The cost of living isn’t getting any cheaper, and for a lot of people a single income simply doesn’t stretch as far as it used to. That’s pushed more of us to look for ways to earn a bit extra on the side, and the good news is that you no longer need a garage full of stock or a hefty upfront investment to get going. A laptop and a decent internet connection are often all it takes.
Tech has opened up dozens of these opportunities, many of which you can start from your kitchen table this evening. Some lean on skills you might already have, while others can be picked up as you go. Many people also spend time researching online opportunities such as matched betting alongside more traditional digital side hustles before deciding which approach best suits their skills and interests. The trick is finding something that fits around your existing commitments and actually holds your interest, because the side hustles people stick with tend to be the ones they don’t dread doing after a long day.
In this post we’ll walk through four tech based side hustles worth considering. We’ll look at coding and programming, becoming a virtual assistant, print on demand dropshipping, and testing apps and games. Each one comes with its own learning curve and earning potential, so whether you’re after a quick bit of pocket money or the foundations of something bigger, there should be something here to suit.
Coding and Programming
If you can code, you’re sitting on one of the most sought after skills going. UK businesses are always on the hunt for developers, and plenty of them would rather bring someone in for a one off job than take on a full-time hire. That’s where you come in.
The freelance route is the quickest way to start earning. Sites like PeoplePerHour, Upwork and Fiverr connect you with clients who need everything from bug fixing to a brand new website built from scratch. Rates vary with experience, but UK coders can reasonably charge somewhere between £25 and £75 an hour once they’ve got a few jobs under their belt.
There’s more to it than freelancing, mind. You could build simple websites for local businesses that can’t stretch to an agency, teach beginners through one to one tutoring, or create your own digital products like WordPress plugins and Chrome extensions that earn while you sleep. Automating tedious admin tasks for small firms is another tidy earner.
Virtual Assistant
Becoming a virtual assistant is one of the cheapest side hustles to get off the ground. There’s no qualification to chase and no office to rent. A laptop and a steady internet connection will do, and you can be up and running by the weekend.
The work itself covers a lot of ground. You might be managing someone’s inbox and diary, handling customer queries, scheduling appointments, or running a company’s social media accounts. Businesses started outsourcing these jobs during the pandemic when they realised plenty of tasks didn’t need a body in the office, and the demand hasn’t slowed since.
What makes it appealing is the flexibility. You pick the jobs that fit your skills and the hours that fit your life, which suits anyone juggling a full-time role or fitting work around the kids. Pay tends to start around £10 to £15 an hour for basic admin, climbing towards £40 or more once you’ve built a reputation and some specialist skills.
Get yourself onto Fiverr, PeoplePerHour or Upwork to find your first clients, and treat each job as a chance to win repeat work.
Print on demand dropshipping
If you’ve ever fancied running your own online shop but balked at the thought of storing boxes of stock in the spare room, print on demand dropshipping solves that problem neatly. You create the designs, and a third party prints and ships each item only once a customer has actually bought it. No bulk orders, no inventory, no upfront gamble on products that might never sell.
The idea is simple enough. You come up with designs for t-shirts, mugs, tote bags, phone cases or whatever suits your audience, then list them in your shop. When an order comes in, your provider prints the item and sends it straight to the buyer with your branding on it. Services like Printify, Printful and Gelato handle the heavy lifting and plug into platforms such as Shopify and Etsy, and most let you start for free, charging only when a sale is made.
The margins are tighter than holding your own stock, and you give up some control over fulfillment, but the low risk makes it a sensible place to test ideas. Do your research, find a niche, and let the designs do the talking.
Testing Apps and Games
Before any app or game reaches the public, someone has to put it through its paces and flag anything that doesn’t work as it should. That someone could be you. Companies pay real money for testers who can spot bugs, confusing menus and clunky designs before paying customers ever do, and you can do the lot from your sofa.
There’s not much standing between you and your first gig. A reasonably up to date laptop, a mobile or tablet, and a microphone for talking through your thoughts will cover most jobs. The skill that matters most is a sharp eye, since you’ll be picking up on small glitches and spelling slips that developers have stopped noticing. Being able to explain a fault clearly comes a close second.
Platforms like UserTesting, PlaytestCloud and Testbirds act as the middlemen, matching you with jobs and handling the payments. Short tests of ten to twenty minutes typically pay £8 to £15, while longer moderated sessions on a video call can fetch £40 an hour or more.
It won’t make you rich, but it’s an easy one to slot into spare evenings. Sign up to a few platforms, build a solid reputation, and the invites tend to follow.