180 tools reviewed for small business owners

Sales & CRM
Simple CRM for small businesses
Capsule CRM is a no-frills, easy-to-use CRM for small businesses that just need contact management, deal tracking, and task management without overwhelming features. Free plan supports 2 users and 250 contacts.

Marketing Automation
Email marketing trusted by small businesses
Constant Contact is one of the oldest and most trusted email marketing platforms for SMBs. It includes event management, social posting, and SMS. Strong customer support and ease-of-use make it great for non-technical business owners.

Design & Creative
Photo editing and graphic design for marketing
PicMonkey is an accessible photo editor and graphic design tool popular with SMBs for creating social graphics, marketing materials, and editing product photos. Cloud storage keeps designs accessible across devices.

Workflow Automation
Simple business workflow automation
Automate.io connects cloud apps with multi-step workflows and a visual bot builder. Now part of Notion, it offers competitive pricing for straightforward integrations. Free plan includes 300 actions/month.

Writing & Content
Rewrite any sentence instantly
Wordtune rewrites and rephrases text in real time, helping users improve clarity, tone, and style. It integrates with Google Docs, Gmail, and Twitter. The free plan allows 10 rewrites per day, making it accessible for occasional users.

Design & Creative
AI-powered photo editing and design
Fotor combines photo editing with an AI image generator and graphic design templates. Its AI portrait enhancer and background remover are popular for e-commerce product photography. Free plan available.

Customer Service
AI chatbot platform for support automation
Kommunicate lets SMBs build AI chatbots that integrate with their existing helpdesks. It supports Dialogflow, OpenAI, and custom bots. Good entry-level choice for businesses wanting chatbot automation without heavy development.

Accounting & Finance
Simple cloud accounting for small businesses
Kashoo is a straightforward accounting app with AI-powered transaction categorisation that learns from your habits. It's particularly valued for its simplicity and fast bank reconciliation. A solid QuickBooks alternative for very small teams.

Scheduling & Admin
Free time tracking for teams
Clockify is a completely free time tracking tool with unlimited users, supporting timesheet management, project tracking, and reporting. Paid plans add invoicing and scheduling. One of the best free tools for SMBs with billable hours.

HR & Hiring
Modern ATS + CRM for talent teams
Lever combines an ATS with a CRM to help companies manage both active applicants and passive talent pipelines. NurtureBot automates follow-ups with candidates. Suited to SMBs with a dedicated recruiter or talent function.

Writing & Content
Make your writing bold and clear
Hemingway Editor highlights complex sentences, passive voice, and hard-to-read passages, helping anyone write cleaner content. The free web version is widely used; the desktop app is a one-time purchase. Particularly useful for non-native English writers.

Sales & CRM
CRM + automation for service businesses
Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) combines CRM, email marketing, and sales automation for service-based businesses. It includes appointment booking, invoicing, and follow-up automation. Higher price point but strong feature depth for solo operators and small service firms.

Design & Creative
Free online photo editor with AI tools
Pixlr offers a free browser-based photo editor comparable to Photoshop for basic tasks, plus AI tools for background removal and enhancement. Very accessible for SMBs that occasionally need photo editing without a subscription.

E-commerce
Print-on-demand drop shipping for your store
Printful handles printing, packing, and shipping of custom merchandise on demand, integrating with Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, and more. No upfront inventory costs. Free to use โ pay only when you sell.

Customer Service
Simple live chat for small businesses
Olark is a straightforward live chat tool with visitor tracking, chat transcripts, and basic automation. It lacks AI features but is reliable and easy to set up for businesses that just need live chat without complexity.

Writing & Content
Generate quality content at scale
Peppertype.ai offers AI-powered content generation focused on marketing copy and long-form articles. It supports team workflows and includes quality-scoring to help teams refine outputs. Good for agencies managing multiple client content needs.