I Tried 7 Different AI Side Hustles in 30 Days

30 days ago, I gave myself a challenge. A challenge to test and try my knowledge about AI and various skills. The challenge was to try 7 different AI-powered side hustles in just 30 days and see which ones actually makes me money.

At the beginning, I thought all these seven methods will make money, no matter more or less. But this challenge gave a completely different result than I expected. I mean, with everyone online talking about making cash with AI, I figured I’d be rolling in dollars by week two.

Spoiler: I wasn’t.

Some of these hustles were surprisingly fun to work on to be honest, whereas some were absolute pain. Some of these ideas made next to nothing whereas one made over $1,200 while putting barely any effort to it.

So, if you’re looking to start a side hustle with AI and wondering what’s worth your time and what’s not, then make sure to stick with me till the end. I tracked every hour I worked, every dollar I made, and even rated how difficult the work was (on a scale of 1 to 5). So, let’s break it all down one-by-one!

1. AI Coloring Books on KDP

• Hours Spent: 14
• Money Made: $8.97
• Pain Level: 4/5

This one sounded super easy in the beginning. Just use AI to create fun coloring pages and upload them to Amazon KDP and wait for sales to come. But after uploading over 1,200 designs and making just 3 salesit felt like running a marathon with no finish line.

The keyword stuffing process was endless. You basically have to trick Amazon’s search system to even get noticed. Sure, it’s technically “passive income,” but getting eyeballs on your product is the most difficult part. If you’ve got tons of patience, it might be worth trying, but don’t expect to make quick cash with it.

2. Faceless TikTok Motivation Channel

• Hours Spent: 21
• Money Made: $0.00
• Pain Level: 5/5

This one absolutely hurts. I made 92 short motivational TikToks using AI voiceovers and viral quotes. Everything looked clean, and I thought atleast a few would pop off, but Nope. Not even a single video received more than 1,000 views.

Instead I got 3 copyright strikeswhich limited my reach. And with no proper way of monetization, the hours I spent editing, uploading, and optimizing those videos felt wasted.

Faceless content sounds easy, but platform rules and copyright guidelines will eat you alive. So, proceed with caution.

3. Selling AI Stock Photos on Adobe Stock

• Hours Spent: 8
• Money Made: $2.40
• Pain Level: 3/5

This method needs some effort in the beginning and later on it could bring passive income. That’s exactly what I thought. I used AI tools to generate absolute banger stock images, then uploaded them to Adobe Stock.

But the thing is, stock sites pay cents per download. Like literally $0.02 sometimes. And unless your images goes viral, it’s a long game.

It’s low effort, but also low return. Great as a background hustle, not as a main one. But the thing is, the images I posted are still getting sales, even if the amount is low. So, I’m making a few cents per day from it most of the days and some days absolutely none.

4. SaaS Chatbot Copywriting

• Hours Spent: 11
• Money Made: $145
• Pain Level: 3/5

Now this is where the fun starts. Writing chatbot scripts for SaaS companies (using ChatGPT as a helper) paid off quickly than I expected.

I landed one gig on Upwork and got paid $145. The only downside about this hustle is the struggle to find clients. As a beginner in the field, getting a client is quite tough. I consider myself lucky on landing one – so quickly.

Still, if you enjoy writing and know how to pitch, this can be a great side hustle with decent income potential.

5. AI Voice-Overs on Fiverr

• Hours Spent: 5
• Money Made: $30
• Pain Level: 2/5

This one was one of the simplest one to work on. I created a Fiverr gig offering voice-overs using Eleven Labs (AI Text-to-Speech Software). And somehow, within a few days, I got a order for $30.

I tried it for an entire month, but got only a single order. Not even a fly other than that.

Fiverr can be really unpredictable. If you’re consistent and improve your gig’s SEO, you could build momentum and land clients. But don’t hope to get success overnight.

6. Selling Notion Template Bundles

• Hours Spent: 6
• Money Made: $67
• Pain Level: 2/5

Notion is popular, and people love clean, aesthetic templates. I used AI to help create planners, trackers, and productivity tools, then listed them on Etsy.

Sales were decent. But Etsy is a deep ocean with tons of competition. Still, $67 for a few hours? I’d not consider that bad at all seeing how much money my first few hustles made compared to the time I spent on them.

If you love design and organizing stuff, this one can be both fun and profitable.

7. AI Memory Slideshows

• Hours Spent: 9
• Money Made: $1,247.63
• Pain Level: 1/5

This one was something new to me as well.

I used AI tools to create custom memory slideshows (for birthdays, weddings, pet memorials) and sold them to people via Facebook and Fiverr.

Each slideshow took less than an hour to create and people were happy to pay well over $100 for a sentimental video. One big client paid me over $500 for two of such slideshows.

For me, this was the winner. Low effort, high reward, and people genuinely loved the product.

Final Summary

After 30 days and 74 hours of work, I made a total of $1,501.00.

Here’s the quick verdict:

Side Hustle	Worth It?
AI Coloring Books	❌ Too much effort, too little return
Faceless TikToks	❌ High effort, zero payoff
AI Stock Photos	⚠️ Maybe as a background hustle
SaaS Chatbot Copywriter	✅ Good potential with some hustle
AI Voice-Overs	✅ Great for beginners, needs patience
Notion Templates	✅ Fun and light, just competitive
AI Memory Slideshows	🏆 Big winner, low pain, high profit

If you’re thinking of starting a side hustle with AI, then start with something low risk and high reward like memory slideshows or voice-over gigs. In the beginning, try to avoid anything that needs tons of uploads or complicated copyright rules like TikTok.

And remember, not every AI hustle is gold. But with the right strategy and patience, one of them just might be your new income stream!