35+ of the Best Free Apps for Small Business Owners

Must-Have Apps for Small Business Owners

Whether you’re looking to become an industry leader, capture a new target audience, or manage an unlimited number of tasks daily to drive sustainable growth, there’s an app for that!

Here's a list of some of the best free apps for small business owners, categorized by their functionality:

Accounting and Finance

One of the primary requirements for running a successful business is proper accounting and finance management. Thankfully, there are lots of free small business apps for

1. Wave: Offers free accounting, free invoicing, and receipt scanning features. It's ideal for small businesses and freelancers looking for an easy way to manage their finances.

   • Price: Free (with paid add-ons for payroll and payments)

2. Zoho Invoice and Zoho Books: One is a great mobile invoicing app, while the other is geared more towards bookkeeping and accounting. Zoho Books provides basic accounting features for free for small businesses with minimal financial requirements.

   • Price: Free for businesses with revenue under a certain threshold; paid plans start at $15/month

3. Axos Bank Mobile App: the multi-tool of banking apps for budgeting and money management across your business bank accounts. This app can help track income, manage cash flow, transfer and deposit money, and monitor credit scores.

4. ZipBooks: A simple, intuitive accounting software that offers professional invoicing software, expense tracking, and basic bookkeeping features.

   • Price: Free version available, with paid plans starting at $15/month

5. GnuCash: An open-source accounting software that provides financial tracking, income and expense tracking, expense reporting, budgeting, and credit card payment tracking.

   • Price: Free

Communication and Collaboration

In the app world, communication and project management apps stand out as some of the most advanced and built-out tools available. Many of these apps are leveraged by large corporations and small businesses alike. The capabilities are scalable and helpful for growing your business regardless of size.

1. Slack: A team collaboration tool that allows for organized communication through channels, direct messaging, and file sharing.

   • Price: Free with limited features, paid plans start at $7.25/user/month

2. Microsoft Teams: Offers chat, video conferencing, and collaboration features with integration to Office 365 apps.

   • Price: Free with limited features, paid plans through Microsoft 365 start at $4/user/month

3. Zoom: A popular video conferencing app that offers free online meetings and webinars.

   • Price: Free with paid plans for additional features starting at $14.99/month/host

4. Asana: A popular management app that helps teams organize and prioritize tasks while managing projects in one shared space. Plus, there’s mobile access and syncing across all your devices.

   • Price: Free with basic features, paid plans start at $13.49/user/month

Marketing and Social Media Management

So many different small business apps are geared towards digital marketing and upping your social media game. Many of these apps have user-friendly interfaces and features for scheduling social posts in advance and planning to get ahead.

If you have a mailing list and want to start email marketing, there are ways to set up newsletter subscriptions, send out important announcements, and other email campaigns. Plus, you can track message histories and engagement rates through built-in analytics tools. These can be valuable resources for small businesses growing their customer base.

1. Buffer: You can schedule and manage posts across various social media platforms.

   • Price: Free with paid plans for additional features starting at $14.99/month/host

2. Hootsuite: Another powerful tool for social media scheduling and monitoring multiple accounts in one place.

   • Price: Free for up to 2 social accounts; paid plans start at $99/month

3. Canva: A graphic design tool that helps create visually appealing marketing materials and social media posts.

   • Price: Free with optional premium features starting at $12.99/month

4. Later: A social media scheduling tool focused on visual planning, perfect for platforms like Instagram and Pinterest.

   • Price: Free with limited posts, paid plans start at $18/month

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Managing client relationships and offering excellent customer support is a key retention strategy for your business. Depending on your customer relationship management (CRM) tool, you can manage customer information and track customer interactions. Most CRMs also have workflow builder tools to help your team improve how and when they reach customers based on real-time data.

1. HubSpot CRM: A comprehensive CRM platform that offers contact management, deal tracking, and task automation.

   • Price: Free with paid add-ons available for advanced features

2. Zoho CRM: Provides a free version with essential CRM features for small businesses.

   • Price: Free for up to 3 users; paid plans start at $20/user/month

3. Bitrix24: Offers a free CRM platform with task management, communication, and collaboration features.

   • Price: Free with limited features, paid plans start at $49/month

4. Agile CRM: Provides sales tracking, marketing automation, and customer service tools with a free plan for small teams.

   • Price: Free for up to 10 users, paid plans start at $8.99/user/month

Document Management and Storage

Sometimes, the simplest tasks (like saving and storing documents) can be the hardest to keep organized, especially as your small business grows. Thankfully, many free software and business-specific versions of popular tools help with file storage and offer advanced features for tagging, data entry, and file sharing.

1. Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Drive): Provides cloud storage and collaborative document editing.

   • Price: Free for personal use; business plans start at $6/user/month

2. Dropbox: Offers cloud storage and file sharing with basic free storage limits.

   • Price: Free with limited storage, paid plans start at $9.99/month

3. Evernote: A note-taking app that organizes ideas, to-do lists, and documents in one place.

   • Price: Free with basic features, paid plans start at $7.99/month

4. OneDrive: A cloud storage service by Microsoft that offers free storage and seamless integration with Microsoft Office apps.

E-commerce and Online Store

Depending on your small business model and whether or not you offer online purchases, many small business eCommerce apps are available. Free mobile apps allow you to collect online payments and manage monthly subscriptions or memberships.

Some apps can help you with social selling and other business performance applications that enable you to receive Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other mobile device payment options.

1. Square: Offers free tools for point of sale, payment processing, and basic e-commerce.

   • Price: Free with processing fees (2.6% + 10¢ per swipe)

2. WooCommerce: A free WordPress plugin that allows you to set up an online store with customizable options.

   • Price: Free (plugin costs may vary based on website requirements)

3. Shopify Lite: Allows you to sell products on an existing website or social media page with a simple buy button.

   • Price: $9/month

4. Big Cartel: Offers a free plan to help artists and creators set up an online store to sell their work.

   • Price: Free for up to 5 products; paid plans start at $9.99/month

Human Resources and Payroll

There are many free human resources (HR) apps for small businesses that can help you manage your team and employees, such as time-off requests, payroll processing, and tracking steps during the hiring process.

1. Gusto (Free Plan): Offers small teams basic payroll and HR features.

   • Price: The base plan starts at $40/month plus $6/month per person. Gusto Wallet, a separate app, offers free services for employees to manage their pay.

2. Homebase: Provides free scheduling, time tracking, and team communication tools.

   • Price: Free for basic features; premium plans start at $24.95/month per location.

3. Wave Accounting: Offers basic payroll processing features for small businesses, with a focus on simplicity.

   • Price: The basic plan is free, but additional services like tax service and payroll are available for a $40/month base fee, plus $6 per active employee.

4. BambooHR (Free Plan): Provides basic HR features such as employee record keeping and time-off management.

   • Price: Pricing is customized based on the size and needs of the business. They offer a free trial for new users.

Time Management and Scheduling

One of the primary indicators of productivity and profitability is how well you manage your time. The financial health of any small business depends on keeping overhead costs low and revenue high. Building a strong financial foundation starts with efficiency and something as simple as time tracking.

Some of these time management apps for small businesses are perfect for simple calendar management, while others are more robust tools for tracking team productivity.

1. Toggl Track: A simple time-tracking app that helps manage billable hours and productivity.

   • Price: Free with basic features, paid plans start at $9/user/month

2. Google Calendar: Free calendar app for scheduling meetings, events, and reminders.

   • Price: Free

3. RescueTime: A time and project management tool that tracks app and website usage to help you understand and improve productivity.

   • Price: Free with limited features, paid plans start at $12/month

4. Calendly: An easy-to-use scheduling tool that integrates with your calendar to help book appointments without back-and-forth emails.

   • Price: Free with basic features, paid plans start at $8/user/month

Website and Content Management

Even if your website is a simple brochure-style with static pages for information only, you still need to ensure the browsing experience is positive.

Many great free apps for small businesses help you gauge customer engagement on your website and develop better content marketing strategies for your small business.

1. WordPress: A popular content management system for creating and managing websites.

   • Price: Free with optional paid plans for additional features and hosting, starting at $4/month.

2. Wix: Offers a free plan for building basic websites with drag-and-drop functionality.

   • Price: Free with Wix branding and ads; premium plans start at $16/month to remove ads and add a custom domain.

3. Weebly: A drag-and-drop website builder that offers a free plan with customizable templates for creating websites.

   • Price: Free with Weebly branding; premium plans start at $10/month for additional features and a custom domain.

4. Jimdo: Provides a free website builder with AI-based tools to help small businesses create and manage their online presence.

   • Price: Free with Jimdo branding, but paid plans start at $9/month for more features and a custom domain.

Gathering the right tools for your small business doesn't have to be expensive. This comprehensive suite of free apps for small businesses by category can enable more strategic decision-making for certain areas of your business.

For more tips and small business resources, check out the Axos business banking blog.

Disclaimer: Prices listed in this article are accurate as of August 20, 2024, and are subject to change. Please visit the respective app websites for the most up-to-date pricing and feature details.