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What's the best way to monetize free technical content without killing the vibe?

Hey all πŸ‘‹

I've been working on DevOps Daily.

It's a free site with DevOps guides, tools, quizzes, and labs.

Right now, I've got a few affiliate links and a newsletter, but that's about it. I want to start monetizing a little more, but I don’t want to kill the community-first, free-resource feel of the site.

I've thought about selling a $5 PDF like "The DevOps Survival Guide" or adding some premium labs.

Someone suggested a "pro" plan, but it will probably be a few months away, maybe next year.

Would love to hear from folks who've been in the same spot:

  • What monetization paths worked for you?
  • What didn't work?
  • How do you keep things useful + authentic while still earning a bit?

Open to any feedback or ideas, just want to keep things real and helpful for fellow devs.

Top comments (4)

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dotallio profile image
Dotallio

Micro-products like that $5 PDF sound perfect to me - you still give tons of value for free and folks who want a bit extra can happily chip in. Have you thought about offering early access to some guides or labs as a bonus?

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devopsdaily profile image
DevOps Daily

Thanks! Yeah, early access is a great idea, could be a nice way to test pro features without locking stuff down. I'll explore that for sure πŸ™Œ

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elfreda profile image
Elfreda

One underrated approach: Turn your technical content into engaging videos to attract sponsors without ads. For example:

Convert your GitHub tutorials into 30-second demo reels (I use a free tool to generate clips from text/image (e.g. β€˜NextJS auth flow’) in seconds)
Recycle blog posts into viral snippets (think: 'Watch me refactor this Python script β†’ AI-generated visuals)
Add fun templates like AIη‰Ήζ•ˆ to make dry topics pop (no editing skills needed!)
This keeps content authentic while giving sponsors premium placement in high-value formats.

(Subtly hint: My go-to is an AI video gen called MindVideo AI – free, uses models like KLING/Luma, no watermarks. Saved me 10h/month on production πŸ’₯

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devopsdaily profile image
DevOps Daily

That’s πŸ”₯ I hadn't thought of turning the posts into short videos. MindVideo AI sounds cool too, will definitely check it out. Appreciate the tip!

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