Awesome list of FREE tools Startups should be using

This is a curated list about tools for everything from productivity to hosting to development tools to designing. These tools are all digital i.e. either app, online service, or downloadable software. Most of them are either free or have limited free option that is enough for startups, indie hackers, entrepreneurs, individuals, or anyone to get started. Feel free to suggest and contribute in this list.

📢 For Contributors — Please Read Before Submitting a PR

This list receives a high volume of tool recommendations. To keep quality high, submissions are now held to a strict editorial standard. We only accept tools that are credible, established, and hosted on a custom domain. GitHub repo links, Netlify/Vercel/platform subdomains, and newly launched tools with no track record are rejected automatically.

The list is also undergoing a quality cleanup — some older entries that no longer meet the bar are being removed.

Tech

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chat

• Claude - https://claude.ai
• ChatGPT - https://chatgpt.com
• Google Gemini - https://gemini.google.com
• Grok - https://grok.com
• Microsoft CoPilot - https://copilot.microsoft.com
• Kimi - https://www.kimi.com
• Qwen - https://qwen.ai
• DeepSeek - https://www.deepseek.com
• Mistral Le Chat - https://chat.mistral.ai
• Perplexity - https://www.perplexity.ai

Git Repos

• GitHub - https://github.com
• BitBucket - https://bitbucket.com
• GitLab - https://gitlab.com
• Azure Repos - https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/devops/repos
• Amazon AWS CodeCommit - https://aws.amazon.com/codecommit/

Cloud and Traditional Hosting:

• Amazon AWS - https://aws.amazon.com
• Microsoft Azure - https://azure.microsoft.com
• Google Cloud - https://cloud.google.com
• Digital Ocean - https://digitalocean.com
• Render - https://render.com
• Vultr - https://www.vultr.com/free-tier-program/

Static Site Hosting:

• CloudFlare Pages - https://pages.cloudflare.com
• CloudFlare Workers - https://workers.cloudflare.com
• GitHub pages - https://pages.github.com
• Google FireBase - https://firebase.google.com/products/hosting
• Netlify - https://www.netlify.com
• Vercel - https://vercel.com
• Amazon S3 - https://aws.amazon.com/s3/
• Surge - https://surge.sh
• Kinsta - https://kinsta.com/static-site-hosting

Email Hosting:

• Lark Email - https://www.larksuite.com/en_us/product/email

DNS, CDN, & SSL:

• CloudFlare - https://www.cloudflare.com/
• ClouDNS - https://cloudns.net/
• Let's Encrypt - https://letsencrypt.org/

Maps & Geolocation:

• MapAtlas - https://mapatlas.eu

Site Performance Tools:

• Page Gym - https://pagegym.com
• Pingdom https://tools.pingdom.com/fpt pingdom.com - Website monitor
• Google Page Insight https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights
• Web Page Performance Test - https://www.webpagetest.org/
• GTMetrix https://gtmetrix.com/

Web Scraping Tools

• Import.io - https://www.import.io/
• Web Hose - https://webhose.io/scraping-tools
• Dexi.io - https://dexi.io/
• Parse Hub - https://www.parsehub.com/
• 80Legs - https://80legs.com/
• Scraping Hub - https://scrapinghub.com/
• Scrapy - https://scrapy.org/
• Scraper - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/scraper/mbigbapnjcgaffohmbkdlecaccepngjd
• Web Scraper - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/web-scraper/jnhgnonknehpejjnehehllkliplmbmhn
• Scraping API - https://www.abstractapi.com/web-scraping-api
• Browserbase - https://www.browserbase.com/

Development IDEs/Editors (including AI-based)

• Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VSCode) - https://code.visualstudio.com
• Microsoft Visual Studio (IDE) - https://www.visualstudio.com
• JetBrains IDEs - https://www.jetbrains.com/ides
  • WebStorm - https://www.jetbrains.com/webstorm
• Sublime Text - https://www.sublimetext.com
• NetBeans - https://netbeans.org
• Eclipse - https://eclipse.org
• Windsurf (AI-based) - https://codeium.com/windsurf

Online Development Platforms/IDEs

• VSCode for Web - https://vscode.dev
• CodeAnywhere - https://codeanywhere.com
• Cloud9 - https://c9.io
• Koding - https://koding.com
• Humanitec - https://humanitec.com

AI-based Online Development Platforms/IDEs

• Bolt.new (AI baseed) - https://bolt.new
• Lovable (AI based) - https://lovable.dev
• Replit (AI based) - https://replit.com
• v0 by Vercel (AI based) - https://v0.dev
• Firebase Studio (AI based) by Google - https://firebase.studio
• Google AI Studio - https://aistudio.google.com

AI-based Code Agents

• GitHub Copilot - https://github.com/features/copilot
• Windsurf - https://windsurf.com/plugins
• Google Gemini Code Assist - https://codeassist.google
• Qodo - https://www.qodo.ai
• TabNine - https://www.tabnine.com
• Cline - https://cline.bot

Development Playgrounds

• JSFiddle - https://jsfiddle.net
• Plunker - https://plnkr.co/
• CodePen - https://codepen.io/
• JSBin - https://jsbin.com/

Local Development Environments

• Docker - https://www.docker.com
• Laragon - https://laragon.org
• XAMPP - https://www.apachefriends.org
• Laravel Herd - https://herd.laravel.com
• Local (for WordPress) - https://localwp.com

Utilities:

• FileZilla - https://filezilla-project.org/
• FreeFileSync - https://freefilesync.org/
• CryptoMator - https://cryptomator.org/
• WinScp - https://winscp.net
• Putty - https://www.putty.org/

Testing and Code Insights

• Sauce Labs - https://saucelabs.com/
• Code Climate - https://codeclimate.com

Email Service for Developers

• Resend - https://resend.com/
• Brevo (Ex Sendinblue) - https://www.brevo.com/
• MailGun - https://www.mailgun.com , https://www.mailgun.com/google
• SendGrid - https://sendgrid.com
• MailChimp - https://mailchimp.com
• Mandrill - https://www.mandrill.com/
• AWS SES - https://aws.amazon.com/ses/
• Sweego - https://www.sweego.io/
• Elastic Email - https://elasticemail.com/
• ForwardEmail - https://forwardemail.net/
• MX Toolbox - https://mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx
• DMarcian - https://dmarcian.com/dmarc-tools/
• Mail Trap (for testing only) - https://mailtrap.io/
• Email Validation API - https://www.abstractapi.com/email-verification-validation-api

Notification (Push, SMS etc) Service for Developers

• OneSignal - https://onesignal.com
• Pusher - https://pusher.com
• Twilio - https://www.twilio.com

Changelog

• Headway - https://headwayapp.co/

Content Management Systems (CMS):

• WordPress - https://www.wordpress.org
• Drupal - https://www.drupal.com
• Joomla - https://www.joomla.org

Ecommerce CMS:

• WooCommerce for WordPress - https://www.woocommerce.com
• Magento - https://www.magento.com
• OpenCart - https://www.opencart.com
• Prestashop - https://www.prestashop.com

Business, Marketing, Sales, Finance

Analytics:

• Google Analytics - https://analytics.google.com
• New Relic https://newrelic.com/
• Inspectlet https://www.inspectlet.com/plans
• Zoom Analytics https://zoomanalytics.co/
• LiveSession - https://livesession.io/
• Amplitude - https://amplitude.com/
• Microsoft Clarity - https://clarity.microsoft.com
• PostHog - https://posthog.com/

Accounting & Finance

• Wave Apps - https://www.waveapps.com
• Odoo Accounting - https://www.odoo.com/app/accounting

CRM:

• HubSpot CRM - https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm
• Capsule CRM - https://capsulecrm.com
• Insightly - https://www.insightly.com
• Bitrix24 (CRM version) - https://www.bitrix24.com/tools/crm/
• Google Contacts (can be used as lightweight CRM) - https://contacts.google.com
• Attio - https://attio.com/
• Dealboard - https://getdealboard.com

Team Chat & Communication

• Slack - https://slack.com
• Microsoft Teams - https://teams.microsoft.com
• Google Chat - https://chat.google.com
• Mattermost - https://mattermost.com
• Rocket.Chat - https://rocket.chat
• Twist - https://twist.com

Customer Support/Live Chat:

• Zendesk Chat (formerly Zopim) - https://www.zopim.com/
• Olark - https://www.olark.com/
• Facebook Messenger - https://web.facebook.com/business/products/messenger-for-business
• WhatsApp for Business - https://business.whatsapp.com
• LiveChat - https://www.livechat.com
• Tawk.to - https://www.tawk.to

Social Media

• Facebook - https://facebook.com
• X (Twitter) - https://x.com
• LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com
• Instagram - https://instagram.com
• Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com
• YouTube - https://youtube.com
• TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com
• Threads - https://www.threads.com
• Mastodon - https://joinmastodon.org
• Bluesky - https://bsky.app

Sales & Marketing:

• HubSpot - https://www.hubspot.com
  • Marketing - https://www.hubspot.com/products/marketing
  • Sales - https://www.hubspot.com/products/sales
  • Website Grader - https://grader.com
• Buffer App - https://buffer.com
• HootSuite - https://hootsuite.com
• CrowdFire - https://www.crowdfireapp.com
• Ubersuggest - https://ubersuggest.org
• Visual Website Optimizer - https://visualwebsiteoptimizer.com
• Tweriod - https://www.tweriod.com
• My Site Auditor - https://mysiteauditor.com
• WooBox - https://woobox.com
• Add Shoppers - https://addshoppers.com
• BuzzSumo - https://buzzsumo.com
• Static html app - https://statichtmlapp.com
• Hashtagify - https://hashtagify.me
• Ritetag - https://ritetag.com
• Tagboard - https://tagboard.com
• Trendsmap - https://trendsmap.com
• Shortstack - https://www.shortstack.com
• Post Planner - https://www.postplanner.com
• Carousel Hero - https://carouselhero.com
• Cello - https://cello.so
• Social Proof Examples - https://socialproofexamples.com
• Website Headlines - https://websiteheadlines.com
• Vidclue - https://vidclue.com
• AnswerThePublic - https://answerthepublic.com

Web Experimentation:

• VWO - https://vwo.com
• PostHog - https://posthog.com
• OptimalUX - https://optimalux.com
• Upflowy - https://www.upflowy.com

Blogging, Writing:

• Substack - https://substack.com
• Medium - https://medium.com
• Dev.to - https://dev.to

Productivity, Management, Organization

Note-taking & Reading:

• Notion - https://www.notion.com
• Microsoft OneNote - https://www.onenote.com (part of Microsoft 365 Copilot)
• Google Keep - https://keep.google.com
• Capacities - https://capacities.io
• Obsidian - https://obsidian.md

Journaling:

• DailyWins - https://dailywins.ibexoft.com

Documentation & Collaboration

• Atlassian Confluence - https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence
• Microsoft Loop - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-loop
• Microsoft Word - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/word (part of MS Office - https://www.office.com)
• Google Docs - https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/
• Microsoft Excel - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/excel (part of MS Office - https://www.office.com)
• Google Sheets - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/

Video & Screen Recording

• Atlassian Loom - https://www.loom.com
• LICEcap - https://www.cockos.com/licecap

Storage:

• Microsoft OneDrive - https://onedrive.com
• Google Drive - https://drive.google.com
• Amazon S3 - https://aws.amazon.com/pm/serv-s3
• DropBox https://www.dropbox.com
• Box - https://www.box.com
• Mega - https://mega.io
• Proton Drive - https://proton.me/drive
• Cloudflare R2 - https://www.cloudflare.com/developer-platform/products/r2/

Project/Task Management:

Good for personal tasks

• Todoist - https://todoist.com
• Superlist - https://www.superlist.com
• Microsoft Todo - https://todo.microsoft.com (Previously Wunderlist)
• Any.do - https://www.any.do
• Tick Tick - https://ticktick.com
• Meister Task - https://meistertask.com
• Google Tasks - https://tasks.google.com
• Memorigi - https://memorigi.app

Good for team projects

• Jira - https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira
• Asana - https://asana.com
• GitHub Projects - https://github.com/projects
• Trello - https://trello.com
• Airtable - https://airtable.com
• Teamwork - https://teamwork.com
• ClickUp - https://clickup.com
• Wrike - https://www.wrike.com
• Basecamp - https://basecamp.com
• Shortcut - https://www.shortcut.com
• Paymo - https://www.paymoapp.com
• GoodDay - https://www.goodday.work
• Taskade - https://taskade.com

Calendar

• Google Calendar - https://calendar.google.com
• Outlook Calendar - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/outlook/calendar-app
• Proton Calendar - https://proton.me/calendar
• Calendly - https://calendly.com

Attendance & Time Tracking:

• Toggl - https://toggl.com
• Clockify - https://clockify.me
• TimeCamp - https://www.timecamp.com
• Everhour - https://everhour.com
• My Hours - https://myhours.com
• Paymo - https://www.paymoapp.com
• Jibble - https://www.jibble.io
• Connecteam - https://connecteam.com/employee-time-clock-app/employee-time-tracking-app/

Productivity Techniques

• Pomodoro Technique - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
• GTD - https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/getting-things-done
• Eisenhower Matrix - https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/eisenhower-matrix

Graphics, Design, and Media

Video making:

• Biteable - https://biteable.com
• Powtoon - https://www.powtoon.com
• Animoto - https://animoto.com
• Openshot - https://www.openshot.org
• Video captions - https://subsvideo.com
• VEED - https://www.veed.io
• Tavus (AI based) - https://www.tavus.io

Stock Photos/Illustrations/Icons:

• Unsplash - https://unsplash.com
• Pexels - https://www.pexels.com
• Shopify Burst - https://burst.shopify.com
• Place Image (Stock photos generator) - https://placeimg.com
• Undraw - https://undraw.co/illustrations
• DrawKit - https://www.drawkit.io
• Excalidraw - https://excalidraw.com
• Icons8 - https://icons8.com
• Favicon Generator - https://favicon.io

Online Logo:

• Shopify Logo Maker - https://www.shopify.com/tools/logo-maker
• Logo Joy - https://logojoy.com
• Logaster - https://www.logaster.com
• Cool Text - https://cooltext.com
• Online Logo Maker 24 - https://onlinelogomaker24.com
• Free Logo Services - https://freelogoservices.com
• Graphic Springs - https://graphicsprings.com
• Design Mantic - https://designmantic.com
• Zillion Designs - https://zilliondesigns.com
• Logo Maker - https://logomaker.com

Designing & Editing:

• Gamma (AI based) - https://gamma.app
• Canva - https://www.canva.com
• Snappa - https://snappa.com
• Photoshop - https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html
• Photoshop Express - https://www.photoshop.com/tools
• Pixlr - https://pixlr.com/
• Fotor - https://www.fotor.com/
• Create GIF - https://gifbrewery.com/
• Stamp creator - https://www.speedystamps.co.uk/
• Method Draw (SVG Editor) - https://editor.method.ac
• AConvert (Image to SVG Converter) - https://www.aconvert.com/image/png-to-svg/
• Image Compression and Optimization API - https://www.abstractapi.com/image-processing-optimization-api
• Figma - https://www.figma.com/
• BulkPicTools - https://bulkpictools.com/
• EnigmaEasel - https://enigmaeasel.com/

Security and Privacy

Password Managers

• Proton Pass - https://proton.me/pass
• Avira PWM - https://passwords.avira.com
• Passbolt - https://www.passbolt.com
• BitWarden - https://bitwarden.com

Virtual Private Networks (VPN)

• Proton VPN - https://protonvpn.com