Best apps for freelancers, from first client to paid invoice

Freelance work runs through the same steps: find a client, agree the work and get it signed, track the hours, send an invoice, get paid and keep the books, then plan the week. One app rarely does all of that well, and each step has a free plan with different limits. This guide follows that sequence and names the products covered in the rankings for each step, with the limits that matter before you commit.

Find clients and book calls

A spreadsheet is enough for many freelancers at the start. A CRM adds structure once you have more leads than you can track in your head. The CRM ranking compares the options, and it is the place to start if you want a pipeline view. HubSpot has a free CRM edition that stores contacts, companies and deals and shows them on pipeline boards. Attio has a free plan for up to three seats, and its custom objects suit people who track data a standard CRM does not model.

For calls, Calendly offers a free forever plan with one event type, and paid plans add more event types, team scheduling and automations. Once you need more than one type of meeting, check the limits before you rely on the free plan. Booking links are a small job, so one tool is usually enough. Put the link in your proposal email, so a prospect can book a call without a back-and-forth about times.

Agree terms and collect signatures

Clients often expect a signed agreement before work starts. SignWell has a free plan with API access and a document limit, and its paid plans add senders and higher volume. Documenso is open source under AGPL-3.0. It has a hosted free plan with a small document limit, and you can also self-host it for free. The comparison of DocuSign and SignWell shows how the most recognized name differs from a smaller provider.

Check that your clients accept signatures from a smaller provider before you commit. The e-signature ranking's FAQ makes the same point, and it is the step that is easiest to skip and hardest to fix later.

Track time

Time tracking matters most when you bill by the hour. Look for entries with notes and project tags, since a client who disputes an invoice will ask what each charge covers, and the entry is the evidence. Clockify allows unlimited tracking on its free plan for up to five users, which is the widest free tier in its ranking for small teams. Harvest combines time tracking and invoicing, with a free plan for one seat and two projects. Its free plan is much smaller than Clockify's, but it keeps billing in the same app. Kimai is open source under AGPL-3.0 and runs on your own server with Docker, which suits people who want their hours on machines they control. It needs some administration, and the other trackers in the ranking run in their own cloud. Clockify vs Harvest compares their free plans directly.

Send invoices

Invoicing tools differ in fees, quotes and whether they track time. Zoho Invoice is free for small businesses according to its pricing page, and it covers invoices, quotes, recurring billing and time tracking. Wave has a free Starter plan with unlimited invoices and estimates, but card payments carry a fee and the plan has no time tracking. Invoice Ninja has a free plan with no time limit and a full billing toolkit, though its Elastic License 2.0 code is source-available rather than open source. Harvest vs Wave shows how the two differ on time tracking and invoicing.

Most invoicing tools charge a fee on card payments, and some take a percentage of each paid invoice. Check the processing fee on the payment method your clients use, because that cost comes out of every invoice you send. Payment reminders and late-payment settings also differ between tools, so test them with a real overdue invoice before you rely on them.

Get paid and keep the books

Bookkeeping can wait until your income is regular, but the invoice and the ledger must agree from the first month. Zoho Books has a free plan for solopreneurs and micro businesses, and it works with other Zoho apps. Wave covers bookkeeping on its Starter plan too, so one free tool can handle both invoicing and the books if its bookkeeping covers what you need.

Xero is strong for bank feeds and reconciliation, especially with an online accountant, but it has no free plan. GnuCash is free, open-source double-entry accounting that keeps its books in local files and works offline. It has no online invoicing, payments or sharing, so it suits people who keep their books on one computer. For the free-versus-paid trade-off, Wave vs Xero is the direct comparison. The accounting software ranking lists more options, including UK-specific tools.

Add up your monthly software costs before you choose, because a free plan that covers one step can be paired with a paid tool for another.

Plan the week

A personal task list works best when you juggle several clients. Todoist has a free Beginner plan on most platforms, and its advanced planning sits behind per-user Pro and Business plans. Microsoft To Do is free on Windows, iOS, iPadOS and Android, with My Day suggestions and shared lists. Its planning tools are thinner than Todoist's, so it suits a simpler week. Super Productivity is free and open source under MIT and adds time tracking and focus work, and the to-do list ranking compares the rest.

Block time for billable work and admin separately. A planner that shows both on one calendar makes it easier to see when a client request pushes admin work out of the week. Keep the planner separate from the billing tools. A task list that also tries to track invoices is easy to let fall behind, so use each app for the one job it does best.

How to decide

These are the short picks, grouped by what you need first:

• For a solo freelancer with few clients and a small budget, Wave for invoicing and bookkeeping, and Calendly or another booking tool for calls.
• For hourly billing, Harvest for tracking and invoicing in one app, or Clockify if you want the widest free tier and bill elsewhere.
• For records on your own server, Kimai for time, Documenso for signatures and a self-hosted scheduler for calls.
• For a UK practice that needs tax features set for the UK, check the UK-specific accounting tools in the accounting ranking before you pick a general product.

Change one step at a time. Adding a tool for each step adds upkeep, and a new app is easier to learn when only one part of your work depends on it.

Related rankings and guides

• Best scheduling software: booking pages, paid bookings and group polls compared.
• How to choose invoicing software: fees, time tracking and free-plan limits explained.
• How to choose time tracking software: free limits, invoicing and self-hosting for time trackers.
• How to choose e-signature software: recognition, self-hosting and API access compared.