6 ms·

Ideas to make money as solo dev

30 points by rafbgarcia 2y ago

Hey ya! What struggles do y'all face that could be solved by a product that could be maintained by a solo dev? Not trying to make huge amounts of money, just want to build something that actually helps people, and could eventually give some money in return. I've been thinking about a unified API for file uploads for companies to easily integrate with S3, Azure blob, etc. using a single API. They could use multiple providers, migrate from one cloud to another, resumable uploads, maybe get insights about savings if they migrate to other providers, etc. I felt the need for something like that while developing a serverless product since functions have memory limitations and can't upload big files. What do y'all think, could that be useful? I appreciate any other insights or ideas. Thank you!

brudgers 2y ago
A website for a small local business is the simplest thing that might work. No API. No S3, Azure blub, etc. No Serverless. Just HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Good luck.
nmrtn 2y ago
I highly recommend checking out this podcast with Peter Levels : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFtjKbXKqbg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFtjKbXKqbg With the rise of AI and automation tools, solo developers now have more 'brain' and 'production power' at their disposal, allowing them to tackle more complex projects without needing a big team. It might give you some insights into how to approach your project and how to leverage AI tools to enhance your development process. Definitely worth a listen!
proc0 2y ago
It's hard to say whether that would work without knowing the landscape of market in that area, like if there's a need and if there are competitors. It sounds like what you're suggestion could be a full blown app with accounts that link to AWS? Or would it be a tool lib you pay to download? I'm trying to look for ideas that won't require marketing or anything other than just making the software. It seems something like a donation based business model or a small fee perpetual license, and it would be for end users, but so far it seems those are extremely rare.
- visox 2y ago
  hm you would need to use tools like google trends and some keyword research to find something people are already looking for naturally but isnt really there. That may work.
- rafbgarcia 2y ago
  There are some services out there like https://uploadcare.com/ https://uploadcare.com/ and https://www.filestack.com/ https://www.filestack.com/ but they offer lots of stuff and are not cheap. My idea is to have an APIaaS and offer simpler ways to integrate with one or multiple providers. Files could be saved to the customers' accounts. Features could include transformations, compression, conversion, spend management and insights, etc. Not sure if that sounds appealing to others but I would have used such a service on my previous serverless project if there was such a service with reasonable pricing.
purple-leafy 2y ago
I think more solo developers should build chrome extensions. Why? Because as a full-time developer wanting to do a side-project, you need to build what you can in a short time frame, with minimal maintenance, and without worrying about hosting costs. And you actually want users and minimal marketing. These are the smallest true solo dev projects you can build I think. I’ve built 10 in the last year (mostly for fun) monetised one, and have a flagship extension I’ve just released that I expect to do well [0] Ask me anything about chrome extension development! Though that being said, API-only is also a good gig. [0] - https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/design-copilot/hgaldpfdgmmojgdlaiapgndeicgdbldp https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/design-copilot/hgal...
- mraza007 2y ago
  I have been looking into building chrome extensions lately. I have a question and my question is how do you make money out of this and how do you market your extension
  - runjake 2y ago
    You build a web service that makes money and offer a browser extension that hooks into that service. As far as I can tell, there’s not a good way to monetize a browser extension directly.
- rafbgarcia 2y ago
  Thanks for sharing! Speaking about chrome extensions reminded me of this nice project I saw recently, in case you find useful!
  - purple-leafy 2y ago
    Can you link it here?
    - rafbgarcia 2y ago
      Sorry I'm dumb: https://github.com/PlasmoHQ/plasmo https://github.com/PlasmoHQ/plasmo
achempion 2y ago
If you want to make money as a solo dev, the best risk-adjusted way is to find a job or do contracting. You'll build something that actually helps people (== they will pay for your time).
jsamqiu 2y ago
As far as I know, currently, independent developers are developing the most tool products. Tool products have relatively simple functions, focusing on solving a problem, and the cost of building them will be lower. For example, calendar software, color picker, sharing card, extracting HTML plug-ins, etc. These may be websites, apps and Chrome plug-ins, most of which do not require high-cost servers and paid third-party services. AI is very popular now. For example, I will focus on some applications in this field, and I hope to get some opportunities in this regard. Back to your personal topic, there are many people who use similar ideas to solve similar problems. There are many manufacturers of the same type of function, and there are many interfaces. Then someone connects and implements these interfaces and provides a unified interface to the outside world. Then provide API services for others to use, so as to make profits. Therefore, this path is definitely feasible. But you have to consider how big the market is, and the most difficult thing is, after you make it, how to get more and more people to use your product through promotion, marketing and other means.
leros 2y ago
Find a niche. Something small where you're not competing with larger companies. Like you said, you don't need to make much money as an individual so there are lots of areas that companies won't touch. I personally steer away from developer oriented products. Developers are hard to market to and there is often lots of competition of other solo devs.

30 points by rafbgarcia 2y ago

brudgers 2y ago

A website for a small local business is the simplest thing that might work. No API. No S3, Azure blub, etc. No Serverless. Just HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Good luck.

nmrtn 2y ago

I highly recommend checking out this podcast with Peter Levels : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFtjKbXKqbg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFtjKbXKqbg With the rise of AI and automation tools, solo developers now have more 'brain' and 'production power' at their disposal, allowing them to tackle more complex projects without needing a big team. It might give you some insights into how to approach your project and how to leverage AI tools to enhance your development process. Definitely worth a listen!

proc0 2y ago

It's hard to say whether that would work without knowing the landscape of market in that area, like if there's a need and if there are competitors. It sounds like what you're suggestion could be a full blown app with accounts that link to AWS? Or would it be a tool lib you pay to download? I'm trying to look for ideas that won't require marketing or anything other than just making the software. It seems something like a donation based business model or a small fee perpetual license, and it would be for end users, but so far it seems those are extremely rare.

visox 2y ago
hm you would need to use tools like google trends and some keyword research to find something people are already looking for naturally but isnt really there. That may work.
rafbgarcia 2y ago
There are some services out there like https://uploadcare.com/ https://uploadcare.com/ and https://www.filestack.com/ https://www.filestack.com/ but they offer lots of stuff and are not cheap. My idea is to have an APIaaS and offer simpler ways to integrate with one or multiple providers. Files could be saved to the customers' accounts. Features could include transformations, compression, conversion, spend management and insights, etc. Not sure if that sounds appealing to others but I would have used such a service on my previous serverless project if there was such a service with reasonable pricing.

purple-leafy 2y ago

I think more solo developers should build chrome extensions. Why? Because as a full-time developer wanting to do a side-project, you need to build what you can in a short time frame, with minimal maintenance, and without worrying about hosting costs. And you actually want users and minimal marketing. These are the smallest true solo dev projects you can build I think. I’ve built 10 in the last year (mostly for fun) monetised one, and have a flagship extension I’ve just released that I expect to do well [0] Ask me anything about chrome extension development! Though that being said, API-only is also a good gig. [0] - https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/design-copilot/hgaldpfdgmmojgdlaiapgndeicgdbldp https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/design-copilot/hgal...

mraza007 2y ago
I have been looking into building chrome extensions lately. I have a question and my question is how do you make money out of this and how do you market your extension
- runjake 2y ago
  You build a web service that makes money and offer a browser extension that hooks into that service. As far as I can tell, there’s not a good way to monetize a browser extension directly.
rafbgarcia 2y ago
Thanks for sharing! Speaking about chrome extensions reminded me of this nice project I saw recently, in case you find useful!
- purple-leafy 2y ago
  Can you link it here?
  - rafbgarcia 2y ago
    Sorry I'm dumb: https://github.com/PlasmoHQ/plasmo https://github.com/PlasmoHQ/plasmo

achempion 2y ago

If you want to make money as a solo dev, the best risk-adjusted way is to find a job or do contracting. You'll build something that actually helps people (== they will pay for your time).

jsamqiu 2y ago

As far as I know, currently, independent developers are developing the most tool products. Tool products have relatively simple functions, focusing on solving a problem, and the cost of building them will be lower. For example, calendar software, color picker, sharing card, extracting HTML plug-ins, etc. These may be websites, apps and Chrome plug-ins, most of which do not require high-cost servers and paid third-party services. AI is very popular now. For example, I will focus on some applications in this field, and I hope to get some opportunities in this regard. Back to your personal topic, there are many people who use similar ideas to solve similar problems. There are many manufacturers of the same type of function, and there are many interfaces. Then someone connects and implements these interfaces and provides a unified interface to the outside world. Then provide API services for others to use, so as to make profits. Therefore, this path is definitely feasible. But you have to consider how big the market is, and the most difficult thing is, after you make it, how to get more and more people to use your product through promotion, marketing and other means.

leros 2y ago

Find a niche. Something small where you're not competing with larger companies. Like you said, you don't need to make much money as an individual so there are lots of areas that companies won't touch. I personally steer away from developer oriented products. Developers are hard to market to and there is often lots of competition of other solo devs.