Ask HN: What is the chance of getting a donation through support on GitHub?
3 Forgret 3 8/30/2025, 10:43:21 AM
Hi, I'm a student developer and I wanted to get paid right now, and I heard that you can get paid through sponsors on GitHub, but I'm wondering what the chances are that people will do it? Not everyone wants to spend money.
Please share your opinion and tell me who may have managed to get money this way?
After my second child was born I did not have any time for developing any software. There were still some sponsors, but most of them canceled their sponsorships pretty quick (which was totally OK).
So I would say it depends on your projects, your luck and your consolistency how much you can earn, but i'm pretty sure your earnings will be nowhere near what you could earn by having a job or being a freelancer.
So if money is your primary motivation, I would pick freelancing/working for a company...
My advice would be to focus on skills and experience. I would happily take a job with a great skilled team and less money working 8h day instead of earning 200k+ a year working 14h a day in a messed up environment - yet still: A good balance is important. A great team earning < 20k a year is also bad.
Keep in mind: In your early career phase nobody (not even good customers) will pay you a fortune without an exceptionally great idea, great planning and a good portion of luck. There is a lack of trust... you're unknown, hard to assess, etc.
Building a stable and growing career based on knowledge is much "healthier" (literally) - less up and downs, more stability, more planning (instead of having luck). Earning too much money too early can cause great damage to your life.