50 Top Apps, SaaS Solutions, Services and Sites for Startups

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I hope you find this list helpful - I'm John Gauch, a consultant with extensive experience in business operations and growth. I specialize in helping startups implement both strategies effectively. As a fractional COO, I work with founders and CEOs through each step, tailoring solutions to your unique needs and objectives.

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Updated November 20, 2024.

What started as a list of 50 startup products has grown well past that figure, and I’d love to keep adding to it.

I personally don’t find those lists or infographics of every possible product option for a problem I have super useful. I don’t need another time-sucking To Do, to evaluate all of the choices. I want to know what’s a reasonably safe bet, get started with it and turn back to the business of growing my company.

This list is biased toward Seed to Series A companies because that’s where I spend most of my time, although it also includes some products for brand-new companies (drawn from the venture studio work I do). With regard to each product on the list, I've either used it, and I recommend it, or someone I know and trust has used it, and they recommended it to me. That said, feedback is invited—if you feel like something should be added, or if you have used one of the products and had a negative experience. Email me and let me know.

If you ever need referrals to startup attorneys, message me to chat. As a former lawyer and former General Manager at legal startup Axiom, I know tons of incredible lawyers across specialties and fields, including top-notch solo practitioners as well as members of AmLaw 100 firms like Morrison & Foerster and Perkins Coie, regional players and startup boutiques.

I don’t mention project management tools (e.g., Asana, ClickUp, Monday, Trello) because everyone seems to have a favorite, and they all seem reasonably decent. I use Trello for my personal task tracking. I wouldn’t spin too long trying to ascertain which one of them is “best.”

Again, if your choice of a new web app (etc.) to add to your startup’s tech stack is not going to make or break your business, don’t over-index on it. Do some quick research. Get together a couple or a few ideas. Do a brief analysis and review. Pick one and turn back to the activities that are going to be far more impactful on your organization and its success.

That’s the benefit of having a list like this. I hope it helps.

Top Startup Tools

Product	Description	Other Options
1Password	Password management and security
Guideline	401(k) providers	Human Interest
Ahrefs	Ahrefs for SEO analysis and backlinks; AlsoAsked for keyword analysis on competitors and search term difficulty	Also Asked
Airtable	Collaborative work management
Amazon AWS	Cloud computing
Apollo	List building from search critera. Send sequences. Consider checking out new kind on the block Unify	Unify
Arc Tech	Treasury services
Bill.com	Billing and financial automation
Brandpad	Brand development and management
Brixx	Financial forecasting and planning software
Carta	Equity management and valuation, but watch the latest news about them	Pulley
ChatGPT	AI platform to help with a little bit of everything
Clay	Import lists and enrich them (more options than Apollo). Consider also checking out newcomer Unify	Unify
Clerky	Legal and compliance solutions (company setup)
Clockify	Time tracking
DailyBot	Slack stand-ups
Deel	Global payroll and compliance. Deel is an EOR
DocSend	Document sharing and tracking (for a fundraising, DocSend + Dropbox or Google Drive + Google Sheets for tracking)
Docusign	Electronic contracts
Expensify	Expense management and tracking	Tentative: Float (Canada)
Figma	Design and prototyping
Flowster	Workflow automation and processes
Freshworks	Customer engagement and support software	Zendesk
GitHub	Software Engineering version control and collaborative software
Google Analytics	Website analysis	Hotjar
Google Workspace	Collaboration and productivity tools (email, storage, etc.)	Dropbox (storage only)
Grammarly	Communication assistant including AI support
Greenhouse	Recruiting and applicant tracking	Breezy	Recruitee
Gusto	Payroll, benefits, and HR services. Rippling has a PEO option	Humi (Canada)	Rippling (US and Canada)
Hubspot	Customer relations management (CRM)
Indinero	Bookkeeping service. The Bench recommendation is tentative	Bench
Intercom	Customer messaging and support
Jenkins	Open-source automation server for continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD)
Gusto	Payroll, benefits, and HR services	Humi (Canada)	Rippling
Linear	Issue tracking and project management
Loom	Video messaging
Mercury	Banking for startups and businesses. Consider Mercury credit card too	Bluevine
Microsoft Azure	Cloud computing platform
Microsoft 365	Productivity apps (still use them as good as Google is)
Miro	Online collaborative whiteboard	Excalidraw
NeverBounce	Stand-alone email deliverability solution
Newfront	Insurance brokerage	Founder Shield
Notion	Collaborative workspace for your organization
Okta	Identity and access management
PaperStreet	Investor updates
Pave	Compensation information for startups
PitchBook	Data and research for private investments
Quickbooks	Cloud accounting software. Also hearing increasingly about Campfire in this category	Xero
Ramp	Corporate card and services. Brex may not be an option for smaller startups	American Express	Brex
Segment	Customer data platform
Secureframe	Compliance and security automation
Slack	Team messaging
Stripe	Online payment processing and business tools
Supernormal	AI tool for meetings
User Interviews	Customer research
Vouch	Business insurance. Also Embroker	Zen Insurance (Canada)	Hiscox
Voxer	Team audio messaging
Webflow	Website design and development
WeWork	Co-working (in bankruptcy but still operating)
Wise	Foreign exchange
Yubico	Hardware security keys
Zoom	Video conferencing

While the companies aren’t vetted, another interesting place to search for potentially valuable services is the Y Combinator community of companies.

If you’re a startup CEO or founder, and you feel it would be interesting to chat, I’d love to connect. Learn about my services and please reach out.