50 Top Apps, SaaS Solutions, Services and Sites for Startups
Founders and CEOs are very demanding when it comes to the tech they use to run their businesses. They have high expectations. They should, too. See how this list of apps, SaaS solutions, services, and sites lines up with your tech stack and hopefully get some new ideas for what to add or switch.
Updated September 3, 2026, including vetting for recent AI developments.
Photo by Magda Ehlers from Pexels.
I hope you find this list helpful - I'm John Gauch, an operating partner to founder-led companies. As a fractional COO, I provide growth and operations support to founders who want to make a big leap forward with their business and need to add capability or capacity to the team to make it happen.
Updated September 3, 2026, including vetting for recent AI developments.
What started as a list of 50 company apps has grown well past that figure, and I keep adding to it.
I personally don’t find lists or infographics of every possible option for a problem 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.
With regard to each product on my 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. The list is for Seed to Series A companies and other growing small businesses. This is where I spend most of my work time, but it also includes products for brand-new companies (drawn from the mentoring and venture studio work I do).
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 to let me know.
Read also: How Startups Can Make the Best Use of Lawyers
I don’t mention project management tools (e.g., Asana, ClickUp, Monday, Trello) because everyone seems to have a favorite, and they are all reasonably decent. I use Trello for my personal task tracking. I wouldn’t spin too long trying to ascertain which one of them is the “best.”
Again, if your choice of a new SaaS app for your startup 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. Pick one and turn back to the activities that are going to be far more impactful on your company 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 | ||
| Ahrefs | Ahrefs for SEO analysis and backlinks; AlsoAsked for keyword analysis on competitors and search term difficulty | Semrush | 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. Fiber AI is the same idea but for recruiting | Unify | Fiber AI |
| 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 | ChatGPT remains a go-to AI tool. | Perplexity | |
| Claude | For more agentic, asynchronous work and vibe coding, versus chat, I turn to Claude | ||
| 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 that recently purchased a PEO | ||
| 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 (Content Square) | |
| Google Workspace | Collaboration and productivity tools (email, storage, etc.) | Dropbox (storage only) | |
| Grammarly | Editorial assistant, although Google's built-in solution has gotten much better | ||
| Granola.ai | AI notetakers | Fathom | Fellow.ai |
| Greenhouse | Recruiting and applicant tracking | Breezy | Recruitee |
| Guideline | 401(k) providers | Human Interest | |
| Gusto | Payroll, benefits, and HR services | Humi (Canada) | Rippling |
| Hubspot | Customer relations management (CRM). To include LinkedIn in your sequences, try Dripify | Dripify | |
| Indinero | Bookkeeping service. Puzzle innovating on the AI side. Zeni is listed but I can't vouch for it yet | Puzzle | Zeni |
| Intercom | Customer messaging and support | ||
| Jenkins | Open-source automation server for continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) | ||
| KnowBe4 | Security training | ||
| Linear | Issue tracking and project management | ||
| Loom | Video messaging | ||
| Luma | Event registration and management | ||
| Mercury | Banking for startups and businesses. Consider Mercury credit card too | Bluevine | |
| Microsoft 365 | Productivity apps (still use them as good as Google is) | ||
| Microsoft Azure | Cloud computing platform | ||
| Miro | Online collaborative whiteboard | Excalidraw | |
| n8n | AI-driven workflows; AI agents/operators | Gumloop | Lindy AI |
| NeverBounce (ZoomInfo) | Stand-alone email deliverability solution | ||
| Newfront | Insurance brokerage | Founder Shield | |
| Notion | Collaborative workspace for your organization, with built-in AI support | ||
| 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 |
| Rippling | HR PEO | Justworks | |
| Scribe | Creation of SOPs and internal documentation | ||
| Secureframe | Compliance and security automation | Drata | |
| Slack | Team messaging | ||
| Smartlead | For higher scale sequences | Instantly | |
| Stripe | Online payment processing and business tools | ||
| Twilio Segment | Customer data platform | ||
| User Interviews | Customer research. Listen Labs is making waves on the AI side—still evaluating them | Listen Labs | |
| Vouch | Business insurance. Also Embroker | Zensurance (Canada) | Hiscox |
| Voxer | Team audio messaging | ||
| VPM | Virtual mailbox | ||
| Webflow | Website design and development | ||
| WeWork | Co-working (in bankruptcy but still operating) | ||
| Wise | Foreign exchange | ||
| Wordsmith | I am looking at these AI legal tools now | General Legal | |
| Yubico | Hardware security keys | ||
| Zoom | Video conferencing |
While the companies aren’t vetted the way I’ve done here, another very interesting place to search for potentially valuable, cutting-edge services is the Y Combinator community of companies.
If you're a company founder or CEO, and you feel it would be valuable to get on each other's radar, I'd love to connect for an informal conversation. Learn more about my work, or reach out directly.