REPLY-ALL’s FAVOURITE
FREE OR LOW-COST

TECH TOOLS ⚒️

No one has time to test tech for their own business. So we do. We've tested a lot (300+ tools), so here's our top recommendations for business operations, finances, marketing and sales, and more. Our criteria:

  • Free or low-cost per month

  • Easy-to-use and learn with ample online resources

  • Tried and tested by us

  • Integrates with other apps

Note: a few of the apps are marked with an (*), which means we've shared an affiliate link below and may receive a discount or a commission if you sign up. But also note: these bonuses are so small that they do not bias our selections.

SMALL BUSINESSES
USE…

3 of 4

1-5+

digital tools for their business

WITH THE TOP 3 BENEFITS BEING:

PRODUCTIVITY,
SAVING TIME, AND REDUCING ERRORS.

*According to this 2025 study by Intuit Quickbooks

SOME TRIED & TESTED FAVES:

    • ☁️ Access your everything, everywhere: Google Workspace for your gmail, calendar, cloud storage, files, slides at $15/month for business account

    • 🔖 Register your business in Canada with: Ownr* starts at $40 for sole proprietorship

    • 🔒 Get business insurance: Zensurance starting at $19/mo

    • Most small business’s first app is their invoicing/finance app go there next ⬇️

  • $$$

    Contracts & Legal Stuff:

    TIP: some document signing apps aren’t actually legally binding in Canada.

  • TIP: If your customer relationships are simple, stick with an email marketing tool instead of a CRM (client relationship management tool)

    • 😃Folk*: if you love Notion but know it's CRM abilities are limited, meet folk. Looks like Notion, operates like butter, can pull contact info from gmail, Linkedin, and any browser. Starts at $0-24/mo.

    • 💊Capsule*: The only CRM I know with a decent free plan. Starts at $0-21/mo.

    • 📮 Copper CRM: Made for gmail users. Starts at $12-24/mo.

  • TIP: Project management tools almost always start with a free plan, so don’t pay until you need to!

    • 🧠 Notion* my favourite second brain - dump all ideas and plans into Notion.

    • 🧘‍♀️Asana: a classic,

    • ☑️ Todoist: a simpler project & task management tool.

    • 🏕️ Basecamp: best for if you want your clients to be able to submit files, see progress, and communicate with you in one simple dashboard.

    • 📮 Monday* the most robust project manager, with tons of automations and integrations.

    • 🕸️ Build your first website on: Wix or Squarespace, starting at $16/month

    • Need something cheaper? Check out readymag.com or carrd.co for a simpler site

    • 🖼️ Canva: for all of your creative and branded assets. $0-18.99 and I have to say the upgraded plan is worth it for the AI features, easy resizing, and free stock photos, videos and audio.

    • Buffer ($0-6mo) to schedule your social media content and get ideas, inspiration and analytics.

    • ✉️ Mailerlite* ($0-9/mo) for email marketing and automation to nurture your leads.

    • Our favourite AI tool is Claude instead of ChatGPT. Claude claims to be more ethical, more inclusive of diverse perspectives and information, and a better creative writer.

    • Our favourite tool for integration tools, automating workflows, and creating simple AI agents is relay.app

      • It’s a Zapier alternative! Though we still definitely use Zapier often, as it integrates with more tools than relay.app does.

NOTE: These are general recommendations for solopreneurs and tiny businesses with simple needs. For more custom recommendations for your specific business, industry, or unique workflow, book a call. That’s what we do!

“BUT ISN’T THERE A TOOL THAT DOES IT ALL? 😩”

WE WISH. I mean, technically, they exist, yes. Like Honeybook, Dubsado, Zoho, Odoo and more BUT UNFORTUNATELY…

In our experience, these tools try to do it all but either aren’t doing it well, and/or they will get expensive because they charge you for each extra feature and function.

**And especially for our Canadian peers 🇨🇦, we’ve noticed many of these tools don’t understand or include Canadian provincial sales taxes in their invoicing features, which can be a real pain for us.

MAKE TECH YOUR TEAMMATE

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MAKE TECH YOUR TEAMMATE 〰️