Insights for Entrepreneurs

The Ultimate List of Small Business Software & Tools

When it comes to running a small business, having the right tool for the job can make a huge difference in both your workday and your business performance. That’s why now is a great time to be an entrepreneur — you still need to wear a lot of hats, but there have never been more business tools available to help you fit into those hats a little better.

The key is finding the right tool, right when your small business needs it. That’s why we created this giant list of software and other resources — from accounting software to small business marketing tools and everything in between. We’ve even included some of our picks for the best options within the category.

Go ahead — jump to whichever section you need a solution for:

What does a green star mean?

Tools marked with a green star are ones that the Grasshopper team uses ourselves.

Looking for a solution that’s not on the list?

Send an email to blog@grasshopper.com, and we’ll work to get some options added.

Accounting & Bookkeeping

1. Wave Apps

Totally free solution that includes accounting, invoicing, payroll, and more.

2. QuickBooks

All-inclusive accounting software with packages designed specifically for small businesses and contractors.

3. FreshBooks

Comprehensive accounting solution tailored to service-based small businesses.

4. Xero

Robust and complete software that’s hosted in the cloud, so no downloads or installations.

Website Building

5. Squarespace

An all-in-one website building solution that make it super easy to create a stunning, professional-looking website for your business.

6. WordPress

Choose from thousands of free and premium themes to get your small business’ website or blog up and running in no time.

7. Wix

Drag-and-drop web building tool lets you choose from thousands of themes and customize individual pages.

Online Payment Tools

8. PayPal

Accept credit cards and PayPal payments on your online store — PayPal handles the processing, security, and mobile compatibility.

9. Square

You can create an ecommerce store through Square and accept online payments or use the Square payments app with 3rd party web platforms.

10. Stripe

Add Stripe Checkout to your small business’ website to utilize their pre-designed and customizable payment forms.

11. Shopify

Build your entire online store through Shopify and they’ll take care of everything from marketing to payments & shipping.

12. Amazon Payments

Make checkout easier and faster for customers by integrating Amazon accounts and checkout.

Marketing

13. HubSpot

Choose from CRM, sales, or full-fledged marketing software to help you automate your marketing process.

14. Marketo

End-to-end marketing automation covers everything from lead management and consumer marketing to email and customer base marketing.

15. Hatchbuck

All-in-one small business marketing tool and CRM solution helps you plan, automate and monitor marketing activities.

16. InfusionSoft

Inclusive sales and marketing automation software that handles lead capture and conversion and some CRM tasks.

Email Marketing

17. MailChimp

Fully customizable email campaigns and automation that integrate seamlessly with ecommerce solutions like Shopify.

18. Campaign Monitor

Simple drag-and-drop function allows you to design unique and engaging email marketing campaigns.

19. Emma

Create results-oriented email campaigns and leverage insightful reporting to meet your goals faster.

20. AWeber

At the forefront of email automation, they offer powerful integrations with sites like PayPal and WordPress and boast A+ customer support.

21. Constant Contact

Customizable drag-and-drop templates, powerful automation, and real-time reporting make it easy to see success.

Social Media Marketing

22. Buffer

Create and schedule engaging social posts on all of the big social media sites — from Twitter and LinkedIn to Pinterest and Instagram.

23. TweetDeck

Keep track of everything that’s happening on Twitter by creating searches and hashtags, and get alerts when new content is posted.

24. Hootsuite

The all-in-one social media scheduling, listening, and reporting tool helps you do more with your social presence.

Paid Advertising

25. AdWords

Create text-based searches, set your budget, and choose keywords to bid on to decide where your ads show up in Google searches.

26. Bing Ads

Advertise your small business in Bing search results, where you’ll get more value for your marketing dollar.

27. Outbrain

Help you content reach more eyeballs by creating pay-per-click campaigns and advertising on huge sites like People and CNN.

Content Marketing & SEO

28. Contently

A platform for all your content marketing needs from topic generation to execution by a huge network of talented freelancers.

29. Uberflip

Tailor your content to your customer’s journey and integrate your content platform with automation solutions like HubSpot and Marketo.

30. SumoMe

A web analytics tools to help you build email lists, optimize landing page conversion, and increase social shares.

31. Moz

A tool for small business marketers to simplify the complicated worlds of search marketing and online paid advertising.

Print Marketing

32. Moo

A tool for all paper collateral — especially adept at helping you design unique and eye-catching business cards.

33. Vistaprint

Known for their high-quality business cards and reasonable pricing, they also offer additional marketing collateral.

34. Printfection

The home of all things merchandise and company swag -- choose from a huge variety of apparel, drinkware, and other products.

35. Startup Threads

You can design custom branded apparel for your small business and automatically send to loyal customers without holding any inventory.

Public Relations

36. Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

Get mentioned in publications small and large by using your expert knowledge to become a source for journalists.

37. Buzzstream

Keep track of outreach efforts including prospects, their contact info, and a full history of communication.

38. Mention

Monitor billions of sources in real-time for any keywords you want, and reply to engage with key influencers.

39. Google Alerts

Create weekly or daily alerts for key topics surrounding your brand and get an email roundup of the most popular content.

Customer Service & Helpdesk

40. HelpScout

Manage email at scale with features designed to maintain an organized team and happy customers.

41. Groove

Collaborate across your team on everything from emails to social media posts to phone calls all with one system.

42. Zendesk

Almost like a CRM for support, you get a help desk solution, self-service tool, and insightful data on engagement.

43. Desk.com

Robust, out-of-the-box support with self-service options and easy scalability as your team grows.

Communication

44. Slack

Create a channel for your team and groups within to focus in on specific projects or departments.

45. Skype

All-inclusive audio/video calls and messaging for your team to keep in touch from mobile, landline, or VoIP.

46. Grasshopper

Keep in touch with the office while you work from anywhere in the world with a toll free or local number that forwards to your mobile phone.

Project Management

47. Trello

Create team boards with individual or project-based lists and cards with a deadline for every step of the way.

48. Basecamp

A productivity app taken to the team level includes messaging, to-do lists, and document & file sharing.

49. Asana

Projects are easy to track from beginning to end with clear-cut responsibilities and next steps outlined.

50. Teamwork

Easily keep track of every team project in one place and collaborate with messaging and file sharing.

Productivity

51. Evernote

Everything you need to get done or remember, all in one place and organized into notebooks — it’s as close as you can get to paper note-taking.

52. Todoist

It combines the accessibility of native apps with tools for collaboration and design that fosters productivity.

53. Any.do

Task management for both your work and home life that syncs seamlessly across simple mobile, desktop, and web apps.

54. Boomerang

Maintain inbox zen without losing track of important messages — send them away and Boomerang will return them whenever they’re needed.

55. Unroll.me

Keep your email subscriptions in check with the quickest and easiest way to unsubscribe from marketing emails at scale.

Focus

56. StayFocusd

Stay on track by using this plugin to limit your time on distracting websites (like Facebook) or block them all together.

57. RescueTime

Find out where all your time going by tracking the time you spend on different apps and websites so you can maximize your workday.

58. RainyMood

Block it out, block it all out with the ambient sound of a rainstorm — you can even set it to music.

59. Spotify Focus Playlists

Listen to tracks expertly selected to enhance focus and keep you on-task.

Hiring & Human Resources

60. Workable

Recruiting software that combines job posting, candidate organization, and team collaboration to streamline the hiring process.

61. BambooHR

HR software targeted at small and medium sized businesses ticks off hiring tools with an employee database and reporting.

62. Workday

Recruiting, time-tracking, and payroll (among other features) all rolled up into one, scalable solution.

63. Insperity

Choose from a full-service, outsourced HR team or an individual solution tailored to your human resources needs.

Document Management

64. Google Drive

Create and store word documents, slide presentations, and spreadsheets in the cloud that are accessible from anywhere.

65. Office 365

Get access to the full Microsoft suite of products and 1 terabyte of cloud storage that you can access from up to 5 of your devices.

66. Box

Share files securely with team members and even create, edit, and review documents in real-time.

67. Dropbox

Collaborate, store, share, and backup documents, photos, and videos that automatically sync across all your devices.

Tax Software

68. TurboTax

Tax returns made easy with straightforward questions customized to you and live, on-screen help.

69. H&R Block

All your forms and information in one, secure place and step-by-step guidance to help you get the most refund possible.

70. TaxAct

Access to over 300 available deductions and credits and a price-match guarantee to get the best value.

71. Jackson Hewitt Online

Simple, online filing with affordable pricing for small businesses and a maximum refund guarantee.

Entrepreneurial Growth

72. Clarity.fm

Talk to a variety of experts with experience in every aspect of starting and growing a business.

73. EDx

Choose from a huge bank of professional courses online and complete them at your own pace.

74. Udemy

Take courses on all types of topics, from learning Java coding to leveraging Microsoft Excel, to help you become more effective.

75. Grasshopper Academy

Learn everything you need to know about starting, running, and marketing your business with advice from experts and successful entrepreneurs.