Freelancing is a well-established alternative to traditional employment in a business setting.

Professionals in various fields choose the freedom of independent work and their own schedules.

However, freelancing requires independent specialists to be not only experts in their areas but also effective project managers, marketers, administrators, and accountants. To succeed in these fields, it’s crucial to have powerful online tools.

Which specialized programs should be chosen to make freelancers real professionals? 

Here, you’ll explore the best solutions.

But first, let’s look at what freelancers typically look for in such solutions.

What Should Modern Freelance Tools Offer?

Here are the key characteristics freelancers look for in modern online tools:

• Ease of use. Modern programs for freelancers should provide an intuitive interface and a minimal learning curve.
• Speed. A freelancer’s time is money. That is why it’s worth paying attention to fast loading and data processing when selecting an appropriate tool.
• Collaboration features. Freelancers seek opportunities to communicate and share information freely.
• Stability. A successful tool for freelancers should run smoothly 24/7.
• Security. Protecting customer confidential data is also crucial.
• Pricing transparency. Freelancers typically choose software solutions with clear pricing models and no hidden fees.
• Flexibility and customizability. With this functionality, it’s easy to adapt any solution to individual workflows.

Now, let’s move on to the tools that are truly worth considering for freelancers.

How To Increase Freelance Productivity: 10 Smart Tools

With so many accessible programs, it’s crucial to find truly reliable tools that have proven their effectiveness in practice. The solutions described below have been tested by thousands of freelancers. They have earned their reputation as reliable assistants in various aspects of work.

Let’s dive deeper.

1. GanttPRO — high-quality project visualization

Freelancers often need online Gantt chart scheduling software like GanttPRO.

This robust platform helps plan work, manage projects, allocate resources, organize time, and analyze every action in detail. It allows for highlighting key milestones, marking critical paths, establishing dependencies between tasks, and monitoring deadlines

Users appreciate this software for its simple and intuitive drag-and-drop interface. Complex planning steps quickly become a straightforward process. If anything changes in a task, the system automatically recalculates the deadlines. It prevents potential resource conflicts.

GanttPRO is useful in a variety of industries, from software development to construction and healthcare. Available built-in templates significantly save freelancers’ time, providing ready-made timelines for various purposes.

2. Notion — a trustworthy workspace

Notion helps to make freelancing more efficient. This simple yet powerful system contains professional features for work management, such as a database, text editing, communication, and much more. It creates a unified workflow ecosystem.

The synchronization in Notion allows you to work across all devices, accessing up-to-date information from anywhere. Its architecture is built on blocks. It allows for generating data structures, from small notes to large CRM systems.

Notion looks appropriate for those who value flexibility and the ability to customize its functionality to suit their needs. Simple and convenient templates save users time.

3. Figma – a confident design assistant

Freelancers often work on projects that include visual materials. Figma makes it easy to create and manage them.

This powerful editor performs directly in a browser. It provides a rich system of components and styles for generating effective designs.

Using prototyping with interactive animations, you can quickly create fully functional demos without additional tools. It’s possible to comment on and approve designs with clients.

Figma can be integrated with popular development tools.

4. Zoom — a handy video conference system

Freelancers know Zoom as a simple yet professional video conferencing tool with professional standards. It requires minimal technical skills and provides maximum connection reliability.

You shouldn’t worry about connection quality, as Zoom comes with an adaptive encoding system that automatically optimizes video and audio quality.

You can use virtual backgrounds and filters, create meeting archives with the ability to search by spoken words, share screens, co-edit whiteboards, and much more.

Individuals rely on Zoom because it helps to reach a variety of purposes, from simple presentations to complex brainstorming sessions.

5. Buffer — a hassle-free social media manager

Posting content on social media may seem simple and unimportant. However, many freelancers require constant social network promotion and a clear strategy and planning.

This content scheduler turns chaotic SMM into a professional strategy. It can analyze audience activity on all platforms and optimize posting time.

Buffer provides interesting insights into the effectiveness of content types, follower growth, engagement, and more. The system integrates with many famous CMSs.

6. Stripe — a convenient payment method

Freelancers can’t function effectively without a reliable payment system. Stripe is a solution that simplifies financial management.

This platform allows you to quickly and efficiently accept payments using simple settings. It’s easy to integrate payment acceptance into web resources with the API, even without technical skills.

Stripe supports various payment methods and multiple currencies. It serves clients worldwide with automatic conversion and tax calculations. The subscription system automates recurring payments with flexible settings for frequency, trial periods, and plan changes.

You can utilize detailed revenue analytics, automatically create invoices, and send reminders, all of which help speed up payment collection.

7. Dropbox — seamless file synchronization system

Dropbox is known as a single hub for all project files that provides quick access and high data security. It offers not only simple file storage but also an entire intelligent ecosystem for document collaboration.

This tool automatically saves the revision history of all files and allows you to restore previous versions. You get a convenient, real-time collaborative editing system without version conflicts or data loss. You can combine notes, tasks, and files into a single workspace with rich formatting options.

The integration feature is also available.

8. Toggl Track — a simple time manager

Freelancing is impossible without efficient time management. It’s also crucial to track timeframes and analyze deadlines. 

Toggl Track is a popular choice among freelancers who want to succeed in this. It offers an automatic tracking feature that simplifies categorization of time blocks.

As a user, you get detailed reports to analyze data and be sure how and where to move next. A convenient tagging system helps to create a reliable analysis structure. 

9. LastPass — a reliable password manager

Ensuring the security of data is a top priority for every freelancer.

LastPass generates unique, easy-to-remember passwords, ensuring seamless and centralized management. There is a simple way to access saved passwords at any time and analyze risks there.

LastPass can be integrated with corporate chains, allowing you to manage access to client resources centrally. The system performs across various browsers.

10. Mailchimp — a generator for effective email campaigns

If your business relies on email marketing regularly, you should consider using Mailchimp.

With this helpful tool, you can create and send unique email campaigns in minutes. It comes with user-friendly templates that you can easily edit using drag-and-drop.

It makes it easy to segment your audience and track open rates.

Expand your freelancer tool arsenal with the best online solutions

All the tools described above share one key feature: they don’t just automate routine, but also change the way freelancers organize their work.

They address different needs, from scheduling workflows and shifts to organizing funding and reporting.

Choose proven tools to optimize your work processes. Remember, the time spent mastering these solutions will pay off many times over.

If you want to feature your tool for freelancers on this list, email us or submit a form in the Top Choices section. After a thorough assessment, we’ll decide whether it’s a valuable addition.