- Startup tools compared at a glance
- Startup tools for product, sales, support and fundraising
- A startup tool stack, one job at a time
- Startup tools mistakes I see often
- Start with a one-page plan, then pick tools
- When to upgrade from a free plan
- Security basics for startup tools
- My advice on choosing startup tools
- Frequently asked questions
Early startups need tools for six jobs: tracking product work, selling, supporting customers, measuring usage, booking calls and pitching. Most of the tools below have free plans built for small teams, so you can set up a capable stack on day one and only start upgrading when a real bottleneck appears.
The first tools a startup picks tend to stick for years, because moving data and habits later is painful. That's why it's worth choosing deliberately, even when everything feels urgent.
I've focused on tools with free plans or trials that an early team can adopt without a procurement process. If you're planning the next stage, my guide to preparing a startup for growth pairs well with this list, as do my answers to common questions on AI for non-technical founders.
Startup tools compared at a glance
Each tool, the job it does and whether its own site shows a free plan, a trial or neither. The list is alphabetical and in no particular order.
| Tool | Type | Good for | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attio | CRM | A flexible early sales CRM | Yes |
| Cal.com | Scheduling | Demo and investor calls | Yes |
| Crisp | Customer support | Live chat from day one | Yes |
| Framer | Website builder | A launch site without developers | Yes |
| Linear | Issue tracking | Fast product teams | Yes |
| Notion | Wiki and docs | The company handbook | Yes |
| Pitch | Presentations | Pitch decks the team edits together | Yes |
| Plausible | Web analytics | Simple traffic stats | Trial only |
| PostHog | Product analytics | Learning how users behave | Yes |
| Slack | Team chat | Team and investor channels | Yes |
| Tally | Forms | Waitlists and user research | Yes |
Startup tools for product, sales, support and fundraising
Attio
Best for: Founders running their own sales who want a CRM they can reshape as their pipeline and customers change.
Cal.com
Best for: Teams booking demos, user interviews and investor calls who want shareable booking links for every person.
Crisp
Best for: Early-stage teams who want website chat, a shared inbox and a help centre before hiring a support person.
Framer
Best for: Founders who want a polished marketing site they can edit themselves while engineers stay on the product.
Linear
Best for: Product and engineering teams who want issues, cycles and roadmaps in a fast tool that doesn't need an admin.
Notion
Best for: Small teams who need one place for the handbook, meeting notes, hiring pages and investor updates in one workspace.
Pitch
Best for: Anyone who rewrites the deck before every meeting and wants the team editing slides together with version control.
Plausible
Best for: Privacy-minded startups who want clear website traffic numbers without cookie banners or the complexity of a full analytics suite.
PostHog
Best for: Technical founders who want product analytics, session replays and feature flags in one tool from the first user.
Slack
Best for: Growing teams who want channels for every project and shared channels with advisers, agencies and early customers.
Tally
Best for: Idea-stage founders who want waitlist, survey and feedback forms live in minutes without a developer.
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A startup tool stack, one job at a time
- Product: an issue tracker and a product analytics tool from the first user.
- Sales: a flexible CRM and a scheduling link for demos and interviews.
- Support: website chat and a shared inbox before you hire a support person.
- Team: a wiki for the handbook and a chat tool with channels for each project.
- Growth: a website builder, privacy-friendly traffic stats, forms for waitlists and a deck tool for fundraising.
Startup tools mistakes I see often
- Buying tools for the team you hope to have rather than the team you've got.
- Letting every founder pick a different tool for the same job.
- Skipping analytics until after launch, then guessing what users did.
- Forgetting who owns admin access when an early employee leaves.
Start with a one-page plan, then pick tools
The U.S. Small Business Administration says most business plans are either traditional or lean startup plans, and a lean startup plan summarises only the key points, can take as little as one hour and is typically one page. Write that page first. The tools you need will be obvious from it, and the ones you don't will be easier to ignore.
When to upgrade from a free plan
Upgrade when a free plan limit is slowing down work every week, not when a sales email tells you to. Common triggers are hitting a user or event cap, needing single sign-on for a customer's security review or wanting longer history in analytics.
Security basics for startup tools
Turn on two-step sign-in for every tool from day one and use a company email for every account, never a personal one. Keep a simple list of which tools you use, who has admin access and where the logins are stored. When someone leaves, you'll remove their access in minutes rather than discovering months later that they still own the analytics account.
It's also worth checking where each tool stores customer data. Enterprise customers and investors will ask in due diligence, and it's much easier to answer if you've kept a short note from the start.
Do you make a tool for startups? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
My advice on choosing startup tools
Pick one tool per job, agree it as a team and write it in the handbook. That single decision saves more time than any feature, because nobody wastes a morning hunting for where a conversation or document lives.
And don't let tools replace talking to customers. If you're sharing your journey on social, avoid the social media mistakes startups make while you're at it.
Frequently asked questions
What tools does an early-stage startup need?
Most need an issue tracker, a CRM, a scheduling app, website chat, a wiki, team chat, analytics, a website builder, forms and a deck tool. Free plans cover most of these at the start.
What are the best free tools for startups?
Issue trackers, CRMs, scheduling apps, wikis, deck tools, form builders and product analytics tools on this list all have free plans for small teams.
When should a startup upgrade from free plans?
When a free plan limit slows down work every week, or a customer needs a feature such as single sign-on. Upgrade the bottleneck, not everything at once.
Do startups need a business plan?
A short one helps. The U.S. Small Business Administration describes a lean startup plan that summarises the key points, often on a single page.
How many tools should a startup use?
As few as possible: one tool per job, agreed by the team. A small, shared stack is easier to secure and to hand over when people change roles.
