This article’s original before-and-after amounts are retained as an illustrative consolidation exercise. No published client evidence establishes the reported outcome or a representative saving.
Possible overlap includes idle subscriptions, duplicate records and paid features no longer required. Confirm it from your own records rather than inferring a representative founder pattern.
Here's how to run your own audit and cut the waste.
Why your stack is bloated
There is no published sample here establishing an average tool count or how many subscriptions a founder needs. Map the roles in your own stack before removing a tool.
It happens for predictable reasons:
- Tools adopted at different stages. You signed up for Trello when it was just you. Then the team grew and you added Linear. Now you're paying for both, and half the tasks are in each.
- Feature creep from multiple tools. Your project management tool now has docs. Your docs tool now has project management. But you're still paying for both separately.
- For a website builder, compare editing and publishing requirements with a hosted static site. Include eligible commercial hosting, required integrations and ongoing maintenance; Vercel Hobby terms do not permit commercial use on Hobby.
- Original illustration; verify before use: Forgotten subscriptions. That A/B testing tool you tried for two weeks? Still billing you $29/month.
Not sure what you're spending? Use our calculator to add up your current stack cost in 2 minutes.
The consolidation framework
The following framework helps organise a review. Completion time and savings depend on the actual accounts, required workflows and migration work.
Step 1: Audit everything
Pull up your bank statement or subscription management tool. List every SaaS tool you're paying for, along with:
- Monthly cost
- What you use it for (be specific -- not "project management" but "tracking 3 active projects and 2 client boards")
- Last time you actually logged in
- How many team members use it
Look for subscriptions that your own usage records show are idle or overlapping.
Step 2: Identify overlap
Group your tools by function. You'll typically see overlap in these categories:
- Writing and docs: Google Docs + Notion + Confluence
- Project management: Trello + Linear + Asana
- Communication: Slack + Discord + Microsoft Teams
- Analytics: Google Analytics + Mixpanel + PostHog
- Email: Mailchimp + ConvertKit + Beehiiv
Two tools in the same category may serve separate users, features or recovery requirements. Confirm redundant work before consolidating.
Step 3: Find multi-purpose replacements
Check whether one tool can meet multiple required roles without losing features, access controls or a recovery path. A wider product description does not establish a drop-in replacement.
- For a Notion consolidation trial, check tasks, owners, document access, search and exports using representative data. The 9 October USD observation is Plus $10 or Business $20 per member/month billed yearly; required features determine the selected plan.
- For a Supabase trial, check the data model, account isolation, auth recovery, backups and operating requirements. Bundled database and auth features do not prove equivalent coverage of Firebase, Auth0 and every standalone database.
- For analytics consolidation, reproduce the actual events, reports, consent and access rules in the retained system. Product categories and overlapping features do not establish a complete replacement.
- For transactional email, trial templates, domain authentication, delivery errors and sender access. Resend Free allows 3,000 emails/month with a 100/day limit; template workflow and migration need a separate check.
Step 4: Migrate strategically
Don't rip everything out at once. Migrate one tool at a time, starting with the easiest wins -- the tools with the least data to move and the smallest teams using them. Give each migration a week to settle before starting the next.
Before and after: an illustrative scenario
The following is an original illustrative cost scenario, not a verified client outcome. Its legacy plan amounts are not current quotes.
Original price illustration: these legacy figures are not current vendor quotes or a verified running cost. See the scoped source observations below.
| Function | Before | After | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Docs & PM | Notion + Trello ($18/mo) | Notion ($8/mo) | $10/mo |
| Database & Auth | Firebase + Auth0 ($74/mo) | Supabase ($25/mo) | $49/mo |
| Analytics | Mixpanel + Hotjar ($65/mo) | PostHog (free) | $65/mo |
| Email marketing | Mailchimp ($30/mo) | Beehiiv (free) | $30/mo |
| Transactional email | SendGrid ($20/mo) | Resend (free) | $20/mo |
| Landing pages | Carrd ($19/mo) | Vercel (free) | $19/mo |
| Hosting | Heroku ($21/mo) | Vercel (free) | $21/mo |
| Total | $247/mo | $33/mo | $214/mo saved |
Annualise only the savings supported by your actual cancelled bills and replacement costs. Include migration and operating work.
The tools that consolidate best
Payment providers can have different roles, fees and eligibility. Compare an appropriate processor or merchant of record. The tool roles below are candidates for consolidation trials, not observed replacement frequencies.
- Notion -- docs, project management, wikis, light CRM, databases
- Supabase -- database, auth, storage, real-time, edge functions
- Vercel -- hosting, serverless functions, edge middleware, analytics
- PostHog -- product analytics, session replay, feature flags, experiments
- Beehiiv -- newsletter, subscriber management, referrals, monetisation
These five candidates cover several possible roles, but no measured reduction in subscription count is established. Validate the actual features, plan and operating duties before replacing a tool.
When not to consolidate
Consolidation isn't always the right call. Keep your specialist tools if:
- You've outgrown the generalist. If you're doing complex project management with 20 people, Linear or Jira is worth keeping over Notion boards.
- Original illustration; verify before use: The migration cost exceeds the savings. If moving your database would take 2 weeks of engineering time and only saves $15/month, it's not worth it yet.
- Compliance requires it. Some industries need specific tools for audit trails, data residency, or certifications. Don't consolidate away compliance.
Get help with your consolidation
If you'd rather not do this yourself, there are a few ways I can help:
- Calculate your current spend -- quick, free, and often eye-opening.
- Get a spend rescue -- I audit your stack and deliver a consolidation plan with exact tools, migration steps, and projected savings.
- Want me to do it for you? -- Full-service stack consolidation. I handle the audit, the tool selection, the migration, and the setup.
Either way, stop paying for tools you don't need. That money is better spent on your product, your marketing, or frankly, on yourself. You've earned it.