The Best Free Small Business Apps for 2023

Save money by discovering the best free small business apps. Includes customer ratings and frequently asked questions.

Updated on September 17th, 2023

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Free small business apps can help you and your employees to be more productive without breaking the bank. You can use small business apps to send messages, organize your schedule, manage projects, pay bills, and more.

Below is our list of the best free small business apps, complete with average customer ratings.

Read More:

The Best Small Business Apps - Learn more about paid Small Business Apps.

Top Free Employee Scheduling Apps - Learn more about managing employee schedules.

Why We Chose Slack:

Slack allows team members to communicate in a number of different ways, including group chats, file sharing, calls and video conferences, and more. In addition to its many features, Slack offers excellent integration, storage, and reporting functions.

Slack is a highly secure platform that uses advanced security standards, encrypting your data in transit and at rest, guaranteeing personal and company data security

Slack has both a desktop app for Mac and PC computers. There is also a mobile app for iOS and Android devices. The Slack chat feature and other tools can be used directly through the app.

Things to Consider When Evaluating Free Small Business Apps:

  1. Look for integrations. You get the most out of your software when you can seamlessly integrate it with the software you already have. Check to see product integrations before choosing them, and find out whether they integrate with the tools you already use.
  2. Don't favor cost-cutting over productivity. Oftentimes, managers who invest in free software to avoid high costs do so at the expense of business productivity, as free software might not do the job you want it to, potentially adding to your workload. Don't choose a free app when the right one is available.
  3. Do your research. Read online reviews of the product before integrating it into your business, or ask colleagues what they think of it.

Best Free Small Business Apps:

Rank

Name

Offer

Review

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1.

Slack

Free and paid options.

This highly recommended business communication tool offers plenty of external integrations.

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2.

Wave Accounting

Free.

An excellent cloud-based accounting platform that has a wide range of useful features, including payroll tools, online payments, and financial report generation.

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3.

Google Drive

Free and paid options.

The cloud storage platform is user-friendly and supports multiple file types.

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4.

Evernote

Free and paid options.

A great note-taking and sharing app with more advanced features for businesses available on its paid version.

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5.

Asana

Free and paid options.

This project management tool has excellent features and integrations with over 100 other applications.

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6.

Expensify

Free and paid options.

A handy tool for expense management with a broad range of features and an intuitive interface.

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7.

Gmail

Free.

The highly recommended email service is used by over a billion people and offers good security protocols.

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8.

Trello

Free and paid options.

A popular platform with a feature-rich profile, including robust project management and team collaboration.

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9.

Bitrix24

Free and paid options.

This CRM platform offers more than 35 collaboration tools. The free version has a maximum of 5GB of online storage but allows for an unlimited number of users.

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10.

Invoicely

Free and paid options.

A comprehensive invoicing platform with a wide range of helpful accounting tools, but its free plan lacks time and expense tracking features.

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11.

Google Calendar

Free.

This calendar app integrates well with other Google products, offering a good user experience and a great mobile app.

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12.

Pamela for Skype

Free and paid options.

A noteworthy communication tool for businesses, although voicemail and landline calls are not available in the free version.

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13.

Wrike

Free and paid options.

The project management platform offers nice-to-have features, such as staff collaboration tools and file sharing.

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FAQs:

Can I trust free apps for small businesses?

All of the apps we reviewed were created by trusted tech companies that offer legitimate products to small businesses, so you don't need to worry about being spammed when you use them.

Can free small business accounting apps be used for tax preparation?

Most entrepreneurs use free small business accounting apps to track their expenses. At the end of the year, they can total these expenses and deduct the sum from their business' gross income. Free tools may have other accounting features, but these may be limited and you may need a more advanced version of the app to record or generate detailed accounting data.

Can my employees access free small business apps from their mobile devices?

Some free versions only allow for a single user, but apps like Slack can be used by multiple users. Your employees can download Slack on their phones to stay connected with the rest of the team.

What are the best paid options?

Check out our guide to the best small business apps.