The internet is full of "my essential tools" lists from people who add a new tool every quarter, never delete one, and end up with a 47-tool "stack" that costs $400/month.
This isn't that list. These are the 12 tools I actually use after 18 months of running a one-person business. I've tried alternatives for each, and these are the ones that survived. Most of them are free or cheap.
The 12 tools
1. Notion (free → $10/mo)
The core OS. CRM, projects, content, finance, SOPs, weekly reviews — all here. If you build your own Solopreneur OS in it (or buy ours pre-built), it replaces 6-8 other tools.
2. Claude / ChatGPT ($20/mo each)
I use both. Claude for long-form writing and nuanced reasoning. ChatGPT for quick iteration and image generation. Most of my marketing, customer service drafts, and proposal work runs through one or the other. Pair them with a good prompt library and they're worth 10x the price.
3. Cal.com (free) or Calendly ($10/mo)
Booking calls without back-and-forth. Cal.com is open-source and free for solo use. Calendly is the standard and slightly more polished.
4. Loom (free → $15/mo)
Video messages instead of meetings. Use it for: client updates, walkthroughs of templates, async feedback. A 5-min Loom saves a 30-min Zoom 80% of the time.
5. Stripe / Shopify Payments (transaction fees)
Take payment. Stripe directly if you sell services. Shopify Payments if you have a store. Both are 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. Don't overthink it.
6. Klaviyo (free under 250 contacts → $20+/mo)
Email marketing for ecommerce. If you have a Shopify store, this is the answer. The free tier covers your first 90 days easy.
7. Beehiiv or Substack (free → $30/mo)
Newsletter platform. Beehiiv if you want to monetize seriously (sponsor pipeline, ads, paid tiers). Substack if you just want to write and let it grow.
8. Buffer (free → $15/mo)
Social media scheduling. Schedule a week of posts in 30 minutes. The free tier handles 3 channels which is enough for most solopreneurs.
9. Tailwind ($15/mo)
Pinterest scheduling. If Pinterest is a real traffic source for you (and it should be if you sell digital products), Tailwind is the answer. Schedule 30 days of pins in an hour.
10. 1Password ($3/mo) or Bitwarden (free)
Password manager. Non-negotiable. The first time you get a security scare you'll wish you'd been using one for years.
11. Wise (free) or Mercury (free)
Banking for a one-person business. Mercury for US-based businesses (free, no minimums, good UX). Wise for international transfers.
12. Plus your accounting tool ($15-30/mo)
FreshBooks (US/easy), Wave (free + accountant-friendly), QuickBooks (overkill for most). Pick one. The expense of getting taxes wrong is way higher than $30/mo.
What I'm not using (and why)
Slack
No team, no Slack. Email + Notion comments cover everything.
Trello / Asana / ClickUp
All replaced by Notion databases. The integration is the point.
HubSpot / Pipedrive / Salesforce
Overkill for under 50 active deals. Notion CRM does the same job in 1/10 the time.
Zapier / Make / n8n
Only useful when you have repeated workflows worth automating. For solopreneurs under year 2, manual is faster than the automation setup.
The "trendy new tool" of the month
I get pitched 5-10 new tools every month. I install one new tool per quarter, max. Most don't survive 30 days.
Total monthly cost
- Notion: $10
- Claude + ChatGPT: $40
- Cal.com: $0
- Loom: $0 (free tier)
- Stripe: variable
- Klaviyo: $0 (free tier under 250 contacts)
- Beehiiv: $0 (free until 2.5K subs)
- Buffer: $0 (free tier)
- Tailwind: $15
- 1Password: $3
- Mercury: $0
- Accounting: $15
Total: ~$83/month for a full one-person business stack.
If you're paying more than $150/mo for tools, you're probably overpaying. Tools should be a small percentage of revenue — at $5K/mo, $150 is 3%. At $1K/mo, $83 is 8% which is the ceiling.
The rule that saves money
Before adding a new tool: write down what specific problem it solves AND how you'll measure that it's solving it. If you can't write both in 60 seconds, you don't need it yet.
Most tool purchases are aspirational, not problem-solving. The right time to buy a CRM isn't "someday" — it's when you've forgotten a follow-up that cost you a deal.
What about systems that connect these?
The connecting tissue between tools is what most solopreneurs miss. Each tool does its job. The system tells you what to do, when, and what to look at.
If you want the pre-built system that uses most of these tools effectively, that's The Solopreneur OS ($67) or the full Operator Starter Pack bundle ($99).
Or just build it yourself from the 12 tools above. The stack is just the start.