Take Your Business Online

More flexible drag-and-drop

Total design freedom with pixel-level control. 800+ templates. Free plan available, paid from $16/mo. Best if you want maximum creative flexibility without code.

Full customisation

Unlimited flexibility with thousands of themes and plugins. Requires hosting ($5-10/mo). Best if you want full control and plan to grow into a content-heavy site.

Freemium - Help desk that scales from solo founder to 100-person team. Ticketing, knowledge...

Help desk that scales from solo founder to 100-person team. Ticketing, knowledge base, AI chatbot. Zendesk but friendlier. Try Freshdesk →

Paid - Shared inbox for teams. Email, SMS, social - all in one place. Like if Gmail and...

Shared inbox for teams. Email, SMS, social - all in one place. Like if Gmail and Zendesk had a baby. Pricey but powerful. Try Front →

Freemium - Live chat + AI chatbot for small businesses. Easy setup, decent AI responses, fr...

Live chat + AI chatbot for small businesses. Easy setup, decent AI responses, free tier. Tawk.to with better AI. Try Tidio →

Freemium - Customer support built for technical teams. API-first, thread-based, Slack-like ...

Customer support built for technical teams. API-first, thread-based, Slack-like UX. For when Zendesk feels too corporate. Try Plain →

Freemium - In-app bug reporting and feedback. Users screenshot issues, you get full context...

In-app bug reporting and feedback. Users screenshot issues, you get full context. Support meets product feedback. Try Gleap →

Freemium — Spreadsheet meets database. Powerful enough for real apps, simple enough for non...

Spreadsheet meets database. Powerful enough for real apps, simple enough for non-devs. The gateway drug to no-code. Try Airtable →

Freemium — Google's no-code app builder. Turns spreadsheets into mobile apps. Free for pers...

Google's no-code app builder. Turns spreadsheets into mobile apps. Free for personal use, enterprise-ready for business. Try AppSheet →

Freemium — Drag-and-drop mobile app builder. Native iOS and Android apps without code. Good...

Drag-and-drop mobile app builder. Native iOS and Android apps without code. Good for MVPs, less so for scale. Try Adalo →

Freemium — Visual backend builder. Connect APIs, build workflows, deploy serverless functio...

Visual backend builder. Connect APIs, build workflows, deploy serverless functions — all without writing code. Zapier meets Firebase. Try Buildship →

Free — Open-source headless CMS and data platform. Wraps any SQL database in an instant...

Open-source headless CMS and data platform. Wraps any SQL database in an instant API and admin panel. Backend in a box. Try Directus →

Review platform

Claim your Yelp listing, respond to reviews, and add photos. Free to claim. Important for restaurants, services, and retail. Strong in US local search.

Local SEO tracking

Track local rankings, audit citations, and monitor reviews across platforms. $39/mo. Best for businesses serious about dominating local search results.

Freemium — Website crawler that finds every SEO issue. Broken links, duplicate content, mis...

Website crawler that finds every SEO issue. Broken links, duplicate content, missing tags. Ugly UI, incredible tool. The industry standard. Try Screaming Frog →

Paid — SEO toolkit for beginners. Keyword research, SERP analysis, rank tracking. Less ...

SEO toolkit for beginners. Keyword research, SERP analysis, rank tracking. Less overwhelming than Ahrefs, perfect for starters. Try Mangools →

Paid — All-in-one SEO platform. Rank tracking, site audit, competitor analysis. Cheaper...

All-in-one SEO platform. Rank tracking, site audit, competitor analysis. Cheaper than Semrush with 80% of the features. Try SE Ranking →

Freemium — Maps People Also Ask questions from Google. Visualises question chains for conte...

Maps People Also Ask questions from Google. Visualises question chains for content planning. Simple idea, powerful for SEO. Try AlsoAsked →

Paid — See every keyword your competitors buy on Google Ads and rank for organically. C...

See every keyword your competitors buy on Google Ads and rank for organically. Competitive intelligence for SEO and PPC. Try SpyFu →

Developer-friendly online

The most powerful online payment processing. Excellent API, subscription billing, and invoicing. 2.9% + 30 cents. Best for online-only businesses with custom needs.

Cheapest card reader

One-time card reader purchase, low transaction fees (1.69% in UK/EU). No monthly cost. Best for market stalls, pop-ups, and businesses with low transaction volumes.

Free - Africa's Stripe. Clean API, solid dashboard, handles local payment methods. Buil...

Africa's Stripe. Clean API, solid dashboard, handles local payment methods. Building for African markets? Non-negotiable. Try Paystack →

Free - Pan-African payments gateway. Supports 150+ currencies. Less polished than Payst...

Pan-African payments gateway. Supports 150+ currencies. Less polished than Paystack but broader reach across the continent. Try Flutterwave →

Free - India's payment infrastructure. UPI, cards, wallets, subscriptions. If you're bu...

India's payment infrastructure. UPI, cards, wallets, subscriptions. If you're building for the Indian market, it's this or bust. Try Razorpay →

Free - Monetisation for open-source and digital creators. Subscriptions, sponsorships, ...

Monetisation for open-source and digital creators. Subscriptions, sponsorships, digital products. GitHub Sponsors alternative. Try Polar →

More customisation

Owned by Squarespace. Intake forms, packages, memberships, and gift certificates. $16/mo. Best for service businesses that need client intake and payment at booking.

Free for small teams

Free for up to 4 staff members with unlimited appointments. Integrations with Zoom, Square, and Stripe. Best for small teams on a tight budget.

Freemium — You know what this is. Everyone has it, it always works, and the free tier is en...

You know what this is. Everyone has it, it always works, and the free tier is enough for most meetings. The default. Try Zoom →

Freemium — AI meeting notes that actually capture what was said. Real-time transcription, s...

AI meeting notes that actually capture what was said. Real-time transcription, summaries, action items. Never take notes again. Try Otter.ai →

Freemium — AI meeting assistant. Records, transcribes, summarises, and integrates with your...

AI meeting assistant. Records, transcribes, summarises, and integrates with your CRM. Like Otter but more enterprise-focused. Try Fireflies.ai →

Freemium — Event hosting platform. Beautiful event pages, RSVPs, reminders, and calendar sy...

Event hosting platform. Beautiful event pages, RSVPs, reminders, and calendar sync. Eventbrite for the modern internet. Try Luma →

Paid — Async-first team communication. Posts, threads, calls — but designed for deep wo...

Async-first team communication. Posts, threads, calls — but designed for deep work, not constant interruption. Slack antidote. Try Campsite →

Paid — The CRM. Enterprise beast that does everything. Also costs everything. You'll ne...

The CRM. Enterprise beast that does everything. Also costs everything. You'll need it eventually if you go enterprise. Try Salesforce →

Freemium — CRM inside Gmail. Pipeline management without leaving your inbox. Simple, effect...

CRM inside Gmail. Pipeline management without leaving your inbox. Simple, effective, and free for solo users. Try Streak →

Paid — CRM built for Google Workspace. If your team lives in Gmail and Google Calendar,...

CRM built for Google Workspace. If your team lives in Gmail and Google Calendar, Copper fits like a glove. Try Copper →

Free — Open-source CRM. Self-hostable Salesforce alternative with a modern UI. Early bu...

Open-source CRM. Self-hostable Salesforce alternative with a modern UI. Early but promising. For teams that want to own their data. Try Twenty →

Paid — Cold email at scale. Unlimited email accounts, warmup, and sending. The growth h...

Cold email at scale. Unlimited email accounts, warmup, and sending. The growth hacker's outbound machine. Aggressive but effective. Try Instantly →

Best for local businesses

Event management, social posting, and email in one platform. Better phone support than Mailchimp. $12/mo. Best for non-technical business owners who want hands-on support.

Cheapest scaling

Unlimited contacts on all plans, pay by email volume instead. SMS marketing included. Free tier with 300 emails/day. Best for growing contact lists on a budget.

Paid - Transactional email that actually reaches the inbox. 99%+ deliverability. No mar...

Transactional email that actually reaches the inbox. 99%+ deliverability. No marketing fluff - just email that arrives. Try Postmark →

Paid - Email sending at scale for almost nothing. $0.10 per 1,000 emails. No UI to spea...

Email sending at scale for almost nothing. $0.10 per 1,000 emails. No UI to speak of, but the price can't be beat. Try Amazon SES →

Freemium - Email API + marketing platform. Collaborative template editor is the standout fe...

Email API + marketing platform. Collaborative template editor is the standout feature. Good middle ground between Resend and Mailchimp. Try Mailjet →

Freemium - Email testing sandbox. Catch all emails in dev before they reach real inboxes. T...

Email testing sandbox. Catch all emails in dev before they reach real inboxes. Then switch to production sending. Smart workflow. Try Mailtrap →

Freemium Email marketing for small businesses. Clean editor, solid automations, and the f...

Email marketing for small businesses. Clean editor, solid automations, and the free tier is genuinely usable. Mailchimp alternative. Try MailerLite →

Paid Cold email outreach tool. Personalised images, automated sequences, deliverabili...

Cold email outreach tool. Personalised images, automated sequences, deliverability tools. For sales teams doing cold outbound. Try Lemlist →

Freemium Open-source link management. Short links, analytics, custom domains. Bitly but y...

Open-source link management. Short links, analytics, custom domains. Bitly but you own the data and it's free to self-host. Try Dub →

Paid Social media automation and scraping. LinkedIn lead gen, Twitter followers, Inst...

Social media automation and scraping. LinkedIn lead gen, Twitter followers, Instagram DMs. Growth hacking toolkit. Try Phantom Buster →

Free Form builder that feels like a doc. Free, beautiful, and powerful. Typeform qual...

Form builder that feels like a doc. Free, beautiful, and powerful. Typeform quality without the Typeform price tag. Try Tally →