Mar 1, 2023 | Payroll

50 Free Tools to Empower Your Small Business in 2023

cropped advapay logo circle

AdvaPay Staff

Office Image 4

Mar 1, 2023 | Payroll

50 Free Tools to Empower Your Small Business in 2023

cropped advapay logo circle

AdvaPay Staff

Office Image 4

 

Hey there, small business owners! Are you tired of feeling like you’re always one step behind the competition?

If the answer is yes then it’s time to take your business to the next level with the help of some powerful free tools.

In today’s fast-paced digital world, it can be tough to keep up with the latest trends and technologies. But fear not – I’ve got you covered.

In this post, I’ll introduce you to 50 of the best free tools to empower your small business in 2023. With these free tools, you can achieve all these goals and more without spending a dime.

That’s right – not only will these tools make your work easier, but they won’t cost you an arm and a leg either.

So, get ready to take notes and start implementing these game-changing tools today. Trust me, your business and bank account will thank you for it!

Key Features to Look for in a Small Business Tool

Before we dive in, let’s talk about what to look for when selecting a tool for your small business. While there are many options available, we all know that not all software is worth your time.

To get the most out of any business tool, it helps to think about a few things things first. Things like ease of use, scalability, security, and customer support.

These features are crucial and we’re about to explain why in a little more detail. So, let’s look closer at what you should look for in every small business tool to avoid wasting your time.

Easy to Use

When selecting a small business tool, you want to ensure it’s easy to use. If the tool is difficult to navigate, it can slow down your workflow and cause more problems than it solves.

Scalability is another factor that’s important for your business’s growth. As your business grows, your needs will change, and any tools you are using must be able to adapt.

Secure

Security is also an essential feature to consider when selecting a tool. Tools that lack proper security measures can leave you vulnerable to cyber threats. Any tool you add to your workflow needs to use latest encryption and security protocols.

Good Customer Support

Another feature to consider is customer support. When using a new tool, questions will arise, or issues will occur. That’s why selecting a tool with good customer support is essential.

You want to be able to contact the support team when you need them. Get back a response. And for that response to actually make sense. Not just a copy and pasted, canned response from the online help files you already read.

By sticking to these three basic criteria you can go along way to avoid wasting any of your time and money. Plus you’ll likely avoid a few massive headaches in the long run.

1.

AdvaPay is an awesome option for small business owners looking for a better way to manage their employees. (Not that we’re biased or anything.)

  • Manage a ton of functions all in one place. Think payroll, timekeeping, HR, and onboarding and thats just a start. AdvaPay let’s you say goodbye to all the separate tools (or spreadsheets) your using to handle HR stuff. Yeah!!
  • Easy to use and unlike some platforms you won’t need to complete 20 hours of training to get going. Plus, AdvaPay is scalable, allowing it to grow with your business as your needs change.
  • Security is another key feature of our system. That’s why we use the latest encryption and other security protocols. So you can trust that all your employee’s confidential is safe and secure and yes – HIPAA compliant.

Feature Summary

  • Simple Payroll Processing
  • Direct Deposit
  • Easy to use Employee Self Service
  • Robust Timekeeping
  • Time off tracking with approvals
  • Employment and Salary History
  • Pre-built reports & Custom report builder
  • New Hire Onboarding

Pros

  • Payroll Processing is simple
  • Easy for Employee to navigate
  • Awesome Custome Service
  • Everyting from timekeeping, benefits, payroll, HR and learning all in one place
  • Excellent self-guided training portal

Cons

  • Benefit setup/integration can be complicated
  • Strict password requirements

Free plan available

Accounting and Finance

Your Title Goes Here

Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

With bullets
Another feature to consider is customer support. When using a new tool, questions will arise, or issues will occur. That’s why selecting a tool with good customer support is essential.
  • You want to be able to contact the support team when you need them. Get back a response. And for that response to actually make sense.  Not just a copy and pasted, canned response from the online help files you already read.
  • By sticking to these three basic criteria you can go along way to minimize wasted time and money. Plus you’ll likely avoid a few massive headaches in the long run.

Key Features

  • Employee scheduling
  • GPS-time tracking
  • Dedicated work chat
  • Forms & checklists
  • Task management
  • Training & onboarding

Pros

  • Intuitive and easy to use
  • All-in-one solution
  • Great customer support
  • Budget-friendly
  • 100% free plan for up to 10 users

Cons

  • Integrations in development

Pricing

Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users Free 14-day trial Free plan available
2.
wave

Invoicing and Payment Processing Wave is an invoicing and payment processing tool that can help you create professional invoices, accept online payments, and manage your business finances.

    Feature Summary

    • Pay calculation
    • API for custom integration
    • Single sign-on capability
    • Standard reports
    • Accounts payable
    • Expense management

    Pros

    • Categorize, If you’re willing to manually issue payroll
    • it’s by far the cheapest payroll service
    • Invoices with automatic reminders
    • Generate reports

    Cons

    • Access to submit question
    • Bookkeepers won’t use it, making it only useful for small business owners who do their own books
    • Recurring invoice numbers not consecutive
    • Communication of timelines & support issues

    Free plan available

    3.

    gnucash
    Accounting and Financial Management GnuCash is an open-source accounting and financial management tool that can help you manage your finances, including expenses, income, and cash flow.

      Feature Summary

      • Double Entry
      • Checkbook-style register
      • scheduled transactions
      • Reports
      • Graphs
      • Multiple Currencies

      Pros

      • Cost
      • Offers both personal and small business functionality
      • Uses double-entry accounting
      • As there is a large community of users, one can stay assured of the latest updates as well as forum support

      Cons

      • Initial setup may be confusing
      • Does not offer formal product support options
      • Report customization options are limited, Maybe it is not so complete and somebody could miss some features

      Free plan available

      4.
      wave

      Budgeting and Expense Tracking Mint is a budgeting and expense tracking tool that can help you manage your personal and business finances in one place.

        Feature Summary

        • All accounts in one place
        • Budgeting goal tracker
        • Bill payment tracker
        • Investment tracker
        • Safety & security
        • Free credit score

        Pros

        • Most of the app’s features are free to use
        • Offers direct import and automatic categorizing to save you some time
        • Offers customized alerts and reminders to keep you on track with bill payments and more
        • Syncs to a diverse set of financial accounts

        Cons

        • Ads can feel intrusive
        • You can’t get all of the app’s features without paying a monthly fee
        • No joint accounts, Categories may assign incorrectly
        • Occasional account connection issues

        Free plan available

        5.
        Tally screenshot

        Better Forms (a Great Alternative to Typeform) Tally Forms is a form building tool that offers more customization options than Typeform, including the ability to add conditional logic and create custom themes.

        Feature Summary

        • Invoiving & Accounting
        • Inventory Management
        • Insightful Business Report
        • GST/Taxation
        • Credit and Cash Flow Management
        • Multi-Task Capabilities
        • Go To Feature
        • Banking
        • Access Data Online
        • Secure Data

        Pros

        • Tally does the number crunching for you
        • it saves money with a lower APR
        • no overlimit fees
        • secure system
        • late fee protection

        Cons

        • Minimum Credit score of 660 for Tally basic
        • not beneficial for all users

        Free plan available

        6.
        Weld screenshot

        Get Ad and Analytics Data into Google Sheets (Alternative to Supermetrics) Weld is a tool that can help you connect your ad and analytics data to Google Sheets, making it easier to analyze and visualize your data.

        Feature Summary

        • Drag-and-drop interface
        • Responsive design
        • Customizable templates
        • Collaboration
        • Integration
        • Multi-Task Capabilities
        • E-commerce

        Pros

        • convenient and intuitive interface
        • responsiveness support
        • the ability to place your own code
        • speed of creating and editing projects
        • I like the ease of use and how easy it is to make a great looking site

        Cons

        • Minor errors when creating objects and editing objects
        • I think the pricing is off even tho I think there is a good value for money

        Free plan available

        Communication

        Your Title Goes Here

        Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

        With bullets
        Another feature to consider is customer support. When using a new tool, questions will arise, or issues will occur. That’s why selecting a tool with good customer support is essential.
        • You want to be able to contact the support team when you need them. Get back a response. And for that response to actually make sense.  Not just a copy and pasted, canned response from the online help files you already read.
        • By sticking to these three basic criteria you can go along way to minimize wasted time and money. Plus you’ll likely avoid a few massive headaches in the long run.

        Key Features

        • Employee scheduling
        • GPS-time tracking
        • Dedicated work chat
        • Forms & checklists
        • Task management
        • Training & onboarding

        Pros

        • Intuitive and easy to use
        • All-in-one solution
        • Great customer support
        • Budget-friendly
        • 100% free plan for up to 10 users

        Cons

        • Integrations in development

        Pricing

        Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users Free 14-day trial Free plan available
        7.
        chatgpt 1

        As an AI chatbot, ChatGpt can help small business owners with various tasks, including customer service, lead generation, and marketing. With its natural language processing capabilities, ChatGpt can understand and respond to customer inquiries and provide helpful information in real-time.

        Feature Summary

        • Writing Code
        • Creating Marketing Content
        • Translating Content
        • Creating Recipes
        • General Research
        • Summarizing Websites, Stories, Movies and more

        Pros

        • Among the several AI models I have seen, ChatGPT is more advanced than any of them
        • Being an AI language model, ChatGPT excels at quickly and accurately responding to various queries on a wide range of topics
        • assisting users in gaining knowledge and finding solutions to issues promptly and effectively
        • ChatGPT is basically a language model developed by OpenAI to generate human-like responses
        • It uses my voice to write anything from an email to a blog

        Cons

        • One major thing is that it can’t solve maths, as I have tried it only to get different answers every time
        • The inability of ChatGPT to comprehend complex or nuanced inquiries
        • to offer tailored solutions may be its least beneficial feature
        • I do not dislike anything about chatGPT because there is nothing to dislike about it, Often it is at total capacity, and I have to wait:15-:30 to gain access to the platform

        Free plan available

        8.
        Zoom screemshot

        Video Conferencing and Virtual Meetings Zoom is a popular video conferencing and virtual meeting tool that can help you connect with clients, customers, and team members, regardless of their location.

         

        Feature Summary

        • Employee scheduling
        • GPS-time tracking
        • Dedicated work chat
        • Forms & checklists
        • Task management
        • Training & onboarding

        Pros

        • Meeting with large group of people
        • Screen recording and virtual whiteboard
        • Video and audio quality
        • easy to add any new person as meeting participant

        Cons

        • We’d like to see a more lightweight Zoom which has more simple UI and consume less system resource
        • Security and privacy concerns, Lack of compatibility with Voip phones

        Free plan available

        9.
        Slack screenshot Team Communication and Collaboration Slack is a team communication and collaboration tool that allows you to communicate with your team in real-time, share files, and integrate with other tools.

        Feature Summary

        • Task Management
        • Scheduling
        • Workflow Automation
        • Chat
        • Document collaboration
        • Integrates with Google Drive

        Pros

        • connecting with your teammates
        • Asynchronous communication
        • Direct communication is simple but well presented
        • Slack enables transparent communications
        • Connectivity is better then other chat forums

        Cons

        • more privacy in the group chats
        • Video calls are sometimes wonky, though better than they used to be
        • Searching for specific conversations can be hard
        • Updates sometimes trigger notifications
        • Tools to annotate on top of graphics.

        Free plan available

        10.
        <img src=”https://ewmdoqnos5e.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Loom_screenshot.webp” width=”1024″ height=”600″ alt=”” class=”wp-image-229579 alignnone size-large” /

        Creating Personal Screenshare Videos for Marketing and Sales Purposes Loom is a tool that can help you create personalized screenshare videos for marketing and sales purposes. This can be a great way to connect with potential clients and customers on a more personal level.

        Feature Summary

        • Access Controls/Permissions
        • Activity Tracking
        • Activity Dashboard
        • Alerts/Notifications
        • Brainstorming
        • Communication Management

        Pros

        • The screen recording feature is invaluable for creating useful information and content for clients
        • Overall product is good, and at this moment it’s the best product we found
        • it’s very easy to use
        • and it makes fun to record vídeos and they look good
        • The chrome extension is perfect for quick access and there are some great post-record editing options that free version of Vidyard does not have
        • I like how you can change the settings on videos quickly and even password protect them
        • his software is so user friendly

        Cons

        • If I have to say anything negative about this service it it would be that slow internet connections can hinder the speed and fluidity of working with this tool
        • I was invited by a loom affiliate during the course of a job interview
        • The recruiter was the rudest and most inept I had ever encountered, and it wasn’t mentioned that this was an affiliate link
        • Often I have trouble with the audio
        • Organization on the backend can be finicky if you’re part of a organization account
        • Self-recording options- I’m not able to blur my background with Loom

        Free plan available

        Customer Service

        Your Title Goes Here

        Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

        With bullets
        Another feature to consider is customer support. When using a new tool, questions will arise, or issues will occur. That’s why selecting a tool with good customer support is essential.
        • You want to be able to contact the support team when you need them. Get back a response. And for that response to actually make sense.  Not just a copy and pasted, canned response from the online help files you already read.
        • By sticking to these three basic criteria you can go along way to minimize wasted time and money. Plus you’ll likely avoid a few massive headaches in the long run.

        Key Features

        • Employee scheduling
        • GPS-time tracking
        • Dedicated work chat
        • Forms & checklists
        • Task management
        • Training & onboarding

        Pros

        • Intuitive and easy to use
        • All-in-one solution
        • Great customer support
        • Budget-friendly
        • 100% free plan for up to 10 users

        Cons

        • Integrations in development

        Pricing

        Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users Free 14-day trial Free plan available
        11.
        HelpScout screenshot

        Customer Relationship and Sales Lead Management HubSpot CRM is a customer relationship and sales lead management tool that can help you track interactions with clients and prospects, manage your sales pipeline, and streamline your marketing efforts.

        Feature Summary

        • Organize and prioritize service tickets
        • Subscription-based notifications
        • Ticket creation and submission
        • Ticket response
        • External knowledge base
        • Internal knowledge base

        Pros

        • Great interface for tracking emails & replies
        • It can be configured to look like simple email
        • It gives us great organization for our different departments and our coaches
        • Very easy and friendly user interface

        Cons

        • It is a bit slow sometimes, but not very often
        • Lacks a spam filter
        • Help Scout was pretty late to the game for a JIRA integration
        • The tagging function is a bit onerous and took a while to strategize and set up, More detailed analytics

        Free plan available

        12.
        Hiver screenshot

        Email Collaboration and Team Communication Hiver is an email collaboration and team communication tool that can help you manage your inbox, collaborate with your team, and delegate tasks without leaving your email.

        Feature Summary

        • Email Management
        • Email Tags
        • Customer Contacts
        • Notes and @mentions
        • Email Templates
        • Views

        Pros

        • It’s easy to set up and manage ongoing
        • The customer service and support is amazing- I get check ins
        • Quick responses to enquiries and extras from time to time
        • Manage support emails with more transparency than Gmail Groups
        • Communicate internally and alerting specific team members about specific inquiries

        Cons

        • Not changing plans
        • pricing, It could be considered expensive
        • But ultimately worth every penny for those who use shared inboxes/groups to run their business
        • There is currently no way to create a support ticket unless related to an email already received

        Free plan available

        Design

        Your Title Goes Here

        Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

        With bullets
        Another feature to consider is customer support. When using a new tool, questions will arise, or issues will occur. That’s why selecting a tool with good customer support is essential.
        • You want to be able to contact the support team when you need them. Get back a response. And for that response to actually make sense.  Not just a copy and pasted, canned response from the online help files you already read.
        • By sticking to these three basic criteria you can go along way to minimize wasted time and money. Plus you’ll likely avoid a few massive headaches in the long run.

        Key Features

        • Employee scheduling
        • GPS-time tracking
        • Dedicated work chat
        • Forms & checklists
        • Task management
        • Training & onboarding

        Pros

        • Intuitive and easy to use
        • All-in-one solution
        • Great customer support
        • Budget-friendly
        • 100% free plan for up to 10 users

        Cons

        • Integrations in development

        Pricing

        Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users Free 14-day trial Free plan available
        13.
        Canva screenshot

        Graphics and Marketing Materials Canva is a simple design tool that can help you create graphics and marketing materials, even if you have no design experience.

        Feature Summary

        • Curved text generator
        • Photo effects
        • Image enhancer
        • Online video recorder
        • Convert videos to MP4
        • Video trimmer

        Pros

        • social media posts
        • Social Media images
        • No setup fee, Social Media images
        • Logo creation

        Cons

        • Some physical placement tools are hard to use
        • Direct to print options are non-existent
        • Sometimes “search” acts a little funny
        • Mobile App is difficult to use

        Free plan available

        14.
        Whimsical screeshot

        Wireframes and Flow Charts Whimsical is a wireframing and flow chart tool that can help you create diagrams, flowcharts, and wire.

        Feature Summary

        • Communication Management
        • Drag & Drop Editor
        • Project Management
        • Wireframe Creation
        • Design Templates
        • Real Time Editing

        Pros

        • Enable collaboration in designing diagrams
        • Allow for comments and feedback
        • Can be customized with themeing
        • Collaboration between workmates
        • Workflow visualization

        Cons

        • Inserting links is not intuitive or user friendly
        • Editing diagrams can get frustrating and tedious
        • Nitpicking here but not a big fan of the default font
        • Performance on older hardware is not so good

        Free plan available

        15.
        Figma screenshot

        Dead Simple Design Tool for Everything Figma is a user-friendly design tool that can help you create designs for everything from websites to mobile apps. It also allows for real-time collaboration, making it easier to work with your team.

        Feature Summary

        • API
        • CAD Tools
        • Commenting/Notes
        • Design Management
        • Collaboration Tools
        • Data Import/Export

        Pros

        • Product Design
        • Easy to use, similar to adobe products
        • Device agnostic
        • Show the application flow
        • Allows you to design screens easily

        Cons

        • Design library management
        • Better responsive prototyping
        • Providing starter files
        • High learning curve
        • It’s good if Figma increase the number of files use in free access

        Free plan available

        16.
        krita

        This free and open-source digital painting software is perfect for small businesses that want to create professional-looking graphics and illustrations without breaking the bank.

        Feature Summary

        • Animations & Transitions
        • Custom Development
        • Data Import/Export
        • Categorization/Grouping
        • Customizable Templates
        • Design Management

        Pros

        • It’s free and pretty good as an image editor
        • My overall experience with Krita has been fun and exciting
        • This is a fantastic tool to have
        • Its fantastic community is such a lovely place to be
        • Using Krita was definitely a pleasant experience for me
        • Faster
        • Cheaper than others

        Cons

        • Made my time with Krita limited and I soon had to switch to a comparable paid product
        • I have struggled with keyboard shortcuts and sometimes finding the tools I need for a steady workflow
        • I did something to my settings and had no idea how to fix it but I got it
        • It can be confusing for beginners

        Free plan available

        17.
        Artweaver

        This free painting software offers a wide range of tools and brushes for digital artists, including realistic brushes that mimic the look and feel of traditional media.

        Feature Summary

        • Realistic brushes
        • User interface
        • Events
        • Powerful core
        • Filter effects
        • Image editing

        Pros

        • A wide selection of brushes
        • Plug-in support,Layers and transparency
        • I agree that it does have the familiar Photoshop look but much more simplified
        • gets the simple editing done
        • fast

        Cons

        • The free edition includes limited tools for photo editing

        Free plan available

        Icons/Stock Photos

        With bullets
        Another feature to consider is customer support. When using a new tool, questions will arise, or issues will occur. That’s why selecting a tool with good customer support is essential.
        • You want to be able to contact the support team when you need them. Get back a response. And for that response to actually make sense.  Not just a copy and pasted, canned response from the online help files you already read.
        • By sticking to these three basic criteria you can go along way to minimize wasted time and money. Plus you’ll likely avoid a few massive headaches in the long run.

        Key Features

        • Employee scheduling
        • GPS-time tracking
        • Dedicated work chat
        • Forms & checklists
        • Task management
        • Training & onboarding

        Pros

        • Intuitive and easy to use
        • All-in-one solution
        • Great customer support
        • Budget-friendly
        • 100% free plan for up to 10 users

        Cons

        • Integrations in development

        Pricing

        Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users Free 14-day trial Free plan available
        Your Title Goes Here

        Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

        18.
        vecteezy

        If you need free vector graphics for your small business, Vecteezy is a great resource. They offer a wide range of vector files that can be downloaded and used for free.

        Feature Summary

        • Customizable Templates
        • For Vector Illustrations
        • Image Editing
        • Content Library
        • Data Import/Export
        • Image Library

        Pros

        • The simplicity of it all is what makes this software great, It is a very simple photo editor with most of the basic tools you need
        • Vecteezy is an excellent website for finding free vectors and recommended vectors from paid stock photo sites
        • I use vecteezy to download digital images for designs that would fit my customers needs
        • I love how easy and the variety of images vecteezy has
        • They also offer videos, but I’ve never used them

        Cons

        • Accuracy can be sometimes poor
        • Small errors will show when we enlarge it
        • Smaller content library than some competitors
        • A free account forces you to attribute

        Free plan available

        19.
        iconic

        Iconic is another great resource for free icons that can be used for commercial purposes. They offer a wide range of high-quality icons in various styles and formats, including SVG, PNG, and web font.

        Feature Summary

        • Financial Analysis
        • Customizable Reports
        • Employee Management
        • Inventory Management
        • Billing & Invoicing
        • Cask Management

        Pros

        • Allows developers to build mobile applications for multiple platforms
        • Free to use
        • Has a large community of developers contributing to its development
        • Easy for web developers to learn and use, offers a variety of pre-built UI components
        • ability to customize and create new components
        • allowing developers to create unique and personalized mobile applications

        Cons

        • Limits the design options available to developers
        • Some third-party plugins are not be compatible with Iconic
        • it does not have the same level of support and resources available as other mobile development frameworks

        Free plan available

        20.
        svgporn

        If you’re looking for free vector graphics, SVGPorn is a great resource to check out. They offer a vast library of SVG files that can be downloaded and used for free.

        Feature Summary

        • Large collection
        • Search and filter
        • Customizable
        • Free and open-source
        • Popular
        • Regular updates

        Pros

        • it offers a large collection of SVG logos
        • SVG Porn’s SVG files are editable and customizable
        • free and open-source
        • allows users to search and filter the collection by keyword

        Cons

        • The title is very misleading
        • there are inconsistencies in the file formats and organization,
        • does not offer support for its design elements or platform

        Free plan available

        21.
        Unplash screenshot Undraw screenshot

        Free Stock Photos and Drawings Unsplash and Undraw are both great resources for finding high-quality, free stock photos and drawings in PNG and SVG formats.

        Feature Summary

        • Textures & Patterns
        • Multiple collections
        • Share and download
        • Select image size and dimension
        • Credit-free illustration
        • Real-time search

        Pros

        • Go-to website for free photos
        • Excellent service for viewing and downloading free photos
        • Photo collection is very rich and artistic
        • Allows marketers like me to get free high-quality stock photos and use them for commercial purposes
        • Amazing free resource of high-quality images
        • Awesome illustrations

        Cons

        • When looking for photos it’s not as great when looking for illustrations or vectors
        • does not contain a lot of illustrations and vectors, although there are 3D renders
        • does not have other forms of media such as music and video
        • not a fan of the ad they show at the top of pages
        • The search engine system of Unsplash sometimes doesn’t show the results according to the keywords we search

        Free plan available

        22.
        FeatherIcons screenshot

        Great Free Library of Icons with a Figma Plugin Feather Icons is a library of free icons that can be used with Figma and other design tools.

        Feature Summary

        • Vector design
        • Customizable
        • Lightweight
        • Accessibility
        • Free and open-source
        • Regular updates

        Pros

        • Good app
        • Best icons to use for any project
        • Minimal and clean
        • Awesome
        • Really nice to have
        • Makes life super easy
        • Cool icon

        Cons

        • Great, but library could be expanded

        Free plan available

        23.
        Dribbble screenshot

        Design Inspiration Dribbble is a community of designers where you can find inspiration and showcase your own work.

        Feature Summary

        • Portfolio sharing
        • Community engagement
        • Job board
        • Design inspiration
        • Design tools
        • Pro features

        Pros

        • Helped me make the step into product design
        • A Rewarding Experience
        • Foundational knowledge of Product Design
        • Superb mentorship

        Cons

        • No free job posting

        Free plan available

        24.
        pixabay

        This website offers a vast library of free stock photos and videos that can be used for commercial purposes. Whether you need images for your website, blog, or social media accounts, Pixabay has a wide range of high-quality options to choose from.

        Feature Summary

        • Media Library
        • Video Editing
        • Free Footage
        • Pay Per Image
        • 360/VR
        • 4K High Definition

        Pros

        • Find royalty free images
        • Outline usage terms clearly
        • High quality images
        • Easy to understand licensing
        • User Dashboard/interface is very easy to use
        • High Definition Images

        Cons

        • Make it more obvious what is “paid” content
        • Better library of images for certain topics
        • No easy way to sort results
        • No easy way to browse general categories of images
        • Sometimes hard to differentiate between Pixabay content and sponsored ad content

        Free plan available

        25.
        pexels

        Similar to Pixabay, Pexels is another great source for free stock photos and videos that can be used for commercial purposes.

        Feature Summary

        • Organized Library of Thousands of Media Files
        • Pexels App
        • Leaderboard
        • Free Stock Video Clips
        • Challenges
        • 4K High Definition

        Pros

        • Pexels is a huge platform for stock photography and videos platform
        • The platform has lots of free high-definition photos that can be used on any digital platform
        • I discovered a straightforward and uncomplicated method with Pexels to get the photographs, videos, and backgrounds I require to keep my projects well-illustrated

        Cons

        • Stock images which can be quite generic and lack creativity
        • Android App lags a lot sometimes then gets shut down by itself
        • Delete the images
        • App is not that well optimized as the web version

        Free plan available

        Project Management

        Your Title Goes Here

        Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

        With bullets
        Another feature to consider is customer support. When using a new tool, questions will arise, or issues will occur. That’s why selecting a tool with good customer support is essential.
        • You want to be able to contact the support team when you need them. Get back a response. And for that response to actually make sense.  Not just a copy and pasted, canned response from the online help files you already read.
        • By sticking to these three basic criteria you can go along way to minimize wasted time and money. Plus you’ll likely avoid a few massive headaches in the long run.

        Key Features

        • Employee scheduling
        • GPS-time tracking
        • Dedicated work chat
        • Forms & checklists
        • Task management
        • Training & onboarding

        Pros

        • Intuitive and easy to use
        • All-in-one solution
        • Great customer support
        • Budget-friendly
        • 100% free plan for up to 10 users

        Cons

        • Integrations in development

        Pricing

        Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users Free 14-day trial Free plan available
        26.
        Trello screenshot

        Project Management and Team Collaboration Trello is a project management and team collaboration tool that allows you to organize and prioritize tasks, assign responsibilities, and communicate with your team members in real-time.

         

        Feature Summary

        • Task Management
        • Gantt Charts
        • Resource Management
        • Workflow Automation
        • Document Management
        • Timesheet Tracking

        Pros

        • Improve collaboration
        • Project Management
        • Increase the workflow
        • Boost productivity
        • Organise priorities within a project

        Cons

        • Providing more advanced automation options would help users save time
        • Saving a card without having to click enter once typed, it remains there
        • Trello’s notifications can be overwhelming at times, especially for users who are part of multiple boards
        • Automatically determine when a swimlane is over capacity

        Free plan available

        27.
        Asana screenshot

        Task and Deadline Management Asana is a task and deadline management tool that can help you organize your tasks, set deadlines, and track your progress. It also offers collaboration features to help you work with your team.

        Feature Summary

        • Task Management
        • Gantt Charts
        • Resource Management
        • Project & financial reporting
        • Integration with accounting software
        • Timesheet Tracking

        Pros

        • Project Managing
        • Asana also provides tool for forms that helps us create surveys or gather required info in an easy way
        • Documentation in threads
        • Manage tasks across departments
        • Assigning tasks to other users is easy

        Cons

          , , ,
        • Asana can provide a more easy way to link hierarchical tasks, projects and their dependencies
        • Asana can also provide features to import documents from other softwares
        • No track through notifications if members are removed
        • More free/not-premium features

        Free plan available

        28.
        Forest screenshot

        Productivity and Focus Tools Forest is a productivity and focus tool that can help you stay focused and avoid distractions while working. It works by planting a virtual tree that grows as you stay focused, and if you get distracted, the tree dies.

        Feature Summary

        • Timeline
        • Tags
        • Friend
        • Achievements
        • Store
        • Real Forest

        Pros

        • Easy to use
        • Uses a powerful affirmation method
        • Allows whitelisting of specific apps
        • Beautifully designed trees and forests
        • Monitoring tools and stats

        Cons

        • It would be nice to have more tree varieties,
        • Bugs

        Free plan available

        29.
        clickup

        Click Up is a cloud-based project management tool that enables real-time task creation, priority setting, and progress tracking. It offers multiple customizable views, including List, Board, Calendar, and Mind Map, that help users manage projects more efficiently by providing different perspectives to help visualize workflows.

        Feature Summary

        • Access Controls/Permissions
        • Activity Tracking
        • Agile Methodologies
        • Activity Dashboard
        • Activity/News Feed
        • Alerts/Escalation

        Pros

        • Super easy to use
        • powerful features
        • ability to invite guests for FREE
        • Great technical support
        • lots of video tutorials available
        • ClickUp has some truly inspired design and feels lighter and more fun to use than many other management tools
        • This product is fantastic

        Cons

        • Too complex for an individual’s needs
        • sometimes illogical
        • terrible android app is the icing on the cake
        • After a few months I still get confused about the sapce/folder/list/task hierarchy and use the wrong terms when describing my “location” in the software
        • Sometimes had an error when trying to make a new list and could not find any documentation about the error online
        • Bad support – no quick reply from the team on the chat

        Free plan available

        Marketing

        Your Title Goes Here

        Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

        With bullets
        Another feature to consider is customer support. When using a new tool, questions will arise, or issues will occur. That’s why selecting a tool with good customer support is essential.
        • You want to be able to contact the support team when you need them. Get back a response. And for that response to actually make sense.  Not just a copy and pasted, canned response from the online help files you already read.
        • By sticking to these three basic criteria you can go along way to minimize wasted time and money. Plus you’ll likely avoid a few massive headaches in the long run.

        Key Features

        • Employee scheduling
        • GPS-time tracking
        • Dedicated work chat
        • Forms & checklists
        • Task management
        • Training & onboarding

        Pros

        • Intuitive and easy to use
        • All-in-one solution
        • Great customer support
        • Budget-friendly
        • 100% free plan for up to 10 users

        Cons

        • Integrations in development

        Pricing

        Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users Free 14-day trial Free plan available
        30.

        Hootsuite screenshot

        Social Media Management and Scheduling Hootsuite is a social media management and scheduling tool that can help you schedule posts, track engagement, and manage multiple social media accounts from one place.

          Feature Summary

          • Boolean keyword searches
          • Content planning and scheduling
          • Automated routing and prioritization
          • Lead generation
          • Campaign success analytics
          • Bulk actions

          Pros

          • Interact with the target audience
          • Efficient scheduling software
          • Schedule posts
          • Pull monthly reports

          Cons

          • Fix the Grammarly feature. It forces you to do more work than I had set out to do originally
          • Adding an external client review functionality such as providing a link to external parties who aren’t added as a hoot suite member
          • Responding Youtube comments within the Stream
          • Integration with Twitter for in depth numbers

          Free plan available

          31.
          Mailchimp screenshot

          Email Marketing and Audience Segmentation Mailchimp is a popular email marketing tool that can help you create and send professional-looking email campaigns, segment your audience, and analyze the results.

            Feature Summary

            • Ability to test dynamic content
            • Event/webinar marketing
            • Social sharing and campaigns
            • Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM
            • Integration with Salesforce.com
            • Email deliverability reporting

            Pros

            • Embed codes for websites which can be easily copy and pasted onto websites for instant usage
            • Vast integration with third party software tools we use
            • like Livechat and Slack

            Cons

            • Other lead generator / email capture software allow for better HTML / customization of emails campaigns
            • Inadequate customization options on Mailchimps email builder

            Free plan available

            32.
            Sparktoro screenshot

            Learn Everything About Your Competitor’s Audience SparkToro is a tool that can help you learn everything about your competitor’s audience, including their interests, behavior, and demographics. This can help you make data-driven decisions about your own marketing strategy.

            Feature Summary

            • Event Management
            • Email Marketing
            • Digital Analytic
            • Demand Generation
            • Conversion Rate Optimization
            • Account-Based Marketing

            Pros

            • I like the opportunity of performing as the best players in the field
            • Amazing team
            • great support
            • exceptionally useful data
            • The design and layout of the website is really pleasing and straightforward to use
            • intuitive interface that allows coming to some great insights
            • The targeting options for audience discovery are exceptional

            Cons

            • the price tag may be pretty steep for a small business
            • Premium version is a bit too much
            • The 5 query cap per month on the free version is prohibitive

            Free plan available

            33.
            Snov screenshot

            Snag Emails from LinkedIn at Scale Snov is a tool that can help you automate the process of finding and verifying emails from LinkedIn profiles. This can be useful for building your email list and reaching out to potential clients or partners.

            Feature Summary

            • Activity Tracking
            • Bulk Email Verification
            • Calendar Management
            • Activity Dashboard
            • Alerts/Notifications
            • Calendar Sync

            Pros

            • Steady and strong leads with easy an easy to save format
            • helps to lookup emails, contacts, ability customers, corporation names, social URL
            • ease of use
            • The support staff’s response is fantastic, always attentive
            • Deliverability of green emails are excellent
            • Great search on LI (with lots of features you can read about in their knowledge base)

            Cons

            • difficult to deal with drips from the very beginning
            • I paid for 1,000 credits, no where did it say if you don’t use these credits by thirty days they will be gone

            Free plan available

            34.
            Snazzy screenshot

            Simple AI Content Generation Snazzy is an AI content generation tool that can help you generate content ideas and even write articles for you.

            Feature Summary

            • Landing page copy
            • social media posts and content
            • instant results
            • human-like content
            • user-friendliness
            • workflow integration
            • templates

            Pros

            • Easy to use
            • content creation
            • automated blog posts and email
            • growing user base
            • great value for money
            • generates human-like content
            • multiple templates and tools from to choose from
            • useful and helpful team of developers and consultants

            Cons

            • May need a few adjustments to your content
            • the free plan is a bit limited
            • the dashboard can be little overwhelming to new users

            Free plan available

            35.
            Yoast screenshot

            Website Content Optimization for Search Engines Yoast SEO is a website content optimization tool that can help you improve your website’s search engine ranking by suggesting optimizations for your content and pages.

            Feature Summary

            • Keyword analysis
            • SERP ranking tracking
            • Backlink management
            • Local SEO
            • Multi-domain support
            • Integration with web analytics tools

            Pros

            • Best Plugin to add meta tags
            • Allow to setup bulk meta tags
            • Good scoring system for every post
            • Alerts to help stay on top of meta data
            • Better Ranking in the Search Result

            Cons

            • I think they have to add more schrma.org features so that use can target specific page for schema
            • Some automatic features would be helpful
            • Before and after score,Phrasing suggestions
            • ICould work better with Divi

            Free plan available

            36.
            SurveyMonkey screenshot

            Survey Creation and Analysis SurveyMonkey is a survey creation and analysis tool that can help you create and analyze surveys to get feedback from customers and clients.

            Feature Summary

            • Online surveys
            • Single page survey
            • Survey logic flexibility
            • Response tracking
            • E-commerce integration
            • Cross-channel distribution

            Pros

            • Recipients don’t have any complaints
            • Robust design features for survey variations
            • Great free plan
            • Employee Engagement

            Cons

            • Number of devices is incredibly limited
            • More customization for forms colors/design on free plan
            • Analytics and reporting could be revamped
            • Remove the free product as it is utterly pointless
            • subscription cost

            Free plan available

            37.
            SocialBlade screenshot

            Analyzing Social Media Growth and Performance SocialBlade is a social media growth and performance analysis tool that can help you analyze your social media performance, track your followers and engagement, and make data-driven decisions.

            Feature Summary

            • Activity Dashboard
            • Customizable Reports
            • Engagement Tracking
            • Performance Metrics
            • Campaign Analytics
            • Influencer Tracking

            Pros

            • very detailed social analysis on various social platforms
            • Daily tracking
            • large number of creators, predictions
            • It is easy to search and find the data needed
            • The data is as simple as it can be
            • It offers all kinds of metrics for community analysis
            • It’s great for tracking stats on different social media such as YouTube it’s stats are very accurate

            Cons

            Free plan available

            Sales

            Your Title Goes Here

            Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

            With bullets
            Another feature to consider is customer support. When using a new tool, questions will arise, or issues will occur. That’s why selecting a tool with good customer support is essential.
            • You want to be able to contact the support team when you need them. Get back a response. And for that response to actually make sense.  Not just a copy and pasted, canned response from the online help files you already read.
            • By sticking to these three basic criteria you can go along way to minimize wasted time and money. Plus you’ll likely avoid a few massive headaches in the long run.

            Key Features

            • Employee scheduling
            • GPS-time tracking
            • Dedicated work chat
            • Forms & checklists
            • Task management
            • Training & onboarding

            Pros

            • Intuitive and easy to use
            • All-in-one solution
            • Great customer support
            • Budget-friendly
            • 100% free plan for up to 10 users

            Cons

            • Integrations in development

            Pricing

            Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users Free 14-day trial Free plan available
            38.
            HubSpot CRM screenshot

            Customer Relationship and Sales Lead Management HubSpot CRM is a customer relationship and sales lead management tool that can help you track interactions with clients and prospects, manage your sales pipeline, and streamline your marketing efforts.

            Feature Summary

            • Customer data management / contact management
            • Case management
            • Lead management
            • Task management
            • Forecasting
            • Customizable reports

            Pros

            • Forms embedded in websites
            • Remarks related to sales could be read by anyone
            • Easy to use report generation
            • Send you the reminder emails about your tasks

            Cons

            • Being able to manage internal process and communications amongst team members
            • It is a bit too expensive as compared to similar CRM softwares
            • Needs a feature where task editing could be done in bulk
            • Mobile edition have a very less functionality and features

            Free plan available

            39.
            Hunter screenshot

            Find Emails of Article Writers Hunter is a tool that can help you find the emails of article writers and other professionals. This can be useful for outreach and building relationships with influencers and journalists.

            Feature Summary

            • email verification tool
            • Bulk email management
            • Lead management
            • Campaign optimizer
            • Free cold email templates
            • Domain Search

            Pros

            • Free plan for beginners
            • Interface is super minimal which makes it easy to use
            • I really love the ease of use
            • Automation of your communicatio
            • Planning communication campaigns

            Cons

            • Cold email outreach service only works with Gmail or GSuite and not with any other service
            • Lowest plan is too much, could do with a pay as you go or smaller plans
            • Hard to find the contact information for smaller companies/websites
            • It would be great to have mail tracking software on the job so that the communications team can keep track of the dialogue

            Free plan available

            40.
            Zoominfo screenshot

            Finding and Verifying Contact Information of Potential Clients ZoomInfo is a tool that can help you find and verify the contact information of potential clients, making it easier to reach out to them and start building relationships.

            Feature Summary

            • Lead Builder
            • Integration to CRM/Marketing Automation
            • Data Cleaning/Enrichment
            • Data Segmentation/Filtering
            • Search
            • News/People Alerts
            • Reporting

            Pros

            • allows users to search by people companies, job titles, functions, seniority level, and more
            • It provides 30-minute training for salespeople and recruiters to better use the tools available on the platform
            • It allows users to build lists while researching and then exporting them

            Cons

            • ZoomInfo contacts are often outdated
            • they lag behind when someone has left a company
            • integrates well into SFDC (right onto lead/contact records) with the ability to update the record with information from ZoomInfo however, there does not seem to be a way to Copy + Paste the information that appears in the SFDC integrated screen

            Free plan available

            Google Tools

            Your Title Goes Here

            Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

            With bullets
            Another feature to consider is customer support. When using a new tool, questions will arise, or issues will occur. That’s why selecting a tool with good customer support is essential.
            • You want to be able to contact the support team when you need them. Get back a response. And for that response to actually make sense.  Not just a copy and pasted, canned response from the online help files you already read.
            • By sticking to these three basic criteria you can go along way to minimize wasted time and money. Plus you’ll likely avoid a few massive headaches in the long run.

            Key Features

            • Employee scheduling
            • GPS-time tracking
            • Dedicated work chat
            • Forms & checklists
            • Task management
            • Training & onboarding

            Pros

            • Intuitive and easy to use
            • All-in-one solution
            • Great customer support
            • Budget-friendly
            • 100% free plan for up to 10 users

            Cons

            • Integrations in development

            Pricing

            Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users Free 14-day trial Free plan available
            41.
            GoogleSlide screenshot

            Pretty Presentations Google Slides is a simple and free presentation software that allows you to create professional-looking presentations and collaborate with your team in real-time.

            Feature Summary

            • Create the Master Slide
            • Add a theme to the Master slide
            • Create a template for sharing
            • Edit your slides
            • Import your Microsoft Powerpoint presentations
            • Import your Keynote presentations

            Pros

            • Various sharing options
            • Well integrated in most web browsers
            • Easy to create and manage (lecturer side)
            • History tracking
            • Easy design work

            Cons

            • Not all types of export file formats are available which is limiting
            • Sometimes bugs in changing fonts or other formatting
            • Edit tracking, while good, could still be improved
            • The diagram features are a bit limited

            Free plan available

            42.
            Google Drive screenshot

            Cloud Storage and Collaboration Google Drive is a cloud storage and collaboration tool that allows you to store and share files with your team, and work on them in real-time.

            Feature Summary

            • Versioning
            • Image files
            • Single sign-on
            • Multi-language
            • Two-step verification
            • Document collaboration

            Pros

            • Synchronization
            • Access to a whole world class of product and services
            • Connect to a mobile phone and store any important photos or files
            • Great for collaboration

            Cons

            • Could improve speed
            • Copying forms between differents drives to an easiest deployment
            • Graphical Interface, they should change a little bit
            • Load times can be extensive
            • Reduce the price to buy more space

            Free plan available

            43.
            Google Analytics screenshot

            Website and Marketing Performance Analysis Google Analytics is a website and marketing performance analysis tool that can help you analyze your website traffic, measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, and make data-driven decisions.

            Feature Summary

            • Reporting and Visualisation
            • Funnel Analysis
            • Tag Management
            • Smart Goals
            • Data Activation
            • Integrations

            Pros

            • Seamless integration with other Google services like BigQuery
            • Google Ads
            • Supports up to 100 properties at a time in a default account
            • Tracking Financial metrics like transactions & revenue
            • Custom event tracking setup is effortless

            Cons

            • Ability to integrate with more 3rd party apps which don’t belong to the Google environment
            • The new Google Analytics 4 doesn’t have that much flexibility that UA provided
            • Training/Implementation of Insights
            • Detail of reporting – very high level

            Free plan available

            44.
            Google My Business screenshot

            Manage Your Online Presence Google Business Profile is a free tool that can help you manage your business’s online presence, including your Google My Business listing, reviews, and insights.

            Feature Summary

            • Category and description
            • Reviews
            • Photos
            • Attributes
            • Posts
            • Q&A

            Pros

            • My favorite feature of Google My Business is posting actual products to your profile and being able to categorize them
            • This is I think the best product for businesses and it is an essential tool for marketing
            • Google My Business fits well amongst the variety of free tools Google has available to support businesses of all sizes
            • Very easy to set up for a new user itself

            Cons

            • Don’t have much control over reviews sometimes reviews can be incorrect or posted by our competitors
            • Managing one (or more) Google My Business profile/s whilst having two business email accounts has been quite complicated
            • although both emails are managed by the same domain, and were given admin access to either GMB profiles, it has become a bit messy
            • The verification process is certainly not very clear
            • once it is submitted, it is not clear if my business listing is not approved
            • then it should have a proper reason to update the relevant or missing information

            Free plan available

            Website Management

            Your Title Goes Here

            Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

            With bullets
            Another feature to consider is customer support. When using a new tool, questions will arise, or issues will occur. That’s why selecting a tool with good customer support is essential.
            • You want to be able to contact the support team when you need them. Get back a response. And for that response to actually make sense.  Not just a copy and pasted, canned response from the online help files you already read.
            • By sticking to these three basic criteria you can go along way to minimize wasted time and money. Plus you’ll likely avoid a few massive headaches in the long run.

            Key Features

            • Employee scheduling
            • GPS-time tracking
            • Dedicated work chat
            • Forms & checklists
            • Task management
            • Training & onboarding

            Pros

            • Intuitive and easy to use
            • All-in-one solution
            • Great customer support
            • Budget-friendly
            • 100% free plan for up to 10 users

            Cons

            • Integrations in development

            Pricing

            Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users Free 14-day trial Free plan available
            45.
            Wordpress screenshot

            Website and Blog Creation and Management WordPress is a popular content management system that allows you to create and manage your website or blog with ease. It also offers a wide range of plugins and themes to customize your site.

            Feature Summary

            • Role-based user permissions
            • API
            • Internationalization / multi-language
            • WYSIWYG editor
            • Content taxonomy
            • SEO support

            Pros

            • Accept lots of plugins
            • Landing Page Creation
            • Can add multiple plugins with no restrictions
            • No Coding Required
            • Constantly updating and improving

            Cons

            • Need to improve security
            • Need to have some type of system that check threat in the plugin
            • Page speed is not the best
            • Media library management has a lot to improve
            • Creating free plugins for starter business of individual blogs

            Free plan available

            Password Management

            Your Title Goes Here

            Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

            With bullets
            Another feature to consider is customer support. When using a new tool, questions will arise, or issues will occur. That’s why selecting a tool with good customer support is essential.
            • You want to be able to contact the support team when you need them. Get back a response. And for that response to actually make sense.  Not just a copy and pasted, canned response from the online help files you already read.
            • By sticking to these three basic criteria you can go along way to minimize wasted time and money. Plus you’ll likely avoid a few massive headaches in the long run.

            Key Features

            • Employee scheduling
            • GPS-time tracking
            • Dedicated work chat
            • Forms & checklists
            • Task management
            • Training & onboarding

            Pros

            • Intuitive and easy to use
            • All-in-one solution
            • Great customer support
            • Budget-friendly
            • 100% free plan for up to 10 users

            Cons

            • Integrations in development

            Pricing

            Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users Free 14-day trial Free plan available
            46.
            LastPass screenshot

            Password Management and Security LastPass is a password management and security tool that can help you generate and store strong passwords, and keep your login information safe.

            Feature Summary

            • LastPass Authenticator
            • Dark Web Monitoring
            • Digital Wallet
            • Password Generator
            • Password Vault
            • One to one sharing

            Pros

            • Limit access to shared passwords to only those people who need to access it
            • Provide multiple platforms to get to information
            • Sharing credentials securely
            • Organizational policies

            Cons

            • It would be nice if LastPass for Business was more clear about the options for users’ personal passwords as well
            • Better notification system when things change
            • Admin and user portals look a bit dated, Granular sharing

            Free plan available

            Note Taking & Organization

            Your Title Goes Here

            Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

            With bullets
            Another feature to consider is customer support. When using a new tool, questions will arise, or issues will occur. That’s why selecting a tool with good customer support is essential.
            • You want to be able to contact the support team when you need them. Get back a response. And for that response to actually make sense.  Not just a copy and pasted, canned response from the online help files you already read.
            • By sticking to these three basic criteria you can go along way to minimize wasted time and money. Plus you’ll likely avoid a few massive headaches in the long run.

            Key Features

            • Employee scheduling
            • GPS-time tracking
            • Dedicated work chat
            • Forms & checklists
            • Task management
            • Training & onboarding

            Pros

            • Intuitive and easy to use
            • All-in-one solution
            • Great customer support
            • Budget-friendly
            • 100% free plan for up to 10 users

            Cons

            • Integrations in development

            Pricing

            Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users Free 14-day trial Free plan available
            47.
            Evernot screenshot

            Note-taking and Idea Organization Evernote is a note-taking and idea organization tool that can help you capture and organize your ideas and notes, create to-do lists, and collaborate with your team.

            Feature Summary

            • Geographic search
            • Calendar Integration
            • Mobile offline notes
            • Business card scanning
            • PDF annotation
            • Concierge support

            Pros

            • Organize folders
            • Keeping track of meetings makes it possible to work in groups and collaborate
            • Organize folders,Your notes are always at your fingertips, no matter where you are

            Cons

            • Sharing information
            • Premium plan is expensive
            • Ipad capabilities
            • Notes can not be accessed while offline browsing
            • Aesthetics of the interface and data encryption/security are dated

            Free plan available

            48.
            Notion screenshot

            Business Management Notion is an all-in-one tool for business management that includes task and project management, note-taking, and team collaboration.

            Feature Summary

            • Task Management
            • Gantt Charts
            • Scheduling
            • Workflow Automation
            • Internal knowledgebase
            • Versioning

            Pros

            • Free templates for different use cases
            • The assignment of permissions to indicate who can be notified and interact with a specific project
            • Extensive tutorials and documentation
            • Notifications about the delay in activities, without being very invasive

            Cons

            • Uses OS emojis (MacOS’s look better than windows but can’t choose which to use)
            • The increase in integrations with third parties will always promote the adoption of the platform in companies
            • Better connections between databases
            • Sometimes it’s hard to find the right article

            Free plan available

            48.
            Notion screenshot

            Business Management Notion is an all-in-one tool for business management that includes task and project management, note-taking, and team collaboration.

            Feature Summary

            • Task Management
            • Gantt Charts
            • Scheduling
            • Workflow Automation
            • Internal knowledgebase
            • Versioning

            Pros

            • Free templates for different use cases
            • The assignment of permissions to indicate who can be notified and interact with a specific project
            • Extensive tutorials and documentation
            • Notifications about the delay in activities, without being very invasive

            Cons

            • Uses OS emojis (MacOS’s look better than windows but can’t choose which to use)
            • The increase in integrations with third parties will always promote the adoption of the platform in companies
            • Better connections between databases
            • Sometimes it’s hard to find the right article

            Free plan available

            Writing and Editing

            Your Title Goes Here

            Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

            With bullets
            Another feature to consider is customer support. When using a new tool, questions will arise, or issues will occur. That’s why selecting a tool with good customer support is essential.
            • You want to be able to contact the support team when you need them. Get back a response. And for that response to actually make sense.  Not just a copy and pasted, canned response from the online help files you already read.
            • By sticking to these three basic criteria you can go along way to minimize wasted time and money. Plus you’ll likely avoid a few massive headaches in the long run.

            Key Features

            • Employee scheduling
            • GPS-time tracking
            • Dedicated work chat
            • Forms & checklists
            • Task management
            • Training & onboarding

            Pros

            • Intuitive and easy to use
            • All-in-one solution
            • Great customer support
            • Budget-friendly
            • 100% free plan for up to 10 users

            Cons

            • Integrations in development

            Pricing

            Starts at just $29/month for the first 30 users Free 14-day trial Free plan available
            49.
            Grammarly screenshot

            Grammar and Spell-checking in Writing Grammarly is a grammar and spell-checking tool that can help you improve your writing by suggesting corrections and enhancements.

            Feature Summary

            • Grammar and spelling checks
            • Checks punctuations grammar context, and sentence structure (premium)
            • Vocabularly enhacement
            • Genre-specific writing style checks
            • Plagiarism detector
            • Tone adjustments

            Pros

            • Plagiarism checker
            • The app climatises to the brand style and hence allows for you to build a brand guide, best approach to interact with reader, Integrations with various products, Accurate suggestions

            Cons

            • Sometimes the software does not help in “verb tense issues”, it just denotes that there is an error
            • It would be nice if there could be at least access to the plagiarism checker in Free version
            • AI prompts are a bit slow could get better
            • Sometimes cannot recognize few word

            Free plan available

            50.
            hemingway

            Hemingway is a writing tool that helps users write more clearly by analyzing text and providing suggestions for simplifying prose like hard to read sentences, unnecessary adverbs, and passive voice. Hemingway provides readability scores and has a user-friendly interface, making it a popular tool for writers of any level.

            Feature Summary

            • Contextual Guidance
            • Grammar Check
            • Data Import/Export
            • Text Editing
            • Contextual Guidance
            • Data Import/Export

            Pros

            • It works well with the Grammarly Chrome extension
            • It helps me adjust my writing depending on my audience
            • Hemingway Editor is superb for editing short pieces
            • you can see the readability score of your content

            Cons

            • It was (and still is) a learning curve to begin to understand the algorithm that designates a sentence as “hard to read.”, This is contradictive with the Pros
            • It is sufficient for quick draft or conversational written communication
            • At the same time, we might as well go without this apps, because it doesn’t really detect glaring grammar mistakes anyway
            • It is still helpful with detecting typos, One of the cons that I have felt that it is suitable only for short form of content, It could be more better if the tool provide actionable suggestions

            Free plan available

            Why Do You Need Small Business Tools?

            As a small business owner, you may wonder why you need to use tools to manage your business operations. Well, we’re about to discuss the importance of small business tools and why they’re essential for your success.

            First, small business tools can help you save time and streamline your operations. With the right tools in place, you can automate tasks that would otherwise take hours to complete. This allows you to focus on other important tasks and grow your business.

            Small business tools can also help you cut costs by eliminating  manual processes.  This means that you can save money on labor costs and avoid costly mistakes.

            Time savings and cost cutting aside, small business tools can also help you stay competitive. With the right tools in place, you can stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technology. Allowing you to offer better products/services to your customers. And stay one step ahead of your competition.

            Now let’s take a closer look at the benefits of using small business tools and how they can help you get a little bit further along – alot faster.

            What Are the Benefits of Small Business Tools?

            It’s just common sense. You can make your business more efficient by using the right business tools. But let’s take a closer look at how that efficiency actually happens.

            Improved Data Management

            These tools also make managing and analyzing data much easier. This allows you to make better business decisions by organizing and tracking data from various sources.

            Enhanced Customer Experience

            Small business tools can help you deliver a better customer experience. How? By tracking customer interactions. Then you can analyze the data to understand your customers better. With this information, you can customize your solutions to improve the customer experience.  

            Increased Revenue

            The right tools can help you increase your revenue.  By automating tasks that would otherwise take up valuable time. Which allows you to  focus on revenue-generating activities and grow your business.

            Better Resource Allocation

            Now we already discussed this one a bit in the previous section. But its important enough to repeat. Small business tools can help you divide your resources more effectively. By building a solid tech stack you can automate and streamline your tasks. And that means you can save your time, money and other important resources like your focus.

            With the right tools in place there is just so much you can do. Whether its streamlining your operations, saving time or providing a better customer experience. 

            Overcoming Common Objections to Using Small Business Tools 

            Small business tools can be insanely helpful. So why are alot of business owners hesitant to give them a try? 

            Lack of Time: A Common Obstacle to Using Small Business Tools 

            Many business owners feel like they don’t have enough time to get everything done. When you have trouble making it through the day the last thing you want to do is learn how to use a new tool. The thought of integrating a new tool in your workflow always seems like it will take up time you don’t have to give. 

            But it’s important to consider the long term benefits. You only have to set it up once. After that’s done ask how much time you’ll be saving and how that might improve your efficiency. 

            Cost Concerns: Debunking the Myth of Expensive Small Business 

            Other times business owners might think that the tools will be too expensive. No one wants to spend money if they won’t get back a good return on their investment. 

            Luckily we don’t have to worry about this one. That’s why we focused this list on free small business tools. Since its free you’ll be able to see if the tool provides value based on other criteria other than cost. 

            Fear of Change: No One Likes It  

            As a business owner you might be comfortable with your current systems and processes. People tend to resist change out of habit or the fear of disrupting their operations. 

            That’s why it’s important to analyze the potential benefits of the tool.  Check if the tool provides the support and training you’ll need to make the transition.  If it will help make your business processes more effective, is it worth missing out? 

            Understanding the Significance of Small Business Tools 

            If you’ve made it this far you should have a pretty good gradp on why small business owners need to have tools in their tech stack to manage their operations and remain competitive in the marketplace. 

            Small business tools can help you save time, cut costs, and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technology. And by automating tasks, you can focus on other important tasks and grow your business. 

            But the benefits don’t end there. These tools can also help you manage and analyze data more effectively, deliver a better customer experience, and increase revenue. 

            When you take the time to stay up to date with the best small business tools available, you can streamline your operations, save time and money, and provide better customer experiences. 

             Investing in a functional tech stack is an essential step for business owners who want to stay competitive.  When it comes to using free small business tools, you won’t need to break the bank to achieve your business goals. With so many free options, you’ll only need to invest your time (not your money) to grow your business and achieve greater success. 

            Types of Tools for Small Businesses

            Now that we’ve covered the benefits of using small business tools, it’s time to explore the different types of tools available. By understanding the different categories of tools, you can identify which ones are most relevant to your business needs. Here are some of the most common types of categories for most small businesses:

            Communication Tools 

            Effective communication is essential for any business, especially when working remotely or with distributed teams. Communication tools like Gmail, Slack and Zoom, and can help you stay connected and collaborate with your team members.

            Project Management Tools 

            Project management tools like Trello, Asana, and Basecamp can help you stay organized and keep track of your projects. These tools allow you to assign tasks, set deadlines, and monitor progress.

            Accounting and Finance Tools 

            Managing your finances is crucial for the success of your business. Accounting and finance tools like QuickBooks, FreshBooks, and Wave can help you track expenses, manage invoices, and prepare financial statements.

            Marketing Tools 

            Marketing is essential for promoting your products and services to potential customers. Marketing tools like HubSpot, Mailchimp, and Hootsuite can help you create and execute marketing campaigns, manage social media accounts, and track website traffic.

            Human Resources Tools 

            Managing your employees is another critical aspect of running a small business. Human resources tools like Gusto, BambooHR, and ADP can help you manage employee data, track time and attendance, and automate payroll.

             Sales Tools

            Sales tools can help you manage your sales process and close deals more efficiently. These tools include customer relationship management (CRM) software, lead generation tools, and sales enablement platforms. Examples include Salesforce, HubSpot, and ZoomInfo.

            Customer Service Tools

            Customer service tools can help you provide better support and experiences to your customers. These tools include helpdesk software, live chat tools, and customer feedback platforms. Examples include Zendesk, Intercom, and SurveyMonkey.

            By selecting the right tools in each of these categories, you can build a functional tech stack that meets your unique business needs. 

            Empowering Your Small Business with the Right Tools

             In order to make the most of these free tools, it’s important to select the right ones for your specific needs. Take the time to research and test different tools to find the ones that work best for your business. 

            Then with the right tools in place, you’ll be able to save time, increase productivity, and take your small business to the next level.

            Using this list as a starting point you’ll have a headstart on the competition. And since all the tools we’ve listed have a free plan, money won’t hold you back. 

            Final Thoughts 

            These free small business tools can be a game-changer for your business.  By using these tools, you can automate tasks, streamline processes, and save time and money. 

            Remember to look for key features like ease of use, scalability, security, and customer support when selecting a tool. And don’t be afraid to invest time and resources into learning how to use these tools – the benefits will be well worth it. 

            So why wait? 

            Start exploring some of the free tools on this list today and watch your business thrive!

            RELATED POSTS
            Alabama Payroll Tax Forms

            Alabama Payroll Tax Forms

            Forms for Employees Forms for Employers Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module...

            Employer Pay Obligation for Travel Time

            Employer Pay Obligation for Travel Time

            For many employers, sending employees out into the big, wide world to perform their job duties is an everyday occurrence. However, many employers are not aware of the situational details that may make time compensable or not compensable for non-exempt employees....

            HOLIDAY NOTICE: Columbus Day

            HOLIDAY NOTICE: Columbus Day

            Monday, October 8, 2018 (Columbus Day) is a Federal Banking Holiday. The Federal Reserve will be closed on this day, as well as AdvaPay. If you have a file transmission that falls between the dates of Tuesday, October 2, 2018 through Monday, October 8, 2018 you may...

            8 Reasons WHY Your Org Should Have an Employee Handbook

            8 Reasons WHY Your Org Should Have an Employee Handbook

            1) Introduces Employees to the Organization’s Culture, Mission, and Values Perhaps the most important aspect of your Employee Handbook is the introduction of new employees to your corporate culture and how they will fit in. This helps to foster a sense of pride and...

            Stay in the Loop

            Get the latest tips and info from AdvaPay right to your inbox.

            Share This