Programming is a growing career but you might be looking for new ways to supplement your existing income. In this article, we are going to discuss 7 unique side hustles for front end web developers ( but can be used by any programmers).


As a developer, you actually have an upper hand because your skills take dedication and time to build and you can use them in various places.

1. Sell Plugins & Themes

You could build plugins for CMS like WordPress, Shopify Developer Marketplace and other platforms to help people save time. (maybe even make money). You would list these plugins & themes for sale on sites like Shopify or CodeCanyon.

Try to build tools that will help people either save time, that could be connecting with another platform or moving data or build tools that help them make more money by converting your clients. Your tools should eventually become an important part of their business. For ideas, go to marketplaces and see what’s selling, maybe build better version of that for a smaller price to get your initial customers then you can have upsells on your own end so that you can make even more money.

Once you build these plugins and themes, you just need to either dedicate some time once a week to help with support or better yet, build tutorials for your tools in most comprehensive way so your plugins are straight forward to use. In worst case, I recommend hiring a VA to help with support.

2. Sell API

Application programming interface (API) is a way 2 different system can communicate and work with each-other. As a developer you could build a tool and then charge people to use end point of that tool as an API.

The end points don’t always have to be your own original APIs, You could build API that connects 2 or more of the existing platforms or services.

3. JVZOO & ClickBank

You could also build digital tools and products then sell them as “SAAS” Software as a service, so that you can earn a recurring income or launch these products on sites like ClickBank or JVZOO.

4. Kids Coding

Most of their parents want their kids to learn some form of coding because they understand that that’s a valuable skill to have for their kids. You could also start teaching kids basic coding. You could find customers from Facebook marketplace or craigslist.

5. Freelancing

You could also freelance on weekends on sites like Upwork or Freelancer.com . Freelancing is an amazing way for developers to make an extra side income with the skill that they already have.

Freelancing has been proven to be one of the best ways to make extra money for web developers.

If you already have a job then you could focus on only high paying projects so you make the most out of your time instead of doing small gigs.

6. Fiverr

Fiverr is a marketplace where people hire professionals to get short term work done. This is good for you if you don’t want to be committed to long term projects but want to make an extra income.

Don’t expect to make a lot of money from Fiverr but this is a good choice if you want to do repetitive work. For example, Installing WordPress, or Installing FB pixels that people don’t have knowledge of but these are fairy easy task for developers.

7. Bug Bounty

You could start finding bugs and issues with big tech FANG company ( Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google ) and they will reward you money in return.

Bug bounty however takes a long time because you really don’t know what you are looking for and you are trying to find backdoors and issues with product that might not really have one and you might also be competing with other hackers who are also trying to make extra buck from bug bounty.

➡️ Find Other Side Hustle Ideas

Overall, making extra money as a programmer will not be that difficult for you since your skill is already valued and appreciated. You can utilize your existing skill to bring in more supplemental income.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can Coding be a side hustle?

Coding can be a good side hustle but you will need to actually learn how to code before you can do any “side hustles“. Learning coding is like learning a new Langauge, it takes a long time to learn how to solve common problems.

What are side hustles for software engineers?

Some popular side hustles for software engineers:

• Bug Bounty
• Selling Plugins and Tools
• Selling API
• Freelancing

How can i make extra money as a programer?

As a programmer, you have a valuable skill that not a lot of people have so, you can use it to earn a side income. You can start freelancing which is the most obvious one or better yet start a tech company and be your own boss, which might make you the most money.