Freelancing today looks very different from just a few years ago. It's no longer simply about delivering great work—it's about managing multiple clients, communicating across scattered platforms, tracking your time, staying highly organized, and preserving your mental clarity amidst the flood of tools and tabs.
Over the years, I've experimented with dozens of tools while freelancing full-time. Some were helpful for a while; most fell away. But a select few have consistently made my workflow smoother, my focus sharper, and my client work far more manageable. Here's a breakdown of the tools I personally use and recommend for freelancers, based on my real experience juggling projects and clients every single day:
Notion
Notion has become my command center. Every project, client, and idea lives here. What started as a simple task list quickly evolved into a full-blown operating system for my freelance business. I use it to build client dashboards, track invoices, plan content calendars, and even store personal goals and reading lists.
Whenever I land a new client, I spin up a new page with project timelines, notes, contracts, and meeting agendas all in one place. Clients love the transparency, and I love having everything organized and easy to access.
Alternatives: ClickUp, Coda, Evernote
Slack
While email is great for formal updates, Slack has become my go-to for daily client communication. I set up separate Slack channels or workspaces for each client so we can chat, share files, and collaborate in real-time. It helps avoid email overload and keeps conversations focused and searchable.
The integrations with Google Drive and Notion are also a huge bonus — I get instant updates when documents are shared or project boards are updated.
Alternatives: Microsoft Teams, Discord, Mattermost
Google Calendar
Scheduling used to be a huge time sink, with endless email threads trying to find mutually available slots. Google Calendar’s appointment scheduling feature completely fixed that. I send clients my booking link, and they choose a time that fits. It automatically accounts for time zones and syncs across all my calendars.
Alternatives: Calendly, SavvyCal, Microsoft Outlook Calendar
Google Meet
Most of my client meetings happen over Google Meet. It integrates seamlessly with Google Calendar, so setting up calls is effortless. The video quality, screen sharing, and recording features work reliably, and clients never struggle to join a call.
Alternatives: Zoom, Microsoft Teams
Google Drive
I store everything in Google Drive: proposals, contracts, deliverables, and shared docs with clients. Real-time collaboration in Docs and Sheets has made feedback loops so much smoother. Clients can jump into a shared doc, leave comments, and make edits without endless back-and-forth emails.
Alternatives: Dropbox, OneDrive, Box
Figma
For design work — whether it's presentation slides, social media graphics, or full product mockups — Figma has become my favorite tool. I used to rely on Canva for simpler designs, but Figma’s real-time collaboration and advanced design features give me way more flexibility. FigJam is fantastic for brainstorming sessions too.
WebCatalog Desktop
Browser overload used to be one of my biggest headaches as a freelancer. On any given day, my screen would be cluttered with Gmail, Notion, Slack, Google Docs, and client accounts all open in different tabs. I was constantly switching contexts, losing track of which Gmail account I was in, or worse, sending a message to the wrong client.
WebCatalog Desktop completely changed the game for me. It lets me turn any web app into its own dedicated desktop app. Now, every client and every project has its own isolated workspace. One window for Client A's Slack and Gmail, another window for Client B, and so on. No more accidental mix-ups, no more exhausting tab management.
Toggl Track
I don’t always bill hourly, but tracking my time helps me understand where my hours are going. Toggl Track makes it dead simple. I start a timer when I begin work for a client, and stop it when I’m done. The reports help me see which projects eat up most of my time and help me estimate future work better.
Even when I’m not billing, seeing how my time is distributed keeps me accountable and focused.
Alternatives: Harvest, Clockify, Timely
Zapier
Zapier is like having a silent assistant automating all the boring stuff. Every time I get a Gmail attachment, Zapier saves it to Google Drive automatically. When a client fills out my intake form, Zapier creates a new page in Notion. When I update tasks in Notion, Zapier posts updates to Slack.
It saves me hours every week by removing the small, repetitive tasks that used to eat up my mornings.
Alternatives: Make (Integromat), IFTTT, n8n
Wave
Invoicing used to be stressful and time-consuming. Wave made it painless. I create polished invoices, track payments, categorize expenses, and generate simple reports — all for free. It gives me full visibility into my business finances without needing complicated accounting software.
Alternatives: FreshBooks, QuickBooks Self-Employed, Bonsai
Building a Freelance System That Works
Freelancing isn’t just about doing the work. It’s about managing your business efficiently, staying focused, and creating systems that reduce your mental load. The tools above have allowed me to streamline my entire workflow — from onboarding new clients to invoicing and everything in between.
You don’t need to adopt all of them at once. Start with one or two that solve your biggest pain points, and build your system as you grow. The right toolkit will evolve with you and make freelancing feel sustainable (and even enjoyable) long-term.