13 Side Hustles for Teachers (Including the Best Online Options)


Teaching matters — and yet it drains you fast. Juggling lesson plans, feedback, inbox floods, and unseen effort leaves little room for extra jobs that demand too much.
That’s why online side hustles stand out. You can work on your own schedule and make money from home without piling on more stress. This article covers practical, teacher-friendly side hustles that fit your schedule, use your skills, and bring in extra cash.
These side jobs for teachers are based on what you already know. Getting started feels familiar – less like learning something new, more like extending your classroom skills into a paid format.
That familiarity matters. When the foundation is already yours, consistency comes easier, even during busy school weeks.
Tutoring feels like a quiet extension of teaching. Instead of a full classroom, you work one-on-one or in small groups, helping students grasp topics they’re struggling with.
You can tutor subjects such as:
Choose reliable platforms like Wyzant, Tutor.com, or Preply, as they’ll support you in mastering educational technology and allow you to gain financial stability via a second job for teachers. You can expect to earn $20-$50 per hour, depending on the subject and your experience.
Test prep often pays more. SAT, ACT, IB, AP, and state exam prep attracts students willing to pay higher rates – especially if you offer structured resources or teach during school breaks.
The biggest advantage? Flexibility.
You can:
For teachers used to managing groups all day, tutoring often feels lighter – focused teaching without the admin overload.
If you’ve ever built a worksheet, rubric, or activity that actually worked, you already have something valuable. Educational resources are becoming go-to purchases for other teachers to help in their jobs. Instead of starting from scratch, many prefer buying what’s proven to work.
Selling lesson plans, teaching strategies, and educational printables online means putting work out there once, then watching it find buyers over time. Sites such as Teachers Pay Teachers, or Etsy make this possible, while some people opt for basic Shopify setups instead.
Popular digital products include:
You can repurpose materials you’ve already created, upload them once, and let other educators customize them for their classrooms.
What gives this side hustle an advantage isn’t instant payoffs but what builds quietly over time. You’re building a passive income stream, meaning you’ll earn extra money without doing any active work. Just upload the material, wait for purchases, and generate income even while you sleep.
Working from home to teach English opens doors to steady additional income, linking you with curious minds across continents. Sites such as Cambly and Preply connect tutors with people wanting talk sessions, extra educational materials, and more.
Each lesson adapts to your own hours, so you can do this side job for teachers after school or on the weekends. You can pick early mornings or evening hours if you’re in the U.S. and your students are in Europe or other continents – it’ll align perfectly for both parties.
Sessions are usually 30–60 minutes, making them easy to fit:
You can earn $10-$25 per hour, depending on where you teach and how much experience you have. It won’t make you rich, though plenty of instructors like swapping stories across cultures without tight schedules breathing down their necks.
While it won’t replace a full salary, many teachers enjoy:
If you enjoy meeting new people and want a break from traditional classroom dynamics, ESL teaching can feel refreshing – and still bring in extra income.
Educators who have experience that other teachers value often find it natural to shape that insight into an online class. Sites such as Udemy or Teachable – even personal domains – give them space to build lessons that generate passive income without much additional work.
Starter courses can earn you from a couple to a few hundred dollars, depending on your sales. You should market your courses and find clients in local communities to kickstart it.
Popular course topics include:
Though building one takes time at first – designing lessons, filming, sorting materials – it will earn you passive income and help your teaching community.
Some beginner classes bring in small cash at first, yet thoughtfully built ones tend to pay steadily after a while. Instructors who naturally break things down usually fit right into online teaching. You can create and sell online courses from anywhere at anytime for some extra money.
Sometimes educators crave work outside the classroom – something with purpose, yet nothing like grading papers or leading lectures. It’s a chance to create, decide freely, maybe even surprise themselves, and not another version of the bell schedule or curriculum maps.
Educational writing pulls teachers beyond the usual walls of classrooms, yet keeps them rooted in what they know. Some move into shaping curricula, others tweak lessons for clarity and flow. A few craft posts for tech-focused learning platforms, while some sharpen papers through careful review.
Ways teachers get started:
Your earnings depend on a lot of things in this side hustle, like the niche you pick, your experience, writing quality, and more. Expect to earn $25-$75 per hour for freelance writing side jobs. You can even become a transcriptionist if you’d like to try something new.
This side gig fits teachers who like putting words on paper while keeping control over their time. Pick jobs that suit your rhythm, slot them into your calendar, or hit pause when things get overwhelming. Those drawn to tweaking text could become a proofreader from another angle.
Some educators share daily routines through blog posts or videos online, exploring teaching methods, space setup, and student interactions, because expressing practice helps clarify thinking. Though building an audience demands patience, the process unlocks personal expression alongside potential income down the road.
Common income streams include:
Staying consistent matters most – some plan batches of content over weekends, others reshape old ideas into fresh posts, each aiming for a pace they can actually keep.
This choice fits well with teachers drawn to telling stories, exchanging ideas, or growing connections among peers. Though it won’t deliver instant results, steady effort may lead to meaningful rewards – both personal and financial – as months pass.
Those who value learning from fellow creators might find useful perspectives in books about crafting online content and earning through digital channels.
Some seasoned teachers don’t realize how much beginners can gain from what they already know. Guiding rookies, maybe over video chats or casual check-ins in tiny groups, ends up being meaningful to them and their bank account.
Topics often include:
Your pay will vary, as you can expect to get from $40 to a few hundred dollars per session, but it can quickly turn into a steady income. Everything depends on how well you structure your sessions, what valuable skills you teach, and what advice you give in terms of teaching careers.
This gig fits well alongside a teacher’s purpose – guiding people without stepping back into the school routine. And it rekindles a sense of self within the profession, something that quietly fuels resilience when exhaustion sets in.
These choices save time while keeping demands light – ideal for teachers juggling endless tasks.
Passive income apps give teachers a way to pick up spare cash while keeping their usual schedule intact. Take Honeygain – you can sell internet data with no fuss and earn without lifting a finger.
It works especially well for educators who:
Installation is fast, usually under a few minutes, leaving your routine untouched. Income isn’t large, yet enough to cover everyday expenses while adding a bit extra alongside what you already make.
Passive apps are a great way to add a few bucks to your wallet. Mixing it with other passive apps or survey sites keeps things steady, pulling money from different corners of digital hustle culture.
Some educators who enjoy creating visuals make extra income by sharing their artwork online. Those into layout work or snapping photos might upload teaching materials, prints for classrooms, or learning-focused illustrations.
Sites such as Redbubble, Etsy, and Shutterstock are great places to share these files and build this teacher side hustle. Once posted, the same design can bring money again and again.
Popular uploads include:
Design becomes doable through Canva – no prior skills needed. Earnings can be slow at first, but with the right audience, you can earn anywhere from a couple to a hundred bucks.
Self-publishing allows teachers to turn classroom resources into:
With tools such as Gumroad or Kindle Direct Publishing, selling teaching resources becomes effortless.
Some educators begin sharing tools they’ve already made – like reading trackers, journal starters, lesson planners, or drills that build specific abilities. After uploading them, those items often keep selling without needing constant updates.
Though single transactions seem tiny, they add up over time – particularly alongside passive earnings that don’t demand much upkeep. You can even write side hustle books if you’d like.
Summer pauses give educators rather large pockets of time to pull extra pay, freed from lesson plans and bells.
Summer teaching offers reliable income through:
Steady hours, steady pay, and frequent gigs run above standard classroom wages. So, teachers craving front-of-room energy while padding their earnings might find this path dependable.
Some teachers organize learning sessions around topics like reading, science projects, drawing, or storytelling. They’re often held at neighborhood hubs such as public libraries or shared spaces, and sometimes through screens from home computers.
Educators control:
Setting up takes thought, careful steps through permits or coverage, yet summer camps often bring extra money fast. Use your skills to run local reading, STEM, or even arts camps. Educators lean on what they already know, keeping lessons and timing in their own hands.
Essay grading gigs at firms such as Pearson or ETS bring in teachers when test loads spike, usually over the summer months.
This teacher side hustle usually happens from home, offers about $15 to $25 hourly, while relying on set guidelines instead of creative problem-solving. Repetition shows up often, yet the pattern stays clear – it’s well-suited for educators needing simple tasks between semesters.