The 10 Best Business Tools for Independent Consultants in 2024

Here are 6 free and low-budget business tools you can use to optimize and improve efficiency within your personal business. Find tools to help you with digital signatures, company formation, and business operations specifically targeted to independent writers, marketers, designers, product managers, and strategists. Whether you are an independent consultancy, freelancer, fractional executive, or sole-proprietor, Pollen has the best tool kits to level up your workflows. Become a member and get discounts and coupons for all of the tools listed below!

Interested in discounts? Apply to become a Pollen member and get discounts on each of the tools listed below, as well as access to a network of like-minded peers, and resources to help you level up their independent businesses!

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Guideline Retirement

Guideline Retirement is a platform that offers 401(k) retirement plans for businesses, providing employees with a simple and cost-effective way to save for retirement.

Lano is a platform for employee rewards and recognition, enabling businesses to engage and motivate employees through personalized rewards and appreciation.

Freshservice is an IT service management (ITSM) platform that helps businesses manage IT assets, services, and support tickets for improved IT operations.

Gusto is a human resources and payroll platform that provides tools for payroll processing, benefits administration, compliance, and employee onboarding.

Remote is a platform that helps companies hire and manage remote employees, offering solutions for payroll, compliance, benefits, and global workforce management.

Fiverr is an online marketplace that connects freelancers and clients, offering a wide range of digital services and projects across various categories.

Clerky offers legal and compliance solutions for startups and businesses, helping them manage legal documents, contracts, and regulatory requirements.

Visible.vc is a portfolio management platform for venture capital and private equity firms, providing tools for tracking, reporting, and managing investments.

Doola is a platform that offers tools for team recognition and appreciation, helping businesses build a positive work culture and boost employee engagement.

Firstbase is a platform that helps businesses set up and manage remote teams by providing tools, resources, and legal support for distributed workforces.

Dropbox Sign is an electronic signature solution that integrates with Dropbox, allowing users to sign and manage documents directly within the Dropbox platform.

Scribe offers transcription and audio-to-text services that help businesses convert spoken content into written text, enabling better documentation and accessibility.

DocSend is a document sharing and tracking platform that allows users to securely share, control access, and track engagement with their documents.

Yousign is an electronic signature platform that offers secure and legally binding electronic signatures for documents, contracts, and agreements.

Stripe Atlas is a platform that simplifies the process of starting and scaling a global business by providing legal, financial, and operational tools and support.

Make is a platform that helps startups and entrepreneurs turn their ideas into physical products by providing resources, tools, and connections for product development.

Reply.io is a sales automation platform that offers email outreach, follow-up, and scheduling tools to help sales teams engage leads and improve response rates.

Crunchbase is a platform that provides business data, insights, and profiles of companies, investors, and industries to support sales and business development.

Sellfy is an e-commerce platform for digital products, helping creators and businesses sell digital goods such as e-books, courses, and downloads online.

Social Proofy offers tools to display social proof notifications on websites, showcasing real-time interactions and activities to increase user trust and conversions.

Outplay is a sales engagement platform that provides email, calling, and automation tools for outbound sales teams to increase outreach and conversion rates.

Wix is a website builder platform that provides tools for creating and designing websites using customizable templates and a drag-and-drop editor.

Apollo is a sales engagement platform that combines contact data, communication tools, and analytics to help sales teams prioritize leads and close deals more effectively.

VideoAsk is a video engagement platform that enables businesses to interact with customers and collect feedback using personalized video messages and forms.

EngageBay is an integrated marketing and CRM platform that provides email marketing, automation, CRM, and sales tools for businesses to manage and grow relationships.

Shopify is an e-commerce platform that enables businesses to create online stores, sell products, and manage inventory, payments, and customer interactions.

HubSpot offers a suite of sales tools that help businesses manage contacts, track sales activities, and automate sales processes for improved customer engagement.

Brevo is a platform that offers digital marketing solutions including email marketing, SMS campaigns, and audience segmentation to help businesses engage customers.

Pipedrive is a CRM and sales management platform that helps businesses track and manage leads, deals, and customer relationships throughout the sales process.

Close is a sales engagement platform that offers communication, automation, and analytics tools to help sales teams manage leads, build relationships, and close deals.

Mainstreet is a platform that helps startups claim government incentives, tax credits, and savings, helping them optimize their financial operations.

Payplug is a payment gateway platform that enables businesses to accept online payments, manage transactions, and provide a seamless checkout experience for customers.

Qonto is a business banking platform that provides business accounts, debit cards, and financial tools designed for freelancers, startups, and small businesses.

Visible is a platform that offers financial reporting and analytics for startups and investors, helping them track performance and communicate financial data.

Xero is accounting software that provides tools for invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, and financial reporting for small and medium-sized businesses.

Square offers payment processing solutions including point-of-sale systems, online payments, and business management tools for small and medium-sized businesses.

Invoiceberry is invoicing and accounting software designed for small businesses and freelancers to create, send, and manage invoices and expenses.

Brex provides corporate credit cards and financial solutions for startups and businesses, offering rewards, expense tracking, and simplified expense management.

Revolut is a financial technology company that offers banking services including international money transfers, currency exchange, and expense tracking.

Mercury is a banking platform for startups that offers business banking services, including checking accounts, payments, and financial management tools.

QuickBooks is an accounting and financial management software that offers tools for invoicing, expense tracking, payroll, and financial reporting for businesses.

Chargebee is a subscription billing and revenue management platform that helps businesses manage recurring payments, subscriptions, and invoicing.

Memberstack is a platform that helps creators and businesses turn their websites into membership platforms, allowing them to manage user subscriptions and access permissions.

Stripe provides online payment processing and merchant solutions, allowing businesses to accept payments, manage subscriptions, and handle financial transactions online.

LeadSquared is a marketing automation and CRM platform that offers tools for lead management, sales automation, and customer engagement for businesses.

Outgrow is a platform for creating interactive and engaging content, including quizzes, calculators, and assessments, to generate leads and engage audiences.

Topic is a content optimization platform that helps businesses research, plan, and optimize their content marketing strategy to drive organic traffic and engagement.

Search Ads is a marketing platform that offers tools to create, manage, and optimize search engine advertising campaigns across platforms like Google and Bing.

Mailtag is an email tracking and productivity tool that allows users to track email opens, clicks, and engagement, enhancing email outreach and follow-ups.

Constant Contact

Constant Contact provides email marketing and engagement tools, helping businesses create and send emails, manage contacts, and track performance.

ImageSEO is an image optimization platform that helps businesses enhance their website's performance and SEO by automatically optimizing images for web use.

Email List Validation

Email List Validation is a service that verifies and cleans email lists, helping businesses maintain a healthy email database and improve email deliverability.

SimilarContent offers content optimization tools that help businesses improve their website's SEO performance by analyzing and optimizing content for search engines.

PhantomBuster is an automation platform for social media and web scraping, allowing businesses to automate tasks on various platforms and gather data.

Engagebay is an integrated marketing and CRM platform that provides email marketing, automation, CRM, and sales tools for businesses to manage and grow relationships.

Mailchimp is a marketing automation platform that offers email marketing, audience segmentation, and customer engagement tools for businesses of all sizes.

Brevo is a platform that offers digital marketing solutions including email marketing, SMS campaigns, and audience segmentation to help businesses engage customers.

Semrush is an all-in-one marketing toolkit that offers tools for SEO, content marketing, social media management, and competitive analysis for businesses.

HubSpot offers an inbound marketing and sales platform that provides tools for marketing automation, lead generation, customer relationship management (CRM), and content management.

JetBrains provides a range of developer tools and integrated development environments (IDEs) that enhance productivity and code quality for software development.

Pixpa is a website building and portfolio platform designed for creatives, photographers, and artists to showcase their work and create online portfolios.

Maze is a user testing and usability testing platform that helps businesses test and improve the usability and user experience of their digital products.

Unbounce is a landing page builder that allows marketers to create and optimize landing pages for campaigns, improving lead generation and conversion rates.

SocialProofy offers tools to display social proof notifications on websites, showcasing real-time interactions and activities to increase user trust and conversions.

SerpAPI is a service that provides access to search engine results pages (SERPs) data through APIs, helping businesses gather and analyze search engine data.

Wix is a website builder platform that provides tools for creating and designing websites using customizable templates and a drag-and-drop editor.

ScrapingBee offers web scraping tools and APIs that allow businesses to extract data from websites, automate data collection, and gather insights.

VideoAsk is a video engagement platform that enables businesses to interact with customers and collect feedback using personalized video messages and forms.

Tally is a platform that automates financial services for businesses, helping them manage and process expenses, pay vendors, and handle financial tasks.

Retool is a low-code platform that empowers developers to build internal tools and dashboards quickly, connecting to various data sources and APIs.

Shopify is an e-commerce platform that enables businesses to create online stores, sell products, and manage inventory, payments, and customer interactions.

Bubble is a visual programming platform that enables users to build web applications without coding, using a visual interface and database integration.

Webflow is a web design and development platform that allows users to create responsive websites and applications without writing code.

Typeform is a platform for creating interactive and engaging online forms, surveys, and quizzes that help businesses gather valuable data and feedback.

June Analytics provides analytics and insights for e-commerce businesses, helping them track sales, inventory, and customer behavior to make informed decisions.

Vaizle is a social media analytics tool that helps businesses monitor their social media performance, track competitors, and gain insights to enhance their strategy.

Freshmarketer is a marketing automation and optimization platform that helps businesses optimize their website, improve user engagement, and increase conversions.

DocSend is a document sharing and tracking platform that allows users to securely share, control access, and track engagement with their documents.

Dropbox is a cloud storage and file synchronization platform that allows users to store, share, and collaborate on documents, photos, and videos.

Mixpanel offers analytics solutions that help businesses track user interactions and behavior within their applications, enabling data-driven decision-making.

Hotjar provides analytics and feedback tools for websites and apps, helping businesses understand user behavior, improve user experience, and optimize conversions.

DigitalOcean offers cloud computing solutions including virtual servers (droplets) and scalable infrastructure to help businesses deploy and manage applications.

Coda is a document platform that combines documents, spreadsheets, and apps in one place, enabling users to create interactive and collaborative documents.

AWS Activate offers resources and credits to startups to build and scale applications using Amazon Web Services (AWS), a comprehensive cloud computing platform.

Google Cloud provides a suite of cloud computing services including storage, computing power, and machine learning tools for businesses to build, deploy, and manage applications.

Stackby is a collaborative workspace that combines spreadsheets, databases, and APIs, allowing teams to organize data and automate workflows.

Flow is a task and project management tool that offers visual planning, collaboration, and organization features, helping teams streamline their work.

Dropbox is a cloud storage and file synchronization platform that allows users to store, share, and collaborate on documents, photos, and videos.

Monday.com is a work operating system that centralizes work processes, communication, and collaboration, providing transparency and efficiency for teams.

Asana is a project management and task tracking tool that helps teams plan, organize, and manage their work, from simple tasks to complex projects.

Retool is a low-code platform that empowers developers to build internal tools and dashboards quickly, connecting to various data sources and APIs.

Intercom offers a customer messaging platform that helps businesses communicate with customers across various channels, enhancing customer support and engagement.

Miro is a collaborative online whiteboard platform that enables visual collaboration, brainstorming, and planning for remote and distributed teams.

ClickUp is a project management platform that provides a wide range of features including task tracking, document collaboration, and goal setting, all in one place.

Google Workspace

Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) offers a suite of productivity and collaboration tools including Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Drive, enabling teams to create and work together in real-time.

Slack is a messaging platform for teams that facilitates communication, collaboration, and file sharing, helping teams work together more effectively.

Notion is an all-in-one workspace that combines note-taking, project management, and collaboration tools, allowing teams to create, organize, and share information.

Airtable is a collaborative work management platform that helps teams organize their projects, tasks, and ideas in a flexible and customizable way.