How To Make Money With Code: 7 Ways to Earn $200 a Day

I used to sit in a cubicle writing code for someone else’s company. Then I figured out that the same skills paying me a salary could pay me directly: through YouTube, Udemy, Fiverr, and a handful of other channels most developers never think about. In this video I walk through seven specific ways I and other coders around me have turned technical knowledge into cash, including a few methods that do not require you to write a single line of code for a client.

None of these are theory. The numbers I share come from real listings, real course dashboards, and real Fiverr profiles I pulled up while recording. If you already know how to code, or are learning right now, at least one of these will work for your situation.

What You’ll Walk Out With

A breakdown of seven income methods for coders, from beginner to advanced
Real revenue math on a Udemy practice exam course that generated over $1.2 million
Why AWS Fiverr gigs are 50 times less competitive than WordPress gigs right now
The plugin idea Alston almost built for bars and restaurants with volleyball leagues
How Stack Overflow and GitHub can bring speaking gigs and contract work to your door
A real-numbers breakdown of each method so you know what is realistic
The free quiz at finder.platformproof.com that matches your current skills to the best starting method

Method 1: Start a YouTube Channel Around What You’re Already Learning

When I was getting my AWS certification, I started recording what I learned and uploading it to YouTube. That channel was not a side hustle. It was a study habit that happened to produce content. Three years later, a video I made in 2018 called “Creating a Docker Image on AWS EC2” had over 7,000 views and 66 likes. I was not chasing trends. I was documenting a technical process I actually needed to understand.

The YouTube Partner Program pays you based on watch time and ad revenue, but money from ads is not the main point here. The channel becomes a proof-of-skill document that opens doors to every other method on this list. It drives people to your Udemy courses, your Fiverr listings, and your ebooks. Think of it as the engine, not the destination.

You do not need a big channel to make this work. A small channel in a technical niche with consistent uploads will outperform a big general channel because the audience is specific and willing to pay for more depth. AWS, Google Cloud, Kubernetes, React, Next.js, and any emerging framework are all fair game. You do not need to be an expert. You need to be one step ahead of the person you’re teaching.

Beyond ad revenue, YouTube also supports merch shelves, channel memberships, and Super Thanks. A Cloud Guru, one of the largest AWS training companies in the world, uses YouTube as a free traffic funnel to sell paid courses and practice exams. They do not need to run ads because their YouTube content does the recruiting for them.

Method 2: Sell Online Courses (or Just Practice Exams) on Udemy

After getting my AWS certification, I created three courses on Udemy covering different subsections of Amazon Web Services: SQS, S3, and a few others. Each course sold for $9.99 and I received somewhere between $2 and $5 per sale depending on whether Udemy ran a promotion. Not life-changing per sale, but it added up and cost me almost nothing to create since the content came from what I already knew.

The more interesting play I discovered was practice exams. A Cloud Guru sells an AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate practice exam on Udemy. It has 380 questions. The price is $29.99, though most buyers likely purchased at the $9.99 promotional rate. When I looked at that listing, it showed over 125,000 students enrolled.

Here is the math: 125,000 students multiplied by $9.99 is roughly $1.25 million in gross revenue. Udemy takes a cut, so A Cloud Guru probably received around $600,000 to $700,000 from that single product. That product is 380 questions. No video. No production schedule. No software to build. They sourced the questions from Amazon’s own white papers and public documentation, turned them into a practice test, and let the platform do the rest.

If you have cleared a certification in AWS, Google Cloud, CompTIA, or any technical domain, you can do the same thing. AWS and Microsoft update their certifications every couple of years, which means existing practice exams go stale. That creates a recurring opening for someone willing to publish current, accurate questions. You do not need to build a course. You need 300 well-written questions and a Udemy account.

Method 3: Offer AWS or Technical Services on Fiverr

When I searched Fiverr for WordPress services, there were over 102,000 listings. When I searched for AWS services, there were 1,900. That gap is an opportunity. Most freelancers go where the demand is loudest, which is WordPress, web design, and general development. Almost nobody has staked out the AWS corner of Fiverr, even though demand from companies running workloads on Amazon’s infrastructure is enormous.

One seller I found listed a gig called “I will be your AWS guy for any AWS service” at $200. That listing had 145 reviews. Assuming most buyers do not leave reviews, the actual client count is higher than 145. Even at face value, 145 sales at $200 each is $29,000. A more realistic estimate that accounts for unleft reviews puts total earnings somewhere around $50,000 from a single Fiverr gig.

The competitive dynamic here is simple. You have 102,000 people fighting over WordPress clients and fewer than 2,000 fighting over AWS clients. If you are willing to learn AWS, which you can do for free on YouTube or for a small fee on Udemy, you can walk into a market where demand far exceeds supply. The same logic applies to any niche technical platform: Google Cloud, Terraform, Kubernetes, or whatever the next wave of enterprise tooling turns out to be.

The path is: get certified, create a clear Fiverr listing, price it appropriately, and respond to every inquiry fast. The first few reviews are the hardest to get. After that, the listing starts surfacing on its own.

Method 4: Build and Sell WordPress Themes and Plugins

WordPress powers a large portion of the web and its plugin marketplace is one of the most accessible storefronts a developer can sell on. You do not need to build a platform, process payments, or find customers. ThemeForest and CodeCanyon handle discovery and checkout while you focus on building the product.

Themes control the look and feel of a WordPress site. Plugins add specific functionality. The plugin I came close to building was for bars and restaurants that run recreational volleyball leagues. The idea was simple: teams could log in, check their schedule, see their rankings, view upcoming matchups, and track stats. Nothing like that existed for the bar-league niche. If you have worked with a specific type of business (restaurants, gyms, salons, contractors, churches, anything with a recurring operational need), you probably already know what plugin they wish existed.

The marketplace already has hundreds of thousands of plugins. Instead of competing head-on with established products, look at the plugins that already exist and find vertical-specific variations. A booking plugin built specifically for tattoo shops, or a menu plugin built specifically for food trucks, is not a knock-off. It is a specialized product that the general-purpose plugin does not serve well.

Themes work the same way. A theme designed specifically for personal injury law firms, or for craft breweries, or for dental practices, will outsell a generic multipurpose theme in that niche because it requires less customization out of the box. You build it once and collect revenue every time someone buys it.

Method 5: Write Technical Ebooks and Sell Them on Amazon, Gumroad, or Etsy

When I was first learning Python, I bought physical books on the subject. Those books were written by people who had learned something, organized what they knew, and sold that organization as a product. That same model still works and the tools to do it have gotten better. Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Gumroad, and Etsy all let you upload a PDF or ebook file and sell it to buyers without managing your own store.

The angle that most developers miss is timing. Popular programming books take years to go from manuscript to publication. By the time O’Reilly publishes a book on a new JavaScript framework, thousands of developers are already two versions ahead. That gap between “new thing exists” and “book about new thing ships” is where you can sell. A clear, practical guide to a framework, tool, or workflow that is gaining momentum right now can find buyers immediately because the alternatives are outdated courses or scattered Stack Overflow threads.

You do not need to write 300 pages. A 60-page guide that answers the five questions every beginner asks about a specific tool can sell for $12 to $25. If 500 people buy it, that is $6,000 to $12,500 from a document you wrote once. The only ongoing work is updating it when the tool releases a major version change, which also gives you a reason to reach out to buyers and announce the revision.

React, TypeScript, Next.js, Tailwind, Supabase, and AI tooling like the Vercel AI SDK are all areas where practical beginner guides sell well. Pick the technology you used most recently at work or in a project. You already know what confused you when you started. Write the guide you wish had existed when you were learning it.

Method 6: Answer Questions on Stack Overflow to Build Inbound Authority

Stack Overflow is where the internet goes to solve coding problems. The questions on that platform rank in Google search results, which means a helpful answer you write today can bring people to your profile for years. You do not get paid by Stack Overflow for answering questions, but that is not the point.

The point is that demonstrated expertise in a public forum builds the kind of credibility that leads to paid work. When I looked at Stack Overflow’s domain in Ahrefs, I could see which of their pages ranked first in Google for specific technical queries. Those are the questions worth answering because that is where the traffic goes. If you write the best answer on a high-traffic question, your name and profile show up every time someone reads it.

Over time, that visibility translates into direct contact from people who want to hire someone with your specific knowledge. Conference organizers look for presenters with a track record of clear technical explanations. Companies commissioning training courses look for instructors who already have an audience. Consulting clients search for contractors who have proven they can solve the exact type of problem they are dealing with. Stack Overflow answers are one of the cleanest ways to build that proof in public without needing a blog or a social media following.

The strategy is to pick one or two technical areas you know well, find the questions with the most views in those areas, and write better answers than what is already there. Not longer answers. Better ones. Clearer, more direct, with working code examples if the question calls for it. Do that consistently for six months and you will have a profile that does your marketing for you.

Method 7: Contribute to GitHub Repositories and Ride the Visibility

GitHub works similarly to Stack Overflow in that public contribution builds public credibility. When you fork a repository, improve the code, and submit a pull request that gets merged, your username is attached to that project’s history. If the project is popular, everyone who comes to that repository sees your contribution.

A concrete example from the video: there is a GitHub repository that teaches people how to generate 10,000 NFTs in under three hours. People find that repo by watching a YouTube video that walks through the code, then they pull the project from GitHub to run it locally. That combination of YouTube tutorial plus GitHub repo created a loop: YouTube sends people to GitHub, GitHub activity reinforces the project’s ranking, and the developer behind both properties collects the attention. That attention converts into followers, subscribers, consulting leads, and course sales.

You do not have to build the original repository. Finding an existing open-source project that has traction but rough edges, improving the documentation, fixing bugs, or adding a feature that users have been requesting, puts your name in the contributor list of a project people are already using. Start with projects you actually depend on. The issues tab tells you exactly what the maintainers want help with. Solving one of those issues is the fastest path to a meaningful contribution.

Like Stack Overflow, GitHub contributions compound over time. A portfolio of merged pull requests across well-known projects signals to employers and clients that you work well in real codebases, not just in toy examples on a resume.

Not sure which of these seven methods fits where you are right now?

Take the two-minute quiz at finder.platformproof.com and get a personalized starting point based on your current skills, schedule, and income goal.

Real Numbers: What Each Method Can Actually Pay

Here is an honest breakdown of what these methods look like in practice, based on the numbers from the video and general market data:

YouTube: Ad revenue alone is slow. Plan for 12 to 18 months before Partner Program income matters. The faster payoff is what the channel unlocks: course sales, Fiverr clients, and consulting leads.
Udemy courses: Alston earned $2 to $5 per sale on $9.99 courses. At 100 sales per month, that is $200 to $500 in passive income. Practice exams with strong SEO can generate far more: A Cloud Guru’s single exam product likely cleared $600,000 to $700,000 total.
Fiverr (AWS): The example in the video: $200 per service, 145 reviews, estimated $50,000 in total earnings from one gig. With only 1,900 listings in the AWS category, the average gig gets more visibility than it would in a saturated category.
WordPress plugins and themes: A niche plugin priced at $25 to $49 on CodeCanyon with 1,000 sales generates $25,000 to $49,000 in revenue. Most of that happens after launch with minimal ongoing work.
Ebooks: A 60-page technical guide priced at $15 with 300 sales is $4,500. More realistic for a focused niche, especially if promoted through a YouTube channel or Stack Overflow presence.
Stack Overflow: No direct payment. Indirect income through consulting and speaking engagements that are hard to quantity but well-documented in developer communities as a real career driver.
GitHub contributions: No direct payment. Opens the same doors as Stack Overflow: speaking gigs, job offers, contract work, and co-authorship on courses with existing project maintainers.

How to Pick Your Starting Method

Every method on this list works. The mistake is trying to do all of them at once. Here is a simple framework for picking your starting point based on what you already have:

You have a certification: Start with Udemy practice exams. Low production cost, high demand, and you already have the domain knowledge to write accurate questions.
You want active income fast: Start with Fiverr. Pick a technical niche with fewer than 5,000 listings, get your first three reviews, and start raising your rate.
You want passive income long-term: Start with YouTube plus one product (course, ebook, or plugin). The channel feeds everything else.
You want to be hired or contracted at higher rates: Start with Stack Overflow and GitHub. Consistent public contribution in your niche will bring inbound interest faster than cold applications.
You have a full-time job and limited hours: Start with an ebook on the tool or framework you use every day. Write it in 60 to 90 minute sessions over a few months and publish it on Gumroad while you are still employed.

Find Your X

Seven methods, but only one is right for where you are right now. Your starting method depends on how much time you have, what you already know, and how quickly you need income. Getting that match wrong is why most people try one thing for two months and quit before it works.

The quiz at finder.platformproof.com asks you eight questions about your current situation and gives you a specific starting point with a first action to take this week. It takes two minutes and it is free. Go take it before you decide which of these methods to pursue.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to be a professional developer to make money with code?

No. Alston describes himself in the video as an “average or below average coder” who still built multiple income streams from technical knowledge. What matters more than skill level is specificity. Knowing AWS well enough to get certified and explain it clearly is more valuable on Fiverr and Udemy than being a generalist who codes at a higher level but cannot teach or serve a specific niche.

Which method generates income the fastest?

Fiverr freelancing typically produces income the fastest because you are trading time for money directly. Once your listing is live and you have a few positive reviews, clients can book you within days. YouTube, ebooks, and plugins take longer because they require an audience or marketplace visibility to build before sales happen consistently.

Can I sell Udemy practice exams if I’m not an expert?

You need to know the material well enough to write accurate questions and explanations, which typically means having cleared the certification yourself. The exam questions do not need to be invented from scratch. A Cloud Guru sourced their questions from Amazon’s own white papers and public documentation. If you have the cert, you have access to the same source material.

Why is the AWS category on Fiverr less competitive than WordPress?

WordPress is accessible to almost anyone with a browser and a weekend. AWS requires passing certifications, hands-on lab experience, and comfort with command-line infrastructure work. The higher barrier to entry means fewer sellers. Fewer sellers with comparable demand means each listing gets more visibility and can charge a higher rate. That same logic applies to any technical platform with a steep learning curve.

What kind of WordPress plugin is worth building?

The best plugin ideas come from specific industries with recurring operational needs that general-purpose plugins do not serve cleanly. The example in the video was a scheduling and rankings plugin for bar-league volleyball tournaments. Think about businesses you have worked with or industries you know well. If you find yourself describing a workaround they use in their current software, that workaround is probably a plugin someone would pay for.

How long does it take to get traction on a technical ebook?

Timing matters more than duration. A technical ebook about a framework or tool that is gaining momentum will sell faster than one about a mature technology with dozens of existing resources. If you can publish a practical guide within the first 12 months of a tool going mainstream, you capture buyers who have no good alternatives. After that window closes, the market gets crowded and discoverability drops unless you have an existing audience sending traffic to the product.

Do Stack Overflow and GitHub actually lead to paid work?

Yes, but indirectly. Public contributions build the kind of searchable track record that makes inbound interest possible. Alston mentions in the video that consistent Stack Overflow activity leads to speaking invitations, conference presentations, and contract offers from people who have read your answers. It is not a direct application funnel, but it creates a body of public work that a Fiverr listing or a resume alone cannot replicate.

Is it possible to do all seven methods at the same time?

Possible, but not recommended when starting out. The developers who build the largest income stacks from code typically start with one method, get it to a consistent monthly return, and then layer in a second method that complements the first. YouTube and Udemy work well together. Fiverr and Stack Overflow work well together. Trying to run all seven simultaneously when you are still learning the mechanics of each usually means none of them reach the momentum needed to produce real income.

Sources

Alston Godbolt, “How To Make Money With Code 2022 ($200/Day Coding)”, YouTube, youtu.be/S9l0XUy0hGc
A Cloud Guru: AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Practice Exam, Udemy (125,000+ students, referenced in video)
Fiverr: AWS category search showing 1,900 listings vs. 102,000 WordPress listings (as of recording date)
Udemy: Alston’s three AWS courses: Mastering AWS featuring SQS, Mastering AWS featuring S3 (referenced in video)
ThemeForest and CodeCanyon: Envato marketplaces for WordPress themes and plugins
Stack Overflow: developer Q&A platform referenced for authority-building strategy
GitHub: open-source repository platform referenced for contribution-based visibility