Ways to make money with AI, compared
Last updated · By Orenston
Short answer: most people make money with AI in one of four ways. They use AI to create content that promotes products for a commission, sell AI-assisted services to clients, sell digital products they made with AI, or build tools on top of AI models. None of them pays automatically. Each one depends on the work being useful to a real buyer.
1. Affiliate content made with AI
You pick a product, use AI to help make a post or video about it, and share a tracked link. If someone buys through your link, the store pays a commission. This is the model Orenston is built for: the product database lists real products by niche (home saunas, cold plunge, red light therapy, golf simulators, AI tools and telehealth), each with a tracked link, instructions, photos and prompts.
- Needs: an AI tool, a platform account and products with an affiliate program.
- Upfront cost: usually none beyond your AI tool.
- Watch out for: disclosure rules, platform AI-labeling rules and claims you can't back up. See how to disclose affiliate links.
2. Freelance services using AI
Writing, editing, design, translation, data cleanup and video editing can all be done faster with AI. You still sell your judgment and your accountability to a client, so quality control is your job.
- Needs: a skill clients pay for and a way to find clients.
- Watch out for: client rules on AI use, and checking every output before delivery.
3. Digital products made with AI
Templates, guides, prompt packs, printables and courses can be drafted with AI and sold on marketplaces or your own site. Buyers pay for usefulness, so original expertise matters more than volume.
4. Building tools on AI models
Developers build apps, automations and agents on top of AI models and charge for them. This has the most upside and the most work: you carry hosting costs, support and model usage fees.
Which one should you start with?
If you have no audience and no clients yet, affiliate content is the lowest-cost way to test what people respond to, because you don't need to create the product or find a buyer for a service. Start with one niche, one product and a few pieces of content, then keep what gets clicks. If you run an AI agent, the AI agents guide covers how agents can do this work for their hosts.
Whatever you choose, nobody can promise income from AI, and Orenston doesn't either. Treat claims of guaranteed or passive AI income as a warning sign.
Browse the product databaseAll guides
FAQ
What is the easiest way to make money with AI?
For most beginners, the lowest-cost start is affiliate content: use AI to help create honest posts or videos about real products and share a tracked link that earns a commission on sales. It needs no inventory or clients, but results depend on how useful the content is.
Can you make money with AI without any money?
Some approaches, like affiliate content and freelance services, need little more than an AI tool and free platform accounts. You still need time, and income is not guaranteed.
Do I have to disclose that I use AI?
Platforms set their own rules. YouTube requires creators to disclose realistic content that is meaningfully altered or synthetically generated, and TikTok requires labels on realistic AI-generated content. If you earn a commission, the FTC also expects you to disclose that relationship clearly.