"Unusual side hustles", "weird side hustles that pay well" and "odd side hustles" are searched by people bored of the delivery-app answer. Here are twelve that are real, with pay, and the ones that are jokes.
| What it is | Pays | Real? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional friend / Local Friend | Paid company and local knowledge by the hour for visitors and newcomers | Your rate, $15 to $50 an hour typical | Yes; is renting a friend weird? |
| Line standing | Waiting in line for launches, courts, restaurants | $20 to $35 an hour in big cities | Yes, New York and DC especially |
| Mystery shopping | Scored visits to shops and restaurants | $10 to $30 per visit plus the meal | Yes, small |
| Research and sleep studies | University and clinical studies | $50 to several hundred per session | Yes |
| Plus-one for hire | A wedding or work event | A flat fee you set | Yes, rare bookings |
| Voice-over | Reading scripts from home | Per job, with a reel | Yes, competitive |
| House sitting | Living in someone's home while they travel | Free rent, sometimes paid | Yes |
| Background acting | A body on set | A day rate | Yes, film cities |
| Mock juror | Online case simulations for law firms | $20 to $60 per case | Yes |
| Pet taxi | Driving animals to vets and groomers | Per trip | Yes, needs a car |
| Human billboard | Wearing or holding ads | Hourly | Yes, dull |
| Professional cuddling | Platonic touch sessions, trained and regulated | Per session | Exists; small niche, choose certified platforms only |
The jokes#
"Get paid to sleep" (a sleep study pays; sleeping does not), "get paid to watch Netflix" (a handful of tagging jobs, thousands of listicles), "get paid to test mattresses". If a listicle promises money for doing nothing, that is the product.
The one you can start today#
Local Friend on Roavi (disclosure: our platform): you list free, set an hourly rate (most list $15 to $50; New York, San Francisco and Tokyo at the top), and visitors or newcomers to your city message you free to spend a few hours with you, platonic and in public: food, a game, a neighbourhood, a first weekend. You are paid directly and Roavi takes no commission. A person reviews your profile (18+, verified email, three real photos) before it goes live. Volume depends on your city: strong in Santo Domingo, Medellín, Bogotá, Mexico City, Buenos Aires and New York, thin in most other US cities today. It is the one on this list where the strangeness disappears the first time you do it.
Your rate, your hours, no commission, no membership between you and the people who message.
Become a Local FriendFrequently Asked Questions
What are some unusual side hustles that actually pay?
Professional friend or Local Friend (paid company by the hour, $15 to $50 an hour typical), line standing in big cities, mystery shopping, paid research and sleep studies, plus-one for hire, voice-over, house sitting, background acting, mock juror work, pet taxi. Professional cuddling exists but is a small, regulated niche.What is the weirdest side hustle that pays well?
Being paid to be someone's friend for an afternoon sounds the strangest and is one of the most ordinary once you do it: a visitor wants a local for dinner and a neighbourhood, pays your rate, and you both had a good time. Line standing for product launches in New York is a close second.