Real-world cases
Real stories of people making money with AI / vibe coding — so you can see what's actually possible. Every entry comes with a source, date, revenue estimate, and a verification tag. Click any card to open the original source.
Chinese solo creator's AI short drama 'Persian Revenge' hits $500K GMV in 72 hours on YourChannel
A solo Chinese creator's AI-generated short drama 'Persian Revenge'—a Persian assassin time-travels to kill a tyrant, widely read online as a Trump political allegory—hit $500K GMV in 72 hours on overseas platform YourChannel. Production cost: ¥3,000 (~$420). YourChannel gives creators up to 90% rev share, so the creator may net ~$450K.
- Revenue
- $500,000+ GMV / 72 小时；按 90% 分成估算创作者净收入 ~$450K
- Peak
- $500,000 GMV / 3 天
- Market
- AI 短剧出海赛道 2026 中国内容方密集押注（甲子光年估测 AI 短剧出海平台 ARR 池已破 $1B）；YourChannel 平台估值未披露，单部爆款按 GMV × 90% 创作者分成口径，内容资产价值 ~$450K-$1M+
Chinese team's 50-ep AI animated series 'Mingri Zhouyi' nets ~¥2M profit
China's first 50-episode AI animated drama. A 10-person team finished it in 45 days using Vidu's image-to-video. It hit 5M plays in 5 days without traffic boost, generating an estimated ¥2M in profit.
- Revenue
- 估算净利约 ¥200 万 / 单部
- Peak
- 5 天 500 万播放（单平台无流量扶持）
- Market
- AI 漫剧赛道：2025 年中国市场 ¥200 亿元体量、半年上线 3000 部；爆款率仅 0.16%，头部单部天花板 ¥1000 万，腰部 ¥100-200 万
Lumoo (AI fashion) reaches €800K ARR in 9 months via Lovable
Small team built AI fashion platform Lumoo entirely on Lovable, reaching €800K ARR in 9 months. ShiftNex (healthcare staffing) hit €1M ARR in 5 months on the same stack.
- Revenue
- €800k ARR / 截至 2025-Q4
- Market
- 按 ARR × 5-8x 估值 ≈ €4M-€6.4M；AI 时尚/虚拟试穿赛道 2025 全球估算 $500M
Vibe-coding platform Anything hits $2M ARR in 2 weeks
Anything is a vibe-coding platform with built-in DB/payments/storage. Users shipped real iOS apps (habit tracker, CPR course, hair try-on) generating $2M ARR collectively in 2 weeks, lifting Anything to a $100M valuation.
- Revenue
- $2M ARR / 截至 2025-09-29
- Peak
- $2M ARR / 2 周
- Market
- 平台估值已确认 $100M（A 轮）；vibe coding 平台赛道 2025 公开 ARR 汇总（Lovable + Cursor + Replit + Bolt + Anything）保守 $1B+
PJ Accetturo made a viral NBA Finals ad with AI for $2,000
Kalshi rejected 6-7 figure quotes from traditional agencies and hired AI filmmaker PJ Ace. He produced the NBA Finals spot solo in 2 days using Veo 3, running 300-400 generations to get 15 usable clips, for just $2,000. It got 18M impressions in 48 hours.
- Revenue
- unknown（个人收入未公开，本人称已是 seven-figure AI 视频 agency）
- Peak
- 广告制作费 $2,000 + 创意费；为客户节省 6-7 figure 制作预算
- Market
- 对照传统 NBA 总决赛广告制作 $250k-$500k/支，AI 视频赛道相对传统电视广告 95% 成本压缩；据 Statista，2025 全球视频广告制作市场约 $50B，AI 替代渗透 5% 即 $2.5B 机会
DeepSeek paid community: 6,000 members in a week, ~¥300K projected
After DeepSeek went viral in early 2025, Chinese creators packaged prompt guides on Xiaohongshu: a ¥12.99 prompt pack sold 2,000+ copies in days; a ¥1,999 course sold 52 (¥100K+). A paid community hit 6,000 members in a week.
- Revenue
- 单社群 30 万+ 人民币 / 4 天
- Peak
- 4 天 24.8 万元（某博主单课）；星球周入 30 万+
- Market
- 中国 AI 知识付费 2025 总规模据多家机构估 ¥30-50 亿；DeepSeek 爆火窗口期估算 ¥5 亿+ 一次性消费
Levelsio's AI-coded flight sim hits $1M ARR in 17 days
Pieter Levels vibe-coded a browser MMO flight sim in 3 hours with Cursor. Monetized via in-game ad blimps and F-16s, it hit $87K MRR (~$1M ARR) within 17 days.
- Revenue
- 高峰后回落，估算 $200k-$500k 累计广告位收入
- Peak
- $87,000 MRR (= $1M ARR) / 第 17 天
- Market
- 纯流量产品，无 SaaS 估值口径；按 17 天峰值 $1M ARR × 3-5x 估值 ≈ $3M-$5M，但收入难维持，实际项目价值更接近其广告位卖断收入
Xiaohongshu AI wallpaper accounts: ¥30K+/month, ¥50K/month for avatars
Xiaohongshu creators run AI wallpaper/avatar shops using Midjourney + Doubao: ¥2-13 wallpapers, ¥49.8 annual memberships. Top accounts make ¥30K+/month; one avatar SKU sold 2,675 units at ¥19.9, an AI fashion design sold 1,160+ at ¥239 totaling ¥270K.
- Revenue
- 单号月入 ¥3 万-¥5 万；头部 IP 累计 ¥20 万+ / 3 个月
- Peak
- AI 头像 2675 单 × ¥19.9 ≈ ¥5.3 万 / 月（单 SKU）
- Market
- 小红书 AI 图像变现是 long tail 玩家市场，单体小但赛道极宽；按头部 1000 个账号 × ¥3 万/月 ≈ ¥3.6 亿/年市场（粗估）
Faceless AI YouTube channels: Fern $80K/mo, Infographics Show $100K-$300K/mo
Faceless channels like Fern ($80K/mo), Lofi Girl ($20K-$45K/mo) and The Infographics Show ($100K-$300K/mo) use AI scripts + TTS + stock footage. Risk: fully automated content often gets demonetized.
- Revenue
- Fern 估算 $80K/月+ AdSense；The Infographics Show $100K-$300K/月
- Peak
- $300K/月（顶部账号）
- Market
- YouTube 2025 整体广告分账给创作者 ≈ $22B/年；faceless AI 频道按总流量份额 5-8% 估算 $1B-$1.7B 年市场
Midjourney coloring books on Amazon KDP: $1,660 over 7 months
One of the earliest AI side hustles: generate line art with Midjourney, publish coloring books on Amazon KDP. Craig made $1,660 over 7 months with 20 books (~$354 take-home). Scaled creators (100+ books) report $3K-$8K/month passive.
- Revenue
- $1,660 营收 / $578 净利（Craig 案例）；其他创作者月入 $500-$2,000，规模化后 $3,000-$8,000
- Peak
- 单本《Dinosaurs in Space》卖 223 本得 $723
- Market
- Amazon KDP 涂色书品类 2025 估算 $200M/年 GMV（参考 KDP 统计与第三方数据聚合）；单体 ROI 偏低，是典型 long tail 副业
Marc Lou's CodeFast: $92K in 48 hours, $200K+ in 7 days
Indie hacker Marc Lou launched CodeFast, a learn-coding-in-the-AI-era course. Backed by his Twitter following and a 48-hour 50% Black Friday discount, the course made $92K in 2 days and $200K+ in 7 days (1,022 students).
- Revenue
- $1,032,000 / 2025 整年全产品组合
- Peak
- $200,000+ / 上线 7 天（CodeFast 单品）
- Market
- 全产品组合按 ARR ≈ $1M、info-product 行业 3-5x 估值口径 ≈ $3M-$5M；AI 编程教育市场 Coursera/Udemy AI 课程板块 2025 估算 $1B+
GPT Store top creator (Grimoire) gets $1,000/mo guaranteed
GPT Store is overhyped. Even top creators like Grimoire only get $1,000/mo guaranteed + bonuses from OpenAI's invite-only revenue share. Most creators cap at $100-500/mo. The smart play is using GPTs as funnel to your own paid product.
- Revenue
- 估算 $20k-$40k 累计（GPT Store 渠道）
- Peak
- $1,000/月保底 + 表现奖金
- Market
- GPT Store 至今 300 万+ GPTs，OpenAI 未公开总分成池；据 ThirdParty 估算 OpenAI 革新者计划 2024 总分配 < $10M；多数创作者月入 $100-$500 天花板
Greg Isenberg's AI-era agency: ~$1M avg contract per client
Greg Isenberg sells design-firm-for-the-AI-age contracts averaging ~$1M per client. He landed his first $1.5M client in year one via Twitter content. The agency arm + studio + fund total ~$10M/year.
- Revenue
- $10M+/年（Late Checkout 全集团）；首年单一客户 $1.5M
- Peak
- 单客户合同均价 ~$1M
- Market
- AI 服务/agency 赛道 2025 全球估算 $20B+（Gartner / McKinsey）；Late Checkout 集团估值未披露，按 $10M/年 × 服务业 3-5x ≈ $30M-$50M
Miaoya Camera: ¥9.9 AI portrait app, 1M DAU in 21 days
Alibaba's internal startup Miaoya launched a ¥9.9 AI portrait mini-program in July 2023, hitting 1M+ DAU in 21 days. The model (low one-time fee + in-app diamond upgrades) was widely cloned by Chinese solo devs.
- Revenue
- 短期累计估算 ¥1 亿+（21 天峰值期）
- Peak
- 9.9 元 × 百万级用户 + 钻石内购（60 颗 ¥6 至 5000 颗 ¥328）
- Market
- 中国 AI 写真品类 2023-2025 累计市场 ¥10 亿+（妙鸭/海马体数字版/各类小程序聚合）；对照海马体 ¥20 亿/年全国 582 店，AI 替代渗透空间显著
Tony Dinh's TypingMind crosses $500K revenue in a year
Tony Dinh built TypingMind—a one-time-purchase ChatGPT client—plus DevUtils and Black Magic. The portfolio crossed $1M lifetime revenue with 20K customers by August 2025.
- Revenue
- $1M+ 累计 / 截至 2025-08，2 万+ 客户
- Peak
- 组合月入 $83K（2024 年底）
- Market
- 按 ARR ≈ $600k-$1M × 5x 估值 ≈ $3M-$5M；ChatGPT 第三方客户端赛道（TypingMind / LibreChat / Msty）总市场约 $50M+
Danny Postma's HeadshotPro hits $300K/month solo
Danny Postma productized corporate headshots with AI—$29 starts, ready in 60 minutes. With heavy affiliate distribution, HeadshotPro hit $300K MRR / $3.6M ARR as a solo operation from Bali.
- Revenue
- $3.6M+ ARR
- Peak
- $300K MRR
- Market
- 按 SaaS ARR × 5-8x 估值 ≈ $18M-$28M；AI 头像/证件照赛道（HeadshotPro / Aragon / Try It On 等）2025 全球公开汇总 ≈ $200M+ ARR 共识
Pieter Levels' PhotoAI hits $132K MRR solo
After 70 failed startups, Pieter Levels turned LoRA fine-tuning into a consumer subscription. PhotoAI now does $132K MRR with zero employees and contributes 70% of his personal income.
- Revenue
- $1.6M+ ARR / 截至 2025-11
- Peak
- $132K-138K MRR（2025-11）
- Market
- 按 indie SaaS 5-8x ARR 估值 ≈ $8M-$13M；AI 写真品类 2025 全球约 $400M-$600M 市场（参照同类 HeadshotPro 等公开 ARR 汇总）