Most devs look for money in all the same places. GitHub for clout. Upwork for scraps. LinkedIn for layoffs. And maybe a Substack side hustle that gets 17 subscribers and 1 pity love from your ex-colleague.
There are platforms — relatively unknown, ignored, or misunderstood — where developers are pulling in $5K/month or more quietly.
CodeCanyon
Everyone wants to build a SaaS. Few want to build a downloadable product. And yet, developers are still pulling $3K–$20K/month selling
- jQuery plugins
- WordPress themes
- JS calculators
- Web-based productivity tools
One dev sells a simple invoice generator with PDF export. Hasn’t touched it in 2 years. It still brings in ~$7K/month. It’s not sexy. But it solves boring problems that people pay for.
Gumroad
Gumroad isn’t just for artists and Notion templates. There’s a small but powerful slice of devs selling:
- React Native boilerplates
- Python scraping templates
- Web3 smart contract kits
- AI prompt packs + starter scripts
One Python dev sells a course + code bundle teaching data scraping and automation for freelancers. $79. And sold 3000 times.
Toptal
The place you thought was “too competitive.” Here’s the thing: if you treat it like Upwork, you’ll fail. But if you treat it like a boutique sales funnel — where you position yourself as a problem-solver, not a keyboard monkey — you can close gigs at $100–$200/hr. The top 5% there aren’t geniuses. They’re just calm, confident, and speak like consultants. Not code robots.
Lemon Squeezy
You won’t see many devs brag about this combo. But it’s working — especially for
- Niche APIs (e.g., mock data, sentiment analysis, website screenshots)
- Dev utilities (CLI tools, desktop widgets, scripts)
- AI wrappers or automation helpers
One indie dev sells a Midjourney-to-Notion auto uploader — built it in a weekend. Charges $5/mo. ~1,400 users. That’s $7K/month for ~100 hours of initial work.
Patreon+ Private Discords
This is the weirdest one — and one of the most underrated. Some devs are building micro-communities on Patreon, where subscribers get access to:
- Code drops
- Exclusive tutorials
- Private scripts or bots
- Members-only plugins
But here’s the kicker: they’re not just selling content — they’re selling access. One guy runs a “Dark Tools for SEO” Discord and charges $25/mo on Patreon. He shares scripts that automate backlinks, scrapers, and AI tools. 800+ members.
If you want to make serious income as a dev without burning out on client work or chasing startup hype:
- Go small.
- Go niche.
- Go productized
- Go weird if you have to.
You’re not trying to go viral. You’re trying to get paid.
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