I enjoy Android development, but I've never really made much at as a hobby. I was thinking of starting iOS development or maybe Alexa Skills development. In your opinion, what's the most profitable programming hobby currently? Thanks in advance.
Companies are making big bucks making apps for small business but they are relatively expensive. Write one app that is useful for one business type,you need to focus, and reuse the same over and over again using the original as a template. Charge a one time fee and an on going maintenance fee. So MAYBE, 5000 for the app plus 750 yearly fee. You'll need to define what you will do for the 750 otherwise you will end up working forever on one app modification.<p>You'll need two abilities, being able to write the app and to sell your app services to businesses.
Besides pump and dump altcoins on PancakeSwap? Flipping websites using online marketplaces. Especially if you can develop a private network of buyers. On iOS for example, I've heard of like basic functionality TikTok clones that took 6 weeks to build going for $500k. Best of luck ;)
Consulting your programming knowledge out is a very high ROI per hour (more so than coding).<p>Some people build plugins for ecosystems like Wordpress and that's pretty profitable.<p>I have a Slack marketplace app that is ramen profitable.<p>Write code to solve a problem and charge for it is probably the best way to monetize your programming hobby.
Recently on the front page here, "The Modern Trap of Turning Hobbies Into Hustles" : <a href="https://repeller.com/trap-of-turning-hobbies-into-hustles/" rel="nofollow">https://repeller.com/trap-of-turning-hobbies-into-hustles/</a>
This may sound crazy but developing a simple professional website for small businesses. Auto Mechanics, small manufacturers, mom and pop shops, etc. If you could do it for lets say $500-$1000 and charge like $20 for small changes, I feel like you could do well for yourself. A lot of these types of operations don't have the skills nor the resources to create an online presence (at least a decent one). An older guy I know who had a small Tool and Die shop was complaining to me that everyone he contacted wanted over $5k and said he just couldn't afford it.
I've never made any real money as a hobby. Maybe $50 building a website for someone as a kid. I tried with an android app but decided just to make it free since it wasn't making money.<p>Excluding the rare possibility of making a top tier app, I feel like it's a more lucrative option to do yardwork. I'm a beekeeper and would guess I can average $500/yr with that.
Make small tools and programs that easily chain together through command line or web APIs. Put those on GitHub or self host and put a little donation link somewhere at the bottom. Anything more complex than free software and donations stops becoming a hobby and starts becoming a business. Code what you want, release whenever, and if you have something worthwhile people will let you know
If you want to work on machine learning problems, you can try your luck at winning AICrowd/Kaggle competitions. Some have cash prizes:<p><a href="https://www.aicrowd.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.aicrowd.com/</a>
<a href="https://www.kaggle.com/competitions" rel="nofollow">https://www.kaggle.com/competitions</a>
Ah sounds like you are looking at it other way round !! Enjoy whatever your hobby is , desktop, web, batch , cron job, api make it a beast and if its good it might sell. If you start a new hobby ( ahem !!) for profit its not a hobby.
depending on your skills (obv)... You can try your hand at security bounties.<p>Sites like <a href="https://www.hackerone.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.hackerone.com/</a> is basically companies daring you to break their stuff, for money.