My Apps of Choice for Freelancing

All freelancers seem to have their own collection of apps and programs that they use on a daily basis to keep clients and projects on par. Here is a list of the more important apps (some are desktop only, some are mobile only, some are both) that allow me to keep my head on straight as a freelancer. I’m sure there are plenty better apps out there, so feel free to let me know if you know of a better and more efficient app I could use!! Enjoy.

Billings

Price: $39.99
Website: Billings
Description: I have been using Billings for a few years now and would not be able to function professionally without it. It allows you to have multiple clients, each with as many tasks as you need/want. It’s built-in time tracker is super useful and allows you to keep track of each tasks’ time (with a convenient menubar tool). It also has a great invoice system as well. Billings also has a mobile app as well, check it out!

From the Developer:

Billings simple workflow and intuitive interface makes time tracking and invoicing effortless. Generate invoices using one of 30 professionally designed templates to ensure you reflect your company’s image. Manage your client accounts and easily identify overdue clients – then send them a statement with a click of a button.

5pm

Price: Plans from $18/mon
Website: 5pm
Description: 5PM I have used for awhile now as one of the companies that I do consulting work for uses it. It’s similar to Billings as it’s a project/task manager (with time tracking, but not as good as Billings) but it is meant more for companies as it has great team collaboration features.

From the Developer:

5pm™ is an online project management software that makes team collaboration easy. Keep and share your projects, tasks, notes and files, track progress and time, send alerts, generate reports – all in one place.

Basecamp

Price: Plans from $49/mon
Website: BasecampHQ
Description: Basecamp is another project/task management system that I use in conjunction with a company I consult for. Again, it’s similar in theory to Billings, but is more a team collaboration tool as well. Basecamp is one of the most widely known project management apps, and has great support for it’s system.

From the Developer:

Project Management is all about communication. Projects go well when people talk to each other, discuss issues openly, and communicate clearly. Basecamp is focused on making this easy.

Buffer

Price: FREE
Website: BufferApp
Description: Buffer I found a few months ago when I was looking for a good (and free) tool to schedule out tweets throughout the day. I have been on Tumblr for awhile and love it’s ease of use and simplicity. What Tumblr has built-in is a queue/scheduler so you can spread out when you publish your posts. Buffer is the answer for Twitter that I had been looking for. It’s dead simple to use, plus it has a browser tool that makes it as simple as just clicking a button. The browser extension spawns a window (similar to the retweet button from Twitter) where you can specify what you want to say. The web app also has great analytics, and allows you to specify exactly when and how often you want to tweet.

From the Developer:

Buffer makes your life easier with a smarter way to schedule tweets. Work out all your tweets at one point in time during the day. Then fill up your Buffer with your tweets and Buffer schedules them for you. Simply keep that Buffer topped up and you will then be tweeting consistently all day round, all week long.

HiFutureSelf

Price: FREE
Website: dBelement
Description: This lovely free app (for all Apple mobile devices) is my ToDo app of choice. Sticky notes are normally my way of organizing my life and business, but for things that I need to remember when I am on the go, or at specific times; HiFutureSelf is my answer. It basically sends you a text of your message at the time that you specify, and that’s it. Nothing fancy or crazy, it just works and works well.

From the Developer:

HiFutureSelf brings the ease of text messaging to setting up alerts and reminders. Send reminders or fun messages to your future self.

Zen desk

Price: Plans from $9/mon
Website: Zen Desk
Description: Zen Desk is a great tool to collaborate with clients on project updates. It has a simple (both for the client and designer) interface that is easy to wrap your head around, plus you can brand it to match your website/app’s style.

From the Developer:

Web based help desk software with an elegant support ticket system and a self-service customer support platform.

Textedit/Notepad

Price: FREE (comes with Macs/PCs)
Description: I know it’s simple and boring, but I almost always have TextEdit open at all times (and if I don’t a simple Command + Spacebar + “text” opens it easily on my Mac). I use it whenever I need to copy/paste multiple things. Or if I have a list of changes to a site/design, it’s nice having it open on one side of my screen so I can see (and delete as I no longer need the line of code/copy) what I have yet to do. Simple as simple goes, but I find it quite useful.

Transmit

Price: $34
Website: Panic
Description: Transmit is my FTP service of choice. I am hoping to purchase Coda (to replace Dreamweaver, as it’s way too bloated) since it’s made by Panic as well as integrates perfectly together. Transmit has the typical “mac style” that I have grown to love.

From the Developer:

You need to transfer files. Maybe to an FTP or SFTP server, or the cloud via Amazon S3, or using WebDAV. You maintain a website, do backups, or upload photos.

Code Collector Pro

Price: $27 (20 euro)
Website: Code Collector Pro
Description: Code Collector I use to keep all of my code snippets in order (another reason I want Coda, it has it’s own snippet organizer). It has a simple interface, allows for multiple folders (I separate mine into PHP, CSS, WordPress, etc), and now even has color coded lines (like how most css editors have). It’s a great little organizer.

From the Developer:

Welcome to the snippet revolution. When you spend all day writing code, it is only natural to start having feelings of déjà vu. Didn’t you write that same few lines of code a few days ago, and again a few days before that? Why are you wasting time re-writing that code again and again? Code Collector Pro is the answer, giving you the ability to store snippets of code and retrieve them with a few keystrokes.

I would love to hear what other apps that you guys are currently using that help you get through your day, especially if you feel it is better than something that I currently use! I always appreciate finding better and more efficient ways of doing things. Thanks 🙂