How to monetize small side projects?

Question

Hey HN, what are your recommendations for "monetizing" (like in "pays its hosting bills") small side projects?I'm thinking of converters, niche tools and more, where there's not enough flesh to cut out a "pro version" and whatnot.What are your experiences with monetizing these kind of things? What works, what doesn't?

Akcium · Accepted Answer

I think that it depends on the product but I know really a lot of examples when a small app actually not just pays its hosting bills but bring a lot of revenue.
I'm myself working on http://pingr.io and struggling to find customers. But gosh, how many products like currency converter or something exist which have a lot of users and revenue.
My points:
1. If your project is useful for people some of them will use it
2. It doesn't matter if free versions exists. People by coffee in stores (cheap) and in Starbucks (expensive). People order taxi (paid), when they can use autobus (might be free or very cheap).
3. But your product should be a bit better or at least the same as others
4. Now, one crucial moment is pricing. Once I posted my product on reddit and was surprised that people started comparing my pricing to competitors, and they were complaining about it. But still. I know a guy whose prices are literally x3-x5 higher than others, while his app is not that good, and he still has ~$4000 revenue per month
BUT
Keep in mind, that if you're not going into "business way" meaning instantly paying ads/watching conversions/investing/taking risks etc, it may take a LONG time (1-3 years) to get exposure
In a nutshell: just make a good app, put pricing (average among competitors) and start talking about it everywhere for a year. If the app is good, it'll bring you money (at least there is probability)

roosgit · Answer

What I've seen some small websites do is practically sell / rent backlinks. I can imagine this having the downside of doing business with people on the internet, not getting paid.
A slightly more ethical / more profitable / safer option would be to make websites in related niches (tech reviews, for example) which are easier to monetize, and then link to those. The costs of running the free websites would be paid by the profitable website.
Apple does a somewhat similar thing. iOS and macOS are free, but they are covered by the cost of the device. Or an open source library (free) paid by a book (charging for the documentation).

giulio90 · Answer

In my case, with Android apps in store, some unobtrusive ads worked. User continues enjoy the apps and i can maintain the server without pay my own money.I think also this is an evaluation based also on what is your product and what is your target. Lot of business work is around this topic