Blog - YouCanBookMe

39 Best Freelancer Tools to Add to Your Tech Stack

Written by Paulina Major | Apr 16, 2025 8:43:22 AM

As a freelancer, you’re running the whole show—client projects, doing your own marketing, trying to get clients, meeting scheduling, and whatever else lands in your lap.

It’s a heavy load, and you need freelancer tools that lighten it, so you can focus on the work that pays and the clients who matter.

We’ve rounded up 39 freelancer tools across eight categories to make it easier for you to find the best ones for your needs.

Here’s what we’re going to cover:

  • Scheduling software
  • Project management platforms
  • Accounting and invoicing systems
  • All-in-one business suites
  • Communication tools
  • Banking and payment solutions
  • Design tools
  • Writing and content tools

Let’s jump right in ‘cause we’ve got A LOT to cover!

Meetings are the bread and butter of freelancing—from client calls to chats with your accountant about taxes and everything in between. You don’t have time for the back-and-forth communications just to agree on a time to meet.

Scheduling apps let your clients self-book time with you based on your availability without the need to exchange emails. These tools also sync with your calendars, send reminders to reduce no-shows, and generally save you time.

Here are two top picks to automate your scheduling:

YouCanBookMe (YCBM) is a powerful online scheduling tool made for small businesses and freelancers. It connects to your Apple, Google, Fastmail, or Microsoft calendar (+ thousands of other apps, both natively and via Zapier) and lets clients book meetings in your available time slots.

YCBM offers a fully customizable booking page (with your branding) and handles time zones automatically, making it a breeze to schedule calls with clients around the world. It even sends automated confirmation, reminder, and follow-up emails, so clients show up on time.

Here’s what Danielle shared about using YCBM: “I enjoy how easy it is to streamline meetings and phone calls with my clients. I can share one link with them, and they are able to do the rest. This makes the entire scheduling process quicker and easier."

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Share a simple link—no sign-up needed for clients.
  • Ease of use when it comes to scheduling thanks to its user-friendly platform.
  • Fully customizable booking pages, to showcase your brand by adding logos, colors, backgrounds, and messaging that match your unique identity.
  • Not built for large online events (50+ people) like webinars, though this may not be a dealbreaker for most freelancers.

Key features 🔑

  • Meeting types and buffers: Let clients choose different meeting lengths, types, and even locations; add buffer time between meetings.
  • Confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups: Email and SMS notifications are sent automatically to invitees and are fully customizable.
  • Payments: You can charge deposits or full payments via Stripe, and create custom promo codes and discounts with expiration dates and limits.

Pricing: Free forever plan with one calendar connection and one booking page. Paid plans start at $9/month for individuals (up to 2 calendars).

Calendly takes the hassle out of scheduling by letting clients book time with you based on availability. The free version is pretty good if you only want to run one event type, like monthly client check-ins or discovery calls. But if you want to run different types of events, you’ll need to upgrade.

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Quick setup and intuitive design.
  • Automated reminders.
  • Integrates with Google Calendar or Outlook. 
  • Calendly branding on the free version.
  • Some advanced features require a paid plan.
  • Doesn't sync with Apple Calendar.

Key features 🔑

  • Get paid upfront: Easily connect Stripe or PayPal to collect payment at the time of booking—so you can secure your earnings and skip the invoicing chase.
  • Custom event types: Set up different meeting options (like discovery calls, check-ins, or consultations) with unique durations, availability, and settings to fit your workflow.
  • Tool integrations: Connect with 100+ popular apps to keep your workflow running smoothly.

Pricing: Calendly offers an “Always free” plan. For paid plans, pricing starts at $12/month.

  • Google Appointment Scheduler: Built into Google Calendar and ideal for basic booking.
  • Cal.com: Open-source, developer-friendly alternative with a privacy-first focus.
  • Clara: Uses AI to schedule meetings just like a human assistant. You CC Clara on an email thread, and it handles the back-and-forth for you.

📚 Want to explore more options? Check out our round-up of the best scheduling apps currently on the market.

Sticky notes and scattered to-do lists can only take you so far. To stay organized and hit your deadlines, you’ll need a solid project management system. The right platform will keep you on top of your work without burdening you with complexity.

Here are two popular options:

Asana is a robust work management tool that helps you track projects from start to finish, with multiple views (list, board, calendar) and plenty of automation to simplify your workflow.

What’s more, Asana’s clean interface and multiple views make it perfect for organizing complex client projects. As one freelancer shared, using a PM app like Asana became “my second brain” for managing tasks. 

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Great for collaboration with clients, as they can be added to the tool.
  • Rules and automation reduce manual busywork.
  • Solid free version for basic needs.
  • Timeline view requires a paid plan.
  • Free version limited to 10 team members.

Key features 🔑

  • Task and subtask management: Create tasks with assignees, due dates, tags, and priorities. Break down tasks into subtasks for granular tracking of work.
  • Collaboration and communication: Comment directly on tasks (team members get notified), attach files, and use @mentions to loop others into the conversation.
  • Automation and integrations: Set up rule-based automation (e.g., move a task to “In Progress” when status is changed, or auto-assign new tasks to a specific person). Integrate with tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, Slack, and over 100 others to create a connected workflow.

Pricing: Free for up to 10 users to collaborate. Paid plans start at $13.49/month.

Notion is a flexible all-in-one workspace that blends note-taking, task management, and project tracking—perfect for freelancers juggling multiple clients or projects. You can build custom dashboards, track deadlines, organize content, and even create client portals.

With drag-and-drop blocks and templates, Notion adapts to your workflow, whether you're managing a content calendar or tracking invoices. 

One freelancer admitted, “I used to use Trello, but Notion has easily replaced their kanban boards for project stage tracking or basic CRM kind of tracking.”

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Build your own project management system from scratch.
  • Combines docs, tasks, and databases.
  • Great for solo freelancers.
    • Takes time to set up your system.
    • Collaboration tools are basic compared to others.

Key features 🔑

  • Templates: Build workflows for content calendars, CRMs, and more.
  • Databases: Organize your work using flexible databases that can be viewed as kanban boards, tables, lists, or calendars.
  • All-in-one workspace: Consolidate your notes, documents, tasks, and wikis into a single platform.

Pricing: Free personal plan. Paid plans start at $12/month per seat.

  • ClickUp: Customizable with time tracking and goal tracking.
  • Monday.com: Visual project boards and automation options.
  • Trello: Great for kanban-style project tracking.

The most dreaded task every freelancer has to face? Yep, you guessed it—doing your own accounting. That’s why you need tools that actually pull their weight—tools that make managing your money simple, so you can get back to your real work.

These accounting tools are built for people like you. They track every dollar in and out, churn out professional invoices with minimal effort, and even send gentle nudges to clients who “forget” to pay.

👉 Need to write a payment reminder email to your client? Grab one of our templates!

Xero is a powerful cloud-based accounting platform built for freelancers and small business owners who want professional-grade tools without the bulky feel of enterprise software. It’s especially great if you’re working with international clients, thanks to its multi-currency support and global invoicing features.

With Xero, you can automate everything from sending recurring invoices and tracking expenses to reconciling bank transactions in real time.

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Great reporting and invoicing.
  • Cloud-based with a mobile app.
  • Handles international currency well.
  • Pricier than some competitors.
  • Not as intuitive for beginners.

Key features 🔑

  • Invoicing: Quickly create and send professional-looking invoices with your branding. You can set up recurring invoices, add payment links, and track when clients view or pay.
  • Bank reconciliation: Connect your bank accounts to automatically import transactions. Xero matches them to your invoices and expenses, making it easy to keep your books accurate without manual entry.
  • Multi-currency support: Xero automatically converts currencies based on real-time exchange rates, helping you bill internationally and stay compliant.

Pricing: No free tier. Paid plans start at $20/month.

QuickBooks is one of the most trusted names in accounting software—and for good reason. It’s a comprehensive platform that handles everything from sending invoices and tracking expenses to generating tax-ready reports with just a few clicks.

Ideal for freelancers who want a polished, professional handle on their finances, QuickBooks gives you a real-time view of your income, spending, and profitability.

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Invoicing, reporting, and expenses in one.
  • Great for tax preparation.
  • Mobile app with receipt capture.
  • Some features are locked behind higher plans.
  • Overwhelming interface for new users.

Key features 🔑

  • Smart invoicing: Create professional invoices, accept online payments, and track when clients view or pay. Set up automatic reminders so you never have to chase payments manually.
  • Expense tracking: Link your bank and credit card accounts to automatically import and categorize expenses. You can even snap photos of receipts and store them for easy recordkeeping.
  • Detailed reporting: Generate tax summaries, profit and loss statements, and cash flow reports in just a few clicks, perfect for staying on top of your finances or prepping for tax season.

Pricing: No free plan. Paid plans start at $35/month for one user.

  • Wave: 100% free accounting and invoicing tool.
  • Zoho Books: Part of the larger Zoho suite; automation-rich.
  • FreshBooks: Simple, clean UI with time-tracking and invoicing.

As a freelancer, staying in touch with clients across time zones is part of the job. You need reliable tools for video calls, quick updates, and everything in between. These communication tools help you stay organized, respond faster, and avoid getting lost in a sea of emails or missed messages.

Slack makes real-time communication a breeze, especially if you’re a freelancer working closely with client teams. Instead of managing endless email threads, you can join dedicated channels, share files, and chat with clients or collaborators in one organized space.

With integrations for tools like Google Drive, Notion, and Trello, Slack becomes a central hub for updates, quick feedback, and everyday check-ins.

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Channels organize discussions.
  • Real-time messaging.
  • Great integrations.
  • Can be noisy without good filters.
  • Search is limited on the free plan.
  • Message limit on the free version.

Key features 🔑

  • Channels: Keep topics separate (e.g., #client-updates).
  • Integrations: Link tools like Google Drive and Asana.
  • Availability status: Show when you’re online or away.

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $8.75/month.

Zoom is the go-to platform for all kinds of virtual meetings. With features like screen sharing, breakout rooms, and meeting recordings, it’s built for freelancers who need to hop on a client meeting or a discovery call. Plus, it integrates with tools like YouCanBookMe, so scheduling and joining calls is seamless for both you and your clients.

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Easy to set up, use, and manage.
  • Over 2,700 app integrations.
  • Widely used and trusted, it became the default video tool during the pandemic.
  • Free plan limits group calls to 40 mins.
  • Can be glitchy with bad internet.

Key features 🔑

  • HD video calls: Host crisp, reliable one-on-one meetings or group calls with clients, no matter where they are in the world.
  • Screen sharing: Easily share your screen to present work, walk through demos, or collaborate on documents in real time.
  • Meeting recordings: Record sessions with a click—perfect for keeping a record of client calls, reviewing feedback, or sharing recaps with teammates.

Pricing: Basic free plan includes up to 40 minutes per meeting. Paid plans start at $15.99/month.

  • Google Meet: Easy video calls via Google Calendar.
  • Gmail: The go-to tool for email communication.
  • Superhuman: Premium email experience with fast search and shortcuts.

If you bill hourly or just want to understand where your time goes, a time-tracking tool is essential.

Rather than guessing how many hours you spent on a project (or manually logging them in a spreadsheet), these apps let you track time with one click and generate accurate timesheets. They’re great for increasing productivity, too. You can review how much time tasks actually take and adjust your pricing or workflow accordingly.

Toggl Track is a simple yet powerful time-tracking app trusted by freelancers to log hours across projects. It features a one-click timer that you can label with a task or project name. You can also add entries manually after the fact.

Toggl’s beauty is in its flexibility. You can use it via web, desktop, or mobile, and it all syncs to your account. You can also organize time entries by client or project, set billable rates, and run reports to see how you spent your week.

As one user shared, “Toggl for time keeping. Honestly worth paying for, especially when you realize how much you aren’t billing for, and how easy it makes it to track time.”

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Minimal setup.
  • Multiple platforms (web, mobile, desktop).
  • Tag time by client/project.
  • Forgetting to start/stop the timer is common.
  • Limited reporting on the free plan.
  • No invoicing. Toggl is purely for tracking time.

Key features 🔑

  • Idle detection: Toggl can prompt you if it detects you’ve been away from your computer while the timer was running, helping correct times for more accurate logs.
  • Tags and projects: Categorize time entries with project names, client names, or custom tags (like #design, #meetings) to filter and report on your time in meaningful ways.
  • Team collaboration: If you have subcontractors, you can have them log time in Toggl as well, and you’ll see a combined report for the project.

Pricing: Free for up to 5 users. Paid starter plan starts at $10/month.

Clockwise is a smart calendar assistant that helps freelancers take back control of their time.

Rather than relying on time blocking templates, Clockwise dynamically adapts to your day in real time, automatically optimizing your schedule by moving flexible meetings, blocking focus time, and preventing calendar overload—so you can actually get deep work done.

If you're handling multiple clients, projects, and calls, Clockwise helps you stay productive without burning out.

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Easy to set up, use, and manage.
  • Syncs with Google Calendar.
  • Great for deep work productivity.
  • Not a traditional time tracker.
  • Better suited for planning, not logging hours.

Key features 🔑

  • Focus time blocks: Automatically creates uninterrupted blocks of time for deep work by intelligently rearranging flexible meetings on your calendar.
  • Smart scheduling: Finds the best meeting times by avoiding calendar conflicts and minimizing schedule fragmentation.
  • Team-aware AI: If you collaborate with client teams, Clockwise takes their availability into account, too, optimizing meetings around everyone's work hours and preferences.

Pricing: Free basic plan. Paid plans start at $6.75/month.

  • Harvest: Track time, expenses, and invoice clients.
  • Everhour: Time tracking with project management integrations.

As a freelancer, particularly when working with international clients, you need reliable banking and payment tools that work across currencies. The right setup can help you reduce transaction fees, speed up transfers, and keep more of your hard-earned income.

In this section, we’ll explore top online payment processors and digital banks that simplify freelance finances and give you more control over your money. 

Wise is a modern solution for global banking and transfers, perfect for freelancers working with international clients. It started as TransferWise, disrupting bank wire transfers by charging dramatically lower fees and using real mid-market exchange rates.

With a Wise account, you can hold balances in multiple currencies and even get local bank details (like an IBAN in Europe, routing/account in the US, sort code in the UK, etc.)

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Low fees and real-time exchange rates.
  • Fast transfers.
  • Get paid like a local in multiple currencies.
  • Not a full-service bank.
  • Customer support can be slow at times.

Key features 🔑

  • Multi-currency accounts: Get bank coordinates in USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, and more to receive payments as if you had a bank in those countries.
  • Invoice support: If you have to pay contractors or convert money often, Wise lets you do batch payments and also integrates with tools like Xero for accounting, simplifying your financial workflow.
  • Debit card (optional): Spend directly from your Wise balance.

Pricing: Free to open an account. Low transaction fees starting at 0.57%, with rates varying depending on the currency.


Stripe powers payments on thousands of platforms and works great for freelancers with a website.

Often used behind the scenes of tools like FreshBooks, QuickBooks, and even meeting schedulers like YouCanBookMe, Stripe allows you to accept credit card payments on invoices or via your own website. It’s developer-friendly (for those integrating into a site) but also available through many invoice platforms. If you freelance in e-commerce or take deposits via a website, you should definitely consider it.

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Accepts credit cards globally.
  • Developer-friendly.
  • Trusted by businesses worldwide.
  • Fees per transaction.
  • Setup is complex without platform integration.

Key features 🔑

  • Custom payment links: Send or embed on your site.
  • Subscription billing: Great for retainers.
  • Detailed reports: See earnings and payouts.

Pricing: No monthly fee. Card payments 2.9% fee + 30¢ per transaction for domestic cards.

Not every freelancer is a designer, but almost everyone needs to create visual content at some point, like a social media post for personal branding or presentation.

If design isn’t your forte, design tools can help you produce professional-looking visuals without hiring a graphic designer for every little thing. Here are the top tools to level up your design workflow.

Canva is a drag-and-drop online design tool that has revolutionized graphic creation for non-designers. It comes with thousands of templates for social media posts, presentations, flyers, and business cards, among others.

As a freelancer, Canva is like having a basic design team on standby. You can easily whip up professional-looking graphics by customizing templates with your brand colors and text. No design know-how needed.

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • The tool includes a brand kit feature, allowing you to save and reuse your colors, fonts, and logos.
  • Collaboration allows you to share editable links.
  • Great for social media and presentations.
  • Watermarks on certain free plan assets.
  • Less suitable for detailed design work.

Key features 🔑

  • Free stock assets: Access to a large collection of free photos, icons, and graphics (Pro plan unlocks even more).
  • Huge template library: Get a head start on designs for almost any format or occasion.
  • User-friendly: Intuitive interface with snap-to-grid alignment and preset dimensions.

Pricing: Free plan available. Pro starts at $15/month.


Adobe Express is a simplified version of Adobe’s creative suite, perfect for fast, professional designs. It brings the power of Adobe’s creative suite into a simple, user-friendly package—perfect for freelancers who need quick, polished visuals without diving into Photoshop.

With drag-and-drop templates, brand kits, and access to Adobe Fonts and stock images, you can stay on-brand with zero design headaches.

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Easy-to-use templates.
  • Mobile-friendly.
  • Brand content tools.
  • Fewer features than full Adobe tools.
  • Requires Adobe login.
  • Limited customization compared to Photoshop.

Key features 🔑

  • Templates & stock assets: Access thousands of professionally designed templates and Adobe Stock images to create standout visuals in minutes.
  • Quick actions: Speed up your workflow with one-click tools like image resizing, background removal, and video trimming.
  • Cloud sync: Integrates with other Adobe apps like Photoshop and Illustrator, so you can start simple in Express and level up your design in the full Creative Cloud suite when needed.

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid individual plan starts at $9.99/month.

Freelancers do a lot of writing, like proposals, emails, blog content, and social media posts. Writing tools can help sharpen your text, fix typos, and even brainstorm ideas. They range from AI-powered grammar checkers to distraction-free editors that keep you focused.

Here are our top picks:

Grammarly is like having a personal editor looking over your shoulder. But, in a good way! It’s a writing assistant that checks your spelling, grammar, punctuation, and even style in real time as you write.

You can use Grammarly via a browser extension (it works in web-based fields like Gmail, Google Docs, social media, etc.), a desktop app, or even the mobile keyboard.

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Catches grammar, punctuation, and tone issues.
  • Free version is pretty good.
  • Contextual suggestions that catch misused words and awkward phrasing, not just blatant errors.
  • Premium gets expensive.
  • Can sound robotic in some of its suggestions.

Key features 🔑

  • Browser and app integration: Grammarly can work in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Google Docs, and in apps like Microsoft Word. It follows you wherever you write.
  • Tone detector: It analyzes your writing’s tone (e.g. friendly, formal, confident) and tells you how you might be coming across.
  • Personal dictionary: You can add specialized terms (like industry jargon or people’s names), so Grammarly won’t flag those as misspellings. Over time, it adapts to your writing style.

Pricing: Free plan available. Pro is $30/month.

Google Docs has become the default writing tool for many, especially for collaborative work. As a freelancer, you might use Google Docs for drafting proposals, writing content, or collaborating on documents with clients.

Its interface is familiar (similar to MS Word in many ways) but with the huge advantage that your work is saved to the cloud automatically, and you can invite others to view or edit in real time.

Clients can leave comments or suggestions directly in the doc, which you can address or resolve. This is super useful for project briefs, copywriting projects, or report deliverables where client input is required.

Pros ✅

Cons ❌
  • Auto-save so you never worry about hitting “save.”
  • Real-time collaboration. Multiple people can edit simultaneously.
  • Free with a Google account.
  • Complex formatting can sometimes behave oddly when importing/exporting to Microsoft Word format.
  • Requires Internet. Offline mode exists (you have to enable it), but the best experience is online.

Key features 🔑

  • Comments and suggestions: Rather than direct edits, you or clients can make suggestions (tracked changes) or comments in the margin. This is perfect for editorial workflows or getting approval on copy.
  • Templates: Google Docs has a gallery of templates (for invoices, proposals, etc.) which can give you a quick starting point for common freelance documents.
  • Add-ons: You can extend Docs’ functionality with add-ons (like a label merge for making mailing labels, or diagram tools). One notable add-on is Grammarly’s extension, which works inside Google Docs for enhanced proofreading​.

Pricing: Free. If you need more storage or business features, Google Workspace plans start at $8.40/month per user.

  • Hemingway Editor: A free web tool (and inexpensive desktop app) that helps you simplify your writing.
  • ChatGPT: Tools like ChatGPT can generate ideas or even draft content based on prompts, which can help overcome writer’s block. Useful for freelancers when it comes to brainstorming, outlining, and first drafts.

👉 Still not getting the most out of ChatGPT? Discover how to use ChatGPT for your business—and snag 16 ready-to-use prompts to get started.
These tools came up again and again in this Reddit thread:
  • Zoho Suite: An all-in-one CRM, accounting, and project toolkit.
  • Bonsai: Freelance-focused platform for proposals, contracts, and payments.
  • Hive: Flexible PM tool with built-in messaging.
  • Wave: Free accounting software many freelancers swear by.
  • Clockify: ‘For timekeeping’. A time tracker software and timesheet app that lets you track work hours across projects.
  • Zapier: An automation tool that connects your favorite apps and automates repetitive tasks.
  • Podio: A customizable work management platform that helps freelancers organize projects, tasks, and client communications, all in one place.

Freelancing puts everything on your shoulders, but you don’t have to carry it solo. Add a few tools to help automate the most boring (or the most time-consuming) parts of your work.

And if you need an online scheduling tool to manage your meetings, check out YouCanBookMe. Try it at no cost today!
View full post