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Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by skwee357 on Thursday December 18, 2025 @03:22AM (#46310161)
I run a dead-simple, one-time, online fax service called JustFax Online[0]. While I don't have a recurring revenue as I operate one one-time payment, for the past months I have been consistently grossing over €500/mo.

This also brings tears to my eyes, as I remember[1] browsing these threads and being amazed (still am) by all the people who make side projects and make money from them, and at the same time thinking that I will never reach this milestone, and yet, here I am.

[0]: https://justfaxonline.com [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39110194#39141819

Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by zandert on Thursday December 18, 2025 @03:46AM (#46310305)
That's super cool, how do you run it? Are you using some other service under the hood, and just abstract their annoying pricing model?
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by pjc50 on Thursday December 18, 2025 @05:31AM (#46311012)
It used to be possible to do this with a faxmodem; these days telephony is over IP, so there might be telco APIs for it. But, because it's a telco, that will be annoying and hidden.

UK: OFCOM are phasing out the fax support requirement https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/telecoms-infra...

(I slightly balked at the $5 initial price, but then realized: this is a desperation fee and I think for a lot of the users a clear fee for a clear one off service is the best deal. Anyone who wants to send 1,000 faxes will (a) be in the top 1% of fax users in their country if it's not Japan and (b) make their own arrangements. Also patio11's "charge more")

Software wise, if you have a PBX line (which the telco will change for) you can run Asterix and then https://www.asterisk.org/products/add-ons/fax-for-asterisk/ to send as many faxes as you like to the other person in your country with a fax machine.

Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by randallsquared on Thursday December 18, 2025 @06:44AM (#46311524)
Why would you need a PBX line to send faxes with Asterix? You'd just need a normal phone line with a plan that includes free ("long distance") calling to the whole country, right?
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by birdman3131 on Thursday December 18, 2025 @08:59AM (#46312741)
https://developers.telnyx.com/docs/programmable-fax/send-a-f... I use Telnyx. (Mainly because I also use them for voice.)
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by rsanek on Thursday December 18, 2025 @08:00AM (#46312111)
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by skwee357 on Thursday December 18, 2025 @10:33AM (#46313887)
Yes, I use another service + add a ton of stuff on top related to reliability, payments, and file formats. However, I have toyed with the idea of implementing my own fax sending. Maybe when I will be able to live off my side projects, I will explore this idea further.
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by IanCal on Thursday December 18, 2025 @04:45AM (#46310681)
Thanks for making a service where people can pay for a thing to happen, rather than an account and subscription and …

I often get frustrated at how hard it can be to give someone money to perform a service I want them to do and they want to be paid to do.

Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by skwee357 on Thursday December 18, 2025 @10:31AM (#46313851)
Thank you very much. I try to focus on making usable software without enshittifying them.
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by Fiveplus on Thursday December 18, 2025 @05:30AM (#46311007)
This is the coolest thing I've seen on this thread. Single purpose and a very nice, crystal clear homepage.
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by skwee357 on Thursday December 18, 2025 @10:32AM (#46313862)
Thank you! I appreciate the feedback!
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by keybits on Thursday December 18, 2025 @07:07AM (#46311684)
TIL you can still buy fax machines!
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by Popeyes on Thursday December 18, 2025 @07:47AM (#46311997)
We have one in our office.
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by bzzzt on Thursday December 18, 2025 @10:02AM (#46313408)
It's still included on some office multifunctional printer/scanner machines.
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by didgetmaster on Thursday December 18, 2025 @10:16PM (#46321934)
I still have a 25 year old HP LaserJet printer that has a built in FAX function. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to use it since we gave up our landline about 20 years ago. Still prints well, however.
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by Rizu on Thursday December 18, 2025 @09:21AM (#46313003)
doesn't look like stripe, do you use stripe as a payment provider ? or something else.

i am in the middle of a project using stripe and looking for alternatives

Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by skwee357 on Thursday December 18, 2025 @10:34AM (#46313896)
It's Stripe, and I'm happy with them. What did you not like about Stripe?
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by aiisjustanif on Thursday December 18, 2025 @10:27AM (#46313765)
What did you not like about stripe?
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by brandon272 on Thursday December 18, 2025 @09:42AM (#46313198)
How do people find your service? It seems like there are a million "send a fax" online services out there so it would be difficult to get in front of potential customers.
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by skwee357 on Thursday December 18, 2025 @10:31AM (#46313831)
It's a very tough market. Before I started I found a handful of services, and saw some services appear after I started.

I focus on SEO mainly. Most users come from search engines and LLMs. Some users are returning customers.

Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by al_borland on Thursday December 18, 2025 @10:18AM (#46313605)
I don’t need to send a fax often, but when I do it’s a real pain. I’ll be bookmarking this.

I love that it doesn’t need an account and is a simple straightforward service, as if I was paying to use an actual fax machine somewhere. I wish nearly every service online was built this way.

Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by veverkap on Thursday December 18, 2025 @11:52AM (#46315189)
Any thought of adding the ability to receive faxes too? I notice that most of the sending places don't offer that and it might be a difference if it's not too expensive.
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by golson_kindmind on Friday December 19, 2025 @12:32AM (#46322531)
Very cool. Love how simple it is, no bullshit.
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by jklein11 on Tuesday December 23, 2025 @01:31PM (#46367849)
If you don't need an account to send a fax, how do you comply with law enforcement's requests to identify who sent a specific fax? I would think this would open you up to significant liability
Re:Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2025 ... by malfist on Wednesday December 24, 2025 @10:05AM (#46376194)
Safe harbor laws protect you from liability of the content sent.

You can simply respond to law enforcement that you have no data outside of payment data