The 11 Best Tools for Freelancers in 2024
As a freelancer, you need the right tools for getting organized. Scaling your business is how you keep growing, and staying on top of your work is one of the best ways to ensure you have the time to tackle new opportunities and propel your business into a successful future. Whether you're starting from scratch or have been freelancing for years, this list of online tools will help you supercharge your freelancing skills for the new year. Now let’s dive in.
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11 best tools for freelancers in 2024
1. Best tool for managing freelance contracts & invoices: Honeybook
Pricing: starting at $39/month
Honeybook’s software is quite literally everything you need to run your freelance business. It’s most well-known for its ability to generate contracts in minutes, as well as its automation feature that schedules and automatically sends invoices to clients. It has a simple, clean, and easy-to-use interface where you can easily manage all client communications in one system.
Honeybook offers a number of great features, including the ability to:
Create and customize contracts and SOWs
Automatically generate and send invoices to clients
Manage projects and track time spent on certain tasks
2. Best VPN for freelancers: ExpressVPN
Pricing: starting at $12.95/month
Being a freelancer means that you have the freedom to choose when and where you want to work. However, working at a busy coffee shop or connecting to open wifi means you put yourself at risk. You can protect yourself and keep your personal information more private and secure by using a VPN as you travel. It only takes one click to connect to ExpressVPN and you can use it on any device you’re working on - phone, tablet, computer, etc. With ultra-fast servers in 94 countries, ExpressVPN is one of the most popular VPNs available to date.
Some notable features of ExpressVPN:
Split-tunneling that allows you to download safely without slowing down your other web activity
Encryption between VPN servers and your computer, keeping your data safe from being read by third parties
Unlimited bandwidth that allows you to download whatever you want without being limited by your ISP
3. Best AI content writing tool for freelancers: Copy.ai
No matter what type of freelance work you do, writing and creating content is always part of it. Whether it’s writing a proposal, putting together a deck, or producing an article - Copy.ai should be your go-to solution. The AI content generator gives you multiple options for each campaign that you’re working on. And with over dozens of writing tools, you can use Copy.ai to help you create content for just about everything in a matter of seconds. Our favorite tool? The sentence re-writer and blog intro tool. We may have used it for this article :)
Some notable features of Copy.ai:
Dozens of writing tools: choose from emails, social posts, long-form blog posts, and more
An editor interface to rewrite paragraphs and polish up sentences.
The AI generator creates content in minutes
4. Best tool for creating & managing online courses: Thinkific
Pricing: Thinkific has a free plan, but for serious course-creators, their $49/month start plan ($39/month when paid yearly) will most likely pay itself back quickly.
If you have an online course (or plan on creating one in the near future), then Thinkific should be your go-to tool. It’s essentially a learning management system that helps you to create and sell online courses. Thinkific offers its users a variety of features to help you create your course, including live lessons, randomized quizzes, course templates, certificates, etc.
Some notable features of Thinkific include:
The ability to build online learning communities that connect with your courses seamlessly
The option to host discussions on specific topics, facilitate introductions, or post important updates
Students can react and respond directly to comments in a thread
5. Best time tracking tool: timeTracko
Pricing: Free
timeTracko is a time tracking tool designed to easily track time and productivity for freelancers and distributed teams. The user-friendly dashboard shows you how much time you spend working and keeps track of time with a time clock, breaks, and private hours. The best part? All features are free and no credit card is required to sign-up.
Features of timeTracko include:
A record of the websites and apps that are visited during work hours
Time tracking, even when the internet connection is lost or you are working offline.
Manager/Admin roles are available if you are managing a team and need insight on hours worked
6. Best tool for managing virtual events & webinars: Livestorm
Pricing: free plan to discover the platform, then starts at $99/month for the premium experience with removed limitations.
Unlike traditional webinar or video conferencing software, Livestorm provides teams with integrated tools to manage their video events from start to finish. This means all your video needs - such as webinars, video demos, virtual meetings, etc. - can all be managed with Livestorm.
Livestorm offers a number of great features, including:
Advanced engagement features like registration pages and analytics
Access to a virtual whiteboard for collaborative use
The ability to record webinars and watch them later
7. Best tool for collecting & organizing files and documents: Coda
Pricing: You can use Coda for free, but if you’re looking to scale with your team, their $30/month “Team” plan may be the best option.
When it comes to managing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and notes, turn to Coda. It’s a new type of document that blends the flexibility of documents, the power of spreadsheets, and the utility of apps into a single new canvas. You can use Coda to bring all of your data to one place and connect all of your documents. This connectivity allows for more cohesion between your groups or clients, effectively minimizing the confusion that comes with several different people working on several different documents.
Some features of Coda include:
The ability to manage your projects in a simple document page that combines texts and tables
Data can be pulled from anywhere in your document using formulas
Integrations (called Packs) allow you to integrate other tools into your documents, such as Gmail, Excel, Github, etc.
8. Best tool for booking & scheduling appointments: Workee
Pricing: Workee is 100% free with Workee Starter plan. Upgrade anytime.
Workee is a comprehensive platform that empowers freelancers including tutors, consultants, trainers, designers, and writers to establish and grow their businesses seamlessly. With Workee, freelancers can effortlessly create a personalized website in under a minute, leverage a booking system with no added fees, and manage their finances and work operations in one convenient place. Whether working with students or existing clients, Workee's intuitive tools facilitate smooth communication, efficient scheduling, and effortless payment processing.
Some features of Workee include:
A simple, no-code personal website builder
Powerful and flexible booking and scheduling systems
Built-in payments with 0% fees for all your payments, transactions, and invoices
9. Best tool for designing social media content, presentations, and more: Canva
Pricing: You can do a lot with the free version of Canva, but if you’re set on making some serious marketing material, their $14.99/month plan is an absolute steal.
Canva is a graphic design tool that makes it easy to create beautiful designs for your blog, social media posts, client presentations, or proposals. It’s much easier to use than Photoshop and has a drag-and-drop editor as well as existing templates, allowing you to create a design in minutes.
Canva offers a number of great features, including:
Thousands of ready-made professional templates, images, and quality content to choose from
Ability to invite teammates or clients to edit with you
Easily present, download, schedule, share, or print your designs
10. Best tool for eliminating background noise on video calls: Krisp.ai
Pricing: Krisp has a free option for limited background noise, but for unlimited, pricing starts at $5/month
When you’re a freelancer, it’s inevitable you’ll be jumping on video calls often. Use Krisp.ai to dynamically filter out background noise from your surroundings so you can focus on what matters most: delivering high-quality audio content for your audience. It works with any app and any device, on Windows and macOS, and makes sure your workflow has zero interruptions
Some notable features of Krisp.ai include:
Eliminate echoes bouncing off of the walls and those resulting from your own voice or a sensitive mic
Show a professional background to eliminate visual distractions across any meeting solution
The option to display the amount of time you speak during a meeting to monitor engagement levels
11. Best tool for finding remote work accommodations: Anyplace
Pricing: Accommodation pricing varies depending on the location, but the Anyplace platform is free to use and there are no hidden fees.
It’s easy to get restless when you’re working remotely as a freelancer. To switch things up, use Anyplace to help you find and book remote work-friendly places to stay. All of their accommodations have fast wifi, a work-friendly desk, and all other amenities needed while working remotely. You can choose from thousands of locations across the world. Whether you're in San Francisco or Sydney, Tokyo or London, Barcelona or Berlin, there's most likely an Anyplace accommodation that will suit you.
Features of Anyplace include:
Accommodations are designed specifically for remote workers with a fully equipped office
Find trusted properties to call home for a month or longer in over 65 countries and 450+ cities
No long-term leases are required. Rent month-to-month and city-to-city
Best tools for freelancers - common FAQs
Which software is best for freelancing?
The best software for a freelancer will vary depending on your need. However, we do recommend using invoicing software like Bonsai to automate invoices, a reliable VPN like ExpressVPN to keep your data safe and secure, as well as an online document management tool like Coda to integrate all of your various spreadsheets and documents.
What is the best way to manage freelancers?
When you're managing a team of freelancers, using a collaboration tool is the best way to keep everyone on the same page. It helps ensure there is open communication between you and your freelancers, so they can ask questions and get clarification as needed. It also ensures that all communication between you and your freelancers gets documented.
What are the most important tools I need as a freelancer?
As a freelancer, some of the most important tasks you need to complete are tracking and invoicing clients, managing your projects, and tracking the time you're putting into each project. You can leverage software to help automate each of these tasks.