Top 25 Best Freelance Tools To Run Your Business In 2024

Mint is a personal finance management tool in the Intuit stable of financial tools for freelancers, helping them to track their spending, budget, and manage investments.

The free budget tracker offers you insights into your financial health and offers financial tips and recommendations for saving money.

Mint excels at helping to simplify your financial management by consolidating your accounts and tracking financial transactions in one place.

To keep you on track, the budgeting features assist freelancers in setting financial goals and monitoring their progress toward achieving them.

Following gig economy trends, on signing up for a Mint account, link your bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and investments for instant access to information.

After categorizing transactions and setting budget goals, you’ll receive alerts for any upcoming bills, unusual spending, or potential budget overages.

The investment tracking tools monitor your portfolio performance and asset allocation and offer personalized financial tips for saving money, reducing fees, or refinancing debts.

24. Square

Square provides streamlined and flexible payment processing solutions and financial services for a wide range of businesses, supplying hardware and software tools for freelancers.

You can accept payments in person and online, streamlining your operation across multiple locations and sales channels.

They offer a flexible payment solution that enables you to accept payments from your clients anywhere, anytime.

Square has a user-friendly interface and transparent pricing, making it easy to get started with payment processing online, or via mobile devices.

You can customize payment options and pricing settings from your dashboard while using their reporting and analytics tools for freelancers, which track sales and monitor inventory and customer trends.

23. Basecamp

Basecamp is a project management and team collaboration tool for organizing discussions, tasks, and files between projects, clients, people, expectations, and deadlines.

You get a centralized platform for teams to communicate, collaborate, and stay organized, which reduces the need for email and time-consuming meetings.

Projects are managed transparently within teams, ensuring everyone is on the same page and accountable regarding project progress and responsibilities.

After signing on to Basecamp, you create projects for your organization and invite team members to join the project and collaborate on tasks, discussions, and files.

You can share updates and announcements with your team through the message board or to-do lists and organize and prioritize work with the scheduler.

There are additional features for you to use, such as file storage, document editing, and client access, for more advanced project management needs.

22. OfficeTime

OfficeTime tracks time and helps manage expenses with cross-platform support for freelancers who want to keep an eye on billable hours and stay organized.

It greatly simplifies the process of managing expenses and ensures accurate client project invoicing and billing, using desktop, laptop, and mobile devices.

All you need to do is to install the app on your preferred device before setting up the projects and tasks you want to track.

When tracking an activity, you can either use the timer or manually enter the time spent to record your billable hours or expenses.

Generating reports to analyze your time usage, project profitability, and client invoicing is simple once you sync your data across devices.

21. Dribbble

For freelance designers, Dribbble is a great platform to use when looking for a new client or finding interesting projects to pitch.

It is aimed at designers who want to share their work and connect with potential clients through a supportive community hub.

The strength of Dribbble’s service is its targeted global audience, who are specifically looking for a resource that promotes designer portfolios.

It also offers huge earnings potential and opportunities for designers to find freelance projects and collaborations while expanding their professional networks.

After opening your Dribbble account, you can build an impressive design portfolio by uploading your best work to showcase your skills and attract potential clients.

You can also explore the numerous job postings and freelance opportunities on Dribbble's job board while linking up with other industry professionals.

20. FreeAgent

FreeAgent is an impressive cloud-based accounting solution aimed at small businesses looking for simple invoicing, expense tracking, and receipt management.

They are currently rated at 4.5 stars on TrustPilot based on just under 2,300 reviews from their customer base of small business owners and freelancers.

At an average of $14.67 per month for the first year, including a free trial, 50% discount for 6 months, and $22 per month thereafter, it’s a steal.

FreeAgent makes accounting tasks like invoicing, expense tracking, and tax preparation simple, saving you time and reducing your administrative headaches.

With cloud-based accessibility, you can manage your finances from just about anywhere on the planet, anytime, using any device with internet access.

After creating a FreeAgent account and setting up your business profile, you can customize invoice templates with your branding and send invoices to clients.

Use the expense tracking tools for freelancers to capture your business expenses and categorize them to help with your gig worker tax deductions each year.

To track your performance, you can generate financial reports like profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and tax summaries to meet reporting requirements.

19. Stripe

Stripe is a respected financial services and mobile payment company that offers payment processing solutions for freelancers and small businesses.

Freelancers receive a comprehensive range of financial and payment solutions from a completely integrated platform that helps you cut expenses and increase income.

Stripe takes care of all your payment-related requirements, with transactions costing 2.9% plus 30 cents plus additional costs based on the type of transaction.

ACH payments attract a transaction fee of 0.8%, with a $5 maximum and based on volume and individual requirements, custom plans are available.

Stripe includes reporting and analytics tools for freelancers to help track sales, with custom reporting and a data pipeline to facilitate management decisions.

18. Trello

Trello is a Kanban-based project management tool for organizing tasks and workflows with customizable boards, lists, and cards to help teams collaborate effectively.

It offers a visual way to manage projects, allowing teams to customize their workflows and add comments, attachments, and due dates to help with productivity.

After signing in to your account, you can create boards for your projects or teams and customize with lists and cards to represent different stages of your workflow.

Add team members to boards and assign tasks using Trello cards together with labels, due dates, and attachments to provide context and details for tasks.

You can then track each project or team’s progress and collaborate with team members in real time, simplifying your project management considerably.

17. Tailwind

If you’re generating clients through social media, Tailwind offers a social media scheduling and analytics tool specifically designed for Pinterest marketing.

It allows you to schedule pins in advance, analyze performance, and optimize your Pinterest presence, saving time and ensuring consistent posting.

The built-in analytics tools for freelancers provide insights into your pin performance, audience engagement, and growth opportunities so that you can optimize your marketing efforts.

To make use of Tailwind, connect your account to your Pinterest profile and plan and schedule your pins for future publication using Tailwind’s scheduling feature.

This allows you to optimize posting times for maximum reach. Using SmartLoop, you can automatically reshare your evergreen content.

16. Boomerang

Boomerang is an email productivity app for both Gmail and Outlook scheduling with AI-enhanced writing and inbox management tools.

Its scheduling feature allows you to queue emails so that they’re sent at specific times, ensuring messages are delivered at the most convenient times.

To help improve your email engagement, clarity, and tone, there’s an AI-enhanced writing feature that assists you in crafting better messages.

You install the Boomerang plugin for your specific email client (e.g., Gmail, Outlook) and then schedule emails at a future time, ensuring timely delivery.

Users can set up email reminders and follow-up prompts to stay organized and ensure that your important messages don't fall through the cracks.

15. QuickBooks

QuickBooks is one of the most popular accounting software programs among freelancers for managing finances, invoicing, and tracking expenses due to its ease of use.

It was designed for small businesses and self-employed individuals who require the most essential accounting tools for bookkeeping and financial management.

QuickBooks simplifies most accounting tasks like creating invoicing and expense tracking while making tax preparation easier by saving time and reducing errors.

The comprehensive reporting will provide you with insights into your business finances, helping you to make informed decisions and plan for growth.

A “Simple Start” monthly plan provides you with everything you need to run the financial side of your business for $30 per month.

You can connect your bank accounts and credit cards to QuickBooks, making it easy to import your monthly transactions into your ledgers.

Invoices are also customizable, allowing you to include branding when you send your customers or clients their bills for payment.

Once your income and expenses have been entered into the software, you can generate financial statements like profit and loss reports, balance sheets, and cash flow statements for analyzing your business.

If you compare QuickBooks with any other online accounting software, it is one of the most popular accounting options for freelancers.

14. Slack

For small businesses that include a distributed team of employees or freelancers, Slack offers a cloud-based collaboration platform with channels, file sharing, and customization options.

It's one of the best real-time communication tools, helping with collaboration among teams, reducing the need for meetings and multiple emails, and simplifying workflow management.

Slack has a free plan, which for most small teams is sufficient unless a record of more than 90 days’ messages is needed.

A Pro plan costs $7.25 per month per user and allows unlimited app integrations as well as unlimited message history.

13. Pocket

Pocket is the perfect tool for bookmarking, saving, and revisiting articles, videos, and other content that you wish to keep for future reference.

You get offline access to all your saved content in a central repository, available through mobile devices as well as your laptop or desktop computer.

Save articles, images, and webpages using tags, folders, or collections, making it easy to find the relevant resources later, especially if you're a freelance writer.

12. Chrometa

Chrometa is an automatic time-tracking software that learns from your daily activities and attributes your actions to the appropriate projects.

It is most useful for helping you capture billable hours accurately without having to manually input information about time spent on your projects.

This automatic time-tracking greatly reduces your risk of forgetting billable activities, which can lead to increased revenue and improved productivity.

You must allow Chrometa to run in the background, tracking your activities automatically, before reviewing captured time entries and categorizing them by project or client.

Users can edit the time entries to ensure accuracy and completeness and then generate reports to analyze your time usage patterns, productivity, and billable hours.

Tracking your time accurately is one of the most important small business accounting tips, as it ensures that you capture all your revenue-generating opportunities.

11. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a popular social media management platform designed for scheduling and monitoring your social media content across various platforms.

You can manage multiple accounts from a central point, streamlining your social media marketing efforts by scheduling posts in advance, saving time.

Users can maintain a consistent social media presence, tracking brand mentions, comments, and messages, helping you with your engagement and reputation management.

After creating your Hootsuite account, connect your social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., and use the content calendar to help schedule posts.

Then set up streams to monitor your social media activity, including competitor activity, and engage with your audience by responding to comments, messages, and mentions. 

10. FreshBooks

FreshBooks is an invoicing, expense tracking, and accounting software tailored specifically for freelancers and their unique needs.

If you need a user-friendly interface with all the essential bookkeeping features needed to manage your finances, then FreshBooks is a popular choice.

Over 30 million users signed up for a FreshBooks account, and they’re rated 3.1 stars out of 5 on TrustPilot, mostly due to support issues.

Despite this, FreshBooks is an affordable option for freelancers, costing just $5.70 per month for their Lite package, which offers unlimited invoicing and expenses.

You can also take advantage of the built-in payment option on your invoices, making debt collection simple and payments easy for your clients.

Should you have more than five clients, then you’ll need to upgrade to the Plus options at $9.90 per month, which includes 50 customers.

You’ll have all the information you need to calculate gig worker tax deductions at the end of the tax year, ensuring your peace of mind.

9. Zoom

Over the years, Zoom has become indispensable for freelancers who need a video conferencing platform with HD video, screen sharing, recording, and breakout rooms.

It is ideal for online meetings, webinars, and collaboration among remote teams and is available as both a desktop and mobile app.

The free plan allows meetings up to 40 minutes and 100 attendees, as well as the “Basic Whiteboard” facility and local recording functionality.

For freelancers who need to draw, write, add shapes or annotations to presentations and discussions, the Whiteboard feature is enormously useful.

Pro users pay $159.90 per year, allowing them to increase meeting times to 30 hours and providing ample time to meet with clients and colleagues.

8. ClickUp

ClickUp is another tool that offers customizable workflows, time tracking, and agile boards that integrate with various other apps and tools.

Since 2017, the company has grown by leaps and bounds, providing comprehensive project management tools for teams of all sizes.

ClickUp’s integration with a host of other tools helps to enhance workflow efficiency and reduces the need for switching between platforms.

You can start for free, but if you need additional resources, then it costs $7 per month per user for unlimited projects and 1,000 automations.

7. Hourstack

Hourstack offers project management, resource planning, and calendar integration, serving as an alternative to Toggl and providing a comprehensive range of management solutions.

You can set up projects, tasks, and resource allocations within Hourstack and integrate them with your calendar for better scheduling and coordination.

Tracking time spent on tasks and projects improves your productivity, and its reporting functionality helps to analyze time usage and project progress.

There’s a 14-day free trial after which you choose either the personal ($12 per month) or the team plan ($15 per month per team member).

6. Drip

Drip is an e-commerce-focused tool for customer data analysis, personalization, and engagement that helps you to better understand customer behavior.

This tool helps you to segment audiences and deliver personalized marketing campaigns that result in better engagement with potential customers.

The personalized messaging and various automation features help businesses nurture their leads and increase conversions, leading to improved revenue growth.

Drip integrates with your e-commerce platform, allowing you to import customer data and set up tracking to capture relevant information about customer behavior.

Together with Google Analytics, you can segment your audience based on their demographics, behavior, and purchase history. You can then create targeted marketing campaigns.

Then use Drip's automation features to send out personalized emails, add abandoned cart reminders, and include product recommendations to your clients.

By monitoring each campaign’s performance, you can iterate on your strategies to optimize your results, which in turn helps to drive your business's growth.

5. PayPal

For ease of use and convenience, PayPal is our recommended payment processing platform. It offers various payment options and invoicing features.

It is an easy way to incorporate secure online transactions for your freelance business, providing a secure way to send and receive payments online.

You’ll need a PayPal business account if you're a business owner to customize invoices with your business logo, item details, and payment terms.

Send invoices to clients via email or share payment links for online transactions while monitoring transactions and managing your finances through the PayPal dashboard.

4. SaneBox

SaneBox is an AI-driven email organization tool that includes distraction-free features and reminder capabilities that help you prioritize important emails.

It also assists in reducing inbox clutter, which helps you stay focused on your essential tasks rather than being constantly distracted.

The AI algorithm automatically categorizes emails based on their importance and relevance, making sure that you only see the most critical messages in your inbox.

Some of the most useful features include email snooze, reminders, and one-click unsubscribe, helping you stay organized, focused, and productive.

After you connect SaneBox to your email provider, it analyzes your inbox and automatically sorts emails into folders like Inbox, SaneLater, and SaneNews.

A nifty feature is SaneBox's snooze feature, which temporarily removes less urgent emails from your inbox, allowing you to deal with them later.

We found that when we used SaneBox's one-click unsubscribe feature, it quickly decluttered our inbox and reduced email distractions significantly.

A study from 2014 highlighted that internal email distractions, including unnecessarily forwarding attachments and copying people for no good reason, were significant problems.

Nothing much has changed since then, and a tool like SaneBox helps to keep distractions to a minimum while you’re working.

3. Asana

Asana is a web-based project management tool offering task management, collaboration, and project tracking features that are indispensable for freelancers.

It helps teams organize tasks, set priorities, and track progress in real-time, increasing efficiency and ensuring that you hit your deadlines.

Once you have an account, you can create projects and invite team members to collaborate, breaking down projects into tasks, assigning responsibilities, and setting deadlines.

Using Asana’s Kanban boards, freelancers can organize their work into “to-do,” “doing,” and “done” columns, helping to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines.

2. Toggl

Toggl is a time-tracking and project management platform with reporting and idle detection features that allow for accurate project management.

It helps both individuals and teams track time spent on tasks and projects, improving productivity and highlighting areas for improvement.

After you have signed up for an account, you can use the desktop or mobile app or the browser plugin to track your time accurately.

Each time you start working, you click the timer and describe the task you’re busy with, and assign it to a project and client.

Create reports to help analyze time usage patterns and identify areas for improvement as well as to assist in billing clients for your time.

You can also use the idle detection feature to ensure accurate time tracking. You can also integrate Toggl with other freelancer tools for seamless workflow management.

1. Sumo

One of the most important aspects of running a business is marketing your services and products to potential clients – a task at which Sumo excels.

Sumo provides various tools to improve your website traffic, increase user engagement, and build lists to grow your online presence and increase conversions.

The tools built into Sumo help businesses maximize their online marketing ROI through pop-ups, welcome mats, and scroll boxes to capture email leads.

Welcome mat popups are incredibly effective at ensuring that your core message is conveyed quickly to any new visitor to your website.

Together with sharing buttons and heat maps, Sumo helps freelancers and businesses understand their visitor behavior to optimize website design.

You can test Sumo for yourself by opening a free account, and if you see the potential, a Pro account costs $39 per month.

Summary

The tools we selected target the major areas of your freelance business – marketing and promotion, accounting, project management, and communication.

These form the core aspects of what drives growth and ensure that your freelance business thrives in the current competitive economy.

By selecting freelancer tools that are most appropriate to your business, you’ll enhance your productivity and ensure that your business is a roaring success.