13 Best Productivity Tools for Fail-Proof Efficiency Boost

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to increasing productivity, as the best productivity tools and apps vary depending on your workflows and preferences. However, there are few productivity tools and apps that can help you work more efficiently and be more effective throughout your day.

What are the Best Productivity Apps in 2023?

There are various productivity tools and apps that can help boost your efficiency. Here are 13 of the best:

Google Calendar (Best Calendar Software)

Google Calendar is a great tool for managing your time and staying organized. It’s one of the best productivity apps because it’s easy to use and helps you stay on top of your schedule. You can create different calendars for different purposes, such as work, personal, or school, and then share them with others.

You can also set reminders, and schedule meetings on the fly from any device. Google Calendar also integrates with other Google tools, such as Gmail and Google Drive, making it a convenient way to keep everything organized.

Pricing

Google Workspace Pricing

Free Plan. If you just want to use the basic features of Google Calendar, it’s free. However, if you need more features, such as the ability to invite others to meetings or create event reminders, there are paid plans available.

Paid Plans. There isn’t a paid plan specifically for Google Calendar. Instead, you pay for a Google Workspace account which provides access to a productivity suite of Google products including a 30GB Google Drive space. Google offers 3 paid plans: Business Starter, Business Standard and Business Plus.

  • Business Starter – $4.20/month per user
  • Business Standard – $9.60/month per user
  • Business Plus – $18/month per user
  • Enterprise – contact Google Sales

Calendly (Best Appointment Scheduling Software)

Calendly is a scheduling software that assists with time management and appointment bookings. This app eliminates the need for back-and-forth emails when trying to schedule meetings, interviews, or any type of appointment.

With Calendly, users can share their availability through a personalized link that can be sent to anyone who needs to book an appointment with them. Whether you are an entrepreneur, freelancer, or part of a team, Calendly helps streamline your schedule and simplify the booking process.

Pricing

Calendly Pricing

Free Plan. Calendly offers a free basic plan that includes unlimited events, but with limited features.

Paid Plans. There are 3 paid plans available for Calendly.

  • Essentials ($8 per seat/month) – Includes advanced features such as custom branding, group scheduling, and more integrations.
  • Professional ($12 per seat/month) – For teams or organizations looking for more robust features like creating collective event types and routing forms, building automated workflows and reminders, etc.
  • Teams ($16 per seat/month) – This plan includes all the Professional features plus additional team management capabilities like assigning appointments to team members and setting up round-robin scheduling
  • Enterprise Plan (custom pricing) – Large organizations can opt for an Enterprise plan with custom pricing based on their specific needs

Overall, while Calendly may not be the cheapest scheduling tool available in the market, its pricing structure is reasonable considering its advanced features and convenience offered to users. Furthermore, choosing a paid subscription can help save time and effort in managing appointments efficiently – making it a worthwhile investment for businesses focused on productivity and efficiency.

Evernote (Best Note Taking App)

If you’re like most people, your days are filled with a never-ending to-do list. From work tasks and projects to personal errands, it seems like there’s always something that needs to be done. This is where Evernote comes in.

Evernote is an all-in-one note-taking tool that helps you stay organized and productive. It allows you to take notes, create to-do lists, capture ideas, and collaborate with others.

You can create notes for work projects, make lists of groceries you need to buy, or even take notes on class lectures. You can also access your notes from any device: phone or tablet, so you can work on them wherever you are.

One of the best things about Evernote is its flexibility. You can use it, however, works best for you. If you want to take handwritten notes during a meeting, you can do that. If you prefer to type out your thoughts, that’s an option too.

Evernote syncs across all of your devices, so you can access your information no matter where you are.

Pricing

Evernote Pricing

Free Plan. Evernote is free to download and offers a free plan which includes 60MB monthly uploads, sync in 2 devices, and more. However, for more advanced features I highly recommend using the paid plan.

Paid Plans. There are two paid plans available for Evernote: Personal and Professional. These plans provide bigger monthly uploads (up to 20GB), unlimited device syncing, and app integrations like Trello, Salesforce, Microsoft Office Suite, and others.

  • Personal – $7.99/month (Php130/month)
  • Professional – $9.99/month (Php162.90/month)

Todoist (Best Checklist App)

If you’re looking for an effective to-do list app that will help you get more done, look no further than Todoist. Todoist is one of the most popular and highly rated apps available, and for good reason. It’s packed with features that will help you manage your time and tasks more efficiently.

There’s a lot to like about Todoist, and it’s definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for a way to improve your productivity. It’s available on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and the web.

Pricing

Todoist Pricing

Free Plan. For basic features, you can use Todoist for free. You can have 5 projects, 5MB file uploads, etc.

Paid Plans. Todoist has two paid plans: Pro and Business. These plans are suitable for power users and small teams. Users can get up to 500 active projects per member, 100MB file uploads, reminders, team inbox, team billing and many other features.

  • Pro – $4/month
  • Business – $6/month

Google Drive (Best Cloud Storage App)

Google Drive is one of the best business productivity apps available. It’s simple to use and has a ton of features that make it an essential tool for small business entities.

You can store files in the cloud, share files with others, and edit documents with collaborators. You can also access your files from any device or computer with an internet connection. It’s the best alternative to Dropbox.

Pricing

Google Drive Pricing

Free Plan. Google Drive is free to use up to 15 gigabytes of storage space. If you need more space, you can upgrade to a paid plan starting at $1.

Paid Plans. To upgrade for a bigger online storage, you need to subscribe to a Google One account. There are 3 plans available:

  • Basic – $1.99/month per user (Php89/month)
  • Standard – $2.99/month per user (Php149/month)
  • Premium – $9.99/month per user (Php479/month)

Trello (Best Project Management Tool)

Trello is a project management tool that allows you to create boards with cards that represent tasks or ideas.

You can then organize and prioritize your cards by moving them between columns on the board. It’s great for managing projects of all sizes, from small to large.

One of the best things about Trello is that it’s free to use. You can create as many boards and cards as you want, and there are no limits on how many people can collaborate on a project.

It also has a mobile app so you can access your boards and cards on the go. You can also configure a notification for any changes in your projects.

If you’re looking for a versatile and easy-to-use business management tool especially for remote teams, Trello is definitely worth checking out.

Pricing

Trello Pricing

Free Plan. Trello has a free plan which includes unlimited cards, unlimited storage (10MB/file), unlimited activity log and many others. If you want to have the advanced features, you can get their paid plans.

Paid Plans. There are three paid plans available in Trello: Standard, Premium and Enterprise. Trello paid plans include all the features in the free plan plus unlimited boards, unlimited workspaces, advanced checklists, different views, higher file size uploads, priority support and many more.

  • Standard – $5/month per user
  • Premium – $10/month per user
  • Enterprise – $17.50/month per user

Google Docs (Best All-In-One Productivity App)

Google Docs is a versatile online word processor that can be used for a variety of purposes. Whether you need to create a document, spreadsheet, or presentation, Google Docs has you covered. What’s more, it’s completely free to use.

One of the best things about Google Docs is that it’s so versatile. You can use it to create documents for school, work, or home.

Related post: 12 Best Docs to PDF Converter

Additionally, you can easily share your documents with others online. This makes real-time collaboration a breeze.

Another great thing about it is that it’s always up-to-date. You can focus on work and don’t have to worry about downloading updates or installing new software – Google Docs updates automatically.

Plus, you can access your documents from any computer or device with an internet connection. Overall, Google Docs is one of the best free online productivity tools out there.

Pricing

Google Workspace Pricing

Free Plan. Google Docs is completely free to use and is part of the Google Workspace suite of tools.

Paid Plans. There isn’t a paid plan specifically for Google Docs. Instead, you can upgrade your Google Workspace account which provides access to Google apps including a 30GB file storage. Google offers 3 paid plans for Google Workspace:

  • Business Starter – $4.20/month per user
  • Business Standard – $9.60/month per user
  • Business Plus – $18/month per user

Asana (Best Team Management and Collaboration Tool)

Asana is a project management tool that can be used to manage tasks, collaborate with team members, and track progress. It can be used for individual projects or for larger initiatives that involve multiple people.

One of the best things about Asana is that it’s so versatile. You can use it to track anything from simple tasks to complex projects.

It’s also easy to learn and use, which makes it a great choice for people who are new to project management.

It’s also great to boost productivity and collaboration. You can easily share tasks with team members and track their progress. This helps ensure that everyone is on the same page and that projects move forward smoothly.

Lastly, it’s a great tool for tracking progress. You can see how much progress has been made on each task, and get a quick overview of all the tasks that are currently underway.

Pricing

Asana Pricing

Free Plan. Asana has a free-forever plan and gives users unlimited tasks, projects, messages, activity log, file storage (up to 100MB file size) and collaboration up to 15 members.

Paid Plans. For premium features, Asana has two paid plans: Premium and Business. It provides unlimited dashboards, customizable timeline, workflow builders, portfolios, workloads, among others.

  • Premium – $10.99/month per user
  • Business – $24.99/month per user

Zapier (Best Workflow Automation & Integration Tool)

Zapier is a web automation tool that lets you connect different apps together to automate tasks.

For example, you can create a zap that automatically adds new subscribers to your Mailchimp list when they sign up for your newsletter on your website.

Zapier is one of the best automation apps because it’s so versatile. You can use it to automate all sorts of tasks, from simple things like adding new contacts to your CRM, to more complicated tasks like tracking sales data and creating reports.

Plus, because Zapier integrates with so many different applications, it’s a great way to streamline your workflow and make sure that you’re getting the most out of all the different tools you’re using.

This lets your business get to work that matters most without being bugged with complex integrations.

Pricing

Zapier Pricing

Free Plan. If you want to give Zapier a try, there’s a free plan available which includes 5 zaps and 100 tasks per month.

Paid Plans. Zapier’s offering four paid plans for higher flexibility to users: Starter, Professional, Team and Company. These plans have higher tasks per month, unlimited zaps, web hooks, formatters, premium support and many others. If you’re an agency owner you’ll need one of these paid plans.

  • Starter – $19.99/month
  • Professional – $49/month
  • Team – $299/month
  • Company – $599/month

Harvest (Best Time Tracking Software)

Harvest is one of the best time tracking apps out there. It’s simple to use and helps you track time you’re spending on each task. This is especially helpful for freelancers who need to keep track of their hours for invoicing purposes.

But Harvest isn’t just for freelancers – it’s great for anyone who wants to be more productive and get a better sense of where their time is going.

The best thing about Harvest is that it’s not just a time tracking app – it’s also a productivity tool. You can use it to create estimates, track expenses, and invoice clients. And because all your data is stored in the cloud, you can access it from anywhere.

If you’re looking for a simple, easy-to-use time management app, Harvest is definitely worth checking out.

Pricing

Harvest Pricing

Free Plan. For personal use, Harvest comes with a free plan which includes 1 seat and 2 projects.

Paid Plan. Harvest has one of the simplest pricing models. They are offering a Pro plan which entitles users unlimited seats and unlimited projects at $12/month per seat.

Slack (Best Team Collaboration Tool)

Slack is a messaging tool that can be used for team communication, project management, and other purposes. It’s one of the best apps and tools because it’s easy to use, versatile, and has a lot of features.

It can be accessed on the web or through an app, and users can create channels for different topics or projects. Messages can be sent as private messages or to all members of a channel, and files can be attached to messages.

Slack also has integrations with other apps, such as GDrive and Trello, which allows users to access their data from within Slack.

Pricing

Slack Pricing

Free Plan. Slack offers a free plan which gives users access to 10,000 recent messages, 10 integrations with other apps such as Google Drive and 1:1 voice & video calls to teammates.

Paid Plans. Depending on the size of your team, Slack has 3 paid plans available: Pro, Business+ and Enterprise Grid.

  • Pro – $6.67/month
  • Business+ – $12.50/month
  • Enterprise Grid – contact Slack Sales team

LastPass (Best Password Management Software)

LastPass is a software that helps store and manage passwords for different websites and online services. It is one of the best apps as it makes it easy to keep track of all your passwords in one place.

LastPass also has a desktop app that can be used to manage and store passwords for different sites, which means users don’t have to remember all their passwords.

The LastPass Chrome extension can also be used in addition to the desktop app.

Pricing

LastPass Pricing

Free Plan. Give yourself relief from memorizing with a free plan from LastPass. It comes with unlimited passwords, one device access, auto-fill, one to one sharing and a password generator.

Paid Plans. With a generous pricing model, LastPass has two paid plans: Premium and Families. These plans are packed with advanced features like access to all devices, one to many sharing, 1GB encrypted file storage, personal security dashboards, etc.

  • Premium – $3/month
  • Families – $4/month

Hootsuite (Best Social Media Management Tool)

If you’re not using Hootsuite, you’re likely wasting a lot of time on social media. Here’s why: Hootsuite is a social media scheduling tool that lets you see all of your social media accounts in one place.

You can post to all of your accounts at once, or schedule posts for the future.

Hootsuite also has powerful analytics tools that let you see how your social media campaigns are doing.

Hootsuite is free for up to three social media accounts, and there are paid plans for businesses who want more features. Hootsuite is one of the best social media tools available, and it’s definitely worth checking out.

Pricing

Hootsuite Pricing

Free Plan. At first glance it looks like Hootsuite doesn’t come with a Free plan but it does. Give their Free plan a try which includes 2 social accounts, 5 scheduled posts and 1 user.

Paid Plans. If you’re a social media manager, you definitely need either of Hootsuite’s paid plans: Professional, Team, Business and Enterprise. These plans come with more users (up to 5 users), unlimited posts, post scheduling, approval workflows, social ads analytics and many more.

  • Professional – $49/month
  • Team – $129/month
  • Business – $739/month
  • Enterprise – contact Hootsuite Sales team

Zoom (The best Video Conferencing Tool)