As a freelancer, we’re the boss and the employee, the admin and the HR department, the accounting team, and the marketing team. We’re the Jack/Jill of all departments and the master of some. 

Eventually, it can get tiring to wear so many hats and manage an array of responsibilities manually. Thankfully, we don’t need to. We’ve been blessed with the innovation of technology that can help us automate some parts of our business and spare us time to do our actual work. 

In this article, that’s what we’re diving into —- all the tools you might need as a freelancer to level up your business and your efficiency levels!  

1. For project management

Notion 

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Notion is an all-in-one project management tool that helps users manage projects of all sizes. Not just that, but you can also create a knowledge hub for all your clients and assignments. 

Key Features:

• Integrates with your favorite apps. 
• Allows you to invite collaborators. 
• Helps in managing projects in a clutter-free way. 
• Can upload unlimited files and blocks. 
• Provides analytics and content archive. 

Pricing: Ranges between free to $15/user/month. Enterprise accounts get customized pricing. 

Asana 

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As far as project management tools are concerned, Asana is one of the most intuitive solutions in the market that can manage all parts of your freelance business — including your assignments, goals, teams, calendars, and more. 

Key Features:

• No limits on tasks, projects, file uploads, activities, and messages. 
• Provides a bird’s eye view of your projects and collaborators.
• Has additional features like time tracking, free integrations, templates, advanced reporting, etc. 

Pricing: Paid plans are between $10.99-$24.99 user/month. Free plan available too. 

Trello

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Trello relies on the traditional kanban method to manage projects seamlessly (although you can customize project views if needed). Because of this, it’s one of the easy-to-use tools for task management. 

Key Features:

• Easy drag-and-drop feature. 
• Allows unlimited cards, storage, power-ups, activity, and boards. 
• Customizable templates for multiple use cases. 
• Provides control over guest permissions. 
• Can personalize project views. 

Pricing: Four plans available — Free; Standard ($5/user/month); Premium ($10/user/month); Enterprise ($17.5+/user/month). 

2. For time-tracking

Toggl 

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While Toggl is mainly known for its time-tracking capabilities, it’s also an excellent solution for expense tracking, and managing projects, team members, and payrolls.  

Key Features:

• Detects active and idle time (also has time tracking triggers and Pomodoro timers).
• Can integrate with 100+ tools, including native solutions. 
• Provides time audits, project forecasts, and billing archives. 
• Can lock time entries for team members. 
• Helps with calendar management. 

Pricing: Free plan; Starter ($9); Premium ($18); Enterprise (custom pricing).

Harvest 

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Harvest is perhaps one of the well-known time-tracking tools that can not only help you measure the time you spend behind individual projects, but can also send invoices, collect payments, and get visual reports. 

Key Features:

• Allows time tracking from any device. 
• Provides visual insights. 
• Helps you track budgets and goals. 
• Lets you create invoices and collect payments. 
• Can integrate with multiple tools for freelancers.

Pricing: Harvest Pro is available at $10.8/user/month, but Harvest has a free version too. 

Clockify

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Clockify is one of the best tools for freelancers not only because it helps track time and manage multiple parts of the freelance business, but also because anyone can use it for free forever!

Key Features:

• Allows you to add unlimited team members. 
• Provides a dashboard view of your projects, budget, team, calendars, schedules, and time. 
• Shows location-based analytics of all team members (and even provides screenshots of the projects you’ve been working on).
• Forecast project time.
• Helps create invoices. 

Pricing: Available for free.

3. For productivity 

Pomodor 

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The Pomodor app is the resource you need if your main aim is to be productive through the Pomodoro technique. 

Key Features:

• Is extremely easy to use. 
• Allows you to shift between light and dark modes. 
• Can customize work duration, breaks, notification sounds, sessions, etc. 

Pricing: This is a free tool (you can support the creator through donations).

myNoise

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Another tool that’ll help you level up your freelance business? MyNoise —- especially when it comes to increasing your productivity levels by getting you in the right headspace to work. 

Key Features:

• An array of background noises available (including noises for productivity, motivation, stress relief, relaxation, brain hacking, etc.). 
• Can manage sound levels, timers, speed, and notifications. 
• Allows you to customize frequencies through keyboard shortcuts based on your preferences. 

Pricing: Free lifetime access (but you can donate). 

4. For job search 

ClearVoice

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Powered by Fiverr, ClearVoice is a job board that matches freelancers from all walks of life with clients based on their skills and hourly rate. (You’ll need to submit a CV to get started!)

Key Features:

• Clients directly reach out to you, no pitching necessary. 
• Jobs available for writers, editors, strategists, and designers. 
• Folks on G2 have said the pay is above what content marketing agencies pay. 
• Very easy to navigate. 

Pricing: 20% of the project fee as commission. 

FlexJobs

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FlexJobs has been a go-to resource for many freelancers (regardless of their areas of specialty) to find multiple clients that pay well. 

Key Features: 

• Allows you to filter search by keywords, location, and experience level. 
• Multiple high-paying opportunities. 
• New jobs are listed daily. 
• You can reach out to clients (and they can contact you too). 
• Career coaching is available at an extra cost. 

Pricing: Week ($9.95); 1 month ($24.95); 3 months ($39.95); 1 year ($59.95). 

[Side note: You might also benefit from looking into job boards that are constructed for folks in your industry. For example, if you’re a freelance writer, job boards from Superpath, Peak Freelance, and ProBlogger are an excellent starting place.]

5. For portfolio management 

Contra

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You don’t need any graphic design experience to create publish-ready portfolios with Contra. With that being said, you can only create portfolios with Contra Pro. 

Key Features:

• Unlimited, attractive, customizable templates available. 
• Shows portfolio recommendations based on industries. 
• Additional features like job feed, commission-free payment collection, advanced analytics, custom domain support, and project management tools are available. 

Pricing: $12/month (you’ll need to join the waitlist!)

Authory 

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Get ready-made, self-updating portfolios within 5 minutes for multiple use cases with Authory! 

Key Features:

• Automatically creates your portfolio by finding your social presence online. 
• Is easily customizable and has self-updating capabilities. 
• Creates a backup of all your data. 
• Provides analytics on how your content performs on socials. 

Pricing: Standard ($12/month) and Professional ($18/month). 

6. For invoicing 

Xero 

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Specifically created for small businesses and accountants, Xero is an accounting software that helps manage clients and expenses. 

Key Features:

• Allows you to send quotes and invoices in multiple currencies. 
• Shows cash flow snapshots. 
• Can reconcile transactions in bulk. 
• Provides accounting templates for small businesses. 
• Has additional features to claim expenses, track projects, and get analytics. 

Pricing: Starter ($25/month), Standard ($40/month), and Premium ($54/month). 

Wave

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Wave may very well be one of the best tools for freelancers, simply because it lets you create invoices quickly, set up recurring payments, and manage your accounts efficiently. 

Key Features:

• Create invoices (and set up payment links in them) to get paid faster!
• Allows you to pay taxes and create payrolls for your contractors. 
• Has financial advisors available for multiple use cases (for an additional cost).  
• Frees up payment processing by sending automatic payment reminders. 

Pricing: Invoicing and accounting features are available for free. 

7. For payments 

Stripe

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With more than 135+ supported currencies, 99.99% uptime, 50+ payment methods, and extensive security compliance, it’s no wonder Stripe is the preferred payment method for many freelancers. 

Key Features:

• KYC checks, SOC 1 and 2 compliance, PCI DSS certification, etc.
• Provides 24/7 global support.
• Has currencies from around the world. 
• Unified, real-time reporting. 
• Can be embedded at checkout. 

Pricing: Takes a % of the fee as a commission (pricing differs based on regions and payment providers). 

PayPal

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PayPal has a love-hate relationship with its customers. Those who love it, can’t help but sing praises of it, and those who hate it, can’t stand it because of its customer support or high fees. 

Key Features:

• Accepts payments in 200+ markets and 100+ currencies. 
• Lets you set up recurring payments. 
• Requires verification to set up business accounts. 
• Highly convenient and easy to use. 

Pricing: Depends on the type of transaction and region. 

Wise

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If you manage international stakeholders or have clients situated abroad, Wise is one of the best tools you can get for your business to streamline payment. 

Key Features:

• Has a better conversion rate than other providers. 
• Is extremely easy to set up and use. 
• Active in 70+ countries. 
• Highly secure. 
• Has multiple payment options. 

Pricing: Fees start at 0.43% per transaction. 

Level up your freelance business today

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Written by Juwaria Merchant