As a freelance business owner, you’re responsible for everything from accounting to client management and tech support to marketing. To handle each of these, you might use different apps, such as Asana, Trello, FreshBooks, QuickBooks, HubSpot, Hypefury, Stripe, Notion, and Grammarly.
Knowing what’s in your tech stack and understanding whether you still need it are two good approaches every freelancer should take. Here are seven categories of apps that should form the backbone of your freelance business, transforming scattered workflows and wasted time into a smooth, revenue-driving machine.
1. Project Management
These tools will keep you and your projects on track. Some popular options include Trello, ClickUp, Asana, Miro, and Basecamp. Most have free versions. Some are worth upgrading to the paid version. Do your research as to which one works best for you.
These tools help you prioritize your work, visualize your progress, and maintain high revenues.
- Trello and ClickUp (both free and paid) offer Kanban boards for visual work tracking.
- Asana (both free and paid) offers unlimited tasks, projects, messages, and file storage on its free plan.
- Miro (both free and paid) features an integrated AI bot to help streamline projects and tasks.
2. Invoicing, Accounting, and Business Management
Avoid late invoices and automate expense tracking with an invoicing/accounting app.
- Wave (free) is ideal for solopreneurs, offering free invoicing and expense tracking.
- QuickBooks (paid) is a classic solution that offers various features for all businesses of all sizes.
- Bonsai and Plutio are other paid options that offer more robust business management features along with invoicing and expense tracking.
- Send contracts and get e-signatures from clients with a paid subscription from PandaDoc, DocuSign, Pipedrive, Proposify, or Dropbox Sign. BreezeDoc has a free option if you’re sending less than 10 agreements for signature per month, or use eSign PDF from Smallpdf to create and send agreements for signatures for free.
- Use Pipedrive, Plutio, or Dubsado to manage your prospects and clients with a CRM (client or customer relationship management).
3. Communication and Collaboration
The right communication apps create seamless client journeys, offer context that eliminates misalignment and confusion and are easy to use.
- Slack (both free and paid) offers threaded chats and integration with hundreds of external apps, creating a centralized collaboration hub for your business.
- Calendly or TidyCal offers automated meeting scheduling. (TidyCal is my favorite as it’s $29 for a lifetime subscription, and it integrates with many calendar options and offers other features only available in more expensive subscriptions with tools like Calendly.)
- Google Workspace and ProtonMail offer affordable ways to host your email and work, including document and spreadsheet apps.
- Zoom, Google Meet, and Brave Talk offer video conferencing.
4. Marketing
An online “home” for your business is key today. Use a website, an email newsletter, or a social media platform as your base of operations to engage with clients and prospects, publish updates on your business, and generally stay in touch with people.
- Website builders like Webflow, Framer, Duda, and Squarespace make it easy to create your online presence.
- Create landing pages and one-page sites with Carrd, RealNice, or OnePage. All offer free and inexpensive options.
- Email newsletter platforms like MailerLite (free and paid) and Beehiiv (paid) offer excellent email newsletter options and simple website builders. Kit lets you sell digital products to your list, while Flodesk helps you create amazingly beautiful emails.
- Manage your social media marketing with Buffer (free and paid), Social Bee (paid), or Hypefury (paid). Most apps offer more advanced features with a paid subscription, such as scheduling unlimited posts, advanced analytics, and re-using posts.
5. Online Sales
Use one of these e-commerce apps to sell services or products directly online. Most charge transaction fees, while some charge a subscription plus a transaction fee.
- Shopify lets you create a website and manage products, handling all sales activities such as collecting payments, taxes, and sending deposits.
- ThriveCart, SamCart, and LemonSqueezy are e-commerce apps that you can connect to your website or online presence to sell products.
- Stripe and PayPal allow you to create payment links that enable you to sell products or collect payments from clients.
6. Security and Business Continuity
Security apps will encrypt your passwords, shield your site from cyberattacks, and store your data offsite, allowing you to continue working if the worst happens.
- Use a password manager like 1Password (paid) or ProtonPass (free and paid) to protect your passwords and save yourself from having to remember all your passwords (or worse, re-using them because you can’t remember them all).
- Cloud storage from com, iDrive, or pCloud will keep backups of all your data in case you lose your computer, hard drive, or any other storage device. All offer secure, advanced, and automatic backups and storage for modest subscription prices.
7. Automation and Integration
With so many apps in your tech stack, it can be challenging to get them to work together to create an optimized workflow for your freelance writing business. Automation apps like Zapier and Make can connect your apps to automate repetitive tasks, notify you of updates, and generally make your business admin easier.
Both offer free and paid options, depending on your automation frequency. Zapier is easier to set up if you’re not too tech-savvy, while Make is perfect for those with logical minds and the tech know-how to design and code a website.
Your Tech Stack Partner
The apps in your tech stack power your freelance business every day. They may represent a significant investment for your business, but if they’re the best tool for the job, they’re worth it. Take the time to review your tech stack regularly to identify any areas for consolidation or elimination. Apps are continually adding features that may replace something, making it even easier to manage.
