31 Proven Ways to Make Money With a Laptop in 2025

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Something that I have become more fascinated with, and involved in, are different ways to make money with a laptop. While I love my day job, it’s not something I want to do forever, and I won’t be able to work as much if I become a stay-at-home mom in the next few years. 

So, finding ways to make money at home with a computer makes financially supporting my family both easier, and possible. Plus, I have even been able to pay off a little extra debt at the same time, thanks to these extra money makers.

Whatever your reasons for making money online, here are a few methods you can try to bring home a few extra bucks.

How to Make Money With a Laptop

It is my personal belief that no matter what your ability or skills are, or if you are unable to work a physical job, you will always be able to make real money with just a laptop, or a phone, and access to the internet. 

And, these methods are just a small list of possible ways you can make money from home with your laptop. How much money you make is partially dependent on how much time you are able and willing to commit, and the rest is on the potential of the method you use.

For example, some methods like creating a digital course, affiliate marketing, and selling digital products have an almost limitless earning potential, at least in theory. But, they will require some skill in marketing methods, and the ability to instill trust with your reader.

Related: How to Start a Profitable Blog and Make Money in 2025

Making Money as a Side Hustle

If you want to make money as a side hustle for a little extra income in your spare time, then most methods that are available won’t require a ton of time and are more flexible. 

An example of this is online surveys, which can be done any time of day for as long as you want.

With just a laptop and an internet connection, you can explore various online opportunities like freelance writing, managing social media accounts, or selling digital products. I will get into more detail on that in a minute.

Related: 23 Reliable Ways to Make $300 or More a Day

Making Money with an Online Business

Now, if you’re wanting to make money with a laptop as an online business, this will require much more time and dedication.

The time required for each method varies, but if you truly want to make money with an online business, you have to treat it as a business, not a side hustle.

This means setting aside specific times each week, or each day, where you can work on your business. Starting small, and working your way up will make the process easier, and gives you time to get your feet wet, without the overwhelm. 

Related: How to Start an Amazon FBA Business (2025 Guide)

Best Laptops for Making Money at Home

Depending on what methods you want to try will determine what kind of features you need for your laptop. If you don’t already have a laptop, there are ways to get a laptop or computer for a much lower price, including refurbished or used.

But, if you are planning on getting a new laptop anyway, I highly recommend a Macbook Air (which is what I use all the time).

If you want to do a little more research into getting a new laptop, I recommend taking a look at the best laptops for streaming, and the best budget laptops for students. 

Ways to Make Money From Your Laptop as a Side Hustle

Online Surveys

Online surveys are one of the most common methods of making extra cash online with a laptop. Different sites like Swagbucks, and User Interviews are great places to start. 

Swagbucks usually offer quick ways to get a few extra dollars each day. Meanwhile, User Interviews’ requires a little more time and effort, but offers much higher payouts.

Sometimes as much as a few hundred dollars for an hour or two.

Survey Junkie is another survey site that you can sign up for as well.

Build a Blog

There are multiple ways to make money as a blogger, including affiliate marketing, ad income, digital courses, and more.

The most popular method, affiliate marketing, is a fairly passive method, that can take some time to get established but can also make tens of thousands every month. Even up to multiple millions every year. 

Building a blog is both a great side hustle and a business as it requires dedication and time invested for it to be successful. 

You can join my free 7-day course to learn how to get started, and how you can start making money online.

Here’s some of the income I made from Amazon Affiliates as an early blogger, and you can too if this is something you are interested in. 

Virtual Assistant

There is an increasing demand for virtual assistants, and there are a variety of things you can do as a VA.

A VA is someone who is hired, typically on a freelance basis, to work a certain amount of hours weekly, or monthly, completing specific tasks. 

Many online business owners hire a VA because of the amount of time it saves them doing some of the more tedious tasks in their business.

These include going through emails, responding to social media comments, scheduling posts for social media. There are even VA’s for specific social media platforms. Pinterest is a common platform for VA’s. 

Stock Investing

​The stock market is a great place to make some money on the side. While it is very passive, for the most part, it does require a bit of an upfront investment, and can involve a lot of adjustments on your taxes to avoid the capital gains taxes. 

However, there is also a lot of risk involved with the stock market as there is no guarantee that you will make money, and the potential that it can be lost. With high risk, there is high reward.

The best way to avoid this loss though, is to maintain a diversified portfolio of high and low risk investments. This maintains a more consistent and steady gain over a long period of time.

You can start investing in stocks with SoFi invest. This is what I use, and I love how easy their app makes investing. Plus, I can even schedule an investment for when the market opens again.

Related: How Often Should I Invest in Stocks (5 high-yield dividends)

Online Tutoring

Whether you are currently a student, or you are already teaching on a specific subject, offering online tutoring is a great way to make more money doing something you already do well.

Plus, if you are offering tutoring while you are a college student, the hours are often fairly flexible, making it a perfect choice for the busy student. Some platforms pay better than others, so take a look at a few of them before you decide to invest a lot of time to one specific platform. 

Related: 27 Best Online Tutoring Jobs to Make Money at Home in 2025

Build an App

This might seem like an interesting idea for some, and may not be for the non tech-savvy individuals. However, some apps, especially apps that use methods like affiliate marketing and ad income, can make a decent amount of money if enough users have downloaded the app.

Additionally, if you offer a membership or subscription based service through your app, this is an even better way to make extra cash since the income is essentially all yours.

Provide Translation Services

Translation services is something that is needed in many businesses and fields, and is a great option for those who are bilingual or multilingual. 

Ideally, you will be able to fluently speak both languages, and will be knowledgeable about any field or business related jargon and language that is used. 

​There were times when I worked in the hospital where we had certain patients who spoke a very limited amount of English, so we had to use a service that provided translation for us. These translators had to have some knowledge of the terms, or understand how to translate it, for the patient. 

Transcriptionist

Similar to translation services, a transcriptionist will need to have good communication skills. What this type of work entails, is listening to recorded audio, and putting that information down into a written format. 

The most common field that a transcriptionist will work is in the medical field. Many physicians and busy professionals don’t have the time to write down their notes and usually have someone else transcribe that information for them. This usually allows them to see more patients or clients in a day. 

Sell Stock Photos

If you enjoy taking pictures and have an eye for design, then selling stock photos may be a great passive income option for you. 

There are many platforms where you can sell stock photos, and not all will offer the same rate. Additionally, you may not be able to share the same photo on multiple platforms, depending on their terms of service.

However, if your photos are popular and in-demand, then trying to sell stock photos for some additional pasive income can be a fun option. 

Deposit photos is a great place to start. But, there are other platforms like Shutterstock that are also pretty well known.

Social Media Manager

A social media manager helps creators develop a strategy to increase their following, oversee different campaigns, create content, review and analyze metrics, and do some networking. 

This can typically be done on a freelance basis, but may require some working each day, depending on the client. Social media managers are likely going to have multiple clients, and may only work a small amount each month for their clients.

While you don’t have to have any experience, taking a short online course can help you get your first few clients.

Social Media Influencer

A social media influencer is someone who has established credibility in a specific niche, industry, or field. In short, they hold influence over their audience and can use this influence to market products and services.

A common way for influencers to make money is with affiliate marketing as they often may review products. In some cases, companies or businesses may reach out to influencers to offer free products in exchange for reviews and recommendations to their audience.

Sell Digital Printables on Etsy

​Digital printables has become an increasingly popular way for many stay at home moms to make extra cash. Even if you work full-time, creating digital printables is a great way to make some passive income by working just a few more hours each week, or month. 

Some of the most successful printable sellers on Etsy are making a full-time income, and have even made millions in sales. These printables can include birthday cards, party games, educational printouts and much more.

You can sign up for an Etsy shop today to get 40 Free Listings.

Invest in Real Estate

Real estate is a fairly reliable source of income as the cost of living remains fairly consistent from month to month. However, you don’t actually have to buy physical property to invest in real estate. 

You can invest in REITs and online real estate platforms that connect you to a real estate project. Typically you will need at least $1,000-$2,000 to invest in an REIT (real estate investment trust).

Sell Canva Templates

Canva is a very popular free digital design platform that offers tons of amazing features at no cost. You can create great-looking designs for pamphlets, brochures, business cards, birthday cards, and basically anything you can think of. 

It has become more common to sell Canva templates for social media posts. Pinterest and Instagram are the more common platforms that users want templates for.

You really don’t need any design experience since Canva is so easy to use, and offers lots of inspirational content for creating with.

Open a free Canva account to start creating some really cool designs you can start selling.

Gaming/ Twitch Streamer

If you’re a gamer, a popular way to make money doing something you love, is to become a Twitch streamer. The most common ways to make money as a Twitch streamer include Bits and Subscriptions, ads, and Sponsorships.

Some of the top streamers are making anywhere from $100,000 to $200,000 per month with Twitch. A great alternative, or supplement to streaming on Twitch is to create YouTube videos. You can repurpose much of your live-streamed content as YouTube content. 

Data Entry

The role of a data entry clerk is exactly what it sounds like. They enter data for companies or businesses and make sure that information is up to date in their computer system.

This data can include personal information from customers, financial records, inventory, stock and more. Attention to detail and accuracy are both very important for this job.

While it doesn’t require much experience or extra skills, proficient typing, and decent vision will make the required tasks a bit easier. 

Ways to Make Money From Your Laptop with an Online Business

Even though there are hundreds of ways you can make money from your online business, the best thing you can do to start earning a steady income with your laptop is to build a passive income stream.

Passive income is what will allow you to spend more time focusing on the important things in your business. Such as improving your digital products, marketing to a new audience, scheduling an email broadcast for next week.

You know. All the stuff that really moves the needle in your business. 

So, what are some ways that you can build passive income?

This can be anything you do in your business that allows you to do a lot of the work today, and earn money on that effort days, weeks, months, and even years down the road. 

Essentially, you don’t have to trade time for money. Passive income is what will allow you to spend more time with your loved ones, and do more of the things you enjoy.

Not all of these methods are passive, though, they can often be modified to work as passive income streams.

Offer Online Coaching

Online coaching is another great method for content creators to offer helpful content to their audience. The coaching services you offer can be very unique and target a specific problem, or you can be a little more broad.

An example of an online coach is a mindset coach, a finance coach, a business coach, and really anything you think someone may want coaching services for.

With this method of business, you can choose to offer one-on-one coaching or group coaching. Plus, you can essentially charge whatever you feel is the right price for your services and time.

Create an Online Course

Creating online courses is a method that many entrepreneurs and online business owners have adopted to diversify their income. 

With these online courses, you have the ability to teach a niche audience how to solve a specific problem or achieve a specific result. You become a trusted source when it comes to helping your audience, and online courses are great places to network with other creators and entrepreneurs.

You can get started with a Thrivecart account and pay a one-time lifetime fee with access to their course platform, and sales funnel platform. 

You can also use other platforms as well to sell your courses like Teachable or Kajabi.

Build an Etsy Shop

Having an Etsy shop can mean selling any number of things from digital products to physical products, and even connecting your shop to a dropshipping style of business with something like Printify.

You can create digital printables that you sell as many times as you want, and build up your shop slowly over time until you’re making a full-time income or more.

There are also some great tools that you can use to help with keyword research like eRank. 

You can get 40 free listings in your Etsy shop by signing up through this link. Open an Etsy shop.

Build and Develop Websites

Building a website can certainly become a full-time job since it can take a bit of time to get a website up and running. 

The difference between developing a website, and designing a website, is that the development requires knowledge of coding and how to maintain a website. 

It is important to have knowledge of web development, but you will also want to have some knowledge of search engine optimization, and how to make a website mobile-friendly as well.

You don’t need a degree to work as a web developer, however, experience and skills are pretty important. You can start with your own website, earn certifications, and start with simpler clients to build up a portfolio.

Start a Podcast

Podcasting has become a more popular method for content creators to reach their audience. It is a great place to nurture your audience as well, which makes selling products and services to them much easier too.

You don’t need much to start a podcast, but having a good microphone is the first place you’ll want to start. While you can use your laptop’s microphone, they are typically very poor. 

Many professional podcasters, like Amy Porterfield recommend the Blue Yeti.

Related: 22 Best Podcasts All Entrepreneurs Need in 2025

YouTube Channel

This is one of the more tech-savvy ways you can earn money with an online business. No matter the content you produce, there is always the potential to earn money from the ad income alone. 

But, there is much more potential to use affiliate marketing, selling your own products, and more. 

You can repurpose other content from your blog, you can do review videos of products or services, and you can even record yourself playing video games.

This is also a great place to publish your podcast content as well, to increase your audience reach, and get some additional income from YouTube views.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is one of the best methods for people to make money online as it can be used in almost any business model. And, there is almost limitless potential in how much you can earn as an affiliate marketer.

The principle of affiliate marketing is that you as an affiliate marketer, are promoting a product that you trust to your audience. When they buy through your link, or using your code, you can earn a commission from that affiliate program.

Affiliate marketing can be used just about anywhere, from a blog post, a podcast episode, a YouTube video, social media posts, a digital course, an E-book, and essentially anywhere you can drop a link.

However, with affiliate marketing, it is required by law to always disclose that your links or codes are for an affiliate and that you may receive a commission, prior to the presentation of the link or code.

Create an E-book

Selling an E-book can be a great way to fund your business. Many bloggers and entrepreneurs have started making their own E-books that are specific to their niche and selling them similarly to selling a course.

An E-book doesn’t have to be a novel by any means. Creating a book that covers a specific topic well can be an excellent way to make some extra cash, and build some authority in your area of expertise.

Afterall, not everyone in your niche will have an E-book for people to buy. You can easily create an E-book using a Google Doc, or by using the free version of Canva.

Build a Print on Demand Store

Similar to Etsy, you can create a shop by designing products that can be shared on Etsy. What this means, is that you simply design the product, market the product, and connect your Printify and Etsy shop, or a Shopify store. 

Once your Printify store is connected to your Etsy shop, the customer will purchase a product that connects to your Printify, who will then create the product and fulfill the shipping and handling. So, you can get a decent profit from the product since the fulfillment costs are pretty low.

You can open a free Printify, and an Etsy shop.

Dropshipping

Dropshipping is something that has become an increasingly popular way to make money online. 

All you need is an online store, through somewhere like Shopify, Printify, or Etsy, and when a customer purchases a product, the supplier or manufacturer sends it directly to the customer.

With a dropshipping business, you don’t have to worry about the fulfillment of the product since the supplier does the work for you. You only need to design the product, and put it on your store.

Freelance Writing

Freelance writing is a great option for anyone who enjoys a little bit of creativity. There is a need for freelance writers in just about any field and industry. So, you’re not limited to one specific are.

You can start freelancing by marketing yourself on Facebook, Fiverr, or Upwork. Make sure you list your skills, knowledge base, and what your typical writing style is like. 

You may even want to include a link to your portfolio of work if you have previous clients. This is a good time to show off your skills.

You can also become an affiliate of Fiverr and make additional money when you recommend other freelancers.

Bookkeeper

A bookkeeper is someone who helps businesses, or individuals track their finances from different accounts, transactions, and other reports. 

As a bookkeeper, you will help these businesses monitor their financial situation and ensure cashflows are in good shape. 

Though a degree is not necessary, even some undergraduate education is beneficial and may improve your salary. On-the-job training for working with software, databases, and spreadsheets is often provided.

You will want to have an eye for detail, some skills in math, and some knowledge of finances. But you don’t have to be an expert by any means.

Host Webinars

Webinars are not just great places to collect emails for email marketing. These can also be paid webinars that cover a specific problem your audience may struggle with. 

You can host webinars in exclusive Facebook groups, or use a paid platform like Easy Webinar. Sometimes, these can even be automated to replay as often as you want. 

And, they can be used to help sell digital courses, coaching services, or collect people on your email list that you can market to later. 

Travel Agent

A travel agent is someone who helps travelers plan out upcoming trips. These can be group trips, family vacations, work trips, and more. 

A travel agent makes the travel process much smoother for people and takes out all the hassle and fuss of figuring out flights, hotels, and budgets. 

While the internet has made the process of planning travel much easier, travel agents are still important and can be very helpful to businesses, or busy people who may not have the time to sit down and plan everything out.

In some cases, as a travel agent, you may even have the opportunity to offer better prices to your travelers, and maybe even use affiliate marketing as well.

Web Design

Web design is something you will need to have some experience with. Knowledge of coding and website design is not an absolute necessity, since these skills are usually left up to website developers.

You may not need any degrees, but an eye for design is important and will boost your portfolio. If you’ve created web pages for your blogging website, you may be able to offer some freelance work to other bloggers as an additional stream of income for your blogging efforts. 

Final Thoughts on How to Make Money With a Laptop

Making money from home is such a great option for many people. Not just as a side hustle, but even to make a full-time income. 

Even if you aren’t the most tech-savvy individual, there are plenty of online jobs you can find that will fit just about any skill set.

Rather than waiting to start making some extra money, it’s always best to start now. And, work your way up as you build your skills, and start building a business. 

Related Articles

• How to Start a Profitable Blog and Make Money in 2025
• 27 Best Online Tutoring Jobs to Make Money at Home in 2025
• How to Become a Freelance Grant Writer and Make $35 an Hour
• 23 Reliable Ways to Make $300 or More a Day

How to Make Money With a Laptop