New to the amazing world of the gig economy? In this post, we share some of the best freelancer tools out there. Let’s take off!
Freelancer tools
Freelancing has taken quite a huge precedence in the professional world. The freedom of working at your own comfort has created a massive appeal among professionals in various sectors. But then to function efficiently, you need to be equipped with the best freelancer tools.
As a freelancer, one has to perform multiple functions like hiring for assistance, project management, planning, organizing, communication, and controlling the finances. These activities require faster completion and efficient execution. This is when the freelancer tools come into play.
In this article, we will focus on the best apps for freelancers, freelancing software, and prominent freelance management platforms.
Also read: 25 Highest paying remote jobs in 2022 | Best work from home jobs
Types of freelance tools in the market
Different types of freelance tools are available in the market for the effective functioning of the activities and tasks of a freelancer. The key ones are listed below:
- Calendar Tools – For planning and scheduling activities
- Freelance Project Management Tools – For planning and tracking progress
- Social Media Management Tools – For social media freelance contract and other services
- Communication Tools – For collaborating with customers and peers
- Writing Tools – Tools for freelance writers
- Time Tracking Tools – For time management and tracking
- Finance Tools – For billing and invoicing
- Tools for Design – For graphic designing and visual content creation
- Tools for legal documentation – For paperwork and contract creation
Also read: How to invoice as a freelancer? | Quick guide to making invoice – with examples
Top 25 best freelancer tools
Now let’s discuss the top 25 best freelancer tools under each of the above-mentioned categories. These freelancer tools will aid you in your daily activities of work execution, management, communication, and collaboration with multiple stakeholders. You can select any of this freelancer software as per your requirements and use it following the freelancer tutorial.
1. Google Calendar – one of the popular tools for freelancers
One of the popular tools for freelancers, Google Calendar aids in managing and tracking appointments. It is a freelance software whose events can be shared easily with others. It lacks graphic beauty although.
Pricing: The business version is charged at USD 5 per month per user.
2. Google Drive – one of the commonly used freelance tools
Google Drive is one of the commonly used freelance tools. It provides a storage space of 15GB; one of the best freelance apps for collaboration. It has some risks in terms of access control.
Pricing: Monthly plans are USD 1.99 for 100 GB, USD 2.99 for 200 GB, USD 9.99 for 2TB and USD 49.99 for 10TB.
3. Unremot – one of the best freelance tools
Unremot is one of the best freelance tools when it comes to creating a virtual office-like platform. You can create your own personal office and can collaborate with multiple users virtually. Unremot is the best software for freelance aiding you to schedule and conduct meetings, manage communities, and scheduling and make payments. All in one space aptly termed as a business-in-one solution.
Besides, it allows you to check on your existing clients, find prospective opportunities and create your own community in its platform. If you are looking for guidance and assistance in any sector, then you can use Unremot’s platform to search for experts, look through their profiles and connect with them.
Hosted in a SaaS platform, it allows easy access for operating in a virtual and remote mode. It is better to sign up for keeping track of your meetings, connect with various experts, and leverage the personal space allotted to each user.
Pricing: Beginner plan offered free. Professional plan for USD 10 per month. Pemium plan for USD 30 per month. Platinum plan for USD 100 per month. You can avail 14 days free trial before availing of the paid pricing plans.
4. Boomerang – one of the best tools for freelancers for client communication
Boomerang is one of the best tools for freelancers to communicate. It has an efficient feature of managing and scheduling emails. It slows down the loading of gmails since it functions via the chrome extension.
Pricing: The Basic plan is free. The monthly plans are – Personal for USD 4.99, Pro for USD 14.99, and Premium for USD 49.99.
5. Hemingway App – best freelance software for writing
Hemingway App is the best freelance software for writing and grammar checking. Provides suggestions for paragraphs, consistency in the usage of active and passive voices. The free version of the app is only available online though.
Pricing: One of the best freelancer apps available for a one-time fee of USD 19.99
6. Bonsai – best software for freelancers for legal work
Bonsai is one of the best software for freelancers with regard to contract creation. It allows reviewing of contracts and e-signing them; benefitting a contract freelancer. It is only available in the English language.
Pricing: The monthly plans are – Basic for USD 19, and Advanced for USD 29.
7. Google Keyword Planner – one of the best SEO freelancer tools
Google Keyword Planner is one of the best SEO freelancer tools. It helps to find keywords for ranking websites, along with the estimated bids. The new version of the tool lacks the feature of broad and phrase match while searching.
Pricing: Free
Also read: 8 Best free Video Conferencing Software 2022 | Connect & Collaborate!
8. Tableau – Popular freelancer analytics tool
Tableau is a popular freelance analytics tool for data visualization. It captures raw data and transforms them into a readable format with the help of dashboards, and graphs. The prices are a bit high compared to others.
Pricing: For analytics freelancers, the price is USD 70 per month
9. Trello – a project management tool for freelancers
Trello is a project management tool for freelancers. It is one of the best freelancer tools for work management, allowing team members to ideate, plan, and organize work. But it is not suitable for handling big projects.
Pricing: There is a free plan. The paid monthly plans per user are – Standard at USD 5, Premium at USD 10, and Enterprise at USD 17.50.
10. EngageBay – free software to keep track of clients
EngageBay is a free software to keep track of clients. It is one of the best CRM freelance management software, aiding in deal management, and sales automation. For email templates, the drag and drop options are a bit stringent.
Pricing: It is a freelance management platform that offers a free plan and trial. Per-user monthly plans include – Basic for USD 10.79, Growth for USD 35.99, and Pro for USD 57.59.
11. Basecamp – a freelancer management software
Basecamp is a freelancer management software, widely used as one of the best freelancer tools. It is a project management software for freelancers for organizing projects, scheduling events, and assigning tasks. But it does not have a time tracking feature.
Pricing: It can be used free or upgraded to a Business plan for USD 99 per month
12. Cushion – one of the popular apps for freelance work
Cushion is one of the popular apps for freelance work. It helps to visualize schedules, track invoices, time and gain customer insight. The app is not 100% accurate in calculating fees.
Pricing: It is a freelancer management platform with 3 monthly plans – Subsidized at USD 10, Pro at USD 15, and Supporter at USD 20.
13. Hubstaff – freelancer tracker for managing teams
Hubstaff is a freelance tracker for managing teams. It is one of the best project management software for freelancers with features like time tracking, project budgeting, employee monitoring, and organizing work orders. Navigation in Hubstaff is a bit tough.
Pricing: Hubstaff is a freelance project management software with two per user monthly plans – Desk Starter for USD 5, and Desk Pro for USD 10.
Also read: Managing Remote Teams: 15 effective tips that will come handy in 2022
14. Scoro – freelance dashboard tool
Scoro is a freelance dashboard tool that helps to track sales and performance. Besides, it is also used for time management, project management, billing, and invoicing. Pricing is suitable for big businesses mainly.
Pricing: The per-user monthly plans are – Essential for USD 26, Standard for USD 37, and Pro for USD 63.
15. Zoho CRM – tool for marketing freelancers
Zoho CRM is a tool for marketing freelancers and is one of the top-rated freelancer marketing software. Its key features include sales enablement, omnichannel management, and performance management. You may experience some performance issues.
Pricing: It is one of the freelancing apps that can be used for free. The per-user monthly plans are Standard for USD 12, Professional for USD 20, and Enterprise for USD 35.
16. Canva – app for freelance designers
Canva is an app for freelance designers. It has an online video recorder, trim and split tool for video editing, and creating designs faster. It does not have a provision for local storage of data.
Pricing: If you want to set up freelance business, you can use it initially for free. Later, as per needs, you can upgrade to a monthly plan charging USD 12.99
17. Yoast SEO – best self employed software for writing and SEO
Yoast SEO is the most popular and best self employed software for SEO. It is very helpful in conducting business freelance; ranking websites through keywords and checking readability. However, Yoast SEO is not intelligent in understanding the intent of the content.
Pricing: USD 99 per year for the Premium plan.
18. Asana for freelancers
Asana for freelancers is a freelancer management system. It helps to manage projects, assign tasks, and track progress; one of the best project management tools for freelancers. However, it does not have a time tracking feature.
Pricing: The Basic plan is free. The Premium and Business plans per month per user are USD 10.99 and USD 24.99 respectively.
Also read: 50+ High income skills | Most profitable skills to learn in 2022
19. Skype – For freelancer live chat
For freelancer live chat with clients and team members, Skype is one of the best freelance management systems for communication. It allows audio and video calling, smart messaging, call recording, and screen sharing. Only sometimes picks up background noises.
Pricing: Subscription of USD 2.99 per month for unlimited minutes
20. Bitrix24 – Best CRM for freelancer
Bitrix24 is the best CRM for freelancer work. It is used for sales automation, collaboration for leads, deals, and contacts, creating quotes and online invoices. The support for the tool needs improvement.
Pricing: It has a free plan and three monthly paid plans – Basic, Standard, and Professional for USD 39, USD 79, and USD 159 respectively.
21. Harvest – a freelance tracker for time
Harvest is a freelance tracker for tracking time and then subsequently invoicing for the same. It creates visual reports for analyzing the progress and performance of teams. It needs some improvement in displaying the time cumulatively.
Pricing: Harvest software per freelance project is free and for unlimited projects, it is USD 12 per month.
22. PayPal – one of the best freelance invoice software
Paypal is one of the best freelance invoice software for money transfer and online payment. The best is you can make the payments on the go. Only that the chargeback fees are higher compared to other software.
Pricing: You only need to pay fees for online transfers and payments.
Also read: Free Invoice Software | Top 25 free invoice software that best suits your business
23. Square – a freelancer billing software
Square is a freelancer billing software. It is used for buying, selling, and sending money. The software may not be appropriate for handling a huge number of transactions.
Pricing: It is a software freelancer users can leverage for free. There is a processing fee of 2.6% + 10 cents.
24. Zoom – online software for freelancers
Zoom is an online software for freelancers for phone, chats, webinars, meetings, and online events. It provides workspaces for collaboration. It is good to avoid discussing confidential information in Zoom.
Pricing: Its Basic plan is free. The yearly paid plans are – Pro for USD 149.90, Busines for USD 199.90, and Enterprise for USD 240.90.
Best way to use dropbox for freelance business
If you are looking for cloud storage, then it is the best way to use dropbox for freelance business. You can upload, and share photos, and videos. Although it lacks metadata search facilities.
Pricing: The basic plan is free. The monthly plan for the tool per freelance user, called Plus, is USD 9.99. While the Family plan is USD 16.99 monthly.
Kuntala is a versatile writer with a focus on diverse areas around work, productivity, collaboration at work, hiring, management, HR, and training. Her background of past experience in technology and consulting helps in molding razor-sharp insights into the research and user-focused content she creates. Professionally she is an IT consultant in a sales role and also a writer of short stories and poems, travel blogger, and fashion influencer.
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