-$10 for each page.

15. Sell study guides

Similar to note selling, you could sell your study guides. Studying well is a skill, and if you’ve found tricks to study each subject, you can sell that knowledge for a good buck.

Use Canva or Notion to create and package up your study guides so that you can easily share them. Create once, sell over and over again.

What you’ll need: Creating study guides will require some time, as you’ll have to come up with a unique framework for each subject. But that’s basically it.
Earning potential: How much you earn depends on how practical these guides will be. If you were one of the 10 students who passed a particular class, you could sell a guide for that class for $10-$20 easily.

16. Sell study planners

study planner

Now, what’s a study guide without a study planner? If you’ve got some graphic design skills, consider making and selling study planners. Again, use Notion or Canva to make these.

You can sell any type of digital product on Whop — study notes, study planners, and study guides included. All you have to do is create your whop, upload your digital product, and start selling.

Planner Mastery Kit on Whop is a bundle of digital planners that anyone can buy for $27. This seller has packaged together a business planner, ADHD planner, student planner and a reading journal.

digital planners

What you’ll need: Just some good graphic design skills and an hour each day to work on your unique planners.
Earning potential: As with guides, you have to make these planners stand out so that you can sell them for the big bucks. You can do that by creating personalized ones or selling general ones according to the current trends.

How to create and sell a digital planner, a step-by-step guide

17. Edit student essays

If you don't want to sell notes or guides but you still want to take advantage of your academic skills, consider essay editing.

All you do is go through the essays of your schoolmates, edit them so they’re more presentable, and get paid.

What you’ll need: Time and writing skills. That’s it
Earning potential: Much like writing, you have to start low and slow, so, at first, you’ll earn close to $20/hr. But, as you get better, you can start charging closer to the $50/hr mark.

Freelance jobs and creative gigs for students

18. Freelance web development

Got some great web development skills? Become a freelance web developer.

Start by creating a portfolio of your projects, and then move on to client work through platforms like Upwork or Fiverr.

What you’ll need: Some great web development skills, a bunch of time to build up your portfolio, and a lot of effort overall. This is a small business, after all.
Earning potential: When you’re starting out, expect to make around $40-$50/hr. But, within just a couple of years, you can get that up to $100/hr.

19. Freelance writing

how to make money writing

Now, I’m definitely biased, but freelance writing is one of the best side hustles you can do as a student.

There are tons of different routes you can take. You can become a content writer or a copywriter, like yours truly, or go down the essay-writing path.

Either way, you must build your portfolio before you can start getting some client work.

Whop is a great place to host your portfolio, as you can also chat with potential clients, host a live video call, and take payments, all from within your whop.

What you’ll need: Some pretty good writing chops and a bit of creativity will be more than enough to start. Obviously, you’ll also need to set aside a few hours a day to work on this if you want to make some good money.
Earning potential: A good writer with little experience can earn about $15-$20/hr when starting. But, as long as you consistently scale and offer more premium services, that number can go up to $50-$90/hr within just a couple of years.

20. Make money with online coaching

Ever wanted to become an online coach? It’s one of the most versatile side hustles for students, as you can be a coach for anything.

Fitness, school, studying, you name it. The more unique the niche, the more you can charge. With Whop you can create your own whop and sell your coaching services.

Alexis Mai has a whop for her online group coaching academy, Her Last Call. Members of Her Last Call get access to a sales training course plus weekly live coaching calls with Alexis.

Membership costs $49 a month, and with 1,245 members at the time of writing, Alexis' coaching whop brings in over $60,000 a month.

her last call

What you’ll need: A lot of knowledge and experience on the topics you’ll be helping with. 
Earning potential: Coaching can become a full-time gig pretty easily. As a side hustle, you can start charging $50/hr.

21. Offer graphic design services

graphic design services

Any art majors out there? You should definitely give graphic design a try. You can sell your services online and get paid per commission, like a logo. You’ll need to build a portfolio first so you can showcase your work to potential customers.

You can do a few for free to start, or charge a smaller amount to get more clients in the beginning. And it’ll be a perfect way to boost your portfolio, too.

What you’ll need: Some graphic design software will be necessary. Then, you just need to outline how much time you’re willing to spend each week.
Earning potential: Most graphic designers can make around $70-$80/hr. When starting out, you’ll usually be closer to the $40-$50/hr range.

22. Get paid to translate

Let’s go over one more of my former side hustles: translating. As long as you know a language pair in high demand, like English to Spanish or English to Arabic, and vice versa, you can get some pretty steady work.

You can look for work as a translator on freelance platforms like Fiverr or Upwork. But there are also translation-focused platforms, including ProZ.com and Gengo, both of which I've used in the past.

As you build experience, you might even be able to score a gig with a translation company.

What you’ll need: Knowing an extra language is a must. The more fluent you are in each language, the faster you’ll be able to get the translations done.
Earning potential: Translators can make anywhere from $25/hr early on to $100+/hr for obscure language pairs.

23. Become a transcriber

typewriter graphic

Transcriptions were one of my favorite side hustles, as I did them on micro-task platforms.

All you do is listen to an audio file and type out what you hear. Sometimes, you’ll need to follow specific formats, but you’ll get paid more to do that.

Some of the transcriptions platforms that I used and are still around are Rev, TranscribeMe, and Scribie, so check them out. Or, start offering your transcription services as a freelancer through Upwork and Fiverr.

What you’ll need: A fast typing speed. Time-wise, transcription tasks are pretty sporadic, so you’ll only spend a few hours each month.
Earning potential: Early on, you can average around $20/hr if you type at a good speed. This can go up to $30-$40 as you get more familiar with the craft.

24. Find paid social media management work

I’m not the biggest fan of social media management, but there’s no doubt there’s some good money to be made there.

You essentially handle everything around a social media account besides content creation (most of the time). So, you reply to threads, post the content, reply to DMs, that sort of stuff.

The process of finding social media management gigs is basically the same as with any other freelance service. Start off cheap or free, build a couple of use cases, and start selling your services on marketplaces like Upwork, or even Whop.

What you’ll need: Some good management skills and to be social media savvy. As a student, you probably already check both boxes.
Earning potential: Social media managers can charge monthly retainers of at least $1k. When you start out, that equates to around $30/hr. You can easily take that up to $50 or even $100 per hour once you’ve done it for a couple of accounts.

25. Become a virtual assistant

Becoming a virtual assistant was a pretty easy side hustle back in the late 2010s. Most of the basic tasks are now done by AI, but the demand is still high for those who can effectively use AI tools.

Your job is to take care of any tasks an assistant would do, like data entry, appointment management, and so on.

You can start selling your services as a VA through marketplaces, like Upwork, or even start a VA business on Whop.

What you’ll need: You have to be knowledgeable in a lot of different tasks. A Jack or Jill of all trades. And it’s a pretty time-consuming side hustle, so you might need to spend a few hours a day.
Earning potential: Virtual assistants can earn around $20-$30/hr. When you’re starting out, this will be a bit lower, closer to the $10-$15 range.

How to start your virtual assistant business on Whop

Local and in-person side hustles for students

26. Pet sitting

Got anyone around your neighborhood who’s going on vacation soon? Offer them your pet-sitting services.

Ask your neighbors and friends to keep you in mind if they ever want a pet sitter. You can even give out flyers to local shops to gain more traffic.

And don’t forget to sign up on a bunch of different pet sitting apps and websites, like Rover and TrustedHousesitters, and start building your profile with positive customer reviews.

What you’ll need: Just some time each day/week and basic pet care knowledge. Since you’re pet sitting for someone else, they’ll provide everything you need.
Earning potential: You won’t make thousands, but you can easily make $50-$100 as a baseline daily. 

27. Mow lawns for cash

Much like pet sitting, you can ask around your neighborhood if anyone needs help with mowing their lawns. This is pretty straightforward; you just need to do a good job, and you’ll be paid the fee you asked for.

You can start off by literally knocking on people’s doors or putting flyers in mailboxes. Once you land your first few clients, keep improving your services, and you can eventually start charging more for your work.

What you’ll need: Most of the time, homeowners will provide you with their lawnmowers, but having your own will make the job easier. 
Earning potential: If you put the time in, you can make around $200 per weekend, charging $50 per house, without sacrificing significant time from your studies.

28. Personal training work

Personal training

Are you a regular gym goer? If yes, then you should consider becoming a personal trainer.

Once you're qualified, you can work on your own terms. You don't have to train people in person — you can also offer virtual training or online workout routines. Or, you can combine this side hustle with running an online community and start an online fitness community.

That's what Alexander Ke does with his 'Bodybuilding & Biomechanics' community. A membership to this fitness community costs $57 a month or $147 for a one-time purchase.

With 410 members at the time of writing, this means if all members paid the one-time purchase, Alex has made over $60,000. If his members pay monthly, then he's netting a cool $23,370 per month.

bodybuilding whop

What you’ll need: Training and qualifications as a personal trainer. If you don't have these, then think about making money as a fitness influencer or selling your workout routines rather than training people.
Earning potential: You can sell your plans for as low as $10 or as high as $50-$60. Generic ones go for lower, while personalized workout routines can be more lucrative. As a PT, you can make from $50-$100 per hour.

29. Work as a lifeguard

Strong swimmer? Consider becoming a lifeguard. Your job will be to make sure everyone’s safe around the pool, sea, lake, etc. Plain and simple, albeit a bit stressful.

To start, you’ll need to check the guidelines for being a lifeguard where you live, and you’ll definitely need proper certification, which is different for pools and open waters. Either way, you’ll need to undertake a lifeguard course and pass the exam.

What you’ll need: A lifeguard certificate and training is mandatory. Other than that, you’ll have to set aside some time to do this. And don’t forget to put on some sunscreen if it’s an outdoor body of water.
Earning potential: Lifeguards usually earn around $15/hr. It’s not much, but it's a great side hustle in the summer.

30. House cleaning side hustle

cleaning business

House cleaning is a pretty good side gig to do every now and then to make a few bucks. You can start by going around the neighborhood and asking if anyone needs some help with house cleaning.

It’s a pretty good workout as well if you ask me. You can also do house cleaning through apps, like Tidy and AllBetter.

What you’ll need: While you’ll usually have all the equipment you need, some essential cleaning supplies are good to have. You can charge extra if you bring your own equipment.
Earning potential: Most house cleaners make $15-$20/hr. If you have your own equipment, you can take that up to $25 or $30 per hour.

How to start a home cleaning business.

31. Car detailing

Car detailing is basically car cleaning mixed with minor fixes in the interior and exterior of a car.

Typically, you’ll clean a car inside and out, but you might have to polish the exterior.

And, if you want to be a bit extra, you can start selling car accessories, just like Jayson, whose brand, Invalid, is bringing in $500k+ per year.

invalid car cleaning

What you’ll need: You’ll need quite a lot of equipment for a full car detail, but you can start with a high-pressure washer, vacuum cleaner, and some microfiber cloths.
Earning potential: Considering that each car might take 3-4 hours to work on and you can earn roughly $200 from each one, you’ll make around $50-$70/hr.

32. Food delivery work

Delivery driving is a side hustle most have heard of. It’s a pretty good moneymaker if you do it on the side, and all you really do is deliver food to nearby areas.

You can ask your local restaurants if they’re looking for a delivery driver, but realistically your best shot is dedicated food delivery platforms. These differ in each country, with the most popular ones in the US being DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub.

What you’ll need: Any form of transport. A bike, car, or scooter will be the best. I’ll add that you can get a GoPro to film your trips and post them as Shorts, as that can be an extra side hustle.
Earning potential: The money you’ll make varies on the days and times you deliver. Usually, you’ll make around $20/hr, but that can go up to $30/hr during peak hours or late nights.

33. Rideshare driver

If you like driving around, consider becoming a rideshare driver for Uber or other similar apps.

You could tell other students that you do this and drive them around to keep the money flow consistent — especially as the designated driver.

What you’ll need: A car is a must here. You’ll also need to be a good driver to make the most out of it.
Earning potential: As with food delivery, you’ll usually make around $20-$30/hr. 

34. Find paid mystery shopper jobs

A rather odd but fun side hustle you can try out is becoming a mystery shopper.

You basically sign up on mystery shopper platforms (like Ipsos or Market Force) and are prompted to shop specific products at certain stores and get paid for them (as well as a reimbursement for the items you buy, of course).

What you’ll need: Just a bit of time every week. If you have big stores, like Walmart, close to you, that’s also a big plus.
Earning potential: As a mystery shopper, you’ll earn close to $20/hr. You’re paid around $10-$20 for every store you visit.

35. Rent out your car for cash

Here’s another side hustle that’s a bit more passive but an equally good moneymaker: renting out your car.

My top tip here might sound a bit weird, but hear me out: I’d suggest you try out another side hustle to make a few grand and reinvest that in a used car that you’ll rent out.

That way, you won’t have to worry about it getting any significant damage as much. 

What you’ll need: A car and a trustworthy network of renters.
Earning potential: There’s really no upper limit here, as long as your car is running. You can rent it out for $100 a day (a profit of around $50 if you pay for gas and cleaning), which is pretty good for doing nearly nothing.

36. Pick up odd jobs and tasks

A side hustle you can do in your free time is taking some odd jobs or tasks. This was technically my first “profitable” side hustle, doing micro-tasks for crowdsourcing platforms.

It’s repetitive, yes. But it’s a good way to make some money on the side. And, there are plenty of platforms for these online, like TaskRabbit, Clickworker, Airtasker, Amazon MTurk, and more

What you’ll need: Time’s the only thing you need here. You can spend an hour or two each day doing these as they come.
Earning potential: I was earning around $15/hr when I started doing these a while back. Usually, you won’t make more than $25-$30/hr, but the tasks are pretty mundane, so you hammer them out quickly.

Small business ideas and product-based hustles for students

37. Make a paid student community

Making a paid student community is hands down the best side hustle you can do as a student. This online group will be exclusively for students, where you can exchange studying tips, time-management advice, productivity hacks, and so on.

The great thing is that you can host this group right here, on Whop, and it’ll only take a few minutes to set up.

You won't be the first one to do it. There are plenty of student communities on here, including The Frat Fund. The name says it all, honestly.

frat fund

What you’ll need: Setting up and managing the community will take some time, but it won’t cost anything if you host it on Whop. Then, all you have to do is bring people on board and get them to pay a fee to the community.
Earning potential: You can make quite a lot from such a community. For example, you can set up a worldwide group of students, charging $5 per month for access. All you’ll need is 100 students to join, and you’re already making $500 every month.

Create your whop

38. Become a community manager

Okay, maybe launching your own student community is not something you’re interested in. So, what you could try instead is to be a community manager. 

Tons of communities out there need someone to moderate and manage everything, so this could be your chance to really break into the market. And, once you get the hang of it, you can also start your own community on Whop.

What you’ll need: Great management skills (which, as a student, you already have) and some time to dedicate to managing the community.
Earning potential: Some large communities will pay the bucks, considering how much time you’ll be saving them. So, you’re easily looking at $3k-$4k per month

39. Sell handmade jewelry

This is mostly for any of you already doing this as a hobby, as learning from the start can be rather tedious. All you need to do is craft the jewelry and sell it on platforms like Etsy.

What you’ll need: Jewelry-making tools and a bunch of time to work on each piece. Plus, you’ll need to find a good platform to sell these on and have a starting capital to get your first materials.
Earning potential: Since you’re actually making these and are sourcing high-quality materials, you can sell each piece for a pretty high price, in the $100+ region.

40. Resell goods for profit

Reselling can be hugely profitable — if done well.

The gist here is basically find deals (on marketplaces like eBay), buy low, find buyers, sell for profit, whether it is vintage clothes, Jordans, sports cards, LEGOs, virtual skins, or anything in between.

What you’ll need: A bunch of time to find the deals and some money to secure these. I’d say, start by investing 3-4 hours a day and around $400-$500.
Earning potential: If you just resell, you can make a pretty good amount on the side, around $500-$1000/month. Of course, you can use all the knowledge you gain to build a course or a community, which will net you much more.

How to get started reselling: A beginner's guide to making money as a reseller

How to balance your side hustle with your studies

Those were quite a few side hustles, right? You might want to try a few different ones, or maybe just one caught your eye.

Whatever you choose, you need to balance the side hustle with your studies. I’ve got some quick tips that helped me while I was still studying.

Prioritize tasks

Setting priorities will be difficult, but it’s the only way to keep a balance. If you’ve got mid-terms coming up, focus on studying and don’t spend as much time on your side hustle.

In contrast, when you’re on summer break, you can go all out as long as you set aside time for some R&R.

Set hard deadlines 

Hard deadlines are a big one. If you only work on your side gig from Friday to Monday, set smaller deadlines for each task throughout these few days so that you can have it ready ahead of time.

If you have a task due on Monday and have to spend 10 hours on the day to get it done, that’s a ticket straight to burnout.

Start slow

Remember that until you start making some good money, your studies are your #1 priority. So, start off slow.

Don’t go all-in on one side hustle; it might just not work. Once the first payments start coming in, you can put in more time and effort without neglecting your studies.

Set your limits

Limits are a huge thing for any side hustle to work alongside your studies. This goes hand in hand with everything I’ve noted above, in that you shouldn’t focus on your side hustle too much at first; you should only work on it on designated days. 

Set out a couple of hours a day, maybe 4-5 hours on designated days you don’t study. Otherwise, you might find yourself studying for 6-7 hours a day and working on your side hustles for 4-5 hours, which is going to lead to a bad case of burnout.

Starting a side hustle? Launch it with Whop

These 40 side hustles are just the beginning. If you’re serious about making money online as a student, there’s one tool that can help you launch fast: Whop.

Whop is the all-in-one platform to start and grow your digital side hustle — whether you’re selling content, offering services, or building a paid community.

Thousands of creators (including students) are already making money through Whop, and the best part? It’s 100% free to start, with sales fees as low as 0%.

Here’s what you can do with Whop:

  • Online courses & tutoring
  • Coaching & consulting services
  • Clipping & content creation
  • Ebooks & study guides
  • Digital planners & templates
  • Paid communities & chat groups
  • Newsletters
  • Affiliate products

If you want a side hustle you can launch from your laptop — no inventory, no upfront costs — Whop makes it stupid-easy.

Ready to earn? Sign up to Whop and launch your side hustle in under an hour.

Start your side hustle with Whop

Student side hustle FAQs

What are the best online side hustles for students?

Some of the best online side hustles for students include:

  • Creating and selling digital products (like planners, study guides, or courses)
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Freelance writing or design
  • Online tutoring
  • Starting a podcast, blog, or newsletter
    Online gigs are flexible, can scale fast, and often require little to no upfront investment — perfect for students with busy schedules.

How can I make money as a student without a job?

You don’t need a traditional part-time job to earn money in school. Try:

  • Selling notes or study guides
  • Doing microtasks or surveys
  • Renting out your stuff (car, camera, textbooks)
  • Starting a digital side hustle on platforms like Whop
  • Becoming a content creator or UGC producer
    The key is picking something that works with your time and skills.

What’s the easiest side hustle to start as a student?

Some of the easiest student side hustles to get started with are:

  • Clipping content (super beginner-friendly)
  • Taking surveys
  • Pet sitting or dog walking
  • Selling digital downloads
  • Online tutoring

How do I balance side hustles with school?

Start slow, set clear time blocks, and always prioritize your academics. Choose side hustles with flexible hours and minimal pressure (like freelancing, content creation, or digital sales). Read our full breakdown on balancing school and side gigs above.

What side hustles pay the most for students?

High-paying side hustles include:

  • Freelance web development or design
  • Coaching and consulting
  • Creating paid communities
  • Affiliate marketing with recurring commissions
  • Online course creation

These may take more time upfront, but the earning potential is huge — especially if you build a strong portfolio or following.

Do I need experience to start a side hustle in college?

Not at all! Many of the ideas on our list are beginner-friendly, with no experience needed. Platforms like Whop also offer tools, courses, and templates to help you launch your hustle even if you’re starting from scratch.