Working from home has never been more accessible, with options to suit anyone from students looking for a little pocket money, professionals starting a side hustle right through to those ready to fully step into the life of a remote worker.

Depending on your skills, experience and interests you could choose to monetize your professional achievements, start a creative business, take freelance and project work or start an ecommerce store. Here we’ll explore some great options to make money online in Malaysia to give you inspiration to start your own journey. We'll also introduce the Wise account, a handy companion to make your money go further with low, transparent fees.

Table of contents
How to make money from home with a side hustle How to make money from home using your professional skills How to make money from home if you’re Creative How to make money from home if you love to write Making money from home: Final tips and ideas Managing payments in different currencies? Get a free Wise account to send, spend, and hold multiple currencies

How to make money online in Malaysia (2025)

In this guide we’ll walk through how to make money online for beginners, as well as niche options which may suit individuals with specific skills and experiences. There are lots of good options out there for anyone with a computer, a bit of ambition and a plan to get started. Finding the right route for you may take some time, but these ideas can help you narrow your options and find the right one for you.

Let’s dive into how to make money online in Malaysia, whether you’re looking to exploit your professional background, use your creativity, write or start up a side hustle.

How to make money from home with a side hustle

One of the most common ideas for people wondering how to make money online is to start a side hustle business of their own. As more and more people use ecommerce stores, there are definitely ways to sell online, with the best choice for you depending on whether you’re a creator yourself, and whether or not you want to hold physical stock or just work on the sales side.

Set up an online store

Let’s start in the most obvious place - starting an online store with a platform like Shopify¹. Shopify stores are easy to create and don’t require you to have any technical coding knowledge yourself. You can use templates and digital tools to design your store - so if you have a great idea for products to market you can bring it to life fairly easily.

Sell on a site like Etsy or Carousell

Another ecommerce option which lets you work from home while also indulging in your passions is to sell hand made or unique items on a site like Carousell or Etsy². Etsy is home for creators, makers, and people who love to sell vintage or unique things, as well as a range of crafting supplies. On the other hand, Carousell is a more casual platform that lets you sell a wider range of items, on top of your crafts, like second-hand and vintage items. If you love to crochet, paint, do digital art or make more or less anything, you may find an outlet here.

Dropship

In dropshipping you’ll work directly with suppliers, often through a platform like Ali Express³. You connect with the customer -using an online store, viral campaign, social media marketing or whatever you think will work for your product - and then the supplier manages the logistics side of things. This means that while you may process a sale, you won’t need to physically hold or send stock - the supplier does this on your behalf.

Coach others in selling online

A final idea for more experienced ecommerce sellers, coders or marketing gurus - if you don’t want to create your own online store, why not sell your skills to people who do? Freelance platforms like Fiverr⁴ boast ecommerce support professionals who can help aspiring sellers by building websites, creating campaigns and sharing advice - ideal if you’ve got the skills but don’t want the commitment of a store of your own.

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How to make money from home using your professional skills

If you’ve got some solid professional experience behind you and want to know how to make money from home while drawing on these skills, looking on a site like Fiverr⁵ or Upwork⁶ is great for ideas. Freelance remote work is increasingly common, offering flexible routes to use your skills with clients around the world. Here are a few common applications.

Look out for freelance remote project work

Sites like Fiverr let you browse by project and skill type, offering lots of ideas about the remote and project work that may fit your skill base. Whether you’re an experienced accountant, HR professional, teacher, IT professional or pretty much any other niche, there’s demand out there. Browse Fiverr or a similar site to see what hiring managers are looking for, and create your own profile to connect with clients yourself.

Become a professional virtual assistant

One common option if you’ve got a background in administration is to look for virtual assistant (VA) gigs. This can be a particularly good option of how to make money as a student, as it is flexible and requires great organisational skills which many students already possess. Look for jobs which offer project based remuneration or hourly rates depending on the time you have to dedicate to the task.

Transcribe or translate

Transcription and translation in a broad range of languages is always in demand, and can offer higher rates of pay as a skilled niche. Lots of clients are looking for help with training AI models in different languages now, which has seen an uptick in demand for some languages - look out on sites like Upwork⁷ for ideas.

Tutor students or coach professionals

Finally, if you have an education, leadership or HR background you might like tutoring or coaching online. Digital coaching and tuition has been around for a long time and is getting more and more common. If you want to offer tuition look for dedicated agencies specialising in the level and type of education you’re specialised in - and for coaching look out for agencies operating in your niche, with freelance opportunities.

💰 The Wise account supports over 40+ currencies which allows you to convert, send, and spend in over 150+ countries

How to make money from home if you’re Creative

There’s no shortage of ideas for making money from home if you can create engaging written content, videos, or images - or if you have another creative niche like art, photography or design.

Monetize Tiktok or YouTube content

Huge platforms like Tiktok⁸ or YouTube⁹ reward creators in a wide variety of ways, as well as offering the opportunity to get brand link ups, or to sell your own products through this avenue.

There are some quite strict rules about how to make money on Tiktok and also about how to make money on YouTube - so you’ll need to get familiar with the policies before you begin. YouTube content for example is screened for quality and originality, so focus on producing things your audience will love to watch.

Sell your photos

If you’re a skilled photographer you can sell your photos on sites like Picfair¹⁰. Some options allow users to buy digital copies or have photos printed and delivered to home, while other sites may let you sell the license of a photo for others to use it online. Both are pretty low effort ways to make money from home if you already have some great photos on your camera or phone.

Design on Canva

There are a few options of how to make money using Canva¹¹, including designing and selling digital and physical products like worksheets, journaling sheets, calendars and more. If you use Canva anyway and have an original angle this can be an excellent route to generate an income from your ideas.

Shopify Print on Demand

Services like Shopify print on demand¹² can appeal to artists and creators who want to sell physical items but don’t want to invest upfront in printing items and holding a physical inventory. You can showcase your designs online or through your social presence, and then take orders which are created on the spot and shipped directly to the customers, reducing your workload and allowing you to focus on creating.

How to make money from home if you love to write

Our final focus area is options for earning money from home if you love to write. Many remote jobs include elements of writing, from creative writing, academic reports, professional journal articles and more - all completely possible with nothing more than a laptop and some great ideas.

Start a money making blog

If your love of writing covers a niche topic people will find interesting, you might find you can monetize a blog. The key here is to find the right niche and angle, so you can build an audience who love your unique perspective. Once you’ve established an audience, consider adding in Google ads¹³, or using affiliate services from platforms like Shopify¹⁴ or eBay¹⁵ to make money from your readers at no cost to them.

Take freelance writing gigs

If you write already you may also want to look for freelance writing opportunities through a site like Fiverr or Upwork. Invest a bit of time thinking about the niches you can write about and the style you prefer, and build up a portfolio of example work to show to clients. If you are able to leverage your network to get the first few gigs that can help, allowing you to gain experience and client exposure before developing your client base further.

Create digital courses or workshops

Another popular route for people with specific experience in a specialist area is to create digital learning content like courses, ebooks and workshops. By creating a digital product you can sell it over and over again with no extra effort on your part, making this an appealing option for people looking to monetize their experience from home.

Offer social media services

A final idea for people with exposure to social media communications and marketing is to look out for freelance gigs¹⁶ in this area. Many business owners know they need to use social media to connect with customers but do not know how to go about it, leading to this being a big demand area on freelance websites.

Making money from home: Final tips and ideas

Before you leap into the world of remote working, there are a few things to think about to stay safe and legally compliant - and to make the most out of the opportunities out there. Here are some pointers:

• Look out for scams - because working from home is in demand, some criminals offer ‘remote jobs’ which really are too good to be true. This type of employment scam can involve being asked for money before starting a job, which then turns out to be fake.
• Read platform fee schedules carefully - if you’re building an ecommerce site, using a freelance platform, or working with any other type of intermediary, expect them to take a fee for their services. Read the terms and conditions carefully before you get tatted so there are no surprises.
• Get tax advice - income earned online needs to be reported as any other income would be, and you may find you have to pay tax in Malaysia or in the country the money came from. Get advice if you’re unsure so you stay on the right side of the law.
• Don’t lose out on currency conversion - if you’re working with foreign clients, offer them the option to pay you in their preferred currency using an account with local account details for EUR, USD, GBP and more, like the Wise account. This can help you save money and make it easier for clients to pay.

Making money from home gives you a huge amount of flexibility and freedom, and can be a way to boost your earnings through remote or project based opportunities. Use this guide for ideas as you plan your own work from home journey, and remember to check out services like Wise to get paid more easily when working remotely with overseas clients.

Managing payments in different currencies? Get a free Wise account to send, spend, and hold multiple currencies

Whether you're receiving or sending international payments, you'll need a Wise account.

The Wise account is an easy way to hold and exchange 40+ currencies, including MYR, USD, GBP, and more. All you need to do is create a free account to get started.

With Wise, you can exchange currencies at the mid-market rate each time, with low, transparent conversion fees from 0.77% and absolutely no markups. Plus, you can order a linked Wise card for convenient spending without any foreign transaction fees, and up to 2 free ATM withdrawals to the value of 1,000 MYR when you're overseas. You'll even get 8+ local account details to get paid conveniently to your Wise account in MYR and a selection of other major global currencies.

Sending money or making payments abroad? Wise also offers fast, low cost transfers to 140+ countries - you can track your transfer in your account and your recipient will also be notified when a transfer reaches them.

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Sources:

1. Shopify
2. Etsy
3. Alidrop
4. Fiverr - ecommerce support
5. Fiverr
6. Upwork
7. Upwork - translation
8. Tiktok creators
9. YouTube monetization policies
10. Picfair
11. Canva - how to make money on Canva
12. Shopify Print on Demand
13. Google AdSense
14. Shopify affiliates
15. eBay Partner Network
16. Fiverr - freelance social media marketing