Strategy

Recommended Startup Tools

Here’s our comprehensive list of the tools we recommend for all startups and small businesses. We constantly swap in better tools to replace ones that are outdated. Have a suggestion?  Please let us know!

Essential Tools

Accounting

Xero
Quickbooks Online
Freshbooks
Wave Apps

CRM Software

AgileCRM
SalesForce
Insightly
Batchbook
Prosperworks
PipeDrive
Streak
HighRise
Zoho
InfusionSoft

Ecommerce

BigCommerce
Shopify
WooCommerce
Gumroad
Snipcart
Paywhirl
Chargify
Recurly

Hosting

(See our full list of best shared hosting and best managed VPS hosting)
Dreamhost
Inmotion
Fastly
MaxCDN

Inventory Tracking

Stitch Labs
Trade Gecko
Unleashed

Legal and HR

Zenefits
Gusto (formerly ZenPayroll)
Docracy

Miscellaneous

Equity Websites
EventBrite

Marketing Tools

A/B Testing

Optimizely
Visual Website Optimizer

Email Marketing

ActiveCampaign
MailChimp
CampaignMonitor
Emma
Vertical Response
Critical Impact
Klaviyo
Remarkety
GetResponse
Curated.co
ConvertKit
Rare.io

Form Builders

Typeform
Wufoo
FormStack
Gravity Forms

Graphics

Photoshop
Pixabay
Canva.com
Infogr.am
PiktoChart
Venngage

Lead Generation

CommissionWire
Unbounce
LeadPages
MailMunch
Ontraport
OptinMonster

Social Media

HootSuite
Buffer
SproutSocial
Crowdfire
StatusBrew
Quuu
Feedly
Start a Fire
Meet Edgar
FollowedApp
Full Bottle
Thunderclap
Socialdraft

Survey Software

SurveyGizmo
Survey.io
Qualaroo

Viral Marketing

Kickoff Labs
Gleam.io
Ambassador
ReferralCandy
TwiceViral
Rafflecopter

Lifestyle Tools

Books

The 4-Hour Workweek (Expanded and Updated)
The Last Lecture
Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing
INSIGHTS: Reflections from 101 of Yale’s Most Successful Entrepreneurs

Health

Calm
WellnessFx.com
Ubiome
23andMe

Personal Finance

Personal Capital
Mint
Simple
Wealthfront

Productivity

FocusAtWill.com
Dropbox
Evernote
Boomerang for Gmail
Rapportive for Gmail
Sidekick by Hubspot
Mixmax
SimplyNoise
Trello
ContentMarketer.io
PersistIQ
CoSchedule
BuzzStream

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Stephen Steinberg

Stephen Steinberg

Stephen is the Founder of Vapor Fresh, a line of safer plant based cleaning products for the sports & fitness industry, as well as Founder of Animate Yerba Mate, a brand bringing quality unsmoked organic Yerba Mate teas to the USA.