Most agency owners I talk to assume they need an "agency stack" - HubSpot for client CRM, Monday.com for projects, Databox for reporting, some bloated MarTech suite. What they actually need is a founder-grade stack with one feature: client-side visibility.
The difference between a $30k/mo agency and a $300k/mo agency isn't the tools. It's the team, the process, and the proposals. Every hour spent fighting project management software is an hour not spent delivering or selling.
This is the lean stack that consistently works for 2-15 person agencies - creative, digital marketing, and small dev shops. No "agency-specific" tools unless they genuinely pay for themselves.
The short version
- Project management: Linear (for dev shops) or ClickUp (for marketing/creative)
- Client portal / docs: Notion with shared pages per client
- CRM: Attio or HubSpot Free (don't pay for HubSpot Sales until you have 3+ reps)
- Communication: Slack internal + client Slack Connect channels
- Scheduling: Cal.com (killer pricing vs Calendly)
- Proposals: Notion + PandaDoc for signing
- Billing: Stripe Invoicing
- Design: Figma (duh)
- Client reporting: Plausible for web, PostHog for product clients
- Automation glue: Make (cheaper than Zapier at agency volume)
The picks
Linear - for dev shops and tech-adjacent agencies
If your agency ships code, Linear is non-negotiable. Fast, opinionated, keyboard-first. Each client gets a Team; cycles run alongside retainer sprints. The free plan covers small shops for a long time. See our Jira to Linear guide if you're coming from enterprise tools.
ClickUp - for marketing and creative agencies
Marketing agencies juggle campaigns, content calendars, creative reviews, media buys. ClickUp handles all of it in one workspace with native time tracking, Gantt views, and automations. The complexity that bogs down solo founders becomes an asset when you're running 20 client engagements.
Notion - client portals, proposals, SOPs
Every client gets a shared Notion page: scope, current sprint, deliverables, meeting notes, invoices. Clients get view or comment access. Internal team gets full access. Beats any "client portal" SaaS because your team already lives there. Pair with our audit framework for a quarterly doc clean-up.
Attio - the modern agency CRM
Attio's relationship-first data model fits how agencies actually sell: people and companies, with deals as secondary. Faster than HubSpot. Cheaper than Salesforce. Doesn't force you into marketing-automation bloat. If you're leaving HubSpot, see our HubSpot to Attio guide.
Cal.com - scheduling without the Calendly tax
Cal.com is free for unlimited event types on personal use, with team features at $12/user/mo. Open source, self-hostable if needed, and the team scheduling (round-robin for new leads) is better than Calendly's at half the price.
Stripe Invoicing - billing done right
Stripe Invoicing and payment processing have separate charges. The invoice percentage is not an all-in collection cost. Select your seller region and payment method, then use official Invoicing pricing and Payments pricing to calculate the total. Our Stripe profile records the pricing source date and regional caveats.
Figma - designs, presentations, and handoff
The default. No discussion. Figma for design, FigJam for whiteboards, Figma Slides for client decks. Client access via view-only share links. Most agencies run Figma Pro ($18/editor/mo); viewers are free.
Plausible - client reporting without the drama
Plausible's shared dashboards (public or password-protected links) replace the awkward "here's a PDF of screenshots" monthly report. Clients bookmark the dashboard. You look more professional. And GA4 stops haunting your calls.
Make - automation for client workflows
Onboarding, reporting pulls, data sync between your CRM and client tools - Make handles it at a fraction of Zapier's cost when you're at agency scale. See our Zapier to Make guide for the migration.
What to skip
HubSpot Sales Hub / Marketing Hub. If you have fewer than 3 full-time sales or marketing people, you're paying for seats you don't need. Use HubSpot Free or Attio instead.
Monday.com. Slow, expensive, and feature-bloated. Linear or ClickUp solve the same problems better.
Agency-specific "client portal" tools (Accelo, Teamwork, ClientManager). They look tidy but nobody logs in, your team doesn't want to learn another system, and compare Notion with the features your team actually uses before cancelling anything.
Databox, Whatagraph, AgencyAnalytics. Rollup dashboards for "client reporting." At small agency scale, Plausible + a weekly Loom walkthrough beats these every time.
Harvest or Toggl for time tracking. ClickUp and Linear have native time tracking. Adding a separate tool for timesheets is usually wasted spend.
What a lean agency stack looks like
For a 5-person agency, the above stack costs roughly:
- ClickUp or Linear: $35-50/mo (5 seats)
- Notion Plus: $60/mo
- Attio Plus: $170/mo
- Cal.com Team: $60/mo
- Figma Pro: $54/mo (3 editors + viewers free)
- Plausible: $9-29/mo per client or Business plan
- Make: $10-30/mo
- Stripe: transaction fees only
Total: roughly $400-500/month for a 5-person agency. Replaces a typical "agency stack" costing $1,500-3,000/mo. The savings fund a part-time contractor or two.
Want a stack audit for your agency?
Tell us your current setup - team size, client mix, pain points - and we'll prescribe a leaner stack that does the same job for half the cost.
Ask Stack Doctor →Further reading
- The Tool Stack Problem - the broader case for fewer, better tools.
- How to Audit Your SaaS Stack in 90 Minutes - quarterly framework to stay lean.
- Best tools for client work and proposals - companion piece for freelance/solo work.
- Switch Guides - step-by-step migrations when you're ready to cut over.