
Ask HN: Apps, websites, or social media: which work best for side projects? - behnamoh
Every side project needs an outlet to let the world know it exists. My question is: when thinking about ideas to do in our spare time, are we better off if we focus on mobile apps, web apps, or social media? I ask this because these require substantially different skills. I know different ideas call for different platforms and that you should sometimes use a combination of all three to gain an edge over competitors, but the primary platform in which your idea was born is - in my opinion - critical to success.<p>I&#x27;d appreciate it if you could share your experience or stories in either mobile development, web apps, or social media. I guess at the end of the day, side projects that generate cash flow are more motivating. So, it&#x27;d be nice to know which of the above have more potential to do that.<p>Thank you all!
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onion2k
_Every side project needs an outlet to let the world know it exists._

I write lots of apps and websites as side projects and virtually no one knows
about them. I don't 'market' them beyond an occasional tweet. I write them
_for me_ , to experiment with new tech, to learn stuff, or just because I have
an idea that I would like to exist.

 _I guess at the end of the day, side projects that generate cash flow are
more motivating._

If you're someone who's motivated by money, sure, but that definitely isn't
everyone. I've been a freelancer, run a business, and co-founded a VC-backed
startup, and one of the things I discovered during my time doing those things
is that I _hate_ business admin. I don't want to do that for a side project.
I'd much rather have a good job that pays well and write free apps that I'm
interested in during my spare time. Besides, if you want your side project to
bring in some income it changes what you're going to build from something
_you_ want to write to something your customers want to use. That, in my
opinion, is very limiting.

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nexuist
It depends on what you are looking for. Of course you want money, but if this
is a side project, how much time can you put in?

Time dictates results, not the other way around. If you want something that's
cheap on time, mobile is _not_ the way to go. Even the most basic "Hello
World" app still takes at least several hours to get past the App Store
publishing step (figuring out a good description, keywords, screenshots,
icons, etc...) And even then, you'll still probably need to make a website for
it so you can point users to your privacy policy and online support.

Websites are far easier. All you have to do is nab a domain and upload some
HTML to a provider. I can make a website from scratch and have it running on
Netlify in probably ten minutes. Backend is where everything gets complicated,
but depending on your concept, it may not take that long. Not to mention that
your app most likely _also_ needs a backend so, might as well bite the bullet.
I made [https://bongocat.io](https://bongocat.io) in a single weekend while
procrastinating studying for midterms. I don't think I could have gotten a
better turnaround even if I used the magic cross-platform mobile alternatives
(Flutter, React Native). I've used both at this point and while they are a
dozen times better than the native Swift/Java experience, at the end of the
day it still just takes _time_ to take the idea from your head and put it on a
screen.

But if you want money, it's clear mobile is where it's at. Especially gaming.
The only sustainable way to make money off a website is to build some kind of
SaaS platform or...sell ads. It's really, really hard to build a user base
large enough to the point where you can begin to sustain yourself off of
subscriptions or single time purchases. You almost always have to offer some
other software that piggybacks off the website (think game clients, business
tools, etc) for users to justify spending money. On the other hand, IAPs are a
way of life in the App Store, and monthly subscriptions are gaining traction
ever so quickly. I can lock in to a $59.99/mo subscription in under one minute
from an iOS app - if I had to do that on a website, I'd have to trust my
credit card information with the site owner and I most likely would not do
that. Even if I did trust them, I'd still need to put in my card, and that's a
big hassle too.

So, if you want an easy side hustle where your goal is to get attention first
and then maybe profit later: site

If you want big money and are willing to put in the effort for a few months
before anything comes from it: mobile

If you want a serious business: you have to do both. There's no way around it,
every mobile-first business needs a site to have a presence to people who
don't have the app yet. Otherwise you let your entire business's brand rely on
App Store algorithms to show it high up in rankings.

If you think you're good enough for social media: I mean, just do it already.
The effort you have to put in to think of a good Tweet is minuscule compared
to publishing an app. Podcasts, Instagram photography pages, funny Twitter
accounts - it's never been easier to put yourself out there and get positive
feedback. You definitely need an audience before you can even think of making
more than a few cents off your fame, but the money is there, and if you just
stay consistent and post often, you can probably make it. But that's the
important part: stay _consistent_ and post _often_. I'm of the opinion that
the content you post doesn't really matter, as long as it engages your
followers. So don't worry about being perfect from the get go. Just start.

