8 Side Hustle Tools Every Freelancer Needs In 2024

Running a side hustle as a freelancer is not easy. You’re juggling multiple tasks, mostly on your own, from your main job, to home, family, and personal responsibilities and commitments.

Then you have to figure out how to take your skills and monetize them by promoting them in front of the right people. You’re doing everything from customer service, to marketing, to video editing, to admin and finance…the list goes on.

And this is all in pursuit of financial freedom, wellbeing, the flexibility to work remotely and build passive income, and being able to live your purpose.

It can be quite overwhelming to deal with all these tasks in a single work day, right?

Thankfully, there are some side hustle tools that you can use to work smarter, accomplish more in less time, and increase your earning potential, all while working from the comfort of your home.

But before going into the list, there are a few things you should look out for as a freelancer when shopping around for side hustle tools. Otherwise, you risk making a poor investment decision in your business.

Factors To Consider When Shopping For Side Hustle Tools

1. Relevance

Don’t just buy a subscription or purchase an app because it’s trendy and everyone on social media is using it. Ensure that you actually have a need for it, otherwise it will become an unnecessary distraction and result in more harm than good for your freelancing career.

2. User Experience

The app’s user-friendliness is key to eliminating frustration and wasted time, when you should be providing content or services to your clients. Check for reviews on places such as TechCrunch or G2, which evaluate business software and tools. Any reviews that mention that the tool has complex interfaces, or that starting to use the tool is a steep learning curve, is an immediate red flag at this stage of your freelancing career, because this can eat into your valuable time and hinder productivity, preventing you from being present for other commitments.

3. Scalability

Will your side hustle tool grow with you and your freelance business for the long-term? Check the provider to see if they offer upgrades, plans, and packages that have features such as larger storage capacity, on-demand customer support, and customization of services, as well as the ability to handle larger volumes of client traffic (depending on the tool of course).

4. Integration

Be on the lookout for tools that integrate with other technologies; this helps to ensure seamless integration into your workflow and prevents repetitive tasks. For example, software tools such as Monday.com integrate with Gmail, Docusign, and Excel—which are no doubt, already on your list of must-have tools to run your freelance side hustle.

5. Your Budget

Now for the obvious question: Can you afford it? Is it cost-effective when compared with similar tools? Are there any free trial periods or free plans you can take advantage of before paying for an upgrade? Would it be better for your current budget to purchase an annual plan or a monthly plan, paying on a month-by-month basis? These are all important considerations to weigh up.

8 Side Hustle Tools For Freelancers

Below are some of the top side hustle tools you should try this year:

1. Sanebox

This email management tool uses machine learning to help you easily sort through your emails and save hours of email browsing which can now be used towards actually growing your business.

2. Nudgemail

Nudgemail does exactly what it’s name implies—it “nudges” you via your email for important reminders and to-dos. Instead of emailing yourself all the time (and then losing the very email you wrote) Nudgemail sends you an email reminder, on the very day you need it. This is very useful for extremely busy freelance professionals who juggle multiple deadlines and deliverables.

3. TextExpander

As a freelancer, you probably find yourself typing the exact same messaging over and over, such as your response to clients who reach out to you, your response to general enquiries, or what you send when someone asks for an update or revision. It can get pretty mundane, and this is where TextExpander is helpful because it fills in what you’re going to say next, using your knowledge base.

Here are five other side hustle tools:

1. ActiveCampaign: Email marketing and sales automation.
2. LeadPages: Landing page creator to capture leads to expand your freelance services.
3. Beaver Builder: Not as popular as other website builders, but still well recommended on tech review sites, and a great resource for freelancers.
4. Plutio: Genius all-in-one tool for managing every aspect of your freelance business.
5. VistaCreate (previously Crello): Easy-to-use tool for graphic designs, with your own branding, which you can share across your social media profiles.

Consider the above factors, conduct thorough research, and try any of the eight tools listed above. See what works for you, and have fun with these apps. And remember, less is more.