Remote side hustles you can actually start from anywhere

Key takeaways (TL;DR)

These 7 remote side hustles are for people who want to work from anywhere, without fake promises or heavy investments:

• Product Testing
• Canva Designer
• Research Writer
• Ghostwriter
• Accountability Buddy
• Voice Over Artist
• Private Group with a Mood

They all take time and honesty, but each can turn into something real if you stick with it.

Introduction

Everyone talks about the same side hustles like freelancing, selling courses, dropshipping, etc. But most of that stuff is crowded, expensive to start or simply doesn't work in my opinion.

If you want something you can actually do from your laptop, at your own pace, and maybe even enjoy, this list is for you. These 7 remote side hustles aren't about getting rich fast, they're about using your skills, your voice, and your time in ways that actually make sense.

So without wasting more time, I'll dive into these simple side hustle ideas that you can do from anywhere in the world.

Product Testing

You don't need to hunt for gigs on job platforms. Instead, look for startups around the world that have recently been funded, these companies are often in chaos, and things are constantly breaking. That's where you come in as a product tester. Your job: test dashboards, features, workflows, and overall usability.

Start your search on these three platforms:

• ProductHunt
• IndieHackers
• YCombinator

Once you land a client, you can streamline your process, document your experience, and offer the same services to other startups in similar spaces. Over time, this can turn into a repeatable, scalable side hustle.

A simple way to pitch: send a short, honest message saying you can test their product, share feedback, and help them spot what's broken. Most startups are happy to hear from someone willing to dive in.

Canva Designer

Canva design is everywhere, but here's a way to make it feel different.

Don't be the one who says "I can make logos." Focus on individuals, creators, or niche audiences rather than businesses.

Offer complete packages where you design, print, and sell posters, cards or letters. Think moodboards, digital zines, or emotional story-based characters.

Don't sell the design, sell the emotions.

You can use Pinterest and Instagram for marketing. Link them to your online store where your customers can directly purchase the design.

If you're planning to sell your own digital designs or prints, here's a simple guide on the best platforms to sell digital products

You can either build your own website and handle the printing and shipping yourself, or partner with a print-on-demand service.

For additional marketing you can use YouTube to create videos around your products. Start a character series where each poster has a short story of its own and people can purchase the entire story and have it shipped to them.

Research Writer

Writing online is still one of the easiest and most remote-friendly side hustles out there. Being a writer is probably everyone's dream so I had to include it in my article.

But, I am not going to suggest starting a blog and just posting whatever comes to your mind. You need to work hard to find a niche that you can write about.

There are so many untouched niches waiting for good writers usually ignored by big bloggers. I'll try to list a few of them below:

• Minimalism
• Nostalgia
• Human Psychology
• Storytelling
• Urban Gardening
• Microphotography
• Birdwatching
• Coin/Stamp Collecting
• Miniature Building
• Knitting
• Lawn Care
• Cartography

You can also go ultra-specific in existing markets like food recipes and then dive into a specific dish like Pasta. Try to come up with different types of dishes and become an expert in it.

You can either monetize it by writing for others or starting your own blog and teach what you write about. Some of the ideas above can also be turned into individual books and sold on platforms like Amazon KDP.

Ghostwriter

This one is similar to doing research work, but ghostwriting is purely focused on writing for others without any recognition.

Like Canva designing, ghostwriting can also get saturated depending on what niche you target. So I'd suggest avoiding business blogs or company articles. Instead, go niche and personal. Write something very specific like:

• Writing letters for others
• Creative monologues for content creators
• Fan fiction for small communities (find gigs via Reddit)
• Creative writing for authors
• Memoirs for elderly people
• Spiritual writings

You'll mostly write for people who have stories but not enough time or confidence to put them into words like aspiring authors, private clients, community leaders, and sometimes just ordinary people with something heavy to say.

However, you'll need a strong marketing technique to find/attract these people. You'll have to reach out to them individually, show your work, and let your skills speak for you.

You probably need a good portfolio to show to your potential clients and if you are a beginner then I have an ultimate guide to build a portfolio from scratch.

Once you build trust and a few samples, you can charge anywhere from $50-$250 per project, depending on length and depth.

Accountability Buddy

I think this is going to be the simplest way to earn some money on the side. Being an accountability buddy would probably only require you to be present emotionally. You don't need any special skills.

You don't need to fix people, just stay consistent and honest with them. Sometimes all you need to do is lend a listening ear to someone.

There can be two versions of this

1. Accountability buddy - where you check in with people on a daily basis. Especially creators or freelancers like yourself who work remotely and could need some help in staying consistent.
2. Emotional listener - Someone who can simply listen to rants, talks for like 15 minutes a day. You just listen and validate them. And if needed correct them.

You can use tools like Discord, Zoom, Telegram to stay connected with such people.

Best places to find clients would be Reddit of course.

Pro tip: if you start getting some success on Reddit, you can also set up a blog, instagram, pinterest or an aesthetic YouTube channel where you can talk to a wider audience. This can help bring more paying clients to you in the long run.

But don't expect to be rich from this. You'll probably earn like $10-15/week per client and you can spend anywhere from 15-30 minutes per client per week. I'd only suggest give as much time as you can to them since this side hustle requires your clients to trust you to keep coming back.

Building trust is probably going to be the toughest challenge.

Voice over artist

I'm not sure if this has been covered by the social media. But there has been a growing trend of audio books lately. So if you think you have a good voice then start working as a voice artist. This is also extremely remote friendly.

You can do gigs for advertisements, YouTube summaries or even soft natural reads that are completely raw.

You can look for authors who primarily publish ebooks and offer to convert their ebooks to audio versions.

I agree with the rise in AI models and growing efficiency in text to speech models it can be difficult to find clients who need voice over artists. But if your voice is really good and natural then people can't ignore you for so long.

You'll need to put in some work like setting up some platforms where you can showcase your audio. You can do this by starting an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc.

At first you'll definitely need to talk about certain topics build an audience, then use that platform as your portfolio to pitch to potential clients about offering your beautiful voice.

Once set up, this can bring big bucks, anywhere from $200-1000 per podcast depending upon the length, words and intensity required.

Private Group with a Certain Mood

If you have a good amount of time on your hands then this might be a great side hustle for you. Just like the accountability buddy section but in a community.

The goal isn't to sell or teach something, it is to build a feeling.

A private Discord for people who work late nights, digital loners club, letters we'll never send, etc. Find a mood you can relate to and build a community around it.

It is going to take a good amount of time to build it from the ground up and may not pay for a very long time. But if you can create this mood and find like minded people then you can monetize in a few ways like starting a simple patreon/ko-fi tiers to maintain the community.

You can charge $1-3 a month and your patrons get a specific badge in the Discord server.

You don't specifically need to offer any exclusive service but it's just a good will coming from your patrons and the community support to keep it alive.

Occasionally you can offer one off merch like mugs, tshirts, posters, etc to support your little club or earn some extra cash for yourself.

But like I said, it also depends on trust so doing heavy marketing for your products and services can actually do more harm than good. Your goal should be to help your club, grow the club and keep it alive. If you do these then eventually you can earn money in one way or another.

Final thoughts

Most side hustles online sound too shiny. But the truth is, anything real takes time.

These ideas won't make you rich overnight, but they can help you earn quietly while building something that actually feels yours.

Whether you're testing products, writing stories, or just listening to strangers talk, you're trading your time for something meaningful.

Start small, keep showing up, and if it feels right, don't stop.

If you're still unsure how much to charge once you start landing clients, you can check this guide next: Freelancer Rates in India