In this guide, we’ve focused on the most useful applications for small to medium businesses. All of these offer important functionality while also delivering on value for money.
Here then are what we think are the best small business apps currently available.
Microsoft 365
There are many different office software platforms, but despite fierce competition on price and features, Microsoft’s Office 365, recently re-branded as Microsoft 365, remains the leading suite and must-buy for small business, and ranks as our best small business software.
You may remember the days when Microsoft Office was something you bought as a software package and installed on your PC.
While that still remains possible, there are now app versions for Android and iOS, so you can use Microsoft 365 on Android and Apple devices.
RingCentral MVP
RingCentral MVP is our preferred choice when it comes to the best business phone system.
It’s not just that it comes with a lot of features and possibilities, but also pricing can be very reasonable, too.
What you get is a cloud-based phone system that is built around business services, so it’s perfectly fine to use it on any device with a browser, whether a Windows PC, or Apple iPad, or Android smartphone.
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is a popular cloud-based accounting service designed specifically for small business owners, and ranks top of our list of best accounting software for small business.
The package has plenty of features – invoicing, expense tracking, time tracking, a host of business reports, even an option to take credit card payments – but a straightforward interface aimed at non-accountants ensures you’ll be up-and-running right away.
PayPal
PayPal has become the ubiquitous payment portal for many online businesses due to the simple reason that it’s so easy to use, and ranks as our top pick for best credit card processing service.
PayPal has made integration into payment gateways simple for major e-commerce platforms, often requiring little more than a couple of clicks and an email address – often the most complex part of setting up PayPal processing is copying and pasting a supplied API key to get started.
Hubspot Marketing Hub
Hubspot is a platform that provides a range of tools for content management, sales and marketing, and social media advertising.
Hubspot goes way beyond simply setting up a website and editing its content, as much as delivering a wide-ranging toolkit to help improve conversions, and ranks as our top pick for best content marketing tools as well as features in our best CRM software.
It does this by offering options for split testing, content hosting, communications within a sales team and with customers, along with goals and targets that can be tracked using Hubspot’s analytics software.