45 Business Productivity Software Tools to Grow Your Business

The modern business owner has a lot on their plate, and thousands of business productivity tools exist to help save time and money while getting things done. But researching and testing those products to find the best ones for your business can take a lot of time and effort busy entrepreneurs just don’t have.

Smith.ai compiled our top business productivity software by category to easily find the best on the market and help you start your productivity journey today. 

Table of Contents: 

• Automation Tools
• Billing Tools
• Collaboration Tools
• CRM Tools
• Email Management Tools
• Focus Tools
• Knowledge Base and Training Tools
• Marketing Tools
• Note-Taking Tools
• Phone Solutions
• Product Management Tools
• Project Management Tools
• Scheduling Tools
• Social Media Management Tools
• Time-Tracking Tools
• To-Do List Tools

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Automation and integration tools

Most businesses use a variety of tools to help them get their work done efficiently and effectively. Unfortunately, not all those tools play nice with one another. Automation and integration tools help your devices, apps, and tools talk to one another, streamlining your work and giving you more time to focus on your business.

1. IFTTT

IFTTT is an integration software connecting all your apps and devices with low-code applets. IFTTT stands for “If this, then that” automations that a business can create to automate the transfer of data from one app to another.

Best Features: Manage everything from your cell phone

Pricing:

• Free plan
• Pro plan: $5 per month
• Pro+ plan: $10 per month
• Offers a seven-day free trial

2. Zapier

Zapier is an integration software that allows you to automate your workflow without any coding knowledge. Simply choose the app where the trigger occurs and the app where the action occurs, and you’re up and running.

Best Features: Integrates with more than 4,000 tools and apps, making streamlining quick and painless

Pricing: 

• Free basics plan
• Starter plan: $19.99 per month
• Professional plan: $49 per month
• Team plan: $299 per month
• Company plan: $599 per month
• Offers a 14-day free trial

Billing tools

Make collecting payments as painless for your customers (and you!) as possible with these billing tools.

3. FreshBooks

Powerful, flexible, and scalable, FreshBooks can be the invoicing and payment processing tool that grows with your business. It also brings other features to the table, including expense tracking, time tracking, and so much more.

Best Features: Customizable templates and over 100 integrations

Pricing:

• Free 30-day trial
• Lite: $5.70
• Plus: $9.90
• Premium: $18.00
• Select: Custom pricing

4. Square

Whether you’re selling online or in person, Square offers the right solution. Set up online payment integrations, enter payments manually, or use their point of sale hardware for easy and secure payment processing.

Best Features: Integrates with QuickBooks Online for easy sales data analysis

Pricing:

• Free
• Plus: $29
• Contact sales for pricing information

5. Stripe

Stripe integrates with the tools you already use, and Stripe Checkout automatically adapts to your customer’s location to easily calculate tax rates. You can accept in-person payments using one of their Stripe Terminals or online via their mobile app. You can also create invoices and create payment pages with shareable links to send to customers.

Best Features: Manage your costs and avoid hidden feeds with pay-as-you-go pricing

Pricing:

• Integrated plan: 2.9% + $0.30 per successful card charge
• Customer plan: Contact sales for pricing information

Collaboration tools

No matter the size of your team or whether you're remote or in person, these collaboration tools save time by making teamwork and communication intuitive and fun.

6. Google Workspace

Formerly G Suite, Google Workspace includes all the Google features you need for success: Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Slides, and more. The cloud-based platform allows your employees to access everything no matter where they are or what device they use.

Best Features: Helps your employees save time with features like Google Assistant and Smart Compose

Pricing:

• Free trial: 14 days with all plans
• Business Starter plan: $6 per user per month
• Business Standard plan: $12 per user per month
• Business Plus plan: $18 per user per month
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales for pricing information
• Offers a 14-day free trial

7. Slack

Slack is a workplace chat app for direct messaging between colleagues. Quickly communicate with entire teams through their channel feature, direct message a colleague, or do a quick video chat. Due to its robust app integrations, Slack also allows you to share files and maximize productivity.

Best Features: Connects to your team’s calendar to easily see a colleague's availability

Pricing:

• Free trial: 30 days with any plan
• Free plan
• Pro plan: $7.25 per month
• Business+ plan: $12.50 per month
• Enterprise Grid plan: Contact sales for pricing
• Offers a 30-day free trial

8. Zoom 

Zoom became a household name during the pandemic, and as a result, it’s become one of the most widely used video conferencing programs with 3.3 trillion annual meeting minutes. It’s easy to use, has great video quality, and allows for screen sharing and remote control during meetings.

Best Features: Integrates with the tools you’re already using for file sharing and other actions 

Pricing:

• Free plan
• Pro plan: $149.90 per year per license
• Small Business plan: $199.90 per year per license
• Enterprise: Contact sales
• Offers a free 30-day trial for Zoom Rooms only

CRM tools

Customer relationship management (CRM) tools track all the data on current and potential customers easily and efficiently. As a result, you can better manage tasks and communication to help you close sales and impress with customer service.

9. ClickUp

ClickUp is one of the fastest-growing tools on the market, thanks to its intuitive platform that allows you to manage tasks, collaborate, and keep track of customer interactions. It does the job of several different apps and services in one place.

Best Features: Offers customizable CRM templates for account management, customer service, invoices, and more

Pricing:

• Free plan
• Unlimited plan: $7 per member per month
• Business plan: $12 per member per month
• Business Plus plan: $19 per member per month
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales for pricing

10. HubSpot CRM

HubSpot CRM is one of the biggest and most popular CRM programs available — for good reason. The free plan allows you to manage every customer interaction, and the add-on features make that data even more powerful.

Best Features: Setup and navigate the tool easily with plenty of online support from other users

Pricing:

• Free plan
• Starter plan: $45 per month
• Professional plan: $1,080 per month
• Enterprise plan: $4,000 per month
• Offers a 14-day free trial

11. Vtiger

Vtiger is a super-flexible, all-in-one CRM software designed specifically for small businesses. It features individual, customizable modules, manages contacts and deals, handles inventory control and marketing, and even has a help desk function to support customers.

Best Features: Simple navigation combined with powerful management capabilities

Pricing:

• 15-day free trial
• One Growth: $12
• One Professional: $30/Standard or $20/Single App
• One Enterprise: $42/Standard or $30/Single App

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Email management tools

The average person receives 121 business emails a day, which doesn’t include all the spam and personal emails you receive. Stay on top of your inbox with these email management tools.

12. SaneBox

SaneBox’s AI technology quickly learns which of your emails are important and which aren’t, sorting them into appropriate inboxes. The program integrates with your current email client so you won’t need to get a new email address.

Best Features: Use the Do Not Disturb feature to avoid notifications and send away messages

Pricing:

• Snack plan: $7 per month for one email account
• Lunch plan: $12 per month for two email accounts
• Dinner plan: $36 per month for four email accounts
• Offers a 14-day free trial

13. Zendesk

Zendesk offers powerful but intuitive capabilities and is particularly well-suited for organizations looking to improve both the customer and employee experience. It includes features like ticket management, self-service content, collaboration tools, and more.

Best Features: AI and automated workflows

Pricing:

• Free 14-day trial
• Support Team: $19 per agent per month
• Support Professional: $55 per agent per month
• Support Enterprise: $115 per agent per month

14. UpLead

Sales teams and marketers need the right emails to contact decision-makers, and UpLead finds only verified emails, phone numbers, and social media information. Save time with bulk email look-ups and export the results to your CRM.

Best Features: Offers a 95% accuracy guarantee and won’t charge for incorrect emails

Pricing:

• Free trial
• Essentials plan: $99 per month
• Plus plan: $199 per month
• Professional plan: Custom pricing
• Offers a seven-day free trial

Focus tools

Sometimes it’s hard to shut out all the world’s noise and focus on work. These focus tools can help you put down your phone, block distractions, and get things done.

15. Freedom 

Freedom blocks distractions across all your devices. Program a daily or weekly schedule, or set distractions as needed. Simply select the devices, sites, and apps you wish to block and start the timer.

Best Features: Track the time you spend on sites to find your biggest productivity suckers

Pricing:

• Monthly plan: $8.99 a month
• Yearly plan: $3.33 a month for one year
• Forever plan: $159.99 for a lifetime subscription
• Offers a seven-session free trial

16. PomoDoneApp

The PomoDoneApp breaks your day into focus sessions with breaks, which science suggests is the most effective way to be productive. Stick to the recommended 25/5 focus/break ratio, or customize your own.

Best Features: Integrate with your current task management tool so you don’t have to create to-do lists

Pricing:

• Lite plan: $2.48 per month
• Ultimate plan: $4.34 per month
• Five-license package: $31.00 per month
• 10-license package: $55.80 per month

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Knowledge base and training tools

Onboarding new employees can get overwhelming and time-consuming, especially with people constantly asking questions. These knowledge base and training tools ensure your employees can easily find resources while keeping onboarding a scalable task.

17. Helpjuice 

Helpjuice is a flexible knowledgebase solution that empowers businesses with search engine capabilities, generative AI tools, custom branding, roles and permissions, and granular reporting and analytics.

Best Features: AI-driven algorithms topics to expand on and help improve content quality

Pricing:

• Starter: $120 per month
• Run-Up: $200 per month
• Premium Limited: $289 per month
• Enterprise: Contact sales

18. Notion

Create a company wiki with Notion to give employees easy access to company policies, training documents, and more. Use their templates to communicate with the entire team and keep all the most important information in one place so everyone is on the same page.

Best Features: Integrates with the tools you’re already using to make automated updates a breeze

Pricing:

• Free plan
• Plus plan: $8 per month
• Business plan: $15 per user per month
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales for customized pricing

19. TextExpander

TextExpander boosts team productivity by cutting the repetitive typing that creeps into every task. A quick shortcode while typing drops in the necessary language to send to clients and customers. In the words of your best writer, gather the knowledge of your most experienced staff in a quick-access knowledge base of reusable emails, content, and messaging. TextExpander keeps your whole team communicating consistently and accurately.

Best Features: TextExpander’s shortcuts give your team immediate access to shared company knowledge. All they have to do is type a short abbreviation and TextExpander does the rest of the work.

Pricing:

• Free trial: 30 days with any plan
• Individual plan: $3.33 per month
• Business: $8.33 per month
• Growth: $10.83 per month
• Enterprise: Contact sales for pricing
• Offers a 30-day free trial
  

Sales & Marketing tools

Marketers have a lot to juggle, from creating websites to nurturing leads to studying data. These tools make it feel easy.

20. HubSpot Marketing Hub

Create content, automate workflows, and analyze marketing data with ease with HubSpot Marketing Hub, no matter the size of your business. HubSpot knows what marketers need to succeed, and everything you need is in one place.

Best Features: Combine HubSpot Marketing Hub with their free CRM tool

Pricing:

• Free plan
• Starter plan: $45 per month
• Professional plan: $800 per month
• Enterprise plan: $3200 per month

21. Smith.ai Outreach Campaigns

Smith.ai Outreach Campaigns allows you to outsource outreach so your in-house team can handle the more nuanced work needed to convert warm leads into paying customers. Simply provide us with a spreadsheet of contacts to call, and we’ll do the rest.

Best Features: Pay per lead (or call recipient) with no annual contracts

Pricing:

• Cold prospecting: $10 per contact/1,000 contacts minimum
• Warm engagement: $12 per contact/50 contacts minimum‍
• Contact sales for pricing information

Note-taking tools

Jot down development ideas, client notes, follow-up questions during meetings, and anything else that comes to mind with some of our favorite note-taking tools. 

22. Evernote

Keep all your notes in one place and access them from any device with Evernote. Whether your notes are typed, written using a stylus, recorded as audio or video files, or even images and “clips” from the web, Evernote lets you easily share them with others. 

Best Features: Sync with your Google Calendar to connect calendar events to notes

Pricing:

• Free plan
• Personal plan: $10.83 per month
• Professional plan: $14.17 per month
• Evernote Teams plan: $20.83 per user per month

23. Google Keep

Google Keep syncs with all other Google Workspace products, making it available no matter what tool you’re using. It’s built into Gmail and Drive, or you can use the app on your phone. Easily create checklists, set reminders, and organize all your thoughts without getting overwhelmed.

Best Features: Dictate a note or pull text directly from images into editable notes

Pricing:

• Free with a Google account

24. Microsoft OneNote 

Microsoft OneNote is a digital notebook for all your notes. You can organize and search your notes easily, use multiple media for notes, and save content from the web.

Best Features: Use the Sticky Notes app to add information and reminders to your notebook pages

Pricing:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic plan: $6.00 per user per month
• Microsoft 365 Apps for Business plan: $8.25 per user per month
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard plan: $12.50 per user per month
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium plan: $22.00 per user per month
• Offers a one-month free trial

Phone solutions

While social media has moved a lot of customer interactions online, the phone is still the go-to communication tool for most people, whether it’s a landline or a cell phone.

25. Smith.ai 

Whether you’re looking for someone to answer calls after hours or a full-time virtual receptionist, Smith.ai handles client intake, lead qualification, payment collection, appointment setting, outbound calls, and spam call blocking.

Best Features: Bills by the call and doesn’t charge for spam calls

Pricing:

• Starter plan: $285 per month
• Basic plan: $765 per month
• Pro plan: $1,950 per month
• Custom plan: Contact sales

26. Dialpad

Dialpad is a popular VoIP solution with flexible plans that can fit almost any business’s needs. It includes audio and video calling, unlimited domestic calling, webinar capabilities, voicemail, and more. It also features AI integration.

Best Features: Works with desktop and mobile devices

Pricing:

• Standard: $15 per month
• Pro: $25 per month
• Enterprise: Contact sales‍
• Free trial

27. RingCentral

RingCentral is a VoIP platform that combines phone, video, and messaging services in an easy-to-use interface whether your employees are on a phone, tablet, laptop, or landline. Flexibility and collaboration are built into the cloud-based platform, and add-on features can be toggled on and off as needed.

Best Features: Access phone, video, and chat services with one click

Pricing:

• Core plan: $20 per user per month
• Advanced plan: $25 per user per month 
• Ultra plan: $35 per user per month
• Offers 15-day free trial

Product management tools

Product management tools help you and your team ideate and develop products and then get feedback and analyze customer data, all in one place.

28. Amplitude

Amplitude is a product analytics software that helps you better understand your customers to increase engagement and conversions. The shared workspace lets your entire team understand your customer’s journey quickly to make the right decision efficiently and confidently.

Best Features: Decide what data is important and easily add context to data reports

Pricing:

• Starter plan: Free
• Plus plan: $49 per month
• Growth and Enterprise plans: Contact sales for pricing information

29. Productboard

Focus on your customers as you develop products with Productboard. Easily collaborate with colleagues to prioritize products for development, conduct research, and collect feedback from customers as products move through the development cycle.

Best Features: Integrates easily with Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zapier, and other tools

Pricing:

• Essentials plan: $19 per user per month
• Pro plan: $59 per user per month
• Scale and Enterprise plans: Contact sales for pricing information
• Offers a 15-day free trial

30. ProductPlan

Easily create product roadmaps with ProductPlan. This software allows you to collaborate with colleagues to create timeline, list, or table layouts to help you prioritize your product development. 

Best Features: Customize product roadmaps based on the audience to keep ideas secure

Pricing:

• Basic plan: $39 per user per month
• Professional plan: $69 per user per month
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales for pricing information
• Offers a free 14-day trial

Project management tools

Help your teams stay organized with project management tools that make planning, tracking, and managing projects easy.

31. Asana

Asana’s free plan is one of the richest, with unlimited capabilities as long as you don’t have more than 15 people on your team. With a paid plan, you can access advanced customization functions that make it incredibly versatile.

Best Features: Integrates with many time-tracking tools at no cost using the free version

Pricing:

• Basic plan: Free
• Premium plan: $10.99 per user per month for up to 15 people
• Business plan: $24.99 per user per month
• Offers a 30-day free trial

32. Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects is a must-have for any business looking to save money without sacrificing features. It offers task management, task dependencies, time tracking, messaging, and more, all for a low price. Note that the free tier offers very limited features. Upgrade to the next tier for more.

Best Features: Gives you access to the entire Zoho ecosystem

Pricing:

• Free plan
• Premium: $4 per user per month
• Enterprise: $9 per user per month

33. Shortcut

Designed for software development companies, Shortcut has a user-friendly interface. It allows users to see daily, weekly, or quarterly tasks with the click of a button and is fully scalable and customizable.

Best Features: Integrates easily with Google Calendar, Slack, Zendesk, and other tools

Pricing:

• Free plan
• Team plan: $8.50 per user per month
• Business plan: $12 per user per month
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales for pricing 
• Offers a 14-day free trial

Scheduling tools 

As your business gains employees and customers, keeping everyone’s schedule organized can be a challenge. These scheduling tools make scheduling appointments and meetings easy.

34. Acuity Scheduling

Acuity Scheduling automates the scheduling process with an interface that is easy for your customers to navigate. The program sends branded and customized meeting confirmations and reminders via text and email to both you and your customer so missed appointments are a thing of the past.

Best Features: Allows online payments through Square, Stripe, and PayPal 

Pricing:

• Emerging plan: $15 per month
• Growing plan: $25 per month
• Powerhouse plan: $50 per month
• Save by paying annually rather than monthly
• Offers a seven-day free trial

35. Mixmax

Mixmax pairs with Google accounts to easily schedule appointments without all the emails. Once an appointment is scheduled, the Google Calendar invites, notifications, and reminders are automatically sent.

Best Features: Eliminate email back-and-forth by sending optional meeting times

Pricing:

• Free plan
• SMB plan: $29 per user per month
• Growth plan: $49 per user per month
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales for pricing information
• Offers a free trial

36. ScheduleOnce by OnceHub

ScheduleOnce integrates with your existing calendar provider to easily add booking pages directly to your website, so you won’t need to change your existing calendar apps. It also provides easy and secure video linking by syncing with most video conferencing software.

Best Features: Have the final say on meeting times with the “Booking with approval” feature

Pricing:

• Basic: Free
• Schedule: $10 per seat per month
• Route: $19 per seat per month
• Engage: $39 per seat per month
• Enterprise: Contact sales

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Social media management tools

4.55 billion people are active on social media, and engaging with your followers is a great way to build your brand. Social media management takes time, but these social media management tools can help carry the load.

37. Hootsuite

Hootsuite saves you time by scheduling posts for all your social media channels in one calendar view. Keep all your social media conversations in one thread so they are easy to track and engage with. Use data to determine the best type of content for your audience.

Best Features: Integrate with cloud-based services to easily access your brand content from anywhere

Pricing:

• Professional plan: $99 per month
• Team plan: $249 per month
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales for pricing
• Offers a 30-day free trial

38. Smith.ai Live Chat

Smith.ai Live Chat has live agents available to answer your clients’ questions. Personalize your chat widget to fit your brand with no setup fees, and our agents can collect payments, make appointments, and answer questions 24/7.

Best Features: Close deals when live agents transfer qualified leads straight to sales

Pricing:

• A la carte plan: $10 per chat
• Starter plan: $140 per month for 20 live chats
• Basic plan: $300 per month for 50 live chats
• Pro plan: $600 per month for 120 live chats
• Custom plan: Contact sales for pricing information

39. Sprout Social

Sprout Social does more than schedule your social media posts and track follower engagement. Customer service representatives can also use it to deliver customer support quickly to impress followers reaching out for help and build lasting customer relationships.

Best Features: Stay on top of your brand’s social media presence with extensive reporting and analytics 

Pricing:

• Standard plan: $89 per user per month
• Professional plan: $149 per user per month
• Advanced plan: $249 per user per month
• Offers a 30-day free trial

Time tracking tools

The age of traditional punch time clocks is obsolete, replaced by powerful apps perfect for in-office or remote time tracking. For more information, check out our full list of time tracking apps.

40. HourStack 

HourStack integrates with most project management tools, offering a seamless solution for team time tracking. Available through the web or as an add-on for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, it also includes calendar functions, drag-and-drop functionality, and more.

Best Features: Integrates with most popular project management tools

Pricing:

• Personal: $12 per month
• Team: $15 per member per month

41. Hubstaff

Hubstaff works with any device so your employees can track time wherever they are. Easily see time tracking reports and monitor productivity to make your workplace more efficient. You can also access payroll and invoice tools to handle workforce management tasks without a separate product.

Best Features: Offers a variety of tiers and pricing plans so you only pay for what you need

Pricing:

• HubStaff Time (basic time tracking and reporting)

• Time Free plan: $0 for one user per month
• Time Starter plan: $5.83 per user per month plus $5 base fee per month
• Time Pro plan: $8.33 per user per month plus $5 a month base fee
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales for customized plans

• HubStaff Deck (time tracking plus proof of work and team management)

• Desk Free plan: $0 for one user per month
• Desk Starter plan: $5.83 per user per month plus $5 a month base fee
• Desk Pro: $8.33 per user per month plus $5 a month base fee
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales for customized plans

• HubStaff Field (team management and GPS location tracking)

• Field plan: $10 per user per month plus $5 a month base fee
• Desk and Field plan: $12.50 per user per month plus $5 a month base fee
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales for customized plans

• Offers a free 14-day trial

42. Toggl Track 

Toggl Track allows your employees to track time spent on specific tasks to see how their time breaks down each day. By studying their patterns, they’ll be able to identify areas that need to be more efficient and make the necessary changes. 

Best Features: Eliminate extensive training with easy-to-use one-click timers 

Pricing:

• Free plan for up to five users
• Start plan: $9 per user per month
• Premium plan: $18 per user per month
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales for custom pricing

To-do list tools

Running a business isn’t easy, but these to-do list tools help you organize cross tasks off your list so no task is forgotten.

43. Airtable

Airtable keeps all your tasks in one place and offers customized views so your list works for you. Organize by priority or due date, or view tasks in the calendar.

Best Features: Use the saved views for visual reporting tools instead of spreadsheets

Pricing:

• Free plan
• Team plan: $20 per seat per month
• Business plan: $45 per seat per month
• Enterprise plan: Contact sales for pricing information

44. TickTick 

TickTick combines a to-do list with a built-in Pomodoro method focus tool and time tracking, note-taking, and collaboration abilities all in a convenient calendar view.

Best Features: Create automatic reminders based on location or date when creating new tasks

Pricing:

• Free plan
• Premium plan: $35.99 per year

45. Todoist 

Todoist has hundreds of templates you can use to start your to-do list journey, or you can customize it to your organizational style. Connect Todoist to the tools you’re already using for maximum productivity.

Best Features: Learn productivity tips tailored to your personality and work style

Pricing:

• Free
• Pro plan: $4 per month
• Business plan: $6 per user per month
• Offers a 30-day free trial for their business plan

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Be more productive with Smith.ai

At Smith.ai, increasing your business’s productivity is at the core of everything we do. Let our talented virtual receptionists answer the phone, conduct outreach campaigns, and respond to live chats. We offer various features that will help take your business to the next level. 

Book a free consultation today to see how we can take outreach, appointment setting, client intake, and lead engagement off your to-do list so you can focus on your business.

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‍Sources: Web Tribunal | Finances Online | Backlinko | HubSpot