Coming up with a startup tools list is a challenging task if you want to actually mention tools that offer the most for the smallest price. Useful features for free or companies that consider $0 per month pricing for startups are not found on every corner. But if you search enough you will find the answer you are looking for.
Our startup tools list takes into consideration the different aspects that need to be taken care of in a startup business, and also ways to minimize the effort and expenses for an entrepreneur. When starting on this journey you need to focus on your work, on creating the best product and make sure you put those hard hours of work towards core tasks of the business. So, let’s see who can help you in this journey.
[ Credits: Lisboa Cool‘s flicker]
The Startup Tools list
LaunchRock. You might just have an idea of what your product should be. In order for your business or new product to be a real success there are many prelauch tasks that need to be taken care of. This startup tool helps you build a landing page that is hosted by Launchrock or build a widget to collect email addresses. The real reason the free product gets on our startup tools list is actually the help on social sharing and site insights it offers.
Zapier. Getting tasks automated right from the start is also important. Here you will find the help you need to make it happen, by connecting triggers to certain events. For example, when you would be assigned a new task you’d receive an SMS notification. It offers the ability to focus on real tasks and not get cut up in ordering clusters. It’s also the entry on our startup tools list that cuts down on your time and expenses, by connecting many of the other products we will mention.
WhatFix. My favorite startup tool of the list. It enables you to make sure that your product is fully understood by your customers. Helping you out in creating a tutorial for your product is one thing, but the live feature is actually amazing, taking the users into their account and showing them each step at their own rhythm. It’s also very easy to create, so forget about a programing team for the onboarding process.
Trello. In including all the aspects of a business in our startup tools list we had to at least give lip service to managing your team and projects. I’ve mentioned the platform before as I use it daily. It offers simple ways to manage tasks by creating cards, lists, enabling due dates, adding members to tasks and color coding labels. If you are a solopreneur, Solo might be an even better solution.
Google Drive. A startup tool for cloud storing and sharing of information up to 15GB. The best part about it is that you can also create shared excel, like files and forms that make interpreting information much easier. It’s a good choice for remote collaborative work on Docs, Spreadsheets, Presentations and now Maps.- Dropbox.
This entry on our startup tools list comes as an alternative option for free storage for all kinds of files. It’s also offers synching with your own folders. For your team this can be a good idea as you can create groups that are able to edit the same folder. 
Haro. It’s one amazing startup tool that will help you get Press coverage. A growing community of reporters and bloggers are present to tell you what they are searching for to include in their stories. You send them the information; they use it for their articles and present you as a source. It can be a quote or a full story, but you’ll get your brand out there easier than you’d ever thought.- Justworks
. If you are taking care of the business, who is taking care of your employees? That brings us to the 8th place on our startup tools list. It offers a platform where employees can see their payment information, giving them security and control. It also calculates your taxes and automatically sends garnishments to the state. Unfortunately, it is only available in the United States, at least for now. 
Uservoice. A great software that helps you give the best support to your own customers. Why this startup tool is so appreciated is because it brings all the information about the client together in one window without needing to jump from one tab to another. Because they have been a startup as well they offer help to others by offering 12 months of $0 pricing. But make sure you have all the necessary information to obtain it.
MailChimp. They let you send 12,000 emails to 2,000 subscribers for free. Now, any startup tools list must take into consideration newsletters and mass emails. We recommend it especially when you start building a community around your brand. Email is the best way to keep them forever in touch with you. And it offers great services, if you’re not a spammer.
Campayn. In case you need to send more emails, they offer 20,000 per month in their free plan. But the real advantage lies in the templates they offer. They are eye catching, and well-structured for newsletters. The advantage is that you can see reports for each individual user.
MadMimi. If you just want to stay in touch with more people, our startup tools list has an option as well. This product offers 2,500 contacts for free but the total number of emails is 12000. Like other products of this type, it offers such features as tracking and creating reports, list management and security.
SurveyMonkey. Many don’t include survey products on their startup tools list and I consider it a mistake. As a startup you need a growing amount of feedback and leads, and both can be provided by surveys. The free plan only offers surveys up to 100 responders. If you truly decide that one of your surveys needs more coverage you pay $25 just for that month and use all the different ways to present the information, filter it and export it to your advantage.
ContentLook. Totally free for life, it offers you clear information on how your site is performing when it comes to digital marketing. The information is structured around 6 main areas: Blogging activity, SEO, Social Media performance, Traffic, Links and Authority. It’s like a cheat sheet for online marketers that assists you or your team in solving the root problems of your site.
Rapportive. The free browser plugin is on our startup tools list because it offers quick and efficient ways to socially connect with people while writing an email. The short description doesn’t just act as a reminder. I know people who use it in their research strategy as it helps them identify the right email address for contacting influencers or other strategic people in a company.
Evernote. A great application to make sure that you never forget an idea and have them all synch between devices. It’s great for taking notes at meetings but also to put down ideas after a business lunch. I sometimes use it to sketch my ideas for presentations. You can also build lists or any format to put your ideas down quickly.
Boomerang. In today’s marketing strategy the way you communicate with your leads, employees and partners is via email. That’s why the startup tools list considers that you need help in maintaining the contact you formed with these people. The plugin associated to Gmai, helps you schedule your emails, keep better track of them and even get information about how they have been received.
Streak. Continuing our startup tools list with yet another Gmail plugin. For those of you that are in the first stages of testing a product or have a small list of clients that are managed through an email address, Streak should come in handy. It can give you a clear idea of how far along in the funnel each client is, and can help you know what materials you can send and how you can better engage with them to ensure that they buy your product.
HipChat. Finding a solution for better communication in-house between members of teams is quite hard most times. Facebook, comments on Trello or even their beta versions of chat are not the best options. HipChat offers you a private location with all the basic features to stay connected and not disturb the rest of the working process. And even if you have to pay for it, it’s only $2/month.
Hootsuite. Content marketing is important for you and so is social media. That’s why our startup tools list focuses on this aspect. You need to get the most out of your presence online with as little effort as possible, which is why it’s ideal for you to share the same materials and messages on multiple accounts at once. Hootsuite helps you in managing and measuring your social media presence.
CoSchedule. Even if it might not be free, it’s a startup tool that will help you a lot with your social media promotion tactics. It shows up in your blog editor so this way you can take care of social media while you are writing articles. It’s quite time efficient if you ask me. Plus, you get to have a big picture of the whole process.
Taking the decision that will help you the most
The startup tools list doesn’t end here. We came up with a big list of software that will make taking care of a new business easier. We’ve explored those that are free or offer a free plan.
In-house you need to consider software that will help you communicate better, take care of employee payments, exchange files and manage teamwork. We have offered some ideas of what you can use to tackle this problems, but some fields have their own inexpensive options.
But let’s not forget that the outside of the company. You’ll find that the startup tools list offers options for CRM, PR coverage, social media marketing, support, feedback and much more. But if you are the founder of a start-up, the list doesn’t end here.
Some software products that have been start-ups themselves want to help you out. Uservoice is such an example, but they are not the only ones. If you want to see the big picture of all the offers, you can access Get Startup Tools list to get even more free products.
The two challenges
Now that we presented the whole resource list I want to present you with two challenges:
- Try out three new products from the list and let us know how they worked out for you.
- Suggest us an aspects of business we haven’t talked about yet and we can research the field for free products.
Can’t wait to read your ideas in the comment section.
AlexandraNicola
