14 Small Business Apps (Our Best Apps Selection of 2024)
Tools
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September 12, 2024
Small business owners, entrepreneurs, and freelancers wear many hats and juggle countless daily tasks. But what if there were tools that could help your business grow and save you time and money?
As 2024 draws to a close, it's an excellent time to evaluate your tech stack and leverage these productivity tools to finish the year on a high note. From automating HR and payroll to creating impressive visuals and tracking your team's time, these apps will simplify your workload, allowing you to concentrate on what truly counts for you.
Let's see how this list of great small business software can be your secret weapon for your business needs.
1. Gusto: Streamline Your Payroll and HR
Gusto is an all-in-one payroll, benefits, and HR platform that makes work easier. It automates many tedious HR tasks, ensures tax compliance, and even offers employee self-onboarding. Gusto also offers great integrations, such as the popular accounting software QuickBooks Online.
Features
Hiring and onboarding tools
Time tracking and project tracking
Payroll and time-off reports
Employee financial benefits
Team management tools
Performance reviews
Employee surveys and insights
Many more, depending on the pricing plan you choose
2. Buffer: Marketing and Social Media
Struggling to keep up with posting on multiple social media platforms? Look no further than Buffer. This social media management platform allows you to schedule posts, monitor mentions, and analyze performance across all your profiles from one centralized dashboard. It's an essential tool for businesses that want to establish a solid social media presence. If you hesitate, you can try Buffer's free version!
Features
Planning & publishing tools
Landing page builder
AI Assistant
Engagement tools
Analytic reports
Draft collaboration tools
3. Asana: Collaboration and Project Management
Asana is a versatile collaboration and project management tool that helps teams stay organized and on track. Its intuitive task assignment, calendar view, and progress tracking features make it easy to see what's really important. Say goodbye to endless email chains and hello to seamless teamwork.
Features
Unlimited tasks & projects
Assignee and due dates
iOS and Android mobile apps
Time tracking with integrations
Project dashboards
Asana AI
Many more, depending on the pricing plan you choose
4. Milanote: Organize Your Creative Projects
Milanote is a tool for organizing creative projects into beautiful visual boards. From brainstorming to planning to execution, it helps you capture ideas, collect inspiration, collaborate with your team, and keep everything in one place. It's the perfect app for creative small businesses.
Features
Multiple board template
File uploads
Manage notes, images & links
5. Visme: Create Stunning Visuals in Minutes
You don't have to be a graphic designer to create attention-grabbing visuals for your business. Save time with Visme's drag-and-drop editor and extensive library of templates, which make do-it-yourself design easy. Create social media graphics, flyers, presentations, and more without spending hours or much money. Visme has a free version with limited features that can give you a taste of their product.
Features
Unlimited projects
Templates & design assets
Download as JPG, PNG, PDF
Brand Kit
Analytics
6. Shopify: Launch Your E-Commerce Empire
Shopify is a popular platform for building and growing an e-commerce business if you sell products online. Many say this is one of the best apps for small and large companies. It offers beautiful, customizable website themes, a full suite of business management tools, and seamless integration with marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.
Features
Converting checkout
Unlimited products
Collaborator accounts
Templates and themes
Analytics
Sales channels
Tax Platform
Custom domain
Shopify Email
Many more, depending on the pricing plan you choose
7. Whereby: Connect With Your Team and Customers
Whereby is a user-friendly video conferencing app that lets you easily connect with your team and customers. It offers high-quality video, screen sharing, and the ability to host meetings in your browser without downloads. It's perfect for remote teams and virtual client meetings. Whereby offers a free plan that provides many features.
Features
100+ attendees per meeting
No time limit on group meetings
Unlimited recording
Custom branding
Many more, depending on the pricing plan you choose
8. Loops: Email Marketing Made Easy
Loops is a powerful email platform explicitly designed for SaaS (Software as a Service) businesses. It simplifies and automates various email-related tasks, making managing customer communications more accessible for you and your company: email marketing, updates, and newsletters. Create anything to share with your customers.
Loops is free up to 1000 contacts, after which you pay, depending on your need. We find that this pricing model is designed to help small businesses that need a tool for their marketing but don't have the budget yet.
Features
Email automation
Personalized templates
A/B testing
Segmentation
Analytics & tracking
9. Grammarly: Polish Your Written Communication
Grammatical errors and typos can make a business appear less professional. Grammarly is your writing assistant, scanning your emails, documents, and social posts for mistakes and offering corrections and suggestions. It helps ensure all your written communication is clear and polished.
Features
Grammar & spelling checker
Clarity & conciseness
Engagement recommendations
Tone & style verification
Plagiarism checker
Vocabulary enhancement
Many more, depending on the pricing plan you choose
10. Slack: Streamline Team Communication
Email inboxes can quickly become overwhelming. Slack provides a better way for business teams to communicate. This messaging app organizes conversations into channels, enables document sharing, and integrates with other productivity tools like Google Drive, Asana, and Calendly. It helps keep everyone connected and makes information easily accessible from your computer or any mobile device.
Features
Message history
App integrations
Audio & video meetings
Collaboration on lists & documents
11. Bitwarden: Securely Store and Share Passwords
Bitwarden is an open-source password management solution for businesses. It generates, stores, and auto-fills strong passwords, keeping your accounts secure. Bitwarden's paid plan is an excellent solution for small and big companies; if you're unsure, they offer a 7-day free trial.
Features
Open source security
Browser, Mobile, Desktop apps
Passkey management and usage
Store notes, credit cards, identities
Username and password generator
Email alias integration
Advanced two-step login
Unlimited devices, unlimited passwords
12. Fathom Analytics: Understand Your Website Traffic
Fathom Analytics provides simple, privacy-focused website analytics. It shows you the data you need (page views, top content, referral sources) without tracking or storing personal data about your visitors. Fathom Analytics is a fantastic choice for small businesses looking to understand your website traffic without the complexity of Google Analytics.
Features
Real-time metrics
Event conversions
UTMs & campaigns
Multi-domains
Google Analytics importer
Email reports
Country blocking
Integrations
No cookie banners
European analytics
Learn more on Fathom Analytics
13. Clockify: Track Your Team's Time
Clockify is a simple and free time-tracking app. It lets solopreneurs and large or small teams track time on tasks, get a breakdown of time spent on projects, and easily create payroll or client billing timesheets. If you bill by the hour or want more visibility into how your team spends its time, Clockify is an excellent solution.
From creating invoices to customer relationship management, Clockify integrates over 80 apps, such as ClickUp, Monday, Github, etc.
Features
Timer
Timesheets
Projects & tasks organization
Reports
Integrations
Mobile apps
14. Claude AI: Your AI Assistant
Claude is an AI assistant that can help with all kinds of business tasks - writing, analysis, brainstorming, research, answering questions, and more. It's like having an extra team member to bounce ideas off of, get feedback from, or offload small tasks. Give Claude a try to see how AI can boost your productivity.
Features
Analysis & research
Answering questions on many topics
Math & coding assistance
Creative writing & brainstorming
Tutoring & explaining concepts
General conversation & discussion
Conclusion: Various Apps for Small Businesses to Improve Productivity
In the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship, efficiency is the name of the game. These 14 apps are designed to help you work smarter, not harder. They can automate repetitive tasks, keep your team connected, offer valuable insights, and give you more time and mental energy to focus on significant business challenges.
Every business has different needs and challenges. If you have fewer resources, utilize free business apps; these apps can help you achieve your business goals! If you hesitate, don't be shy to use the trial that a product may offer or their money-back guarantee.
Of course, apps are just one piece of the puzzle. Still, with these powerful tools in your arsenal, you will be better equipped to seize opportunities, surmount obstacles, and drive business growth.
