50 Free Productivity Tools

Mindful Marketing

Jul 31

50 Favorite Productivity Tools | Pauline Wiles

• this article contains a small number of affiliate links •

The number of apps and services which claim to magically boost our work can be overwhelming. So I've gathered here more than 50 productivity tools that I particularly like for my writing life and online business. Almost all are free, or have a good free option for getting started.

It's important, of course, not to collect productivity tools for the sake of it. You need to be sure a project is worth doing and fits the bigger picture of how you want to spend your time, before getting seduced by a shiny tool. I was surprised that my list extended beyond 50 tools I claim to "use", and this exercise itself made me think hard about why I "need" so many for my work.

Nonetheless, I'm sharing them here in the hope you discover something that might help your daily life and productivity. As usual, a handful of these suggestions are affiliate links.

Key:

# These are the few productivity tools I pay for, as I believe they offer great value
* These tools have a limited free level, but you'll likely find you need to upgrade to use them satisfactorily.
For the other productivity tools listed, I believe you can get great functionality at the free level.

Update 2020: a small number of these tools contain affiliate links, meaning that if you purchase them, it doesn't cost you any more, but I make a small commission. I am genuinely happy to mention everything on this list.

Basic Productivity Tools

1) Google! No surprises here. Like many people, I use G-everything: from email, calendar, drive and maps, to domains and hangouts. Special mention to the snooze and send later features in Gmail.

2) My local library: I wanted to give my library prime position in this list. The learning and entertainment I get from borrowed books is colossal.

3) Bitwarden: For some reason, I didn’t quite click with better-known password manager LastPass. But I’m loving Bitwarden, and warmly recommend it.

4) Catalog Choice: Allows you to (mostly) opt out of pesky free catalogs sent to your home. Great for reducing clutter and helping the environment.

5) Dubsado: # I’m gradually getting to grips with Dubsado to manage client proposals, contracts, invoices, and more. So far, I’m loving the difference this is making in my business processes.

Design & Images

6) iStockphoto: # Typically where I start looking for book cover images.

7) Shutterstock: # Ditto.

8) SC Stockshop: * Beautifully styled stock images, but not cheap to purchase.

9) Gimp: The name is terrible, but this is an excellent open-source (= free) fully-featured graphic design package. Not for the faint-hearted though; do expect a learning curve.

10) Etsy: # I've found some lovely art for commercial use through Etsy at reasonable prices.

11) Unsplash: Excellent source for beautiful, free pictures. And I’m increasingly turning to Pixabay.

Keeping my thoughts in order

12) Trello: I'm a massive fan of Trello for its ability to drag-and-drop tasks, color code, make separate lists, and more. Even better when used with the List Layouts for Trello Chrome extension.

13) A single (paper) notebook: For paper planning and random notes, I scribble in just one place, then transfer to digital as soon as possible.

14) Agendio: # In the past, I've splurged on a custom-designed planner to optimise my daily schedule. It's pricey, but a lovely way to treat yourself. See my review here.

15) Evernote: I have mixed feelings about Evernote, and trying to format notes often drives me crackers. Nonetheless, I have loads of random snippets stored here.

16) Pinterest: Also important for sharing my work.

17) Goodreads: Unlike many writers, I only really use Goodreads to track my own reading piles. (I'd particularly caution other authors about paying to run giveaways on Goodreads.)

18) Castbox: My current favorite app for listening to podcasts.

19) FutureMe: Write a letter to your future self! Incredibly illuminating, when it arrives.

20) FollowUpThen: Somewhat eclipsed now by Gmail's snooze feature, but a good option to schedule email reminders.

21) Calendarpedia: Excellent source for printable calendars, to help you sketch out your month or year.

22) Calm: # Wonderful meditation app. Includes stories to help you sleep, and masterclasses too.

Communications and Community (real-life & online)

23) Meetup: Not free if you want to host gatherings, but many wonderful options to browse as an attendee.

24) Eventbrite: A rich spectrum of new ideas for events local to you.

25) Skype: Not my favorite collaboration tool, but my parents can manage it, which has made a huge difference in trans-Atlantic phone calls!

26) Zoom: I was using Zoom before the COVID-19 pandemic and clearly it’s gone from strength to strength since then. I pay a subscription so I can host multi-person meetings, but in most cases you’d be fine with the free plan.

27) Membervault: # I moved to Membervault when I wanted a professional place to host my template tutorial videos. My goodness, I absolutely love MV. The folks there are responsive, friendly, and extremely savvy about engaging your audience. This is my favorite of my paid tools.

Website

28) MailMunch: This free tool made a big difference to me during my Mailchimp days, when I was running two separate lists (for fiction and websites) and wanted to tag people as they signed up. MailMunch handles this well. They even have tech support for folks on the free level. I’ve moved my email list now to…

29) ConvertKit: # What a pleasure to use, after Mailchimp. In fairness, Mailchimp seems to constantly release new features, but after many years on their free plan, I found it increasingly complicated to work with. And I hated their clunky sign up forms. ConvertKit, by comparison, is simple, well-designed, and perfect for my online business and email list.

30) Answer the public: Good for keyword research, although the interface is rather quirky.

Now that I’ve moved this website to Squarespace, I’m interested to note that I no longer need 31 - 36:

31) Elementor: When my website was on WordPress, I made heavy use of this plug-in, which allows really attractive WordPress page designs. I’ve moved this website now to Squarespace so no longer need this extra piece.

32) miniOrange: 2 factor security for WordPress. It's no fun having your site hacked!

33) Hello Bar: Displays an attractive call-to-action at the top of the page.

34) Wordfence: Great free option to notify me of major security issues in WordPress.

35) WordPress: Until a few years ago, I would have recommended WordPress without hesitation. Now, I feel it’s rarely your best choice. More on that here.

36) Digital Ocean hosting: # I have extensive tech support from my genius husband, so I wouldn't recommend this deploy-your-own-machine choice for most people. I'm including it here for completeness.

Video

I've only dabbled in video so far, but like these:

37) HippoVideo: * I've had success recording my screen and web cam at the same time with this tool. Note the free level is pretty limited.

38) SoapBox by Wistia: * A nice tool to help you record both yourself and your screen, but again, the free level is a bit of a tease. Like many others, I’m tending to use Loom much more, and will probably upgrade to a paid Loom plan soon.
>> 2021 update: I’m now paying for Loom, and have completely abandoned those other video tools.

39) Kdenlive: Another of my beloved open source programs, this one to edit videos. Do expect a learning curve initially.

40) Renderforest: * Make short animations and logos online. Again, the free level probably won't keep you happy for long.

Sharing my work

41) Tailwind: # Scheduling tool for Pinterest and Instagram.

42) Hootsuite: Scheduling and curation tool for Twitter.

43) Recurpost: Recycle evergreen social media posts. Typically, I only used the Twitter part, and I’m currently resting from using Twitter.

44) Later: I’m using this now for my low-level activity on Instagram.

45) Stop forum spam: Wonderful site which, in my Mailchimp era, helped me weed out fake signups from my email list. Good if you run a forum, too.

46) Buffer: The main tool I used to share something later on Twitter. They offer all the main social networks also.

Book production & promotion:

47) Calibre: To create epub files from my word processor.

48) Sigil: To edit and tidy those epub files. Only for those who want to get into the weeds of ebook editing!

49) Booksprout: To seek more book reviews.

50) Prolific works: Ebook giveaways.

51) LibraryThing: Another platform I use to offer review copies.

I've tried many other promotional book sites for paid advertising but with mixed results. Not only that, but things change: until this year I would have raved about BookBub, now, having recently had my fingers burned with a loss-making promotion, I'm more hesitant to recommend.

There are, of course, oodles more sites aimed at authors and their needs. I don't have enough experience with them to offer an opinion here.

Selling my work

52) Gumroad: If you're just getting started with digital products, Gumroad offers a commission-only plan which is attractive. There are lots of thoughtful features too. These days, I’m offering everything through MemberVault, instead, which works far better for my overall needs.

53) Square: Before switching to Dubsado, I used Square to take payments, and to offer online appointment scheduling. It’s a clunky solution but not terrible for free.

54) Kindle Direct Publishing: Need I say more?