Once upon a time, our devices and phones served just a handful of purposes. These days, they’re more like an extension of ourselves.

Our smartphones (and other devices) are now our calendars, online banks, health trackers, nutrition guides, maps, the key to instant communication with contacts all around the world, and so much more.

Professionally, apps can drive productivity, boost organisation, automate some of your most arduous tasks and help you set up and maintain robust processes and systems.

That’s why, as a freelancer, staying up to date with the latest apps is such an effective way to stay on your A-game and make your life a whole lot easier, faster, smarter and sometimes, even cheaper.

The apps every freelancer needs in 2024 (and beyond)

The world of apps is fast-paced and quick-changing with a seemingly endless list of options. So, figure out where you would most benefit from some app-based support and focus your efforts there.

We share 10 of the best apps for freelancers in 2024, broken down into five key categories:

• Finding freelance work
• Project management
• Design and creation tools
• Social media
• Bookkeeping and accounting

So, let’s get stuck in!

Finding freelance work

Finding freelance work is no mean feat, especially when you’re also trying to focus on the active briefs and clients you already have. Apps can make sourcing and securing work far less daunting and time-consuming.

Two of the most popular apps to help find freelance work are Upwork and Fiverr.

Upwork

One of the most professional and reputable platforms for finding freelance work, the Upwork app is a must. You can search for jobs, send files and communicate with clients on the go, whenever, wherever.

Fiverr

Promote your services, set your prices, and compete against other freelancers. Build up positive reviews and remember to price yourself competitively but not too cheaply. Great for quick turnaround tasks – but watch out for spammy listings.

Project management apps for freelancers

As a freelancer, you’re almost always juggling a number of different projects, clients and deadlines at a time. Centralising it all into one place using a project management tool is a brilliant way to keep on top of everything, plan your capacity, manage expectations and avoid burnout.

Two go-to project management apps (for good reason) are Trello and Monday.com. As a freelancer or ‘solopreneur’, you might prefer the simplicity of Trello. If you’re interested in built-in budgeting, invoicing and marketing tools too, monday.com should tick all your boxes.

Other great options include Asana and ClickUp (which can even be added to Chrome, Alexa and Google Home).

Trello

Organise all your tasks visually into different boards and use the customisable Kanban workflow to easily manage multiple projects and deadlines.

If you’re working in a team, invite others to your Trello boards and assign tasks with the click of a button. View tasks and projects by calendar or category, depending on how you’re working.

Monday.com

This comprehensive project management platform and productivity app makes managing tasks and organising collaboration at scale a total breeze. Integrate your widgets and other favourite tools to streamline your entire workflow.

Design and creation tools

If you require creative design tools, but you don’t need the full-on power of Adobe, then Canva and Figma might be a useful starting point.

Canva

This app gives you access to millions of high-quality photos, icons, illustrations and templates so you can create things like social media images, business cards, decks, portfolios and advertising assets from your mobile.

Canva is a beginner-friendly alternative to more specialist (and costly) tools like Adobe Illustrator.

Figma

This is a fantastic collaborative tool that enables designers to co-work with clients and peers (such as copywriters and developers) to create, collect feedback and test designs in one platform. It’s a super-efficient way to share work, gather feedback and implement changes.

When it comes to copy and content, check out Grammarly to save valuable time and keep your spelling and grammar in check.

Social media

Social media can be an invaluable tool for getting your name out there, building your audience and sharing your content far and wide.

However, to get the most out of your social media channels, they require investment of time and effort, which can be significantly optimised with a scheduling and management app. Two of the most popular right now are Hootsuite and Loomly.

Hootsuite

Download the Hootsuite app to draft, schedule, and publish social media content across all of your platforms from one dashboard. You can also engage with your audience and access performance analytics directly from the app, without having to log in to separate social media accounts.

Loomly

This other popular social media management platform has recently launched a brand-new mobile app. Once all your social media accounts are connected, you can then create, optimise, schedule and analyse performance of your social media content all in one place.

The main difference between Hootsuite and Loomly is that Hootsuite has great social listening capabilities. This means you can monitor when people are talking about your chosen keywords online and what they’re saying. Loomly doesn’t yet offer this functionality.

Bookkeeping, accounting and invoicing

Keeping your accounts up to date and staying on top of invoices is critical for success as a freelancer. Doing so will help you run as tax-efficiently as possible and reduce instances of late payments to protect your cash flow.

That said, recording things like transactions and invoices and uploading expenses can feel daunting and downright painful at times. Using an app makes the whole thing feel far easier and more efficient.

Quickbooks

The Quickbooks accounting app is one of the most popular of its kind, especially as it has a plan exclusively for self-employed freelancers. Having an app like this on your mobile, while you’re out and about, makes it quicker and easier to track miles and record transactions as and when they happen.

Pandle

This is a free accounting app that is also a bookkeeping software and invoicing platform. Manage customer and supplier invoicing, upload receipts, view reports and complete banking straight from your mobile.

The best thing about Pandle is that all the cloud-based tools are all designed “with real people in mind”, making it perfect for small business owners and freelancers just like you.

Both accounting apps have a long list of features designed to support the financial growth and stability of your freelance business.

 
Done here? Check out our article on free tools for running a business solo—or find more expert advice and resources in our freelancer information hub.

Freelancing is exciting and liberating for so many different reasons, but being self-employed does mean you miss out on some of the statutory benefits of working for an employer – such as maternity or paternity pay. Unfortunately, there isn’t much support available for freelancers in the UK taking paternity leave so there’s extra pressure to think about what your options are.
 

How do I plan paternity leave as a freelancer?

Preparing for parental leave as a freelancer is no mean feat, and sadly can be tougher than it is for employees who have statutory rules in place to protect them.

Planning ahead can help you minimise the impact on your finances and freelance career whilst you take some time out to welcome the new addition.
 

Decide how much time you want to take off

The first thing you need to do is to decide how much time you want to take off. That’s one of the luxuries of being your own boss – you have more flexibility to choose how long your paternity leave is. Plus, if you want to extend it, you can – as long as you communicate clearly and fairly with your clients.

Figure out how much you need to save

Deciding how much time to take off will help you work out how much money you need to save to cover loss of earnings during that period – which will, in turn, make your next steps clearer.

You may already have a substantial nest egg, in which case, great! If not, you may need a strategy to take on more work pre-paternity, or to rearrange existing projects to accommodate your needs.
 

Financial support options for freelancers on paternity leave

Freelancers don’t have access to the same paternity benefits as employees, but there are other financial avenues you could explore.

Do some research to find out if you’re eligible for child tax credit or child benefits while you’re not able to earn through your freelance business.

This will help protect your cash flow and ease financial pressures until you can get back to business.
 

How can I prepare my business before I go off on paternity leave?

To prep your business and your clients for a period of paternity leave, here are some important action points to tick off your to-do list ahead of time.
 

Notify your clients

Communicate your paternity plan with your clients as early and as transparently as possible. This will limit stress and help make the transition process as smooth as possible for everybody involved.
 

Set automated responses

Wherever you can, set automatic responses up for when you’re ‘out of office’ (e.g. email, social media, etc.). It’s also a good idea to leave a note in your email footer, ahead of time, to warn people in advance of when you’re going to be harder to reach and how long for.
 

Create and pin a social media post

Share an update on your social media accounts and where possible, pin it to the top of your profile so anybody visiting your page will be sure to see it.
 

Share an update on your website

Leave an update somewhere on your website too so any visitors there will be made aware that you’re on leave. A great place to do this is on a small banner at the top of your website if you want to keep your site running as normal. Alternatively, you could set up a redirect page with a custom message so that your website can’t be accessed while you’re ‘out of action’.

If you operate an ecommerce site or sell through an online platform, for example, you might want to set your profile to ‘holiday mode’, so that customers can place orders on the understanding that you won’t be able to supply anything until you’re return.

It depends on how unavailable you want or need to be during paternity.
 

Plan your return to work in advance

Plans might go out of the window once the new baby arrives, but it’s still worth putting a proposed timeline in place to give your clients a rough idea of when to expect you back.

It will also provide you and your family with a date to work towards, even if it ends up having to change further down the line.

You could also think about when you might be able to turn your attention to freelance work during your paternity leave period.

Perhaps there is one day a week, or an hour or so a day, that you could reply to emails or join meetings, for instance. Just remember to be realistic and go easy on yourself because juggling a new baby with freelance work isn’t always advisable.
 

Communicate your return date clearly

When posting updates and setting auto-responses, make sure to state your planned return date clearly so your clients know when to expect you to resume work.

Showing this level of consideration for their plans and their project pipeline will demonstrate that you care about them and how your situation is impacting them too.
 

What should I do with my freelance business while I’m on paternity?

Something you could consider is hiring paternity cover for while you’re away.

This could be a friend or family member to manage non-specialist admin, or even another freelancer to take over project-based work in your absence.
 

The pros and cons of paternity cover

When you have clients who need hands-on attention, the prospect of leaving them while on paternity can be stressful.

That’s why some freelancers opt for paternity cover. However, it is crucial to safeguard your business in the process.

The benefits of paternity cover include:

• Minimal disruption for your clients and therefore minimal disruption to your working arrangement with them.
• Paternity cover can keep your projects ticking over so you can simply pick back up where you left off when you’re ready.
• With cover to help, it will be easier for you to dip in and out of work as and when you find some spare time during your leave.

As well as the cost implications of paternity cover though, there are also a couple of other things to think about carefully, such as your professional reputation. Make sure you hire high-quality, reputable people who will work to the standard you would deliver yourself.

Another thing to consider is that there’s a risk anybody covering for you might poach your clients in your absence. Of course, if you work with people you trust implicitly, the risk becomes much lower, so choose carefully if paternity cover is something you want to try.

Whoever you choose to work with, put a contract in place so that there’s an official agreement between you and them. This will help prevent the risk of your clients being stolen from you while you’re on paternity leave.

 
Find even more advice and guidance for freelancers in our info hub.

Whether you freelance full-time or do it as a side hustle, the money you earn from self-employment won’t be included in contributions to a workplace pension scheme like it would be if you were an employee. So where does that leave freelancers when it comes to pension planning? In this article we’ll go over what your options are, and how to prepare for retirement. Read More

You don’t need us to tell you that in order to succeed as a business owner, you can’t stand still for too long. Evaluation and evolution are critical, so there may come a time when the best way forward involves offering a wider range of freelance services.

Expanding your offering can be a smart way to encourage business growth, get ahead of the competition, and stay relevant in your market. That said, it’s vital to be strategic about it.

We look at times when adding to your services could be a great idea, versus when you should probably hold off and address other areas first.

Reasons not to expand your freelance services

Adding more services isn’t the only way to attract or retain clients. Depending on your current offering, the answer to business growth might mean staying in your niche and honing your existing skills.

Although broadening your offering to include a wider array of skill can help you win more business, it’s important to make sure you can actually deliver on any new promises!

With that in mind, we want to focus on three key points to consider before making any big decisions.

Do you have the skills to offer?

It takes lot of hard work to win over freelancer clients and build up a reputation for reliability and high standards. Even if you’re not yet at that point, consistency is key. You want customers to have a good experience of working with you no matter which service you provide.

Offering a wider range of skills can be a smart business move, but if you’re not sure you have the skills or expertise just yet then perhaps learning, rather than expansion, should be your next step.

Educate yourself in the area you want to grow into and train yourself up before promoting it as a paid service. Launching when you aren’t adequately skilled puts your reputation, client relationships, and competitive advantage at risk.

You could even offer the service to existing clients for free, just while you’re learning, to refine your skills and gain experience. In other words, you could soft launch your new offering and gather feedback from clients so you’re on top of your game once you’re ready to launch in full.

Do you have the contacts?

Offering new services might mean you need to team up with specialists or experts in specific fields. If this is the case, but you don’t yet have the contacts to connect with, then it’s probably worth expanding your network before you expand the business.

When you find other professionals whom you want to partner with, it’s essential to get a feel for this working relationship before launching your new service. This gives you the opportunity to iron out any teething problems behind the scenes before you go client-facing with your new offering.

Do you have the time and capacity?

Skills and resources are vital when you’re thinking about offering a wider range of services to your clients – but so is time. If you haven’t got the capacity to execute the work involved, now isn’t the right time to expand.

For a new service to add value to your business, increase your profitability, and support your client relationships, you need to be able to give it your all – without burning out and damaging your work-life balance.

When to expand your services

We’ve explored three areas you need to have covered before you consider expanding your offering: skillset, contacts, and capacity.

So, if you’ve got the expertise, the right people for the job, and the available time, you could be primed and ready to offer a wider range of services and take your freelancing to the next level.

Here are some signs adding to your offering could be a smart move for your business:

Market demand is calling for something new

If your clients are regularly asking for services which you don’t yet provide, now would be a great time to widen your offering and plug this gap.

This is particularly important when considering your existing clients. Attracting new customers is one thing but losing your existing customer base is another.

Where there’s demand, there’s a need for supply, which suggests expansion would be an effective way to retain your clients, grow your business, and boost your revenue.

So, if your clients are asking if you can provide additional services or if you’ve noticed a market trend that you feel you should be diversifying into, go for it – providing you have the skills, resources, and capacity.

Your competitive advantage needs attention

Keeping a close eye on the competition is a crucial part of running a business at any stage. This includes regularly assessing what services they do or don’t offer – both provide invaluable insights that you can use to shape your own approach.

Which services or products have your competitors removed from or added to their portfolio? Which services seem to be the most popular in the case studies or client testimonials they share, or on their online reviews? What are your competitors winning market awards for?

The answers to these questions can tell you a great deal about the market you’re operating in and what your target customers are looking to spend their money on. Use this information to structure your unique selling points and enhance your competitive advantage.

You want to reach new business objectives

If you have specific goals or targets you want your freelancing career to reach, then adding to your services might be the way to unlock new milestones.

Monitor your current performance and use this data to identify where you need to level up, and how you’re going to go about it.

If you’ve got a financial objective that you’re working towards, for example, offering a new paid service to clients could be the perfect way for you to generate more income and reach this goal.

Ultimately, the decision to offer a wider range of services should be based on a thorough analysis of your skills, market, goals, and lifestyle.

It’s important to strike a balance between specialisation and diversification to align with how you want to shape your personal and professional future.
 
Find more of the latest news and guidance for freelancers in our info hub.