45 best freelance apps in 2023
Freelancers are businesses of one. But that doesn’t mean they have to do every single task. In fact, they can’t: Even the most efficient freelancers simply cannot do it all. But that’s where apps come in. There are hundreds of apps and platforms that can help freelancers with almost any task, but especially around “back office” functions like project management or invoicing.
In this guide, we’re covering 45 of the best apps for freelancers in multiple different categories (and sharing the price).
Apps every freelancer can use
As a freelancer, you have to deal with clients and business tasks on a regular basis. That's where technology can help bring some freedom back into your day. Here are some of the best apps any freelancer can use, what they do, and how much they cost. Some of the apps below have free plans, so you might not even need to adjust your freelance rates to afford them.
Time-saving apps
1. Calendly
What it does: Calendly is an online appointment booking app which allows businesses or clients to schedule meetings with anyone through access to their Calendly link.
What you can do with it: The app allows you to build a calendar based on your availability, so that your clients can pick a meeting time that works for them. Calendly also offers integrations with Hubspot, Chrome, Paypal, and more.
Why it’s valuable: As a freelancer, Calendly can help you save time during the meeting booking process with your clients, removing all the back and forth emailing.
Cost: Free plan available
Basic plan: $8 USD a month
Pro plan: $12 USD a month
2. Zapier
What it does: Zapier is a workflow app that automates tasks through combinations of different apps. The app allows you to connect two or more apps together, and have them automatically complete a task for you.
What you can do with it: You can set up the apps you normally use on Zapier, and have it handle repetitive tasks. For instance, you can have the app automatically reply to emails, share social posts, or save documents.
Why it’s valuable: As a freelancer, Zapier can save you time handling repetitive tasks that can be automated so that you can focus on the ones you want to prioritize. It's almost like having a web developer and a small team of marketers working with you to automate tasks in the background.
Cost: Free plan available
Paid plans range from $19.99 USD a month to $599 USD a month.
3. Postbox
What it does: Postbox is a desktop email client, news hub and feed reader for Windows and MacOS.
What you can do with it: You can login to Postbox with all your email accounts and view them all on a straightforward interface. You can also organize your accounts, search for specific attachments, and have the Postbox client edit and format your emails so they’re ready to be sent.
Why it’s valuable: If you have multiple email accounts, Postbox can help you manage all them on one app.
Cost: Lifetime License: $59 USD
4. Descript
What it does: Descript is an all-in-one audio and video editor that allows users to record, edit, mix, and collaborate on multimedia projects.
What you can do with it: You can use the app to capture your screen’s audio and video, edit multimedia, and have it run behind online meetings for transcription.
Why it’s valuable: Descript can save you from needing to run multiple apps at once. It’s also one of the only all-in-one multimedia apps that includes transcription.
Cost: Free plan available
Creator plan: $12 USD a month
Pro plan: $24 USD a month
5. Time Buddy
What it does: Time Buddy is a mobile app available on iOS and Android which allows users to compare time zones and plan conference calls, webinars, international phone calls, and meetings.
What you can do with it: The app can be used as a visual scheduler and booking app for international clients. With the built-in time zone converter, the app lets you pick times that fit best for you and your clients.
Why it’s valuable: Time Buddy is one of the only time management apps that can convert time zones for international clients. If you frequently collaborate with clients in different time zones, this can ensure you’re booking meetings at the correct times.
Cost: App is free
Free plan available
Paid plans cost $2.99 USD a month and $5.99 USD a month.
Sales and marketing apps
1. Bidsketch
What it does: Bidsketch is a proposal software that lets users create professional business proposals.
What you can do with it: The app allows users to design their own custom HTML/CSS proposal or choose from several templates. Users can reuse designs, automate their workflow, and put built-in menus into their proposals.
Why it’s valuable: If you’re a freelancer with limited in design skills, Bidsketch can make the proposal design process more accessible. The app can save you time by making the design process easier, and you can save money by not having to pay someone else to design your proposal.
Cost: Free 14 day trial available
Solo: $29 USD a month
2. Zoom
What it does: Zoom is a communication app that allows users to meet in virtual meeting rooms via webcam and microphone.
What you can do with it: You can host rooms with up to 1,000 people, and have the ability to record, transcribe, and stream your meetings. The app also has hundreds of integrations with other apps.
Why it’s valuable: Zoom has become the most popular video conferencing app in recent years, and is one of the easiest ways to hold meetings if you work remotely.
Cost: Free plan available
Priced plans range from $149.90 USD to $300 USD a year
3. Brand24
What it does: Brand24 is a social media monitoring tool that helps you manage the online reputation of your business through different platforms.
What you can do with it: You can use Brand24 to track your competitors, customer feedback, marketing campaigns, and social performance.
Why it’s valuable: Brand24 can save you the time of having to login to multiple social platforms and sorting through feedback yourself.
Cost: Free 14 day trial available
Plus plan: $49 USD a month
Premium plan: $99 USD a month
Max plan: $199 USD a month
4. Buffer
What it does: Buffer is a social media marketing tool that lets you schedule posts and track your analytics across various platforms.
What you can do with it: You can use Buffer to schedule your social posts on all major platforms, collaborate on projects, and track the performance of your posts
Why it’s valuable: If you’re a business that tracks their social presence, Buffer can take on all of the analytics for you. This saves you the time of logging into multiple apps and going through everything yourself.
Cost: Free plan available.
14 day free trial available for paid plans.
Paid plans range from $15 USD a month to $99 USD a month.
Analytics plans range from $35 USD a month to $50 USD a month.
5. Mailchimp
What it does: Mailchimp is an all-in-one marketing automation platform and email marketing service.
What you can do with it: The platform allows you to create email marketing campaigns, build websites, and track audience data for your business. It’s regularly used by people who write newsletters and email campaigns with a focus on audience engagement.
Why it’s valuable: If you like keeping workspace minimal, Mailchimp offers all the marketing tools you need on one platform. You can also use it to build a website, campaign, or newsletter.
Cost: Free plan available.
Free 30 day trial available for paid plans.
Paid plans range from $9.99 USD a month to $299 USD a month.
6. Proposify
What it does: Proposify is a proposal creator designed to make creating proposals easier for freelancers and small businesses.
What you can do with it: The platform allows you to build proposals from a library of templates, assets, and images on a collaborative-friendly platform. You can also track the performance of your proposals after they’ve been submitted.
Why it’s valuable: Creating a proposal from scratch can take a lot of time and can be difficult if you don’t have the proper design skills. Proposify streamlines the process for you, making it much more accessible.
Cost: Free plan available
14 day free trial available for paid plans.
Team plan: $49 USD per user a month.
Business plan: $590 USD a month.
Organizational apps
1. TeuxDeux
What it does: TeuxDeux is a task management app that lets you create simple to-do lists on your mobile device.
What you can do with it: You can create day-to-day to-do lists as well as general “stashed” lists for future plans.
Why it’s valuable: TeuxDeux replicates the process of writing to-do lists on a piece of paper in an app. It can be a simple yet effective productivity tool that can keep you on top of general day-to-day tasks.
Cost: Free 30 day trial available.
Believer plan: $2 USD a month.
Skeptic plan: $3 USD a month.
2. To Do
What it does: To Do is a cloud based task management app by Microsoft that comes free with a Microsoft 365 subscription.
What you can do with it: You can make daily planners and to do lists that are saved on your Microsoft account cloud. They can be accessed and shared across multiple devices and accounts.
Why it’s valuable: If you use Microsoft 360, this app integrates great with other Microsoft apps. The cloud based features also make sure your planners are stored and never lost.
Cost: Microsoft To Do is free on all platforms.
3. Airtable
What it does: Airtable is a cloud collaboration platform that lets you create and share digital databases for your workplace.
What you can do with it: The app lets you create flexible relational databases that fit your team needs. You can make everything from product plans, to calendars, and product trackers. You can also integrate many of your favourite apps into Airtable.
Why it’s valuable: Airtable is a valuable tool because of its flexibility. It has various database templates that can fit into many business needs, and you can collaborate on a project through multiple devices.
Cost: 14 day free trial available for paid plans.
Plus plan: $10 USD per user a month.
Pro plan: $20 USD per user a month.
4. Asana
What it does: Asana is a web and mobile organization app designed to help teams organize, track, and manage their work.
What you can do with it: You can build team timelines, task databases, and assign unique to-do boards which all track assignment progress. There is also app integration with other popular apps and collaboration options for clients.
Why it’s valuable: Asana streamlines the task assignment process so you don’t have to manually create timelines yourself. It's often ranked highly compared to other project management tools.
Cost: Free plan available.
Free trial available for paid plans.
Premium plan: $10.99 USD per user a month.
Business plan: $24.99 USD per user a month.
5. Trello
What it does: Trello is a web-based collaboration tool that organizes projects into boards.
What you can do with it: You build “Kanban-style” boards which organize your assignments and projects on a colourful board. You can make sections for daily tasks and keep track of what’s in progress.
Why it’s valuable: Like other Kanban-style tools, Trello keeps everybody organized and focused on what they should be prioritizing.
Cost: Free plan available.
Free trial for paid plans available.
Business plan: $12.50 per user a month.
Enterprise inquiries also available.
6. SelfControl
What it does: SelfControl is an app for MacOS that lets you block access to distracting websites.
What you can do with it: Self Control lets you block access to distracting websites for any amount of time you set. Although it’s only available on Mac, there are similar apps on Windows like SelfRestraint that do the same thing.
Why it’s valuable: This simple tool can ensure you’re blocked off from those pages, so you can focus on your work.
Cost: The app is free to download, but you can donate to the app creators.
Communication apps
1. Indy (Formerly Tispr)
What it does: Indy is an all-in-one platform that lets you create various marketing and payment tools like forms, proposals, and invoices.
What you can do with it: On top of being able to use marketing tools that will help you get paid, you can also communicate with clients on the platform, create profiles, and track all of your analytics on a clean UI.
Why it’s valuable: If you want to run your business on one platform, Indy has every tool you need to get started. This can potentially save you the time and confusion of jumping across multiple platforms.
Cost: Free plan available.
Pro bundle: $5.99 USD a month.
2. Google Workspace (formerly G Suite)
What it does: Google Workspace is a collection of cloud based productivity and collaboration tools for businesses.
What you can do with it: Google Workspace provides you with a custom email for your business, and gives access to major Google services like GMail, Docs, Calendar, Drive, and more.
Why it’s valuable: If you already use Google Apps to run your business, Workspace provides you with more features and collaboration tools which make it a stronger option for teams.
Cost: 14 day free trial available.
Paid plans range from $6 USD per user a month to $18 USD per user a month.
Enterprise inquiries also available.
3. Doodle
What it does: Doodle is an online scheduling tool that can be used to book meetings.
What you can do with it: You can create a calendar built around your availability to send to clients so they can book meetings at convenient times for them.
Why it’s valuable: Doodle can save you the headache and time of exchanging emails with your clients to find a meeting time that works. Instead, they can just go to your Doodle calendar, and book a date themselves.
Cost: 14 day free trial available.
Pro plan: $6.95 USD per user a month.
Team plan: $8.95 per user a month.
4. Yac
What it does: Yac is a voice messaging tool that lets you send voice messages to your remote teams.
What you can do with it: You can use Yac as a messenger tool to send audio messages to your team. You’re also able to create groups, channels, and threads to organize your chats.
Why it’s valuable: Instead of constantly booking weekly meetings or hopping on calls, Yac can save you the hassle through a quick exchange of voice messages. This can be great for productivity. It’s also available on all platforms.
Cost: App is free to use for individuals.
Yac for teams: $3 USD per user a month.
Business admin apps
1. Wave
What it does: Wave is a financial software that lets entrepreneurs send invoices, receive payments, and store customer billing information.
What you can do with it: Freelancers can send custom invoices to their clients for recurring or one time payments. They can also use the app to send money to employees or contractors, and to track financials.
Why it’s valuable: Wave is one the best freelance apps for making custom invoice templates. You’re also able to set up recurring payments which will save you time from constantly making invoices.
Cost: Free accounting and invoicing services.
Pay-per-use payments service available.
Monthly payroll plan: $20 USD + $6 USD per user + $6 USD per contractor a month.
2. Hubstaff
What it does: Hubstaff is a time tracking and productivity monitoring tool and freelance marketplace.
What you can do with it: With Hubstaff you can keep track of your employees’ hours and locations. Employees can clock in on the app, and you’ll be notified. You can also set up invoices, payrolls, and schedules.
Why it’s valuable: If your employees are working in a different site, it can be difficult to keep track of how their work is going. Hubstaff allows you to keep track of this, to ensure everything is running smoothly.
Cost: (For Hubstaff Time)
14 day free trial available.
Free plan available (one user only).
Basic: $7 USD per user a month.
Premium: $10 USD per user a month.
Enterprise: $20 USD per user a month.
3. Lastpass
What it does: Lastpass is a password manager that stores encrypted passwords online.
What you can do with it: Lastpass stores passwords from all your accounts to make logins quickly and easily. You can also use the app to generate stronger passwords, and you can share stored information across accounts.
Why it’s valuable: It can be difficult to remember all your passwords, especially if you have many different ones. Lastpass stores everything, ensuring you don’t ever have to click the “forgot your password” link again.
Cost: Free plan available.
Free 30 day trial available.
Premium: $3 USD a month.
Family: $4 USD a month.
Specific apps for different types of freelancers
Apps for freelance writers
1. Surfer SEO
What it does: Surfer SEO is designed to help writers optimize their SEO for their blog posts and articles.
What you can do with it: The app lets you generate content and SEO strategies that fit your goals. It also provides helpful SEO ratings and suggestions for better optimization.
Why it’s valuable: For writers, manually optimizing content for SEO can take a lot of time and effort, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Cost: Basic plan: $59 USD a month.
Pro: $99 USD a month.
Business: $199 USD a month.
2. Clearscope SEO
What it does: Clearscope is a SEO content optimization platform designed to drive search traffic.
What you can do with it: The Clearscope app will automatically analyze your work, and give you an SEO grade and breakdown of what you can do to improve it. You can write on the Clearscope word processing client, or integrate it as a plugin on WordPress or Google Docs.
Why it’s valuable: Clearscope is another SEO optimization platform that automates SEO analysis for you as a freelance writer.
Cost: Essentials bundle: $170 USD a month.
Pro: $350 USD a month.
Enterprise inquiries also available.
3. Google Docs
What it does: Google Docs is an online, cloud-based word processor included in the Google Suite.
What you can do with it: With Google Docs you can write, edit, and share text documents across all devices. You can also do all of this collaboratively.
Why it’s valuable: Google Docs has become a standard in collaboration and document writing for writers, which makes it a valuable tool to know how to use. It’s also very hard to lose content on Google Docs, because it automatically saves on the Google Cloud. Everything is free on your Gmail account, making it one of the best freelance apps.
Cost: Google Docs is included for free with all gmail accounts. You can also opt for paid plans which give you more cloud storage space (see the Google Workspace section above for pricing).
4. Pocket
What it does: Pocket is an app that lets you save articles on your favourite publications with a click.
What you can do with it: You go to articles you want to save, and click on the pocket button to store them. You can also organize articles in your archive by category. Pocket is available as a mobile app and extension on browsers.
Why it’s valuable: Pocket is a helpful tool for freelancers who aggregate content for newsletters or articles.
Cost: Pocket is free to use.
Premium plan: $4.99 USD a month.
Apps for freelance editors
1. Hemingway
What it does: Hemingway is an online word editor that highlights and corrects grammar, fluency, and sentence structure in order to help your writing read and look better.
What you can do with it: You can copy and paste your work into the Hemingway App and get detailed feedback on its readability.
Why it’s valuable: Hemingway will notice things about your writing that other word processing apps can’t. It's almost like a navigation guide for your editing process.
Cost: Hemingway is available for free online.
Desktop app: $19.99 USD.
2. Grammarly
What it does: Grammarly is an online writing assistant that cleans up your writing.
What you can do with it: You can integrate Grammarly into your favorite apps or browsers so it can help you write more clearly and mistake-free.
Why it’s valuable: Grammarly’s flexible integration options mean it can help you write better across all apps. You’ll write better emails, articles, and chat messages with the help of Grammarly AI.
Cost: Free plan available.
Premium: $30 USD a month.
Business: $37.50 USD plus $12.50 per user a month.
3. Ahrefs
What it does: Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO toolset designed to optimize your website.
What you can do with it: With Ahrefs, you can get detailed analysis on your SEO performance, improved keyword suggestions, and breakdowns of how your competitors are doing.
Why it’s valuable: Ahrefs has every SEO analysis tool you need in one platform. On top of all of the optimization features, you can also see how other websites are performing, too.
Cost: Paid 7 day trial available for $7 USD.
Paid plans range from $99 USD a month to $999 USD a month.
Apps for freelance designers
1. Figma
What it does: Figma is a collaborative graphics creator where you can create and share designs for websites.
What you can do with it: You can create unique looking graphics with the design tool, or prototype transitions to make your website stand out. You can also work on projects collaboratively with a team.
Why it’s valuable: Figma’s design tools streamline the creation process making it easier to make unique designs and prototypes.
Cost: Free plan available.
Pro plan: $12 USD per user a month.
Organization plan: $45 USD per user a month.
2. Invision
What it does: Invision is a collaborative prototyping and workflow tool where you can create designs for different platforms.
What you can do with it: The app lets you build designs from the ground up with tools for each step of the process. You’re able to brainstorm your ideas, design interactive prototypes, and collaborate with your team during the whole process.
Why it’s valuable: Invision’s collaborative tools make design sharing much faster, because you can send directly through the app instead of exporting files.
Cost: Free plan available.
Paid: $9.95 per user a month.
Enterprise inquiries also available.
3. Photoshop
What it does: Adobe Photoshop is graphics and photo editing software.
What you can do with it: With Photoshop, you edit, combine, draw, and tune digital images. You can also use Photoshop across multiple devices.
Why it’s valuable: Photoshop is the industry standard app for editing raster graphics, photos, and digital art. If you’re a freelancer taking on any work involving those jobs, Photoshop skills are a must.
Cost: Free 7 day trial available.
Photoshop subscription: $20.99 USD a month.
4. Coggle
What it does: Coggle is a mind mapping web application where you can design diagrams for ideas and brainstorming.
What you can do with it: You can create customizable flowcharts and mind maps that can be developed collaboratively.
Why it’s valuable: There aren’t many apps out there that specialize in mind mapping. Coggle has twice the features as similar apps, and is one of the only ones with collaborative sharing.
Cost: Free plan available.
Awesome plan: $5 USD a month.
Organization plan: $8 USD per user a month.
Apps for freelance web developers
1. Mindly
What it does: Mindly is a mind map app for organizing your ideas.
What you can do with it: You can make mind maps and diagrams to structure your ideas. You can also use the app on Mac and most mobile devices.
Why it’s valuable: If you want a mind mapping app designed for mobile, Mindly is one of the best freelance apps available. It’s one of the easiest to use, and has more features than its competitors.
Cost: Mindly is available for free on Android and iOS.
Mindly Plus: $6.99 USD a month.
Mindly for Mac: $29.99 USD.
2. UltraEdit
What it does: UltraEdit is a commercial text editor that developers and programmers can use to edit text for code.
What you can do with it: Programmers or developers can use UltraEdit to edit all major code languages like HTML, JavaScript, and C/C++. It also has unique features like a finder tool which will help your work process.
Why it’s valuable: It has a popular multi-select tool and other intuitive features that can speed up your productivity as a programmer. Also, if you like custom themes for your text editor, UltraEdit has some of the best looking ones available.
Cost: Free 30 day trial available.
Regular plan: $79.95 USD a year.
All access: $99.95 USD a year.
3. Github
What it does: Github is a code hosting website built for collaboration and project management.
What you can do with it: You can use GitHub to host any code you write, and open it up to be worked on collaboratively. You can also contribute to other people’s projects, and download other people’s work.
Why it’s valuable: GitHub is a great place to host your coding projects because it backs up your work in a cloud. You can access your work from anywhere, which makes it valuable for remote freelancers.
Cost: Free plan available.
Team plan: $4 USD per user a month.
Apps for freelance strategists and consultants
1. MindMeister
What it does: MindMeister is an online mind mapping application where teams can collaborate on a mind map to share ideas, comments and plans.
What you can do with it: You can visualize your ideas by creating collaborative mind maps on MindMeister. You could also make interactive presentations, and embed your maps on most platforms.
Why it’s valuable: All of your mind maps are saved and backed up on a cloud, so you never have to worry about losing your work. You could also restore previous versions of your documents saved on the cloud in case you need to undo any changes.
Cost: Free plan available.
Personal: $4.99 USD a month.
Pro: $8.25 USD a month.
Business: $12.49 USD a month.
2. RescueTime
What it does: RescueTime is a time tracking app that automatically tracks your time, rates your productivity, and blocks distractions.
What you can do with it: RescueTime will automatically track the amount of time you spend on apps and websites and give you detailed breakdowns of your habits and productivity. It can create a custom daily schedule built around your habits. You can also use the app to block or limit specific websites.
Why it’s valuable: RescueTime tracks everything in the background and requires very little data entry to operate. This means you can focus on your tasks (and talent), while RescueTime does its job.
Cost: Free plan available.
Free 14 day trial available.
Paid: $12 USD a month.
3. Miro
What it does: Miro is an online collaborative whiteboard program that lets teams meet together to brainstorm, create, and plan out ideas.
What you can do with it: Teams can collaborate on Miro’s infinite canvas to create things like diagrams, digital sticky notes, and spreadsheets. They can also enable video calls, share screens, and integrate Miro with other popular apps.
Why it’s valuable: Miro is one of the only whiteboard apps that has integrated video chat, so you can conveniently set up your team meeting up on one site.
Cost: Free plan available.
Team: $8 USD per user a month.
Business: $16 USD per user a month.
Enterprise inquiries also available.
4. Canva
What it does: Canva is a graphic design platform used to create social media content, presentations, posters, and other visual content.
What you can do with it: You can create all kinds of visuals using Canva’s templates, or design something new using their assets.
Why it’s valuable: Graphic design is important for almost any brand, but it can be expensive and time consuming. Canva streamlines the whole process for you through templates, saving you money and time.
Cost: Free plan available.
Free 30 day trial available.
Pro: $12.99 USD a month.
Enterprise: $32 USD a month.
Apps that help you find freelance jobs
Want to find freelance jobs? Check out these platforms for gigs, long-term work, and other opportunities for freelancers:
1. Upwork
Upwork is one of many websites you can use to find freelance jobs. The website has thousands of companies posting almost any kind of freelance writing opportunity you can think of, from script writing to blogging and everything in between. The only downside is that millions of freelancers use Upwork, so the competition can be fierce.
2. Fiverr
Similar to Upwork, Fiverr is a huge freelance marketplace you can use to find freelance jobs. The website evolved from only offering $5 jobs (hence the name) and is now a fully fledged marketplace where you can find expert-level writers, app developers, virtual assistants, and numerous other gigs.
3. Twitter
Recruiters regularly use Twitter and other social media platforms to post about freelance gigs, asking their network if anyone knows freelancers they can hire. If you use Twitter or other social media platforms to find freelance gigs, just be aware you'll likely need to go through a screening process with the company hiring. Unlike Upwork or Fiverr, though, Twitter is a wide open and public social network, which means you will be talking about freelance jobs in the same newsfeed you get food pictures in.
Pitfalls to be aware of as a freelancer
Although all these apps can help with your productivity and help you find freelance jobs, they still come with potential pitfalls. Here are some that you should be aware of:
Price: Always make sure you’re going to make use of the extra features if you spend extra money on an app.
Time: Be careful of how much time you spend using different technologies, especially if you are trying to find freelance jobs. You can get pulled into sites like Upwork or Fiverr, since it's easy to search through thousands of potential gigs. But you need to focus your efforts to get maximum time ROI.
Over-reliance: Even the best freelance apps occasionally run into problems, so make sure you have a backup plan.
Costs can explode as you grow: Although most plans start with a cheap or free first tier, their fees can dramatically increase as your business grows.
Unnecessary features (using enterprise tech as a freelancer): Freelancers aren’t going to need everything that an enterprise plan provides, so make sure you’re only paying for a plan that fits your needs.
Not using every possible feature (being obsessed with free): If you’re not into paying for more features, you might find yourself over reliant on free apps. Sometimes it’s just better to pay for one app that can do it all.
Let technology power your business
The idea of running a successful business doesn’t mean you literally have to do everything. As an entrepreneur, you should always look for ways to work smarter and not harder. You need to focus on your freelance jobs (or how to find freelance jobs), not doing all the admin that technology should do for you). Technology is stronger than ever, so don’t be afraid to let it do some of the heavy lifting.
