180 tools reviewed for small business owners

Analytics & Data
KPI dashboards for data-driven SMBs
Klipfolio connects to 100+ data sources and builds real-time KPI dashboards for business metrics. Its PowerMetrics product makes it easy to define and track key business metrics. Popular with agencies for white-label reporting.

Design & Creative
AI video generation and editing
Runway offers text-to-video, video-to-video, and AI-powered video editing tools. Its Gen-2 model is used by creative agencies and marketers for generating short-form video content without filming. Free plan includes limited credits.

Sales & CRM
CRM inside Gmail, no new tool to learn
Streak turns Gmail into a CRM, adding deal pipelines, contact tracking, and email templates directly inside your inbox. The free solo plan is very capable. Loved by freelancers and small agencies who resist adopting a separate CRM.

HR & Hiring
Powerful ATS designed for SMBs
JazzHR is a purpose-built ATS for small businesses, offering unlimited users, customisable workflows, and AI tools for screening and job descriptions. One of the most affordable full-featured ATS options for growing teams.

Sales & CRM
CRM + email marketing in one
Nutshell combines CRM and email marketing automation in one affordable platform, with AI writing assistance and a focus on ease of use. Its built-in sequencing and reporting make it a strong choice for small B2B sales teams.

SEO
SEO tool for budget-conscious marketers
Ubersuggest by Neil Patel offers keyword research, site audits, and competitor analysis at a fraction of Ahrefs' cost. Free plan provides limited daily searches. A great entry-level SEO tool for SMBs starting out with SEO.

AI Agents
Open-source AI agent platform โ build chatbots and agents that actually work

Design & Creative
Quick, impactful content creation from Adobe
Adobe Express offers professional templates, AI generative fill, text-to-image, and brand kit features in a simplified interface. Free plan is strong; premium unlocks Adobe Stock and full Creative Cloud integration.

AI Agents
AI-powered project workspace where agents help you research, plan, and execute tasks

HR & Hiring
All-in-one HR software for SMBs
Factorial HR covers time tracking, leave management, payroll (select countries), performance reviews, and hiring in one affordable platform. It's particularly popular in Europe. AI automates payroll calculations and compliance checks.

AI Agents
Build custom AI agents and copilots for your business โ powered by Azure and GPT-4

SEO
Find what your audience is searching for
AnswerThePublic visualises search questions and queries around any keyword, helping content teams uncover what their audience wants to know. Now owned by Neil Patel. Great for content ideation and blog planning.

SEO
Visualise PAA questions for content planning
AlsoAsked maps out Google's People Also Asked questions in a visual hierarchy, helping content teams plan topic clusters and FAQ sections. Highly affordable and focused on a specific but valuable use case.

E-commerce
Subscription and recurring payments for e-commerce
Recharge powers subscription billing for e-commerce brands, enabling product subscriptions, bundles, and gifting. Integrates deeply with Shopify and has processed $15B+ in subscription revenue. Best for subscription-first businesses.

Marketing Automation
Email, automation, webinars, and more
GetResponse is an all-in-one platform covering email, automation, landing pages, webinars, and paid ads. Its AI-powered email generator and subject line tool speed up campaign creation. Good for businesses running multiple marketing channels.

Workflow Automation
Human-in-the-loop workflow automation
Relay.app builds automations that include human approval steps, making it ideal for workflows where you want automation plus human oversight. AI fills in automation steps. Growing Zapier alternative for approval-heavy processes.

Marketing Automation
E-commerce CRM and email automation
Drip positions itself as an ECRM (e-commerce CRM), offering deep segmentation, email automation, and revenue attribution. It's particularly strong for multi-product stores that want granular customer behaviour tracking.

Design & Creative
AI website builder for small businesses
Durable builds a complete small business website with copy and images in under 30 seconds using AI. It also includes a built-in CRM and invoicing tool. Designed specifically for service-based small businesses who want to get online fast.

Social Media
AI-generated social media content
Predis.ai generates complete social media posts including text, images, and video from a single prompt. It's excellent for businesses that struggle with content creation bandwidth. Free plan includes 15 AI generations per month.

AI Agents
Build enterprise AI agents and workflows with a no-code drag-and-drop interface

Customer Service
No-code chatbot builder for conversations
Landbot builds interactive chatbot flows for websites, WhatsApp, and Messenger without coding. It's popular for lead capture, customer onboarding, and FAQ automation. The visual builder is intuitive for non-technical SMB owners.

Scheduling & Admin
Find the best time to meet, instantly
Doodle solves group scheduling by polling participants on their availability and automatically finding the best meeting time. Its AI scheduling assistant can find slots for individuals without a poll. Free for basic use.

Social Media
Evergreen content automation for social
MeetEdgar automatically recycles your best content to keep social queues full with evergreen posts. It's focused on saving time for solopreneurs and small teams who can't consistently create new content. Simple but effective.

AI Agents
The original autonomous AI agent โ set a goal, let it work until done