Why can't most of these be OSS? Why does everything have to be a side project that needs to make money?
Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2026 – Show and tell
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Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2026 – Show and tell
#92Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2026 – Show and tell
#93Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2026 – Show and tell
#94https://www.roomantic.ai/ Launched this a few months ago for free to gather user feedback and iterate, but didn’t get much traction. Finally got burned out last week and decided to charge $10 for it, thinking I could at least justify abandoning it once my downloads went to zero. But was pleasantly surprised to see I still get 3-5 downloads a day. And these paying users are much more likely to actually provide feedbac…
I wonder if that’s causing any issues with potential customers.
Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2026 – Show and tell
#95Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2026 – Show and tell
#96Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2026 – Show and tell
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's clever and entertaining. Have you actually enjoyed any of them?
I do actually enjoy them and they’re pretty much all in my wheel house. Well I enjoy them when I have plenty of time to sit down with a cup of coffee and study. A few times I’ve been under basically deadline pressure to get the exams passed in time to qualify for the bonus, that’s not fun at all. Over about 20 certification attempts I’ve only failed one :) (they’re all pass/fail).
Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2026 – Show and tell
#98I had an idea in 2008 to make a website that emailed your friends when you die. I built https://www.deadmansswitch.net/ in a weekend, and it's been making money since. Around $1k/mo now.
Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2026 – Show and tell
#99Last month I made about $1200 US from a tabletop roleplaying game I published around five years ago. This is an outlier and only because the game is about Greek mythology which is at the front of everyone's minds due to the release of the Odyssey. Most months I make $100–200 US, which is nice but not enough to let me quit my day job any time soon.