README.md

Awesome list of FREE tools Startups should be using

This is a curated list about tools for everything from productivity to hosting to development tools to designing. These tools are all digital i.e. either app, online service, or downloadable software. Most of them are either free or have limited free option that is enough for startups. Feel free to suggest and contribute in this list.

Tech

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Chat

• ChatGPT - https://chatgpt.com
• Claude - https://claude.ai
• DeepSeek - https://www.deepseek.com
• Google Gemini - https://gemini.google.com
• Microsoft CoPilot - https://copilot.microsoft.com
• Grok - https://grok.com

Embedding and RAG

• Isaacus - https://isaacus.com/

Git Repos

• GitHub - https://github.com
• BitBucket - https://bitbucket.com
• GitLab - https://gitlab.com
• Azure Repos - https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/devops/repos
• Amazon AWS CodeCommit - https://aws.amazon.com/codecommit/

Cloud and Traditional Hosting:

• Oracle Cloud - https://www.oracle.com/cloud/free/
• Amazon AWS (Free tier available) - https://aws.amazon.com
• Microsoft Azure (Free tier available) - https://azure.microsoft.com
• Google Cloud (Free tier available) - https://cloud.google.com
• Digital Ocean (Free tier available) - https://digitalocean.com
• Vultr (Paid plan) - https://vultr.com
• Heroku (Paid plan) - https://www.heroku.com
• BlueHost (Paid plan) - https://www.bluehost.com
• DreamHost (Paid plan) - https://www.dreamhost.com
• Fly.io (Paid plan) - https://fly.io

Static Site Hosting:

• CloudFlare Page - https://pages.cloudflare.com
• CloudFlare Workers - https://workers.cloudflare.com
• GitHub pages - https://pages.github.com
• Google FireBase - https://firebase.google.com/products/hosting
• Netlify - https://www.netlify.com
• Vercel - https://vercel.com
• Amazon S3 - https://aws.amazon.com/s3/
• Surge - https://surge.sh
• Kinsta - https://kinsta.com/static-site-hosting

Email Hosting:

• Lark Email - https://www.larksuite.com/en_us/product/email

DNS, CDN, & SSL:

• CloudFlare - https://www.cloudflare.com/
• ClouDNS - https://cloudns.net/
• Let's Encrypt - https://letsencrypt.org/

Site Performance Tools:

• Page Gym - https://pagegym.com
• Pingdom http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt pingdom.com - Website monitor
• Google Page Insight https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights
• Web Page Performance Test - http://www.webpagetest.org/
• GTMetrix http://gtmetrix.com/

Web Scraping Tools

• Import.io - https://www.import.io/
• Web Hose - https://webhose.io/scraping-tools
• Dexi.io - https://dexi.io/
• Parse Hub - https://www.parsehub.com/
• 80Legs - http://80legs.com/
• Scraping Hub - https://scrapinghub.com/
• Scrapy - https://scrapy.org/
• Scraper - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/scraper/mbigbapnjcgaffohmbkdlecaccepngjd
• Web Scraper - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/web-scraper/jnhgnonknehpejjnehehllkliplmbmhn
• Scraping API - https://www.abstractapi.com/web-scraping-api
• Browserbase - https://www.browserbase.com/

Development IDEs/Editors (including AI-based)

• Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VSCode) - https://code.visualstudio.com
• Microsoft Visual Studio (IDE) - https://www.visualstudio.com
• Sublime Text - https://www.sublimetext.com
• JetBrains IDEs (various): https://www.jetbrains.com/ides
• WebStorm - https://www.jetbrains.com/webstorm
• NetBeans - http://netbeans.org
• Eclipse - https://eclipse.org
• Cursor (AI based) - https://cursor.com
• Windsurf (AI based) - https://codeium.com/windsurf
• AI For Developers (Directory) - https://aifordevelopers.org

Online Development Platforms/IDEs (including AI-based)

• Firebase Studio (AI based) by Google - https://firebase.studio
• VSCode for Web - https://vscode.dev
• CodeAnywhere - https://codeanywhere.com
• Cloud9 - https://c9.io
• Koding - https://koding.com
• Humanitec - https://humanitec.com
• Bolt.new (AI baseed) - https://bolt.new
• Lovable (AI based) - https://lovable.dev
• Replit (AI based) - https://replit.com
• v0 by Vercel (AI based) - https://v0.dev

AI-based Code Agents

• GitHub Copilot - https://github.com/features/copilot
• Windsurf - https://windsurf.com/plugins
• Qodo - https://www.qodo.ai
• TabNine - https://www.tabnine.com
• Cline - https://cline.bot

Development Playgrounds

• JSFiddle - https://jsfiddle.net
• Plunker - https://plnkr.co/
• CodePen - http://codepen.io/
• JSBin - https://jsbin.com/

Local Development Environments

• Docker - https://www.docker.com
• Laragon - https://laragon.org
• XAMPP - https://www.apachefriends.org

Utilities:

• FileZilla - https://filezilla-project.org/
• FreeFileSync - https://freefilesync.org/
• CryptoMator - https://cryptomator.org/
• WinScp - https://winscp.net
• Putty - http://www.putty.org/

Testing and Code Insights

• Sauce Labs - https://saucelabs.com/
• Code Climate - https://codeclimate.com

Email Service for Developers

• Brevo (Ex Sendinblue) - https://www.brevo.com/
• MailGun - http://www.mailgun.com , http://www.mailgun.com/google
• SendGrid - https://sendgrid.com
• MailChimp - https://mailchimp.com
• Mandrill - http://www.mandrill.com/
• AWS SES - https://aws.amazon.com/ses/
• Sweego - https://www.sweego.io/
• Elastic Email - https://elasticemail.com/
• ForwardEmail - https://forwardemail.net/
• MX Toolbox - https://mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx
• DMarcian - https://dmarcian.com/dmarc-tools/
• Mail Trap (for testing only) - https://mailtrap.io/
• Email Validation API - https://www.abstractapi.com/email-verification-validation-api
• Resend - https://resend.com/

Notification (Push, SMS etc) Service for Developers

• OneSignal - https://onesignal.com
• Pusher - https://pusher.com
• Twilio - https://www.twilio.com

Changelog

• Headway - https://headwayapp.co/

Business, Marketing, Sales, Finance

Idea Validation

• AreYouInterested - https://areyouinterested.co/
• SurveyWave - http://surveywave.xyz/

Content Management Systems (CMS):

• WordPress - https://www.wordpress.org
• Drupal - https://www.drupal.com
• Joomla - https://www.joomla.org

Ecommerce CMS:

• WooCommerce for WordPress - https://www.woocommerce.com
• Magento - https://www.magento.com
• OpenCart - https://www.opencart.com
• Prestashop - https://www.prestashop.com
• Shopify (Paid) - https://www.shopify.com

Analytics:

• Google Analytics - https://analytics.google.com
• New Relic https://newrelic.com/
• Inspectlet http://www.inspectlet.com/plans
• Zoom Analytics http://zoomanalytics.co/
• LiveSession - https://livesession.io/
• Amplitude - https://amplitude.com/
• Microsoft Clarity - https://clarity.microsoft.com
• PostHog - https://posthog.com/

Accounting & Finance

• Wave Apps - https://www.waveapps.com
• Odoo Accounting - https://www.odoo.com/app/accounting

CRM:

• HubSpot CRM - https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm
• Capsule CRM - https://capsulecrm.com
• Insightly - https://www.insightly.com
• Bitrix24 (CRM version) - https://www.bitrix24.com/tools/crm/
• Google Contacts (can be used as lightweight CRM) - http://contacts.google.com
• Attio - https://attio.com/

Team Chat

• Slack - https://slack.com
• Microsoft Teams - https://teams.microsoft.com
• Mattermost - https://mattermost.com
• Rocket.Chat - https://rocket.chat
• Twist - https://twist.com
• Google Chat - https://chat.google.com

Customer Support/Live Chat:

• Zendesk Chat (formerly Zopim) - https://www.zopim.com/
• Olark - https://www.olark.com/
• Facebook Messenger - https://web.facebook.com/business/products/messenger-for-business
• WhatsApp for Business - https://business.whatsapp.com
• LiveChat - https://www.livechat.com
• Tawk.to - https://www.tawk.to

Social Media

• Facebook - http://facebook.com
• Twitter - http://twitter.com
• LinkedIn - http://linkedin.com
• Instagram - http://instagram.com
• Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/
• YouTube - http://youtube.com
• TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/

Sales & Marketing:

• HubSpot - https://www.hubspot.com/
  • Marketing: https://www.hubspot.com/products/marketing
  • Sales: https://www.hubspot.com/products/sales
• Website Grader by HubSpot http://grader.com
• Buffer App - https://buffer.com
• HootSuite - https://hootsuite.com
• TweetDeck - https://tweetdeck.twitter.com
• CrowdFire - https://www.crowdfireapp.com
• Ubersuggest - http://ubersuggest.org/
• Visual Website Optimizer - https://visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/
• Tweriod - http://www.tweriod.com/
• My Site Auditor - http://mysiteauditor.com
• Free traffic increase - http://www.10khits.com/
• WooBox - http://woobox.com/
• Add Shoppers - http://addshoppers.com
• BuzzSumo - http://buzzsumo.com/
• Static html app - https://statichtmlapp.com/
• Hashtagify - http://hashtagify.me/
• Ritetag - http://ritetag.com/
• Tagboard - https://tagboard.com/
• Trendsmap - http://trendsmap.com/
• Shortstack - http://www.shortstack.com
• Post Planner - http://www.postplanner.com/
• Carousel Hero - https://carouselhero.com/
• Cello - https://cello.so/
• Social Proof Examples - https://socialproofexamples.com/
• Website Headlines - https://websiteheadlines.com/
• Vidclue - https://vidclue.com/
• AnswerThePublic - https://answerthepublic.com/

Web Experimentation:

• VWO - https://vwo.com
• PostHog - https://posthog.com
• OptimalUX - https://optimalux.com
• Upflowy - https://www.upflowy.com

Blogging, Writing:

• Substack - https://substack.com
• Medium - https://medium.com
• Dev.to - https://dev.to

Productivity, Management, Organization

Note-taking & Reading:

• Microsoft OneNote - https://www.onenote.com (part of MS Office - https://www.office.com)
• Google Keep - https://keep.google.com
• Capacities - https://capacities.io
• Pocket - https://getpocket.com
• Obsidian - https://obsidian.md/

Documentation & Collaboration

• Notion - https://www.notion.com
• Atlassian Confluence - https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence
• Microsoft Loop - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-loop
• Microsoft Word - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/word (part of MS Office - https://www.office.com)
• Google Docs - https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/
• Microsoft Excel - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/excel (part of MS Office - https://www.office.com)
• Google Sheets - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/

Video & Screen Recording

• Atlassian Loom - https://www.loom.com
• LICEcap - https://www.cockos.com/licecap

Storage:

• Microsoft OneDrive - https://onedrive.com
• Google Drive - https://drive.google.com
• Amazon S3 - https://aws.amazon.com/pm/serv-s3
• DropBox https://www.dropbox.com
• Box - https://www.box.com
• Mega - https://mega.io
• Proton Drive - https://proton.me/drive
• Cloudflare R2 - https://www.cloudflare.com/developer-platform/products/r2/

Project/Task Management:

Good for personal tasks

• Todoist - https://todoist.com
• Microsoft Todo - https://todo.microsoft.com (Previously Wunderlist)
• Any.do - https://www.any.do
• Tick Tick - https://ticktick.com
• Meister Task - https://meistertask.com
• Google Tasks - Mobile app or as part of Google Calendar

Good for team projects

• Jira - https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira
• Asana - https://asana.com
• GitHub Issues - https://github.com/features/issues
• Trello - https://trello.com
• Airtable - https://airtable.com
• Teamwork - https://teamwork.com
• ClickUp - https://clickup.com
• Wrike - https://www.wrike.com
• ActiveCollab - https://activecollab.com
• Basecamp - https://basecamp.com
• Pivotal Tracker - https://www.pivotaltracker.com
• Shortcut - https://www.shortcut.com
• Paymo - https://www.paymoapp.com

Calendar

• Google Calendar - https://calendar.google.com
• Outlook Calendar - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/outlook/calendar-app
• Proton Calendar - https://proton.me/calendar
• Calendly - https://calendly.com

Attendance & Time Tracking:

• Toggl - https://toggl.com
• Clockify - https://clockify.me
• TimeCamp - https://www.timecamp.com
• Everhour - https://everhour.com
• My Hours - https://myhours.com
• Paymo - https://www.paymoapp.com
• Jibble - https://www.jibble.io
• Connecteam - https://connecteam.com/employee-time-clock-app/employee-time-tracking-app/

Productivity Techniques

• Pomodoro Technique - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
• GTD - https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/getting-things-done
• Eisenhower Matrix - https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/eisenhower-matrix

Graphics, Design, and Media

Video making:

• Biteable - https://biteable.com
• Powtoon - https://www.powtoon.com
• Animoto - http://animoto.com
• Openshot - https://www.openshot.org
• Video captions - https://subsvideo.com
• VEED - https://www.veed.io
• Tavus (AI based) - https://www.tavus.io

Stock Photos/Illustrations/Icons:

• Unsplash - https://unsplash.com
• Pexels - https://www.pexels.com
• Shopify Burst - https://burst.shopify.com
• Place Image (Stock photos generator) - http://placeimg.com
• Undraw - https://undraw.co/illustrations
• DrawKit - https://www.drawkit.io
• Excalidraw - https://excalidraw.com
• Icons8 - https://icons8.com
• Favicon Generator - https://favicon.io

Online Logo:

• Shopify Logo Maker - https://www.shopify.com/tools/logo-maker
• Logo Joy - https://logojoy.com
• Logaster - https://www.logaster.com/
• Cool Text - http://cooltext.com/
• Online Logo Maker 24 - http://onlinelogomaker24.com
• Free Logo Services - http://freelogoservices.com
• Graphic Springs - http://graphicsprings.com
• Design Mantic - http://designmantic.com
• Zillion Designs - http://zilliondesigns.com
• Logo Maker - http://logomaker.com

Designing & Editing:

• Gamma (AI based) - https://gamma.app
• Canva - https://www.canva.com
• Snappa - https://snappa.com
• Photoshop - http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html
• Photoshop Express - http://www.photoshop.com/tools
• Pixlr - https://pixlr.com/
• Fotor - http://www.fotor.com/
• Create GIF - http://gifbrewery.com/
• Stamp creator - http://www.speedystamps.co.uk/
• Method Draw (SVG Editor) - http://editor.method.ac
• AConvert (Image to SVG Converter) - https://www.aconvert.com/image/png-to-svg/
• Image Compression and Optimization API - https://www.abstractapi.com/image-processing-optimization-api
• Figma - https://www.figma.com/

Security and Privacy

Password Managers

• Proton Pass - https://proton.me/pass
• Avira PWM - https://passwords.avira.com
• Passbolt - https://www.passbolt.com
• BitWarden - https://bitwarden.com

Virtual Private Networks (VPN)

• Proton VPN - https://protonvpn.com